Style Tutorial: How to make an entrance, with dignity and flair.

Notice the enthusiasm, the welcoming smile, 

the ease, the style ...

the subtle flair of the skirt.

August 13, 1917 ... The Children of Fatima were unable to keep their appointment with Our Lady.

So what happened?

Because they were unable to be at the Cova, did Our Lady appear to them where they were detained?

Nope.  She kept her appointment at the Cova - according to witnesses - but she didn't make a command performance where the children were detained.  Although she visited them later, on August 19, to make known her requests - which included preparation for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  (Remember, we can prepare as well, many people will be praying the 54 day novena of Rosaries, commencing August 14 or 15, concluding on the Feast of OL of the Rosary.

Here is the story of the August 1917 apparition ...

Under the pretext of providing his personal automobile, so that the children could travel safely through the crowds pressing around their homes, the civil Administrator or Mayor of the district in which Fátima was located, arrived in Aljustrel on the morning of August 13th. A previous attempt on August 11th to obtain the "truth" from the children having been unsuccessful, Artur Santos, an apostate Catholic and high Mason, had devised a scheme by which he would take them into custody and force them to reveal all. With a show of good will he now offered to take the three and their parents to see the parish priest, whom he claimed wished to see them, and then to the Cova. At the parish house he abandoned this ruse, and the parents, taking the children alone from there to the district headquarters in Vila Nova de Ourem, some 9 miles away. Here he tried bribes, threats of death and locking them in a cell with other "criminals" in order to get them to recant their story. It was to no avail. Despite their ages, their belief in the Lady and their courage was unshakeable.

Meanwhile, in the Cova at noon on the 13th the characteristic external signs of the Apparition appeared for the benefit of the crowd, the greatest crowd to that time. After they ended the crowd dispersed, as yet unaware of the trickery of the government.

[...]

As it was the Lady's plans were delayed slightly. On Sunday the 19th Lucia, her brother John, and Francisco, were grazing the sheep at a place known as Valinhos. It was located on the side of the same hillock opposite Aljustrel where the angel appeared twice, though a little farther north. At apout 4 o'clock, sensing that Our Lady was about to appear, Lucia tried unsuccessfully to get John to fetch Jacinta, until she offered him a couple pennies for the errand. As she and Francisco waited they saw the characteristic light. The moment Jacinta arrived the Lady appeared. - Source

What did Our Lady tell the children before she left?

She looked at them sadly, and told them:

Pray, pray very much. Make sacrifices for sinners. Many souls go to hell, because no one is willing to help them with sacrifice.

Listening In On Hitler's Generals

PBS Secrets of the Dead: Bugging Hitler's Soldiers

I watched the program Thursday night, and I wanted to post about it, since it fits well with my doom and gloom considerations lately.  Some of the stories of what the Nazis did - outside the death camps - when ordinary soldiers invaded provinces and towns, the atrocities and rapes and mass murder sound very much like ISIS today.  It struck me that this same terror is being revealed again, in our times.  We seem anesthetized to it - we take mass killing (abortion) in stride.  Many of us have lived with some form of war all our lives, not to mention ethnic cleansing massacres such as happened in Rawanda.  ISIS is scary, but we are told it's just 'them' - they are a fringe group.  It's not as if it is a religious war or an invasion by a superpower or sovereign nation in a real war.

You know what I'm saying.  I'm not on some crusade to go after Islam or trying to denounce anyone in particular.  I'm just trying to piece things together right now - trying to see through all the propaganda and political correctness which distorts reality.

In the episode, Bugging Hitler's Soldiers, the recordings of how nonchalantly these people talked about their crimes was truly shocking.  I couldn't help but draw a parallel to what is currently happening in Syria, and has happened in these situations over the twentieth century until now. The threat is pretty much global by now - or probably will be sooner than we know.

I want to share a couple of excerpts of dialog with you to deepen what I'm trying to say ...

NARRATOR 

Lance Corporal Muller told Sergeant Faust about his experiences as his unit moved into Russia.

MULLER 

Everywhere we saw women working. Extraordinarily lovely girls. We drove past; we would simply pull them into the armoured car, rape them and throw them out again.
And did they curse!

[...]

NARRATOR 

For months, the listeners could hear growing anxiety, recrimination and guilt in the voices of the generals.

VON THOMA 

He told me the kind of things that happened. I know myself that there were savage, brutalized louts there, who trampled on the bellies of pregnant women, and that sort of thing.

ISIS and other Jihadists are committing the same crimes today.  This post is not an essay - I'm just throwing information out there.  Information which makes me believe we are immersed in similar days of terror right now - we are right back where we were in WWII, and every other reign of terror in modern history since then.

Although I think it's worse now - because of rampant immorality, corruption and lawlessness - and political correctness.

In one segment of the program, two Nazi officers were discussing the killing of women and children, throwing their dead bodies into a pit:

VON FELBERT: What did they do to the children?

KITTEL: They seized three-year olds by the hair, held them up and shot them with a pistol and then threw them in. I saw it for myself.

VON FELBERT: That’s why everyone hates us – not because of this one incident, because all these murders.

KITTEL: If one were to destroy all the Jews in the world simultaneously there wouldn’t be anyone left to do the accusing.

VON FELBERT: It’s obvious, it’s such a scandal. We don’t need a Jew to accuse us – we ourselves must bring the charge! We must accuse those what done it.

KITTEL: Then we have to admit that our government is all wrong.

VON FELBERT: It is, it’s obvious that it’s wrong, there’s no doubt about it. - PBS transcript

"Then we have to admit that our government is all wrong."

That's when it hit me.

I too have to admit that our government is all wrong.  

"It’s obvious that it’s wrong, there’s no doubt about it."

I don't think I need to count the ways or name names to prove my point.  The first step in recovery is admitting there is a problem.

Joy of All Who Sorrow,

Save us!

Late for Mass at the Throne ...

So.  How can 'you know who' wear purple when acting as MC?

Just asking a question.  Don't get mad.

Catholic Prophecy: TEOTWAWKI and BOB's

Bug Out Bags and living like a refugee.

If you attend daily Mass - in this case, the Ordinary Form of Mass, which uses the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, you might have been taken with the first reading from Ezekiel yesterday, and the oracle concerning Jerusalem which the prophet acted out.

Now, son of man, during the day while they are looking on,
prepare your baggage as though for exile,
and again while they are looking on,
migrate from where you live to another place;
perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house.
You shall bring out your baggage like an exile in the daytime
while they are looking on;
in the evening, again while they are looking on,
you shall go out like one of those driven into exile;
while they look on, dig a hole in the wall and pass through it;
while they look on, shoulder the burden and set out in the darkness;
cover your face that you may not see the land,for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel. - Ezekiel 12: 1-12

Thinking of the reading later in the day I wondered - what if that is why Fr. Z is always talking about bug out bags (BOB's) and all that other stuff?  What if he's a sort of prophet - prophet of doom - to be sure, but just doesn't know it?  (Actually, I think he knows it.)

Of course, Ezekiel says nothing about packing weapons in his bug out bag - but the prophecy is not about self-defense and defending one's turf - it's about going into exile.

Ezekiel says nothing about sacred vessels and travel kits, or portable altars and vestments - not that there is anything wrong with that.  Yet the story of St. Lawrence we heard earlier this week, and how he sold the sacred vessels of the Church to give the proceeds to the poor before he was martyred - sort of proves you might not be able to 'take it with you'.  Likewise, in the concentration camps of the 20th century, priests usually had to make do with all sorts of illicit items to celebrate Mass, sans vestments and candles and portable altars and relic stones and stuff ...

Of course, we all know that.  But still, the reading was rather provocative, perhaps offering a more profound understanding of the current refugee crisis spreading throughout the world.

Do not forget the works of the Lord!

And he surrendered his strength into captivity,
his glory in the hands of the foe.
He abandoned his people to the sword
and was enraged against his inheritance.

So anyway.  I guess bug out bags have a scriptural basis then?  Although, a man may have a well stocked bug out bag, but his gear doesn't guarantee he will survive ...

"Look! Don’t you see many roads, paths and fields full of people crying of hunger, not having anything to eat? And the Holy Father in a Church praying next to the Heart of Mary?" - Blessed Jacinta 

S. Chiara d'Assisi

Contrary to what modern Franciscans tell you - St. Clare really loved poverty.

If people choose to gloss over the poverty of Francis and Clare, or consign it to a particular way of life peculiar to medieval culture, or an exaggeration of hagiographers, so be it. If religious seek to redefine it - let them.  It fits in with revisionist thinking and is an excuse to justify themselves.

Show me a poor Franciscan and I'll show you a friary equipped with modern conveniences and all sorts of electronic media and several changes of secular clothes and nice cars and gym memberships to lose weight.  What?  I'm just kidding - they don't live like that.

All kidding aside, in our day, thank God, there are lay people, and perhaps more obviously, consecrated religious who embrace voluntary, radical poverty. The Little Sisters and Brothers of Jesus for one, as well as the more visible Missionaries of Charity of Blessed Mother Teresa, and don't forget the Fratti Minori Rinnovati. They really are poor - crazy poor - like crazy St. Francis and St. Clare and other 'fools for Christ' sake.

The Rule of St. Clare.

Shortly before his death he once more wrote his last will for us that we--or those, as
well, who would come after us--would never turn aside from the holy poverty we had
embraced. He said: "I, little brother Francis, wish to follow the life and poverty of our
most high Lord Jesus Christ and of His holy Mother and to persevere in this until the
end; and I ask and counsel you, my ladies, to live always in this most holy life and
poverty. And keep most careful watch that you never depart from this by reason of
the teaching or advice of anyone."

Just as I, together with my sisters, have ever been solicitous to safeguard the holy
poverty which we have promised the Lord God and Blessed Francis, so, too, the
Abbesses who shall succeed me in office and all the sisters are bound to observe it
inviolably to the end: that is to say, by not receiving or having possession or ownership
either of themselves or through an intermediary, or even anything that might reasonably
be called property, except as much land as necessity requires for the integrity and
proper seclusion of the monastery, and this land may not be cultivated except as a garden
for the needs of the sisters.[...]Let the sisters not appropriate anything, neither a house nor a place nor anything at
all; instead, as pilgrims and strangers in this world who serve the Lord in poverty and
humility, let them confidently send for alms. Nor should they be ashamed, since the
Lord made Himself poor in this world for us. This is that summit of the highest poverty
which has established you, my dearest sisters, heiresses and queens of the kingdom
of heaven; it has made you poor in the things [of this world] but exalted you in virtue.
Let this be your portion which leads into the land of the living (cf. Psalm 141:6).

Clinging totally to this, my most beloved sisters, do not wish to have anything else forever under heaven for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and His most holy Mother. - Holy Rule

Mohammedans.

Did you know St. Clare once repelled the Mohammedans who staged an attack upon Assisi and her monastery was in grave danger?  Saracens were Mohammedans, today we call them Muslims - at the time, they were mercenary troops employed by Emperor Frederick II.


Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, the Saracens were the enemies of Christians...

The power and efficacy of her prayers are illustrated by a story told by Thomas of Celano, a contemporary. In 1244, Emperor Frederick II, then at war with the Pope, was ravaging the valley of Spoleto, which was part of the patrimony of the Holy See. He employed many Saracens in his army, and a troop of these infidels came in a body to plunder Assisi. St. Damien's church, standing outside the city walls, was one of the first objectives. While the marauders were scaling the convent walls, Clare, ill as she was, had herself carried out to the gate and there the Sacrament was set up in sight of the enemy. Prostrating herself before it, she prayed aloud: "Does it please Thee, O God, to deliver into the hands of these beasts the defenseless children whom I have nourished with Thy love? I beseech Thee, good Lord, protect these whom now I am not able to protect." Whereupon she heard a voice like the voice of a little child saying, "I will have them always in My care." She prayed again, for the city, and again the voice came, reassuring her. She then turned to the trembling nuns and said, "Have no fear, little daughters; trust in Jesus." At this, a sudden terror seized their assailants and they fled in haste. Shortly afterward one of Frederick's generals laid siege to Assisi itself for many days. Clare told her nuns that they, who had received their bodily necessities from the city, now owed it all the assistance in their power. She bade them cover their heads with ashes and beseech Christ as suppliants for its deliverance. For a whole day and night they prayed with all their might- and with many tears, and then "God in his mercy so made issue with temptation that the besiegers melted away and their proud leader with them, for all he had sworn an oath to take the city." - Source

Did you know Muslims used to be called infidels?

St. John Paul II recounted this same story in his Letter on the Eighth Centenary of the Birth of St. Clare. :   It is the voice of the Child Jesus which, at a time of great danger - when the monastery was about to fall into the hands of Saracen troops in the employ of Emperor Frederick II - reassures her from the Eucharist: It "will be defended by my protection"(LegCl 22). 

Isn't that odd?  Imagine Muslims attacking Christians - especially Catholic cloistered nuns?  Imagine Muslims or ISIS working as mercenaries for a world leader or sovereign nation?  How silly.

That could never happen today, could it?

Holy Lady Clare,

most beautiful among women.

Help me.

Help me to 

know anew ...

How does your lover differ from any other lover,

Oh, most beautiful among women?

Where has your lover gone,

most beautiful among women?

Where has your lover withdrawn

that we
may seek him with you?

Oh St. Clare,
Santa Chiara,

most beautiful among women,

come to my aid...

awaken my early love!

Instill in me 

a spirit

of penance,

of fortitude,

all that 

I need 

to follow 

Christ!

Tell him I sicken,

suffer,

and die...

Tell him.

Pray for me.

Pray for us...

Remember me.

Remember when ...

Today,

this day of graces,

overflowing torrents ...

pick for me 

mandrakes,
which give forth fragrance,

to awaken love

and devotion,

strong as death.

Protect 

your little flock

and 

all the poor.

Speak to the

Divine Infant Jesus,

that he will

protect

and defend 

our

Holy Faith

against the 

attacks

of the 

enemy.

St. Clare,

pray for me,

pray for us...
obtain for us
pure

hearts,

pure
prayer.

Pray for us 

clarity

to see

and love

the Truth.

+

Hail Mary,
full or grace!
The Lord is
with you.
Blessed are you
among women!
Blessed is the fruit
of your womb,
 Jesus!
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us
sinners,
now
and at the hour
of our death.
Amen.

You win. I lose.

To tell the truth, I have bent over backwards trying to see some good in this woman and her campaign - I have strained the gnat with her VP running mate - looking for a thread of justification to vote for them - hoping, thinking, believing - at least he's a Catholic - a 'liberal' no doubt - but maybe he'll have a deeper conversion or just be more open to life and maybe even have some influence with Hillary on the issues.  Maybe his 'seamless garment' might get a hole poked in it when it comes to abortion and gender-politics and homosexual marriage and, and, and, and ... boing!

But then Joe Biden steps out - he's really one of my favorite people in the world BTW!  I'm so serious.  But then he goes and marries two guys in his house.  A good Catholic man marries two men.  How does that work?

Then it hits me.  I realize I'm in denial, magical thinking mode, co-dependent-enabler gear.

I lost - all is lost - these people have a different faith than I do, they follow a different form of Catholicism than I do.  They don't read the same Catechism.  That's it!  That's how and why they are such good Catholics then!  Nope.  I'm not judging.  I'm not condemning.

I just can't vote for these people.

The Feast of St. Lawrence ... Why the tears? Patron saint of comedians? Huh?

Patron saint of Speedos.

So here's the deal.

He was killed because he wasn't funny.

The tears?  Like I said, he wasn't funny.

What?

Happy feast day Hi-LARIUS!

August 9, 1945

Nagasaki before and after.

Get Back ....

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, 

“The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.

Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, 

but do not follow their example. 

For they preach but they do not practice.  

They tie up heavy burdens [hard to carry] 

and lay them on people’s shoulders, 

but they will not lift a finger to move them.  

All their works are performed to be seen. 

They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.  

They love places of honor at banquets, 

seats of honor in synagogues, 

greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’

- Matthew 23

Do not follow their example.

I'm going back to the beginning.  When I was oblivious to bishops and cardinals and teachers of the law and all I thought about was "Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament and no one keeps him company."  I need to get back to that.  I need to let the dead bury their dead.  I keep saying that.  I keep trying.  I'm going to keep on trying.

Song for this post here.

The Sin of Sodom

Attila Richard Lukacs

A provocative response to Bishop Nunzio Galantino's strange speech at WYD:

The sin of Sodom was that as a sovereign city-state it had legitimized sexual behaviors that were contrary to divine natural law. But isn’t that exactly what sovereign Western states are doing today by means of their courts and governmental authorities? At some point following this Year of Mercy could the West experience a Year of Judgment? - Source

I appreciate how the author expressed that - 'as a sovereign city-state it had legitimized sexual behaviors contrary to divine natural law.'  Pope Francis in turn pointed out to the Polish Bishops, quoting Pope Benedict, ‘It's the epoch of sin against God the Creator.’  Hence Galantino's mythological interpretation of how the story ended is all the more disconcerting.

We are daily confused by media reports covering sexual morality and religion, world affairs and politics, gender theory and social engineering tactics.

I think this confusion seeps into organizations, groups and now most especially families, and without recourse to prayer, it disrupts peace, unity and harmony.

It seems to me the Year of Mercy is being rebuffed and resisted, so I tend to wonder, along with the author of the quote above, if perhaps we may be in store for some sort of 'just judgment' after this extraordinary year of grace?  The civic leadership in the United States is pretty much completely immoral, and the leadership of religious bodies is weak and full of compromise.  It's rather unsettling.

"Put no trust in princes-in mortal men-in whom there is no salvation."

I'm beginning to think there might be something crooked going on with the Democrats...

Obama and the money sent to Iran ... something's off with that.

The Iranians have bragged that the astonishing cash payment was a ransom — and Obama has been telling us for months that we can trust the Iranians. - source

Hillary and her emails ... then the scientist in Iran is killed ... something's off with that.

Hillary Clinton recklessly discussed, in emails hosted on her private server, an Iranian nuclear scientist who was executed by Iran for treason, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Sunday. - source

I'm not sure I can trust these people.

Just a hunch.

Hillary and Bill in their spy-drone.

More things I don't get: Joe Biden marries two men???

I don't get it?  I thought he was already married to Jill?  Is he a gay man?  He must be.  And how can three people get married to each other?  Princess Diana said there were three people in her marriage, but at least one of them was a man.

This makes no sense.

Flash Back: What If a Woman Could Become President? ... Women Say the Darndest Things

Here's something: Homosexuals who “marry” each other are almost three times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual counterparts...

Ah.  That would be me ...

If I were to have married someone of the same sex, that is.  (Probably the other way around as well.)  I totally believe the study.

And someday I'll tell you why.

Here's the news story:

Homosexuals who “marry” each other are almost three times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual counterparts, even in very gay-friendly Sweden, according to a study published in the May issue of the European Journal of Epidemiology. 

The authors of the study noted that social intolerance of homosexual behavior could not so easily be blamed for increased suicide risk, given that Sweden is known for its accepting attitude towards same-sex relationships.

“Even in a country with a comparatively tolerant climate regarding homosexuality such as Sweden, same-sex married individuals evidence a higher risk for suicide than other married individuals,” the authors note. - Married homos

If they have kids I'm sure their kids probably have an inclination to suicide as well.

And someday I will tell you why.

In the meantime, repent and go to confession and frequent the sacraments and pray.  You need to do that to obtain pardon and peace - and remain to help your friend(s).

And someday I will tell you why.