First, those peasants, nobility and clergy of the Vendee formed a Catholic community. These people, as noted in the book, were not only joined by a strong faith, but by a sharing of that faith which crossed the levels of a class structure. The clergy came, as Davies notes, from the very families who lived there, and the nobility had good relationships with the people
Catholicism shared created community, and those in the Vendee experienced a Catholic community which fed Catholic identity.
Second, an important point which has been misconstrued by many Catholic men and women is that it is good and necessary sometimes to defend one's self and one's family. Today, an odd and highly un-Catholic pacifism has taken over the hearts of many men, who no longer believe they need to defend priests, wives, children, the old and even the Eucharist. Such cowardice was unknown among those who lived in the Vendee.
Third, the enemies of the Church desired genocide, the complete wiping out of the faithful in the Vendee. Davies writes that this was the "Last Crusade". Indeed, parents and teachers, this is the time to share the history of the Vendeans with your children and students.
We shall see these times again, perpetrated by those who hate God, His Church, His Papacy and His clergy.
