No Revolution Works Without Democratic Leaders-in-Waiting: Women and Christians to the Lions

Last year, when I was watching the revolution in Egypt happening, and listening to idiotic American television commentators go on about the Arab Spring, I knew we would witness an Arab Winter. Maybe it is because I am a woman and very aware of the lack of civil rights for women in almost all the parts of the world under sharia law, or maybe because I am a student of history and have seen all this before. Those who wished by a fantasy that a democratic government was to come out of Tunisia, or Egypt, or Libya, were and are living in a false world of wishes of their own making. The liberal media does not and will not understand Islamic sharia law. The media does not uphold the rights of Christians, or women in the Middle East or African nations.

One of the elements of which I was aware as the riots were happening, was that there were not and still are not any democratic leaders waiting in the wings to take over. The young man who started the twitter revolution in Egypt last year was thrown off the stage in Tahir Square by the Muslim Brotherhood speakers. Try and find that video I watched last year on YouTube, which, by the way, censors regularly such types of videos. Such silencing of young democracy seekers in Egypt happened last week as well. Check here.

Finally, some European journalists are waking up to the fact that the only seeming replacement for tyrants are more tyrants. In the French paper Le Monde, an article written by Peter Harling reveals some semblance of reality. I quote part of a translated text from here.


What makes the transitions underway impossible to judge is that they have all brought to the fore innumerable tensions at the heart of the region’s societies, at the very moment when these societies are ridding themselves of the traditional means to manage these tensions, since the the usual means used by the regimes are exactly what their subjects no longer tolerate. At stake in these negotiations is precisely the creation of mechanism to regulate social conflicts, but on new bases which are themselves sources of conflict. It is therefore not surprising to see disagreements, and even violence. The real question mark is whether new political systems will appear that will give a central importance to popular legitimacy, in a region that has hitherto been deprived of such systems.


This is mild compared to what I would have written, as I am very concerned about women and Christians, who we all know, are not respected now in Egypt and are under increasing persecution, noted in the Vatican and among those who are not afraid to contradict the BIG LIE about moderate Islam taking over Egypt. 


Revolutionaries must have something in mind, in place, when they overthrow tyrannies. A democratic process takes intelligence, leadership, time. Under a military rule, or sharia law, there can be no democracy. We are witnessing the Arab Winter and I wish our own governments in the West would admit to this. Instead, Washington is pandering to a group which will be just as bad, if not worse, than Mubarak's government was.


The only major voice of reality in the media is the Washington Post, which wrote about Washington's blindness a few days ago.

And, can you believe there are some in America, who do not believe this photo is real--including Jimmy Carter? A phrase that was popular when I was in high school was "Get real and face the situation". (Thanks to Father Miclot). Get real, people, get real. 


I fear in this Arab Winter for my fellow Christians and women of all creeds. I do not want these images and truths to be suppressed, just as the Tienanmen Square photos and history have been suppressed in China. Remember during the Olympics there when Westerners were showing a generation of youth photos and history they had never seen online?


 from Wiki:

Public memory of the Tiananmen Square protests has been suppressed by the CPC since 1989. Print media containing reference to the protests must be consistent with the government’s version of events.^[157] Presently, many Chinese citizens are reluctant to speak about the protests due to the possibility of repercussions.^[160] However, some individuals do speak out, such as Ding Zilin of theTiananmen Mothers organization.^[161] Regardless, youth in China are generally unaware of the events that took place, and cannot recognize symbols such as tank man,^[162] or even the date itself.^[163]

Internet searches of '4 June' or 'Tiananmen Square' bring back censored results or cuts the server connection temporarily.^[161] Specific web pages with certain keywords are censored, while other websites, such as those of overseas Chinese democracy movements, are blocked wholesale.^[154][161] The censorship, however, has been inconsistent - with many sites being blocked, unblocked, and re-blocked over the years, including YouTube, Wikipedia, and Flickr.^[164] In addition, the policy is much more stringent with Chinese-language sites than foreign-language ones. In January 2006, Google agreed to censor their mainland China site to remove information about the Tiananmen Square massacre and Taiwan independence.^[165] Google withdrew its cooperation on censorship in January 2010.^[166]

Leading up to and during the event's 20th anniversary on 4 June 2009, party authorities increased security around the square. Members of the Public Security Bureau and the People’s Armed Policewere present at the square in uniform along with several hundred plain clothes officers.^[167] Tourists were allowed into the square subject to security checks. Journalists were denied entry.^[167] Some journalists who attempted to film at the square or interview dissidents were briefly detained.^[168] The 20th Anniversary also saw the shut down of global social-networking sites in China, as well as heavy policing of dissidents and their interactions with journalists.^[156][169] No protests were to be tolerated on this occasion in Beijing.^{[170][171][172]}

The younger teens and twenty-somethings did not recognize "tank man".  Remember, please. And, the same thing will happen in Afghanistan. Watch and see. I wish I had kept articles from last year which are missing. If someone can find the reference to the youth leader who was not allowed to speak in Tahir Square, please let us know here.  Remember, please.

Eurasian Siskins on February 2nd

My favorite animals are birds. And, although I do not care whether my cats go to heaven, I would wonder whatever could take the place of birds, especially the morning chorus, which will not occur for several months.

One reason out of several I decided I could not live in Malta year round was the lack of birds.That may sound like a drastic decision to some, but I love birds. But, now that I am in Ireland, I am happy to see and hear birds, even for the past six very cold weeks I have been here. Today is perhaps the coldest day we have experienced. It was colder here yesterday, in the built-up village north of Dublin where I am staying, than in Iowa! However, as cold as it is, the grass is green and the birds live in the hedges and conifers.

Beside the ubiquitous European Robin, the Hooded Crow, Ring-Necked Doves, European Starlings, Magpies, and Seagulls, today I saw a small flock of Eurasian Siskins in a set of dilapidated yew trees near my flat. I cannot tell you how exciting this is for me. I kept a bird diary for about 35 years, only stopping when I could not keep up with the entries. I have been a serious birder since my early twenties, keeping records, using good field glasses, tromping around soggy Minnesota, Wisconsin and other bird sanctuaries, including some in England. I can recognize many species by calls, as I trained myself by memorizing songs, first from tapes, and then from CDs. If one can hear, one can look in the appropriate place for the bird.

In Missouri, my son and I saw hundreds of birds, including the Great Barn Owl, the Great Horned Owl, and Bald Eagles almost daily in the summer. In Iowa, we identified many types of birds, including the Peregrine Falcon, the Fan-Tailed Hawk, the New World Quail, and the hundreds listed here. The Wiki list looks like a neater version of my first bird diary. And I have seen most, if not all of those birds on that list.

But, today, on Candlemas, and the coldest day I have experienced in Ireland, to see the little band of Eurasian Siskins is a gift from God. They are still fluttering in and out of the yews, moving quickly and nervously as they do, showing their yellow coloring and improving my cold morning with their bits of sunshine. Ah, the resident Magpie just claimed its space.  The yellow birds have flown away. I think the little Eurasian Siskins are gone.

Memories of Candlemas in a Midwest Church in America and Candlemas Bells at Kingston Lacy

In my old parish in the Midwest, where I was baptized, made my First Confession and First Holy Communion and where I was Confirmed, the families would bring the candles to the Church for the blessing from the priest. These were candles used in the house for the prayer corner, or feast days. The children would bring their candles as well. I have not seen this happening anyplace else, but the custom is delightful. I think Catholics in Poland do this, and if other readers have brought candles to Church, they should make a comment.

Especially when I was young, a home visit from the priest involved meeting the priest at the door with lit candles when he came to bring Holy Communion to the sick. Even in the early 2000s, when I belonged to an FSSP parish and I was ill, my son met the priest at the door with our blessed lit candles. Catholics should renew these good customs, as part of our Catholic identity. Candles at this time of year remind us of the Light of Christ, dispelling the darkness of sin and death.

Candlemas for me is also a time for remembering a great day at Kingston Lacy. Near Wimborne in Dorset, my old county, the snowdrops begin to come out at this time of year, depending on the snow and cold. Recently, the latter part of February has been a good time to see the flowers, also known as Candlemas Bells. The flower pushing itself out of the snow seems a reminder that perseverance is a necessary virtue of the Christian. The temerity of these little blooms heralding in Spring gives us courage.

My first visit revealed a vision of white cascading through the trees. I saw a few of the snowdrops at Buckfast Abbey last year, but I had missed the peak time. Candlemas, being the Feast of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, should be a time of rejoicing. The snowdrop, being "my flower" for January in old English books, as my birthday is in January, will always be one of my favorites. I, too, bloom well in conditions less than perfect, and look forward to longer days and shorter nights. Candlemas moves us forward to Lent and Easter, as we look towards new life.


And, because of all the stress this week, I thought you all would enjoy this bit of peace and color. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzivTHH9Em8
Happy Candle Mass.

Oedipus and Reality

Because of the great Dr. Sanity, and because I am surrounded by people who have created their own worlds and are completely out of touch with reality, I am inspired to write again about reality and objectivity. From a Catholic point of view, objectivity is holiness, the putting on the mind of Christ. See several posts below. Only when we are truly humble, admitting our own sin, limitations, and even small talents, can we love. Only by standing back and taking an objective  look at life, as it really is, can we love. Love does not play games, or invent parallel worlds. It intersects with the worlds of others, bringing reality, truth into situations and creating freedom.

Freedom is not available to those who want their own way and only see their reality. Freedom is being open to truth and accepting that reality which is not of one's own making, but in the case of the Christian, God's making. Assent to God's Will is reality.

I had cancer, and I had to accept the consequences. This is reality. At first, one goes into a denial, a status quo, until one cannot deny the symptoms, or the diagnosis. The quicker one accepts the truth, the more easily it is to deal with the losses which inevitably come. That God allows cancer, or death, or separation, only means that we are given an opportunity to face reality and be freedom. Deceit creates chains, unhealthy heavy chains, which hold one down to a prison of lies and unreality. Truth breaks those chains, be it through an illness, or treatment for alcoholism or psychological counseling or the Sacrament of Confession. Basically, humility is just truth. I am this and not this. I can do this and not this. I can be this and not this.

The lies of our century have created tyrannies. All tyrannies rely on propaganda, the building up and maintaining of lies. Why people assent to believe in propaganda is a mystery to me.I taught college and university levels classes, including logic for years. I gave up in 2010, when I realized that the administrators on the whole were as out of touch with reality as my students. This Post-Modern phenomenon  is the result of complete subjectivism. The world of POTUS is his world, and the world of my student Z was his world and the world of my administrator Y was her world. The thing which I do not understand is that there are many highly intelligent people in Congress and the Supreme Court, in America, in the Catholic Church, who "seem" grounded. Are they all in their own little worlds? Is this how most people survive? As a person raised on Aristotle and Aquinas, I was taught that truth begins with what is, what is natural in nature, for example, or what we perceive objectively. I am not sure how people lose objectivity. A good teacher has it, a good parent has it, and a good spouse had it. How can a person really love without objectivity? Real love is objective. It is God's Love.

How can we trust the nation to a group of people who are living in cloud-cuckoo-land? It is very scary, as some other nations, which are living in reality (are there any) could easily take advantage of our Disneyland outlook. The delusions are so broad and deep, is there any chance of this changing without great catastrophes waking us all up? Ah, the Greeks, who invented that word, catastrophe, knew all about the change of the wheel of fortune, the facing of truth for such as Oedipus, through tragedy. I do not wish for this, but it does seem, as in Greek drama, inevitable. In Greek drama, which I taught and in which my son did some acting, there is a movement of the poetry from strophe to antistrophe to catastrophe.

The prologue and the entrance ode occur followed by the strophe, the turning of the chorus, physically either on or off stage, at a different level. The antistrophe is another turn, matching the meaning of the text, the poetry, so that the physical movement imitates the words. The catastrophe is the sudden changing of the action, following some episode, where, at least in the great tragedies, a sudden event of horror occurs, such as Oedipus' realization that he killed his father and married his mother. This is followed by the stationary ode and the exit ode.  

We are headed in the States for the catastrophe. As long as people, as even the heroes or heroines in the Greek dramas, live in deceit or darkness, there is no truth. The catastrophe brings truth, light and usually, peace. 

We can only hope. Oedipus' story is told in three plays: the trilogy of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone. These tragedies have three dramas to work out some type of peace and reconciliation. Do we have time?

Begging because of a sacrilege; if someone can allow a sacred object to be desecrated, it has already happened in the mind and soul of those who have lost the Faith

On Father Ray Blake's blog today is the posting of the sacrilegious selling of Church plate, and other sacred objects at the upcoming Ramsgate Abbey sale. I am horrified. My American family paid for stained glass windows, a gold tabernacle, and other sacred objects for several churches over the years in the Midwest. We assume that these things would stay in a Catholic Church. There is no excuse for selling sacred objects, some used in Adoration, such as monstrances, and even chalices and ciboria used in the Mass. Why did the monks not give those objects to local churches, or to the great abbeys at Buckfast and Downside, which would have cared for these?

I cannot express the inappropriateness of this sale. It amounts to stealing.

However, I am going to beg. My own son and others in the seminaries may not have families wealthy enough to buy them the chalices necessary as gifts for their ordination days. I know a Latino son of a widow who is going to be ordained, for example, from a poor family. Also, there are missionary groups which do not have such beautiful items to use on the altar. Why not, those of you who can, buy some of these objects which have held the Body and Blood of Christ? ( And, do they believe that Christ is Truly Present at Ramsgate Abbey? ) Then, give them to a temporary deacon or missionary, or seminarian? How can the monks defend themselves, even to us lowly laity, who pay for these things?

Burning of a Consecrated Host in Church Ware at a Black Mass 

In the States, art connoisseurs buy these sacred objects for their dining room buffets, living rooms, bedrooms, entrance ways. I know of a homosexual couple who collect religious items from Catholic Churches in California. Why, I do not know. Their house is full of these items sold in auctions.

Or, Satanists buy them for Black Masses. A good friend of mine, years ago in the special branch of a police force in Minneapolis, explained this to me.

Please, Catholics -- save these items--please.
Catalogue-- here-- Save these objects from dishonor, and possible blasphemy and sacrilege.

I am not an emotional person. Ask my family, but I am sobbing while writing this posting.

The Real St. Brigid, "the Mary of the Gael"

Today is the feast day of one of Ireland's patrons, St. Brigid, 451-525. Now, since I have been in Eire, I have discovered some craziness among certain groups of Catholics and lapsed Catholics, who have become infected with the virus of New Age nonsense. Many ideas floating around this great Saint Brigid have become more popular than her real person, who in her own right without the help of New Age myth-makers, was a great leader, abbess of double monastery, (like my patron here, St. Etheldreda), and a holy woman of God.

So, now, in 2012, St. Brigid is being hailed as, (get ready), a feminist, a goddess of the Celts, the first woman priest of Eire, and a bishop, among other things. Why the pagans have captured the story of this woman, who founded the greatest monastery in Eire, Kildare, remains a mystery only clear within the Celtic talent for story, and the mixing of truth and fiction. St. Brigid was famous throughout Europe early on for her own accomplishments and love of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. A good place to start real research is found here. These strong women of the early Church in Ireland and Great Britain, such as Ss. Brigid and Etheldreda, deserve our respect for who they really were, not for our modern, political, and even silly interpretations. St. Brigid stands above all us women here in Ireland, and does not need revisionists to cloud her many achievements for Christ and His Church. But, that is the impetus of New Age cults, to take what is good and separate such things as saints and angels from the Church, so that the members can have "religion" without ethics or dogma. Neat, but deadly for the soul.

The Cradle of Modernist Heresies

In 1983, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, who was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, now Pope Benedict XVI, issued a document under the name of the Declaration on Masonic Associations.  The link is on the name.

In that document, the long history of the condemnation of Freemasonry by the Church, since 1738, was reiterated and clearly defined. The original condemnation of Clement XII, In eminenti apostolatus specula  was upheld.

Since that time, I have had many Catholics, in the United States and in Europe claim that the Church had removed the automatic excommunication on a Catholic who joined the Masons. This is not and has never been so. One has to understand that the Church's condemnation of Masonry is based not merely on the fact that it is a secret organization, but that it upholds several Modernist heresies. Firstly, Cardinal Ratizinger wrote that:

Therefore the Church’s negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enrol in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion. He went on to state that no bishop had any right to change this. It is interesting that the SSPX press, Angelus Press, has one of the best books on the evils and pitfalls of Masonry. One can find it here. However, I want to concentrate on a few of the Modernist heresies found in Freemasonry. The first is indifferentism. This heresy proclaims that all religions are the same and that religion has no place in the public life of a nation or people.Mirari Vos  On Liberalism and Religious Indifferentism written in 1832 by Gregory XVI is a forgotten document of the Church. Indifferentism leads to a relativism about religion, stating that all are either the same, or so subjective as to mean only what a person sincerely believes. This pluralism leads to another aspect that because all religions are relative and the same, these beliefs have no role in the public life, cannot affect politics, or governmental decisions. Of course, as the Catholic Church is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, this heresy is condemned as contrary to both Revelation and Tradition. Indifferentism leads to a denial of the supernatural, as if all beliefs are equal or subjective, there is no hierarchy, no Revelation from God. Also denied in this heresy would be dogma, for the same reasons. It is interesting that in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907, itself peppered with some Modernist heresies, that this statement from Newman is quoted in the section on indifferentism:  No truth, however sacred, can stand against it (the Catholic Church) in the long run; and hence it is that in the Pagan world, when our Lord came, the last traces of the religious knowledge of former times were all but disappearing from those portions of the world in which the intellect had been active and had a career" (Apologia, chap. v).  The second heresy of many in Masonry is eirenism.This is what I call the forgotten heresy.  The condemnation of eirenism is found in Pope Pius XII's encyclical, Humani Generis. This great work condemns existentialism, historicism (Gramsci watch), immanentism and other isms. The point of eirenism is, in the words of the Pope: setting aside the questions which divide men, they aim not only at joining forces to repel the attacks of atheism, but also at reconciling things opposed to one another in the field of dogma. And as in former times some questioned whether the traditional apologetics That branch of the science of theology which explains the reasons for the Church's existence and doctrine of the Church did not constitute an obstacle rather than a help to the winning of souls for Christ, so today some are presumptuous enough to question seriously whether theology and theological methods, such as with the approval of ecclesiastical authority are found in our schools, should not only be perfected, but also completely reformed, in order to promote the more efficacious propagation throughout the world among men of every culture and religious opinion. This heresy clearly seeks after a type of syncretism, a religion of unity, wherein divisions vanish and people come together to worship some sort of agreed upon god. I would venture to say that eirenism leads directly to Worship of the State. This is the atmosphere of religion and philosophy in the United States at this very moment. The State declares that there is no religious right to conscience, thereby setting up its own standards for so-called moral or ethical behavior. To use an example, abortion is ok because a Supreme Court decision determined it was so, and because further legislation supports it. The State has substituted itself for the Church in matters of conscience.  Wake up, American Catholics. So, the heresies sleeping in Masonry have awakened and taken over the mind-set of the nation's leaders. Simple and neat. What is happening and has happened in Catholic education, wherein schools are rebelling against the Teaching Magisterium (look here in California today, this minute) is a direct result of the concepts of eirenism. Schools and other facilities play down differences for the sake of community unity to the detriment of Catholic Teaching.  It is too late to change this huge momentum, hidden in Masonry by choice, and held in some minds by lethargy and laziness. To take the easiest way out, to placate, to be politically correct is eirenism.  The greatest heresy in Masonry is immanentism, which destroys the Revelation of God as Trinity, replacing Him with a vague, abstract presence found in the world. Pope Pius X condemned this in  Pascendi Dominici Gregis. As Catholics, we do not have much time to read all of these documents, but what is happening today in America, with the attack on the Church from the present administration concerning freedom of religion and freedom on conscience is an attack prophesied by all the documents above. If Church leaders knew their own teaching, they would have seen this coming, or even better, stopped these idealistic heresies from fomenting in the people in the pews. And, as laymen, we only have ourselves to blame if we find ourselves marginalize, persecuted, imprisoned, martyred. See my post below on the stages of persecution and the ideologies which push these heresies. The one I have left for this posting is Freemasonry, which seems to hold many of the Modernist heresies and is able to produce these in the market place as goods. As one can tell, I taught a history of ideas, history of encyclicals, history of heresies. Nothing has changed in 2012 which was not there in 1732 or earlier. Sadly, the revisionist historians within the Catholic Church look like they have won the day. I honestly feel that we are in the times of Arianism, the greatest heresy which rocked and split the Church. However, the Church prevailed, and will, as Christ promised until the end of time. But, the Lord did not assure us it would be a large, powerful, or influential Church. Perhaps the words of one of the Desert Fathers are applicable. I think, but I am not sure, it was Abba Pambo. "When asked by a young monk if they were of the greatest generation because they saw and cast out devils, and prayed, fasted, and converted  and healed people, the Abba answered. 'No, we are not the greatest generation. We have obvious power. The next generation will see Christ establish His Kingdom among the Nations, and there will be unity for awhile. But, the greatest generation is the one, which under great persecution, will survive. They are the greatest and the last.'"

Bloggers' Request--Catholics Pay Attention, Please

Father Z has requested that bloggers pass on this information. Contact your bishops if you are in the States. To date, 107 have responded in demanding a repeal of the mandate against conscience. Also, Senator Rubio has drafted a bill to counter-act this heinous bill of Obama. Here are the links, one and two. If you never did anything political in your life, do it now.

I am a writing with an injured hand and arm, offering up this for all of the Catholic priests, sems, bishops and laity in the States. Read, pray, act. Act, please, now.

No democratic process in Britain--Government pushes its own agenda and against the wishes of the people

LifeSiteNews has published an excellent article on the fight to stop the Cameron government from pushing through gay civil "marriage". Anglican and Catholic bishops alike are asking for a concerted, interdenominational effort on the part of churches to stop this movement. Archbishop Conti of Glasgow wrote eloquently that, “Those in Government need to be respectfully reminded that a mandate to govern does not include a mandate to reconstruct society on ideological grounds, nor to undermine the very institution which, from the beginning, has been universally acknowledged as of the natural order and the bedrock of society, namely marriage and the family. In terms of law, its support and defence have been on a par with the defence of life itself. We weaken it at our peril.”


Those is Britain should be demanding an explanation of this obsession with the present coalition government, which, as the article notes, did not publicize this agenda either in any of the parties' platforms or in the run-up to the election. Gay "marriage" was not an issue.


So, why is it now? This is ideology gone mad. Cameron and company are undermining the democratic processes of Parliamentary government. 


SPUC has passed this resolution and we must all support these pro-life efforts.“That the Council of SPUC, noting the various proposals currently being made by the present Government and others in regard to the status and standing of marriage and its consequent effect upon family life; and further noting the higher proportionate incidence of abortion in unmarried women compared to married women, resolves to do its utmost to fight for the retention of the traditional understanding of marriage in the history, culture and law of the United Kingdom, namely the exclusive union of one man with one woman for life; and accordingly instructs its officers and executive committee to conduct a major campaign to this end, to co-operate with other persons and societies in so doing and specifically to target the Government’s consultation period starting in March, 2012, in regard to (so-called) same sex marriage.” 

And, now for something completely different

I remember an episode light years ago when I was engaged and visiting the home of my fiance in Hampstead. Before dinner, the Pater asked me what I would like for my aperitif. Knowing the good cellar of the household, I said "whiskey" and promptly got a jab in the ribs from my sweet intended. I should have said "sherry", being a lady. However, the Pater poured me a generous glass of the finest and said, "Ah, these American ladies are so independent." What he really meant was that I did not do quite the right thing.

However, given a choice between a Emilio Lustau Solera Reserva Dry Oloroso or The Macallan, at a younger age, I would have chosen The Macallan, still my favorite whiskey. However, as I have grown a bit older, I find that I like the dry sherries much more, even though they are out of fashion in most places. 

I did take a short wine course a million years ago when I was as Notre Dame, (not part of the curriculum), and learned all about before dinner wines, wines during various courses, dessert wines and so on. Plus, I was fortunate enough to hang around various connoisseurs in graduate school (and...what is graduate school for...?) and learned "at the table" as it were. Also, when I was in the Senior Common Room in Bristol, we always had sherry before dinner, but it was always Harvey's. The faculty was a bit happier when I bought the old La Guita from El Vino's, the real thing from Spain. When I lived in London, one could take a jug into El Vino's and fill it up with The Macallan from a cask. I wonder if one can do that now? Happy days.

As I am living in Ireland, I am surprised at two things in the range of alcohol. First, all wines are two to three times as expensive as even in Britain and I do not understand why. Wine is much more expensive than in Malta, and the United States, where the Californian and other State wines keep prices competitive. The prices here are ridiculous and probably have something to do with the new Irish budget and belt tightening. An not-so-nice ordinary wine is the same price as a nice Coppola in California.

Secondly, I cannot understand why so many American beers, and I do not mean lovely Wisconsin or Iowa real ales. are sold here instead of British beers. Amazingly, at the local Supervalu, Guinness is not to be found, unless the shop is simply out all the time. I learned about real ales when I lived in Wisconsin and we used to shop at a great store which sold only Wisconsin produce. Also, the family lived in Alaska for awhile, which, believe it or not, in Anchorage there are more Cordon Bleu chefs and great restaurants then any other city in all the fifty states. In Ireland, at least where I am, women do not go to pubs here as they do in England, escorted, of course. And, as I do not go out to dinner much, I do not drink unless with dinner. I wonder if Mary and Jesus drank the wine He made out of water at Cana? Most likely, and why not? 

Ah, well, as the Feast of St. Brigid of Ireland is tomorrow, maybe she would not mind someone raising a glass of The Macallan. God bless Ireland and boy, does this country need blessing.

Perfection Part Three-Thomism and the Spiritual Life

The concept of grace is rarely taught in catechesis and yet, a Catholic needs an excellent grasp on the concept of, especially, sanctifying grace, in order to grow in the interior life. The other concepts which an adult Catholic needs to understand are the virtues, or the life of virtue. The title of a key book, based on many sources, but none more than St. Thomas Aquinas, is Garrigou-Lagrange's The Three Ages of the Interior Life. When St. Paul writes of giving his converts "meat", this is meat, not milk. And, a caution to the pilgrim is that one can learn something intellectually and not have such concepts actually be part of the interior life of the soul, but only head knowledge. An excellent spiritual director is a necessity and good luck trying to find one in this day and age. Also, before one engages the ideas of Garrigou-Lagrange, I highly suggest at least the lay version of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, again under a director. Again, good luck trying to find an orthodox, conservative director and not one involved in New Age interpretations of the classic thirty day retreat.

In a mini-series, of which this is the third part, I want to cover a basic approach to perfection, with an emphasis on the life of the virtues. One can read the complete discussion in Garrigou-Lagrange's great book, but I shall outline a few things on this blog just to interest readers. In this installment, I want to look at the infused virtues and in the next posting,  the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which we all receive in Baptism. Here is a useful chart from the book:

V I R T U E S		Theological		Charity -->  Faith -->  Hope -->	Gift of Wisdom Gift of Understanding Gift of Knowledge Gift of Counsel Gift of Piety Gift of Fortitude Gift of Fear		G I F T S
		Moral		Prudence -->  Justice  - Religion -->  - Penance  - Obedience  Fortitude -->  - Patience  Temperance-->  - Humility  - Meekness  - Chasity

The Theological Virtues are infused, that is given to us by the Father. These are, of course, Faith, Hope and Charity. St. Thomas and Garrigou-Lagrange explain that the Theological Virtues are directed towards God as the End. We are given these virtues, but we must use and incorporate them into our souls. This is the job for each one of us, given these wonderful virtues at Baptism. One can read Garrigou-Lagrange for more detail. 

The Moral Virtues, however, help us get to Heaven-these are a means to that end. I highly recommend Josef Pieper's The Four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance, a book I have used in class with great success in the past. These Cardinal Virtues may be considered Moral Virtues, but there are more Moral Virtues, while there are only the Four Cardinal Virtues.  I am not going into the entire list here. You can look here. One cannot be in mortal sin and develop the acquired Moral Virtues. Here is Garrigou-Lagrange: a man must no longer be in the state of mortal sin, but his will must be set straight in regard to his last end. He must love God more than himself, at least with a real and efficacious love of esteem, if not with a love that is felt. This love is impossible without the state of grace and without charity.(4) But after justification or conversion, these true acquired virtues may come to be stable virtues; they may become connected, relying on each other. Finally, under the influx of infused charity, they become the principle of acts meritorious of eternal life. For this reason, some theologians, such as Duns Scotus, have even thought it not necessary that we should have infused moral virtues.

As much as I would not like to do so, I shall leave Duns Scotus for another time. But, notice two words being used here-acquired and infused. Even pagans, state Aquinas, using Plato and Aristotle, can acquire virtues; however, an example from Garrigou-Lagrange helps here: As St. Thomas remarks,(8) acquired temperance has a rule and formal object different from those of infused temperance. Acquired temperance keeps a just medium in the matter of food in order that we may live reasonably, that we may not injure our health or the exercise of our reason. Infused temperance, on the contrary, keeps a superior happy mean in the use of food in order that we may live in a Christian manner, as children of God, en route to the wholly supernatural life of eternity. Infused temperance thus implies a more severe mortification than is implied by acquired temperance; it requires, as St. Paul says, that man chastise his body and bring it into subjection,(9) that he may become not only a virtuous citizen of society on earth, but one of the "fellow citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God." (10)

Part of the distinction here is the "end", the "reason" for the virtues. The Moral Virtues are practical to a certain extent, but if these are directed towards God, these become steps to heaven. Although the atheist, for example, may eat in a temperate manner, he is not directing his actions towards the Almighty and eternal life. He is acquiring virtue rationally, but without the supernatural motive. This is one of Aquinas' examples, as seen above.

There is a difference between motives and action. The Christian does all for the love of God and others, and not merely for one's self. Before moving on, I want to refer to a footnote here. Babies who are baptized receive all these virtues. This is why it is so important to have babies baptized and for parents to raise their children with the idea of cultivating these virtues. Here is the note:

Clement V at the Council of Vienna (Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 483), thus settled this question, which was formulated under Innocent III (Den­zinger, no. 410): "Whether faith, charity, and the other virtues are infused into children in baptism." He answers: "We, however, considering the gen­eral efficacy of the death of Christ, which is applied by baptism equally to all the baptized, think that, with the approval of the sacred Council, we should choose as more probable and more consonant and harmonious with the teachings of the saints and of modern doctors of theology, the second opinion, which declares that informing grace and the virtues are bestowed in baptism on infants as well as adults." By these words, "and the virtues," Clement V means.not only the theological virtues, but the moral virtues, for they also were involved in the question formulated under Innocent III.

As I wrote earlier this week, there is no reason why a child cannot become a saint.

St. Artemius Died at AgeTwelve

And, it is imperative that Catholic parents are aware of the life of the virtues in order, not only to become holy themselves, but to nurture holiness in their children.

The virtues grow together and are all based on love, the love for God and neighbor. If one advances in one virtue, one will advance in all. But, it is imperative that the person is in sanctifying grace, receiving the sacraments regularly, and praying. Too many Catholics believe all this life in the virtues will "just happen". Not so. And, sadly, many Catholics do not even realize that the life of virtue must be lived in order to become perfect, as we are all called to be. We are all called to be perfect. Even those who could not read in the Middle Ages looked towards their books of stone for these truths. We have or are in danger of losing these truths today. We see a crisis in character formation all around us, in politics, in youth, in ourselves. Without virtue, there is no character. To be continued...

Only in Ireland--Bishop investigated for calling this age "Godless"

Ireland has again proven itself to be one of the nations most hateful of its former religion, Catholicism. And, a ridiculous sign of this is a formal complaint of a secular humanist against a bishop who made a sermon on this "Godless age" at Knock. The bishop, Dr. Philip Boyce gave a homily called "To Trust in God"

DUH!

Mr. Colgan, a secular humanist who has brought the charges against the bishop, stated this: "I believe statements of this kind are an incitement to hatred of dissidents, outsiders, secularists, within the meaning of the [Incitement to Hatred] Act, who are perfectly good citizens within the meaning of the civil law.

"The statements exemplify the chronic antipathy towards secularists, humanists etc, which has manifested itself in the ostracising of otherwise perfectly good Irish citizens, who do not share the aims of the Vatican's Irish Mission Church."

It is obvious that Mr. Colgan does not understand that it is secular humanism which is attacking the Church, not the opposite. Shades of Voltaire, or will I get in trouble for saying this?

Just When You Thought Things Could Not Get Worse-A New Trinitarian Heresy in the United States for Export

This is too important to pass up. On JihadWatch this morning, a new translation of the Bible has been supported by groups working in Muslim countries. The Three Persons of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not going to be the default Names for the Triune God. Instead, Father is changed to Lord or Allah, and Son is changed to Messiah. What the translators have done is created a heretical Bible-as the Revelation of God in the Scriptures is clearly that He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Why would any Christian group change the very heart of Revelation as to the Trinity for political correctness? As pointed out in the article, and as I know having had to deal with non-Trinitarian forms of Baptism in RCIA, to baptize someone in the name of the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer invalidates the Sacrament. So, too, would a formula of the Allah, the Messiah and the Holy Spirit. The article highlights this section from Matthew, sure to make real Christians appalled at the audacity of the change: (Matthew 28:19) reads, "Cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit" instead of "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." 

The three groups responsible for this blasphemy are Wycliffe Bible Translators, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and Frontiers in North America.

That is all we need for Christian unity is another heresy which panders to a false religion. The impetus of Protestantism is to more and more division, and more and more disobedience to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the Catholic Church, which holds the fullness of truth.

Perfection Part Two-Metanoia First

Last night, I had a lengthy discussion with a friend about "conversion" to Christ. Now, this concept of metanoia or repentance comes from Christ Himself, as seen especially in His late night discussions with Nicodemus on being born again in the Spirit. In John 3:3, we hear Christ's words, and said to him: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The problem being addressed in Christ's admonition to Nicodemus and to us is the "changing" of the heart and mind to Christ, which cannot come about without Faith and the turning away from sin. Again, referring to Bonhoeffer, so many so-called Christians want the goodies of Christianity, such as salvation and community, without metanoia. It is only after conversion that one receives the graces, through the Sacraments of the Church, to grow in Christ, putting on His Mind and living in His Mystical Body, the Church.

The entitlement culture, which is obvious and much discussed on this blog and others, (see Dr. Sanity's excellent article on dependency), creates an atmosphere in the Church where some of the laity think they are entitled to grace without repentance. Example: when I was teaching RCIA, most of the participants finished the course and came into the Church at the Easter Vigil. However, there were always some, let us say 10%, who did not, who turned away at some point in the process. Why? The most commons reasons were contraception, the unwillingness to deal with irregular marriages, and the non-acceptance of the Church's Teaching on such hot topics as homosexuality. In these areas, there would appear a person who simply could not accept repentance, or metanoia, the turning around, the changing of a life for the sake of Christ-the Costly Grace.

If the change of mind does not happen, the life of the person will not change, as conversion is in the will. A huge mistake is made by some in the ministry who always want to appeal to the heart; they want people to "fall in love with Jesus". This is good, but if one looks at the progress of the sinners in the Scriptures, such as the woman caught in adultery, or the woman at the well, Truth and metanoia came first-that is, the realization of sin and the awareness that God, Christ, forgives sin comes first and then, and only then, the complete freedom and ability to love Love Himself follows. One responds to Love through metanoia.

Without conversion, our hearts are stone and our minds clouded by sin and death.

Conversion, love, the road to perfection. Perfection comes with the putting on and the habit of virtue. This can happen in the life of a child correctly raised in Faith, in a Catholic home. Many saints have been children or very young, but the perfection of their lives revealed that something, someone, helped them to know and love God. I think of the saints listed in the Canon of the Mass who were young when they died--Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, and Cecilia. Like the women in the New Testament, at some point in their young lives, they recognized their need for salvation, repented, and became lovers of Christ, following perfection even to face death itself.

I worked with youth many years ago. The success of one of my groups, happily, were the teens from excellent Catholic families, whose parents were Church-going Catholics, some home schooling. These teens and I planned May Crownings, Days of Renewal, Penance Services with the priest chaplain and many other worthwhile endeavors. We reached out to those who needed conversion from a position of strength, sharing the Gospel with those teens in the same high school who were drug addicts, alcoholics, fornicators, etc. Without the strength of that core group, there would have been no conversions. In another high school, I could not find that core group, even though the Catholic school had a population of 2,000 students. I failed to find the core group-those already converted who could share the Good News. I had to work on evangelization and at the level of conversion, but the students were too wealthy, too complacent and did not want metanoia. I left, shaking the proverbial dust off my feet when I realized the doors of their hearts were too closed for the Gospel message.

Christ Himself did not work in all places, towns, cities. He would go, preach, and leave. The Good News was available, God Himself was available, and He never chased after anyone. He simply was. He said, Come follow me, and those who responded to grace did follow Him. They began a road to perfection through conversion. Only those who turn and leave sin can be in the True Presence of God and learn the way of virtue. The others may be turned to salt, as they keep looking towards sin, instead of towards God. That is the lesson of Lot's wife. Her heart was still in Sodom and Gomorrah. She had not converted to God's message of salvation-to leave sin. She died, but she was already dead spiritually. To be continued.

A Traditional Catholic in Iowa: Bishop Nickless on HHS, Sebelius, and Obama...

A Traditional Catholic in Iowa: Bishop Nickless on HHS, Sebelius, and Obama...: I will reprint the entirety of this message. It is important and it is from one of the bishops in Iowa. Dear brothers and sisters in Ch...

That they may be one...John 17:21

Rorate Caeli has an excellent editorial article on the fact that now is the time for the SSPX to come into full communion with Rome. I shall let you read it here. We must pray and fast that this happens soon, very soon.

On Perfection Part One

Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.




(Dedicated to my seminarian friends, who in some places, are being taught to be mediocre.)

This is one of the promises given to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque for those who keep the Nine First Fridays of Masses. On June 11, 1899, Pope St. Leo the XIII dedicated the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

What is the connection between the pursuit of perfection and the Sacred Heart of Jesus? What is this seeking of perfection called for by Christ Himself?  In Matthew 5:48, Christ states, Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.


In this Age of Mediocrity, I have heard very weak and mealy-mouthed sermons on this passage,to the point that the priests have deconstructed the text so that it no longer means what Christ intended. We are called to perfection. We are not called to second-best, or "good enough", or "getting by". Some preachers have compare "wholeness" to "holiness". This is not so. That is a New Age confusion of terms. We are called to be like the Father, Our Father, in whom we were made in His Image and Likeness. St. Bernard of Clairvaux has said that we have kept the Image,but lost the Likeness and that Likeness is living in the life of Sanctifying Grace.


In this age of the dumbing down of everything-politics, education, entertainment, culture-we have lost the sense of perfection. I hear good Catholics state, "I shall be happy if I get to Purgatory." That is not even good enough and it is false humility. To seek perfection is to want to bring Heaven down to Earth now, to be a saint now, in the messy world of secularism and sin. Christ always calls us to the hard and narrow way. If we aim at the wide way, we shall miss the mark.


My dad taught me archery. He also taught me how to shoot. He always said, "Aim at the center." If one concentrates on the bulls-eye, one will learn the technique and train the eye. No discipline, no success. I loved learning such skills, and I had to listen, be patient, practice over and over. Like all sports, one aims at perfection. I loved hitting the mark, the bulls-eye. Those who aim at the mediocre will never be great at anything.

This is not about competition, unless one is competing with one's self. Nor is it about pride. The fake humility in the world of the West, which discourages excellence and praise mediocrity,  the point of the drama, Amadeus, creates an atmosphere of envy. Evil hates good and mediocrity hates excellence. 


So why do priests in sermons give in to this Age of Mediocrity, not merely by ignoring the call to perfection, but by undermining God's Own Words in the Scriptures? Because they disagree with God, these priests at the pulpit lower their own standards and insult the laity by not calling them to perfection.


Why do I mean by this? The priests who teach mediocrity have lost the vision of holiness themselves and no longer believe that the laity can be holy. They have fallen into a trap of modern psychological interpretation which separates doctrinal teaching from pastoral teaching. There is no such separation. Pastoral theology is the application of doctrine, not the deviation from doctrine.

How to be perfect is simple. Put on the mind of Christ, writes St. Paul in many places in his epistles. One reference is from Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.

Thinking like Christ brings us into relationship with the Father and the Holy Ghost. The Indwelling of the Trinity, given to us at Baptism and Confirmation, leads us to this perfection, if we cooperate. 

There can be no compromises, no watering down of the message. Bonhoeffer reminded us of this in his discussion of Cheap Grace and Costly Grace, in his The Cost of Discipleship, a book which changed my life when I read it at 23. One chooses either the less or the more. At about the same time, I read Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind. I was also "into" C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams at the time. There are excellent reads for young minds. The earlier that one realizes that the pursuit of excellence is the Way of Christ's Call to us, the better. Disciplining the mind and the heart are easier is one pursues Christ's Mind and Christ's Heart at a early age. Perfection of the mind is a theme in Thomas Aquinas, as I have written on this blog before. The intellect must be perfected in order to live the life of virtue.

However, it is never too late. God, who is Infinite and does not merely see us as we are at one moment in time, but as we are in our entire life, can do in months, even weeks, what we have not done in years. We only need to be convinced that the call to perfection is His Call. Ignore those mediocre priests, pray for them, call them to a higher vision. 

This is what St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and Pope St. Leo XIII did for the Church-give us a higher vision. The heart of Christ becomes our heart, in the world, wherever we find ourselves, and gives us confidence and grace to live His Will in the world. The next time I cover this topic, I shall look into what perfection looks like. By the way, martyrs are not suddenly "made". These men, women and children have lived perfection before being able to die for Christ.  Another Margaret, St. Margaret Clitherow, lived in a time when mediocrity was rewarded. She lived in the perfection of grace which led her to martyrdom. This is our call.


I do not have my works of St. Bernard of Clairvaux with me, but I can paraphrase one of his sayings: There is rejoicing in heaven when a bad man becomes good, but how much more rejoicing is there when a good man becomes perfect.