Where are the athleta Christi?

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/europe-a-land-without-love

I taught ancient Greek and Roman History. My students loved the stories of Marathon and even
Thermopylae. The great exploits of the armies of Sparta and Athens inspired generations of students before my classes read about the battles which made Europe Europe.

Same with the history of the battles of Vienna and Lepanto. Same with the Battle of the Bulge.

Tyrants who hated liberty and tyrants who hated God lay in the dust because of brave men, like my dad, still alive at 92, and a World War II veteran.

The above article reveals a perspective not new to me. I remember asking my class of mostly young men in 2003 in Alaska if they would fight another war to save the Church and the West. The answer was a resounding "No"! I knew my students, all Catholic, and I knew what their answer would be, but I was still disappointed.

Boys who do not learn to sacrifice do not become men.

Patriotism is a minor virtue. It springs from the virtue of duty towards one's parents, a command of God to honor one's parents,and by extension, one's home land.

Patriotism includes a love of place, of a people with whom one can identify. The great heresies of individualism, an American blight, and relativism, both parts of the heresy of Modernism, has ruined the hearts of so many Americans and Catholics. The lack of patriotism is a lack of identity with the common good.

Some love countries other than, or in addition to the land of their births. I am like that type of person. loving the country which gave me my son, and moving there years before I was married and had a child because of a deep identity with this certain country.

One cannot always explain a "spiritual home" but for me, the Faith which built Europe, was still more obvious in Great Britain, than in Protestant America, despite years of oppression, when I move there so many, many years ago.

What causes love of a country is this identity, and for me, the identity of Catholicism. Having read history in college, as well as theology and philosophy, I knew the great heritage of thought and practice which made Europe unique, totally believing even as a young person, like Belloc, that Europe was the Faith and the Faith was Europe. I loved the heritage of art, architecture, music, education, even food, which was the heritage of Christian Europe.

I read every book (and still have every book) on this subject that Christopher Dawson ever wrote as early as the late 1970s. Because I knew history, I could sense the signs of the times. Because I knew my religion, I understood what was happening on the European front of the war, as well as on the American front.

The Catholic Church has lost great influence in the European world, just as Protestantism morphed into secularism in America. We know witness the rise of pagan nations, and paganism is rooted in selfishness, self-love and not love of a people or nation.

This passing of patriotism must be mourned by those of us who understand what this death of the heart means. Charity towards neighbor dies in a land of those who do not love their country. Civilization dies once individual desires take the place of sacrifice for the common good.

Men like my dad who spent their youth in trenches fighting against the real tyranny of  Nazism perhaps no longer exist in the numbers needed to preserve freedom. And, when a nation turns its back on God, to be honest, freedom no longer exists to preserve.

God will let nations die for lack of love, love of patria, love of neighbor, love of Him. He will punish nations which turn to lust, greed, gluttony, pride and so on. He will let people go their own way until there is no other way to turn but to Him.

This movement of punishment, death and rebirth forms a persistent theme in the Old Testament, when God called His People to repentance over and over through the words and deeds of the Prophets, who frequently, where killed rather than heeded. 

Christ Himself prophesied the Fall of Jerusalem and He wept, one of the few times mentioned of His weeping.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Luke 13:34

Satan has successfully spent years emasculating the men of my and following generations. Leadership simply cannot be found, either in the Church or in the State. We face the death of nations for one simple reason. Without Christianity, without God being the center of one's life, men stay as children, lost in the never, never land of self , pleasure, sloth.

How many times I have written about the "peter pans". The Lost Boys were lost not only physically but mentally, psychologically, spiritually. But, even they fought in the story, pushed to rescue and defend their own little world.

We have no defense, no cohesive energy to withstand whatever enemies decide to come against us. Women who are Christian have seen this for two, if not three, generations, lamenting the lack of protectors and the overwhelming presence of predators among the males with whom they come into contact at work, college, or even in church.

We await the canonization of the first couple to be canonized together, Louis and Zelie Martin. Louis was a quiet, monklike man who God called to raise a house of saints. His type, the sacrificial man, is so rare that the day of his canonization, along with that of his brave and loving wife, will be a tribute to a truly lost generation.

Catholics forget that God commanded the take-over of the Promised Land. Abraham fought, Moses fought, Joshua fought, Gideon fought. David fought--all saints, all men of God.

No Charles Martel, no Charlemagne, no Men of the West, no Louis Martin walks the streets of Athens today, or Chicago, or Canberra. The heart needs God, needs Christ to be a patriot.

All the pagan cities fell to the energies of the new generations of those focused on Christ and His Kingdom. Christendom died a long time ago, but now, even the vestiges of civilization crumble from the lack of will and, more importantly, the lack of virtue.

War began in Heaven. It was an extremely short war, but the battles continue on Earth. St. Michael, one of the lower echelons of the heavenly host, won the day. However, the mop-up falls to us.

Thirteen years ago, when I was facing death, I told my young son that I wanted a certain phrase on my tombstone. This phrase was one I had pondered for many, many years before this occurrence. 

Now, we do not even have heroes of fiction.

I put the phrase in boldface.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. 

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

I decided to become a saint, and to raise a saint. That is what Louis and Zelie Martin decided to do.

That is the call of every Catholic parent. Some saints may become leaders, even leaders of war.

Pray that God puts a heart of warriors into some of the sons born to real Catholics today. The great spiritual war is not over, yet.

I have given God a spiritual warrior. May other parents give their sons to God, both for prayer and penance, and even for war.

St. David, pray for us. St. Martin, pray for us. Saint Joan of Arc, pray for us. St. George, pray for us.

(P.S. Did you read the encyclical in the previous post on the Church Militant in my repost?)

One small point worth repeating from Rodriguez

Father Rodriguez reminds us that St. John the Baptist never sinned, but he took on great penances and mortifications.

Why? Why would one so innocent, without Original Sin or the results of Original Sin fast, pray, do physical mortification to his body?

All the prophets did penance for the Chosen People, so that God would turn away His wrath towards their sins. All the prophets did mortification in order to hear clearly the Word of God, and not merely hear themselves.

One must be purified to hear the Voice of God.

But, St. John the Baptist was pure, and He recognized Jesus as the Christ, pointing Him out to his own disciples, such as John.

But, St. John took on himself some of the suffering of Christ. He lived out the Cross before Christ's salvific action on Calvary.  He willingly suffered, offering up his interecessions for the Jews through suffering, showing those who would see and hear that this is what they had to do to meet the Messiah.

Too many Jews at the time of Christ turned away from the Lord, went on their merry way, doing what they had always done, not changing, not repenting, not being open to God in their midst.

St. John suffered for his people and for us, to show us the way. Mortification is NOT OPTIONAL.

Lately, as I have met more and more weak men and peter pans, I realize what satan was doing all these past years in undermining the spiritual strength of men who did not resist him.

I make this point--men could have resisted the feminization of the Church and could have resisted being raised peter pans, but many did not. That is their fault. That is their sin.

St, John the Baptist shows us a real man, the opposite of a weak one, a peter pan.

I repeat here Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman's essay on the perfect gentleman. This essay describes what it will take to fight the evils coming upon men soon. A real man, like St. John the Baptist, takes on suffering gladly for others.

It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain. This description is both refined and, as far as it goes, accurate. He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him; and he concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself. His benefits may be considered as parallel to what are called comforts or conveniences in arrangements of a personal nature: like an easy chair or a good fire, which do their part in dispelling cold and fatigue, though nature provides both means of rest and animal heat without them. The true gentleman in like manner carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or a jolt in the minds of those with whom he is cast; — all clashing of opinion, or collision of feeling, all restraint, or suspicion, or gloom, or resentment; his great concern being to make every one at their ease and at home. He has his eyes on all his company; he is tender towards the bashful, gentle towards the distant, and merciful towards the absurd; he can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against unseasonable allusions, or topics which may irritate; he is seldom prominent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes light of favours while he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring. He never speaks of himself except when compelled, never defends himself by a mere retort, he has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in imputing motives to those who interfere with him, and interprets every thing for the best. He is never mean or little in his disputes, never takes unfair advantage, never mistakes personalities or sharp sayings for arguments, or insinuates evil which he dare not say out. From a long-sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient sage, that we should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend. He has too much good sense to be affronted at insults, he is too well employed to remember injuries, and too indolent to bear malice. He is patient, forbearing, and resigned, on philosophical principles; he submits to pain, because it is inevitable, to bereavement, because it is irreparable, and to death, because it is his destiny. If he engages in controversy of any kind, his disciplined intellect preserves him from the blunder. [From The Idea of a University, 1852]

Re-posts for the times..by the sword divided

Satan divides. Most of the families with whom I am familiar, including my own, are divided on issues of religion, morality, political ethics. Some of us are the only practicing Catholics among our siblings. Some have parents who have fallen away into heresy and compromise. Many parents have children and grandchildren who have left the Church, or who have refused baptism and confirmation. The names of these people would fill several pages of intercession, just for my prayer time.This state of division in families is not new. I repeat an older post. It is not comforting, but it is the truth of what we all are experiencing today, April 9, 2015.The sword of truth divides.Prayer, fasting, becoming perfect, mortification---the answers. But, all men and women have free will. Remember that you may not be the person to bring your family members back to Christ and His Church. Pray for someone to enter their lives to do this. Be humble, but firm. Friday, 23 August 2013

Musings on treachery

I have been, in the past few weeks, pursuing a personal study on the Civil War in England, as well as the times immediately leading up to the killing of a rightful king.

Now, what has always intrigued and concerned me were the families divided by religion and politics. I have written about this briefly here, http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.ie/2013/08/by-press-divided.html, but want to share some thoughts which will apply to us Catholics today, August 23, 2013.

That religion, Catholic, Anglican, and Calvinist loyalties led to warfare, demonstrates the deeply held beliefs of those involved.

That families were ripped apart by religion is also a fact. To this day, there are Catholic and Protestant branches of the same family existing in England, Scotland, Ireland and America. I have met people of Catholic branches in England, who have long-lost cousins of the same name in certain states in America, and these American families came over as Protestants.

The hatred and persecution by the Anglicans and Calvinists of the Catholics form the stuff of history, the stories of the Tyburn Martyrs, the heroic tales of St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, St. Oliver Plunkett, and so on. The age of the martyrs turned into the age of civil war.

The fact that some people changed sides reveals the sad stories of betrayal and treachery.

But, there was and still is, a third category of people, who were the new men and women of the 16th and 17th centuries. These were the people who left religion entirely, became cynics, and merely worked for their own status, careers, comfort. These men and women were the moderns, those self-centred ones whose only principle was me, me, me.

These opportunists spawned further generations of non-believers, who outwardly conformed, but whose souls were impervious to the interior spiritual life.

In the days to come of persecution and testing, we shall see Catholics betraying Catholics, Catholics becoming cynics, and seizing opportunities for advancement, building their little kingdoms on the backs of those whom they betray.

We cannot kid ourselves, dear Catholic readers, Christ has prepared us for this.

And a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household. Matthew 10:36 DR

In the coming days, which side will you be on--the real Catholics, the schismatic Catholics, or the cynics? Will you be Cavaliers, Roundheads, or opportunists?

Peter Pams Revisited--Just Because...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/05/peter-pam.html

Silent Epidemic Continued...

 50.2 percent, 124.6 million American adults, are single. This does not count nuns, sisters, brothers, priests, who, technically, belong to God and are not in the world singles.

This data, from last year, 2014, will introduce a demographic winter in America, just like Russia is experiencing. Russia is dying because of abortion, contraception, and singleness.

America is beginning to die, literally, physically. I have argued long and hard on this blog that singleness is not a "vocation" but some sort of de-fault.

One can look at my other articles on this point, but the problem is getting more and more serious.

Women, as well as men, just do not want to commit to anything-marriage, the religious life, the priesthood.

Sadly, liberals in the Church have allowed the lie of the single vocation to continue. Few are called to singleness, and for very good reasons, either physical, psychological, or out of a call to serve in some particular manner, like taking care of aged parents, or a sick sibling.

Until the Church addresses the problem, it will get worse.

I have heard one great sermon on this subject way back in 2010 at a TLM.

In my neighborhood, my temporary one, there are several couples with dogs, no kids, and several single people with cats. Animals are the new families for many.

Some people who have been abused do not want to commit to marriage, and some people who just want to never have to sacrifice do not want to get married. One lady told me recently that she does not want to bring children into this world. I heard that from a single librarian at Notre Dame in 1980. Peter Pans and Peter Pams do not want to get married. Some predators do not want to get married.

God loves children and the world needs children and families, especially in hard times.

I pray today for those Catholic adults who are single who just cannot bring themselves to be committed to any order or any person. They are missing out on real life.

Some people, like Mr. Voris, have consecrated their lives to God and are working full-time for the Kingdom. That is a vocation, but rare.

This year is dedicated, in the Church, to the consecrated life. Please pray about this, singles, and pursue this way, a real vocation.

More on this later. Here are some older posts...

I do not believe that being single is a vocation

13 Jul 2012

I simply do not believe this. I have never believed this. I think that the single state is a horrible product of the dysfunctional societies in which we live. There are many reasons for this phenomenon and some cures. I am going to ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Second Response to Readers--the Single State

13 Jul 2012

However, after living in the US, and being attached to one of the more privileged higher education institutions, I can honestly say that there are tons of class divisions in the US, just not as formally delineated as they are in the UK (where I'm from btw). I don't also believe that we are in a situation where Catholicism vs the rest of the world! I think Christian principles are deeply embedded in more than just Christian cultures. When legal systems were transplanted to ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Personal Interview with Mr. Michael Voris!

12 Aug 2014

However, I do believe there is an opportunity to grow in grace in a non-sacramental grace. ... If anyone thinks that being single, like consecrating yourself, if anyone thinks that working in the Church will be lonely or disconnected, they are wrong. ... I was in the local parish one day, after my mom died, a pause in my life as the old life had gone away, the new life had begun, but the form was not there yet. What should I do, I thought? I knelt down and prayed that prayer at ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Thoughts After Some Conversations with Converts

26 Nov 2013

But, lately, I am concerned at the number of young converts who are not being challenged in RCIA or in personal catechesis to think rationally. The problem becomes compounded by the .... I do not believe that being single is a vocation. 12 Jul 2012. Here are my reasons why liberal Catholics, especially and some trads have fallen into the trap of the "single vocation", which I do not think exists, except for the above calls. One, selfishness. Our individualistic, selfish and.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: On the Order of Widows

19 Jul 2012

I have discussed many concerns about annulled people, being one myself. Here are a few points. 1) Consecrated life usually means virginity. The Consecration of ... If one feels like going into the religious life, as a monk or nun, or even a priest, as most dioceses do not have age limits for men and orders are more open to older men than women's orders are, I think that if fine. But one must have a spiritual director or confessor to help discern such. God knows your heart ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: The Stupidity of Clubbing

09 Sep 2013

What do I mean? Getting drunk makes one stupid. Sinning, which some people do not even seem to understand, makes one stupid. In fact, the lack of the use of reason seems to be the main impetus for clubbing. And, do Catholic youth know that getting drunk is a mortal sin? NO?...so .... I think that it is the sin of presumption to go into a place where there are drugs, nasty music, women and men dressed extremely immodestly and where people get drunk. We are not ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Convocation of Consecrated Virgins, 2014

01 Aug 2014

The 2014 Convocation of United States Consecrated Virgins, July 28 - Aug. 1 is ending today. The national conference for information for single women interested in becoming a consecrated virgin starts in a few days: 2014 ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

The Mystical Marriage of the Consecrated Virgin

18 Jul 2012

Hey, I wanted to add to your post on consecrated virgins, as I am currently discerning this vocation with my spiritual director and part of EF Mass community. I know whenever Father Z posted on his blog about CV's the topic of ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: How To Create a Peter Pan

28 Nov 2013

Many women with whom I speak have discussed with me the number of men who are not acting like men, but like boys. Many reasons have created this huge group of Peter Pans. Sadly, I know that many women are not able ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Protectors, predators, and peter pans--a five post day

17 May 2012

There are three categories of men: Protectors, Predators and Peter Pans. Now, young boys learn to be one of these types. I want to write about this from my own experience in teaching, observing and being in Confirmation ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Narcissism-The Victory of The Peter Pans

26 Feb 2014

Supertradmum said... stoney, you have it backwards. Feminism grew out of a society where men were already weak and chose to be weak. If men really loved their wives as themselves, as God commanded, we would have no ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Review of Good Posts for Men

14 Sep 2014

Many women with whom I speak have discussed with me the number of men who are not acting like men, but like boys. Many reasons have created this huge group of Peter Pans. Sadly, I know that many women are not able .

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Peter Pam

31 May 2014

I have written about Peter Pan-see all the links. But, I have forgotten, until today, Peter Pams. The same syndrome that can affect men who become Peter Pans has affected women. Now, the women in my generation tend to be ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Repost because of a famous blog topic

Thursday, 28 November 2013

How To Create a Peter Pan

Posted by Supertradmum

Many women with whom I speak have discussed with me the number of men who are not acting like men, but like boys. Many reasons have created this huge group of Peter Pans. Sadly, I know that many women are not able to follow the call of marriage and raising children because of the lack of the Protector Males.

I have many posts on Peter Pans, Protectors and Predators-just follow the tags.

However, I have been thinking about why there are so many Peter Pans.

I can share, after some observation and thought, how to create a Peter Pan.

1) Never allow your sons to learn how to do any work around the house. Do not let them learn how to cook, or use tools, or do garden work.

2) Never allow your male children to endure suffering. Coddle them, feel sorry for them, and give in to their weaknesses.

3) Never make your sons work without pay.

4) Be rude and mean to women, including your wife, if you are the husband. This creates Peter Pans.

5) If you are the mom, treat your sons like your husband instead of like sons. They will never grow up respecting women, which is a sign of a Peter Pan. They will want to marry moms instead of helpmates.

6) Never allow your sons to fail and then to get up and try again.

7) Never allow your sons to do hard things on their own,. Micro-management creates Peter Pans.

8) Let them watch lots of tv and do lots of gaming. Let your sons think that entertainment is more important than work. Peter Pans do not learn to work.

9) Never protect your wife and daughters. If you do, you will be making a Protector Son, instead of a Peter Pan.

10) Always shield your sons from physical pain of any sort. Of course, Peter Pans never learn to deal with physical pain.

Maybe some dads who are readers will not like to do these things and will honestly raise sons to be Protectors.

My female friends and I would be astounded! I am sure that TLM and home schooling parents create Protectors.

What do you think?

The Loss of The Normal

Montessori training changed my life in my early twenties. I had a strong Catholic upbringing and clarity regarding roles, virtues, responsibilities and talents.

I did not have a sense of what a normalized child was like by definition. I had these characteristics myself, but to see these being nurtured in an excellent environment helped me to understand what education was really all about.

As I have noted on this blog before, here is the list of what makes up a normalized child.

(1) Love of work

(2) Concentration

(3) Self-discipline

(4) Sociability. 

For a brief moment in history, the West had the chance to join education with religion in the nurturing of normal children.

Then, because of social and secular forces, the moment was lost.

It may never occur again.

Yes, individual parents will create normalized children, mostly through home schooling, if it is done correctly in discipline and with an appreciation of the intellectual capabilities of the child.

However, outside the ability of the few, the vast majority of youth are being trained to be sub-normal, abnormal.

Do youth learn to love to work? Do they have the natural concentration given by God, which before television and computers was determined at forty-five minutes for a three-year old on one subject? Are children trained to have self-discipline, which happens when external discipline becomes internalized? Are young people truly socialized, able to work with people of various ages and backgrounds?

The sad answer is a resounding "no". I have come to the unhappy conclusion that the vast majority of youth are abnormal and will become abnormal adults.

Those who have been baptized have not been trained to cooperate with grace. Virtue training is completely absent from most homes.

Work is not encouraged. I was trying to show a young lady with whom I was camping along with her family how to scale a fish and her father would not let me, saying it was inappropriate for a teen to learn such a thing. 

I was astounded by his attitude, which was based on a skewed idea of class structure and the fact that he did not want his children to learn how to do menial tasks.

All children need to learn to do menial work. Learning to do simple chores creates confidence and reveals talents.

To be snobbish is a real fault of parents, which means they are creating princes and princesses, peter pans and peter pams, instead of capable grown-ups.

The abnormal has become the rule.

What does this mean for society? 

Chaos. 

With the loss of the sense of the normal comes a sense of the less than normal as being the rule. 

The abnormal in behavior, expectations, even play determines that a society is doomed to fail for the lack of responsible, caring adults.

A culture dominated by the abnormal, by the narcissists, those with borderline personality disorders or co-dependencies cannot last long. A culture wherein young people do not know how to be self-disciplined or control their desires and emotions is a dying culture.

This is what is happening in the West. We have committed psychological suicide as Westerners moving away from centuries of moral sensibilities,  and common sense, as well as true religion.

We have lost a sense of the normal.

See also, http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-create-peter-pan.html

Finally, someone else writing about men and nonmen

http://catholicstand.com/catholic-man-crisis-matters/

See my "do not turn in you man card" series.....

Peter Pam

I have written about Peter Pan-see all the links.

But, I have forgotten, until today, Peter Pams.

The same syndrome that can affect men who become Peter Pans has affected women.

Now, the women in my generation tend to be strong and independent. We were raised that way, to do something for others in families and in the world. All my closest female friends have amazing gifts and talents, plus children (grown up, mostly) and strong prayer lives.

The Baby-Boomers were not spoiled and we had to earn praise. Most of us grew up in families where we had to share and we escaped being "princesses".

Along came a generation of smaller families owing to contraception and the entitlement mentality. Disney brainwashed millions of girls into thinking "someday my prince will come" and deliver then from the boredom of materialism and consumerism. But, the consumerism morphed.

I have a list of steps on "how to create a Peter Pan".  Here is how to create a Peter Pam.

1) Stifle and overprotect the girl so that she never has time to develop into her own self.

2) Buy her love, so that she will expect things for the rest of her life.

3) Constantly give her what she wants, never deny her and spoil her.

4) Do not let her do chores, like dishes, laundry, cooking, sewing. Make her think housework is beneath her.

5) Make her hate children by passing on your own hatred of children.

6) Make her totally dependent on men by teaching her to be a sex object.

7) Let her use her power of manipulation unbridled.

8) Forget she has a soul and a brain.

9) Make her want to remain a little girl by creating fear and cowardice in her being. Never let her make mistakes.

10) Ignore her real needs, like discipline, and guidance, especially from dad.

11) Let her date too young and too often, and do not pay attention to whom she is dating.

12) Be friends with your daughter and not parents.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-on-three-ps.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-predominant-fault-in-some-men.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-create-peter-pan.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/02/narcissism-victory-of-peter-pans.html

Mary and The Daughters of Eve

That Satan hates mankind is obvious. He is miserable and will be for all eternity, so he wants as many of God's human creatures to be as miserable as he is.

He also hates God Who Is All Goodness.

And, he hates Mary, the Perfect Mother of God, the Virgo Potens, who has crushed his head with her humility, purity and obedience, all things he lost in his instance of rebellion.

Because Satan hates Mary, the Daughter of God, the Bride of Christ and Mother of God, he hates all daughters, brides, and mothers. One of the reasons why there is so much contraception and abortion aimed at getting rid of girls is because Satan hates women.

Catholic women mold themselves into mini-Marys, trying to imitate the virtues of Mary as much as they possibly can, with the grace and virtues God has given them. But, Satan wants to hold back, and destroy those virtues in women, causing rebellion and the masculinizing of women across the world. Just as men have been feminized through the gay rights movements, so to have women become more masculine.

Mary is our model for complete femininity. She is our model for all feminine virtues.

Satan also shows his hatred for women in our society by destroying protectors. How many women do I know who have no protectors in this world? Many, many, many...

Satan has taken away from men that sense that women and children need protection by creating narcissists and peter pans.

I have written much on this topic.

Mary, especially as Virgo Potens, is our stronghold against the attacks of Satan on our womanhood.

Pray the rosary daily. Honor her. And, Satan will flee from your world. Mary instructs us to be women of the Church Militant as well.

Virgo Potens
Virgin Most Powerful

This illustration bears evident martial features.  Mary's picture is set against a shield, which is surrounded with a panoply of weapons, from bow and arrow to flags and cannons.  Mary holds in her hand a commander's staff; however, the motto around her head refers to Christ.  It says, "I can do everything in Him."  Right and left of Mary's image we read this inscription, "He made powerful things with his arm."

On the lower half of this illustration we find the representations of two powerful typological feminine figures of Mary in the Old Testament.  To the left we have Jael, who killed Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites, hammering and crushing his head with peg and mallet (Judges 5:26).  The woman to the right is Judith decapitating Holofernes (Judith 11:17).

"In your hand are virtue and power"  ( 1 Paral 29).

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/prayers/virgopotens.html

The Adversarial Spirit in The Traditional Church

Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour 1 Peter 5:8 DR

Pointing out error is a good, but being caught up constantly in an adversarial spirit is not a good.

Who is called the Adversary? Satan.

More and more frequently in the Church, I am seeing traditional Catholics who are laymen stepping out of their worlds, their own spheres of influence and condemning things over which they have no authority.

Our lay world provides enough grist for the mill-we are supposed to be evangelizing our families, our friends, our workplace.

To try and pretend we have the right and duty to continually criticize the clergy, including bishops, cardinals and popes reveals hubris and the adversarial spirit.

If one is continually looking for faults and not giving real answers on how to deal with these faults, in other words, giving remedies. one has fallen into the spirit of the adversary.

The adversarial spirit is not kind, charitable nor fair. It judges and does not bear with the burdens of others. There are few who are pure enough in heart, mind and soul to be real critics.

The adversarial spirit causes hatred, dissension, and eventually, schisms and splits in the Church.

If you are finding that you argue too much and are always finding fault, look towards your own sins and failings first.

Those who want to change priests and bishops only have to raise holy boys to become holy men to go out and change the Church as holy priests and bishops.

It is not only naive but wrong to think the crusader spirit must be aimed at the Church first. No. Our enemies are those of the devil and the world, as well as the flesh. If such enemies have inflitrated the Church, even at high levels, we can pray, but our words mean nothing.

Tearing down is not building up.

A person caught up in the adversarial spirit will not find peace in God, but fall into rancor,anger and depression. If you are merely tearing down, you have let satan use you. Eventually, the person with the adversarial spirit becomes a heresiarch. Those people most likely will find themselves judged as they have judged-severely and without mercy.

We are here for the building up of the Church.

In a grown man, the adversarial spirit could be connected to a male being caught up in teen-age rebellion-a sign of the peter pan. The teen thinks he knows better than the parent and rebels against imperfections, not understanding that he himself is a sinner. It is too easy to point out the evils of another, rather than looking at one's own sin.

Ask yourself if you are constantly arguing.

Ask yourself if you are playing into the hands of the great Adversary of the Church.

He has been defeated but is still looking maliciously for souls to bring down with him in defeat.

29 Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth; but that which is good, to the edification of faith, that it may administer grace to the hearers.

30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamour, and blasphemy, be put away from you, with all malice.

32 And be ye kind one to another; merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ. Ephesians 4:17-32 DR

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/03/are-you-fighting-wrong-battles-could-be.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/04/on-coming-canonizations.html

29 Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth; but that which is good, to the edification of faith, that it may administer grace to the hearers.

30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamour, and blasphemy, be put away from you, with all malice.

32 And be ye kind one to another; merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ.

Alter Christus, Not Alter John Waynes

"A Bit Worried About Stereotypes" could be the subtitle of this post.

Priests from all times were not necessarily John Waynes. If one looks at the lives of the saints, many of the male saints were full of so-called feminine traits. I am thinking of the great Doctor of the Church, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, for one, whose long series of sermons on the Song of Songs, would not have been given without insights into courtly love. He could not have been the great saint he was without the attitude of love towards the Bridegroom. In fact, a saint has to come to the union with God in an intimate manner of receiving, not giving, which is the opposite of the normal masculine manner. Read St. John of the Cross as well.

St. Bernard was raised a nobleman and passed those traits on to his monks.

He was not afraid of conflict, either. He called the great crusade. There is in the life of a gentleman, times for fighting and times for singing.

Why do we make dichotomies when these might not exist?

I can think of saints like SS. Francis de Sales, Alphonsus, John Henry Newman, Francis Borgia, Louis IX and Edward I, who were gentle men and saints. To be a gentleman is a goal of all Catholic men, hopefully and discussed on this blog many times.

I think it is dangerous to stereotype men as if outward appearances or even traits define masculinity or femininity.

The great saints who wrote on Love, such as St. Augustine and St. Francis, may be passed by on the streets today as not the American notion of manly.

I have noticed over the years that English gentlemen are much more balanced in their masculinity than American men, on the whole. They have nothing to prove and are comfortable being men, yet intellectual and interested in the arts, as many American men think are "sissy" things to do and pursue.

St. Anselm re-introduced the Trivium and Quadrivium into the seminaries for several reasons. One was to stop the ordaining of uneducated men, and the other was to make sure priests were gentlemen, who knew how to identify the stars and planets, to sing and even to dance. They learned all the subjects of both those classical curricula for a reason-to become whole, mature men.

The priest represents God and is an alter Christus. He is not an alter John Wayne. The priest needs to be a protector male, of course, but of the Faith, of Truth, of the Body of Christ, of his flock. He does not need to know how to raise cattle or fix a toilet.

(Although I know one sem close to me who was trained by his mum to be a handy-man and does fix stuff, rip up carpet, sand and oil floors, as well as does gardening, cleaning, cooking, ironing, laundry and so on.)

The helpless male is not the type we want for either the priesthood or for marriage. But, one cannot ignore the need for the scholars, the artists, the singers and composers. In our cry for more men, we must not deny that even men have different talents to bring to the Church.

It is not merely a question of either masculine or feminine traits, but men who are mature in their own selves, in their identities. Too often the gifts of empathy and gentleness are seen as feminine. These are traits of Christ Himself. Alter Christus, not alter John Waynes, please....

Another painting of a real man

Wherefore to dignity and wisdom we must add

virtue, the proper fruit of them both. Virtue seeks

and finds Him who is the Author and Giver of all

good, and who must be in all things glorified;

otherwise, one who knows what is right yet fails

to perform it, will be beaten with many stripes

(Luke 12.47). Why? you may ask. Because he

has failed to put his knowledge to good effect,

but rather has imagined mischief upon his bed

(PS. 36.4); like a wicked servant, he has turned

aside to seize the glory which, his own

knowledge assured him, belonged only to his

good Lord and Master. It is plain, therefore, that

dignity without wisdom is useless and that

wisdom without virtue is accursed. But when one

possesses virtue, then wisdom and dignity are

not dangerous but blessed. Such a man calls on

God and lauds Him, confessing from a full heart,

'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy

name give glory' (PS. 115.1). Which is to say, 'O

Lord, we claim no knowledge, no distinction for

ourselves; all is Thine, since from Thee all things

do come.'

A painting of a real man....

St. Thomas More, defender of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the primacy of the pope, the truth of the Catholic Church as the one, true, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church.

Tying Two Themes Together

I have been reading the Pope Emeritus on the agnostic society we now have, and listening to Father Chad Ripperger on raising men.

I can put together two themes here. The agnostic is the peter pan. Those men, and I have heard this in my own family, who say "Catholicism is too hard" have fallen into being babies or have never been real men.

The agnostics avoid suffering. They choose the easy way out by not practicing the virtues and by avoiding responsibility.

Therefore, the peter pans frequently have no faith, are seculars, are caught in the flesh and the world.

Those men who do not grow up will not choose the hardest way, the way of martyrdom. Here are some thoughts from St. Thomas More.

"What men call fame is, after all, but a very windy thing. A man thinks that many are praising him, and talking of him alone, and yet they spend but a very small part of the day thinking of him, being occupied with things of their own."

"I will not mistrust [God], though I shall feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear... I trust he shall place his holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning."

"If any man marvel that God made all His creatures such as they should always need aid of His grace, let him know that God did it out of His double goodness. First, to keep them from pride by causing them to perceive their feebleness, and to call upon Him; and secondly to do His creatures honor and comfort."

"Often, actually very often, God allows his greatest servants to make the most humiliating mistakes."

"A man buys hell here with so much pain, that he might have heaven with less than one-half. Occupy your minds with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones. Unoccupied, they cannot be."

"If I am distracted, Holy Communion helps me to become recollected. If opportunities are offered by each day to offend my God, I arm myself anew each day for the combat by the reception of the Eucharist. If I am in special need of light and prudence in order to discharge my burdensome duties, I draw nigh to my Saviour and seek counsel and light from him." 

http://www.stthomasmoresociety.com/faith.php