Do you want to know what subversion is? This is brilliant.

If you have time, a prophetic video by ex-KGB Yuri Bezmenov. Gramscian....from a friend. American freedom is gone. Here is why. By the way, he states the going back to religion is the only way to change the fast route to tyranny.

Brezmenov states there are three stages to tyranny, which should look all too familiar to us today.

First stage is demoralization. It takes between 15-20 years to do this-one generation of students. There are tendencies in every country against the moral principles of the nation and the infiltrators take advantage of all of these. As to religion, he said ridicule it. Undermine it. The accepted religious dogma is eroded. Listen carefully to what he says. Friendship is replaced by social workers, etc. Fascinating. His take on the media being successful because mediocre is great. There is more, much more on this point. Why did no one pay attention? He states that the action of unions is only for the furtherance of ideology. Yes, I have thought this for a while as well. He said it in 1983. He description of  relativism is brilliant.

Saul Alinsky and Obama quote from 2004 

Second stage is distablization. Here Yuri states that the same functions of society, such as law and order, the economy and the military are involved here. No compromise is possible at this point. This is where America is with abortion, contraception, homosexuality, and even states' rights. This is the radicalization of human relations--student and teachers, husband and wife, employers and employees, police and people, army and civilians and so on. Society becomes more antagonistic and the media takes the side against the society at large. He talks of the sleepers who all of the sudden become leaders--does this sound familiar--a president who came out of nowhere. Here he refers to human rights, civil rights groups involved in crisis. When the legitimate hierarchy cannot function any more, these artificial bodies or groups step in and rule the society-social workers, media, etc. He refers to Iran and the revolutionary committees which toppled the government. The population at large looks for a saviour, a messiah to get out of the crisis. Watch this! VIP.

There are two alternatives: civil war or invasion. He gives Lebanon as an example, if you know your history.

Third Stage is normalization. This is ironic. Yuri refers to the Czech take-over after the Czech Spring by the Soviets and all those who helped with the revolution were killed. No revolution is necessary. This sounds like Egypt today. This is also brilliant. This is KGB teaching. Yuri also refers to Afghanistan and the killing of a series of people who took the country to these stages and then killed and were killed-Marxists killing the leaders. No  democracy is possible any more, but tyranny at this point takes over. Remember Grenada, which became a Soviet base? Liberals get upset at these actions. This is coming all too soon, folks. We shall watch this or fight it.  For Catholics, there is only evangelizing and now, plus working on our own perfection.

This is one of the greatest finds on line. Thanks to my friend from Poland for these! You know who you are!

Cute! Lots of Posts Today!

 (Fr. Z would not agree with this nomenclature of cute with regard to squirrels!)

Attention! Cute.

Very cute and multiple post day.....

Lots of posts today...save them for when I am in the black hole of Internet coverage....

Will Think for Food.....

Four out of my four degrees are on the Kiplinger list of the worst degrees to have to get a job or for decent pay. I almost also got a fine arts degree in painting. That would have made five out of five degrees which no longer merit either attention or money.

English. history, theology, philosophy...the end of a civilization is nigh when the liberal arts are no longer prized.

I have a good memory. At the graduation ceremony in 1983, at the University of Notre Dame, where a good friend of mine was receiving his doctorate in chemistry, Father Theodore Hesburgh, then President, noted that for the first time in the history of the university, the business undergraduate degrees outnumbered the liberal arts bachelor degrees.

The priest was upset. He said that Notre Dame prided herself in being a university that promoted the liberal arts and that society needed the liberal arts majors.

Why?

One learns how to think when one is in the fields of the liberal arts. Liberal arts are not merely classes where one memorizes material in order to pass an exam, but where critical thinking skills are taught and honed.

When a civilization only supports business persons and jobs which are primarily utilitarian, that society is facing extinction. Bismark knew this. Dewey knew this. These men did not want thinkers, but "good citizens" who were slaves to the state. Nazism did not merely come out of nothing. Secular liberalism did not come out of nothing. These were orchestrated by education systems which undermined the liberal arts. These came out of cultures whose people no longer could think through moral issues and, therefore, would chose expediency over morality.

We in the West are there, on the brink of the collapse of all our nations. Without the moral frameworks and the logical thinking learned in history, English, theology and philosophy, a people cannot judge good from bad, propaganda from news, consequences from decisions and actions, nor manipulative politics.

The people have lost the ability to think.

Father Hepsburgh was correct so long ago in his assessment. When philosophy stops asking the basic questions of meaning, when history is no longer a basis of contemporary critique, when  English or any classical language is no longer studied for its own sake for grammar which teaches logic, and when religion becomes a mere study of anthropology, the society collapses from within; and when one sees a college or university degree as an investment instead of part of the spiritual growth of a person, the society has sold out to valuing only what seems materially useful and not spiritual.

And why is it that I can bring up Gramsci in a group of foreign youth that only the Brazilians, Poles, Czechs, Germans, and Italians have studied him and can discuss the culture wars?

The anti-intellectualism of the Irish and the British cannot compete with the knowledge of some other European and South American countries. One Polish young man said to me today that because they lived through tyranny, the Poles can spot the rot, and the rot is here in Eire. But, anti-intellectualism is the root cause of such ignorance. The present Pope who values Reason and Faith is ignored.

It is the teaching of the whole person, as opposed to specific training for one type of job, that is the very essence of the liberal arts. This philosophy of education “has its origin in the medieval concept of artes liberalis, the seven liberal arts that were appropriate for a free man (the Latin liber means free) in contrast to the artes illberalis or artes mechanicae, which were pursued for economic purposes and involved vocational and practical arts which prepared young persons to become weavers, blacksmiths, farmers, hunters, navigators, solider or doctors.”

" … [T]he more broadly educated we are, the better we are able to place new and specialized knowledge within a larger mosaic and to ask creative questions within our discipline from a range of alternative perspectives." Source here.

The nations whose children cannot think are doomed to repeat the history of civilizations which have disappeared because of cultural implosion owing to a sell-out of liberties to the State. The barbarians are within the gates.

A good, old-fashioned sermon at St. Kevin's

The sermon I heard today should have been made into a video or MP3. Father Nevin at St. Kevin's at the TLM came out like a great prophet against the coming abortion law in the Dail and spoke in good old hell-fire manner. Father Nevin spoke of hell and the consequences of sin. He highlighted the fact that Eire has lost its Faith. He did not spare any harsh words.  He warned of a cataclysmic judgement from Christ, who could come back to earth next week, next year or in a million years. He emphasized that God would not ignore the result of an abortion law, and the reality of both the particular and final judgement.

Scary, but true that we all shall be judged by the way we vote, or worse, the way we do not support pro-life issues because of apathy.

The young people from Poland, Singapore, Scotland, and Canada I spoke with after Mass thought the sermon was excellent. There were no Irish students or young workers in the group. I have met one Irish person under 40 at the TLM in the several weeks I have been attending Mass there, (except for those in the professional choir, which does not sing there every week and except for the very young altar boys).

The Catholic youth of Eire are missing from the TLM and therefore, do not hear this type of excellent sermon.

There is the pro-life rally I advertised on this blog. When I asked how many were going, none could go. All had classes which were leading up to exams, or could not take off work.

I am wondering why those who set up the rally did not take these schedules into consideration. A young man said that if he told his boss he was taking off for a pro-life rally, for two hours, he would probably be let go from his job.

The pro-life groups here are not organized. The numbers are small. Of course, St. Kevin's is a chaplaincy not a parish and the congregation members may not even live in Dublin. As the only Latin Mass in Dublin, it brings in people from two hours away.

The break-down of the continuity of the family and the radical secularization of society weakens the Church.

The Church is weak here. But, the sermon was great.

The brainwashing of children....

In today's Sun, http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4675971/Mum-set-for-trial-after-sending-son-to-nursery-with-bomb-jumper.html 

Perfection and St. Bernard Again and such things as RCIA, family, cakes, and the Jesuits

Without the Seraphic Doctor, St. Bernard, I would not have started this journey towards perfection, to which God calls us. St. Bernard is able, in his writings, to be both practical and spiritual. For example. he writes that if we want to gain souls for Christ, people must be "reservoirs and not mere channels". Humphreys picks this up in his book when referring to the Jesuits. And, I apply it to the laity, as the Society of Jesus is called to work in the city and market-place and be contemplatives in the world.

Firstly, as the Jesuits are called to perfect themselves and each other in the Order, so too each member of a family is called to help each one become perfect.

Do we think of this in our families? We must concentrate on being perfect ourselves, for as St. Bernard states, we must be reservoirs. If the lake is empty, no one gets water. If we are not living in sanctifying grace, we cannot help others.

Contemplation allows us to find, ultimately, union with God and, therefore, be able to reach out to our neighbours, beyond family life. Humphreys notes that the Society of Jesus had this goal of perfecting others, not merely correcting them or converting them. This is the second point.

This point is key. Not merely correction nor conversion. The new evangelism must be followed up with the steps of perfection. One cannot end catechesis with the Creed, but move on, as the original mystagogia did in ancient times, to the mysteries of prayer and the Life of Christ. I do not know one RCIA program in England or Eire which has the mystagogia program such as I taught in the States. Correct me if I am wrong about this oversight. That mystagogia is the time for the deepening and moving on from the original conversion experience.

There is much confusion on these points among the laity. The active life must come from the contemplative basis of prayer and meditation. Nothing else joins each one of us with the Holy Spirit in a constant way than prayer in meditation and contemplation. This is the third point here today. No action is truly efficacious without this movement in the soul of deep, mental prayer.

Some lay persons think we are not called to this. We are. This is the sublime call given to each one of us at baptism. Humphreys, basing his ideas on Suarez, writes: "The contemplative life is therefore the source and principle of such actions in their perfection."

To put it negatively, no meditation, no contemplation = no perfection.

What does this mean? Prioritizing. Teaching your children to set aside at least one hour of prayer a day, by starting small and building up time. Allowing your spouse space to develop a life of meditation and contemplation. Giving time to God.

One of the most unfortunate things to happen in the past forty years has been the number of mothers and housewives going out to work instead of being stay-at-home moms. As a stay-at-home mom for a while, I had time in the day to develop a habit of quiet and prayer while working and teaching in the home school. A mother who does this can then give time to the husband for his prayer. They must help each other. Married people who have regular prayer time do not get burnt-out and need less vacations, as the restorative time in prayer allows them this rest.

I think of my old, Irish bachelor friend whose brother married in order to have someone with whom to say the rosary. The old brother was being criticized by the priest for wanting to get married again after his wife died. The old man wanted someone to pray with him. Not a bad reason for getting married--this man understood the priority of prayer in life. He did get married again, and the new wife did say the rosary with him daily. Meditation leads to contemplation and the rosary is a means of meditation. This old couple were working towards perfection. They were really old, yet tying to live out the real vocation of prayer in the world.

One of the nuns told me she joined the order because it was easier to pray when one was in a community. Absolutely true...but we must carve out of our days the same rhythm of prayer and work. I know a man who is a medical specialist with six children. The house he leads is a house of prayer. This may mean no television, no chilling out by merely sitting, but a habit of meditation and contemplation. And, he is on call, as he works for two hospitals. A habit of prayer leads to perfection. There is no other way. I know a med student who prays at least four hours of the breviary in his horribly, busy day. There is no other way. I know a house-wife and mother of six, (six is a common number among my friends), who prays almost constantly in a quiet habit. The family has had family rosary before bed-time for years and years.  There is no other way.

One of the terrible things of the new activity of the laity in the Church is that many lay persons think that activity is the way to heaven, and that meditation and contemplation are icing on the cake. It is the other way around. Meditation and contemplation are the cake and activity is the icing.

Stop doing so much and start being more.

To be continued....

More fasting recipes for Advent

The Byzantines do not fast from alcohol and do not fast on the weekends. By the way, it is so much easier to fast and abstain when everyone in the parish is doing it....the beauty of being Byzantine.

Meatless Chili and if you skip the cheese, you can eat this on the non-dairy days as well as the non-meat days. I served with corn bread, of course. Most of my recipes, which I have learned from others, took no more than 45 minutes, as I was a working mum.

• Prep/Total Time: 30 min.
• Yield: 4 Servings

102030

Ingredients

• 1 can (16 ounces) hot chili beans, undrained
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Mexican stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1/2 cup chunky salsa
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped sweet red pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 4 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
• 4 tablespoons shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Directions

In a large saucepan, combine the first nine ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Top each serving with sour cream and cheese. 

Another good thing to eat when fasting is vegetarian curry. Here is one recipe out of many. I omit the corn and serve with nan bread, which is really cheap here and in England.

Ingredients

1. 1 tbsp vegetable oil
2. 1 onion, thinly sliced
3. 1 garlic clove, crushed
4. 5 tbsp mild curry paste
5. 400ml can coconut milk
6. 150ml vegetable stock
7. 125g fine green beans, trimmed
8. 1 large sweet potato, cut into chunks
9. 175g baby corn, halved lengthways
10. 1/2 small cauliflower (about 375g), broken into small florets
11. 100g ground almonds
12. 410g can green lentils, drained

Directions

1. 1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic for 5-6 minutes, until softened. Stir in the curry paste and fry for 2 minutes.
2. 2. Add the coconut milk, stock, beans, potato, corn and cauliflower. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender.
3. 3. Season to taste, then stir in the ground almonds and lentils. Simmer for a few minutes more until warmed through. Serve with plain boiled rice

A third really easy recipe for fasting is for bean burritos. If the family is really hungry, make Spanish rice with these.

Filling
1 (14 ounce) can refried beans (I use fat free)
1 teaspoon chili powder or 1 teaspoon ground dried chile
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3 -5 dashes garlic powder
hot sauce
1 cup hot cooked rice (I usually omit) (optional)
8 ounces cheddar cheese or 8 ounces monterey jack pepper cheese, shredded or thinly sliced (I use low fat)
your favorite salsa
1 package flour tortilla 

On the non-dairy days, omit the cheese and substitute onions and vegies. |Lentil soup was also a staple in my family.

Celebrating 900 Years of the Knights of Malta

I do not want to get into a discussion on the two branches of the Knights of Malta at this stage, but rather celebrate the 900th year of the recognition of the Order. Go to this site for an excellent history of some of the tombs of the great leaders of this Order.

Here is one blog one can read for some information. The UK site is here on this website.

I wrote two posts to the Order earlier this year, which are noted here(1) and here(2)

I would like to see the Church open up another Order of real knights at this time. Where are the military men who would defend Catholics against the onslaught of radical tyrannies, which will happen in the not too distance future? Where are those who see the need for self-defence in an increasingly hostile world, that is, hostile against the Church? I would love to see the Knights defend the TLM.

In celebrating 900 years, I would hope some of the Order would pray and consider the call to the origins and development of that Order.

Almost a Tower of Babel-the myriad versions of the Hours

I have been doing a mini-study on all the different versions of the Liturgy of the Hours. This began when I was at Tyburn in Eire and realized all the different translations of the psalms and the readings were causing me a bit of confusion. Also, most of my friends say the NO version, either in the English, as in UK version or, the American one. I do at least two hours of the Monastic Diurnal from Farnborough, just to complicate matters. And, being in the Byzantine Church, with permission, for a while, complicated and made life very, very interesting. I love the Ukrainian and Ruthenian chant.

The upshot is, when I am visiting friends who say the Hours, we are not on the same page. Some of my  friends say the older, Tridentine form in Latin, such as the Solesmes version. All of this diversity is compounded by the Benedictines and Cistercians having permission to write their own versions, and use the Grail Translations. And, alas, there are the myriad non-approved, inclusive language Hours which many Carmelite and Benedictine nuns use in the States. It is a bit disconcerting to have so many individual versions, such as visiting three Benedictine monasteries of nuns in England with three different translations and modes of chant.

It makes me sad that we literally are not on the same page. To make matters even more interesting, in my travels, I have met this year the Irish calendar of saints, the Benedictine calendar, the Carmelite calendar, the NO and of course, the Tridentine calendars. I need a guide which would include all of these to keep memorials and feasts straight.

I have not been to a Dominican church for ages, since last year in Malta, where the Liturgy was in Maltese and the NO, but as to the Hours used, I do not know.

Of course, Baronius Press has the new, old Roman Breviary, which I know at least one person uses-it is pricey--http://www.baroniuspress.com/book.php?wid=56&bid=59#tab=tab-1

Here is an excellent site showing the variations. Does this bother anyone else but me? Why cannot we all just learn the Latin version with an addendum for different countries? Sigh, at least I would like to see the Benedictines coming around to one version. Clear Creek uses the one I use, I think, unless they have switched to the Baronius set. Maybe someone can comment on that to bring me up to speed.

http://christdesert.org/Seeking_God/Opus_Dei_Resource_Page/index.html

And his Hermeneuticalist had a discussion on this a long time ago.
.http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.ie/2009/08/old-mass-and-old-breviary.html

Advent Post One: First Sunday in Advent--Pray all the time

We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God's coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God's coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. The coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, but first of all frightening news for everyone who has a conscience.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Gospel Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

²⁵ 'There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the turmoil of the ocean and its waves;²⁶ men fainting away with terror and fear at what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.²⁷ And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.'³⁴ 'Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened by debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly,³⁵ like a trap. For it will come down on all those living on the face of the earth.³⁶ Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to hold your ground before the Son of man.'

Tips for fasting in Advent

The Byzantines in Canada do this type of fasting in Advent: no dairy on Tuesdays and Thursdays and no meat on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. One gets into a rhythm of this after a bit. Here are some ideas for those who want to do this as well.

Skip the meat in Advent

Perogies with onion and potatoes and borsch for dinner from a Canadian recipe, which is what I used. One can, on the dairy days, eat perogies with cheese instead of onions inside. I used, believe it or not, ready-made liquidfied cheese. It works. One could eat the perogies on the non-meat days, and put cheese inside for protein.

Borsch

              
7 cups cold water                               
3 medium beets, diced                                              
1 medium onion, chopped                             
1 small stalk celery, diced                             
½ small carrot, diced
1 cup shredded cabbage
½ cup tomato juice
Lemon juice
1 clove garlic minced
Salt & pepper

Directions:

Cook the vegetables and continue simmering for another hour.  Pour in the tomato juice.  Use enough lemon juice to get the desired tartness.  Add garlic and season to taste. Bring to a boil.  If time permits, let the borsch stand for a while to blend the flavours. 

Potato & Onion Filled Varenyky (Perogies) with Buttered onions

Filling
5 large potatoes                                              
½ cup butter or cooking oil
salt to taste
1 small onion chopped

Cook potatoes in boiling water until cooked and soft enough to mash. At the same time fry onions in butter or oil until onions are transparent.  Drain and mash potatoes. Add enough onions and oil to make a filing that is not too runny but pasty.  Cool before using in varenyky.

Varenyky (Perogies)
3 cups all purpose flour                                 
1 tbsp light tasting cooking oil
1 cup water

Using a food processor, mix flour with water and oil until a medium soft dough is formed. Divide the dough into 2 parts. Cover one with a cotton towel or leave in processor.  With the second half, place on a floured surface and with a rolling pin, roll the dough quite thin. Cut into 2 to 2 ½ inch squares.  Put the square on the palm of the hand. Place a spoonful of the filling on it, fold over to form a triangle and press the edges together with the fingers. The edges should be free of filling. Be sure the edges are well sealed to prevent the filling from running out.  Place the varenenyky on a floured board or a cookie sheet without crowding them.  Cover them with a tea towel to prevent drying.  In the meantime put a large pot of water on to boil.

Borsch and cream

Drop a few varenyky at a time into a large quantity of rapidly boiling water. Do not attempt to cook too many at a time.  Stir very gently to separate them and to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Varenyky is ready when they float flat to the top and are puffed. Remove them with a perforated spoon or use a colander and drain thoroughly. Place in a drained varenyky in a dish, and mix with melted butter or oil to keep them from sticking.  Toss very gently to ensure all are coated well.  Cover and keep hot until all are cooked.

Smetana (Ukranian version of sour cream)

¼ pint of whipping cream                              
¼ cup evaporated whole milk (opt. as an extender)
½ cup buttermilk

Mix all ingredients together in bowl. Cover and let it stand in a warm place at room temperature for 15 to 24 hours, or until the cream is very thick and well set.  Use at once or store in refrigerator. Chilled cream is thicker and keeps longer.
(made the day before)

Another possibility for non-meat but dairy days are mussels, which are common in Eire and England, Alaska, California and Canada in places. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 lb live mussels
• 1 T unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 2 chopped scallions or 1 chopped shallot
• 2 chopped green garlic shoots or 2 cloves chopped garlic

Preparation:

Scrub and debeard the mussels. The "beard" is the fibrous hairy thing hanging from one side of the tasty bivalve. Pull it off with a side-to-side motion.

In case you are wondering, a mussel is alive if it reacts. Its shell should be closed. If it is open, sit the mussel on the kitchen couter for a bit. It may close when you are not looking.

Heat the butter over medium-high heat in a large, wide-bottomed pot with a lid; I use a Dutch oven. Saute the shallot or green onion until it is soft but not browned. Add the garlic cloves if using -- if you are using green garlic, leave it out for now.

Add the white wine (I'd suggest a chenin blanc or something crisp, but you can use any decent white), and bring it to a boil. Add the mussels in one layer if possible.

Cover the pot and let the mussels steam for 3-8 minutes. After three minutes, check the mussels; many should be open. You want them all open, but some will do this faster than others.

As soon as most of the mussels are open, turn off the heat and toss in the green garlic, if using. Cover for a minute while you prepare bowls and plates.

Spoon out plenty of mussels and broth, which should be briny enough to not need any more salt. Throw out any mussels that did not open.

Serve with crusty bread, more white wine -- and an extra bowl for the shells. I use garlic bread for the side.

Thank you

..to those kind people who made donations to the seminarian fund. A BIG THANKS. Please continue to be generous, those who are still considering.

 Our Lady of Charity, bless you.