But all is not well between the nation state and empire: centre and periphery have their rules which at times collide, as witnessed of late. Are there any possible guiding principles that could minimize the force of collision?… In 1887 the optometrist Ludwik Zamenhof published the fruits of his passion for constructing an artificial [...]
The music of Henryk Górecki, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener is the music of a new civilization. These composers have gone against the prevailing grain of the twentieth twcentury for the sake of a greater love… The attempted suicide of Western classical music has failed. The patient is recovering, no thanks to the efforts of [...]
What a treat is it for a group of amateur string players, busy in their everyday lives, to spend a week in a far-off place and inundate themselves in practice and education concerning a single piece of music and its composer—the sort of exercise usually reserved for professionals. […]
Editor’s Note: Contributor Peter S. Rieth has transcribed below his interview with Michal Krupa, the deputy director of the Polish National Party, concerning relations among Poland, the United States, the European Union, France, and Russia. Peter S. Rieth: You hosted President Trump’s candidate for the US ambassador to the EU, Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, [...]
On July 6 in Warsaw, the President of the United States spoke with timeless eloquence about the need to defend the West against those who “threaten over time to undermine our individual freedom and sovereignty and to erase the bonds of culture, faith, and tradition that make us who we are”… In the mid-nineteenth [...]
Real Europeans see history as a battle: first, to organize human life in accordance with national and popular principles, with traditions and habits; and second, not to be ruled by even the most perfect ideas thought up by foreigners… Author’s Note: French President Macron had harsh words for Poland, threatening the country with sanctions. [...]
Poland is ruled by the same sort of people who brought her to ruin in 1939, and if they do not change course soon, Poland will be forgotten and cease to exist... This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a [...]
The young woman closed her eyes on the night just prior to her wedding and found herself being addressed by Mary, the Mother of God. The young woman was promised a wedding in a red dress. She dutifully and tearfully left her fiancé and embarked upon a life of prayer in search of the answer [...]
Born on Easter in April of 1865, Saint Urszula Ledóchowska taught that great men and women are brought up on the holy laps of Christian mothers. This Austrian-born Countess had a most holy mother who brought up two saints (one beatified, the other canonized), a Polish General, and a General of the Jesuit Order. [...]
These are troubling times. Europe is apparently on the verge of meltdown. Unable to withstand the heat caused by the growing friction between the European Union and its member states, especially as the former tries to force an open-door immigration policy on its subject nations, there are fears that the melting pot might be [...]
I do not hide my ambition to follow directly in the footsteps of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose 1772 treatment, titled Considerations On the Government of Poland, is now one of the classic works of political science. I hope that in 100 years, my essay will be considered a fitting continuation of Rousseau’s original, and that [...]
As we traveled across Poland on a recent parish pilgrimage, we watched two films about Pope St. John Paul the Great. The first was Karol: The Man Who Became Pope. The second was Pope John Paul II, starring Cary Elwes and Jon Voight. The first film concentrates on John Paul’s life up to his [...]
Today’s offering in our Timeless Essay series affords readers the opportunity to join Peter S. Rieth as he discusses Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a Polish martyr who was murdered while loving his enemies. —W. Winston Elliott III, Publisher Do not use violence in your struggle. Violence is not a sign of strength, only of weakness. He who [...]
Poland’s foremost liberal thinker Adam Michnik, has been known to quote the XIXth century Russian liberal Alexander Hercen’s attacks against Tsar Nicholas I while accusing President Vladimir Putin of the sort of despotism that Hercen saw in the Tsar. Mr. Michnik and Poland’s foremost conservative patriot, Henryk Krzeczkowski, both wrote fascinating reflections about Russian [...]