What’s Wrong with the World

The men signed of the cross of Christ go gaily in the dark.

About

What’s Wrong with the World is dedicated to the defense of what remains of Christendom, the civilization made by the men of the Cross of Christ. Athwart two hostile Powers we stand: the Jihad and Liberalism...read more

The greatest man of the last century...

...has died.

Rest in peace, Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Comments (8)

You're right, Steve. He was the greatest man of his era.

Greatest man of the Twentieth Century? Without question.


Ye who have trod the narrow way most sad; all ye who in life have taken upon you the Cross as a yoke, and have followed Me through faith, draw near: Enjoy ye the honours and the crowns which I have prepared for you.


I weep and I wail when I think upon death, and behold our beauty, fashioned after the image of God, lying in the tomb disfigured, dishonoured, bereft of form. O marvel! What is this mystery which doth befall us? Why have we been given over unto corruption, and why have we been wedded unto death? Truly, as it is written, by the command of God, who giveth the departed rest.


May He who rose again from the dead, Christ our true God: through the intercessions of His all-immaculate Mother; of the holy, glorious, and all-laudable Apostles; of our venerable and God-bearing Fathers, and of all the Saints, establish in the mansions of the righteous the soul of his servant, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, who hath been taken away from us, and number him among the Just; and have mercy upon us, forasmuch as He is good and loveth mankind.

To their honor, National Review and Commentary both feature prominent tributes to AS, today, on their online sites.

So far as The New Republic and The Nation are concerned, he might as well never have lived.

Silly, malicious, forgetful people that they are.

Greatest man? His death generates little conversation, even among the willing. The NYT decides "Reverence but No Outpouring for Solzhenitsyn."

Also from the NYT:


He wrote that while an ordinary man was obliged “not to participate in lies,” artists had greater responsibilities. “It is within the power of writers and artists to do much more: to defeat the lie!”


"His death generates little conversation..."

When AS traced the decline of the West to the sacrosanct Enlightenment, his marginalization began in earnest. As McIntyre said; "There is little place in such political systems for the criticism of the system itself, that is, for putting liberalism in question."

Tocqueville issued the warning long ago;

"In America the majority draws a formidable circle around thought. Inside those limits, the writer is free; but unhappiness awaits him if he leaves them...…the power that dominates does not intend to be made sport of… The slightest reproach wounds it, the least prickly truth alarms it; and one must praise it from the forms of its language to its most solid virtues."

AS was a Prophet, not the well-maintained poet laureate for The Hollow Men. They could never confront his argument and for that, they will never forgive him.

I am unsure if he was the greatest person of the 20th century. I would put Pope Pius XII and Pope John Paul II up there too.

This guy was Dostoevsky for the 20th century. Centuries later, our progeny will be talking about him and the light he shone.

Solzhenitsyn was certainly a great witness to the grace of God. His conversion to Orthodox Christianity was noticed by both Christians and skeptics around the world. He was to Russia what Whittaker Chambers was to America

Post a comment


Bold Italic Underline Quote

Note: In order to limit duplicate comments, please submit a comment only once. A comment may take a few minutes to appear beneath the article.

Although this site does not actively hold comments for moderation, some comments are automatically held by the blog system. For best results, limit the number of links (including links in your signature line to your own website) to under 3 per comment as all comments with a large number of links will be automatically held. If your comment is held for any reason, please be patient and an author or administrator will approve it. Do not resubmit the same comment as subsequent submissions of the same comment will be held as well.