Dear blog friends,

For several weeks now I have taken you on a study of three dreams whose subject turned out to be one of the major topical subjects: ecology. Indeed, these three dreams correspond exactly to the definition of ecology, which seeks to "create a better balance between man and his natural environment as well as the protection of the latter". (1)

In these three dreams, if they were understood correctly, the unconscious would show that there is a link between the love life of young women and the quality of life on the earth around them.

These three dreams then led us each time to ask ourselves the questions:

Could there be a connection between the outer world and the inner world?

Could the quality of our earthly environment outside be related to the quality of our inner, instinctive life, which the alchemists called “our inner earth”, whose other name is the unconscious?

Could our outer Earth be ill because our inner earth is mistreated?

Would it be then that by taking care of one's inner Earth, one's instinctive and spiritual Nature, one would also take care of Nature, the concrete and material Earth outside?

This question may have seemed bizarre, unrealistic, unbearable, even foolish or ridiculous to you.

And yet, other people, far more eminent than me, have already asked this question and given the answer more than a hundred years ago.

Who then?

Well, to tell you, I am going to take you today to other latitudes, and I am going to tell you an absolutely true story. I will take you to China and you will discover the absolutely unbelievable story of the rainmaker.

But first I have to introduce you to Richard Wilhelm, a friend of Jung's.

Richard Wilhelm is a German Lutheran missionary who went to China at the end of the 19th century to evangelise.

Like the Jesuits in the 17th century, he noted the deep spirituality that animated the Chinese. His aim was not to found a new church in China, but to be a witness to the love of Christ. He declared that this was how the Universal Spiritual Church would spread, without political conflict, and that the Chinese civilisation was, in his opinion, an authentic form of this Church.

The German pastor then founded a school to develop cultural dialogue between China and the Christian West.

The school quickly became very well known among the German and Chinese authorities.

The school was located in the city of Tsing Tao, Qingdao in Chinese, a port in northern China, where the Germans had built an important naval base as a settlement base.

The city had received the political status of a German colonial concession.

This means that the Chinese government granted the Germans the right to participate in the management of the city, to sit on the city council and to supervise it. This status also protected the city and guaranteed its inhabitants immunity in the case of conflict.

Besides this school, let us also note, for the anecdote, that the Germans in 1903 opened a brewery in Tsing Tao for their needs; Tsing Tao beer became the most famous Chinese beer.

But the work of the German pastor did not stop with the creation of his school. Life led him to an exceptional activity which, over the course of time, has had an immense international influence, an influence which continues to grow even today.

Here is how:

In 1912 revolts multiplied in China and led to the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty. The senior officials of the fallen regime were exposed to the greatest danger and sought refuge in foreign concessions, such as the German Tsing Tao concession where Richard Wilhelm resided.

Wilhelm's reputation attracted many dignitaries: the Minister of Education and his deputy minister took refuge in the German concession.

An exceptional cooperation took place between the Deputy Minister of Education and Richard Wilhelm.

The Deputy Minister of Education, Lao Naï Suan, was a wise man, an authentic scholar, whose wife was a direct descendant of Confucius. He saw in Richard Wilhelm the one to whom he could entrust the treasures of Chinese civilization in turmoil.

These treasures came in two forms:

The philosophy of Confucius

The wise man therefore entrusted Richard Wilhelm with the task of preserving the work and philosophy of Confucius. Thus, thanks to the cooperation of these two eminent men, a library was created, dedicated to the work and philosophy of Confucius.

The I Ching

Above all, the Chinese sage entrusted the German pastor with the treasure of Chinese civilisation, the oracular book that is more than four thousand years old: the I Ching.

For two years he worked with Wilhelm to translate the I Ching into German. The venerable Chinese master of thought thus initiated Wilhelm into the secret teaching of the "Book of Changes" and entrusted him with the task of passing it on to Westerners so that the book could come alive again and spread in a new land.

With the teaching completed and the work finished, Wilhelm, who had retired, was recalled to Germany while Master Lao Naï Souan passed away.

In 1920 Wilhelm entrusted his translation of the I Ching to his friend Carl Gustav Jung. Jung made this masterpiece known to the West.

And Jung, speaking of this book, later wrote:

"I am taking this risk because I am now in my eighth decade and I am no longer impressed by the changing opinions of men: the thoughts of the old masters are more valuable to me than the philosophical prejudices of the Western mind."

It would take another half-century for a great inspired scholar, Etienne Perrot, to translate the I Ching into French in 1970.

Since then, many more translations have been published.

But let us return to this remarkable man, Richard Wilhelm. In Jung's eulogy of his friend, he said that he had received more from him than from anyone else. Would anyone dare to accuse Jung or Richard Wilhelm of talking nonsense?

Well, well, well!

It was Richard Wilhelm who told Jung the absolutely unbelievable story of the rainmaker! He was an objective witness of these facts. And it was precisely Jung who made this event known to the West.

So now here is the story of the rainmaker.

"The province where Richard Wilhelm was staying was affected by severe drought. For months not a single drop of water fell and the situation became catastrophic.

The Catholics held processions, the Protestants sent up prayers, and the Chinese burned incense sticks and fired guns to scare off the demons of the drought. Finally, the Chinese decided to go to a neighbouring province to look for an old man, who was said to be a "rainmaker".

When the old man arrived with the delegates in the parched province, he asked for a small house to be provided for him. He shut himself up there for three days.

On the fourth day, clouds gathered at a time of the year when no snow was to be expected and ... there was a heavy snowfall, unusually heavy.

There were so many rumours about this extraordinary rainmaker that Wilhelm wanted to find out for sure and went to see the rainmaker. He asked him how he had done it.

As a true European, Wilhelm told him:

"They call you the rainmaker, can you tell me how you made snow? "

The Chinese replied :

"- I didn't make the snow, I'm not responsible for it."

"- But what did you do during the three days?"

"- Oh, that, I can explain to you. It is simple. I come from a country where things are as they should be. Here things are not in order; they are not as they should be according to the Heavenly Order, so the whole country is outside the Tao. (When I arrived in this country here, I was no longer in Tao (2)) nor was I in the natural order of things, because I was in a country that was not in order, so all I had to do was wait three days, until I found myself in Tao, and then, naturally, the Tao made the snow." "

What is the Tao? How can we talk about it in a few words? I am not a specialist, so you will forgive me for my inadequacies.

Tao is the divine principle at the origin of all things, it is the way, the path. To be in Tao is to be in harmony with the divine principle, with nature.

In the Taoist conception, there is a continuity between nature and man, between the world of spirit, of life, of the psyche (3) and that of matter, in which spirit and life manifest themselves and take concrete form. To place oneself in this continuity, in this solidarity between nature and man, is the path of wisdom which makes it possible to influence the phenomenal world. The inner world, the unconscious and the outer world, the world of the conscious are linked and are one.

For scholars this is called the "Unus Mundus". And isn't this precisely what we have learned from the dreams we have just seen?

Does this story leave you in doubt, does it seem far away and questionable? It is an old story that dates back more than 100 years, in a country at the antipodes of ours... A story of a rainmaker... A story where man can influence the weather...

Wait !... Now you will see ...

It's not only the old Chinese who influenced the weather ... Listen:

Here is the same story, but this time very close to us. It happened in Italy 30 years ago, in 1989.

"In a small parish in the south of Italy, in May 1989, we were on the eve of a big festival that would attract all the surrounding area. It was a pilgrimage to venerate two martyrs who regularly protected the vineyards of the region from accidents.

Mass was to be said in the open air, a procession was to be held, and triumphal arches filled the streets that were decked out. But the weather was execrable and the barometer was dropping dangerously.

Yet the good priest did not get confused.

In the evening, a parishioner remarked:

"- Priest, I think the devil has gotten involved and our party is in jeopardy.

- It is possible, replied the priest, but the good Lord could also get involved. Come on, good evening and prepare your vocal cords so that they can vibrate in the ears of the crowd. "

The next morning, the sun was there! Unbelievable!

Mass on the big public square and in the evening, more than 2000 people participated in the procession!

When everything was over, the same parishioner came to see the priest and commented:

"- All the same, Mr. Priest, you have prophesied well, the good God has also joined in.

And the parish priest answered:

- I told you so. I had promised my martyrs to have a faith that moves mountains. When I finished my breviary last night, it was midnight and still raining.

So I got down on my knees and said a Rosary.

Afterwards, it rained less. I said a second rosary, I went to the window, it wasn't raining any more, but still clouds.

So I continued.

With each Rosary, it seemed to me that the Blessed Virgin was sweeping the firmament.

Around half past three, the sky was blue and in the morning, a beautiful sun! You know the rest!"

Perhaps you know that I am of Protestant origin and that my grandfather was a pastor? Protestants do not make any room for Mary in their devotion. And yet, as a Protestant, I surrender to this story, where the same reality is expressed: when the soul comes into harmony with the Force of all things, whatever name is given to it, then the outer world and the inner world come into harmony and harmony reigns on earth.

Have you found a more certain way to save the planet?

Christiane

Translated by Marianne

Notes

(1) https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/ecologie

(2) I have added this explanation for more clarity.

(3) Let's not forget that the word psyche means "soul" and not intellect.

Bibliography

The story of the rainmaker was recounted by Étienne Perrot in the notebooks published by the publishing house "Fontaine de Pierre": extract from notebook 22, 1983.

The story of the Italian weather-maker : (French) https://www.etoilenotredame.org/actualites/le-rosaire

Illustrations

I would like to thank the artists and photographers whose works allowed me to illustrate my blog.

- "The Hours of the Day" by Czech artist Alfons Mucha, 1860-1939: These two paintings are part of a quadriptych representing "Morning Awakening", "Brightness of the Day" and here "Evening Dreaming" and "Night Rest". http://www.muchafoundation.org/

- Richard Wilhelm: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wilhelm#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_137-020287,_Tsingtau,_Deutsche_Schule.jpg

- Concessions in China (Map of China in 1910): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concessions_in_China

- Confucius: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0174595/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm

- I Ching translated by Richard Wilhelm and Étienne Perrot: https://www.cgjung.net/publications/yiking/yiking_1.htm

- Meditating monk: https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/32411330652.html

- Floral Yin and Yang with rose: https://ru.dreamstime.com/

- Colored version of the Flammarion Engraving (1888) by Heikenwaelder Hugo, Austria: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=680837

- Pope John Paul II praying: https://www.pinterest.com.mx/pin/554153929125195846/

This article was published on the French blog on 21 November 2019:

http://christiane-riedel.blogspirit.com/archive/2019/11/21/sauver-la-terre-et-faire-la-pluie-et-le-beau-temps-3143949.html

Dear blog friends,

Christmas is approaching, it's the happy time of presents. And what present could I give you? It seems that for the majority, dear readers, you are American. What can I give you Americans?

Ah, I will tell you a Christmas story that I loved, that fascinated me and that remains unforgettable for me.

I am going to celebrate what the man I admire the most, General Patton, did at Christmas 1944. He accomplished a feat that you cannot imagine, a master stroke that defies reason, that made it possible to defeat the German army and win the war.

General Patton was a man who prayed to God every day, without worrying about religious frames. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, he knew the Bible very well and went to church on Sundays, he also liked to go to Mass to pray; he considered reincarnation to be a reality and thought he was a warrior in ancient times, which, according to him, had developed his gifts as a strategist and his psychic gifts of clairvoyance.

This big, burly man, who didn't give a damn about standards, would follow his inner voice and pray as he felt, with his words, and even more so with his guts, to ask for help to liberate Europe from the Nazi invasion.

What help?

Let's see!

It was December 1944.

General Patton, in a formidable lightning offensive, had just liberated France from Normandy to Lorraine. "Overwhelming feats, swift advances, victory everywhere." The Allied armies, east in the Ardennes, were ready to invade Germany.

But since September 1944, incessant rain had been falling and harassing the soldiers. The rain was the great concern, the permanent torment of the General Commander-in-Chief of the Third American Army. He was tired of seeing his soldiers fighting against mud and floods as much as against the Germans.

On 8 December, in Nancy, General Patton called the chaplain of his army and declared to him :

"Chaplain, 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."

The Chaplain mentioned that it usually was not a customary practice among men of his profession to pray for clear weather in order to kill fellow men.

The General retorted:

"Chaplain, are you teaching me theology or are you the Chaplain of the Third Army? I want a prayer."

The chaplain wrote a prayer on the spot and took it to Patton. Here it is:

"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. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon 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"

The General read the prayer and asked: "Have 250,000 copies printed and see to it that every man in the Third Army gets one." He then told the Chaplain:

- Sit down for a moment, I want to talk to you about this matter of prayer.

I am a strong believer in Prayer.

There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying.

Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking.

Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that's working.

But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes.

Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God.

God has His part, or margin in everything. That's where prayer comes in.

Up to now, in the Third Army, God has been very good to us. We have never retreated; we have suffered no defeats, no famine, no epidemics. This is because a lot of people back home are praying for us. We were lucky in Africa, in Sicily, and in Italy. Simply because people prayed.

But we have to pray for ourselves, too.

A good soldier is not made merely by making him think and work. There is something in every soldier that goes deeper than thinking or working. It's his "guts."

It is something that he has built in there: it is a world of truth and power that is higher than himself. Great living is not all output of thought and work. A man has to have intake as well. I don't know what you call it, but I call it Religion, Prayer, or God."

Patton continued:

We've got to get not only the chaplains but every man in the Third Army to pray. We must ask God to stop these rains. These rains are that margin that hold defeat or victory.

If we all pray, it will be like what Dr. Alexis Carrel said [who described prayer "as one of the most powerful forms of energy man can generate"], it will be like plugging in on a current whose source is in Heaven. I believe that prayer completes that circuit. It is power. (1)

On 14 December the prayer was distributed to the troops.

Around 15 December 1944 General Patton woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning with a dream.

He perceived intensely that German troops were launching a secret offensive to seize the port of Antwerp and thus deprive the American troops of their supplies. The enemies were therefore preparing to break the Allied lines advancing in the Ardennes. General Eisenhower was completely unaware of the German plan, as were his intelligence services.

Patton, the clairvoyant, at 3 o'clock in the morning, dictated to his secretary all the steps to be taken for the counter-offensive. The operations to be carried out had just appeared to him in a dream. He ordered some of his troops to prepare to set off in an emergency.

The incessant rain had given way to snow and the snow fell in a thick curtain that blocked everything, everything was white, the ground, the air all around, and the sky above. No one could see anything, nor hear anything, nor move forward, everyone froze.

On 16 December, the secret German offensive of which Patton had just dreamed of took place. The Germans appeared unexpectedly, the surprise was total, they advanced "like a hot knife blade in a lump of butter". They were approaching victory.

Their objective was to take control of a strategic road junction of vital importance, which was in the small village of Bastogne in Belgium.

This road junction was defended by the 101st Airborne of the Third Army led by Patton: it was a division of the army, specially trained in airborne assault. It consisted of 11,000 men who blocked the advance of the German troops. This point of resistance was not to be broken.

But on 16 of December, 60,000 German soldiers surrounded the 11,000 American soldiers in Bastogne.

On 19 December, three days later, Eisenhower heard the news from the front and became aware of the danger. Very worried, he summoned his generals and asked Patton to send reinforcements to Bastogne. Patton promised to free Bastogne on Christmas Day, but the appalling weather conditions prevented any progress.

Meanwhile, the besieged, under the command of General Mc Auliffe, were defending themselves heroically and awaiting reinforcements. The dreadful weather made it impossible to carry out any air supply. The men were fighting in cruel conditions, they lacked everything, they had no winter clothes, no ammunition, no food, no medical means.

On 22 December, the German command ordered General Mc Auliffe to surrender.

Determined to continue the struggle, even without hope, Mc Auliffe responded with a vigorous and famous reply:

"Nuts!"

And for his part, the chief of the Third Army despaired of not being able to help him.

On 23 December, 50 km from Bastogne, Patton stopped in Luxembourg City. He entered the chapel of the Pescator Foundation, walked up to the crucifix above the altar, ...

He took off his helmet with its 3 stars, knelt down and prayed. He prayed aloud to ask for the victory of his troops at Christmas. His words were taken down in shorthand by one of the officers of the General Staff.

"Sir, this is Patton speaking.

The past fourteen days have been straight hell. Rain, snow, more rain, more snow. I am beginning to wonder what’s going on in your headquarters.

Whose side are You on anyway?

For three years my chaplains have been explaining that this is a religious war. This, they tell me, is the Crusades all over again, except that we’re riding tanks instead of chargers. They insist we are here to annihilate the German Army and the godless Hitler so that religious freedom may return to Europe.

Up to now I have gone along with them, for You have given us Your unreserved cooperation. Clear skies and calm sea in Africa made the landings highly successful and helped us to eliminate Rommel. Sicily was comparatively easy and You supplied excellent weather for the armored dash across France, the greatest military victory that You have thus far allowed me.

You have often given me excellent guidance in difficult command situations and You have led the German units into traps that made their elimination fairly simple.

But now, you’ve changed horses in midstream. You seem to have given von Rundstedt every break in the book and frankly, he’s been beating the hell out of us.

My army is neither trained nor equipped for winter warfare. And as You know this weather is more suitable for Eskimos than for southern cavalrymen.

But now, Sir, I can’t help but feel that I have offended you in some way. That suddenly you have lost all sympathy for our cause. That You are throwing in with von Rundstedt and his paper-hanging God. (2)

You know without my telling You that our situation is desperate. Sure, I can tell my staff that everything is going according to plan, but there’s no use in telling You that my 101st Airborne is holding out against tremendous od in Bastogne, and that this continual storm is making it impossible to supply them even from the air. I’ve sent Hugh Gaffey, one of my ablest generals, with his 4th Armored Division, north toward that all-important road center to relieve the encircled garrison and he’s finding Your weather much more difficult than he is the Krauts.

I don’t like to complain unreasonably, but my soldiers from the Meuse to Echtemach are suffering the tortures of the damned. Today I visited several hospitals, all full of frostbite cases and the wounded are dying in the fields because they cannot be brought back for medical care.
But this isn’t the worst of the situation. Lack of visibility, continued rains have completely grounded my air force.

My technique of battle calls for close-in-fighter support, and if my planes can’t fly, how can I use them as aerial artillery?

Not only is this a deplorable situation, but, worse yet, my reconnaissance planes haven’t been in the air for fourteen days, and I haven’t the faintest idea of what’s going on behind German lines.

Damn it, Sir, I can’t fight a shadow. Without Your cooperation from a weather standpoint I am deprived of an accurate disposition of the German armies.

How in hell can I be intelligent in my attack?

All of this probably sounds unreasonable to You, but I have lost all patience with Your chaplains who insist that this is a typical Ardennes winter, and that I must have faith.

Faith and patience be damned! You have got to make up Your mind whose side You’re on. You must come to my assistance, so that I may dispatch the entire German Army as a birthday present to Your prince of Peace.

Sir, I have never been an unreasonable man, I am not going to ask you for the impossible. I do not even insist on a miracle, for all I request is four days of clear weather.

Give me four clear days so that my planes can fly, so that my fighter-bombers can bomb and strafe, so that my reconnaissance may pick out targets for my magnificent artillery.

Give me four days of sunshine to dry this blasted mud,

so that my tanks roll, so that ammunition and rations may be taken to my hungry ill-equipped infantry.

I need these four days to send von Rundstedt and his godless army to their Valhalla.

I am sick of the unnecessary butchery of American youth, and in exchange for four days of fighting weather, I will deliver You enough Krauts to keep Your bookkeepers months behind in their work." (3)

Patton bowed his head, waited for a moment and then finished with ...

"Amen."

And then?

A few hours later ...

... a sun spell appeared ...

Yes, the good weather was coming back! Beautiful weather, not only for 4 days, but for a whole week!

And on 25 December 1944, as Patton had announced, the troops were there, ready to attack.

Gigantic forces were in place: 600,000 American soldiers, 500,000 German soldiers, all equally brave, would face each other the following days in the Belgian-Luxemburgish Ardennes.

Patton's army advanced heroically as far as Bastogne, which was liberated on 26 December 1944.

It was the biggest, bloodiest and most heroic battle of the war in Europe.

80,000 American soldiers, 100,000 German soldiers sacrificed themselves at the end of 1944.

Tribute be paid to all these brave men.

Thank you to those American soldiers who, in this battle of the Ardennes, gave their lives for our freedom.

Tribute also to the German soldiers who served their country.

On the morning of December 27th, Patton walked into a small chapel and dropped to his knees and began to pray:

"Sir, this is Patton again and I beg to report complete progress. Sir, it seems to me that You have been much better informed about the situation than I was, because it was that awful weather which I cursed You for so much which made it possible for the German army to commit suicide. That, Sir, was a brilliant military move, and I bow humbly to Your supreme genius". (3)

Who was this man? What a wonderful connection he had with his God who dwelt in him!

So what happened?

The Germans had waited for the bad winter weather to arrive before launching their attack in mid-December. They were counting on the fog and permanent snowstorms to prevent American planes from supporting the troops on the ground.

But the bad weather had the effect of slowing down their troops as well. The narrow roads in the Ardennes and the relentless American resistance did the rest to frustrate their planning.

In the meantime, the German soldiers lost their strength and were exhausted. They also ran out of petrol reserves. The return of good weather and the arrival of American forces were fatal to them. The Nazis had thrown their last forces into the Battle of the Bulge, they could not recover and lost the war.

This is why Patton considered that the bad weather had led the German army to commit suicide. And already on December 27 he had foreseen the outcome of the war one month later.

On 1 January 1945, in the New Year's greetings, Patton thanked his soldiers with these words:

"Valiant soldiers, veterans, you have been hardened and tempered by fire and blood and have become pure steel".

A month later, on January 15 1945, the German armies withdrew, they lost the Battle of the Bulge.

Conclusion

General Patton, with his men, fought to liberate France and Europe. He fought to honour the Prince of Peace. For this, he turned to the Eternal God of Armies, this god so well known to the Jews of the Old Testament, whose accents he found in his prayers.

He had to have something in his guts, which he called "Religion, Prayer or God. "

He knew how to animate, through prayer, the inner strength in his men that instills confidence, courage, resistance and heroism in the midst of trial and suffering.

And this god, it seems, listened to the prayers:

- those of 250,000 soldiers of the Third Army,

- those of other soldiers and families,

- the relentless and fierce prayers of this powerful general who spoke to God live, without politeness.

And it seems that God not only heard and listened, but also answered these prayers.

Once again we see that the inner and outer worlds speak to each other, correspond and "respond to each other in a dark and profound unity".

And finally I leave you with the striking commentary of an observer on these events:

"I find this prayer very powerful.

- Making 250,000 men pray together.

- An army blocked by a harsh winter, which the enemy had counted on.

- To have this revealing dream.

- And to pray to Heaven.

- To turn this snowfall into a hail of iron and fire on the enemy and change it into victory.

- I believe that since the ancient crossing of the Red Sea

by Moses and his people,

mankind has never known such a celestial event

to change its destiny." (4)

Dear friends, allow me to add a few personal lines.

I was born in 1944, just as Patton was crossing France victoriously and advancing towards Germany. When I think "American", I am seized with deep emotion, I think of those brave, heroic soldiers who came to fight in France, I think of their mother and father, their wife, their children, their family, all those who prayed for them. I think of those men who gave their blood, gave their lives, to liberate my country from the Nazis. Their sacrifice made it possible for me to live freely. All my life I will remain immensely grateful to the Americans, to the American soldiers and to General Patton, a general who prayed to God every day.

Christiane

Translated by Marianne

Notes

(1) The speech was taken from http://www.pattonhq.com/prayer.html

(2) Indeed, Hitler's job was to glue wallpaper, before going into politics.

(3) Patton's prayers were taken from http://gregsegroves.blogspot.com/2015/03/pattons-prayer-okay-god-whose-side-are.html

(4) For Christmas 2015 I have put on my blog this same prayer of Patton formulated at Christmas time on December 23 1944. Gilbert gave us the pleasure of reading his wonderful comparison in commentary.

Bibliography

You will find a lot of information on the internet.

http://gregsegroves.blogspot.fr/2015/03/pattons-prayer-okay-god-whose-side-are.html

http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge

Illustrations

I would like to thank the artists and photographers whose works allowed me to illustrate my blog.

Patton praying in the chapel of the Pescator Foundation on 23 December 1944: http://historiasegundaguerramundial.com/

Tank passing a vehicle that slipped on the ice and fell into the ditch: http://peopleus.blogspot.com/

Dying soldiers in the snow, by French artist Marie Elise: http://ardenneweb.eu/

Patton after his prayer, when the sun comes to light up his face, painted by the French artist Marie Elise: http://ardenneweb.eu/

Soldier in prayer: http://inchristourhope.over-blog.com/la-prière-la-respiration-du-soldat-1/2

This study was published on the French blog on 30 November 2019:

http://christiane-riedel.blogspirit.com/archive/2019/11/30/un-drole-de-faiseur-de-temps-un-sacre-bonhomme-3144231.html