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Saturday 5 April 2014

Wow!




It is warmer on the whole this week in Folkstone, Kent, , than where I am in Iowa.

Sigh...

Re-post on the theme of today

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

The Attitude of One Persecuted

For the past several years, I have written about the stages of persecution in the Church. I am very concerned 
because of many Catholics who are responding to the many crises in the Church in ways inappropriate for the 
Church Militant and a Church which should be producing saints.

Most importantly at this time, each one of us must be seeking perfection, which is why I started the series so long ago. What impedes the spiritual life is mostly sin and the tendencies to sin, but faulting thinking about the nature 
of the Church in the world and the proper response is the third obstacle.

The false thinking resembles these types of comments. Like a "True/False Quiz" ask yourself if you fall into these categories. Also, look at all the persecution tagged articles here.

"Oh, God will protect us and hide us and we shall not be hurt".  False.

"The Church will see a huge number of converts and become triumphant as in the past." False

"I am just going to be quiet and let God take care of these problems which are too big for me." False

"All the Christians will come together in the end and stand up against persecution." False

And so on...

The proper attitude of a Catholic, some of whom are being persecuted even now, paying fines for not taking part in ACA, losing jobs because they are teachers who refuse to teach the ssm is "ok", DREs who stand up against the 
lies concerning the possibility of women priests or inter-communion, should include the following mind-sets.


One, the Church will last until the Second Coming of Christ, but most likely as a small remnant.

Two, the Church will be purified and soon of all the 
errors, including the errors of some bishops supporting ssm, communion for the divorced-remarried and not annulled, support of abortion, support of contraception 
will be eradicated, leaving a remnant. Expect more 
than one schism across the world.

Three, Catholics have a duty to save souls and 
evangelize now, as the window of opportunity will shut soon.

Four, we shall not have regular access to the Mass 
and the sacraments. If anyone has a habit of mortal 
sin, this must be rooted out now, as one may not be 
able to get to confession in the near future.

Five, each Catholic must cooperate with grace now and work with God on personal holiness, purity of heart, 
and the life of the virtues. I see few people concerned about developing the virtues and gifts of the Spirit. 
Without the virtues being operative, one cannot stand up to evil and persevere in goodness.


Six, Catholics must learn to love the enemy, but be wise about whom to trust.

Seven, Catholics need to build local communities now-should have been done thirty years ago.

Eight, fasting, penances, prayers must be daily practices.

Nine, Catholics need to stop pretending that they "have all the time in the world" to sort things out.

Ten, Catholics need to work in the place God has placed them now, now, now.

The Pope Emeritus warned us and few paid attention. We have been warned.

Remember, to think like a Catholic is to think like one who is a sign of contradiction in the world.



May I add today's Gospel? We must do our little bit daily. That is our Catholic duty.

Mark 6:34-44

When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Dismiss them so that they can go
to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.”
He said to them in reply,
“Give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?”
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
And when they had found out they said,
“Five loaves and two fish.”
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand me

LAST, last community post and a nod to the time of justice

How many times have I written that? If Catholics do not move into communities soon, they will not be able to do so.

If Catholics are not repenting of anything occult, consumerist, prideful, etc., please repent now.

Darkness will fall upon the States and priests will disappear. Unless a family is strong in the Faith and unless people are connected, they may weaken and fall away.

This time of mercy will come to an end and the time of justice will begin. This has all happened before in the Church and this does not mean it is the End Times, but a time of purification.

I repeat what our beloved Pope Emeritus said by re-posting this:


Thursday, 2 January 2014

Pope Emeritus As Prophet

Pope Emeritus as Cardinal Ratzinger

Few people realize what a great gift the the Church the Pope Emeritus has been for a half-century.

I quote this selection from one of his essays, a quotation found in Martin's book.

" As far as the future is concerned, it seems likely that, in the view of the proportion between the growth of the 
Church and the growth of the world's population, the Church's influence in the world will constantly decrease. The numerical triumph of Catholicism over other religions,  which today may still be granted, will in all probability not continue much longer."

The Pope Emeritus wrote that piece above in 1963.

I am more and more convinced that the rise of Liberation Theology and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, 
which still has a false ideal of Catholic Triumphalism, especially in England, 
took people away from the real message which God was trying to tell us through his prophets.

We should have been getting ready, preparing our families for the remnant Church over fifty years ago.

We only have ourselves to blame for the loss of children to the world, the flesh, and the devil.

And those parents, who are not paying attention today, will have to answer for their own blindness.


And another re-post:

Saturday, 23 November 2013

Communities in the Vale of Tears


One of the advantages of living in Europe is that the continent experienced wars and hard times, learning to 
either live in a community or perish individually. The need for community seems to elude Catholics in America, 
as they continue to pretend that nothing horrible will happen to them in the future and that individuality is an 
American ideal to be preserved.

Do we know how to network? Is it possible to do so in your area? Some of the trad readers share with me that 
they are members of strong communities.

Many young people want community, but do they want to sacrifice the time needed to build such?

Ironically, the Catholic Church has taught a healthy balance between the personal responsibilities of the individual 
and the need for community life. For awhile, in the 1970s, some of us experienced communities among the laity, 
but these have faded.

Our parish lives have become less homogeneous and more and more people live far away from their local churches. Masses in one parish with which I am familiar only occur twice a week. Communities which use to go to daily Mass are dwindling from the lack of priests.

However, in my humble opinion, the laity must be responsible for building community. Families form the basis for communities and can gather the elderly who are alone and the singles. Families can even adopt priests and invite 
them into the homes, creating the link between the base communities and the hierarchy.

I highly recommend that lay people consider base communities now. Remember the Pope Emeritus' famous vision 
of the Church in the future. Small isolated communities in a sea of unbelief.....but communities.

Pray, think, reflect, act.


LOVE THIS!


More hellos

to readers in Poland, and readers in the Netherlands....there are some countries I am not acknowledging, as I do not want to get the readers in trouble....because of lack of freedom of speech laws.




Good Idea for Voris

I cannot afford to do this, but Michael Voris has a great idea. Buy his subscription for a fallen away Catholic. If that person does not use it, or ignores your gift, that is his problem. But, you tried.

Go to the site and choose a gift subscription for the premium channel.  http://www.churchmilitant.tv/




Third Poem for April

Head held in hands, the man holds
a burden of history in his blood.
He thinks he is old, but he is young,
like his ancestors, full of life, waiting
to spring, as the Pascal Flower blooms
on the tumuli of  the Vikings, kinsman all.

No, he is not old, nor the nerves, the
muscles in his face which reveal pain
and a tendency towards melancholy.
Today, he thinks he may be moving
towards despair, but I sing to him,
"Know, this, too, will pass."

How can I reassure this man of God,
that his life is just beginning, as he
feels he is clinging to the edge of a
doom escaped by his forefathers?
Did he have to imagine redemptive
suffering? Could he not have been happy?

Happy for a few years, a moment,
knowing love, knowing a creativity
beyond words, in a smile, a small
touch, a look of understanding from
a far shore? Some choose to live
in the sadness they know, rather

than reaching out for the happiness
they doubt could be theirs-His angel
whispers, "Do not be one of those
fearful ones. Be brave. Choose life.
Look towards the light, look towards
the light."  The well-worn rosary beckons

and even The Mother calls, "Be brave,
as you have never been before, Dear
One." Long ago, on Gog Magog, one
of those fathers of old settled a deal
with the locals, and his progeny took
the Book from the monks and learned

the new way of the foreign God. So, now,
reach out for something foreign, a book new
with words which float off the page like
Oxlip in the wind, silent, full of peace and
history, colorful as the old magic of the
priest who hid in the small chamber,

when those later fathers hid him; he
rests still, blessing the children's children,
thankful forever for hidden vestments,
the way-bread brought by the lady of
the house who was never afraid. What
happened to those brave, brave genes?

A hedgehog scurries across the path,
not tame like the ones under the porch in
the land of the SumortÅ«nsÇ£te, the oldest
state, not set up by my people but, perhaps
the boy's, whose Saxon face reminds all
of the continent. No, my people wandered

through the gardens of the BÅ™evnov a bit
later and with less glamour, painting the books
which, packed in leather, made the way to
the settler's by the sea. Not all were celibate.
And, one chose an aristocratic wife of
the tribe of Benjamin. Happy days lost in

the New World. So, as he prays, head in
hand, I wait, seeing beyond the seas to a
newer place of peace and contentment. Yes,
we suffer, but we do not take on what is not
ours to take. The Bridegroom chose that on
the Cross. We assent to His Sacrifice, and

to do more is just plain pride....the angel
whispers again, "Be simple, be humble,
be the man God called you to be, even in
the end of days." Like the plowman finding
the treasure in the field, leaving all, following
the Mother of the Holy King, one must leave

one's own ideas, one's plans, one's control
over one's history and let the angels inspire,
illuminate, lead to the vocation to which one
was called from the beginning of time. He
raises up his head and listens, perhaps, for
the first time, trusting both the natural and 

the supernatural, feeling for the first time,
human in order to be superhuman. He recalls
some words of his youth, vague, like the waves
in which he indulges, clear and bright waters
of life. His Latin stays, and then uncurls the mystery
he himself does not want to embrace.

Creavit ex ipso adjutorium simile sibi:
consilium, et linguam, et oculos, et aures,
et cor dedit illis excogitandi,
et disciplina intellectus replevit illos.
  
Creavit illis scientiam spiritus,
sensu implevit cor illorum,


et mala et bona ostendit illis.
 
Posuit oculum suum super corda illorum,
ostendere illis magnalia operum suorum:

"Decision time," states the angel. "Now or 
never, choose life, choose happiness. God's
Champion holds out the prince's crown to

you. Will you insult Him by refusing the call
to be human, to become the creature the Father
created you to be those not so long years ago,
on this hill of treasure, you mortals call Sutton Hoo,
past the mounds of Passifloraceae, past the
gates where the horses no longer run into battle?"



Hello TLMers in Ireland and Miscellany

http://www.latinmassireland.com/mass-listings/

http://www.frdavidjones.com/latinmass.html

Any other listings but these?

Let me know here on this blog, please.

And, have any readers been here? http://www.antimo.it/benvenuto/come-arrivare/


From the Silverstream Website--a Plea

On 17 March 2014, the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration launched a major fundraising campaign in order to purchase the buildings and 15 acres of Silverstream Priory. Stability is an essential element of Benedictine. Until such time as the monks own Silverstream Priory, the further development of the monastic community is gravely compromised...



To help our friends and benefactors in the United States, we have established The Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle Foundation (a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of the state of Oklahoma).  Our American friends can send a cheque, made payable to “The Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle Foundation”, to the following address:
The Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle Foundation
20315 South Hwy 75

Mounds, OK 74047
For our friends in Ireland, the UK, and the European Union, we prefer bank transfers (as our bank exacts a large fee for cashing cheques).  Our bank information is as follows:
Bank of Ireland
Balbriggan
Co. Dublin
IBAN: IE02 BOFI 9035 4196 4472 87
BIC: BOFIIE2D
Alternatively, you can also send a cheque, payable to “Silverstream Priory”, and post it to the following address:
Silverstream Priory
Stamullen
County Meath
Ireland
Finally, you can send us a secure donation online through Paypal:

Prayers for you and for me....

I have been praying to be healed of asthma. This has been the hardest year of my life regarding this illness, as I am temporarily living in an area where I have strong allergies to something-either ADM or pesticides on the fields or whatever. Scented candles set this off, as does cold air and most likely pollution, even agricultural pollution.

I join in prayer with all who experience asthma. This illness may not be known to some readers, but sleep deprivation, (why I am blogging at 2:30 am), is one side-effect of not being able to breath properly. One can only take so many doses of medication per day.

Sigh....need a little cabin on an island somewhere near the salt air.....

May St. Joseph heal me and all my readers who suffer from asthma.

God bless you. A friend of mine is praying to St. Bernadette for me. This blessed woman, who saw the Virgin Mary, suffered from asthma.

May our prayers be answered.

Glad I missed this first time around

http://valleadurni.blogspot.co.uk/

There are some awful people who hate the True, the Beautiful, and the Good out there in Catholic media land. When angels weep....


Confession Schedule in Dublin

Confessions continually on the
two Final Saturdays of Lent 12th and 19th April, all day from 09.30 until 18.00


Saint Mary’s, Pro-Cathedral                                   
Saint Saviours, Dominick Street
Saint Andrew’s, Westland Row                               
Saint Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street 
Saint Teresa’s, Clarendon Street                          
Our Lady Queen of Peace, Merrion Rd.
Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Bachelors Walk           
Saint Joseph’s, Berkely Road 
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar St.
Our Lady Refuge of Sinners, Rathmines
Whitefriears  Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
  


and at Saint John’s Priory, John's Lane     





http://newefpastoremeritus2.blogspot.co.uk/ Thank you, Father Emeritus EF for this info and letter.

Clarendon Street, St. Therese's



Last, but not least, hello to friends in

Singapore, Gibraltar, the Ukraine, Malaysia...







and, and, hello to friends in

France, Sweden, and the United States....




And hello to friends in...

Australia, China, Egypt




Hello to Friends, also, in....

Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada





Hello to Friends in ...



Norway, Latvia, Germany, Russia




Hmmm

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101555286

Some see Putin as religious...

...and I say about as religious as any Byzantine emperor.

Thanks to wiki for mosaic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Justinian.jpg

Cheeky but love this...


On Justice Part Two

A second misunderstanding regarding justice plagues the thinking of modern Catholics, as well as pagans. This idea centers around the fact that many people do not believe that God IS Just. They think God's ways are too harsh, too demanding, to strict.

A fallen away Catholic told a friend of mine that the Catholic Church was "too hard" and "too exacting", asking too much of people.

I would hope that my friend answered that the Church only repeats the teachings of Christ and that Christ has called us all to perfection.

Sin is called "human" when it is, actually, sub-human, less than human, to sin.

I feel that the time of mercy, which God allowed and called forth through St. Faustina, is fast coming to an end. I see a time in the near future when the justice of God will be more obvious than the mercy of God.

I believe that a time is coming soon when all of us will experience a type of "darkness", as if God had removed Himself from the world. At least, it will seem this way, as God will allow satan to sift all people in order to save those who are away from God and in order to perfect the faithful.

In other words, I think we shall all be plunged into a communal Dark Night, where God will hide His mercy and let His justice fall upon the earth.

Are you ready for this? Is your faith strong enough for the removal of mercy in the face of justice?

Prayer for Perfection

OH GOD,

Infinite Holiness, Goodness and Perfection, lead me to sanctity. Increase and refine my love. Turn it into a burning leaping flame--a fiery furnace of love.

Raise me above my mundane self. Do for me what I am unable to do for myself.

Drown my pride, my selfishness and attachments in the abyss of love and humility of Thy Sacred Heart.



(from an old American holy card)