Recent Posts

Wednesday 17 September 2014

Sigh, compromisers

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/halifax-archdiocese-to-host-pro-abort-catholic-premier-for-keynote-on-faith

Not Surprised...

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/gov-report-1036-obamacare-plans-illegally-fund-abortions

More Sad News

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/09/anything-that-divides-must-be-cut-away.html
 
All TLM attendees must incorporate themselves into the parishes where they attend Mass. The Mass is not the only way one must participate in a parish. Parish duties must follow attending the Latin Mass.

Why people responded so quickly in this situation without building up a relationship with the new priest needs attention. Love is the answer, not "rights".

TLMers need to be on parish councils, working in catechesis, in choirs, in Bible studies and so on.

If the priest anticipated division, he got it.

Both sides are in the wrong.

And, the bishop should be invoked to consider that there was a thriving TLM and now there is not.

Why? Was this necessary?

And, are pps not trained in Latin? Are they not aware that the TLM usually brings new life the old, dying parishes?

Seminary training MUST include teaching the EF as well as the NO. Why not?

We are all Catholics. Rights aside, the families of TLMers are usually stronger, more stalwart Catholics and more obedient. I am saddened this happened.

Repost Four

Friday, 3 January 2014

No Middle Ground

We belong to the Church militant ; and she is militant because on earth the powers of darkness are ever restless to encompass her destruction. Not only in the far-off centuries of the early Church, but down through the ages and in this our day, the enemies of God and Christian civilization make bold to attack the Creator’s supreme dominion and sacrosanct human rights. No rank of the clergy is spared ; and the faithful—their number is legion—inspired by the valiant endurance of their shepherds and fathers in Christ, stand firm, ready to suffer and die, as the martyrs of old, for the one true Faith taught by Jesus Christ. Into that militia you seek to be admitted as leaders. -Venerable. Pope Pius XII delivered on 14 October 1953 (Acta Apostalicae Sedis 45 (1953) pp 679 ff.) at the opening of the North American College in Rome.


 Pope Pius XII Prayer for the Church Militant

Bless, O divine redeemer, the sacred hierarchy, the ministers of the sanctuary and those who aspire to the priesthood, and all who, renouncing the world, have consecrated themselves to you in the various forms of religious life. Bless the courageous groups of the lay apostolate and revive among them in full measure the courage of their Christian profession, the ardor of their zeal, and the firmness of manly fidelity. Bless the rulers of nations and inspire in them ideals of justice and peace, of fraternal understanding and mutual cooperation so that, freed from all threat of domination and violence, all people may live and serve God quietly and peacefully, and then pass from their days of labor here on Earth to the joys of their Heavenly home. Bless the families in whose protective bosoms are nurtured the generations that will form the church of tomorrow.  Bless and assist young boys and girls, whose purity, strength, and spiritual joy are one of the most heartfelt concerns of your spouse, holy mother, the church.
Bless and encourage those whose sentiments, thoughts, words, and works have been sullied by Earthly allurements and deceitful errors.  Help them find again the way that alone can lead them from the depths of tepidity and indifference and separation from God to truth and salvation. Pour forth your blessing on all who are suffering in body and soul.  Raise up in every-increasing numbers generous souls who are ready to go wherever they may hear of tears, mourning, or sorrow, ready to dedicate their spiritual and physical strength and their material possessions to the care of the many infants that have been abandoned along the ways, to the support of the numerous old people who are destitute of all help.  May they be prepared to assist the needy who are incessantly torn between want and sickness, the innumerable exiles who are wandering about in search of a new country, and all who are oppressed and are the victims of human injustices.
Give courage to all who are groaning in hospitals, languishing in prisons, possibly even unjustly, or pining away in places of exile and suffering.  Strengthen the fortitude of those who are suffering in their honor, their liberty, and in their bodies for the defense of their faith.  May they be noble examples of fidelity in your service, O you who are the divine conqueror of death and the underworld.Triumph, O Jesus, be triumphant!  Come!  May your kingdom march forward!  May your sovereignty shine forth on the Earth, always better known and loved, in proportion to the infinite power of your divine blood, which was shed for the redemption of the whole world.
Amen

Repeat Post Three

Friday, 21 December 2012

The Church Militant is the Warrior Bride

I see Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings as a type for the Church. She is a warrior, but only fulfilled when she comes to love a gentle warrior, Faramir, thus finding healing in love. That she is attractive as the "shield maiden" and an accomplished warrior herself, and as she fulfils a prophecy by killing the Witch-King of Angmar, her part in the story is not small. Eowyn beings about healing for her uncle as well.

In the movie, Faramir is not shown as Tolkien intended, although the actor is superb. Faramir is a philosopher, a gentle and wise man, the foil for his brother, the total man of action. That Eowyn weds Faramir is a sign of harmony and completion, as she too, is a woman of action, but must become one of meditation and contemplation, which only happens after her brush with death.
The Church Militant is the Bride in action, the warrior in the world. Are you ready for this, as a member of this Church, dear Catholics?

http://www.zazzle.co.uk/the_warrior_bride_poster-228054151880789978



Repeat Posts Which Are Timely Two-


 

Monday, 4 February 2013

Challenge to the Church Militant; Sacrifice a Splendid Isolation

The Church is only as strong as Her weakest member. We are all members. If we are strong, the Church is strong. If we are weak, the Church is weak.

So often I hear criticisms concerning priests, bishops, nuns. The laity create good families or not. From those good families come good vocations.

If seminaries accept weak men, the Church's hierarchy will remain weak, and become weaker. This is still happening in America and in Europe.

The laity can always do something. Pray. Fast. Write. Use the positions each lay person has in the Church to influence the Church for good.

The Holy Spirit directs the Church, but we must cooperate.

If we are disobedient, the Church becomes anaemic.

If we are grieved or disappointed or angry, we must pray.

Great saints flourished in times of weakness and the Church grew stronger.

St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Thomas More, St. Philip Howard, St. Maximilian Kolbe and so on.

Today, many of my friends are discouraged and even grieved with political events and governmental decisions.

Those who have lost the faith seem to be in control. But, the Church can still be strong in the winds of persecution.



The Church will last until Christ comes again. If She remains in your parish, as the True Church, it will be because the laity remain strong.

After the fall of Rome, millions of people witnessed a huge change in culture, civilization, personal comfort.

St. Benedict's own family were from the remnants of the fallen, enormous nation, which had created such great things from which we still benefit.

But, in the face of ruin, Benedict did something new. He went into a cave and prayed about what to do.

He created spiritual shock troops. Rome did not look like what She does today.



Make something new.  Think about what you can make new and how.

This newness must happen now.

Do not give in to discouragement, but pray how you and I can become shock troops.

The Benedictine Rule not only saved and re-created  Europe through prayer, fasting, discipline, reading, writing, making schools and libraries, building churches and even infrastructures of business, but created holy men and women.

Choose to be holy and choose to be a saint.




Surround yourself with good people. Create communities where and when you can. Do not waste time. I have studied the Bruderhof since the 1970s. I was a member of a large lay community at one time. I have stayed for months with Benedictines. I understand how a community withstands the world or does not do so. The laity cannot remain isolated and alone. Take people in. Move. Be prepared to sacrifice an splendid isolation.

The Church is only as strong as Her weakest members. Be strong. Choose to be strong.

Churches will be abandoned. This will shock some. It has happened before.

My son is one of only two seminarians in his year. The priests are horribly overworked now.

Things will change.

The laity must be strong and families must pray for more vocations.

Imagine a world without the sacraments.

Fathers, brothers, sister, mothers, choose to be strong.

Please be the Church Militant and not the Church Queasy. Create communities where you are. Do it now.

Pray and become perfect, cooperating with God's Plan for your life

Reposts Which Are Timely

Saturday, 8 February 2014

Are your children in the Church Militant or the Church Mushy?

There is a famous story of a young girl in France, who was Jewish. On her way home from school, on July 15 or 16, 1942, she witnessed the infamous Vel d’Hiv roundup, when up to 13,000 Jews in Paris were taken to the old stadium Vélodrome d'Hiver and sent to Auschwitz. 

The young girl had enough sense not to go home, but turned around and went to the closest house. She knocked on the door and an older woman answered. The woman opened the door, looked at the girl, and let her in.

Through out the entire war and occupation of Paris, this woman pretended that this girl was her own. 

The child was saved by a brave woman, who would have been killed, if she was discovered hiding a Jewess.

The young girl was about twelve years old. 


I am sharing some of the details as I am writing to parents a harsh but necessary lesson.

As parents, it is our duty to protect our children from harm. 

It is not our duty to protect them from the truth of coming times of trials. Children in the next years will be facing a number of extremely difficult situations which will change their lives. 

These changes should not come as a shock or surprise to even those in grade school.

Like this young girl, who knew what was happening, and used her common sense to survive, we need to be training children to live in the Church Militant, not the Church Mushy.

There is a wrong way that parents look at suffering. Too many want to pretend that their children will not suffer. But, we have a duty to prepare our children spiritually for suffering.

What does this mean? I have written many posts on the formation of virtue in children from a young age. 

That is merely the first step. Formation in the virtues means reading books about virtues, going to Mass in the week, going to regular confession, saying the rosary, going to proper Adoration.



When my son was eight, I took him to the abortion vigil across from where a clinic was being built, and he said the rosary with the group there. The priest who led the vigils told me recently that my young son confided in him that he wanted to be a priest. 

There is a connection. Another priest who influenced my son at the age of thirteen came out of the Serbian-Croatian wars as a young man. He shared stories of horrible persecution, and so did his wife. They lost family members because of their religion. They are Byzantine Catholics. 

The lives of the martyrs should be shown as soon as possible, especially such great movies as A Man for All Seasons. Ten to twelve would be an appropriate age to begin with movies, but books can be read much earlier. One can share the news about the Christians being persecuted in Syria, or Bethlehem or Saudi Arabia, or Pakistan and show children the lives modern martyrs. Families can pray for these Christians.


Age 13-14

Agnes, Lucy, Tarcisius, Agatha, Odilo, Hugh of Lincoln, Peter Yu Tae-cho, the Ulma children, Ambrosio Kibuuka, Denis Ssebuggwawo, Kizito, Reparata,  and José Luis Sánchez del Río are either Servants of God or Blesseds, or Saints. 

They are all martyrs, and so are the seven sons of the Mother in the Book of Maccabees, which you can find here. http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-mother-of-seven-brothers.html



They were aged three to eighteen when they were martyred-all of the above. The Church honors them. There are many more child or adolescent saints who were martyred. 

Denis SSebuggwawo, Age 16

I was reading books about the early martyrs at age seven. So was my son.

The third step, as stories and movies is step two, would be the praying to martyrs, especially if the child is named after one. I named my son after two martyrs, knowing the days to come would bring suffering, and he would need strong patrons. 

Talk about the reality of the political situation if it begins to impinge on the family. Do not hide the truth, for example, if your church is shut down because of the lack of vocations or a priest shortage, share this with the family. If there are heresies or contraception taught in the schools, talk about this. Children need to know the future of the Church as real and affecting their lives. This would be step four.

Step five would be explaining to them that to be a Catholic means making a decision for Christ and His Church even in hard times. 

Our children are surrounded more and more by people who hate the Church, hate Christ, and the ways of God. Step six would include discussions on what it means to be in the world, but not of the world. And, I would hope that parents would be living a life which is teaching this truth on a daily basis.

Parents, it is our duty to raise saints, not marshmallow children.



Those in the Church Mushy may not be able to save their souls in the times to come. We are responsible for teaching our children how to become saints in a hostile world.

And, of course, if you are helping your children become closer to Jesus, they will know that they are not alone.

Say the Guardian Angel prayer daily. I do. 

to be continued....












Bad News

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/09/the-possible-demotion-of-card-burke-wherein-fr-z-rants/

Europeans I talked to today says it is not a rumor.

The Cult of Death





Americans have moved from being an upbeat nation of those who looked to the future, to a nation which sinking into sentimentality and love of the past. Sad.


Part of the problem is that now singles form one-half of the adult population of America. Children make adults look towards the future, but with so many singles not interested in the future, but only the now, posterity is not even on the radar.

I have been pondering the preoccupation with the past among people I have met recently.

Coming to the conclusion that people are in love with death, rather than life.

Why?

Why does a culture look to the past? Why are most television shows merely repeats of 1980s shows?

Why are many movies remakes of older movies?

Why is there a preoccupation with old music, old memories, old cars, old brand names if even mediocre ones...?

These odd "celebrations of life", that even Catholics are falling into instead of saying the rosary for three days for the soul who, hopefully, is in Purgatory, deny temporal punishment for sin, and, also, the un-Biblical emphasis on universal salvation-that everyone goes to heaven.

These so-called celebrations look towards the past, and not the reality of eternal life.

The cult of death also causes the preoccupation with vampires, witchcraft, satanism, and the numerous forms of the occult.

There is a demon of Death, who is wanting people to think of negativity, despair, suicide, death.

Jesus is the Lord of Life. Look to Christ.



John 14:6

Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.





Natural Law and Parents

The world is fast becoming sub-human, which the Church has always said is the result of sin. Sin first, paganism and abnormal behavior follow.

Unless parents actually take responsibility, and help form the children's consciences, they will be held responsible for the reactions which we see.

One thing parents who are Catholic do not seem to understand is that they are the primary teachers of religion, not teachers, nuns, priests in schools or parishes.

Natural law is a teaching of the Church. One cannot ignore this teaching. Natural law philosophy is tied to the concept of Divine Providence, that God put into humans the knowledge of right and wrong.

We have lost the gift of thinking philosophically and are now immersed in the lowest nature of humanity-the senses.

I was talking to a friend of mine this morning who reminded me that "ordinary" Christians in the Fourth Century, walking down the street of Rome or Hippo, could stop and discuss philosophy, teaching heard on Sunday, (sermons were an hour long normally), and have rational discourse, as they were trained in logic and debate.

No one cares to discuss ideas.

Here are some ideas.

 http://www.amazon.com/St-Thomas-Aquinas-Natural-Tradition/dp/0813213991


Parents need to teach the children not only Catholic teaching, but the philosophy underlining the religion of Catholicism.





I suggest a reading of the CCC to begin with and then an easy introduction to Thomas Aquinas.

Our generation knows how to find out things that people want to know. Looking up things on line is easy.

Please consider your own soul...and those of your children.

Lovely Stories

Talking with a lovely 83 year old woman today, I learned about the old culture of this area. She grew up one of twelve children with an English mom and Irish dad. The family had a dairy farm, daily cattle, plus pigs, chickens, sheep, and some wheat.

For a long time, the family lived in an isolated Upper State New York area which is still beautiful. They grew apples and had other fruit. One school days, the children walked two miles to school, the older ones being taken to school before the younger ones came along in a horse-drawn cart driven by the mother.

The children attended a one room school house, all the grades in one room, and my old friend told me that the teacher had no discipline, so when she rang the bell after recess, some of the children ran away to play in the meadows and by the river.

Children knew their Ten Commandments and were good, but naughty, not evil. My old friend told me that they had so much time to just play and explore.

The family house did not have electricity until the mid-1950s. A large pot-belly stove warmed the living room and upstairs. A large wood-burning oven warmed the kitchen.

Bathrooms were outside until after World War II. 

The children did chores daily, when they came home from school, each children having to help can, prepare dinner, clean, help with the animals.

The remaining four out of the twelve are still practicing Catholics, knew their faith from their parents and they were and are happy.

I hope to talk to this wonderful person again. What memories!

New Prey for the Greedy Part Two

One of the ways the elderly are manipulated by some Western nations is through fear. Now, old people who have not developed a strong interior life are subject to fear; fear of the unknown, fear of death, fear of loneliness, fear of more suffering, fear of abandonment.

But, the media presses these fears into the subconscious. I cannot believe the amount of medical ads on the msm, on cable.

I cannot believe the number of ads which create fear in communities.

Sadly, many old people watch television and these people are prey for the medical industry.

I wrote many months ago on the need for the elderly to face suffering, face death.

Old age is the time for the development, the growth of the interior life. The exterior life should be slowly down, leaving time for prayer, meditation, contemplation.

Help those elderly in your lives to be real, not to run away and not to fall into fear, which is being marketed daily.

All old people have lived through many times of peace and chaos. They all should have our automatic respect.

Talk to elderly people about their stories. Help them respect themselves so that they do not fall prey to fear.

If you have not read these posts, please do.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-tragic-cultural-reality-ignoring.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/02/choosing-between-food-and-meds.html

and another few posts connected somewhat...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/communities-in-vale-of-tears.html

 http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/08/beyond-words.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/01/pine-thoughts.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/08/do-not-pretend.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/07/on-habits.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/07/i-do-not-believe-that-being-single-is.html

More Irish Pro-Life News


Intense pro-abortion pressure on TDs – take one minute to send a ready-to-go e-card to your local Oireachtas member
Intense pro-abortion pressure on TDs – take one minute to send a ready-to-go e-card to your local Oireachtas member
Dear Pro Life supporter,
The Dáil has reconvened after the summer break. TDs are coming under immense pressure from pro-abortion groups to commit to holding a referendum to delete Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, which offers the only remaining legal protection to unborn babies.
The disgraceful way in which pro-choice advocates are baying for more abortion has to be challenged head on. 
Right now, our TDs need to hear from us. 

Please take one minute to send a ready-to-go e-card to your local Oireachtas Member by clicking here. Choose your Constituency or area from the list provided and follow the very brief instructions on the website.
Thank you.

www.prolifecampaign.ie.








New Prey for the Greedy

The elderly have been ignored and almost hated in American culture. The way we treat our elderly is a direct result of the cult of youth, and the decay of Christian values.

No longer is wisdom or acquired virtue valued.

And, the society in America actually preys on the elderly in several ways.


First of all, I have learned over the past eleven months here that the old are prey to the medical community. Many, many tests and procedures, which are not necessary, are presented as such through fear.

The fear of death and suffering causes many elderly people get a list of tests which our ancestors, who lived to be old as well, did not even dream of in their imaginations.

I am convinced that some in the medical profession push tests only for money, or out of the fear of being sued.

Second, television aims at making old people afraid to that they feel the need to buy more and more sophisticated security systems. The statistics do not match the amount of advertising.

Third, old people are made to feel guilty is they think they need others to help them. A false sense of independence means that families are not aware of many things their old parents or grandparents may be facing, but keeping quiet, so as "not to be a bother."

Fourth, old people do not feel welcomed in society, being pushed away into old people groupings and entertainments. One old person said to me, "I do not want to just be around old people."

Amen

Catholics should not be putting their A.Ps in retirement homes or imagine that old widows and widowers can cope on their own. I know too many old people who are living alone in desperate loneliness.

If an A.P. has a need for intense medical care, of course, other arrangements should be make. But, I ask all readers to stop and think about the elderly they know. Have you visited them regularly? Do you know their needs? Have you listened to their stories?

A culture which marginalizes the old is not a civilization.

to be continued...


Another Saint for the Day-Hildegard of Bingen

I wrote about Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, earlier this month-check out the tags.

Today is also the feast day of another saint and Doctor of the Church, Hildegard of Bingen.

There seems to be some misunderstanding about the writings of Hildegarde. One may read without confusion her religious writings, but do not see anything "inspired" by her natural writings on plants and healing.

The Church does not say that all the writings of saints are infallible. I have written on this before. But, the value of St. Hildegard's writings cannot be underestimated. Her visions reveal great insights into both the Church, the Trinity, and morality.

I do recommend reading her works but only in the Catholic context, as both New Agers and feminists have distorted her writings, as well as her music.