From the Canadian fires...
People have lost everything - it's all gone. Imagine. If there were 'preppers' among them - even their emergency supplies were consumed in the inferno.
Friday, May 06, 2016
The smell of smoke in Minneapolis ...
From the Canadian fires...
People have lost everything - it's all gone. Imagine. If there were 'preppers' among them - even their emergency supplies were consumed in the inferno.
Thursday, May 05, 2016
The Vigil to Dry Tears ...
The Madonna of Tears in Syracuse, Sicily.
The relic of tears of the Madonna was displayed
in St Peter’s basilica in Rome today
during a special vigil celebrated by Pope Francis.
Thinking, praying ...
For Syria.
The refugees.
The children's hospital.
The fires in Canada.
For every one weeping and mourning ...
+
I wonder if we may understand Our Lady's tears in this way:
Let my eyes stream with tears
day and night, without rest,
Over the great destruction which overwhelms
the virgin daughter of my people,
over her incurable wound.
+
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, "clean the stains of my soul and give me tears of penance, loving tears out of love, tears of salvation, tears that cleanse the darkness of my mind, making me light so that I may see you, Light of the world, enlightenment to my repentant eyes." - St. Simeon the New Theologian
Wednesday, May 04, 2016
Yom Hashoah
The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah. When the actual date of Yom Hashoah falls on a Friday, the state of Israel observes Yom Hashoah on the preceding Thursday. When it falls on a Sunday, Yom Hashoah is observed on the following Monday. - Source
I don't know ...
I don't know Charlie Johnston.
I don't know if Our Lady appears at Medjugorje.
I don't know why icons weep.
I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.
I don't know who will be president.
I don't know.
I'm sorry if I gave the impression I did.
I hope.
The Vigil to Dry Tears and Our Lady of Tears of Syracuse
Reliquary of Our Lady of Tears of Syracuse.
On the evening of May 5th the Holy Father will preside over the Vigil to Dry Tears.
On May 5th, in Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Holy Father will preside at a Vigil dedicated to those who suffer in soul and body. The reliquary of Our Lady of Tears of Syracuse will be displayed for the veneration of the faithful.To dry faces streaked with the tears of physical or spiritual suffering and to bring them consolation: this is the purpose of the Prayer Vigil “To Dry the Tears”, at which Pope Francis will preside on 5 May at 18:00 in Saint Peter’s Basilica. All those suffering interiorly are invited to come to receive spiritual comfort. - Vatican Press ReleaseProvidentially the Vigil takes place as Holocaust Remembrance Day concludes, although I didn't see any reference to that observance.
Antonina and Angelo Iannuso with weeping Madonna.
During the Vigil the reliquary of Our Lady of Tears of Syracuse will be displayed for the veneration of the faithful in Saint Peter’s Basilica. This reliquary is linked to the extraordinary phenomenon that occurred between 29 August and 1 September, 1953, when a small plaster picture depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, hung above the bed of a young married couple, Angelo Iannuso and Antonina Giusto, shed human tears. The reliquary contains part of the tears that flowed miraculously from the image of Our Lady.I included that last part because it seems to explain the meaning of weeping statues and icons - that rather than a warning of doom, the tears represent the maternal refuge one finds in the Blessed Virgin, our Mother. "The tears of Mary are a sign of her maternal love and her participation in the lives of her children." The tears of Mary are intended "to encourage, console, sustain and guide those in times of trial to entrust themselves to the Virgin Mary without reserve, with the confidence of children."
The tears of Mary are a sign of her maternal love and her participation in the lives of her children: this is why they will be in the Basilica during the Vigil, as if to encourage, console, sustain and guide those in times of trial to entrust themselves to the Virgin Mary without reserve, with the confidence of children, particularly in this month dedicated to her. - Vatican
Antonina Iannuso in room where Our Lady first shed tears.
Pius XII confirmed the miraculous tears and healings
on a Vatican radio broadcast in 1954.
Story here.
Tuesday, May 03, 2016
Hail to the Chief ...
Psycho Cruz ensured he'd win ...
Hillary can't beat Trump. She's just like Cruz - no one wants her, no one likes her - she can't win.
Song for this post here.
More serious stuff now ...
Father Alfred Delp, S.J.
Tomorrow evening Yom Ha'Shoah begins.
Yom Ha'Shoah means Holocaust Remembrance Day. I often think of the Holocaust - aspect of it has more or less formed my spirituality throughout the years. Like the message of Fatima in many ways. I used to fast 'concentration camp' style on fast days ... I won't explain what that meant now. In fact I just mentioned the Holocaust in a comment on one of my posts yesterday.
That said, I just want to share something I came across by Fr. Alfred Delp, S.J. from yesterday's meditation in Magnificat. Delp's witness, along with so many other victims of the Nazis can help us today when we face the difficulties of life in our 'post-Christian' culture - without whining or running away from reality. Historically, the Jesuits went into the peripheries, as the Holy Father would say, and Alfred Delp was no exception. I love Jesuit spirituality.
Anyway - people online love memes - but they don't seem to remember them after they post them. In monastic spirituality there is the term rumination - it is part of traditional Lectio Divina. The monk ruminates the Word during prayer and throughout the day, he eats it, chews it, and it enters the heart. Try that with your memes - don't post and walk away and forget what you read or what you posted.
That's a long introduction for the following quote from Alfred Delp, which I found helpful and would like to repeat here - it could be a meme maybe ...
"We all proceed from one failure to another, and after every collapse we come out with less substance and more wounds - all of us. When we are tired and tempted to give up, instead of blaming fate or circumstances, we should ask ourselves whether we are living sufficiently close to God, whether we have called on him earnestly enough." - Father Alfred Delp, S.J.
Target rape-rooms ....
Sorry - I read raperoom used instead of restroom on a Catholic blog and laughed out loud.
I understand the concern. I get the boycott. I just doubt Target intended the restrooms to become raperooms. Can you imagine how exciting that term is to sex maniacs?
Maybe the Muslims who work there can do something about it? They have strict rules regarding men and women.
Either way - heads will roll. (Just an expression.) Target is a corporation - stocks are down because of the boycott - it will be fixed.
Monday, May 02, 2016
New feature: The parts of Amoris Laetitia 'good' Catholics will probably ignore ...
282 A sexual education that fosters a healthy sense of modesty has immense value, however much some people nowadays consider modesty a relic of a bygone era. Modesty is a natural means whereby we defend our personal privacy and prevent ourselves from being turned into objects to be used. Without a sense of modesty, affection and sexuality can be reduced to an obsession with genitality and unhealthy behaviors that distort our capacity for love, and with forms of sexual violence that lead to inhuman treatment or cause hurt to others.
Yeah. Just concentrate on the footnotes instead.
Ask yourself,
What would Our Lady wear?
Now, a modesty tip for Catholic men and boys:
Notice how low-rise this scrawny young man’s jeans are. Yet he maintains his sense of modesty by pulling up his underwear to cover:
a) the pubic region
b) butt cleavage in back.
Now if this clean cut young man were to work outside on a hot day and needed to remove his shirt, he would be perfectly modest.
Sunday, May 01, 2016
Him Updated Etsy Shop
Our Lady Undoer of Knots
T. Nelson
Acrylic on 8"x10" Rococo Wood Panel
NLA
[My apologies the photo isn't as crisp as it
should be, but at the base of the painting
I added a scene of refugees in shadow
fleeing war and terror.]
I added 4 retablos today and marked down a couple of other pieces. Visit my shop here if you are interested. Tell 'em Lloyd Braun sent you.
St. Peter Martyr
-source-
St. Peter of Verona exorcising a possessed statue
of the Madonna and Child.
St. Catherine is now venerated on April 29, which used to be his feast day.
St. Peter is my special patron - my second middle name is Peter, and I have had a special devotion to him since I was very young. I was always intrigued that he was martyred with an ax to the head, and finally stabbed to death as he began to write the Creed in his blood. The fresco shown above is actually a new detail of his life I had not known before.
St. Peter was an inquisitor and exorcist and a great preacher, fighting against the Albigensian heresy. Therefore it stands to reason the scene depicted here would have occurred. I just never thought of religious objects, or devotional statues as being possessed.
One more reason to be guarded concerning reports of bleeding statues and weeping icons.
St. Peter elevates the Blessed Sacrament in the rite of exorcism - a good reminder to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who inspires and perfects our faith.
Remain united to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and close to Our Lady in the prayers of the rosary.
St. Peter of Verona, pray for us.
The Saint is credited with starting the Fascinator hat
trend British women so enjoy wearing - as well as fashionable
broaches and stick pin accessories
in memory of the dagger he was stabbed with.
Patron saint of milliners and costume jewelry makers
- he ought to be.
I just made up the part about
the hats and accessories.
What?
Saturday, April 30, 2016
This is interesting: Kevin O'Brien on Charlie Johnston
Lloyd Braun
Serenity now!
I've written about Charlie Johnston locutionist-visionary-mystic before - and most of my readers at least, never heard of him. Nevertheless, Mr. Johnston has turned up in Catholic news once again, thanks in part to Kevin O'Brien calling him out. Mr. O'Brien makes a pretty good case that Mr. Johnston may be 'dissimulating' some facts about himself. Kevin O'Brien is an excellent commentator - he's always reminded me of Bill Geist, sharp wit, straight commentary - and funny. He writes well and is a great character actor. Although he's serious in his take down of Charlie Johnston - who now makes me think of Lloyd Braun - the guy who fooled George and his dad with fake computer phone sales:
Frank: He's crazy. His phone wasn't even hooked up. He just liked ringing
that bell.
And that's perhaps another reason why I don't get excited about locutionists. But I sure wish Kevin O'Brien was online on a regular basis. But I digress, and now, without further ado:
Charlie Johnston is from Belleville.
If you come from St. Louis, that's all you need to know.
Charlie is the kind of guy you'd meet in a bar in Belleville, Illinois - a working class community across the river from St. Louis, where I'm from. Guys from Belleville - and from all over Southern Illinois - are characters. They come up with tall tales and you sit on a bar stool listening to them and you take everything they say with a grain of salt because they're from Belleville.
Charlie Johnston is a liar. Or a teller of tall tales. Take your pick. (That's harsh - think of him in terms of Lloyd Braun. Kidding - but perhaps one may be delusional? I don't know.)
He says an angel is giving him secret messages. He says, among other things, that the last normal Christmas was Christmas of 2013, and if you didn't notice how abnormal Christmas of 2014 and Christmas of 2015 were, that's not his fault. He says that his angel has told him that Obama will not finish his term; that he will convert and that the 2016 elections will be suspended. He says that the Virgin Mary will publicly appear in 2017 and that there will be a utopia of Christian believers on earth from that point forward. He says he walked across America - even though he appears to be in his 70's, is overweight, admits to having nerve damage, and his own posts on his Facebook page prove that he did no such thing.
On Friday, April 29, the National Catholic Register published a well written and well researched article by Patti Armstrong detailing Charlie's weirdness and the bishops who have warned their flocks about him and banned him from speaking in their dioceses. In that article, Patti quotes me, and my two posts on Charlie (this one and this one).
Charlie's response? - Finish reading here.
Kevin O'Brien is pissed because people are duped. Johnston offers some practical advice, though his other predictions - such as the US elections being cancelled can be pretty off the wall - desperate people hear what they want to hear - they follow these reports, they listen to visionaries who speak 'without any mandate' from the Church, often upsetting people 'with their teachings and disturbing their peace of mind'. -Acts 15: 22-31
"Time will prove where wisdom lies."
I often think of John of the Cross of whom it is said remained alone reading scripture while his novices went off to satisfy their curiosity, visiting a stigmatic and visionary in the locale. St. John chose the better part - and for those who do likewise, it will never be taken from you.
Now with the Fatima Centenary approaching, all sorts of people are projecting events foretold in the Third Secret and its warnings seem to coincide with all the wars and rumors of war, terrorism, weather related disasters, earthquakes and so on. Just be cautious, remembering, "If it were possible, even the elect would be led astray."
Stay close to the Church ... pray and don't worry.
And keep your sense of humor - works for me!
Friday, April 29, 2016
The Holy Face
Holy Face - Terry Nelson
10x7
acrylic on wood
2016
Detail
I'm often not happy with my work, but this comes closest to pleasing me than most of my paintings.
This is available at my Etsy shop here.
Works for me ...
St. Catherine in Papal Court
Even if the Pope were Satan incarnate, we ought not to raise up our heads against him, but calmly lie down to rest on his bosom. He who rebels against our Father is condemned to death, for that which we do to him we do to Christ: we honor Christ if we honor the Pope; we dishonor Christ if we dishonor the Pope. I know very well that many defend themselves by boasting: “They are so corrupt, and work all manner of evil!” But God has commanded that, even if the priests, the pastors, and Christ-on-earth were incarnate devils, we be obedient and subject to them, not for their sakes, but for the sake of God, and out of obedience to Him. - Saint Catherine of Siena in St. Catherine of Siena, SCS, p. 201-202, p. 222.
h/t Fr. Z
Bars
Mums and Dadums.
Just off the top of my head I recalled the names of some of the bars my parents frequented - the ones I pretty much grew up in:
Viaduct Inn
Corteau's
Yarusso's
Gentiles
The Wagon Wheel
The Tin Cup
Belmont Club
Payne Ave Rec.
Arlington Rec.
Mancini's
Depot Bar
Phalen Park
The Lamb's Club
The Chatterbox
Schweitz's
Moose Lodge
Gopher Bar
Raiola's
Skarda's
Parrish's
The Poodle Dog
Gallivan's
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Memo to parents: In the development of masculine identity it is important to be good in sports. (Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons)
Wrestling is especially good for the guys, said Coach Hastert.
Encourage boys to play sports and do boys stuff,
you know, just to make sure they do not turn out gay...
we want them big and strong manly men.
If you get your son into sports at an early age, he won't be a queer.
Today former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison for his attempt to bribe a victim by illegally withdrawing funds to pay him to keep silent. The judge called him a 'serial child molester' - but the boys-to-young-men victims were not children ... Hmmmmmmm. How very queer.
Hastert couldn't be charged with sex abuse because the statute of limitations expired.
Don't say it is child sexual abuse - in this case it really is queer. Boys in the 1950's and '60's used to be shown films in Health Class about homosexual predators who went after teenage boys - some gay guys do that - there used to be gay slang for it. Hastert knew what he was doing. Today, no one will admit to such categorizations and they insist upon calling it pedophilia. It's not. Hastert obviously liked teen boys and young men - and liked giving them oral sex. It doesn't get much gayer than that. Guys like him don't want a femme boy to have back door sex with - they want a masculine boy.
Get your terms straight - and tell your kids to watch out for their coach.
This is wonderful news: Promulgation of the decree of heroic virtue of the Servant of God MarÃa Montserrat Grases GarcÃa
Montserrat Grases
1941-1959
'While still quite young, Grases (Spain, 1941-1959) received God’s call to serve him in ordinary life. During the sickness that led to her death, she gave exemplary witness to her friends and relatives of the peace that comes from closeness to God.' - Read more here.
All you who are thirsty, who have no money, come - without paying and without cost! - Isaiah 55:1
The key here is Montse 'received God's call to serve him in ordinary life'. That is the ordinary vocation of the Christian. Ordinary life sanctified by God's grace. Ordinary life ... every day ordinary life ...
In her struggle to reach holiness, Montse always stood out for her love for the Sacred Humanity of Christ, her Eucharistic piety, her devotion to the Blessed Virgin, her deep humility and her effort to serve others. She knew how to find God in the loving fulfillment of her work and study duties, in the small things of each day. - Source
That's it - that is the ordinary way.
You don't even have to join any group, support group or secular religious group. Christ calls each of us - we have the Church, the sacraments, the Blessed Virgin and Christ. I am Christ's and Christ is mine ...
"Mine are the heavens and mine is the earth. Mine are the nations, the just are mine, and mine the sinners. The angels are mine, and the Mother of God, and all things are mine; and God Himself is mine and for me, because Christ is mine and all for me." - St. John of the Cross
This news is so refreshing and so edifying to me today, especially in consideration of all the online tumult involving individuals who speak and write against the Church and the Pope these days. There is one Church, One Holy Catholic Church, it doesn't matter which form of Mass you prefer and attend, Ordinary Form or Extraordinary Form - by baptism we are called to sanctify ordinary life. We don't need to spend our time exposing lies and falsehoods, or jumping on every boycott wagon or signing every petition which comes along. Not at all. We need to learn, as Montse did, how to find God in the devout fulfillment of the duties of our state of ordinary life. It is the little way, and the ordinary way. It is the beatitudes. It is the call of Fatima. It is the message of Vatican II.
It is God's will.
Blessed Montserrat, pray for us!
If the Presidential election is between Clinton and Trump ...
Trump will be our next president.
We're doomed either way.
This is so funny ...
After reading the Encyclical of Laudato Si, one blogger posted this reaction last year:
Now that's funny!
I love the Encyclical as well as the recent Exhortation, and of course I love Pope Francis - but this is really funny.
Now that's funny!
I love the Encyclical as well as the recent Exhortation, and of course I love Pope Francis - but this is really funny.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Enough pearl clutching: I think there needs to be an official Diocesan/Canonical inquiry in response to the Voris allegations against the Archdiocese of NY!
"All the members of the Church, have the duty to ask for an authentic interpretation."
Song for this post here.
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Holy Virgin, moved by the painful uncertainty we experience in seeking and acquiring the true and the good, we cast ourselves at thy feet and invoke thee under the sweet title of Mother of Good Counsel. We beseech thee: come to our aid at this moment in our worldly sojourn when the twin darknesses of error and of evil that plots our ruin by leading minds and hearts astray.
.
Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, enlighten the victims of doubt and of error so that they may not be seduced by evil masquerading as good; strengthen them against the hostile and corrupting forces of passion and of sin.
.
Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us from thy Divine Son the love of virtue and the strength to choose, in doubtful and difficult situations, the course agreeable to our salvation. Supported by thy hand we shall thus journey without harm along the paths taught us by the word and example of Jesus our Savior, following the Sun of Truth and Justice in freedom and safety across the battlefield of life under the guidance of thy maternal Star, until we come at length to the harbor of salvation to enjoy with thee unalloyed and everlasting peace. Amen.
(By Pope Pius XII, 23 January 1953)
Monday, April 25, 2016
This is weird ... Have nothing to do with these forms of 'apostolate' ... Nicholson on Voris?
-source-
Get out while the going is good?
I guess Nicholson was Voris' spiritual director and a CMTV friend. Now some bloggers are saying the priest completely disowned them. They are speculating that Nicholson is talking about CMTV in the above statement. I don't know if it is actually something he said or published, but like the accusations against the archdiocese of NY made by Michael - a lot of mud-slinging seems to be going on.
Fr. Nicholson seems to offer a one size fits all diagnosis of what's going on ...
Those who are the most ardent fault finders are those who suffer from a deep self-hatred. Homosexual acts produces in an individual such self-loathing that it not surprising that the gay culture manifests itself in attacking with hostility. Unwittingly the culture of the Internet is dominated by this gay culture ... And today, many Catholics are so deformed that they have succumbed to it. That is why there are groups and individuals who can make a living off of bashing bishops. They survive on poorly formed Catholics. Do not follow or listen to anyone who bashes the sacred hierarchy. It is an evident sign they experience self-loathing. Even if the person has repented of deep sexual sins in their past, human nature will be infected by those sins. It can happen therefore that the prodigal son can turn into the elder brother. Have nothing to do with these forms of "apostolate". - Source
Man. There is so much to unpack there. So much. Right off the bat I sense a duplicity of 'pastoral care' at the end of that statement, "Even if the person has repented of deep sexual sins in their past, human nature will be infected by those sins." Which pretty much equals the secretly held prejudiuce, 'once a homo, always a homo'. And that proves the lie of many who insist 'they hate the sin but love the sinner.' I read the same type of hypocrisy in those pro-life warriors who praised Trump for saying women who get abortions should be punished. One woman online pointed out women she considered sluts to support the Trump statement. Others used their 'experience' in pro-life work to support the same position.
Sunday's Second Reading on how Christ 'makes all things new' as well as the Scripture, 'though your sins be as scarlet he makes them white as snow' simply must not be believed by those people who try to destroy the reputations of others, or hold them to account for their sins that have been forgiven.
'Faithful' Catholics do not want you or me to go out in public without our scarlet letter of sins - number and kind - made public, pasted on our foreheads, and forever holding us in our place of shame. No wonder gay people suffer from self-loathing - they are loathed by the self-righteous.
Not surprisingly, the good father asks for donations now that he has shaken the dust from his sandals:
Dear friends; I apologize for not providing you with a daily video, and this may be for a while. I have ceased doing business with the company that provided the platform. While my future is uncertain, I entrust myself to the Providential goodness of God the Father. If you could, in your kindness continue your financial support during this adventure, I would be most appreciative. God reward you! Fr. Paul Nicholson
"Have nothing to do with these forms of 'apostolate'."
Note: I hate it when this happens - the links have been removed because of newer posts on those sites bordering on calumny and detraction. I'm also closing comments on this post. My apologies.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
I'm working on a new Matt Talbot ...
May 2, 1856 - June 7, 1925
I feel like I have to keep painting him until I meet him again ...
Song for this post here.
Such an amazing painter: Raúl Berzosa
I had forgotten that Matthew Alderman covered him in 2008 and though I searched for the artist's work, I couldn't recall Berzosa's name until today.
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