We're all going to die.

Monster storm approaching Taranto, Puglia, Italy yesterday, 

July 10th. Report: Alessandra Drago / studi100.it

What?

At the risk of sounding kind of crazy, some mystics - like Marie-Julie Hahenny, said that mini-chastisements (such as unprecedented weather events) will accompany an interior notion (in individuals) that something bigger, more catastrophic, is on the way. 

The purpose is to warn people to repent. 

The inference being there will be warnings in and through plagues, severe storms, tempests, crop failures, frequent earthquakes and other signs in nature to prepare/warn the faithful. Though I don't follow prophecies or private revelations like these, I was reminded of them after the series of strong storms with ostrich-egg size hail in Italy, Greece, as well as the six-feet of hail in Guadalajara last week, and of course the over 10,000 earthquakes in So. California since July 4th. So who knows? 

Of course there can be no denial that the weather related phenomena is entirely natural and part of climate change - which is more or less a warning in itself. Going to confession is a great way to get ready for the big one - whatever that might be. 

Marie-Julie Jahenny was a Breton mystic and stigmatist.

She was also devoted to O.L. of LaSalette.

Monsieur Vincent, RIP

Vincent Lambert died this morning after having been denied the basic food and water he needed to survive for over a week. All human beings, regardless of ability level, deserve to live free from the violence of intentional starvation. May he rest in peace. -  Rehumanize International

I don't like to simply post quotes ...

But I will today.

So that I can remember them.

“Become simple and live simply, not only within yourself but also in your everyday dealings. Don’t make ripples all around you, don’t try to be interesting, keep your distance, be honest, fight the desire to be thought fascinating by the outside world.” -  Etty Hillesum

With increasing regularity, Etty described her compulsion to drop to her knees in prayer. Toward the end of her journals, God had become the explicit partner of her internal dialogue: “God take me by Your hand, I shall follow You faithfully, and not resist too much, I shall evade none of the tempests life has in store for me, I shall try to face it all as best I can…. I shall try to spread some of my warmth, of my genuine love for others, wherever I go…. I sometimes imagine that I long for the seclusion of a nunnery. But I know that I must seek You amongst people, out in the world. And that is what I shall do…. I vow to live my life out there to the full.” - Etty Hillesum

In a Nazi transit camp, Etty Hillesum wrote in her diary: “Sometimes when I stand in some corner of the camp, my feet planted on earth, my eyes raised towards heaven, tears run down my face, tears of deep emotion and gratitude.”  On September 7, 1943, Etty and her family were placed on a transport train to Poland. From a window of the train she tossed out a card that read, “We have left the camp singing.” - Source

I like this particular thought very much: “I know that a new and kinder day will come. I would so much like to live on, if only to express all the love I carry within me. And there is only one way of preparing the new age, by living it even now in our hearts.”

I have a similar sense.  

My Favorite Martyrs

Blood of Christ,

strength of confessors,

save us.

Those who died for their fidelity to the Pope...

  - And faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

I want to share the story of the Gorkum Martyrs, men who were tortured and mutilated before and after being hanged to death. They died a martyr's death because they would not renounce their faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and because of their obedience and fidelity to the Pope.  How fitting to commemorate them once again in our day.

The Gorkum Martyrs.

By 1572, the Netherlands had fallen culturally and politically into Protestant hands, and Catholics of the country became objects of persecution for Lutherans and Calvinists alike. As town after town fell to Protestant control, the Catholic clergy of the area were arrested and often tortured. The goal of this mistreatment was not death, but apostasy.

In June of 1572, the town of Gorcum (modern Gorinchem, 20 miles west of Rotterdam) fell into the hands of Calvinist pirates, and immediately they arrested nine Franciscan priests. Later, two Franciscan lay brothers, three secular priests, and an Augustinian canon were also arrested. Eventually four more priests were added to their number. These included two Norbertines, another secular priest, and John of Cologne, a Dominican friar working outside of Gorcum. After hearing of the arrests of the Franciscans, St. John disguised himself and traveled to Gorcum to console his brother priests with the sacraments. He was eventually caught and imprisoned along with them.

The pirates demanded that these nineteen priests and religious deny the Real Presence and the authority of the Pope. They refused, much to their captors’ distress. Despite a plea for leniency from William of Orange, the Dutch prince and leader of the Protestant Rebellion, the Calvinists of Gorcum transferred their prisoners to nearby Brielle, where they were martyred outside of town in a dilapidated shed. Their bodies were horrifically desecrated both before and after their deaths, out of mockery for their priesthood.

De heilige Andreas Wouters / Arnoldus.

One of the secular priests, Andreas Wouters was notorious for his unchastity. When accused of this by his captors, he offered his famous reply, “Fornicator I always was, but heretic I never was.” - Source

St. Andreas' example is encouraging to all of us 'steeped in sin since birth' demonstrating the love and mercy of God who will choose the most unlikely of sinners to participate in the Passion and Death of His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  The Precious Blood of Christ is the courage of martyrs, the hope of the penitent, even bringing forth virgins from those who were once contaminated by the world's slow stain.

Novena In Preparation For the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Monasterio de los Carmelitas Descalzadas de Cristo Rey

San Francisco

O Beautiful Flower of Carmel, 

most fruitful vine, 

splendor of heaven, 

holy and singular, 

who brought forth the Son of God, 

still ever remaining a pure virgin, 

assist us in our necessity! 

O Star of the Sea, 

help and protect us! 

Show us that you are our Mother! 

Devotion

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is an ancient devotion, and one, it seems to me, necessary in our times when there are signs of persecution and the threat of war. When the dogma of faith is challenged and compromised throughout Christendom. When paganism has once again attracted and made captive mainstream society. When idolatry has replaced true worship of God the Father in spirit and truth.

Mt. Carmel reminds us of the Prophet Elijah of course, he who defeated the false prophets of Baal. The Order of Carmel has always seen the prophets Elijah and Elisha as the 'proto-founders' of the order. In the passage from Kings wherein Elijah sees the "little cloud rising from the sea" from his perch atop the summit of Mt. Carmel many have written that this little cloud prefigures the Virgin who would bear the Savior - hence, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

The last apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes took place on the feast of Mt. Carmel, July 16:

The 18th appearance 16 July 1858

This was the final appearance. Because the grotto was barricaded by the local government, Bernadette knelt outside the fence by the riverbank. "I thought I was at the Grotto, at the same distance as I was the other times. All I saw was Our Lady ... She was more beautiful than ever."

Perhaps more significantly, at Fatima Our Lady showed herself as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel during the miracle of the sun. For me, there are intriguing parallels on that account with the Prophet Elijah in his confrontation with the pagan priests on Carmel, and calling down fire from heaven. Because of that, it lends an apocalyptic nuance to the final vision of Fatima.