Darkness over Virginia

I'm living In this world, of hell that I made (chorus) 

When darkness falls, I fall with it Into the dark abyss, dead I fall I've got no limit, 

I walk alone When darkness falls, I fall with it)  from Darkness Falls

I’d advise you not to look up the full lyrics to this song because it's from the psycho-billy genre and grim doesn't even begin to describe that music but I heard the song once and it’s the only thing that came to mind when I think of Governor Northam and all the people who supported the infanticide bill. Mary Anne at Les Femmes has done an excellent job showingwhat really motivates my state’s governor. Lord have mercy on this country. In just my life time we've fallen so far it's shocking. 

The Conversion of St. Paul

This image of St. Paul being knocked off his high horse isn't famous like the great Caravagio painting but I like it.  Paul looks completely shocked, completely helpless and when he gets up from the ground after having heard Our Lord he will completely converted.

Random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon

• All the priests and Catholic influencers who Tweeted condemnation of the kids from Covington High School should be ashamed.  I'm really disgusted. They were so eager to go with the crowd that they disengaged their brains.  Don't completely trust an initial media report. Good grief! My father told me that when I was eight! When Princess Diana died, my local news reported that she was okay and then 15 minutes later they said she was dead. A few weeks ago, we were told that a middle aged white man in a truck shot a little girl in Houston. It turned out to be young black man in a car.  In my town we read an initial report that there was an unattended death  (these are usually illness or accident related) in an apartment near me. A week later the report is that it was the first murder of the year for my town.  Not only are initial reports are almost always wrong but the smart person ALWAYS considers the source. 
  
  
• That thought reminded me of something I wrote years ago only now I have include Twitter priests:
  
  Should Priests Blog Pt. II 

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  Fr. Pinot, French martyr

  
  
  I've said before that priest's really shouldn't blog (or Tweet several times a day about  worldly matters such as what food he's eating right now, politics, movies, gaming) unless it's strictly their homilies and catechetical or apologetic material or posts about parish events. I've seen blogs by priests that were downright scary. A priest is an alter Cristus. He should not seem like a pop star tossing PR tidbits to his fans or a guru communicating his wishes to his groupies. His blog should never  leave readers wondering about how his lifestyle is financed or speculating that Father has too much time on his hands or if what they just read was written by a real priest at all.
  
  

  Blessed Fr. Pinot, of France courageous example for priests and us all, pray for us.

  Mother Vogl, pray for us.

  St. Pio, pray for us.

  Blessed Fr. Pro, pray for us.

  Blessed Fr. Popieluzko, pray for us.

  Cardinal Mindzdenty, pray for us.

  St. Fr. Edmund Campion, pray for us.

  Priest martyrs of Nagasaki, pray for us.

  Priest martyrs of Gorkum, pray for us.

  
  

Catholic parents, it's past time to rethink the whole way you play the college game

Catholic blogland has been discussing reports on the professor and head of the English department  at Franciscan University at Steubenville who assigned a mandatory reading assignment of a blasphemous and pornographic book, which I will not name, to his students. At first the university defended him. Now, after parents and alumni said they were closing their check books the professor has been fired and replaced. The school president has apologized.  Steubenville was once considered to be a safe, solid Catholic school.  Although the Newman Society says things at the university are still pretty much okay  people are beginning to wonder about that.

Supposedly the  "safe" schools are what? Christendom, Thomas Aquinas, Wyoming, Steubenville  and Ave Maria? Except for Wyoming and Aquinas I've read complaints that didn't seem frivolous or stupid about all of them.  College is not required to keep your Faith and there are devout Catholics who never went to college or who chose went the two year route. Frankly, unless your kid is majoring in a hard science or technology program  like biology, nursing, architecture, engineering, etc., you are probably paying a fortune and running up a massive debt for a useless degree that won't lead to a good paying job.
 I read the suggestion of one writer who plans to have his kids go to the state school but live at home. His argument is that his son will probably be able to handle the nonsense at the secular school better than the sly Faith undermining that would take place in a Catholic school with an impious faculty. I think it's time for Catholic parents to stop being sentimental. Your grandpa may have gone to Notre Dame and you may have gone to Trinity but you can't just send your kid off to a "Catholic" school and think that everything is going to be okay. As it turns out the professor has an agenda and is looking for victims at a Catholic school so he may be worse than he would have been at a secular school.

What kind of untity are you talking about?

 I keep seeing all these dreary posts on Catholic Twitter demanding that people be nice and stop disagreeing with one another in the name of unity. Unity ofwhat?  If you're going to call people stupid, weird, uncouth, and so far beneath you that it's not even worth being civil to them because they dare to disagree with you on a non dogmatic matter then you're way too much like the initially bland but ultimately vicious pod people in Invasion of the Body Snatchers screaming at some survivor who managed not to get assimilated into the alien union.

 Think how boring Catholic Twitter and Catholic blogland would be if everyone was the same. I don't want unity with the pod people. One person that I really liked became downright ugly towards anyone who has questions about Pope Benedict's abdication. I lost respect for this person and just feel a bit sad when I see this individual's posts, articles, and Tweets. It's rather like the moment when Nancy in Invasion realizes that Donald Sutherland didn't make it and has become one the aliens.

Pray for us, Holy Mother!

a prayer for the redemption of bad priests

Divine Savior Jesus Christ, Thou are the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep. Oh, be in a very special way the Good Shepherd of those poor lost priests who are also appointed by Thee to be leaders of Thy people, but who have broken the oath of their holy ordination and have become unfaithful to their exalted calling. Bestow upon these poorest of the poor the very fullness of that pastoral solicitude with which Thou dost so faithfully seek the sheep that are lost! Touch their hearts with the irresistible ray of grace which emanates from Thine all-merciful love! Enlighten their minds and strengthen their wills, that they may turn away from all sin and error and come back to Thy holy altar and to Thy people. O most compassionate Savior! Remember that Thou didst once redeem the souls of Thine erring priests with Thy Precious Blood and in infinite preferential love didst impress upon them the indelible character of the priesthood. Put wholly to shame those miserable helpers of Satan who lay snares for the virtue of priests and endanger the holy ideal of the priesthood. Most graciously accept our prayers and sacrifices for poor priests who have gone astray and hear our earnest petition.

 Amen 

Imprimatur - Bishop John F. Noll (April 18, 1948)

St. Anthony of Padua, defender of the Holy Eucharist, obtain for us holy priests

St. John-Mary Vianney, model of sacerdotal holiness, obtain for us holy priests

St. Francis Xavier, patron of missionary priests, obtain for us holy priests

St. Therese of the Child-Jesus and of the Holy Face, victim offered for the sanctification of priests, obtain for us holy priests

Saints and Servants of God, obtain for us holy priests.