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Monday, January 1, 2018

Miracles Happen During Christmas


John R. Houk
© January 1, 2018

Most of Christendom celebrates Christmas on December 25 according to the Gregorian calendar. Using Wikipedia as a stat source, there are about 2.42 billion Christians globally. Of those nearly 2.5 billion Christians, roughly 225–300 million are Eastern Orthodox Christians. This makes the Eastern Orthodox Church the second largest communion of Christians behind the number one Roman Catholic Church.

I mention this Orthodox Christians do not celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar (named for Pope Gregory XIII), but rather according the Julian calendar (named for Julius Caesar). The Julian calendar celebrates Christmas on December 25, but when compared to the Gregorian calendar, that date falls on about January 7. Ergo, if you are an Eastern Orthodox Christian you have six days until Christmas January 7, 2018.

How are you liking a bit of calendar history this New Years Day 2018? I am a bit of an amateur historian and wanted to set up a Christmas story about General George Patton of WWII fame.

In the 1970 movie about Patton I found quite amusing pertaining to ordering the 3rd Army Chaplain to pray for fair weather to kill Nazi Germans and rescue the army boys of Bastogne surrounded by the Nazi army who demanded an American surrender. (The commander – General McAulliffe - of the American troops famously replied, “NUTS!”)


In the movie General Patton was so excited about answered prayer penned by Chaplain O’Neill, he wanted to pin a medal on him.  Patton’s adjutant, Colonel Harkins, later reminisced about Patton’s jubilation that he recalls this memory:


General Patton again called me to his office. He wore a smile from ear to ear. He said, “God damn! Look at the weather. That O’Neill sure did some potent praying. Get him up here. I want to pin a medal on him.”

The Chaplain came up the next day. The weather was still clear when we walked into General Patton’s office. The General rose, came from behind his desk with hand out-stretched and said, “Chaplain, you’re the most popular man in this Headquarters. You sure stand in good with the Lord and the soldiers.” The General then pinned a Bronze Star Medal on Chaplain O’Neill.

(When Patton Enlisted the Entire Third Army to Pray for Fair Weather; Quote from book “Patton: Blood, Guts, and Prayer” by Michael Keane; HistoryOnTheNet.com; © 2012)


The point of informing Believers of the Risen Savior that a huge chunk of Christians has yet to observe Christmas is this. This Christmas story about General Patton needing prayer to win a battle against evil-wicked Nazis with racial-supremacist motives to conquer the Western world shows God Almighty favors those more in line with His Will than those outside of His Will. KEEP IN MIND Hitler had the genocidal aim to cleanse the Earth all of the Jewish faith. (Pay attention Muslim Jew-haters and White Supremacist Jew-haters.)

Below is the article I discovered via a Tea Party USA email pointing the way to Joe For America (of Joe the Plumber fame).

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‘Christmas Card’ Gen. Patton Gave US Troops May Be Manliest Ever Created

DECEMBER 27, 2017

It’s amazing when you look back in time over Christmas and our soldiers, what a vital role prayer has played. Especially in 1944, when General Patton needed prayer for fair weather he expressed it in his Christmas card that was circulated among the troops to over 486 chaplains and the entire Third Army.

Patton looms large over American political history, especially after George C. Scott’s masterful screen performance as the World War II general.

Few scenes in American cinematic history are as iconic as Scott, in character, pacing before the American flag and delivering a speech to his men.


And yet, for all of Hollywood’s hero-making, the real man was even more of a legend — and this Christmas card of prayer proves just that.

During the holiday season of 1944, Patton’s Third Army was bogged down in its advance against the Germans.

According to WND, Patton was delayed as he was trying to reach Bastogne, a town in southern Belgium held by 15,000 American troops but encircled by over 50,000 Nazi soldiers bearing down on it.

Unfortunately, due to the weather, Gen. Patton didn’t have the air cover he needed to relieve the 15,000 brave American troops holding off the Germans.

That’s when he decided to rely on the power of prayer.

From History on the Net,

In early December 1944, the headquarters of the Third Army was in the Caserne Molifor, an old French military barracks in Nancy in the region of Lorraine, a ninety-minute train ride from Paris. At eleven o’clock on the morning of December 8, Patton telephoned the head chaplain, Monsignor James H. O’Neill: “This is General Patton; do you have a good prayer for weather? We must do something about those rains if we are to win the war.”

One account of what happened after Patton’s telephone call to O’Neill is related by Colonel Paul Harkins, Patton’s deputy chief of staff. It appears as a footnote in War As I Knew It, a book based on Patton’s diaries and published in 1947, after his death.

On or about the fourteenth of December, 1944, General Patton called Chaplain O’Neill, Third Army Chaplain, and myself into his office in Third Headquarters at Nancy. The conversation went something like this:

General Patton: “Chaplain, I want you to publish a prayer for good weather. I’m tired of these soldiers having to fight mud and floods as well as Germans. See if we can’t get God to work on our side.”

Chaplain O’Neill: “Sir, it’s going to take a pretty thick rug for that kind of praying.”

General Patton: “I don’t care if it takes a flying carpet. I want the praying done.”

Chaplain O’Neill: “Yes, sir. May I say, General, that it usually isn’t a customary thing among men of my profession to pray for clear weather to kill fellow men.”

General Patton: “Chaplain, are you trying to teach me theology or are you the Chaplain of the Third Army? I want a prayer.”

Chaplain O’Neill: “Yes, sir.”

Outside, the Chaplain said, “Whew, that’s a tough one! What do you think he wants?” It was perfectly clear to me. The General wanted a prayer—he wanted one right now— and he wanted it published to the Command.

The Army Engineer was called in, and we finally decided that our field topographical company could print the prayer on a small-sized card, making enough copies for distribution to the army. It being near Christmas, we also asked General Patton to include a Christmas greeting to the troops on the same card with the prayer. The General agreed, wrote a short greeting, and the card was made up, published, and distributed to the troops on the twenty-second of December.

It was distributed to each one of the 250,000 troops under his command in the Third Army, and had all of the men pray this simple prayer:


“Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend,” it read.

“Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.”

On the reverse side, Patton wrote, “To each officer and soldier in the Third United States Army, I wish a Merry Christmas. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We march in our might to complete victory. May God’s blessings rest upon each of you on this Christmas Day. — G.S. Patton, Jr., Lieutenant General, Commanding, Third United States Army.”

And it worked.

The next day, the weather cleared, Patton’s Third Army made its way into Bastogne to relieve the 101st Airborne, stymie the Nazis, and well, you know the rest.

Talk about a Christmas card and the power of prayer! Even Patton knew the importance of prayer in war during Christmas.

For all those who serve our country and are away from your families – God Bless You! and THANK YOU for serving our country!

Resource: Western Journalism, History on the Net
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Miracles Happen During Christmas
John R. Houk
© January 1, 2018
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‘Christmas Card’ Gen. Patton Gave US Troops May Be Manliest Ever Created

About Joe For America

I was born in Toledo in 1973, and graduated from Springfield High School – right around the corner from where I live today.

Like many young men graduating from high school, I enlisted in the Air Force looking for adventure, career, and a way to serve the country I love. The Air Force taught me practical skills like plumbing, which is what I did while stationed on bases in Alaska and North Dakota.

After being honorably discharged from the Air Force, I continued to work as a plumber for several years. I was also employed by a communications firm, working my way up from Data Entry Assistant to a Communications Engineer.

In 2008, my life changed when Barack Obama came into my front yard on a campaign stop. I asked him why he wanted to raise taxes, and he said that he wanted to “spread the wealth.” Since then READ THE REST


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