Thread on what famous architectural landmarks would look like if they were restored or completed using drones 🧵

1. Whitby Abbey, England Whitby Abbey, originally a 7th-century Christian monastery, later evolved into a Benedictine abbey.

During the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1545) under Henry VIII, it was seized by the crown.

Today, the ruins are a Grade I Listed site managed by English Heritage.

The greatest love letters ever written 🧵

1. Franz Kafka, letter to Milena, 1920 2. John Keats, from a letter to Fanny Brawne, June 1820

The desks of authors and historical figures 🧵

1. Einstein's desk on the day he died, 1955 2. King Charles Albert’s 1840 desk

One of the finest writing tables of the 19th century, this desk epitomizes royal luxury with its magnificent craftsmanship, exquisite design, and ingenious secret compartments.

This morning was the 73rd National Prayer Breakfast. One of the most unforgettable speeches in history took place at this event in 1994.

The speaker, was Saint Mother Teresa. To her right were the Clinton’s. To her left the Gore’s.

5 Unforgettable quotes from her speech 🧵 1) “Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.“

The most beautiful monasteries on Earth 🧵

1. Ostrog Monastery, Montenegro 2. San Galgano, Italy, has its roof open to the heavens

It was supposed to be a simple letter for his diocese in Nebraska. The goal was to provide a clear vision for education.

It accomplished that. It also became the new Magna Carta for Catholic education in the 21st-century.

10 chilling quotes from Bishop Conley’s viral letter. 1) “Every student is made for holiness, made to become a saint.”

The notebooks of great thinkers 🧵

1. Drawings from Leonardo da Vinci's notebook 2. Marie Curie passed away from aplastic anemia on July 4, 1934, due to prolonged exposure to radiation during her research.

Even today, her laboratory notebook from 1899–1902 is radioactive and will remain so for the next 1,500 years.

Thread of religious wonders so surreal you won't believe they exist 🧵

1. Abuna Yemata Guh, Ethiopia 2. Sumela Monastery, Turkey (386 AD)

The handwriting of famous authors - thread 🧵

1. Fyodor Dostoevsky's manuscript draft of The Brothers Karamazov 2. Feeling down? Imagine being the editor who found this James Joyce-revised manuscript waiting in the mailbox.

In 1987 America was shocked by the release of The Closing of The American Mind.

Bloom was the first to say out-loud what many already knew.

10 chilling quotes from The Closing of the American Mind. 🧵 1) We are like ignorant shepherds living on a site where great civilizations once flourished. The shepherds play with the fragments that pop up to the surface, having no notion of the beautiful structures of which they were once a part.

Notre Dame de Paris’s reopening drew global attention, with figures like Trump, Musk, and Prince William—neither French nor Catholic—honoring a monument that transcends its physical form.

If you haven’t read my article with @KevinRobertsTX yet here’s a brief 🧵 and a link to it The fervor surrounding Notre Dame’s resurrection is not rooted in mere Francophilia or admiration for Gothic architecture.

Something much deeper is at play here, as Notre Dame has always symbolized more than just a building.

The world’s most beautiful Nativity Scenes 🧵

1. The Christmas Nativity at the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, Canada 2. Manarola, Italy

This majestic Nativity Scene transforms the Cinque Terre hillsides into a luminous tableau of over 300 figures celebrating the Christmas story.

The Christmas Truce of 1914 is one of the most heartwarming events in recent history.

In the midst of a brutal conflict, British and German soldiers laid down their weapons for a brief moment of peace, showing the power of humanity even in the darkest of times… (thread) 🧵 As Christmas approached in 1914, soldiers who had spent months entrenched in a savage war found common ground in the spirit of the season.

As chaos raged, their desire for peace and connection transcended the violence.

The most beautiful Cathedrals at Christmas 🧵

1. Notre-Dame de Paris, France 2. Cologne Cathedral, Germany

Every year, from 1920 to 1943, the Tolkien children received letters from Father Christmas hilmself.

They came with tales and illustrations of Santa Claus and his helpers — each with a North Pole stamp designed by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Here’s the story behind them... (thread)🧵 In 1920, Tolkien’s first Father Christmas letter arrived at the Oxford home of his three-year-old son, John.

It was hand-painted and carried a whimsical North Pole stamp priced at "2 kisses."

Today, November 29th, is C. S. Lewis' birthday.

Here are 20 powerful lessons from the most quoted Christian author of the 20th century 🧵

1. "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." 2. Lewis viewed faith as a spiritual commitment.

In Mere Christianity, he wrote: "Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods."

True faith perseveres, even when emotions and circumstances waver.

The most beautiful monasteries on Earth 🧵

1. Abbey of San Galgano, Italy 2. The Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Greece

Completed in 1476, this Eastern Orthodox monastery in Greece rises 400 meters above the Peneas Valley near Kalambaka.

It is one of the 24 original Meteora monasteries, with "Meteora" meaning "suspended in the air" in Greek.

The most breathtaking cathedrals on Earth 🧵

1. Reims Cathedral, France. It’s twice the size of Notre Dame in Paris. 2. Florence Cathedral, Italy

The greatest wonders of Ancient Rome - a thread🧵

1. Nearly two millennia since its construction, the Pantheon’s dome remains the largest unreinforced concrete dome on Earth. 2. The Colosseum

Its construction began under Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD and was completed in 80 AD by Titus.

Built from travertine limestone, tuff, and brick-faced concrete, it could hold between 50,000 to 80,000 spectators.

Until the 20th century, the purpose of education in the West was always the moral formation of students.

But if you ask students today about the purpose of education, most will respond, “to get a good job.”

How did the fundamental purpose of education change so completely? 🧵 In ancient Greece, education was seen as essential to civic life.

The Greeks believed in paideia, the development of the whole person — mind, body, and spirit.

This approach sought to shape young citizens into ideal members of the ancient Greek polis or state.

Bishop Conley’s goal in writing a letter on education was to provide a clear vision for his own diocese.

It did that.

It is also turning into a manifesto for Catholic education 🔥

10 quotes from the letter 🧵

1) “Every student is made for holiness, made to become a saint.” 2) "Education is the process of shaping us to fulfill the purpose of our lives; to know the happiness that comes from living in accord with our dignity and our nature."