On False Prophets and Scandal

Acquaintances and friends have dropped me recently because they are involved in following false prophets and seers. When I pointed out the errors, I was cut off from intimacy and trust on their part. Sadly, this is a result of the sin of scandal. Scandal is caused when one chooses sin which publicly leads others astray. Remember, the devil does not care how people lose their souls. Something could seem like a good and not be so. This is why those of us who are careful concerning seers seek the wisdom and guidance of Holy Mother Church. I pray these people see their errors and begin to meekly obey the Church. It is the closed-mindedness and anger which one meets when trying to help sort out the errors, which is so painful and a mystery to me. The defensiveness must be based on something.

Those creating scandal, which is mortal sin, invite others to sin as well. If a seer or false prophet is engaged in spreading doctrinal errors, this activity is inviting others to sin against truth. After being told
that something is wrong doctrinally, or that the Church has condemned or warned against a seer, a person who persists in following that person either by supporting them financially, or visiting their holy places, or going to their talks, is likewise committing a sin of disobedience on top of scandal.

There are divisions to the sin of scandal, as there are to most sins. Here are the divisions from Catholic Encyclopedia online:


(1) Scandal is divided into active and passive. Active scandal is that which has been defined above; passivescandal is the sin which another commits in consequence of active scandal. Passive scandal is called scandal given (scandalum datum), when the act of the scandalizer is of a nature to occasion it; and scandal received (acceptum), when the action of the one who scandalizes is due solely to ignorance or weakness—this isscandal of the weak (infirmorum),—or to malice and evil inclinations—this is pharisaical scandal, which was that of the Pharisees with regard to the words and actions of Christ.


Some Catholics who are weak or ignorant fall under this category. Notice that weakness or ignorance do not take away culpability for sin. This is an important point. And, if one persists in sin, one can see the evil of that decision, especially after being told of the dangers.


The second division is:


(2) Active scandal is direct when he who commits it has the intention of inducing another to sin; such is the sin of one who solicits another to the crime of adultery, theft etc. If one prevails upon another to commit thesin not only because of an advantage or pleasure believed to accrue therefrom but chiefly because of the sin itself, because it is an offence to God or the ruin of a neighbor's soul, direct scandal is called by the expressive name of diabolical scandal. On the other hand scandal is only indirect when without the intention to cause another to fall into sin we say a word or perform a deed which is for him an occasion of sin


It is too easy to lead others astray, especially in our youth, when we have peers who are easily pressured, even TRAD peers, into believing something is not true.


Unless the Church approves a visionary, do not follow him or her. If one has been condemned or if the Church has given a warning against one, do not follow that person.


You do so at your own peril.


May I add that earlier in this series, I outlined the way the Church determines the validity of revelations. One can put in "private revelations" in the search bar.


A reminder-a person who is a visionary can be made a Blessed or Venerable without her writings or visions being approved. I know this sounds odd, but it is so. Also, a veneration of a particular statue or devotion to Mary can be approved without the revelations being approved. This happens more than one would think.

The Return of the Feminine?

Some of my friends and I have noticed a fashion design change, which is huge. A few years ago, one could not find skirts or dresses in many of the high-street shops. A few names carried them, but if one wanted, for example, a particular colored dress or skirt, shopping became a real chore. Many of us trad women have shopped at second-hand stores for years, as that is where we could find quality dresses and skirts from days past.

This has changed. Daily, I now see ladies and girls in dresses and skirts and blouses. I am happy. The problem is that this trend has not hit two types of females: women over 60, and young women who are not peaceful with being feminine.

The older ones are either still in rebellion and feminists, like Ms. Clinton, or they are cold. However, when temperatures hit 91 Fahrenheit, one would think the second argument falls flat.

Other reasons create a problem which is more serious and connected to several factors. The first is the push to be "sporty"; many young women in their twenties wear sports clothes all the time. I see this in London. The clothes, which are not inexpensive, are either too tight, or too baggy. I think the shirts with sports logos and team names create the worst eye-sores. Why a beautiful young woman of twenty-something would walk through Portobello Market with a Manchester United shirt on is beyond me. Why a young woman of twenty-something would wear tight bicycling pants for shopping is strange.

There is a lack of appropriateness in dressing. We dressed for occasions, including shopping. Now, I know some ladies hate the thought of changing before going out, but that is how I grew up. You changed for shopping, going to the doctor, going to church, and visiting.

As I wore a uniform from age 6 until 18 and was a day-student, I changed for dinner, as did my brothers.

So, "sporty" falls under inappropriateness. If one goes to a baseball game or soccer game, by all means dress in fan colors. Why not? Why not a skirt and blouse in red and white or whatever? Cute.

Secondly, there are many women who hate the fact that they have fat legs, less than perfect hips, and curly hair. Whatever the problem as perceived, because they do not look like Barbie, or the latest famous actress or singer, they will not wear dresses or skirts. This is a serious problem. Their mums are probably wearing pants, trousers, slacks, whatever you call them all the time as they lack confidence is just being a woman.

Thirdly, the evil in the world stresses androgyny. Androgyny denies gender differences, and see my post  on the EU wanting countries to pass a law which states that gender differences are created by a culture. This attitude denies God as Creator of male and female and allows for all types of sexual deviance.

Fourthly, Catholic mums have failed to pass on femininity to their daughters. I could write a book on this fact alone. Eating habits, how one walks, appropriate tone of voice, etc. have not been seen as disciplines. The worst to me is raucous, loud laughter. A woman of God must be feminine. If a woman starts talking to me about being a committed Christian on the street, and is wearing blue jeans and a sweat shirt, I would like to speak with her about being a Christian woman.

Lastly, if we are to evangelize the world, we must not give in to modern culture regarding dress. Modesty and appropriateness must accompany a interior disposition to put on the Mind of Christ. If there is a disjoint, I am concerned. The physical and the spiritual are one. If there is a split in the personality, there is a character defect. Self-hatred is sinful as well as a psychological problem. This is connected to the second problem of women not accepting who they are and how God made them.

Catholic women need to look and act like women.

As a postscript, there are some readers who do not understand what a blog or a post is. I always give my sources if those ideas are not my own. Otherwise, one can be assured these are my own. However, my ideas are based on tradition, the Teaching Magisterium, or years of Catholic wisdom in the Catholic culture. Also, I try to write in truth. I find that many women who get angry about being feminine and who want to wear trousers or jeans, just do not understand what I am saying about the evils of androgyny. I hope all readers pause and think, and not merely have knee-jerk reactions.

Another Gramsci Post and the Enemy of Marxism

Thanks, Wiki

Well, I haven't written about Gramsci for a long time, and as I only have 16 articles in which I mention him by name, I thought it was about time I brought him out of the closet again.

Why? Because Catholics do not think like Catholics.

Gramsci understood that neo-Thomism was a danger to Communism.  He knew that Thomism and neo-Thomism were antithetical to communism and the war against culture. He quotes an article by Father Gemelli on Leo XIII in Notebook I. "To lead the world back to a fundamental doctrine by means of which the intelligence can regain the ability to show man the truth which he must acknowledge and to do so not only by preparing the path to faith, but by giving man the means to securely handle all of life's problems. Leo XIII thus offered the Christian people a philosophy, the doctrine of scholasticism, not as a narrow, static and exclusive frame of knowledge but as an organism of living thought which is open to enrichment by the thought of all the Doctors and Fathers, and which is capable of bringing the speculation of rational theology into harmony with the data of positive science, a condition for stimulating and harmonizing reason and faith, the real and the ideal, the past and the discoveries of the future, prayer and action, internal and social life, the duties of the individual and those of society, the duties toward God and the duties toward man."


This packed quote in Gramsci's Notebook, indicates that he knew that the most formidable enemy of Marxist and atheism was the rational and faithful Catholic.

A thinking Catholic who has the framework for a living faith could create activity in all strata of society and appeal to the intellectual as well as the laborer, who, in Gramsci's eyes should be one and the same.

He wanted intellectualism  not to be the mark of academia, but of all levels of society. Why? Gramsci saw the power of a cohesive mind-set, a unified world view. an ideal and reality which would counteract both socialism and individualism.

The moral impetus of the Church could be found nowhere else but in Marxism.

And the strength of the unified declaration of the equality and freedom of all humans which the Marxists taught was only rivaled by the Thomism and neo-Thomism of the Catholic Church.

This is one reason why the neo-Thomists, such as Maritain and Dawson, were so interested in culture and politics. They could see the need for this application of Thomism as a wall against communism and atheism. They could see that tyranny had to be combated by a strong philosophy, the Handmaid of Theology.

Sigh, too bad Thomism was dropped as a philosophical core course by the late 1950s in America. Too bad the seminaries in Europe were infiltrated by other philosophies open to Marxist interpretations of history and progress in the 1930s. Too bad the definition of the individual changed in seminary classes.

Now, the new orders, such as the FSSPs, and the Legionaries, have realized the weaknesses of seminary training which does not apply this Catholic manner of thinking and have re-introduced this philosophy, which leads to a practical world-view. No offense, but we have many uneducated seminarians from diocesan colleges, who lack a common philosophy which ties all their courses into a cohesive world-view. They do not think like Catholics.

It is interesting to me that so many post-Vatican II priests distrust Thomism and neo-Thomism. I think it is because they want to be open to the relativism and ideologies of modernist heresies, including communism and socialism.

Gramsci knew his enemy and his enemy has failed to be vigilant.

USCCB supports contraception abroad

In case you missed this, Michael Voris adds to my opinion, expressed here and elsewhere, that the USCCB has to go.

Perfection Series continued--sins

A reader asked me to break down some of the categories of sin and concupiscence. I hope this answers her questions.

Here was the original list:

Under Pride and Self, these are listed: vainglory, disobedience, boasting, hypocrisy, contention, rivalry, discord,, singularity, stubbornness, sloth (acedia), hatred of spiritual things, malice, rancor, pusillanimity, discouragement, spiritual torpor, forgetfulness of precepts and seeking after forbidden things.


Catholics who insist on following false, condemned seers are committing a sin of pride.

In the next category of Pride, that of sins against others, the list continues: envy, hatred, detraction, calumny, joy at the misfortune of others, sadness at another's success, anger, disputes, fits of passion, insults, contumely, blasphemy.

Let me start with pusillanimity. To be pusillanimous is to be cowardly and timid to the point of not living up to  one's potential. Now, psychology wants us to believe that weaknesses are not sin. And, why are weaknesses sin? Because we have access to grace, we can change. We are not doomed to live in sinful conditions owing to our past experiences or natural or nurturer-faults. If one is timid to the point of living in fear, and I know an entire family like this, one must stop and get an excellent Catholic counselor or spiritual director, or both.

Cowardice created excuses, so  a pusillanimous tends to lie and cover up weaknesses.

Another sin which may need defining is contumely. This is a HUGE sin in the modern world. It is abusive and offensive language and behavior, as well as rude, insulting and scornful language and behavior. This sin has increased in the past decade, as people, including politicians, think they can be rude and act rude with impunity.

I am amazed at parents who allow their children to be rude. I saw this beginning in about 1990, when one of the mothers in my coffee morning-toddler play group was sending her two year old to aggressive training classes. This is not a joke. 

I said to her at the time that a two-year old hardly needs aggressiveness training and her response was that the world was so bad that survival of the fittest meant her son needed this.

I wonder what he is like now.

To be continued...

The Virtues To Beat the Vices

So as not to fall into despair, one must cultivate the virtues, which we should be doing in childhood.

The habit of virtue can be taught and learned at very early ages. "Give me a child before five, and I have him for life". An old Jesuit saying, which I saw as true when I was teaching Montessori, this phrase sho

People want these days to let their children grow up like little weeds, thinking somehow, (well, it is not thinking) that these kids will automatically blossom into angels at puberty. No.

The life of the virtues is long and hard and starting early is a huge advantage.

This is the the importance of infant baptism. As we grow, we grow in either virtue or vice. There is no other way.

Some people have said to me, how did you know this or that practice, such as custody of the eyes, or daily examination of conscience, which are habits? I tell them I learned this at the ages of seven and eight, preparing for First Confession and Holy Communion. Some people are shocked. Why?

Even a toddler knows right and wrong. Just watch. Even children can go to hell. I was living in England when two very young boys kidnapped a toddler, tortured him and killed him. Sadly, we all need training in virtue.

The theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity help with SPECIFIC sins.

Garrigou-Lagrange explains this.

Charity "towards God, and gift of wisdom and towards one's neighbor--(fight) disgust for spiritual thing, envy discord, scandal."


Hope which is "confidence, abandonment, and the gift of fear, opposed to presumption, (fight) presumption and despair"

"Faith and the spirit of faith, and the gifts of understanding and knowledge (fight) infidelity, blasphemy, blindness, culpable ignorance."


The great Dominican goes on to state that "Prudence, docility to good counsels and the gift of counsel" fight "imprudence and negligence, carnal prudence, cunning".


"Justice and the connected virtues of religion (gift of piety), penance, filial piety, obedience gratitude, veractiy, fidelity, liberality" fight " injustice, impiety, superstition, hypocrisy, lying."


"Fortitude and teh gift o f fortitude, with magnanimity, patience and perseverance" fight, "rash boldness, cowardliness and pusillanimity."


"Temperance, sobriety and chastity, with meekness and humility" fight "intemperance, lust, anger, pride and curiosity."


I don't know about you, but I have a lot of work to do....

If we do not help God destroy vice in us, we shall not see Him. 

Prayer to the Great Angel Gabriel for Help in Need

St, Gabriel, the great angel of God, is the patron of many things. Today, I invoke him as patron of postal workers, postal services, post offices, telecommunications workers, and telephones.

If you live in England, you understand my fervent prayer to him. I said this prayer and the prayer was answered immediately.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, I venerate you as the Angel of the Incarnation, because God specially appointed you to bear the messages concerning the God-Man to Daniel, Zechariah, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Give me a very tender and devoted love for the Incarnate Word and his Blessed Mother more like your own. I venerate you also as the "Strength from God" because you are the giver of God's strength, consoler and comforter chosen to strengthen God's faithful and teach them important truths. I ask for the grace of a special power of the will to strive for holiness of life.

Steady my resolutions; renew my courage; comfort and console me in the problems, trials and sufferings of daily living, as you consoled our Savior in his agony and Mary in her sorrows and Joseph in his trials. I put my confidence in you. Saint Gabriel I ask you especially for this favor: (mention your request). Through your earnest love for the Son of God made man and for his Blessed Mother I beg of you, intercede for me that my request may be granted, if it be God's holy will. Pray for us, Saint Gabriel the Archangel, that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.

Window, Buckland, England

More on the BioVentures Center in Iowa

This news is a bit late, but it is good news--I had a post on this earlier, but I want to follow-up on this.. On July 11th in Coraville, Iowa, Rick Santorum helped launch the Give Cures at the BioVentures Center in Iowa City, for the John Paul II Stem Cell Research Center. This type of research provides cures  without using the tissues of aborted babies. Santorum stated:  


"Shortcuts by promoting abortion and promoting unethical behavior are certainly not the best solution to whatever medical condition you might have...How many people have ever heart of a single cure as a result of fetal tissue (research)? The answer is none, zero..The field has been abandoned."


Father Jim Vrba, pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Solon, Iowa stressed in the article in the local diocesan paper that the center's research was in line with Church teaching that life begins at conception.


I write about this again to encourage those who want to give to a great cause in research, that Catholics are working hard in the area of stem cell research. 


You may contact the group in order to give a donation.http://www.givecures.org/#/about/4563732608

Perfection series warning two--Concupiscence

Tomorrow, I shall write about the virtues which counteract the sins and tendencies listed today.

The All Pure, All Holy Theotokos

The life of the virtues bring us to eternal life and help the Church to grow through evangelization. If we are not living the life of virtue, we shall go to purgatory, as only the perfect see God. And, we shall not have the power of ministry needed in the Church.

We all have concupiscence, a result of Original Sin, and it is the tendency towards sin. The closer we get to God, the more clear are these areas. These lists are from Garrigou-Lagrange.

Under concupiscence of the eyes, this is the list: avarice, perfidy, fraud, deceit, perjury, itch to acquire and excessive anxiety to keep, harshness, hardness of heart.


Under concupiscence of the flesh are listed: lust, spiritual blindness, poor judgment, impetuosity of decision, inconstancy, love of self even to hatred of God, attachment to the present life which destroys hope of eternal life.  


Do not despair. as we have the life of the sacraments, which gives us and feed the theological and cardinal virtues. Watch this space. Be honest, pray, act. Look to Mary, Our Mother and Role Model.

Perfection Series continued--a Warning

sloth, spiritual torpor and discouragement

One of the most important lessons to learn in the spiritual life is NOT to believe one is at a higher stage of development that one really is. Self-deceit and confusion can lead to dangerous results, including the loss of one's soul.

A spiritual director or a good confessor is a necessary person. Also, one must examine one's conscious daily. Before one goes to bed at night is the best time.

Garrigou-Lagrange lists sins we could use in an examination: all come from "Inordinate love of self".

He divides this list into "Pride" and "Concupiscence".

He further divides Pride into sins regarding one's self and sins in regard to one's neighbor.

He further divides Concupiscence into sins of the flesh and sins of the eyes. That will be in the next post.

Under Pride and Self, these are listed: vainglory, disobedience, boasting, hypocrisy, contention, rivalry, discord,, singularity, stubbornness, sloth (acedia), hatred of spiritual things, malice, rancor, pusillanimity, discouragement, spiritual torpor, forgetfulness of precepts and seeking after forbidden things.


Catholics who insist on following false, condemned seers are committing a sin of pride.

In the next category of Pride, that of sins against others, the list continues: envy, hatred, detraction, calumny, joy at the misfortune of others, sadness at another's success, anger, disputes, fits of passion, insults, contumely, blasphemy.


To be continued...

Perfection Series continued-the predominant fault--four

St. Augustine tells us, using Garrigou-Lagrange, that God never asks us to do the impossible. If God desires us to be one with Him and He does, we will have the means to overcome all of our sins. First of all, we must ask for grace and as Catholics, that means taking part in the Sacramental Life of the Church-monthly if not weekly Confession; frequent, if not daily Communion; living out the life of the virtues.

We cannot give up the fight. If we do,we shall lose eternal life with God.

Garrigou-Lagrange states. "We must not make peace with our faults." Do not tolerate evil in yourself and in others. Parents, mold and guide your children to holiness. Do not give in to the lies of the world.

We are all called to the fight. We are all called to be saints. It is hard. So what? Heaven and the Face of Jesus will be our reward.

Huckabee on Abortion and Guns

Mike Huckabee, speaking on his Fox News show, said America doesn’t have a gun problem or crime problem but a “sin problem” and that while the Aurora movie massacre was a horrible incident that deserves the media coverage it's getting, other daily American tragedies such as mass abortion, suicides, and other murders should receive more attention.

The former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate said his Fox News segment that the shooting “is impossible to understand except that we live in a world where there is evil.”

“We simply don't know why any person would reach deep enough into the forces of darkness to decide to kill innocent people simply watching a movie,” Huckabee said, adding that he is refusing to name the killer because he is not interested in “helping him become a celebrity.”

Huckabee said killing a dozen people in a movie theater gets attention because it doesn’t happen every day “but one million innocent and unborn babies die in their mother's wombs each year by elective abortions and we pay scant attention to that.”

He cited the 6,500-plus troops lost in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and suicides in the U.S. as other examples of tragedies which do not generate as many headlines as a mass shooting.

“I'm not attempting to disparage the attention being given to the Aurora theatre shooting,” he noted. “We should all pray for the victim,  their families and friends and offer our help for the physical and emotional recovery  of the survivors. But the victim of a murder in a convenience store robbery or a wife who dies at the hands of a serial abuser is also precious life.”

“Ultimately,” Huckabee concluded, “We don't have a crime problem or a gun problem – or even a violence problem. What we have is a sin problem. And since we ordered God out of our schools and communities, the military and public conversations, you know, we really shouldn't act so surprised when all hell breaks loose.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: Huckabee: ‘We Have a Sin Problem’
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

G4S song......Olympic Disgust 1,000

Some CEO must have wanted his nephew to have a job. This is SO  bad I have to share it. G4S has a theme song and it is bad...Should we write a Church Militant Song?

Here are the lyrics


You love your job and the people too
Making a difference is what you do
But consider all you have at stake
The time is now don't make a mistake
Because the enemy prowls, wanting to attack
But we're on the wall, we've got your back
So get out front and take the lead
And be the winner you were born to be
G4S! protecting the world
G4S! so dreams can unfurl
24/7 every night and day
A warrior stands ready so don't be afraid
G4S! secure in your world
G4S! let your dreams unfurl
We're guarding you with all our might
Keeping watch throughout the night

New Supertradmum Poll

New Poll on education of readers at right--I am trying to work with subjects and language.

The John Paul II Foundation for Sport in England

I grew up surrounded by sport. As kids, we went to a local gym and did all kinds of interesting and fun things. I remember that I loved climbing up this huge rope to the top of the ceiling of the gym. Hard work.

We had sport in school as well as PE, Physical Education classes. My brothers were in baseball, and I played tennis. We all had to go to swimming lessons. Two of us ran, one was in wrestling. We learned from our dad to fish, to shoot, and do archery. I was fortunate growing up in the Midwest and having fun.

Many children today do not have access to sport. I know this is hard to believe, but in London, the Catholic Church saw this need and decided to organize a sport's charity. This is an excellent idea and I support it 100%. Msgr. Vladimir Felzmann is the Chaplain for Sport. He told me that the ideals of this charity are to support sport in Catholic schools, in parishes, after school and with clubs.

The Foundation's goals are to create an awareness that all children, (and may I add, especially boys) need a communal connection to the Church through sport. This may keep them out of gangs; creating groups which provide communal security, by giving youth a place to recreate and form friendships in the Faith.

The goals are thus: to get access to facilities, especially during the summer break, on weekends and in evenings to allow sports activities.


Two, to make all realize that each parish community could have sport's clubs to develop virtues and skills, as well as friendships.


Three, to improve standards of sport (see the website link for more on this)


Four, to emphasize the spiritual values of sport.


Five, the provide summer sports camps, which Americans take for granted, helping boarding schools run camps for other children.


Six, "to enable people to thrive physically, morally and spiritual through sport" and to encourage them by awards. Some of these awards are:

David Sheppard Award for Anti-Racism through Sport

Basil Hume Award for Rugby

Sister Julie Billiart Award for Girls’ Disability Sport

Amy Williams Award for Winter Sports

Muhammad Ali Award for Health & Well-Being through Sport

Jerzy Kluger Award for Jewish-Christian Relations through Sport

Joe Calzhage Award for Outstanding Club Service

Jimmy Mizen Award for Special Initiatives Bringing Communities and People Together

Here is a great photo of Msgr. showing what he can do!

This is an exciting venture. Please support this. Here are the crucial links for more information and how to donate. http://www.johnpaul2foundation4sport.org/

Olympic Pastors and St. Sebastian

Recently, the Monsignor who is the Chief Executor of the John Paul II Foundation for Sport, a registered charity, and who is also the Chaplain for Sport in the Archdiocese of Westminster, gave me some information on both the Olympics and the sports charity.

Msgr. Vladimir Felzmann, a fascinating priest with an interesting history, told me that he is one of the "roving" chaplains for the Olympics. Roving chaplains are not new, as I was involved in peripatetic ministry and outreach to students in the 1980s in London. The Anglicans came up with idea first, realizing that if the people were not coming to church, the ministers had to reach out to the people and be where they are.

There are 190 chaplains of several denominations involved in the Olympics, and Msgr. Felzmann will be working in Central London, with some Anglican ministers. Walking around the parks, streets and being present in the many activities which surround the Olympics, these missionaries will be "there" for the millions of visitors. There is, of course, an inter-denominational team of pastors involved in the Olympic Village, but the outreach may be much more effective.

Please pray for Msgr Felzmann and his confreres. Christ did send his disciples out into the world, and as the world in coming to London this week, Christ is sending disciples out again.

I shall have a separate post on the John Paul II Foundation for Sport, a very worthy cause.

By the way, St. Sebastian is the patron saint of sport, because, as a Roman Centurion, he must have been in top physical condition. May he intercede for all the priests involved in the Olympic ministries.

Olympic disgust five--are the games supposed to unite nations?

Sad days for London

By JOSHUA DAVIDOVICH and AP

Olympic organizing head Jacques Rogge insisted again Saturday that there would be no minute of silence for the Israeli victims of the 1972 Munich massacre, but said he would lead an official delegation to the German city to mark the tragedy.

Pressure on Rogge to include a moment of remembrance has ramped up in recent months as the opening of the London Olympics nears.

Last week US President Barack Obama joined a battery of other world leaders saying they supported a moment of silence for the 11 slain Israeli athletes at the upcoming London Games, which will mark the 40th anniversary of the attack by Palestinian terrorists.

Rogge, who heads the International Olympic Committee, continued to rebuff the calls, but said a September 5 memorial on a Munich airfield would pay a “very strong homage and remembrance” to the victims.

Munich’s Furstenfeldbruck airbase was the site of a botched raid by German commandos during the 1972 games that ended with nine Israeli athletes being killed by their kidnappers. Two other members of the team had been killed earlier.

Rogge said again that he did not believe the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, slated for Friday, was the right venue for a moment of silence.

“The opening ceremony is an atmosphere that isn’t fit to remember such tragic events,” he told a news conference.

Rogge was asked whether he was swayed by Obama’s view.

“We also pay big attention to recommendations coming either from the political world, or cultural world, or world of enterprise,” Rogge said. “And we take then a decision taking into consideration (those recommendations). I will not say that we are necessarily following the advice, but we take it into consideration, yes.”

On Sunday morning, a memorial event will be held in east London attended by London Mayor Boris Johnson and Efraim Zinger, head of Israel’s Olympic committee.

Also last week, American broadcaster Bob Costas said he would “call out” the IOC for refusing the request while announcing the Israeli team’s arrival.

Israeli leaders have been joined by politicians in the US, Canada, Germany, Italy, Australia and elsewhere calling for a moment of silence.

On another issue related to Israel, Rogge said the IOC would investigate any athletes who pull out of competing against Israelis in London claiming they were injured. In the past, athletes from Iran have withdrawn from Olympic events that included Israelis without facing sanctions.

“If an athlete is genuinely injured or ill, then of course it is understandable,” Rogge said. “But we will examine every case very thoroughly and we will examine every case with an independent medical team. If the medical team does not ratify the decision of the first doctor, then the athlete will be punished.”

Rogge said the IOC has reminded all national Olympic committees, not just Arab bodies, that refusing to compete against another competitor is “totally forbidden by the Olympic Charter.”

St. Ann, pray for us

Novena to St. Ann Reminder

These prayers are from the EWTN site. The novena prayers, which started on July 17th, may be found on the blue links. For my friends who are devoted to St. Ann. She is one of the many patrons of this blog and one of my names. Her feast day is July 26th. DAILY PRAYER TO SAINT ANN O glorious St. Ann, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care. Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen. Our Father, . . . Hail Mary . . . O Jesus, Holy Mary, St. Ann, help me now and at the hour of my death. Good St. Ann, intercede for me. First Day Second Day Third Day Fourth Day Fifth Day Sixth Day Seventh Day Eighth Day Ninth Day

Predominant Fault Three-perfection series

Promptness of will and intolerance of our faults are part of the battle against our predominant faults. This is a battle from which we cannot escape if we want to be holy.

Our wills must respond to God like a damsel fly in the air, turning directions quickly and deftly. Promptness of will means two things. That we are listening and in sanctifying grace. Garrigou-Lagrange writes, referring to a quotation from Blessed Nicholas of  Flue--"Lord, take from me everything that hinders me form going to Thee. give me all that will lead me to Thee. Take me from myself and give me to Thyself."


The great Dominican states that such a prayer leads us to self-examination. I actually write down sins, and look for patterns. A pattern of sin shows the hidden deep sin. A good confessor can help one on this point.

Garrigou-Lagrange reminds us that St. Ignatius of Loyola kept journals and instructed his followers to do so. Journals which include the Examen are great.

Along with the above, the holy Dominican notes that when we realize sin, we must impose a sanction or penance on ourselves EVERY time we perceive that sin.

It can be a moment of silence or a prayer. I try to do the opposite. If I have been selfish in conversation, I try and be quiet and listen. If I am impatience, I try to be patient. A virtue counteracts a vice. The positive slowly overcomes the negative.

A warning: do not surround yourself with negative people. If you can be a cheerleader, fine, but negativity is not from God and indicates a serious interior need for healing and repentance.  To be continued...

A note on private revelations AGAIN

It is our responsibility as laity to follow the teachings of the Church, including the CDF's guidelines, comments, warnings, and condemnations of certain private revelations. I am concerned, very, about good Catholics taking time to run after seers instead of paying attention to the reasons from the Vatican as to why they are not approved.

Doctrinal errors are a litmus test. Obedience to Rome is a litmus test. Either one is obedient or not.

Recently, a person have explained to me that bishops and at least one cardinal have attended or visited a certain seer. Of course, this is one hearsay. I told her that I did not care as I go by what the CDF has stated. That one bishop or even cardinal in the world or even two are disobedient to Rome would not be a new situation.

The problem is that the laity do not know the Faith. The vast majority of people who follow seers have never read the CCC or gone to the Vatican website, or read blogs, such as this one, which clarify certain situations by referring to Rome.

Either one wants to be obedient or not. I would not give away my precious soul to any seer. I wait until Rome approves before even reading prayers or documents on visions. If I cannot be obedient in little things, I cannot be obedient in big things. Would you go to hell for disobedience because a bishop or cardinal visited a seer which has been condemned or warned against by the CDF? Not me. And we do not need private revelations, as what has been given through the Bible and Tradition can keep a Catholic busy reading and meditating for the rest of her life.

Read, pray, act. Love the Church. The Church is our safety net. It is our duty to follow the Teaching Magisterium of the Church and NOT trust our own judgment.

God will not protect you, if you are disobedient. He will let you go your own way until you are open to His Plan, which is salvation through the Catholic Church.