Don't accept the codswallop!

St. Francis was not an effete flower child who went skipping around Italy with a blue bird on his shoulder and a St. Bernard at his knee...

St. Joseph was not aimlessly wandering around Bethlehem. He  went there to pay his taxes....

St. Catherine of Sienna was not a feminst...


St. Therese did not drift around her convent looking dreamy. She was actually a warrior who offered her incredible suffering for the salvation of souls, specially those of priests...

And no, Brooklyn Diocese, Our Lord did not have an overly precious hair cut and skinny girl jeans.

 

 

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, meet Archbishop Fulton Sheen who once said, “The only way to win audiences is to tell people about the life and death of Christ. Every other approach is a waste.”

Before Mass

 

This painting reminds me of the altar boys at St. Rita's before Mass, except our kids wear black and white.

a prayer for the dead

Almighty God, Father of goodness and love,
have mercy on the poor suffering souls, and grant Thine
aid:

To my dear parents and ancestors;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To my brothers and sisters and other near relatives;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To my benefactors, spiritual and temporal;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To my former friends and subjects;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To all for whom love or  duty bids me pray;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who have suffered disadvantage or harm through me;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who have offended me;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To all those who are especially beloved by Thee;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those whose release is at hand;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who desire most to be united with Thee;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who endure the greatest suffering;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those whose release is most remote;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who are least remembered;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who are most deserving
on account of their services to the Church;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the rich, who now are the most destitute;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the mighty, who now are as lowly servants;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.
To the blind, who now see their folly;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the frivolous, who spent their  time in idleness;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the poor, who did not seek the treasures of Heaven;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the tepid,
who devoted little time to prayer;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the indolent,
who were negligent in performing good works;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those of little faith,
who neglected the frequent reception of the Sacraments;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the habitual sinners,
who owe their salvation to a miracle  of grace;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To parents who failed to watch over their children;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To superiors who were not solicitous
for the salvation of those entrusted to them;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the souls of those who strove
for hardly anything but riches and pleasures;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the worldly-minded,
who failed to use their wealth
and talents in the service of God;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who witnessed the death of others,
but would not think of their own;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who did not provide for the great journey beyond,
and the days of tribulation;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those whose judgment is so severe
because of the great things entrusted to them;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the popes, rulers, kings and princes;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the bishops and their counselors;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To my teachers and spiritual advisors;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the deceased priests of this diocese;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To all the priests and religious of the whole
Church;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To the defenders of the Holy Faith;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who died on the battlefield;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who are buried in the sea;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who died of stroke or heart attack;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who died without the last rites of the Church;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To those who shall die within the next twenty-four hours;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

To my own poor soul when I shall have to appear
before Thy judgment seat;
Jesus, Mary, Joseph! My Jesus, mercy.

V. O Lord, grant eternal rest to all the souls of the
faithful departed,
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.

V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.

random thoughts

*Isn't it telling that none of the groups that claim to care so much about poor women apparently gave a hoot about what was going on at the Gosnell abortuary? He treated his black patients with contempt, ran a highly unsanitary operation and had high school aged "interns" helping with the abortions.   There's an old saying: Everybody pees in the pool but not from the diving board. Gosnell was up on the diving board, doing his business for years. Surely somebody complained and yet no governmental authority intervened.


*This week Rocky and I saw two wonderful things: There was a wedding right before the Thursday night TLM at our parish. It was just the bride, groom, their child and her parents. They looked so happy. The second cool thing, was the sight of a young man sprinting through the church parking lot to get to Mass. He was moving all out like a stag and when we got in and sat down we saw that he was the sacristan.



*I can't believe it. Cardinal Wuerl is actually standing up for one of his priests.



*Unless it's for evangelizing, like what Archbishop Sheen did or a gentle passing along of the events in their parishes, I'm beginning to wonder if priests should blog regularly.



*So the Boston bombers are Chechens. This is bad, bad, very bad. I thought their beef was with Russia.


*You know why certain bishops don't like bloggers? It's for the same reason that coyotes, foxes  and raccoons don't like dogs.



*April has been an unhappy month. My father's death anniversary is April 15th. His youngest sister is recovering slowly from the effects of her botched colonoscopy and two other aunts have died, one on Thursday. Lord have mercy. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord and may perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

In the Upper Room

Madonna and Child

Teaching myself Latin

I bought this book, a nice, straightforward pronunciation guide. Then I started looking at online Latin classes and  tried this one. The teacher uses a cheerful, upbeat approach that gave me confidence very quickly.  This site is a lot of fun and made me smile. Sancta Missa is a goldmine resource. A lot of people really love Linney's Latin and I plan to give it a try some time this year. 

Church Latin is different from Classic Latin in the way that the English of Chaucer is different from the English of Charles Dickens. I'm not particularly interested in Classical Latin. I really just want to be able to confidently, as second nature,  understand big chunks of the missal without a translation and say the Gloria or the Confietor out loud without making anybody snigger.  If Classical Latin is your thing this site, Latin for Mountain Men looks fascinating.

This is beautiful

 I don't know what order she belongs to or what country she is in but this nun and her devotion is simply beautiful.

HT to the Renew My Heart blog

St. Philomena

Afte the Blessed Virgin, St. Philomena, the Wonderworker was St. John Vianney's favorite saint.  This is my favorite image of her.

random thoughts

*Rocky and I went to the Thursday night TLM at St. Rita's and got to witness two weddings! The first was before Mass and the second happened immediately after. There was no music, or flowers beyond what was already in the church. You can have a lovely, holy wedding without spending a fortune.



*You know why the media is not doing wall to wall, endless coverage of the Gosnell trial? Because pro-abortion people really don't care how the baby is killed, only that it is done. The murder could be the day after conception or it could be frank and grinning infanticide. They don't even care if a few women die in the process. All that matters is that more tiny bodies are flung into their dark god's maw.


*Don't spend so much time analyzing every little thing the  pope does. We are not Soviets cringing in fear because the Big Man didn't offer anyone sugar with their tea at the meeting and the last time he did that every other man sitting at the table ended up in the gulag.  Go to Mass, pray,  use Our Lady's psalter, stay calm and wait. Whatever is going to happen will happen whether we are freaked out or not and freaked out people do stupid things.



*Welfare is a great desroyer of character, personal dignityand families. Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty probalby ruined more lives than a real war would've been.



* I had a weird experience the other day with a member of the clergy----NOT anyone in my diocese---- whom I hope just has an unusual sense of humor. St. John Vianney, pray for us. St. John Chrysostrom, pray for us. St. Pio, pray for us.