Who will remember, passing through this Gate,
the unheroic dead who fed the guns?
Who shall absolve the foulness of their fate,-
Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones?"
Siegfried Sassoon, 'On Passing The New Menin Gate'
November has for many centuries held a place for Catholics as the Month of the Dead, a time to reflect and pray for the departed. In the last century it has also become the month of commemorating The First World War as well as soldiers and veterans more broadly. In this episode of Risking Enchantment, Greg Daly joins us to discuss The Great War, how we remember it, how we commemorate it, and the complexities surrounding these commemorations.
We discuss the prevalence of poppies in Remembrance services, where that tradition comes from and why there is more to commemoration than paper flowers. We look at the experiences of those on the Western Front in the First World War and the soldier’s own complex feelings about topics such as heroism, morality and commemoration. Finally we also touch on the importance of incorporating their Christian faith into our remembrance of them.
Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod
Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Greg Daly
Follow me on social media: @seekingwatson
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast
Follow Greg on social media: @GregDalyIC, @thirstygargoyle
http://thethirstygargoyle.blogspot.com/
Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com
Find out more about Leaven Magazine at https://leavenmagazine.ie/
Works Mentioned
“Why has Remembrance become weird?” by Niall Gooch
“The Future of Memory: Remembrance In Years To Come” by Niall Gooch
“In Flander’s Field” by John McCrae
“We Shall Keep the Faith” by Moina Michael
“On Passing the New Menin Gate” by Siegfried Sassoon
Blueprint for Armageddon - Hardcore History, podcast by Dan Carlin
They Shall Not Grow Old, dir. Peter Jackson
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
Now It Can Be Told by Philip Gibbs
What we’re enjoying at the moment:
Greg: Fraiser, Purgatorio, and Hell Boy Mark Minola
Rachel:
O Brother Where Art Thou,
The Hound of Death, by Agatha Christie, audiobook read by Christopher Lee
An Integrated Faith: Tolkien’s Catholicism in his Life and Work with Holly Ordway
Extraordinary Virtue in Every-Day Stories: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Creation of Music and the Music of Creation with Katie Marquette
Publishing Catholic Voices with Mary Finnegan, Deputy Editor at Wiseblood Books
The Spirit of Adventure in Swallows and Amazons
The Great Expectations and Romantic Ideals of Dickens's Heroes
This Mortal Coil: An Album of Loss and Subtraction, ‘Offerings’ by Typhoon
Poetic Vision: The Catholic Case for Everyday Poetry
The Reed of God and the Potent Emptiness of Advent
Childish or Childlike: Labyrinth and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Growing Up
The Mystery and Manners of Flannery O’Connor
The Sublime Mystery of Thin Places: Numinous Experiences and Liminal Spaces
Rest and Recreation: Holidays and the Opportunity for Holiness
BONUS Episode: Catholic Womanhood - Youth 2000 Talk
Making Whole: Finding Healing in Community and Nature
Animating Creation: The Natural Landscapes of Studio Ghibli
[Audio Fixed] “Seeing is both good and perilous”: Information and Action in The Lord of the Rings
The Doom and Gift of Men: Stories of Death and the Desire for Immortality
Celebrating Irish Saints: Miracles, Myths and Modern Perspectives
Something Inside: Hope and the Inner Life in The Shawshank Redemption
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