Washington DC DAYS 2-3: Motus and POTUS

UPDATE:

Since I am behind in mail, I want to thank those of you who sent donations to help pay for my trip to DC for the March.  Thanks a million.  As always, I consider it an honor and duty to pray for benefactors.

I hope I didn’t miss anyone, since I am working a lot on my phone, but thanks to:

WH, JR, TG, MK, DM, JS, RD, MT, RW, TB, PGB, MH

___

It has been a couple of really busy days, so email and blog has taken a back seat.

You may have seen on the news that the March for Life took place and that Pres. Trump – NOW President and soon Re-Elected President – appeared and gave a superb address at the rally.

I wasn’t able to get in close enough to the stage, so I duck back out onto Constitution, parked myself on a raised mound under a tree in a place that had more mobile phone bars, and watched the stream. Also, the elevated position gave me the change to scan for people I know. I watch the stream (with a priest from Buffalo – “Please pray for us”, he asked). I spotted Fr. Martin Fox, of the blog Bonfire of the Vanities whom I cite here. A good friend and good parish priest.

I spotted also the troop from the great Mater Ecclesiae in Berlin, NJ.  Fr. Pasley is also a friend of many years.  Nice homburg, Father.

While I was spotting friends, readers were spotting me and coming over to introduce themselves.   That is one of the best parts of these tripe: meeting the people who read here and finding out where they are from, etc.   LOTs of people said hello.

There were very many signs in support of Pres. Trump, the most pro-life President ever.

This was fun.  Attorney General Bill Barr was watching the March from his window.   He returned waves.

Just after that wave above, we had a fun moment.   He looked down directly where I and a friend from NYC were looking up.   I shot him a blessing, sign of the Cross, and then flashed a thumbs up, which he immediately flashed back.   So, blessing seen and appreciated.

There is a spot on the way up the hill where you can turn back and see the enormous throng.   It would be an interesting way study fluid mechanics.

I’ve been to quite a few of these now.  This had a special vibe and it was probably the largest I’ve seen.  I am eager to see numbers.

We then went to St. Mary’s for the annual Mass.  Msgr. Charles Pope was celebrant for Solemn Mass.   It was jammed.

After a couple hours at the pub across the way from the church with a “seasonal beverage” and good conversation, it was great to see Frs. Bradley, Akers and Smith, I went with friends over to their hotel for an nightcap with some pro-life organizers.   We wound up getting some great cheeses, good enough to share with you.

What hotel was that?   The TRUMP, which was the old Post Office.   Magnificent.    Even more magnificent is this tab for the food and drinks.

I don’t get to many of these high flight hotels.  Sometimes I eat and Firehouse Subs and you can round up for a foundation for first responders, but I have never seen anything like this on a hotel tab.

I have a latish flight out of DC today, so I will have to kill some time in the afternoon, unless I park myself and just catch up or go really early.

It has been a great trip.

 

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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11 Comments

  1. scoot says:

    Back in 2009/2010, I was working a summer job for my Dad, who is an electrical engineer. So this was a unique summer job in that I got to tour the rooftops of many buildings in DC for some contracted purpose. On one such tour of the roof of the EPA building, my honored guide told was telling me about some of the sights we could see. Immediately behind us, of course, was the Spire of the Old Post Office. It is the second highest point in DC, and he lamented how it was empty and unused. So every time I see the (now) Hotel, I think about that tour, and how I’d like to go see it.

    It can be a metaphor perhaps for how Trump is revitalizing Washington, perhaps even America.

    I saw a time-lapse video of marchers making their way through their street. It was insane how long the march was, how many people there were, and how little media acknowledgement they got.

    I also saw a clip somewhere: Rather than show Trump’s speech, NBC broadcast an unmanned microphone, waiting for Schiff or somebody to show up and start speaking. Says it all, really.

  2. JRP says:

    Darnit, I missed you. I had met with some people, one of whom was a bit of a bulldog when it came to wending their way through the crowd, and dragged the rest of us along. Anyways, it was a historic day, am glad to have done it.

  3. PostCatholic says:

    The spire of the Old Post Office isn’t the scond highest point in DC–many things are taller, notably the Gloria in Excelsis tower of the National Cathedral and the KoC tower of the Basilica of the Immacculate Conception; the cupola of the Capitol; the Cairo apartments in Dupont Circle… It’s also not been unused. The Old Post Office Tower houses the Bells of Congress and it has long been a National Parks site (as it is still) and is great vantage point for birds-eye views of the Mall and Federal Triangle.

    The building wasn’t suited to modern office use upstairs, and at the end only the unloved agencies for the NEH and NEA were housed there. Post-9/11 security procedures for entering a Federal building turned what had been a thriving tourist hub and food court on the lower levels into a ghost town. The GSA was wise to lease to a hotel operator for renovation.

  4. Spinmamma says:

    I watched it on EWTN. A beautiful, inspiring, sometimes heart-wrenching day. I saw not one embittered, angry face. I went away a better person for having attended in the only way I am able. Kudos to all who made this happen.

  5. acardnal says:

    Atty Gen Barr: practicing Catholic and pro-lifer!

    Seeing the Standing Room Only crowd at Old St Mary’s reminds me of my youth when the Catholic churches at Sunday Mass (TLM) were so full the congregants were standing in the aisles with wall-mounted fans going to keep them cool (no A/C back then). Folks back then KNEW that is was a mortal sin to miss Sunday Mass! Now . . .??

  6. Gab says:

    President Trump, determined to MAGA! May God bless him!

    I see many stories of how the voting machines can be rigged. Pray for his re-election.

  7. Fr_Sotelo says:

    I love the photos. They capture a vibe and energy that is great to see among our faithful who defend the babies, in spite of our inner problems that might tempt some to discouragement.

  8. Grateful to be Catholic says:

    It was truly a great day with the biggest March ever, President Trump’s speech, the Nellie Gray Mass at St. Mary’s packed and overflowing, then good to see you Fr. Z at the Channel Inn. Great conversation, food, and beer. May God bless America and use our poor prayers and efforts to rid us of this scourge of abortion. Donna

  9. DCLex says:

    Holy Comforter St. Cyprian 9am Pontifical Low Mass with Cdl. Burke was packed as well. That bar across from St. Mary’s, the Irish Channel , is considered to serve the best pint of Guinness in the city.

  10. Semper Gumby says:

    This is great: “I shot him a blessing, sign of the Cross, and then flashed a thumbs up, which he immediately flashed back.”

    Last October Atty. Gen. Barr gave a speech on religious freedom at Notre Dame. Here’s an excerpt:

    From the Founding Era onward, there was strong consensus about the centrality of religious liberty in the United States.

    The imperative of protecting religious freedom was not just a nod in the direction of piety. It reflects the Framers’ belief that religion was indispensable to sustaining our free system of government.

    In his renowned 1785 pamphlet, “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,” James Madison described religious liberty as “a right towards men” but “a duty towards the Creator,” and a “duty…precedent both in order of time and degree of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society.”

    The challenge we face is precisely what the Founding Fathers foresaw would be our supreme test as a free society.

    They never thought the main danger to the republic came from external foes. The central question was whether, over the long haul, we could handle freedom. The question was whether the citizens in such a free society could maintain the moral discipline and virtue necessary for the survival of free institutions.

    By and large, the Founding generation’s view of human nature was drawn from the classical Christian tradition.

    We cannot have a moral renaissance unless we succeed in passing to the next generation our faith and values in full vigor.

    The times are hostile to this. Public agencies, including public schools, are becoming secularized and increasingly are actively promoting moral relativism.

    If ever there was a need for a resurgence of Catholic education – and more generally religiously-affiliated schools – it is today.

    I think we should do all we can to promote and support authentic Catholic education at all levels.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-william-p-barr-delivers-remarks-law-school-and-de-nicola-center-ethics

    Because of this speech the Libs wailed and gnashed their teeth. From Fr. Landry’s blog at the Register:

    “His remarks were received with alarm by commentators like The New York Times’ Paul Krugman, who called Barr’s words “the language of witch hunts and pogroms,” by the Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell, who described them as “a tacit endorsement of theocracy,” and by HuffPost’s Mary Papenfuss, who said they reveal “how deeply the top lawman in the nation is tied to his Catholicism,” which for her was obviously a problem.”

    Well, this is the same crowd that earlier this month mourned the death of Iranian terrorist Suleimani, who killed thousands of Iranians, Americans and others.

    One lib paper called Suleimani a “farm boy who became an influential military commander.” One woman at the New Yorker, a self-proclaimed Middle East “expert,” described the dead terrorist thusly: “Suleimani, a flamboyant former construction worker and bodybuilder with snowy white hair, a dapper beard, and arching salt-and-pepper eyebrows…”

    Er, ma’am…a little less time with the Harlequin Romances and a little more time in the Middle East.

    Well, that’s the Libs: on the wrong side of History and Current Events. God bless the Marchers and Speakers in Washington DC last week.

  11. eulogossusan says:

    The woman in the center of the lower part of the picture six up from the bottom is a friend of mine, a member of the Philadelphia Ordinariate parish and a rather new, but dedicated Catholic. I humbly beg everyone reading this to say a prayer for her intention.

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