This is interesting ... Martyred by Turks

The Martyrdom of St. Irene the Virgin Martyr of Lesbos.

"St Irene was the twelve-year-old daughter of the village mayor, Basil. 
The cruel Hagarenes cut off one of her arms and threw it down in front of her parents. 
Then the pure virgin was placed in a large earthen cask 
and a fire was lit under it, suffocating her within. 
These torments took place before the eyes of her parents, 
who were also put to death. - source

How St. Irene's grave and the earthen cask in which died were found.

St. Irene, the Newly Appeared Martyr of Lesvos (ca. 1451 – 9 April 1463) is an Eastern Orthodox saint martyred by Turkish soldiers with her companions Sts.Raphael and Nicholas on Bright Tuesday (April 9) of 1463, a decade after the Fall of Constantinople.

In 1959, workers found the holy relics of St. Raphael of Lesbos as they cleared rubble to build a chapel, and shortly thereafter St. Raphael, along with Sts. Nicholas and Irene, started appearing to many Lesbos residents and told them the stories of their lives. After St. Irene revealed to the residents of Lesbos the place of her grave, her holy relics were discovered on March 12, 1961 in the clay cask in which she was martyred. - Source

My thoughts.

The Turks massacred these Christians over 500 years ago - in much the same way ISIS is slaying Christians today.  How curious.  

What I find intriguing is that the relics of these saints were only discovered in 1959, and the stories of their martyrdom miraculously revealed.  (St Irene's relics discovered in March, 1961.)  The saints appeared separately to different people, asking to be remembered and venerated, and honored by a chapel.  Save for the greater glory of God, why did they suddenly seek to be remembered?  God only knows.

Yet could it be that their witness would soon become important for us today - when the threat of Islamic terrorism once again threatens the Church in the East, Middle East and Africa?  Just thinking out loud here...

Although I still have to wonder how some can claim Islamic terrorists are not Muslim, when the history of Islam is filled with violent persecution, enslavement, and the extermination of Christians? 

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"There is also the superstition of the Ishmaelites which to this day prevails and keeps people in error, being a forerunner of the Antichrist...

"From that time to the present a false prophet named Mohammed has appeared in their midst. This man devised his own heresy. Then, having insinuated himself into the good graces of the people by a show of seeming piety, he gave out that a certain book had been sent down to him from heaven. He had set down some ridiculous compositions in this book of his and he gave it to them as an object of veneration." - St. John of Damascus (8th c.)

Here's a thought: As long as we're talking about a "piecemeal" World War III...

How about recognizing a piecemeal schism?

How about recognizing a piecemeal great apostasy?  

How about a piecemeal Islam?

I agree with the Holy Father's observation that we are in a piecemeal WWIII - I have no problem whatsoever with what the Pope says...

Just with the rest of you.

Last night I caught a rerun of Bill Donohue on EWTN.  What a load of _____.  He and Arroyo were discussing the St. Pat's parade and Donohue was explaining why he decided not to march.  The whole thing boils down to the fact he was kept out of the loop and felt betrayed.  Who cares.

Betrayed, bewildered... wrong response?

So many of our arguments online are just ego jousts, self promotion and "I'm more Catholic than you" popularity contests.

Some of these conflicts betray something deeper, more divisive.

There really is a piecemeal schism.  This weekend I noted on one 'news' portal (and elsewhere) a few not so subtle little digs over the announcement of the feast days for St.s John XXIII and John Paul II.  I got the impression they were more than pleased that the feast days were not obligatory memorials. What is so schismatic about that?   It is an attitude shared by those folks who reject Vatican II, the Ordinary Form of Mass, and just about everything Pope Francis says.  (Not to forget "all those Fatima 'crazies'.." whose comments will be removed if she keeps posting her crap.)

Yeah, but, a piecemeal great apostasy?   Look around:  Closing churches.  Bad catechesis.  Unfaithful Catholic colleges and universities.  Christians who claim to be spiritual but not religious.  The general population disagrees with Church teaching on contraception and abortion, homosexuality and marriage, and so on.  While religious leaders seek to accommodate teaching to be more welcoming.  It's piecemeal, of course.

Maybe - but a piecemeal Islam?  Really?  Islam is a major religion, a religion of peace.

That is what I get so tired of hearing and reading.  Be it President Obama or some Cardinal claiming Islam is so much like Christianity.  Everyone bends over backwards to say ISIS is not Islamic.  That ISIS can't just decide on their own to form a caliphate.  As if the claims made by ISIS don't count because they don't play by the rules.  To say they are not Islamic is like saying the Nuns on the Bus are not Catholic, or Pro-choice politicians like Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden are not Catholic.  They certainly believe they are.

People are pretending.  Either that, or they are deluded.  Or.  Schismatic?  Piecemeal of course.  Apostate? Piecemeal to be sure.  Embracing Islam, the religion of piecemeal?

“In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate

 - that's just like the sign of the cross!"

Watch your neck...

So anyway...  Cardinal McCarrick.

“In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate,” McCarrick said as he introduced himself to the audience at a meeting arranged by the Muslim Public Affairs Council. That praise of the Islamic deity is an important phrase in Islam, is found more than 100 times in the Koran, and is akin to the Catholic prayer, ”In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

“Catholic social teaching is based on the dignity of the human person… [and] as you study the holy Koran, as you study Islam, basically, this is what Muhammad the prophet, peace be upon him, has been teaching.” - Story here.

That sounds fairly piecemeal to me.

I may be wrong of course.

"Never in the history of New York’s 

St. Patrick’s Day Parade 

have homosexuals been barred from marching."

Bill Donohue

Muslim Leaders insist there is no caliphate...

Thinking about the terrorists.

Muslim leaders reject ISIS's claim.

Muslim leaders reject Boko Haram's claim.

Yet terrorists are being recruited from mainstream Islamic communities in the United States as well as Europe.  These people are eager to join the new caliphate.

Muslim scholars/leaders insist they can't form a caliphate.  But they did.

It's kind of like the Reformation - Protestants formed their own catholic church - and today we want Christian unity.  Perhaps it's similar to schism?  Fundamentalist reform?  Heresy?  It doesn't change the reality - they exist.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Boko Haram* call it a caliphate and will behead anyone who disagrees.


*It's what they do:  Boko Haram has targeted Christians in areas the group controls in Nigeria, reportedly beheading all Christian men and forcing the widows into sexual slavery.