Armistice Day occurred on November 11, 1918. World War I (WWI) ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
Supposedly World War I was to be the war to end all wars. This false illusion was built on the philosophy of The Enlightenment, an intellectual movement beginning in the early 1700s holding that mankind was inherently good.
Whereas Catholicism and other Christian denominations believe that humanity is wounded by original sin and must be redeemed by a Savior, many Enlightenment thinkers, like some secular humanists today, felt that mankind could be perfected through human values. They believed that the Incarnation of Our Lord was not needed, and churches should stand aside. This removal of religious restrictions would allow the human race to flourish and be happy.
In 1914, the philosophy of the Enlightenment had made great headway in Europe. Man’s intellect and science had triumphed creating a glorious present. This development had proven that the Enlightenment was correct about the goodness of humanity and showed the futility of most religious ideas.
Unfortunately, world events were soon to demonstrate how incorrect this pleasant view was.
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the world would begin a four-year-long slaughter of the finest youth of their civilizations.
For decades after World War I, people sold red poppies on Veterans Day in remembrance of the millions who perished during the horrendous battles of World War I. People would proudly wear these pretty little flowers as a tribute to these fallen heroes.
But where did this beautiful practice come from? The answer is found in one of the most moving poems written during World War I. Dr. John McCrae worked in field hospitals during the war on the Western Front of WWI. He treated an endless stream of wounded and dying soldiers after many battles. He used poetry to tell of the pain and beauty he encountered during WWI. So moving was McCrae’s great poem "Flanders Fields" that school children memorized its stanzas for years after the war. His beautiful poetry has always touched the deepest chords of the heart. This is the poignant poem "Flanders Fields" by Dr. John McCrae:
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields
the poppies blow
Between the crosses,
row on row,
That mark our place;
and in the sky
The larks, still bravely sing, fly Scarce heard
amid the guns below.
We are the Dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn,
saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel
with the foe:
To you from failing hands
we throw
The torch; be yours
to hold it high
If ye break faith
with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
As our society becomes more secularist, the important lessons so beautifully written about by Dr. McCrae are being forgotten. The red poppies worn so proudly for generations demonstrate the need we have for God’s mercy and guidance. Let us pray that our country remembers this most important fact, or else we may be like the people in the poem who "loved and were loved, and now we lie, in Flanders fields."
