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prayers please

My mother-in-law, Big Mama has a kink in her small intestine. She's in the hospital with a tube going down her throat that is pumping out all of the um... stuff that built up in the last three days. She's in a lot of pain because the doctors can not give her any medication. If her stomach muscles relax it will interfere with the pumping process. Please say a prayer for her.


And please say a short one for me. This is a trying time and my patience level is as short a two year old's right now.

Prayer for the Pope

Dear God, I beg You to keep Your servant, Benedict XVI safe. Send Your holy angels to be a mighty shield of protection around him.

I beg this in the name of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Pope St. Pius pray for Benedict.

Pius XII, pray for him.

St. Peter, pray for him.

St. Benedict, pray for him.

St. John Vianney, pray for him.

St. Pio, pray for him.

Sts. Linus, Cletus, Lawrence and Crysoganus, pray for him.

Pope St. Gregory the Great, pray for him.

Servant of God, John Paul II, pray for him.

Servant of God, Fulton Sheen, pray for him.

Venerable Solanus Casey, pray for him.

Sts. Francis, Dominic, Anthony, and Ignatius, pray for him.

St. Theresa Benedicta, fellow German to the Pope, pray for him.

St. Michael, defend him from the works of the devil.

My dear St. Dymphna, pray for him.

My dear St. Therese, pray for him and all struggling priests.

Oh Mary, saint of saints, mother and queen of all the clergy, pray for him.

Amen.

Media hyped hysteria

Hilary at LifeSite news points out that the media created the whole Muslim hysteria. I no longer buy the New York Times (I stopped years ago) and after the Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal I look at everything it publishes with a scrutinizing eye. As for the BBC, they so obviously hate Jews and Christians so much that I ignore them as well. And speaking of somewhat strange reactions to the Pope's Regensburg speech Jimmy Akin wimps out and calls it a gaffe. I've been fairly uncomfortable with some of the things I've been reading on Akin's blog lately and this pretty much cuts the cake for me. I won't bother to read him anymore.

random thoughts on Monday night.

1. 
   What in the world….. My husband and I visited this church a few weeks ago. I'm sorry for the parishioners. It must be very shocking to find out that your pastor is a pervert.
   
   
2. After reading this I'm seriously thinking about going back to receiving communion on the tongue.
   
   
3. I went to Adoration tonight at St. Mathew's Cathedral. It was wonderful kneeling before the Lord and it is always great to be able to go to confession. Fr. Caulfield is an excellent confessor and he has a good heart.
   
   
4. Pray for the safety and health of the Pope. Pray for our priests, pray for the conversion of sinners.

I've been tagged

Best title ever for a piece of music-

Dropkick me Jesus or Don't Come from Drinkin' with Lovin' on Your Mind

Most underrated guitarist -

Umm. I have to pass on this one.

Music that moves me to tears-

Samuel Barber's Adagio in G minor and Un Bel di from Madam Butterfly.

Most unusual lead instrument in a piece of music -

The Yoruban "talking drum" from Marsha Long's Ave Maria album.


Coolest name ever for a Rock 'N Roll band -

Gun-n-Roses


Worst genre of music ever -

Gangsta rap. Can you imagine how shocked the Four Tops and Temptations would've been 40 years ago if you'd told them that guys who can't sing or dance would one day become rich and famous for talking about rape, robbery and murder to a dance beat? At least Disco was about dancing. Rap is just mysoginistic crap.


Best guitar jam -

That thing Slash did on the November Rain cut.


Music that's ever scared your kid -

No kids but I was disturbed by Marilyn Manson doing Sweet Dreams.



National Anthem that most gets the blood pumping - The Star Spangled Banner.

Tagging anybody who's reading this post.

A nun was murdered in Somalia

An Italian nun was shot in Somalia.


Religion of peace, my ass.

Hitler and his boss, the devil

Here's an interesting post on The Inn at the End of the World on Hilter and two brave priests who were convinced that he was possessed.

A lioness has passed

Oriana Fallaci, one of the writers I most admire has died after a hard fought battle against cancer. She was utterly fearless and wrote with aferocity that was in turns shocking and beautiful. I hope she was able to reconcile with the church before the end came and so because all things are possible with God I pray:

Eternal rest grant unto her, Oh Lord. May perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace.

Heart of Jesus, once in agony, have mercy on the departed.

Amen.

random thoughts on a thursday night

1. I felt sad after reading this suspicious reaction on Mary Alexander's blog to the institution of a new traditional order made up of former SSPX priests and seminarians. I get the impression that some people really don’t want things in the church to get better. They would rather sit on a hill and criticize how the spiritual battle is going than get down on the ground and fight.
   
   
2. Good news from my diocese.
   
   
3. The Pope's parents met through a personal ad so don’t be ashamed to go to Ave Maria singles or Catholic Match if you need to.
   
   
   
4. I think America might be too soft and weak at heart to really fight a war on terror. A lot of people thought Iraq was going to be as easy as when Bill Clinto bombed Serbia. But dropping bombs on a village is a cakewalk comapred to actually being on the ground with guerilla fighters. Strange how few people seemed to realize that.
   
   
5. Say a rosary for your parish priest this week. If he's a good guy he needs it. If he's not such a good guy then he needs it even more.

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9/11

In 1998, Peggy Noonan wrote the greatest column of her career. It put all all my fears for the futures in print.

On 9/11 I remembered her column. I was surprised by the way the attack went down but I was not shocked that an attack was happening. Not at all. For years I had a nagging feeling that America's blessing of protection was about to run out. Looking at the rest of the world I thought it was miraculous that no huge terrorist action had happened here and that it was just a matter of time. I figured it would be like Oklahoma city or like something the IRA used to do.

I remember standing around the TV in the conference room at my old job watching it happen.
My office was right across the square from the White House and we were all expecting something to blow up at any minute. Our office manager was so stunned she couldn't make a decision whether to let us leave or not.. I decided that whatever was going to happen next I would at least die trying to get home. Everyone else came to the same conclusion and people began leaving quietly.

I'm so proud of the people in DC that day. There was no panic. Everyone was just calmly walking or slowly driving home. The whole city was so still. All I could hear was the sound of shoes on the pavement and the remarkably soft murmur of voices. Everyone cooperated. Everyone was nice which is a miracle because DC is normally a cold, nasty town.

I walked for six or seven blocks and finally got a cab all to myself. Most of the cabs had several people crammed in. Some folks were even sitting on laps. I couldn't get back to Virginia so I went to my mama's home in DC. As soon as I let myself in I hugged her and got my rosary out. Eventually my cell phone worked for a few minutes at a time and we were able to call relatives.

I called Rocky and told him not worry. Though lovers be lost love shall not, so Dylan Thomas said. Rocky doesn't go in for poetry. He hightailed it for his truck and spent hours trying to get to me. Late that night we finally went home and drove past the Pentagon.


Dear God, I can not describe how it looked. Dear God have mercy on all those people who died with no chance to go to confession, no chance to repent. Dear God.....

My mama sometimes kids me becuase I go to confession every week. I do it because I don't care to be caught by death unprepared.

A poll said that America's faith hasn't changed since 9/11. Well butter my backside and call me biscuit. Abortions haven't stopped and neither has the multi billion dollar porn industry in this country so it's obvious that most of us are still partying like it's 1999. Does it seem like there's an air of desparation to the party though? It seems like people are trying to forget, trying to consume, trying to lose themselves in sex, drugs, music---anything.


So many of us are trying to stamp our feet and close our eyes and pretend that there are not hard men watching us. Hard men who have no problem killing themselves as long as they can take us with them. Hard men who don't give a poot on a high wind about love, life or the future because they see their perverted version of paradise waiting for them.

We are like fat, soft children playing in a garden and oblivious to the cobras waiting inches away in the bushes and ready to strike.

Mary the teacher

In 1944, Claude Newman was sentenced to the electric chair. While in prison he met a Catholic prisoner who gave him a Miraculous Medal. After recieving this medal Claude's life changed. He recieved instruction in the Faith and was baptised under the name of Claude Jude. You can read the amazing story here. Mary is a true mother and like a true mother she seeks out lost children.

random thoughts for a thursday night

Oh Sacred Heart, Oh Holy Mighty One, Oh Holy Immortal One have mercy on us. Send us priests after Thine own heart.

1. The whole Taize thing was weird. Either this man, "Brother" Roger was Catholic and for some convuluted reason he didn't want to admit it or he was just play acting all along. I'll chalk this up to reason 53,000 on why you shouldn't go off to a foreign country and sit at the feet of a guru.
   
   
   
2. This article shows yet another reason why I don’t give to Catholic Charities. There are plenty of solidly Catholic charity groups that could use my money instead.
   
   
3. Run to the bookstore and buy this and take a look at this one too
   
   
   
4. I just finished reading Understanding Medjugorje by Donal Foley It's a very sobering read. I never believed that the Virgin was appearing in that village and after reading Foley's book I'm convinced the whole thing is of demonic origin.
   
   
   
5. There is a newly formed commission on Medjugorje. Hopefully their findings will be the beginning of the end of this travesty.
   
   

this was a lousy day

I take one day off and everything goes to heck. Rocky called me from his job to tell me that there was a shooting on the grounds but not to worry becuase he'd been sitting at his desk and didn't notice a thing until a co-worker came by and mentioned what had happened. My father- in- law, Big Daddy slipped on a newly mopped restaraunt floor this morning and fell hard. His magnificent poundange didn't save him and he has a very painful separated shoulder and Steve Irwin got killed by a stingray.

Dang! I'll miss you Steve. Rest in peace and may Terry, Bindi and Robert get through this sad time.

It finally came

I bought a Holy Face medal from the wonderful Sisters of Carmel
You can't see it in this picture but the detail is incredible. The image is taken from the Shroud and I was very moved when I first held it in my hands.

If you are looking for fine quality, beautiful sacrementals please check out the sisters. Now I just have to get the medal blessed.

a cautionary tale

Way back in the 60s a wonder drug came out of Europe. It eliminated morning sickness. American women clamored for it. The FDA decided to study the drug before allowing it in the US. The drug manufacturers harassed the woman doctor who was in charge of the study. Women grumbled and moaned about why the dumb old FDA was taking so long with the study after all it was being used in Europe and everybody knows the Europeans are smarter than us.

Some rich women decided that their morning sickness was just too much to bear so they got on a plane and went overseas to purchase the drug. And then after testing the drug the doctor decided that it was way too dangerous to use. Just as she discovered this many European women who took thalidomide gave birth to horribly deformed children. America was spared this tragedy because Dr.Frances Oldham Kelsey refused to be cowed by the drug manufacturers. President John F. Kennedy gave her a medal for her work.

Today we have Plan B, the emergency over the counter contraceptive. The FDA has approved it and I suspect that this drug is not only sinful (it’s an abortion drug after all) but it's going to turn out to be another health disaster. Besides that it will surely be a boon to swinish men, rapists and child molesters. What'sto stop a man from going to the drug store, buying a supply and forcing his willing or unwilling sex partners to consume it before he allows them to leave? This is an ugly, ugly thing. God help us.

Ernesto

Ernesto is soaking Virginia right now. It's raining so hard I half expect to see one of Noah's sons hurry by while yelling, "I told ya my old man was right!"

I'm going to spend the evening planted on my sofa with a throw blanket, a bunch of Martha Stewart magazines and one of Fr. Corapi's mission CDs.