Christopher Columbus and His Dream
#2
The Death of Columbus
http://www.catholictradition.org/Traditi...m#COLUMBUS

"Columbus was a flawed hero---as all men are flawed, including heroes---and his flaws are of a kind particularly offensive to today's culture. But he was nevertheless a hero, achieving in a manner unequaled in the history of exploration and the sea, changing history forever. For some strange reason heroism is almost anathema to our age, at least to many of its most vocal spokesmen. But heroes and the inspiration they give are essential to uplift men and women; without them, faceless mediocrity will soon descend into apathy and degradation. Heroes need not be perfect; indeed, given the fallen nature of man, none can be perfect. It is right to criticize their failings, but wrong to deny their greatness and the inspiration they can give." [4]

Christopher Columbus died on May 20, 1506 in obscurity and near poverty in Valladolid, Spain in a rooming house. Later his remains were moved to the Dominican Republic. It is thought that arthritis was the main contributor to his death. His family never received any monies still owed to him by the Spanish Crown.

"Christopher Columbus is the discoverer of America, and by that discovery ultimately responsible for America's evangelization; and for this we should forever honor him." [4]

Addendum: The Real First Thanksgiving

The first Thanksgiving in America is not the one celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621, as most Americans are taught in the government schools. The first Thanksgiving to the one true God in the one true Church was held eighty years before the Puritans' event:
In 1539, Francisco Coronado led a large expedition that included five Franciscan missionaries from Mexico. He also brought settlers, native Mexican Catholics, horses, mules, sheep, cows, pigs, and goats. The expedition reached what is now Arizona and found Indian pueblos. After establishing a camp there, Coronado headed east to establish a base near what is now Albuquerque, New Mexico. When they crossed the river now known as the Rio Grande, they named it Rio de Nuestra Senora or the "River of Our Lady", the original name on the first maps of the region.
No "cities of gold" were found, but Coronado continued with exploration, sending missionaries each time, giving lie to the myth that his main concern was gold. Gold was needed to fund expeditions, it and was not sought wealth itself. Spreading the one true Faith among the Amerinds was of chief importance.
"In April of 1541, Coronado, with a group of soldiers and some missionaries, left Albuquerque, New Mexico, headed northeast, and crossed a section of what is now northwest Texas (the Panhandle). In encountering some of the local Indians, the missionaries found that the natives were immediately open to receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After a few weeks of instruction, members of the Jumano Indian tribe converted and received Baptism. The expedition then arrived in Palo Duro Canyon where, on May 29, Father Juan Padilla, O.F.M., offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. (Father Padilla would eventually become the very first martyr of the Faith in America when he was killed in 1542, in what is now Kansas.) A Thanksgiving feast followed the Mass. It consisted of game that had earlier been caught. The feast was celebrated in thanksgiving to God for His many blessings and for the recent converts. This event is the first actual Thanksgiving Day celebrated in the future United States.
"It is only now that we can turn to the story of the Pilgrims and their Thanksgiving. After a long and harsh winter, the Pilgrims received help from the Wampanoag Indians in planting crops during the spring of 1621. They worked hard and in autumn had a very good harvest. In November of 1621 they invited the local Indians, who were still pagan and worshipped false gods, to feast with them and give thanks to God for the blessings of a successful harvest. The Catholic student of history should recognize that it is impossible to give thanks to the same God, let alone the true God, when those involved believe in different gods. But this apparently didn't bother anyone. The event was not celebrated yearly by the Pilgrims, as many think, nor by anyone in the original thirteen colonies for years. Though George Washington called for a day of Thanksgiving while he was President, it was not celebrated as a yearly holiday feast until Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving Day as a holiday in November.
"So now we know that the Pilgrims did not celebrate the first Thanksgiving in America. The first Thanksgiving feast was celebrated back in 1598, in New Mexico, by Spanish-Catholic colonists and Indian converts to the Faith. They thanked the true God for bringing them safely through many troubles and dangers and for the fact that the seed of the Gospel of Christ was beginning to take root. Because of the often anti-Spanish and anti-Catholic prejudice of English-speaking Protestants, generations of Americans have never learned this fact of our history." [5c]
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RE: Christopher Columbus and His Dream - by ThyWillBeDone - 10-11-2022, 07:33 AM

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