Actually, you know, now that I think about it, I believe both Herod's, Herod the Great and Herod Antipas had horrible, horrible deaths. I must check. I think it was Antipas who was eaten by worms and Herod the Great whose genitals rotted off.
Given the modern context of abortion, it is particularly appropriate that one responsible for the slaughter of so many innocents, an attack on two years' reproduction, should meet his demise by such a horrific living putrification of his own reproductive organs.
I was just thinking this morning that it will be interesting to see the end fate of many of Ireland's Pro Baby murder politicians. Specifically how they die. Not that the manner of their death is the most important, but it is perhaps an indicator of where they are going after death. Their gruesome deaths being an indicator of a horrible fate below. The tortures they are to endure in hell beginning even here on Earth. A good example in modern times was the Apostate Catholic chicken farmer and leader of the SS, Heinrich Himmler who contracted a truly horrible Rectal Cancer and died with his entire family through suicide. Or former candidate for the priesthood Joe Stalin whom no one would go near on his death bed for days out of fear . .A grim, grim fate. Deuteronomy 32:35 It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”
Here's a list of biblical names of different Herods. There were many more Herods in history, as it was a dynastical regnal name: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2014/how-many-herods-are-there-in-the-bible Herod the Great died of gangrene of the genitals. As for Herod Agrippa, Acts 12:20-23 says that during a speech, the crowd started declaring him "a god", and since he didn't stop and tell them to stop, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he died being eaten by worms.
That reminded me of an essay I read, that discussed the end (and ends) of the film "A Man For All Seasons", the story of St. Thomas More: Here's a link to a clip of the end of the film, from where I copied this information: More was beheaded and his head stuck on a pike at Traitor's Gate for a month. His daughter Margaret then removed it and kept it with her until her death. (No further information on what happened to his skull after that.) Cromwell was beheaded for high treason five years after More. The Archbishop who had betrayed More was burned at the stake. The Duke of Norfolk should have been executed for high treason, but the king died of syphilis the night before the execution. Richard Rich became Chancellor of England and died in his bed. The essay made the case that the saddest death was Richard Rich's. All of the other deaths involved having the men know they were scheduled to die and so had time to repent and ask God to forgive them. Rich did not.
I think maybe Cromwell, who organised the Trial and death of St Thomas Moore had what was what the most horrible, horrible death of all. The King fell out with him and he was sentenced to be beheaded. That would have been bad enough, but he (Cromwell) had many enemies. One or two of whom got the executioner totally drunk the night before the execution. The drunken executioner botched the beheading of poor old Cromwell and though he whacked away at him he kept making a mess of it all. Disgusted the guards had finally to step in and kill poor Old Cromwell themselves whilst the crowd cried out in utter horror. It was as though Cromwell, whilst still alive was beheaded several times over while that drunken fool kept hacking away at him. Cromwell had organised the dissolution of the Monasteries and had many, many Catholics killed and tortured, simply out of greed, he wanted their money and lands. A very bad lot indeed.
I think kings and queens and leaders will have to pay a terrible price for their sins and decisions. I remember reading about Queen Elizabeth I's death. She was dying, she was on the floor and wouldn't get up in her bed. No matter how hard they tried she wouldn't get in her bed. She said if you saw what I see there, you would not get in it either. In the end when she was far gone they put her back in her bed to die. I also remember the story of King George V death and Padre Pio. + + + On January 20, 1936, Dr. Guglielmo Sanguinetti and several other men were visiting Padre Pio in his cell. As they were talking, Padre Pio suddenly interrupted the conversation and asked the men to kneel down with him and to pray. "We must pray for a soul who will soon appear before the judgment seat of God," Padre Pio said. When they were finished praying, Padre Pio asked his friends if they knew who they had been praying for. They replied that they did not know. Padre Pio told them that they had been praying for George V, the King of England. Dr. Sanguinetti told Padre Pio that he had just read in the paper that the King's health was not a cause for alarm. He had a head cold and no more. He was not in any danger. "What I am telling you is the truth," Padre Pio answered. About midnight, Father Aurelio heard a knock at his cell door. When he opened the door, there stood Padre Pio. "Let us pray for a soul who at this very moment has passed away and is now appearing before the tribunal of God. I am talking about the King of England," Padre Pio said. The two priests prayed together for a while. The next day, the newspapers announced that the King had died. His death occurred at the same time that Padre Pio and Father Aurelio were praying together for him. Padre Pio prayed for King George VI at the king's death, Heaven let Padre Pio know... It was generally not Padre Pio's habit to make statements about political or world leaders. However, at the time of King George V's death, Padre Pio spoke of him and asked his friends to pray for his soul. It is not known whether Padre Pio had spoken of him at any other time. And what do we know of the King? We know that he was a man of faith and that he made it his practice to read from the Holy Scriptures every day. As a Protestant, he treated the Catholic Church with admirable respect. When George V became the King of England, he made a decision in favor of the Catholic Church. He refused to abide by the tradition in his country that called the Catholic Mass "superstitious and idolatrous." History tells us that as the King of England, George was diligent and committed, and he influenced his country for good.
Very interesting account. There is some speculation that his doctor may have murdered him. A big you tube video about it. Who knows?
And yet, as we learn in the film "The King's Speech", George V was an abusive and distant parent (as was his wife.)
We judge people one way, God judges them quite another. Sometimes in the wonderful Spring and Summer weather I see beautiful young people walking and running about and admire their beauty. But I feel God whispering in my heart that I am judging people by their outward appearances, whereas God Judges inwardly, spiritually, by the state of their souls. John 7:24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
I doubt this is the case. The screenwriter was given the speech therapist's notes and diaries by the therapist's son, and consequently re-wrote a large portion of his script based on that information. The scene where George is sitting with his therapist building a model and talking about his life growing up in the royal household was the summation of several conversations between the two. Also, keep in mind that George was raised in a period where "children were to be seen and not heard", which mean minimal interactions between the parents and the children and certainly no direct displays of love or affection between the two. Another example is Winston Churchill, who was effectively raised by his nanny. His letters between him and his mother show a distinct lack of warmth, and Churchill did not exhibit much grief when his mother died; when his nanny died, however, he was grief-stricken for a time.
Still, if these were the customs of the times, it's important that we distinguish between being 'abusive', which would be sinful, and 'distant', which would not. Even if this king had been abusive, he might well have repented of these things. I think anyone who had Saint Padre Pio advocating for him at his death could not have been so readily rejected. What he did in respect to the Mass would have made up for a lot. The film's view is wordly and temporal, but the issues are Eternal.
