Dixie remembrances for July

For more information on the author, as well as resources on the Orthodox view of the departed, the meaning of a Saint and their veneration, explanation of old vs new calendar, and funeral hymns and prayers, click here.

By Walt Garlington

Dear friends, if you have time, please pray for these members of the Southern family on the day they reposed. Many thanks.

July 3rd

John Crowe Ransom: one of the leaders of the Vanderbilt Agrarians and a leading 20th century writer and teacher.
https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/john-crowe-ransom/

July 6th

Paul Hamilton Hayne: one of the South’s best poets.
https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/hayne-paul-hamilton/
https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/hayne/hayne.html

July 9th

Sir William Berkeley: a colonial governor of Virginia whose influence is felt within Southern culture to this day.
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Berkeley_Sir_William_1605-1677

Pierre d’Iberville: Canadian soldier and explorer, the founder of the first permanent French settlement in Louisiana.
https://64parishes.org/entry/pierre-le-moyne-diberville-2

Augustus Baldwin Longstreet: one of the great figures of Southern literature for his comic work “Georgia Scenes,” but also an active preacher and a leader of four universities.
https://georgiawritershalloffame.org/honorees/augustus-baldwin-longstreet

July 10th

Gen. Henry Benning: from the Georgia Supreme Court to a successful general in the War and back to practicing law afterwards.
https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/henry-l-benning-1814-1875/

July 17th

Gen. James Johnston Pettigrew: a good example of a Southern gentleman.
https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/pettigrew-james-johnston

July 23rd

Eudora Welty: one of the South’s best writers.
https://eudorawelty.org/biography/
Dick Cavett Show, part 1, May 19, 1979
Dick Cavett Show, part 2, May 20, 1979

July 25th

Wilmer Mills: a gifted Louisiana poet who died young.
https://www.timesfreepress.com/obits/2011/jul/28/wilmer-mills/16401/
https://kirkcenter.org/essays/wilmer-mills-the-poet-as-maker/

July 26th

Sam Houston: one of the most influential men in Texas history whose arc of his life also touched other States and tribes.
https://www.dissidentmama.net/when-men-were-giants/
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/sam-houston
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/510/sam-houston

July 29th

John Slidell: an important diplomat during the War.
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/chron/civilwarnotes/slidell.html

July 30th

George Fitzhugh: a helpful critic of the pure capitalist economic system.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/fitzhughcan/bio.html

Gen. George Pickett: a soldier for most of his life, he is best known perhaps for his part in the Battle of Gettysburg.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/george-e-pickett
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/812/george-edward-pickett

July 31st

Randolph Shotwell: a gifted writer, and a microcosm of the suffering South as she went through the War and Reconstruction.
https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/randolph-shotwell-in-war-and-prison/

Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are! Anathema to the Union!

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♱ St. Mildred (Mildrith) of Thanet, 13/26 July

The daughter of St. Ermenburgh (19th November) and sister of SS. Mildburg of Much Wenlock (23rd February) and Mildgyth (17th January), St. Mildrith was sent at an early age to be educated at Chelles Abbey near Paris in France. Returning to England, she received monastic tonsure from St. Theodore of Canterbury (19th September) at her mother’s monastery of Minster-in-Thanet, in Kent. St. Mildrith succeeded her mother as Abbess upon St. Ermenburg’s repose. As Abbess, St. Mildrith earned a reputation for patience, love, and kindness. Following a long illness, St. Mildrith reposed circa 700, and was succeeded by St. Eadburh of Minster (13th December). St. Mildrith was a popular saint in the years following her repose, and her local cultus eclipsed even St. Augustine of Canterbury (27th May). The bulk of St. Mildrith’s relics were translated to Canterbury in 1033, with some minor relics translated to Deventer in Holland where she was also venerated.
Source
More details of her life are here and here.

“Troparion of St. Mildrith of Thanet — Tone IV“
Through constant prayer and frequent fasting, by ceaseless hymnody
and great humility, the glorious Mildrith forsook the allurements of
her royal rank, trampling underfoot all worldly pride and
presumption. Wherefore, let us imitate her virtues, that, free from
all earthly attachments, we may join her at the wedding feast of
Christ our Saviour.

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