A sobering "Ask Father" post at Fr. Z's

photo source

Seriously and respectfully.

Fr. Z has a post answering a reader's question "What items should a Catholic include in a bug out bag [BOB] besides the usual survival gear?"

Fr. Z references Fr. Walter Cisek and what he had to say about being undercover in the Soviet Union.  Fr. Z offers his own good advice as well, yet what struck me most was a comment from a man whose wife came through the Communist Chinese repression-persecution of Catholics (ongoing, BTW).  The comment here:

cpttom says:

24 February 2014 at 1:17 pm

I ask forbearance if this sounds like tin-foil hat territory, but My wife’s family lived through the persecution in China, with one uncle jailed for thirty years for refusing to denounce the Pope and Church, and the other beaten near to death by the secret police because he was an outspoken student with a Catholic campus apostolate. He later became a priest. We suspect they still have ties to the underground Church. My wife was baptised by her mother and had her first communion and confirmation were at the hands of an underground priest. This is all very real to me and my wife, and considering some of the parallels to China and late 1930s Germany, we better take the possibility of hard persecution seriously that it could happen here

Among any preps should be supplies for the priests (who may be on the run or in hiding) such as appropriate wine, hosts, candles, vestments, books of ritual and prayer, bibles, sacred vessels (portable and hideable), linens, holy metals, olive oil, salt, etc, so the priest doesn’t have to bring them with him. Much of the consumables are relatively cheap and available now, and will be too bulky for the priests to carry if they are on the lamb, and may not be available or will draw attention if purchased once the troubles begin.. We laity will have to protect, hide and supply them, and we will have to watch over each other. Start cataloging mentally the true sons and daughters of the Church now, and keep track of the goats. Remember the take down of the Chinese Church was an inside job…the Communists subverted those priests and Bishops that had skeletons in their closets and turned them against the Church. All that may happen has happened before, so go read about the Chinese and English persecutions if you want to understand what may happen.

Keep in mind You better think in terms of hiding this stuff if a hard persecution hits. In my parlor is a unremarkable 2 1/2 foot tall statue of Jesus, except that my wife’s family hid it under the floor boards of their apartment during the Revolution. It is the only possession they were able to save other for some jewelry that they were able to barter for their survival. It is on the mantle piece to remind us what has happened and what could happen.

In all things, pray, think and prepare. Don’t panic, God is with us, but he expects us to do our part as members of the Church Militant. St Michael Defend us in Battle, Viva Christo Rey! - WDTPRS

A few weeks ago a major winter snow storm was forecast  for Minneapolis, the schools were closing and so on.  I had to go to the store to pick up some groceries.  It was late afternoon, just as the snow was beginning to fall.  Many of the shelves were shopped down - some were empty.  I asked the check out lady what was going on - she said people were getting ready for the storm.  I thought, wow - if just a little storm caused such a rush on the stores, what would a major disaster be like?

I just hope Catholics do not forget Christian charity when the time comes.

People get ready.