This is a partial list from wiki, on the ones which have pages. The list is much longer.
C
M
Y
And I add Z, Francis Xavier...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Xavier
Recently, I have been thinking of the life of two Jesuits, St. Francis Xavier and St. Nicholas Owen. St. Francis Xavier stated if there had been enough missionaries at the time he was travelling to China, China could have been converted. The Chinese, he believed, were then open to God's Word.
The fact that there are not enough missionaries and this is the fault of the laity for not raising children with missionary hearts.
Do you think it is easy being a missionary? No. Francis Xavier died at 46, being abandoned by his own countrymen, and worn out from his exertions. He faced opposition, loneliness, separation from his family and friends, especially St. Ignatius Loyola. He faced horrible trips in nasty ships and overland. He kept the serious discipline of prayer and the Examen daily despite difficulties we cannot imagine. And, he came from a comfortable family, one not use to pain and poverty.
Do you think it is easy for anyone with a missionary heart to work in this world consistently? Daily, I walk to a nasty restaurant where the food and service are substandard, where the music is evil, where I sit and blog for those who need encouragement in the Church Militant and for those who want to learn the truth.
I have two foot injuries and back pain and yet I sit in uncomfortable surroundings to blog for you. I shall be in another place in two weeks and I do not even know where this will be. And, yet, I pray and blog, study, and read for the upbuilding of God's Church. I know I shall not live as long as my parents, who are 87 and 92, as all this poverty and moving takes a great toll on the body. I am thousands of miles away from those I love the most, as were the missionaries to North America. Holy detachment helps one not to think of them but with love for their salvation and in prayer. The soul is purified through such trials, and this is God's plan for all of us. To step out of our comfort zones and share His Love with all we can in our state in life. We are all called to this.
I understand why St. Paul wrote his brag and why St. Edmund Campion did as well. Proud to be Catholics, proud in God's own glory to spread the love of the Trinity to all. Nothing is too difficult, is what St. Francis Xavier teaches me.
Why? Because I have zeal for spreading the Good News of Christ, because I love Christ. I have been to many countries doing what I hope is God's Will. Look at this map from wiki on the travels of St. Francis and ask yourselves, "Where are the missionaries?"
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| "Xavier f map of voyages asia". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xavier_f_map_of_voyages_asia.PNG#/media/File:Xavier_f_map_of_voyages_asia.PNG |
I wish I had started blogging earlier, but I was a single mum raising a boy, I hope, to be a saint.
The other Jesuit who has been part of my thoughts is St. Nicholas Owen, mentioned on this blog before today. Here is that link. http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2015/04/mea-culpa-nicholas-owen.html
For a long time, Nicholas was a lay man, but he worked with so many Jesuits who were martyred that he was inspired by the lives and deaths of those for whom he worked.
His life is a great one to share with your boys, Moms and Dads.
Sadly, too many Americans have been raised to be weak and not strong. I have also written on this before, and I add those posts at the end of this one.
Time for weak kids is over....over.
Saturday, 8 February 2014
Are your children in the Church Militant or the Church Mushy?
There is a famous story of a young girl in France, who was Jewish. On her way home from school, on July 15 or 16, 1942, she witnessed the infamous Vel d’Hiv roundup, when up to 13,000 Jews in Paris were taken to the old stadium Vélodrome d'Hiver and sent to Auschwitz.
The young girl had enough sense not to go home, but turned around and went to the closest house. She knocked on the door and an older woman answered. The woman opened the door, looked at the girl, and let her in.
Through out the entire war and occupation of Paris, this woman pretended that this girl was her own.
The child was saved by a brave woman, who would have been killed, if she was discovered hiding a Jewess.
The young girl was about twelve years old.
I am sharing some of the details as I am writing to parents a harsh but necessary lesson.
As parents, it is our duty to protect our children from harm.
It is not our duty to protect them from the truth of coming times of trials. Children in the next years will be facing a number of extremely difficult situations which will change their lives.
These changes should not come as a shock or surprise to even those in grade school.
Like this young girl, who knew what was happening, and used her common sense to survive, we need to be training children to live in the Church Militant, not the Church Mushy.
There is a wrong way that parents look at suffering. Too many want to pretend that their children will not suffer. But, we have a duty to prepare our children spiritually for suffering.
What does this mean? I have written many posts on the formation of virtue in children from a young age.
That is merely the first step. Formation in the virtues means reading books about virtues, going to Mass in the week, going to regular confession, saying the rosary, going to proper Adoration.
When my son was eight, I took him to the abortion vigil across from where a clinic was being built, and he said the rosary with the group there. The priest who led the vigils told me recently that my young son confided in him that he wanted to be a priest.
There is a connection. Another priest who influenced my son at the age of thirteen came out of the Serbian-Croatian wars as a young man. He shared stories of horrible persecution, and so did his wife. They lost family members because of their religion. They are Byzantine Catholics.
The lives of the martyrs should be shown as soon as possible, especially such great movies as A Man for All Seasons. Ten to twelve would be an appropriate age to begin with movies, but books can be read much earlier. One can share the news about the Christians being persecuted in Syria, or Bethlehem or Saudi Arabia, or Pakistan and show children the lives modern martyrs. Families can pray for these Christians.
Agnes, Lucy, Tarcisius, Agatha, Odilo, Hugh of Lincoln,Peter Yu Tae-cho, the Ulma children, Ambrosio Kibuuka, Denis Ssebuggwawo, Kizito, Reparata, and José Luis Sánchez del Río are either Servants of God or Blesseds, or Saints.
They are all martyrs, and so are the seven sons of the Mother in the Book of Maccabees, which you can find here. http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-mother-of-seven-brothers.html
They were aged three to eighteen when they were martyred-all of the above. The Church honors them. There are many more child or adolescent saints who were martyred.
I was reading books about the early martyrs at age seven. So was my son.
The third step, as stories and movies is step two, would be the praying to martyrs, especially if the child is named after one. I named my son after two martyrs, knowing the days to come would bring suffering, and he would need strong patrons.
Talk about the reality of the political situation if it begins to impinge on the family. Do not hide the truth, for example, if your church is shut down because of the lack of vocations or a priest shortage, share this with the family. If there are heresies or contraception taught in the schools, talk about this. Children need to know the future of the Church as real and affecting their lives. This would be step four.
Step five would be explaining to them that to be a Catholic means making a decision for Christ and His Church even in hard times.
Our children are surrounded more and more by people who hate the Church, hate Christ, and the ways of God. Step six would include discussions on what it means to be in the world, but not of the world. And, I would hope that parents would be living a life which is teaching this truth on a daily basis.
Parents, it is our duty to raise saints, not marshmallow children.
Those in the Church Mushy may not be able to save their souls in the times to come. We are responsible for teaching our children how to become saints in a hostile world.
And, of course, if you are helping your children become closer to Jesus, they will know that they are not alone.
Say the Guardian Angel prayer daily. I do.
to be continued....
The young girl had enough sense not to go home, but turned around and went to the closest house. She knocked on the door and an older woman answered. The woman opened the door, looked at the girl, and let her in.
Through out the entire war and occupation of Paris, this woman pretended that this girl was her own.
The child was saved by a brave woman, who would have been killed, if she was discovered hiding a Jewess.
The young girl was about twelve years old.
I am sharing some of the details as I am writing to parents a harsh but necessary lesson.
As parents, it is our duty to protect our children from harm.
It is not our duty to protect them from the truth of coming times of trials. Children in the next years will be facing a number of extremely difficult situations which will change their lives.
These changes should not come as a shock or surprise to even those in grade school.
Like this young girl, who knew what was happening, and used her common sense to survive, we need to be training children to live in the Church Militant, not the Church Mushy.
There is a wrong way that parents look at suffering. Too many want to pretend that their children will not suffer. But, we have a duty to prepare our children spiritually for suffering.
What does this mean? I have written many posts on the formation of virtue in children from a young age.
That is merely the first step. Formation in the virtues means reading books about virtues, going to Mass in the week, going to regular confession, saying the rosary, going to proper Adoration.
When my son was eight, I took him to the abortion vigil across from where a clinic was being built, and he said the rosary with the group there. The priest who led the vigils told me recently that my young son confided in him that he wanted to be a priest.
There is a connection. Another priest who influenced my son at the age of thirteen came out of the Serbian-Croatian wars as a young man. He shared stories of horrible persecution, and so did his wife. They lost family members because of their religion. They are Byzantine Catholics.
The lives of the martyrs should be shown as soon as possible, especially such great movies as A Man for All Seasons. Ten to twelve would be an appropriate age to begin with movies, but books can be read much earlier. One can share the news about the Christians being persecuted in Syria, or Bethlehem or Saudi Arabia, or Pakistan and show children the lives modern martyrs. Families can pray for these Christians.
 |
| Age 13-14 |
Agnes, Lucy, Tarcisius, Agatha, Odilo, Hugh of Lincoln,Peter Yu Tae-cho, the Ulma children, Ambrosio Kibuuka, Denis Ssebuggwawo, Kizito, Reparata, and José Luis Sánchez del Río are either Servants of God or Blesseds, or Saints.
They are all martyrs, and so are the seven sons of the Mother in the Book of Maccabees, which you can find here. http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-mother-of-seven-brothers.html
They were aged three to eighteen when they were martyred-all of the above. The Church honors them. There are many more child or adolescent saints who were martyred.
 |
| Denis SSebuggwawo, Age 16 |
I was reading books about the early martyrs at age seven. So was my son.
The third step, as stories and movies is step two, would be the praying to martyrs, especially if the child is named after one. I named my son after two martyrs, knowing the days to come would bring suffering, and he would need strong patrons.
Talk about the reality of the political situation if it begins to impinge on the family. Do not hide the truth, for example, if your church is shut down because of the lack of vocations or a priest shortage, share this with the family. If there are heresies or contraception taught in the schools, talk about this. Children need to know the future of the Church as real and affecting their lives. This would be step four.
Step five would be explaining to them that to be a Catholic means making a decision for Christ and His Church even in hard times.
Our children are surrounded more and more by people who hate the Church, hate Christ, and the ways of God. Step six would include discussions on what it means to be in the world, but not of the world. And, I would hope that parents would be living a life which is teaching this truth on a daily basis.
Parents, it is our duty to raise saints, not marshmallow children.
And, of course, if you are helping your children become closer to Jesus, they will know that they are not alone.
Say the Guardian Angel prayer daily. I do.
to be continued....
Grieving Over Lost Generations
The Church is weak everywhere, but there are pockets of resistance. However, geography has had an impact. The old pioneer spirit has lasted much longer between the Ohio River and the Rockies than elsewhere.
It is obvious that the Church is much weaker on both coasts. It is obvious that there are more non-church going people than in the Midwest or the South.
Memories of Christianity have been snuffed out like smoking candles for two generations here.
I blame parents, fully, and not priests. In some missionary countries, Catholicism was kept solidly by the laity underground.
But, now, it is so clear to me that those generations of youth who had no Catholicity at home may very well be so closed as to not even want to consider converting.
I see this in the two generations after mine. Obviously, the Baby Boomer parents did not do their jobs.
God allowed me to see the rot in Catholic schools in the 1980s. Even then, I decided if I ever married and had children to home school them.
God allowed me to see the hypocrisy and outright hostility to Rome when St. John Paul II asked all the colleges and universities which are Catholic to insist on all teachers taking the Oath and Promise, so many times posted on this blog.
The laity is responsible for the end of the Christian culture in America and Europe, but more than that, those clergy, priests, bishops, and cardinals, who spread modernism or were just too selfish and greedy for power to object to the status quo, caved in.
For many, there are no preachers, no teachers, no missionaries.
It will get worse.
I am, today, grieving over the children who are now adults, who are labeled GenX. They are the most in danger, as they are true materialists.
I grieve for those Millennials who are children of the GenXers, who have never, ever had to sacrifice, do chores at home, work for anything and were raised as hothouse plants.
To be a member of the Church Militant is hard work. To be a saint is hard work.
It means sacrificing "stuff" to raise your children Catholic. It means being salt, being the sign of contradiction in the world, to really stand up daily for the Faith and never compromise.
My generation will be judged strongly, as we had the last of the great education of Catholics.
And, as I had Classical Education, I, too, shall be judged severely, which is one reason I continue this blog. I have to make up for the wasted years, the sins of leading others astray when I was a youth.
Millions of people in America and Europe would go to hell today is there was a nuclear or natural, or planned disaster. Do not kid yourselves about this.
Stop spending time on trivia, any type of trivia is time away from your salvation and the salvation of others.
The last two generations spend more money on entertainment than all the rest before them. My friends in Iowa told me this.
When I was married, we went out to eat maybe four times a year,max. My parent went out once a month, but they had more money than my little family.
Now, I have some friends in the two coastal areas, California and the East Coast tell me that people go out everyday to eat and do not eat at home.
One of my dear friends, in her early forties, and an excellent cook, told me last March that people in her generation do not know how to cook. She is a Gen Xer. Their moms did not teach them how to cook, sew, can, clean, or take care of children.
The Millennials cannot do these things, either.
When my son was ten, for Christmas, I gave him a tool kit and a cook book. He can fix anything and is a fantastic cook.
Why? I made him do these things at home. He likes working with his hands.
How many kids have never done anything like fix steps, paint walls, plan and take care of an entire garden, learn easy plumbing jobs for maintenance, make things, bake.
Two generations are lost. I am not sure they can be found. If you are not planning podding, it may be too late.
Windows of opportunity for existing Catholics will open up, but, again, the time of mercy is short, coming to a close. I know this.
Our Lady warned us at Fatima, and Christ spoke to us over and over again about the consequences of sin.
In both nature and supernature, there are consequences.
Get holy, teach your children to be saints, to be martyrs.
If you are not, you are derelict in your duty as parents.
A wise woman said to me several days ago that it is clear to here why there are no vocations. Young people are simply too far away from God to hear His Voice. They have been totally seduced and given in to satan.
God forgive us parents for all our failings, for the results are two lost generations.
I was taught leadership training, that we could change the world and make it Catholic, moral, good, focused. What happened?
(PS: There is a manga on Dante's Divine Comedy. Has anyone read it? Is it good?)
And, in case you missed this, this is how lost they are...the lost generation. They make bad good and good bad.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9140869/Dantes-Divine-Comedy-offensive-and-should-be-banned.html
More here and follow the tags at the bottom...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/06/death-of-civilization.html
and here
Friday, 14 February 2014
Another Lost Generation
However, in Europe, those who were in their twenties in the 1920s seemed to have been characterized by the trauma of being young in the years of the war, and not having the greatest of role models, as so many of the best and the brightest had been killed in WWI.
We are now seeing a second "Lost Generation". But, which generation is the lost one? Some people, including myself, see more hope in the individualism of the Millenials than the over-conforming people of Gen-X.
But, with regard to religion, the Gen-Xers are a "mixed bag" of those who go to church simply because it is still the thing to do, and those who are completely secularized. Gen-Xers in America are those born from 1965-1980. In America, the Baby Boomer cut off in 1965, but in Europe, as people after WWII delayed marriage, it is considered a bit later.
Roughly, 25-30 years is a generation. But, this is not merely based on age, but on a shared culture, and as the culture changes more quickly, so will the generational years be shortened. The Millenials are those born after 1980, or from 1981.
A lost generation is one which lacks purpose because of being traumatized by war. The Baby Boomers, on the whole, are a positive, optimistic group who were highly successful, living in a time when education was still at a higher level, and where competition was considered a good. No one was afraid to speak of leadership training, for example, which is now a dirty phrase among the politically correct crowd.
The Gen-Xers have had focus as well but on the things of this world-money and status and this generation have been seen as much more conformist than the Baby Boomers. In America, the great symbol of the Gen-Xers was the SUV. Kids in my son's generation grew up watching DVDs and eating on the way to and from school in the family SUV.
This is the techno generation....and they are more introverted and loners.
But, the Millenials are not only more individualistic, they are the new lost generation.
They have not been traumatized by war, but by complete chaos in the world. They have been traumatized by watching wars and terrorism, violence and paganism on TV and in movies. They are surrounded by anti-heroes.
And, there is one huge reason for this. They were not "parented". Too many Gen-Xers wanted to be friends with their children, to the point of letting them call them by their first names. The Millenials have not been formed at all in the virtues, except for the few.
"Here are Paula and Sam, my parents, " is something I began to hear in the generation who were never disciplined, never "grounded", whose parents just "talked" to them as discipline was without consequences.
I saw the huge change as I had stopped college teaching in 1986, and stopped working with youth as a chaplain in 1987 to get married and be a stay-at-home mom in 1988. When I returned to the world of academia, in 1997, I was shocked at the change.
For the first time, I met youth who had never been disciplined, and never been inside a church. I was teaching in a Catholic high school, before going back to college teaching, and quickly saw the rot of the lack of parenting.
This is also the generation whose parents have never taught them any moral framework, and who have never learned to share. Why share when there are only two kids in the family?
The new lost generation is not inclined to religion or, ironically, are more religious than their parents. So, the extremes are more clearly seen in their groupings.
They are lost because they are beginning to perceive that they have no futures economically, and many have to put off marriage and having families because they are out of work. According to a Pew Research Document, 16% of the American Millenials of working age in 2013 were living in poverty, compared to 8% of the first wave of Baby Boomers.
Twice as many.....
We are losing our children or grandchildren to the greatest age of neo-paganism the world has ever seen. A post-Christian world is worse than a pre-Christian one, and parents who refused to form their children with religion and morals have created this lost generation. The rise of the occult in this generation is shocking and a direct result of the laissez faire attitude of parents.
It will be the job of those religious Millenials to bring some of their own generation into the Church, as few listened to anyone else. The peer group is all. The lost generation continue the heritage of "peter pans" and "predators" instead of "protectors".
But, sadly, the movement of converts will not make much of a difference to numbers, as the older generations die off and the new ones do not take their place in the pews. Up to one-third of this generation have been killed in abortion.
The new lost generation have lost their souls. Pray that these young men and women are open to God's call and grace, given to all despite the failings of their parents.