Alexander Solzhenitsyn died yesterday.

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Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Solzhenitsyn is most famous for his writings criticizing the Gulag Archipelago. He is much less famous for his criticisms of Western culture.

In 1974, Harvard honored Solzhenitsyn with a degree after he was expelled from the Soviet Union. In his acceptance speech, he blasted both the Soviets and the West and permanently lost his celebrity.

U.K. Blogger Andrew Cusack has posted a long annotated version of the speech here. Being we are celebrating the birth and rejection of the Humanae Vitae on birth control by Pope Pius VI, Solzhenitsyn's speech goes well with current comments on the Catholic rejection.