As much as I do not like the poetry of Yeats...

....his poem of almost 100 years ago speaks to us today: particularly the part I put into boldface. His reference to the anti-Christ is chilling.


  William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

       THE SECOND COMING

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.
    Surely some revelation is at hand;
    Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
    The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
    When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
    Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
    A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
    A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
    Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
    Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
    The darkness drops again but now I know
    That twenty centuries of stony sleep
    Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Interested?

If there are any women readers, who wanted to join a contemplative order, but were refused as being too old, please contact me in comments. You need to be a google member to make a comment.

Things may be finally moving for a house of prayer. But, what I need to make this happen are two, at least, mature women, without any connections which would keep them from being committed, to a monastic day and daily adoration.

If you are interested, please send me your email in comments and I shall answer you privately.

You would have to be over fifty for this adventure and in fairly good health, plus orthodox and loving the Latin Mass, as well as the NO. Those who read this blog would understand the monastic day and the way of perfection.

Sad Days

Today is the Feast of the Sacred Heart....no morning Mass at Sacred Heart Church here, so I could not get the plenary indulgence. The Mass was scheduled in three places on line, but when I went there, it had been cancelled by the priest.

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. Anthony. And, there is no Mass for him tomorrow at all.

Do priests know about the plenary indulgence for a name day for a church?

Sad days...

And, of course, no mention in the Mass I did attend at another church of the fact that an indulgence would be granted today for public saying of the Consecration to the Sacred Heart prayer.

Sigh...

Prayers. Please

Father Chad Ripperger's Auxilium Christianorum sit is down. Please pray for this problem. UPDATE: All is well-purposeful "down" and temporary.

Feast of The Sacred Heart

The words of the Monastic Diurnal for Lauds reminds one of several themes connected to this day, the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

First, the image of the blood shed on the Cross, and the water and blood from the Piercing of Christ's Body recalls the great gift of mercy, Redemption, and the Holy Eucharist.

Second, the reference to reparation reminds one that by keeping this feast, Christ joins in our own suffering, as Man and as God.

Third, we make reparation by honoring the Sacred Heart today. Again, I share my favorite painting, the original rendition of the Sacred Heart by Batoni, found in the Gesu, with a copy in the Church of the Circumcision in Malta.

From the writing of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:

“The Divine Heart was presented to me in a throne of flames, more resplendent than a sun, transparent as crystal, with this adorable wound. And it was surrounded with a crown of thorns, signifying the punctures made in it by our sins, and a cross above signifying that from the first instant of His Incarnation, […] the cross was implanted into it […].” more found here on the painter, painting and devotion...http://www.divinarivelazione.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=717&Itemid=1016&lang=en

On The Fathers of St. Joseph

A great group of guys in my area---I have met several of the members. It is my hope that this group would spread across the Catholic world.

http://fathersofstjoseph.org/

Here are some selections from the website, and the books, which one can buy. There are more on the site.

The Fathers of St. Joseph is a confraternity of men who follow the timeless wisdom and example of the man who was father to the Son and son of the Father. With St. Joseph as our leader, each father strives to become as he became – an icon of God the Father. As God the Father entrusted His Son to St. Joseph’s care, we also strive to entrust ourselves as children, who are fathers, to this father who will teach us to father, and lead us to the Father. This way of fatherhood is called Joseph’s Way – The Call to Fatherly Greatness. Join us on this journey to discover the power of authentic fatherhood.

Among the most serious crises facing human civilization is the famine of fatherhood. Children, families, the Church and our world are hungering, if not starving, for true fathers to re-enter the human drama and assist God in the mission of saving the world from self-destruction. Indeed, society goes by way of the family, and the family goes by way of the father. Lying at the center of the famine of fatherhood is a deeper crisis: the father’s loss of his identity. The human father has lost touch with his true identity, with his true mission and the person that God has created him to be. The human father knows little of himself because he knows God the Father so little. The human father’s identity leads not only to his destiny, but also, his family’s destiny. The human father, by assuming his identity as an icon of God the Father—an initiator of self-giving love—enables his family to achieve and receive its authentic identity, and assuming this identity, the human family can alter—for the better—the world’s destiny. The Father’s of St. Joseph are committed to providing men the opportunity to gather around St. Joseph himself. To place his life and example at the center of our gatherings with the intention of discovering the timeless sanctity of the vocation of fatherhood, to learn the meaning of authentic fatherhood, to equip fathers to become the fathers God intends them to be by understanding and living the spirituality that enables St. Joseph to become a father on earth like the Father in heaven. The sole aim and purpose of The Fathers of St. Joseph is to labor for the restoration, revitalization and redemption of human fatherhood, in order that it may become what it has been created to be: an efficacious icon that directs the human family to its Father.

1. To discover the timeless sanctity of the vocation of fatherhood.
2. To be taught and to teach the meaning of authentic fatherhood.
3. To supply for the spiritual, familial or financial needs of our fellow fathers.
4. To learn how to become an authentic father by becoming children of the Father. To become leaders who serve by following the Servant and Master Who leads.
5. To immerse ourselves in the timeless wisdom, fatherly example and person of St. Joseph, the son of the Father and father of the Son.
6. To learn how to encourage and edify our families in their pursuit of personal sanctity.
7. To learn how to honor and cherish the dignity of our wives and all women by overcoming lust by means of receiving the redemptive power of Christ

PROTECT THE DIGNITY OF WOMAN

As Joseph refused to expose Mary to shame so too we will become successful fathers by becoming guardians of the dignity and value of woman.

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BECOME ICONS OF THE TRINITY

The Holy Family became the first domestic church, an icon of the inner love or family life of the Trinity. As fathers we will strive to erect the domestic sanctuary and assist our family in becoming an icon of the life of the Trinity.

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ASSUME CHARITABLE AUTHORITY

As fathers made in the image of the Father, we accept our position of ‘charitable authority’ over our household and like Joseph, the hidden Son of David – an underground king – we acknowledge our hidden kingship over our family.

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SPIRITUALLY ADOPT OUR CHILDREN

We are not mere biological fathers but rather choose to ‘spiritually adopt’ our children and commit ourselves to the fatherly experiences of ‘protecting, feeding and teaching’ and by means of these experiences grow in understanding of our dependence upon the generosity of God the Father.

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WORK AS EXPRESSION OF LOVE

Working side by side with our children, we will teach them the art of self-giving love. Like Joseph and Jesus who crafted the cross of self-giving love within the workshop at Nazareth, by means of work, we will provide our children the necessary materials to build the temple of the Holy Spirit – which they are.