What?

More on St. Gabriel Possenti

(I love this sculpture.)

Art: KJ James

Saint Gabriel de Possenti

patron saint of gun nuts 

for no good reason.

Patron saint of gun nuts ... for no good reason.

My devotion to St. Gabriel goes back to 2nd or 3rd grade - he and St. Aloysius, St. Stanislaus Kostka, John Berchmans, were all special patrons to me.  All young saints.  It doesn't make me an expert on their life and virtue of course, but I'm familiar enough to know some of the apocrypha surrounding their lives.

People make things up about the saints, hagiographers embellish their lives, and write unrealistic accounts.  How many saints are considered 'gay saints' today?  With absolutely no evidence, or in some cases, misconstruing episodes or relationships in their lives according to 20th century understanding to suit an agenda.  S. Sebastian and S. Joan of Arc are perhaps the most celebrated as 'queer' saints.  Yesterday St. Gabriel Possenti was celebrated by Catholic gun cultists as patron saint of gunners and marksmen - all based upon an apocryphal story of the saint.

Last night I researched my little library and found nothing to give credence to the story.  One book in particular, printed in 1910 shortly after the beatification of Possenti, Life of Blessed Gabriel, CP by Nicholas Ward, CP, was valuable in shedding light on the question.  The book is based entirely on the positio for the cause of Gabriel Possenti.  It contains the biography of the saint, testimony of witnesses, step by step on the Work of Perfection - detailing the saints practice of the cardinal and theological virtues, as well as details of the miracles attributed to him after death.  All the evidence necessary for beatification.

The purported episode with the gun is nowhere to be found, and the story itself is not at all characteristic of the saint's conduct.  The manner in which the biography is written, with the emphasis on religious discipline makes it even more unbelievable.  The Confraters - the name used for Passionist male religious, pretty much did nothing without permission.  It's doubtful they would be wandering around town on their own, especially in a situation like the one described.

The story was inserted into his biography 25 - 30 years ago.  “As far as we can tell, it’s anecdotal,” Carrillo says of the Isola gunfight. “It appears in a particular biography written about 25 to 30 years ago, and it is not likely to be based in historical fact.”

The story is promoted by the St. Gabriel Possenti Society and Society chairman John M. Snyder.  Their evidence is based upon a biography of the saint written by Rev. Godfrey Poage, C.P., who stated in the introduction to his book published in 1962, explained that, ‘nothing was said that had not been quoted by eyewitnesses, at least in the third person.’  Yeah, well.  I was around in 1962 and there was a trend to make saints appealing to modern youth and methinks the gun story was inserted to make Gabriel a bit more appealing to all American boys.  He looked a bit effeminate in the holy cards images distributed, and they certainly didn't want to promote his reputation of a 'dandy' with a taste for fashion, much less his dance expertise dance.

Anyway.  Looks like everyone does this stuff.  Fr. Z promotes gunners, Fr. James Martin promotes gays, and they all pick out patron saints to suit their causes.  Yesterday I did a post on FB calling out Church Militant again.  They did a story on a bishop calling for parishioners to let him know if an announcement wasn't read in their parishes.  They asked, "Is this right for a bishop to ask parishioners to spy on their priests?"  I responded:

This is almost funny. CM questions Bishop Olson's request for parishioners to let him know if an advisory he issued was not read at Masses. CM says the bishop is asking Catholics to spy on their priests. My comment on their post was: "Isn't that what Voris and the rest of you do yourselves? Spy on priests and bishops and publish scandal sheets?" 

Go figure.

I said in my alarm;

'no man can be trusted'

all have gone astray,

there is not a good man left -

there is no one who does good,

no, not even one. 

Gun Nut(s) and Their Idolatrous Devotion to Plaster Saints and Guns. What?

Today is the feast of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, patron saint of youth.

Gun nuts celebrate his feast day because he has been unofficially promoted as a patron of 'hand-gunners and marksmen'.  To my knowledge this has not been approved either by the Congregation of Saints or the Passionists.

Born in Assisi, he was named after the town's patron, Francesco. In his teens, he became the center of attention amongst friends on account of his vivacious spirit - very much like his namesake, St. Francis. Frequenting parties, admired for his sense of fashion and dancing ability ... (what?) ... he was extremely popular. Yet in the midst of much temptation, he preserved a sense of devotion and remained singularly chaste. After completion of his studies, young Francesco revealed his intention to enter the Passionists, surprising his family, while leaving his friends dumbfounded.

Twice before his final decision to enter religious life, the young saint, who also suffered from poor health, promised Our Lady he would devote the rest of his life to God if she obtained his cure. Regaining his health, he twice forgot his promise. While attending a procession one day, he looked upon a banner bearing an image of Our Lady, the Madonna's eyes looked at him and he heard these words; "Keep your promise."

The saint wasted no time and entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Passion, taking the name Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. His life as a cleric was as ordinary as that of St. Therese of Lisieux, and like her, he died of consumption at the age of 24. He is truly another saint of the "little way".

St. Gabriel is also very popular in this country with Catholic gun nuts, since, as I mentioned, gun-nuts have proclaimed him to be the patron saint of hand-gunners. This is due to the fact, consistently disputed by hagiographers, that he supposedly once drove a group of mercenaries from the town his monastery was located, Isola, Italy. As the legend goes, St. Gabriel came to the defense of a young woman who was going to be sexually assaulted. Grabbing the soldier's gun, he held him at bay, shooting a lizard with one shot, the saint demonstrated his skilled marksmanship before the mockery of the insurgents. Stunned, the soldier let the girl go, while the other mercenaries were quickly persuaded to end the looting and extinguish the fires they had set. Afterwards, St. Gabriel drove them out of town, employing the guns he had confiscated from the soldiers. The townsfolk therefore  hailed him as a hero... so the story goes.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has been a long-standing advocate for gun control.

The problem, according to Catholic authorities: Possenti never shot that lizard. He wasn’t much of a marksman at all. In fact, the entire incident never even happened. Officially, Possenti is St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother and, as designated by Pope Benedict XV, the patron saint of Catholic youth. According to the Rev. Arthur Carrillo, director of the Passionists’ Office of Mission Effectiveness [...] “We’re entirely opposed to it,” says Carrillo, who works for Possenti’s order. “The reluctance we have to see this go forward is because it’s taking a political agenda and leveraging religious devotion to serve that purpose.”

“As far as we can tell, it’s anecdotal,” Carrillo says of the Isola gunfight. “It appears in a particular biography written about 25 to 30 years ago, and it is not likely to be based in historical fact.” (A Passionist colleague told the Chicago Tribune in 1987 that the account of Posseti’s reptile rampage was “highly imaginative” and noted that no other biography of the saint referenced any such incident.) - Source

At the canonization of Saint Gabriel, 

Pope Benedict XV declared him a patron saint of Catholic youth, 

of students, and of those studying for the priesthood.

Snow in Rome ... and in Minneapolis!

Saturno with pants.

When Rome freezes over.

Prayers for Syria

We have school shootings - they have suffered war for seven years, and today many, many children are massacred in Ghouta.

The victims in the Eastern Ghouta include 121 children. - BBC

And now airstrikes resume after UN approves ceasefire. - BBC

Donations

CM donation banner.

Or profiteering?

I get it it.  I understand that websites cost money and media outlets are expensive to operate - EWTN for instance, like CBN and Jim Bakker need donor support to exist.  Nothing wrong with that.

The other day I left a comment on Fr. Longenecker's FB page promoting his blog post on his review of Michael Voris' new book.  The blog post is available to donor subscribers only, and so I simply commented, "Pay for view".  It was a sort of comment that could be taken any way I guess.  I simply made the comment, as one might in a conversation - a throw out comment.  Online it's difficult to pick up on that, especially if one is accustomed to criticism, or my own 'crack-pot' comments.  I 'liked' Fr.'s response explaining the expenses of operating a website and why some of his stuff is reserved for the donor-supporters.  That's fair, it makes sense, and he's a writer and deserves to be paid.  Not a problem.  It just seemed weird in that particular instance since his was a 'review' of Voris's book - at Voris's request, which is naturally something done as part of promotion and to boost sales.  So one has to pay to read a review as well?  I'm just saying.  I don't get out much.

I know one subscribes to news online, the NYT and WSJ give readers 5 freebies a month, after that one must subscribe to read more.  That's fine if Catholic entrepreneurs follow suit.  It's fine if people support themselves through donor subscriptions and all of that.  Nice work if you can get it.

With Voris - or 'Church Militant' - it seems a bit more like 'war profiteering' at times.  Their attack upon Church officials and at times, detraction of bishops is deliberately incendiary and provocative, it often goes beyond denunciation of clerical corruption.  I think they and others misinterpret the understanding of Church militant, which comprises all of us who struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil.  It is not a struggle against fellow Catholics or the hierarchy.  It is not about enforcing canons and interdicts or calling for judgments against ecclesiastics.  That's not the spiritual combat Christ calls the ordinary Christian to.

I would never contribute to sites which promote that sort of thing.

Maybe flaming like Savonarola, but...

UPDATE:  I just got this piece of tabloid crap from CM's Facebook page.  The comments are scandalous and disgusting.

Stop, look, listen and unite - for Congo and South Sudan

Day of fasting and prayer for peace in Congo and South Sudan on Feb 23.

“I invite all the faithful, and all non-Catholic and non-Christian brothers and sisters to take part in a special Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace…especially for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the South Sudan,” Pope Francis said on 4 February. - More here.

Battle Royal On EWTN Tonight!

Ratings spike!

Spadaro won't be there but the 'Papal Posse' tag team of Arroyo and Murray and Royal will be, I hope!

February 21, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — During a lively segment of EWTN's "The World Over" last week, “Papal Posse” members Robert Royal and Father Gerald Murray weighed in on three segments from papal adviser Father Antonio Spadaro’s lecture at Georgetown University. They also commented on the Bishop Barros scandal and Cardinal Cupich’s planned New Momentum series of conferences. Spadaro’s lecture was entitled “Pope Francis’ Global Vision and his work for a more just and peaceful world.” 

“Pithy,” remarked Arroyo. - LifeSite

I'm waiting for you-know-who to mention Fr. Spadaro's interest in Pier Vittorio Tondelli when he comments on this current wrestling match - I wonder if Zed has ever been on EWTN?  Pity.

An interdict for EWTN?

Arroyo in the studio recording his first hit - listen here.

Nah.

News swirling online about an interdict for EWTN unless they fire Raymond Arroyo?  They can't do that.  Raymond gets all the celebs to come on and they need that kind of thing to attract viewers and fans of Jim Caviezel.  It won't happen.

There's an element of 'fake news' about the story, although LifeSite says Father Antonio Spadaro is tweeting about it.  I only saw that Tony Annett tweeted it and Spadaro retweeted his tweet.  Haha!  Is that enough for a canonical interdict?  C'mon.

They tried to kill EWTN when Mother was alive ranting against Cardinal Mahoney.  It didn't work.

Anyway - just for fun - here's the LifeSite story: Shut down EWTN until they fire Arroyo.

Song for this post here.

It's interesting what one comes across on Facebook and Twitter.  I bet many users have many regrets.  I'm surprised what some people link to or re-post.  Some influential people I respect jump on the strangest stories.  I asked one academic if she was still teaching at seminary or if she is retired now.  I can't imagine she could continue teaching with some of the more biased links she posts and comments upon.

The nerve!  I'll burn it down before

I'd let the bishops take over.

That's what she said.

Don't shoot the messenger.

Final song here.

h/t BadgerCatholic for the story.

This was an interesting find ...

A letter from St. Teresa...

I was looking for a long lost friend online and happened upon a connection, which led to a story associated with another group of priests, which led to another connection, and then I found a letter from St. Teresa sold at auction.  It was a letter written to a priest I once knew.  Which made me wonder, does he even know it was sold?

Description from the auction site:

Mother Teresa Autograph Letter Signed. Two ruled pages of one leaf, 6" x 7.5", Calcutta, India, December 18, 1989. Bearing a stamp in the upper right corner reading, "Missionaries of Charity / 54A Acharya J. Chandra Bose / Calcutta 700016, India." Writing to Fr. Sergio Demartini, the Roman Catholic missionary attempts to coax the Father to join Br. Angelo Devananda as a member of the Brothers of the Word to work in Calcutta. In doing so, Mother Teresa writes about the charity work being done in Calcutta for "Drug adicts who are in very great number here." Clean paper with no folds. Very bold ink throughout. Mother Teresa's signature and final line of text are written using a different pen than the one she used for the rest of the text. The letter reads in full:

"I write to you to let you know that the 'Brothers of the Word' are being fully established in Calcutta to serve Jesus in the distressing disguise of the Drug adicts who are in a very great number here in Calcutta. Br. Devananda and a few Brothers have started the work. I would be very happy if you wish to join him and share in the beautiful love service to the Poorest of the Poor. I am sure you know Br. Devananda - (Fr. Angelo) He is looking forward to your coming. If it is God's will that you come kindly send me all information about yourself so that I can help you with the Visa to come to India. Let us pray to Our Lady to make this possible if it is the will of Her son Jesus. Please pray for me. Happy & Holy New Year. God Bless you [signed] M Teresa MC."

Mother Teresa founded the Brothers of the Word in 1979 as part of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic Latin Rite religious congregation established by her in 1950. Br Devananda, whom Mother Teresa mentions in this letter for being one of the Brothers, edited a book earlier in 1985 entitled Total Surrender: Mother Teresa. 

Relics get sold online.  

I just made a 'relic' from the sand taken from the grave of the Trappist Martyrs of Algeria - I would never sell it.  To be sure it is not an 'official' relic, but the sand is authentic and given to me by a Trappist in this country - not too long after the monks death.  The sand I received from Conyer's had a note with the name P. Celestine - so I expect that bit of sand was found around his body.  To be a real relic for public veneration, it needs official documentation from the Congregation for the Saints of course.  I only have notes from monks confirming the sand is from the graves of the martyrs.

Sometimes I make 'relicarios' - paintings.  Sometimes I will include a stone from Sinai or dirt from Chimayo, but they are not relics per se.  It is wrong to sell relics.  Unfortunately I've noticed on Ebay and elsewhere that the actual relic particle sometimes appears to have been removed, but the reliquary or rather the theca remains intact - with the decoration and even the spot where the particle was placed - and is still sold.  That is even worse than selling an intact relic. 

Relics belong to the Church - not to individuals.  Never sell relics.  Relics should be returned to the Church, never sold.  It is a person's responsibility to ensure the relics are returned when we die, and not end up in a thrift store.

I have a feeling much of my art will end up in a thrift store or the garbage - so I think I will stop adding rocks from Sinai and earth from Chimayo.

On the abuse of minors by priests and religious ...

The battle against sexual abuse will last for a while, so we must not delude ourselves into thinking that the solution simply lies in introducing new rules and guidelines. - Hans Zollner, S.J.

I came across one of the best articles I have ever read on the issue of sexual abuse in La Civilta Cattolica, which I discovered thanks to Fr. James Martin's Facebook page.  I skimmed through the article at first, and then read select sections more closely.  One thing I noticed is that it does not get sidetracked by the old argument that it's a homosexual problem and not a pedophilia problem.  I once insisted that was the case, agreeing with many who pointed out how flawed the John Jay Study was for its ideological reluctance to deal forthrightly with the role of homosexuality.  I disagree now.  It may indeed be part of the problem, but there remains a deeper, more profound problem of 'corruption' if you will.  Perhaps this is one positive result of viewing sexual orientation issues through a sexual equality, gender neutral lens - at least in theory.  The homo stuff just gets in the way of that ever so illusive, deeper problem.

Anyway, the following section from the article seems to me to nail one of the more fundamental problems behind the ability to deal with these issues: The bunker mentality.  (So typical of an armed and defensive 'Church Militant' mindset, where everyone and everything else is the enemy.)

We should briefly mention that many perpetrators of sexual abuse manage to elude or even manipulate their superiors so that the latter are too prone to believe whatever the former promise them (“I won’t do it anymore”). The result is that they exercise a false mercy. This also leads them to the erroneous reasoning that they need no outside help because they believe they have all the means and strategies necessary to solve the problem themselves. In this way, they dig themselves into their own bunker and fail to see that they have constructed a closed system as we saw in Ireland or in the Catholic communities in the United States and Australia, all places that have seen a string of frighteningly frequent and longstanding abuse.

The same is true for some religious congregations and new spiritual communities founded around the time of the Second Vatican Council and which for many years, particularly for the number of vocations they were attracting, held out great hope for the Church. In the last few years, however, we have seen that several of these religious groups – some of which assumed strongly conservative ecclesial positions tied to traditional forms of liturgy and theology – ended up being centers of various forms of serious abuse. Among the more notable cases are the Legionaries of Christ (Mexican foundation), the Community of the Beatitudes (French), the Comunità Missionaria di Villaregia in northern Italy, the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (primarily in Peru), as well as the group that gravitated around Fr. Fernando Karadima in Santiago de Chile.

Such cases did not always involve the abuse of minors but rather of protected persons, including male and female novices and students. Under the pretext of vows of obedience and strict religious observance, extreme relationships of dependence were formed. Criticism was not allowed and fundamental norms of the spiritual tradition were simply ignored, like the separation between the internal and external forums, not to mention abuses of sacramental confession (the seal of confession or the absolutio complicis, that is, the absolution of someone with whom the priest-confessor himself broke the sixth commandment).

We could write entire chapters on the personalities of the founders of the above congregations. Some of them, because of sexual abuse, financial irregularities or plagiarism, were expelled from their own communities or sanctioned with ecclesiastical penalties, even including excommunication. Often they were able to boss others around and lord it over the operations of their congregations for decades, and no one would dare question their absolute power and demands, which were speciously justified in a spiritual way. Since there was no control mechanism and no system of checks and balances, they were able to do whatever they wanted.

Not all of these founders were or are priests, and this unveils an even more basic problem: when an (ecclesial) environment isolates itself and shuns open communication or an adequate process of formation and human development, the risk of abuse increases exponentially. - Finish reading here.

The Church as field hospital.

I just don't know what to say.

Battle Between Carnival and Lent by Jan Miense Molenaer

Yet I do a post.

Many people are angry and trying to come up with reasons for the latest mass killings.  They want to claim this or that reason for why and how it happened.  People who think they have the solutions and all the answers - until the next one.

I'm no longer surprised by this stuff - my only surprise is that it wasn't worse.

So let's do Lent.

Oh.  I just want to mention that I'm also surprised by those priests - who hear confessions and have heard them for years - complain that they don't understand Pope Francis and what some Cardinals are saying about discernment, and so on.  Sinners get it.  The sacrament of penance is for sinners - people who sin and keep trying.  I can't over simplify that enough.  Nor can the Pope.  I don't have a lot to say about it.  One simply has to ponder it deeply.

We're all sinners. 

Those who don't admit it and those who feel themselves justified and judge and condemn others, are assassins.

I've been thinking of what the Pope said last year on Ash Wednesday:

It is the time to reflect and ask ourselves what we would be if God had closed his doors to us. - Pope Francis 2017

I can't stop thinking about it.  How much worse would I be?  What would I be if God had not allowed me to receive him in Communion when I was still so far away from him? What would I be if he didn't allow me to confess my sins, sometimes day after day, repeated sins - over and over and over?  How much worse, how much more corrupt and hypocritical?  Yet His mercy endures for ever.

So far I'm not doing so well with Lent.

The Holy Father will have much to suffer.

The Holy Father's conversation with the Jesuits in Chile.

Online, I noticed some photos of a near-empty piazza at the Vatican yesterday for Ash Wednesday.  I understood it as an attempt to show how unpopular the Holy Father is, as well as to contrast the size of the crowd with the large crowds who attended Pope Benedict's audiences and liturgical celebrations.  That's a very worldly way to judge this pontificate, it is very much how we treat politicians and celebrities - it is not how God judges.  Clearly, it is an attempt to shame Pope Francis.  Shame is good, however, especially for a Jesuit Pope, as Francis made clear: "we must also remember that shame is also a very Ignatian grace." 

The Holy Father's message to the Jesuits in Chile is very revealing of how aware he is of all the hostility there is towards this pontificate. 

There are doctrinal resistances. But for my mental health, I do not read the websites of this so-called “resistances”. I know who they are, I know the groups, but I do not read them simply for my mental health. They tell me when there is something very serious, so that I am informed about it. It is regrettable, but we need to move forward. When I perceive resistance, I try to talk, when dialogue is possible; but some resistance comes from people who believe they have the true doctrine and accuse you of being heretical. When I find no spiritual goodness in these people, for what they say or write, I simply pray for them. I feel sorry, but I will not dwell on this feeling for my mental health. 

On Amoris laetitia, the exhortation dedicated to marriage and the family, the Pope said, “I believe that one of the things the Church needs most today - and this is very clear in Amoris laetitia’s pastoral perspectives and objectives - is discernment. We are used to “you can or cannot”. I, too, have received during my formation this way of thinking “so far we can, so far we cannot. I don’t know if you remember that Colombian Jesuit who came to teach us morals at the Collegio Massimo; when he talked about the sixth commandment, one dared to ask the question: “Can fiancées kiss each other? If they could kiss each other! Do you understand? And he said, “Yes, they can! There is no problem!They just need to put a handkerchief between them. This is a mindset of “doing theology” in general. A mindset based on limits. And we bear the consequences of this”. - Vatican Insider

As an aside, the Holy Father's anecdote regarding fiances kissing through a handkerchief to illustrate a theology based on limits - or how far you could go without sinning, is something people my age are probably familiar with.  For example, as a kid, our pastor always asked the boys in confession if 'touching ourselves' resulted in 'complete self-abuse?'  I had no idea what that meant and I asked one of my friends - he said that Father explained it to him pretty much as follows: 'If you have an orgasm, it's a mortal sin, but you can do it up until that point, and it's only a venial sin.'   It seems pretty ridiculous now.

Ashes sprinkled or marked?

I prefer sprinkled.

Outside of the monastery, I have never seen it done that way in the United States.  When on the forehead, I wipe them off once back in the pew.

Happy penance!

So many people are complaining, re-examining why Pope Benedict abdicated - and pretty much condemning him for it.

You have to ask?

At this time I believe Benedict may be in worse condition.

160 Years Ago ...

On the 11th of February 1858.

In your dreams.

I had a dream last night that I was swimming naked in a public pool.  All the swimmers were naked.  When I emerged, I couldn't find my clothes and tried to find something to cover myself with.  I entered a tavern and the proprietor told me he had something to put on.  It was a dated leather jacket and huge pair of workman's pants - which I did my best to make them look stylish, but the jacket had to go.  The proprietor looked at me approvingly and handed me a cool t-shirt.

So what does it mean?  I knew immediately.  I have pretty much bared all on Facebook and blogs - and I'm poorer for it.  But I look good thin, wearing baggy trousers and a tight t-shirt. 

[Once again, I think I need to remove some posts.]

Busy connecting dots, are you?

Then connect them all the way back...

back to JPII.

The hermeneutic of continuity.

Dare we join the dots?

When the circus performers are in town, they sometimes perform for the Holy Father at the General Audience - in costume.  Circus performers are itinerant workers.  In the top photo with Pope Benedict XVI, "the event was organized by the Vatican office that looks out for the welfare of migrants, refugees, seamen as well as prostitutes and street children — people who by force or choice live without stable homes."

I used to make fun of these things as well, and it was easy to insinuate a gay theme to it all, but it is also feeding spreaders of calumny and detraction who love playing connect the dots and hunting down homo-heretics and demons.

On little faults and imperfections and 'little sins' ... A saint speaks.

So I don't have to.

I don't have to be right either.  I don't have to please people, much less 'correct' people.

However, today these words of wisdom from a sainted Jesuit seem to confirm my intuitions on a related subject.

Nothing makes more visible how much The Son of God hates sin than what he has done to destroy it. Is it not too much to say that he wanted to descend from heaven and die himself to wipe it out?… The Son of God has hated sin as far as to want to die in order to destroy it…. 

I speak of the faults that Christians who live in half-heartedness are accustomed to commit deliberately and of which they make for themselves habits that they hardly bother to correct. Such are the minor angers, the minor swipes, the words of contempt, the slight gossip, the mockery, the lies, the irreverence and the voluntary distractions in prayer, the desire to please people, the humorous talk that can produce nasty thoughts, the curious looks, too great a love of neatness in dress, laziness, the minor overindulgence in drinking and in eating, the negligence in things that pertain to duty, as in the instruction of servants and in the education of children; in a word, all sins of whatever kind they may be, when the issue is slight or there is more lack of consideration than malice. I say…that these faults, above all when they are actual—when one often falls back into them, when one neglects to mend one’s ways from them, when one counts them for nothing—I say that these are the greatest evils. 

Of many reasons that present themselves in order to prove this, I choose not but one sole of them, which will be the whole subject of our discussion. The little sins are great evils because they are great dispositions to the greatest sins; they are all mortal in this sense that they lead to the death of the soul, that they dispose to mortal sin; they dispose to it, both from the side of God whose graces they deplete, and from the side of the individual whose forces they exhaust. - St. Claude La Colombiere

Thou hast placed men over our heads. - Rule of S, Benedict


In closing, I want to share something else to consider ...

The judges chosen by God to save Israel were not always holy people. Some of them did not come to a very brilliant end. We observe in them all kinds of faults. Yet God saves Israel through them and assures them of victory.

There can also be, and will be in the New Testament, apostles, persons who have accomplished great things and were not themselves holy when at the height of their mission and works.

In the Life of Teresa of Avila we come upon a remark which is somewhat terrifying for priests, or apostles in general. She writes: 'At the Last judgment, how many of these trees will we see who appeared like beautiful oaks, branches extending far and wide, sheltering birds of the air that take refuge in them, yet when the come to the Last Judgment we see that tree with its trunk eaten away by the worm of pride and vanity.' They have achieved some good works - but their work has not profited them, and may only gain them condemnation. - Where The Spirit Breathes,  Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, OCD

This gives me hope ...

The 2018 Lenten Message of His Holiness Pope Francis
“Because of the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold.” (Mt 24:12)

Amid so many rumors and gossip and news reports concerning the Pope, the Vatican and Cardinals, I welcome the Holy Father's Lenten Message.  It gives me hope.  Therein - it seems to me - is the convincing power of the Holy Spirit.

“Because of the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold.” (Mt 24:12)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Once again, the Pasch of the Lord draws near! In our preparation for Easter, God in his providence offers us each year the season of Lent as a “sacramental sign of our conversion”.[1] Lent summons us, and enables us, to come back to the Lord wholeheartedly and in every aspect of our life.

With this message, I would like again this year to help the entire Church experience this time of grace anew, with joy and in truth. I will take my cue from the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew: “Because of the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold” (24:12).

These words appear in Christ’s preaching about the end of time. They were spoken in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives, where the Lord’s passion would begin. In reply to a question of the disciples, Jesus foretells a great tribulation and describes a situation in which the community of believers might well find itself: amid great trials, false prophets would lead people astray and the love that is the core of the Gospel would grow cold in the hearts of many. - Finish reading here.

It seems to me the Holy Father's Lenten message is prophetic. 

It is now important for me to avoid giving too much credence to the controversial news reports and editorials on this or that scandal concerning the Church and the episcopacy, and rather to re-focus upon the one thing necessary. 

Today's responsorial psalm ends with one of my favorite verses, which I often repeat in my prayer:

I had rather one day within your courts

than a thousand elsewhere;

I had rather lie (abject) at the threshold of the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of the wicked. - Ps. 84

S. Roch, pray for us.

"Listening to sermons failed to give me what I wanted, and having had my fill of
them without gaining understanding, I gave up going to hear public sermons. I settled
on another plan—by God's help to look for that teaching about unceasing prayer which drew me so urgently. For a long time I wandered through many places. I read my Bible always, and everywhere I asked whether there was not in the neighborhood a spiritual teacher, a devout and experienced guide, to be found." 

- The Pilgrim continues his way.

What?

"Even if [the Pope were an incarnate devil], 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." - S. Catherine of Siena

I give up.

Munich, Germany, Feb 3, 2018 / 09:31 am (CNA).- The president of the German Bishops’ Conference has declared that, in his view, Catholic priests can conduct blessing ceremonies for homosexual couples. - More here.

Remember When? Taki Theodoracopulos claimed Prince Albert of Monaco kidnapped and drugged the woman he supposedly forced into marriage.

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco 

and H.H. Pope Francis of Rome

Talk about conspiracy theories and fake news and, and, and ...

Today the Prince and Princess remain happily married, but in 2011 a story went around claiming Albert was pretty much a current day Marquis De Sade, who 'kidnapped, drugged, and then forced fiancee Charlene Wittstock, to abide by the agreement she had signed with the Principality of Monaco.'  Oh, her dad was supposedly held hostage at the time as well.  (Story here.)

I posted about the story after it was posted on a blog by someone I lost track of.  It's amazing how little things have changed online, in fact, how much worse things have become.  People skirmishing about the same issues, though the principals may have changed - yet conservative conspiracy enthusiasts still fall for every sensationalist rumor that pops up in their feed.  I wrote the following at the time the story broke:

I came across a post on Prince Albert of Monaco claiming the Prince kidnapped and drugged the woman he supposedly forced into marriage. (Grounds for annulment!) Taki Theodoracopulos, a Greek socialite - or former playboy-sportsman turned conservative pundit/journalist, thus making himself appealing to the 'always right' wing, who supposedly makes a living denouncing vulgarity among the rich and famous, claims to have intimate knowledge on what goes on in the Court of Monaco. Maybe he does, since he appears to suggest the Prince is some sort of latter day Marquis De Sade with rumors that he plays around - quite roughly - with male and female sex partners - in groups. How very French. So how is it that such a story isn't red hot news all over the MSM/Hollywood gossip circuit? He drugged his wife and forced her to marry him in a ceremony broadcast on TV? C'mon! That's a Dynasty script.

Maybe the reason no one takes the story seriously is because few people care or follow anything Greek in these days of economic collapse, and maybe because what goes on in the Las Vegas-style Principality of Monaco stays in Monaco. - Court Gossip

It's a good reminder to 'document' the fake news cycle and rumor mongering - to some degree - in order to replay it to remind people that a great deal one reads online is made up and scandal inducing, to distract people from the truth.  I think it's safe to say much of the court gossip in the Vatican is just as unverifiable as the Prince Albert and Princess Charlene story.  Unless she's still drugged...  Just remember, there are sources online deliberately manipulating opinion with fake news and rumors to divide and anger people.  Especially those Catholics who never quite graduated from debate class and view everything through an academic/post-graduate-degree lens, as if they are writing and revising some sort of perpetual  dissertation.  (I think there is a priest who has been doing that for well over a decade now.)

They look very happy to me.

Not sure how I missed this one ... and here I thought there was nothing to blog about.

Blognicked.

Meet the Blogger Priest Who ...

“... is much more convinced about the Christian character of Donald Trump than of Pope Francis. That’s remarkable.” - Saith Faggioli.

The article itself begins with this anecdote:

Last January, a Catholic asked a priest for spiritual guidance. Upset by the progressive direction Pope Francis has taken the church since his election in 2013, the person wondered whether it was a sin to pray for the pontiff to abdicate, or even, to die. 

“No,” the priest, Father John Zuhlsdorf, replied. “It is not necessarily sinful to pray for the end of a pontificate, one way or another ... Popes come and go. In our prayers, we can, without sinning, discuss with God about His time table.” - Blogger Priest Firing Red Pills at the Vatican

Just the title of the article is scandalous.

So is some of the stuff Fr. Z writes.  That bit of advice praying for the demise of the Pope is not only scandalous but sure comes off as terrible advice proffered as spiritual direction.  That is not how we are to pray.  Not at all.  That is not the way of perfection - to which we are all called.  That is not humility.  It is a horrible instruction on prayer and the imitation of Christ.  A Catholic Christian prays as Christ taught us ...

Our Father
Who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy Name,
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done -
On earth
As it is in Heaven ...

We do not tell God or ask Him to do our will. 

“Frankly,” Fr. Z told BuzzFeed News, “It’s not a sin."

It may not be a sin, but it seems to me it would certainly a fault and an imperfection, and certainly not at all pleasing to God.  Likewise, it's pretty bad spiritual direction.


I wonder what will happen now?

La Morenita

N.S. Candelaria

O, Son of God, who became man in the womb of the Blessed Virgin,

we thank you for giving your consent to be brought to the temple by your Mother
in order to be presented to God the Father in payment for our sins against divine justice.
By the infinite merits of your presentation in the temple of Jerusalem,
and through your act of redeeming us, grant us the grace we need.
O Jesus, Light of the World,
enlighten our minds and be our guide in this valley of tears.
Give us living faith, firm hope and a burning love of God and neighbor,
so that in the hour of death we can, like the prophet Simeon, say
“ Now O Lord you can dismiss your servant in peace
for my eyes have seen the salvation of your people – Israel.”

Not much to say lately.

Just not interested in writing right now.

Blessed Emilia Fernandez Rodriguez

Raul Beroza | RaulBerzosa.com

Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day on the same day - oh my!

Who cares?

Celebrate Carnaval on Tuesday instead of celebrating Valentine's Day then.  Is Valentine's Day a holiday now?  How dumb.  It's pretend - it's a Hallmark holiday. 

Oh wait.  Catholics must give up chocolate for Lent - like no meat on Friday.  The bishops need to declare a dispensation then, just like they do when St. Patrick's Day falls on Friday in Lent.  How dumb.

Creepy Catholic

I have a friend who has a site with a different name, but I always get mixed up and search for 'Creepy Catholic' before I realize that's not the name of his site.  LOL!

Anyway.  I think most Catholic sites are getting creepy, so I think it's more than a Freudian slip thing going on.  What?

Palmarian Pope

And then there is the Palmarian Church. 

I have had commenters who followed it at one time or another.  Baysiders seemed to have been attracted as well. So crazy. Some of these people 'infect' other trad groups with similar propaganda, which influences the more radical among them. Talk about the devil/smoke of Satan infiltrating the Church.  Anyway - a friend sent me a link to Damien Thompson's article on Dan Brown's new novel, which just happens to coincide with the title of my post.  Enjoy.

Dan Brown’s new target? The creepy Catholic sect with its very own pope and ‘Vatican’
Like most apocalyptic groups, the Palmarian church is quick to adjust the deadline when the end time fails to begin ... Read more at The Spectator

Pope Michael

Gloriously reigning from his mom's house.

Moved to compunction.

The only one to care for St. Roch

was a stray dog...

I'm not sure why I busy myself with the affairs of others.  It shouldn't preoccupy me.

For instance, I really do not need to defend the pope or criticize his detractors.  How does it affect my life that people chase after their 'tales' that way?  Why should it?

Why do I concern myself with what is true or false regarding locutions and apparitions and so on?  I think I do that in part because I have an interest in such things and there have been crazy interpretations floating around which I don't support, but to dwell on these issues seems vain.  No one really cares about what I have to say anyway.  Likewise, true or false, their effect upon the spiritual life is transitory, as they should be.

And politics?  What can I say?  No matter what, you lose friends.

So I need to pull back a bit.  I need to concentrate upon my conversion, and prepare for death, as it were.  I need greater compunction.  As the Imitation counsels: "Busy not yourself with other men's affairs, nor entangle yourself with the causes of great people."