In your charity and 3 tips on finding a Catholic bride....

•  In your charity could you please pray for my Uncle Jr? He's afraid of gaining weight so he only eats one meal a day with a mineral oil chaser. Snacks are anathema. He's been like this  for years. On Mother's Day he was invited to a family dinner and  did a little extra fasting in order to prepare for the big meal. Well, not surprisingly, he fainted in his home,  knocked himself out and lay helpless on the floor for hours. He'll be the hospital for 48 hours of tests and observation. Eating disorders are not exclusive to young women. He's got to change his diet ASAP. 
  
  
  
  
• I've noticed some young Catholic men are asking on social media why they can't find a good wife. Well, I can offer three suggestions.
  
  
  
• First, check your hygiene. I can't even tell you how many times I've sat in a pew and wondered where that hot blast of pure funk was coming from. In the suburbs, it's usually wafting off the young guy sitting in front of me. Guys, it may be honest sweat and you may have the body of an Adonis but if you stink, the young ladies will not smile upon you.
  
  
  
• Second, have a job, a real one. Your part time social media manager job for a small Catholic  podcast will not support a family and neither will your Mechanical Turk or  Door Dash delivery gigs. 
  
  
  
• Thirdly, mind your manners. If you can't speak and conduct yourself in a genteel manner around a girl, how do you expect to get a date, much less married?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

random thoughts on a hot Wednesday night

•  Rocky wanted to go to Confession after work and since it was the first of the month there was a long line. An old man loudly wanted to know which confessional father was going to be in because he didn't want to wait long. Rocky explained to him that he didn't know. Fr. X is usually at the confessional Rocky was standing next to so he was guessing that's where the priest would be. The old guy wasn't satisfied. The line and the uncertainty agitated him. Finally I got up and stepped outside to call the rectory. As it turned out Fr. X had an emergency and couldn't hear confessions anyway. The old guy was still unhappy and vocal about it when we left. We'll try again on Saturday.

• Movements and national consensus don't happen or change overnight. We are now reaping what was sown several decades ago. The worm always turns, things go so far in one direction that human nature requires a course reversal but most of the people who longed for or feared the change are  dead when it finally happens. Back in the 70s it was considered cute and spunky when women reporters insisted on being in men's locker rooms,  girls demanded to go to all male colleges, and  women wanted membership in even private male clubs. Now, a naked man can be in the locker room with women and girls. Teen boys and men are winning at female sports and until a girl gets seriously injured on national television or men dominate in female events in the Olympics, they will continue to do so. I'm sure nobody saw that coming back in 1972.
  
  A few weeks ago I saw a video of a fight between two girls in a restaurant. Multiple people asked where the men were to stop it when one of the girls started losing badly. I wanted to know what cave these people have been dwelling in for the last 60 years. Women have been declaring that they don't need men and while I'd say that up until the 90s most guys just brushed it off,  an increasing number of young and middle aged men  are saying "okay" and "bye" and are minding their own business. You can call them wimps, losers or whatever insult you can think of but you won't be able to call them for help. 

Wait and see

 Lillian Roth was once a stage, film and recording star. Her parents put her to work as a child and didn't concern themselves  with her safety as much as her paychecks. She was molested at the age of 6, while at a modeling job. Miss Roth started drinking in her teens and by the end of her twenties she was considered unemployable and was killing herself with alcoholism.  Finally, she went to Alcohol Anonymous and got sober. Her sponsor was a Catholic man and she converted and married him. Her autobiography, conversion story and the movie made of her life were huge news in both secular and Catholic circles. After 18 years of sobriety, she relapsed and her husband, who was also her manager, left her. Lillian then discovered that he'd stopped by the bank as he was walking out of her life, and emptied their account. 

Her Catholic husband who had been her knight in shinning armor turned out to be a really nasty  toad and from reading old newspaper archives, I get the impression that a some of the public  who were lavish in their enthusiasm for Roth when she converted were disappointed and not all that helpful when she needed help again. Roth did regain her sobriety and she even made a triumphant return to Broadway. She is buried in a Jewish cemetery. I hope she kept the Faith but I haven't found anything that makes it clear that she did or didn't. 

Why do I mention this?  Because the tragic story of Lillian Roth reminded me of current events. Right now a lot of people are excited because two women who made their living from  the sex industry have converted.  

By all means,  be happy for them.  Pray for them but don't treat them like they're God's special gift to the Church.  Give them a chance to show they're genuine and give them time to mature in the Faith.  Considering what both these women did for money I would think that anybody who really cares about them should be advising them to step away from social media and live their new redeemed lives in private. People are watching them closely in an effort to prove that they are fake. If they are sincere, surely all this slobbering fandom on one hand  and hostility from others is too much pressure to be under.  When real life gives them a rough patch or they meet a Catholic who lets them down, they might weaken in their conviction. Remember the parable of the Sower and pray that these women aren't seeds in shallow soil. Let's wait and see.

Hey fellow Catholic...before you buy that distant property, read this

This is going to irritate some people but I don't think the Catholic Back to the Land movement is the best or only answer for the American Catholic future. You may have a hazy fantasy about running off to an area near a chapel and priest or monks and then homesteading off grid, but is that realistic?  

Have you ever killed a chicken? My grandmother could wring a chicken's neck with seemingly no effort. My mother never got the knack of it and preferred to use a hatchet and I can't do it all. I could learn the skill, of course but I'll be starving  by the time I perfect butchering and then getting the bird on table. 

Can you shoot a shot gun? You're going to have do that at some point.  Do you know how to milk a cow or care for one? Do you understand that goats and sheep are cute but need a lot of attention? Have you any idea how to butcher a steer, a hog or deer?  Do you know what could  happen if the well goes bad?  

My grandparents weren't dancing and singing in the fields; they were working hard every day but Sunday and even then, the cow, the mule and the other animals needed to be tended to before they left for church. Do you have the stamina for that? Country boys are strong and you better be too or you won't make it. 

 I've learned many things from YouTube videos but if you want to succeed at homesteading you are going to need a wise and loyal someone in real life and nearby to help you. That may be a problem. 

Your new neighbors may not like Catholics. Many Protestants don't. The neighbors may have already had insulting encounters with city folks. They may resent you because you and people like you are buying up property and making things more expensive for the locals. You might find yourself a pariah before you even meet your closest neighbor. If you inadvertently messed up in your social interactions, being out there alone with hostile neighbors may be very bad for you.

Someone may be muttering right now, "But Dymphna, we have to get out of the city, and we need to do it NOW." I understand but don't run off half cocked with no plan.  You might be better served by moving to a small city or town or finding a largely Catholic planned community. I know everyone mocked Ave Maria when it was built in Florida but that, or a situation like it, might be a far more realistic option for you than homesteading. 

I have read comments from people who think cordial relations with their neighbors don't matter. They aren't looking for a community and don't care about the impression they're making on  the neighbors. All they want is a quiet place to hold up and make a stand if there is a major societal upheaval in the future. Lone wolves rarely make it. In real life they end up scavenging until they can join or create a pack of their own. You are going to  need the good will of the locals and I'm not seeing a whole lot of Catholic homesteading dreamers talking about that. 

Random thoughts on Eclipse day

•  Enjoy the eclipse with eye protection of course. When my mother saw her first one she was a small child and was terrified.  When I  saw one I was an adult and was standing on the roof at my employer's eclipse happy hour gathering. Obviously the world didn't end either time.  To those Catholics  who lean Protestant and are expecting the Rapture, sorry, you aren't getting out of here that easily. Go read your bible and then read St. Francis De Sales on the topic of anxiety. 
  
  
  
  
• There's been chatter that Michael Voris is trying to make a come back. I hate to say it but there's probably quite a few individuals out there who are  willing to give him one more chance and write him a check. 
  
  
  
  
• I don't normally read anything from the National Catholic Register and stuff like this is why. It's not just huge scandals that alienate young men from the Church it's the everyday nice and sentimental and absolutely revolting mush. 
  
  
  
  
• I've said it before but I really think that 19 years after the death of Pope John Paul II,  the Divine Mercy devotion is in decline. In recent years in my parish, the first Sunday after Easter was either celebrated with the painting being displayed but without any mention of DM or like this year, the painting was displayed and the lector announced that it was DM Sunday and that was it. We have not been asked to pray the chaplet during or after Mass in several years and while the lines were Confession were long that could have been because the line is always long around the first of the month. To my knowledge we don't have any Polish parishes or Marian Congregation parishes in the Arlington diocese but other than those I didn't get the impression that it was a big deal this year. 

• Does anyone remember how weird it was when Catholic "influencers" began Tweeting that they weren't going to see Oppenheimer before it even came out because of the sex scenes. Nobody asked them publicly about the movie. They weren't Catholic movie critics; they just made their righteous statements out of thin air  and when the movie hit the theaters the Tweets came to a dead stop. Did the first few guys get paid to drive some Twitter traffic towards the movie while the latter ones just jumped on to get attention? It wouldn't be the first odd publicity campaign and we know that Hollywood uses bots and pays people to make provocative Tweets and posts on Facebook about upcoming films. I found it interesting that these men got their Oppenheimer feelings--that nobody asked them for--- out in public but lost interest in movies after that. 

• In your charity please pray for my aunt. She's my late father's youngest and only surviving sister. She was in a terrible, freak car accident and was both run over and dragged in her own yard. 

Happy Easter !Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

 

Holy Saturday : a playlist

What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.

from an ancient Holy Saturday Homily

Have a Blessed Triduum

•  Rocky and I went to our old parish for Holy Thursday and then went to visit churches to pray at their Altars of Repose. Queen of Apostles in Alexandria had the most beautiful one and I was very surprised to see that the worst one was at the Cathedral of St. Thomas Moore. We saw great tenderness, beauty  and decorative talent in little parishes so the lack of effort at the cathedral was disappointing. 
  
  
  
  
  
• On Good Friday we went to West Virginia. The Solemn  Liturgy. It was incredible.  On the way home we drove past St. Anthony of Padua church in Falls Church just as the Stations of the  Cross were getting started. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Palm Sunday pre-1955, 1962 and Novus Ordo

I've been trying to understand the differences in the pre 1955 Holy Week liturgies and the 1962 version. I've listened to lectures and read a few explanations but seeing it was the key for me. 

I found a pre-1955 Palm Sunday Mass and watched then compared it to a 1962 rubric Palm Sunday Mass and then the Novus Ordo. 

I was watching a video on traditional texts to study for Holy Week and one of the resources was Restore the 54.  It does a good job spelling out the changes that happened during the Pius XIII pontificate to the Holy Week liturgies. 

Another fake, fake, fake devotion.

 

I encountered a very nice person who was big into the Divine Will fake devotion. He's educated and has written books on the Faith but I don't care. Whatever Luisa Piccaretta was talking to was not Our Lord or Our Lady. This disturbed woman's cause for beatification has been  suspended and God willing won't go any further.  WARNING  -- In this video refuting the devotion, Fr. Mawdsley quotes directly from Luisa's books and her words are so revolting it's physically painful to listen to but it is necessary to show that Luisa was either insane or speaking to a demon. 

 How on earth this filthy business ever caught on with anybody is astonishing.  As Fr. said, "This is wrong, this is so wrong and it doesn't bear commenting on with so much that is suspicious and off and even sickening about this". 

If anybody tries to promote this to you, be extremely wary. 

 

Random thoughts on Monday afternoon.

•  I saw a video of a basketball game where a boy who says he is a girl injured a female player on the opposing team. Folks this is going to go until you remove your daughters from the playing fields. I keep hearing people say, "But she'll lose  her scholarship," and I don't get it. Is any college worth so much to you that you let your daughter's nakedness be exposed the eye of a leering and possibly dangerous individual in the locker room and shower?
  
  Is any college scholarship worth your girl getting knocked out, stomped, damaged internally, or her head cracked in during a sporting competition she had no chance to win?
  
   Don't you love your daughter? Does her dignity mean nothing to you?  In 1968, two black Olympians risked their medals and athletic careers for their cause. They faced screaming event attendees, were kicked out the Olympic village and they received death threats. 
  
  They won. Both went on to the NFL and are considered Civil Rights era heroes today. The adult athletes and the parents of the minors have to leave the mad house and yes, sacrifices will have to be made if you are serious. It's not going to change by  pleading. 

•  A priest posted a photo of his 90 year old mother and asked for prayers because she passed away. One person complained that the mother was wearing pants and chastised the loving son for showing an immodest photo. My brothers, if you experience temptation looking at a 90 year old woman I suggest that you step away from the Internet, possibly forever for any reason other than work, and get yourself to the nearest priest  for spiritual guidance because ....something aint right.  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ave Maria
  
  
  
  

Our Lady of the Rosary, Pray for Us

 

Parce Domine

 

Last night, Rocky and I tried to go the 6PM Ash Wednesday Mass after work but it was packed. We sat in the parking lot and went to the 7PM Mass instead. Both priests looked tired but happy. I hope everyone has a holy Lent. 

“Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.”

Poor Pope Benedict. Eleven years after his resignation and I think that his fleeing for whatever the true reason, will be the only thing the sheep and the world will remember him for. 

Showing up at church is not enough

 Something happened at Mass a few years ago that still disturbs me. A family came in late and pushed past an older lady. She got up and moved to another pew. The oldest boy whispered something to the father. The man snapped that the woman was just crazy.  He said it  loud enough that I, sitting a few pews back, heard him. I think the woman must have heard him too. I never saw her again. 

This woman was a parishioner of many years. She was always reserved but friendly to me and struck me as being a very nervous and sensitive soul. I hope she just started going to Mass at a different time or at a different parish. 

Guys, you may have a beard like Moses, wear a Savile Row suit and have a family size to rival the Patriarch Jacob's and you may lead your family to church every Sunday but if you act like a jerk when you get there what lesson are you teaching them?  

This is bad

 

This man, on a trip to his home in Utah, noticed  illegal immigrants in the airport with NGO papers indicating  that they were clients of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona. As I have said before, there is going to be a backlash over this type of thing. When people start taking even their verbal anger out on Catholics I guarantee that our separated brethren and pagan groups wont raise a peep in our defense or show a shred of fellowship. These NGOs need to have the word Catholic removed from their names. 

As I’m on my way home to SLC, UT
I noticed 6 illegal migrants are also boarding the same @AmericanAir flight.

Looks like I’ve got some new neighbors! https://t.co/J3w2w9Nrz2

— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) January 15, 2024

 

Long break and other random thoughts

•  Well, I took a long Christmas break and it was good. I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas and Epiphany season. 2024 is going to be a doozy.
  
  
  
  
• I saw that Gonzalo Lira is dead. He was not a good man. He should have left Ukraine as soon as the war drums started beating. He was not a wise man in many ways but he's dead and it didn't have to be that way. Some people are angry that he didn't get the same attention that Britney Griner got but that's not saying much. Griner is back in the States but she doesn't appear to be her old self on the basketball court and probably isn't the same in private as she was before she was arrested in Russia. In many parts of the world getting arrested can lead to you kneeling in an unlit cell in the sub-basement of a building whose very name makes the local folks nervous. Even in places like Japan or Sweden you are not going to have a good time.
  
  In Lira's case,  being taken into custody was deadly. To all the Americans who think that running off to Eastern Europe, Asia or South America is the way to go, know this: no matter how long you live there or how long you've been married to a native woman --its' usually men who talk about doing this--- you will always be that American and the locals will come for you if things go sideways. If other friendly locals don't come to your defense, what are you and your family going to do but end up as a cautionary tale?
  
  
  
  
• Do you have a diocesan priest who is clearly a man and a holy one at that? Stop showing his photo or reporting  his comments on social media without his permission. You're not helping especially if his bishop already hates him. I'm sorry it's come this but here we are.
  
  
  
  
  
•  Breakfast At Tiffany's was about a prostitute. Medjugorje is a scam, at best. C.S. Lewis was not Catholic and showed terrible judgement in his personal life. Everyone involved in the film, Pretty Baby should have been publicly whipped. You don't have to go to college to be a good Catholic.                                                                                                                                                                       
  
  
  
• There was a guy who posted regularly in the Catholic Twitter circle who started out interesting but completely lost it. He stopped writing about the Faith and just kept posting shirtless photos of himself. It got weirder. Somebody must have started criticizing him for it because he shut down his account abruptly. I'm NOT talking about Voris. Apparently its common for men who are trying to get into body building level shape to send photo proof of their progress to their Accountability buddies, but dude, keep that private. Just as attention seeking Catholic women posting their photos every single day are off-putting, so too, are the men who do this.     
  
  
  
  
• In December I saw a number of Professional Catholics post lovely photos of their very nice homes and they wished their followers who donate and make their lifestyle possible, a happy Christmas. I've seen it reported by many sources that Church Militant's donors were mostly middle-aged to elderly women. I hope that's not true but more than that, I hope that in light of what is coming out about CM many people are waking up and wising up about who they are donating to. 

Downfall

 Michael Voris is gone.  Christine Niles says she submitted her resignation on November 10th.  I'm not dancing a jig but it is for the best that this is so.  Watching the whole Church Militant show play out over the years has been like watching a case of folie a deux syndrome and it became disturbing on primal level. Have you ever seen something so ugly that your skin tingled and your stomach tightened? That's the effect Voris's reportage had on me.

I've seen comments on Twitter condemning  anyone who is gloating that  the board of Church Militant forced him to resign. but while there were a few people who were delighted and expressed themselves in really crass ways, the majority of Catholic media has either been silent or been kind.  

To those who say "Oh, this is a tragedy. Voris  and Church Militant have done such good and been so influential for Catholicism,"I suggest that you read Randy Engel's 2017, article, "All The Men Behind the Opus Dei Curtain," and then go to Mass this Sunday and afterward mention CM and Voris to your friends. Most will tell you they never watched or read his Tweets and the rest will ask, "Who?" The majority of Catholics around the world have no idea who Michael Voris is or who Taylor Marshall, Patrick Coffin, Michael Lofton or Kennedy Hall are.  

 Pray for Voris  that he gets his spiritual life in order but I think we can all do without CM or Voris's type of journalism. Six months or so, if he shows up again on the media stage please don't give him money. Don't look to professional media Catholics to be your spiritual guides. 

Tertullian, St. Ignatius, a pop song and one lone bishop

St. Ignatius of Antioch always leaves me awestruck.  He was a disciple of St. John, the Evangelist, and was the third bishop of Antioch. In his old age during the reign of Emperor Trajan the holy bishop was taken prisoner in Antioch and carried off to Rome. He was going to be eaten alive by lions for the amusement of the Flavian Amphitheater going public. Most people today facing such an end  would have been reduced to screaming hysteria, but Ignatius managed to write six letters to his fellow Christians encouraging them and letting them know that he was ready to lay down his life for Jesus. Read those letters and you will be amazed and inspired. 

A bishop cannot be a coward. A bishop, if he is worthy of his cassock should be ready to suffer and die for the love of Our Lord and in defense of his flock.  Non Veni Pacem has posted parts of a letter to Bishop Strickland  from an unnamed friend of the bishop's that quotes Tertullian and exhorts Bishop Strickland to remember and behave like St. Ignatius. The bishop  mentions the letter in a speech. Non Veni Pacem links to the whole thing.  It is a beautiful letter and the speech is one that will stick with me. When I read it, I remembered the first time I heard the song, How This Ends. That song is one of my all time favorites and was a calming factor during a very hard time. 

How It Ends Lyrics

Hold your grandmother's Bible to your breast

Gonna put it to the test

You wanted it to be blessed

And in your heart

You know it to be true

You know what you got to do

They all depend on you

And you already know

Yeah, you already know how this will end

There is no escape from the slave catcher's songs

For all of the loved ones gone

Forever's  not so long

And in your soul

They poked a million holes

But you never let them show

Come on, it's time to go

And you already know

Yeah, you already know how this will end

Now you've seen His face

And you know there's a place in the sun

For all that you've done

For you and your children

No longer shall you need

You always wanted to believe

Just ask and you'll receive

Beyond your wildest dreams

And you already know

Yeah, you already know how this will end

I think Bishop Strickland of Tyler, Texas has a pretty good idea  how his current situation ends. No, he will not be fed to lions but the rest of his life is going to be quite different than what he may have expected when he first went to the seminary. St. Ignatius and St. John Fisher, please pray for your brother. 

Random thoughts on a warm Sunday morning.

•  A lot of people in DC and London are shocked and frightened by the huge anti-Israel marches. I'm mystified as to why. Did these people think that a Muslim person whether a refugee, naturalized citizen or second or third generation born citizen would go "Yay Israel,"!, on command? Have you read their book? It clearly states what they believe. 
  
   A lot of middle class people live in an intellectual  and social bubble. They are so happy that a new restaurant from --- country has opened up or they fondly remember going to college with a person from --- country and assume foolishly, that everyone from --- is just like their old college buddy. Worse, they see minorities of all spectrums as mere symbols for them to patronize and virtue signal about.  Northern Virginia and the whole DVM has a huge population of people from countries who don't like Israel. Of course, they are expressing themselves. Those of you who work for Catholic Charities migrant services or other NGOs especially have no excuse for being surprised.
  
  
  

• I don't like professional Catholics. The man or woman who makes their living from the Faith will do and say whatever is necessary to keep the mortgage paid. Instead of going to the endless conferences these people keep putting on and fattening their wallets; why not read a a book written by a saint? Why not go to Adoration or on personal pilgrimage? 
  
  
  
• I enjoyed the You Tube videos of a really interesting woman who had similar tastes in clothes, home décor,  history, and art to mine but out of no where she dropped a bomb. She's a practicing  "good" witch. Nope. I'm out. I blocked her channel and was quite disappointed. The typical occultist is not just  that oddly smelling girl whom nobody liked back in school.  It's gone mainstream and  you'd be shocked to see how many apparently normal people you know are involved. 
  
  

• We're going to South Carolina this month to clean all the family graves and order any necessary repairs. I'll be bringing Klean Logik Headstone Cleaner and D/2 Biological Solution  with me but I'll buy the brushes and water buckets at Walmart when I get there. Mama will supervise while I clean and Rocky and Uncle Junior can be the water brigade.  It's been too long since I was last saw my father's grave and I'm really looking forward to saying a rosary there. 
  
  
  
  
• In your charity, could  you say a prayer for a particular priest? When I looked up at him during the processional I was shocked. He looked terribly sick and unsteady all through Mass and I wanted to grab him and check his pulse. 

A Ghostly Tale for All Hallows Eve

Years ago when I was still in high school I read a collection of ghost stories called "Haunted Heartland." Most of them weren't a bit scary and were presented in  the dry  businesslike fashion of a folklorist who is merely collecting materials for a dissertation, but one tale stuck with me. It was the story of Fr. Louis Lesches, a priest assigned to St. Mary's College in Minnesota, who tried to kill his superior, Bishop Patrick Hefron. The bishop was saying Mass in the seminary chapel one morning when he turned around and saw Fr. Lesches standing behind him. To the bishop's surprise, the priest was wearing a Prince Albert suit instead of his cassock or clericals. To add to this surprise the bishop quickly realized that  the priest was packing heat. Fr. Lesches fired a gun three times, hitting the bishop twice.

At that time Fr. Lesches was already the number one problem child of the diocese. Although he was said to be brilliant and had done well in the academic part of his seminary studies, he was also overly emotional, insubordinate, and felt that the bishop was persecuting him. He'd failed at all of his parish assignments and now Bishop Hefron had recalled him to St. Mary's to keep a close eye on him. 

 Bishop Heffron's vestments, orneriness, and his great physical shape probably saved his life.  Instead of dropping dead or swooning he yelled at his now panicked attacker and chased him out of the chapel. Fr. Lesches was captured and spent the rest of his life in a mental hospital.

 Students have been claiming to see the ghost of Fr. Lesches on campus for decades. It's a spooky tale but I hope everyone who hears or reads it will stop and say a prayer for this poor, strange, unstable man who never should've been ordained but is a priest forever and one who probably really needs our help now. 

What the heck is WRONG with people?

 When 26 year old Baltimore CEO Pava LePere was found  partially clad, strangled and bludgeoned to death in her own apartment building I noticed that MOST of the comments in both secular news and among men on Catholic Twitter, mocked the victim and expressed satisfaction that she was dead.

 Pava supported Black Lives Matter. The irony of her murder by a man whom she would have presumably championed and whom she naively let into her controlled access building  was enough for an explosion of schadenfreude. One Catholic man in particular seemed triumphant and  kept posting on Twitter, "She let him in." The last time I checked, he'd made this statement several times.

Look, I get that men are frustrated. There are many silly young women who flit from one fad to another with no deep thought about their own safety or much of anything else but Pava was murdered. How can you call yourself a Catholic man and revel in her death?  She obviously didn't grow up in a neighborhood like the one I did and unlike mine,  her parents may have never taught her you don't open to the door to anyone you don't know because it's better to be seen as rude than dead. At 26, she was old enough to be my daughter and I look at her photo with sadness. Thank God, the killer, who so far, has attacked three women has been caught. 

 

Pray for Frank Walker!

 Please pray for Frank Walker, of Canon 212 and The Stumbling Block.  He has had a stroke.   He's a fine man and has always been very gracious to me. 

and the hits just keep on coming -- random thoughts for a chilly Sunday morning

•  I went for my annual physical and the results weren't all sunshine and giggles. I've been anemic all my life but apparently this time the doctor was concerned that my hemoglobin is too low even for me so I'm off for more tests. I was advised to do this as soon as possible.  I became weirdly angry and answered the doctor with one one word sentences and was pretty curt when I couldn't do that. Sorry about that. I stayed angry for two days and kept Ennio Morricone's music on repeat and now I'm so tired I'm just flat.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Francis may be a legitimate pope or not but for practical purposes his bottom is firmly planted on Peter's throne and he is wielding power with glee.  Just as Our Lady said repeatedly in different apparitions good priests, monks, whole convents, the occasional bishop and cardinal are being persecuted. We hear shocking heresy coming out of Rome daily.  Men who pledged allegiance to Sodom  are riding high. People who worship  at a Latin Mass  are  being pushed out of their parishes.  Even people who go to a reverent as possible Novus Ordo where the priest does not face the people while serving Mass are under attack. We have a pope who is mean.  We've had bad popes in the past 2000, years but when was the last time in living memory did we have a pope who was so stunningly nasty and who spewed insults on a daily basis?  Yet and still, we have to cling to the Bark of Peter. If the changes coming out the Synod are as bad as people are saying they will be many of us are going to have to make decisions. Find a decent priest. Go to a true Mass. Go in a basement, a field,  a hotel room or cemetery chapel if you have to.  Our grandparents did this and more when Vatican II landed on them and that is why you and I had the chance to go to a TLM. 
  
  
  
  
  
• 3 Reasons to Not Believe in Aliens....

• This is truly weird. Colm Flynn of EWTN shows Chinese Catholics who traveled to visit Francis in Mongolia. Since the Chinese government forbade this, Flynn is exposing these people to danger for what? A few clicks? A pat on the back in the comments?  It reminds me of the Night Stalker case where then San Francisco mayor, Diane Feinstein blabbed details not known the public which led to the serial killer disposing of his shoes and continuing his reign of terror. Flynn should not have shown these people on camera. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Theodore McCarrick successfully ran down the clock. He's either faking dementia, or he and his protectors kept him going until he genuinely slid into the terrible mental fog of senility.  We do not put people on trial who are too feeble minded to understand what is going on and speak for themselves so the charge of molesting a 16 year old at a wedding reception in 1974 ,was dismissed. This may make some readers angry but I don't think that if the case was tried fairly, there was much chance of conviction. Was there any forensic evidence? Were there any living witnesses to back up the victim's story? But this is besides the point. McCarrick should have been laicized, excommunicated, and tried in civil court DECADES ago. The festering sore of a scandal remains. Bishops and Cardinals knew what Uncle Ted was doing. Seminarians knew what he was doing and whispered about  the New Jersey beach house.
  
  Father Issac Relyea is, to my knowledge the only person who has said with his characteristic bluntness what he thinks about the seminarians who complied with McCarrick's  sexual demands. McCarrick's "nephews" are in high places today. For a long time nobody was appointed to a bishopric  in the United States unless McCarrick vouched for them. Watching Cardinal Kevin Farrell telling an interviewer that he had no idea-- never saw or heard anything that made him raise an eyebrow about what McCarrick was doing in the whole five years he was a  DC diocese bishop and living in the same four bedroom apartment as the cardinal was the icing on a stomach twisting cake for many people.  St. Peter Damian, pray for us!

• Stay Catholic.
  
  
  
• Maureen Mullarkey has some thoughts on the appalling Fr. Rupnik. 
  
  
  
  
• Thank you Canon 212 and Harvey Millican. 

 

Random thoughts on a gut punch of a Monday morning.

•  In your charity could you please pray for my oldest male cousin? He had an aneurysm yesterday and was taken off the ventilator today. He was only 57.
  
  
  
  
• I was reading a rant about Parental Alienation a few days ago and sighed.  It reminded me of another man who was a talented writer and who was quite frank and unapologetic about his wild days back in the 70s and early 80s. He changed his life and overcame his addictions but did so too late. He blamed his divorced wife for turning their daughter against him to point where she refused any contact with him. What many Boomers forget is that bad episode in their lives --that hiccup in an otherwise okay life happened during their child's formative years. Your episode was their life. You being the bad guy or gal is the shadow over their childhood and no, despite what you were told by the experts, childhood resilience doesn't mean forgetting.  Your ex may have manipulated the situation and caused every fight but your adult child remembers standing in the door way while you screamed and cursed and perhaps even got physical in your anger.
  
  There are wicked parents who use their children as weapons against their ex but if you gave your child a river of sad memories when they were young then you can't expect them to want your company now that you are old.
  
  
  
  
• World Youth Day has been a cringe worthy occasion probably going back to 1986. These mega Masses and goofy 1970s antics that are supposed to appeal to the young  have to stop. Sacrilege at WYD is so common that people now accuse the pious who are shocked of "pearl clutching," and the sophisticated folks claim it's no big deal. Bishop Strickland pointed something out that actually gave me a  little hope.  If the bishop is correct and this was the lowest attended WYD since 1986, then perhaps parents are wising up.
  
  
  
• 
  
   

Random thoughts on a Wednesday night

•  I've never heard Dr. Smith speak before. She's sharp as a tack. I think she's a bit too soft of JPII but for anyone who still is walking around with rose colored glasses about our bishops she's an excellent dose of reality. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Taylor Marshall has dropped out of the presidential race...of course. 
  
  
  
• I dislike the phrase human trafficking because it's a polite euphemism for pimping and sex slavery; things that should be should not be sugar coated.  Some people comfort themselves with the idea that this only happens in the big city or in poor areas. These snobs are deluding themselves.  A few years ago I read about a young man in his 20s  who took his teen aged girlfriend  to a motel room and would not let her leave. He and his friend placed an online ad and sold her to the degenerates who answered the ad and met them at the motel. This atrocity went on  for weeks. Eventually, the police were notified by someone and she was rescued. Her family thought she was a runaway.  This happened in a cute, historic tiny Virginia town that tourists visit.
  
  
  
  
  
• Covid sent a lot of people over the edge. Rocky and I went to Chesapeake Beach last week and I was fascinated by how many people were dressed like they were in their bedrooms. It was a whole lot of pajamas and lounge wear. I'm not talking about young people either. The worst dressed people with unkempt hair who looked like they had just come out of their dens were in their 40s and 50s. It's like a lot of people just don't have the will or energy to even groom themselves.
  
  In my area violent crime has exploded. People seem to have shorter fuses in general and something odd is happening with the homeless population. Psychotic episodes are becoming more frequent and going to the gas stations has become unnerving. There are so many wild eyed men standing in the parking lots glaring at people or demanding money. Rocky used to get gas before he went to work in the mornings. Now he goes in the afternoon when there are more customers at the station. 

 

When the poisons hatch out

 When Fr. James Jackson was arrested for viewing gigantic amounts of child and infant pornography it set off a bizarre chain reaction throughout certain corners of Catholic social media. For going on three years now I've watched a saga that has no heroes and a lot of people who have been taken for fools, driven mad  or had their private lives exposed. 

I suppose the second step after the arrest was the fundraiser Restoring the Faith Media podcaster, Mike Parrot set up to hire a private investigator to look into the accusations against Fr. Jackson. At the time I thought the effort was a well-meant act of folly, like Don Quixote tilting at windmills. Fr. Jackson did not have one or two nasty photos saved on a shared computer in the rectory living room. Albino character assassins from the Vatican didn't sneak into his rooms and plant smut on his computer. No lay person with a grudge just waltzed into the rectory, hit the Dark web for what must have been many hours and high stepped out like cartoon villain without a priest, a secretary, the sacristan or a housekeeper noticing and questioning. Maybe things are really loose in Rhode Island but from my childhood to today I've never been to the rectory without having a good reason and my presence was known and expected. Getting into a rectory or a separate parish office without an appointment is close to impossible. 

Enter Church Militant. That crew seem to take great personal glee whenever they can report on a juicy nasty story especially if it involves sex or anyone who's considered to be in Traditional Catholic circles. For reasons that have never been clear, CM's leadership seemed to take a personal offense toward the fundraiser. A phone call was made to the RTF guy and he was told that he ought to stop the fundraiser and return the donor money. Both CM and RTF agree on this point but after that the story turns into a wildfire.  RTF says that CM threatened and attempted to blackmail him. CM says that RTF was told that if the fundraiser was not stopped the public would be informed  that the whole thing was unsound. RTF released a video declaring that he was being attacked and then the armies of supporters for CM and RTF formed. 

 On RTF's side were old friends who had blogs or Twitter accounts of their own, and many new people who were disgusted by CM in general and were naturally sympathetic to anyone who spoke back to them. On CMs side were their fans, Catholic media owners who had positive relations with CM and enemies of RTF.

CM advised a person who is described as a long-time friend to the organization that a story was going to be run on the RTF guy and hoped it wouldn't cause any trouble for the friend. The long-term friend ended his business relationship with RTF, who was naturally furious. RTF cried out that CM had gotten him fired from his job. Many people, myself included were appalled.  CM fired back with grass burning fury. Rather than a naive young man whose family was in danger of going without due to his job loss, CM portrayed him in a much different light. A statement of a former business partner was published and a number of things were posted about his property and his relationship with the Oblates of St Augustine. 

At some point a lawsuit for defamation was filed and the whole saga moved to the sewer. Sordid things were posted daily. Accusations of grave sins by the leading parties  were exposed to the public. In addition, there were accusations of hacking, invasion of privacy in regards to people's addresses and photos of homes, harassment and tale telling about people who weren't even part of the story but happened to be friendly with either side. 

Finally the legal proceedings concerning the defamation claim  concluded and the drama shifted to an administrative proceeding of the Marines. 

Fr. Jackson plead guilty.  The formal part of the saga is at an end.  Neither side can let the revolting matter drop and neither side can resist in schadenfreude. Everyone involved with this thing looks horrible and it's one more example of what bad, really bad things can occur when lay people make their money and fame off the Faith. Please, instead look to the saints and pre-Vatican II catechisms for clarity, instruction and advice. 

Fr. Jackson gives his plea

•  Father James Jackson plead guilty, The reaction has been quite muted in Catholic circles. I think everyone with any shred of sense knew after the Kansas arrest that he must be guilty. By this point even the people who donated to both his legal defense fund and the Mike Parrott private investigation now realize  this. Of course there is sorrow but the idea that he was set up by someone who had access to both the rectory computer in Rhode Island and was able to follow him to Kansas is dead. The man who claimed repeatedly in public that he could  barely check his e-mail was deep into one the most nasty and demonic corridors of the Dark Web. Are there innocent priests who have been falsely accused? Yes and St. Gerard could tell you all about it  but the technological nature and precise  locations of  what  Fr. Jackson was accused of made it almost impossible to be anything but guilty.
  
  My father-in-law refused for many years to have Internet access because he was afraid of seeing random  sinful content. Attempts to  tell him that the Internet isn't like a Monty Python sketch and he wasn't going to see a disembodied nude bosom float by while he was browsing on AOL were ignored and the family either sighed or chuckled.  I think everyone knows by now that you have to go search for hardcore pornography. Sometimes you can see immodesty by accident, for example a lewd woman is photographed almost naked as she goes to an awards show and you see the photo on your news site, but to see carnal acts with underage  probably kidnapped and enslaved victims you have to go on an deliberate hunt. You and I usually do our  browsing on the surface Web and  frequently do business and serious research on the Deep Web; sites that require registration, IDs and passwords and sometimes payment  to obtain the information therein. Then there's the Dark Web where you can engage in criminal activity. I've met or read about people who have to go to the Dark Web to test their company's security or as part of criminal investigations and they all say that you can't just accidentally find it like Alice falling down the rabbit's hole. 
  
  When the authorities allowed Fr. Jackson to go to his sister's house while waiting for trial they did so on several conditions. He was told to stay away from computers but they found one with internet access hidden on the premises. That's why he was removed from Kansas and taken into custody. Clearly this is a man who lied about being an Internet Luddite. 
  
  What can we learn about this tragedy?  Kipling would be shaking his head and adding a stanza to "The Gods of the Copybook Headings", if he were alive. It's the same old lesson: Perverts go where the object of their perversion is. 
  
  As many Mormons, Boy Scout parents, public school parents, and Protestants can tell you, a pervert will go to school and get credentialed and even marry some poor woman as part of his cover in order to be around his chosen victims. The ones who aren't as smart as they thought they were, get caught after a few years but the really clever ones, especially the ones who join rings of like-minded monsters get away with it until they die and face the awesome and inescapable justice of  God. Fr. James Jackson was not the man, many people thought he was but remember that Judas was not the man the Apostles thought he was either. 
  
  
  
  Our Lady of La Salette, who said there would be priests like Fr. Jackson, pray for us. 
• 
  
  
  
  

The Taylor Marshall Presidential Bid Is Ridiculous

I like Fr. Nix. He's a loyal friend to Taylor Marshall so although I think he's making a mistake, I get why he's defending Marshall's ridiculous bid to run for president.  Dr. Marshall is in for a nasty surprise. He's a big fish in a small pond but he's going to get chewed up and spat out in the secular political media milieu.  Marshall is used to either fawning attention or hysterical attacks from people who can't articulate why they don't like him. He's never been patted on the head and gotten the patronizing treatment some give to their eccentric but harmless relatives.  He's also never faced an absolutely vicious attack by political operatives who have the ability to dig into his distant past, his finances, harass his family or search for bitter ex-girlfriends. 

Anne Barnhardt had several things to say about his decision and I have to agree. This is a publicity stunt. He will get a book out of it but I think he's also going to lose fans. Have you noticed that other than The Pillar most of Catholic media land has been silent about Marshall's announcement?  They aren't mocking him but they aren't cheering him on either. That silence means that even his buddies know that this is not a serious campaign. 

Random thoughts on a Tuesday morning.

•  I don't care for Taylor Marshall but I have to give him and Jesse Romero their due. They are, to my knowledge the only people who addressed the Satanic convention that happened last week-end  in Boston. Everyone else maintained silence on the affair. I feel sorry for the poor housekeeping staff at the Marriot (I don't want to hear anymore nonsense about the owners being  devout Christians),  who had to clean up afterwards because you know darn well, that grotesqueries beyond what decent people should ever have to see took place in those hotel rooms. 

• Last week Rocky and I visited the Canons of New Jerusalem in West Virginia for Mass. As soon as Father began praying I was deeply moved and felt at home. This was the first traditional Mass that my husband and I have been able to attend since Cardinal Gregory and Bishop Burbidge reduced  the TLM parishes. 

• My allergies have been brutal this year. Yesterday I woke up with a headache, a scratchy throat and a stomach ache from my sinuses draining. I think I woke up two or three times from nausea and pain alone. Extra strength Tylenol and Spam fried rice made me feel better. Boy, I wish it would rain and clear out this pollen for a few days. 

• Okay, this scared me. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Ireland is going to get it good and hard and will fully deserve it. 

 

Holy Week up to Easter Vigil

•  Something was off about Palm Sunday Mass this year. There was no procession and  Father must blessed the palms  without his mic on or before Mass. The palms were brought out late and if you didn't grab a one right before Mass you didn't get one unless you were obviously disabled  and the ushers brought it to you. The palms were also taken away after Mass and Rocky had to go to the usher's sacristy to get ours. Father's homily, and the music were excellent. A lot of the regulars were not there and Rocky estimated it was about 100 less people than normal.  

• 
  
  We went to the Spy Wednesday Mass and Tenabrae service at our old parish
  And whilst they were eating, he said: Amen I say to you, that one of you is about to betray me.  22 And they being very much troubled, began every one to say: Is it I, Lord?  23 But he answering, said: He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, he shall betray me.  24 The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed: it were better for him, if that man had not been born.  25 And Judas that betrayed him, answering, said: Is it I, Rabbi? He saith to him: Thou hast said it.   
  
  
  

  In this illustration of the Last Supper by Brother Max Schmalzl we see Judas clutching his bag of silver. I wonder if Brother Max was thinking of this passage from Matthew when he created this artwork.  Notice the arrogance and disrespect of  Judas's posture. Everyone else is in an attitude of worship, kneeling or standing  but Judas looks like a bored guest. He  called the Lord "Rabbi," something the Apostles hadn't done for nearly three years. Peter and the others said "Lord," "Master" and referred to Him as the Christ. Judas, says Rabbi, as if Our Lord were just any rabbi in any synagogue. 
  
  
  
  
• Mass of the Lord's Supper was wonderful. Fr. said the Novus Ordo as well as it can be done. I was impressed by the parishioners. Everyone was decently dressed. The parents paid attention to their children and the large church was so packed late comers had to stand. Father's homily was excellent. Rocky said he learned some things he hadn't thought of before. We wanted to do the seven church pilgrimage but Rocky was very tired and we needed to go home. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Easter Vigil was okay...mostly.  Bishop Burbidge preached a nice, inoffensive  homily. The music was fine. The decorations were not as nice as in previous years and the crowd was again, noticeably smaller than last year. 

Rules for Catholic Twitter (Works for other sites too)

 Rules for Catholic Twitter

1. Do not go on any form of social media if you are easily hurt by other people's opinions. 
   
   
   
2. Do not ask for advice and become offended when people give it.
   
   
3. Don't offer marital or child rearing advice unless you are committed to calling the shot as you see it and don't really care what people think. 
   
   
4. Do not show your children's photos.  
   
   
5. Do not show photos of the outside of your home or the road near your home.  It's really easy to find you that way. Practice OPSEC and use your common sense. 
   
   
6. Do not use your real name unless you are a public figure. Normal people with jobs could end up fired or with an unhinged madman at the doorstep at 3 in the morning. See Rules 4 and 5 again. 
   
   
7. If you use your real name or have made it easy to for complete strangers to figure out who you are, at least don't shame your children and adult relatives by sharing their personal business. 
   
   
8. Do not strip your loved ones of their dignity by showing the world  photos of them in a helpless, sick and dying state then ask for privacy or be offended by the nasty and crazy comments you get. 
   
   
9. Do not talk about how simple, poor and humble your life is while showing photos of your trip to Europe on "pilgrimage," and be shocked if you get blowback. Look, we all know you didn't bilocate to Europe. The passport, tickets, food and lodgings and in country transport cost big  money. Some people will attack you because they are jealous, and shame on them but others will see you as a hypocrite and might call you out.  
   
   
10. Do not keep posting about how much you hate whatever site you are on and how evil everyone is. Just leave. 
    
    
    
11. Don't say shocking things just for views and then get all righteous when someone becomes alarmed and calls either the cops or CPS. 
    
    
12. Do remember that everybody has an opinion and while a lot of them are better left unsaid, except for blasphemy and unrepentant admission or approval of certain sins, they have a right to them just as you have a right to yours.
    
    
13. Don't let what's happening on Twitter or any site turn you into a nut---please!  If you feel yourself becoming obsessed turn the computer off. Go be with your family. Attend to the  duties  of your state in life and consider leaving the site for good. 
    
    
    
14. Don't get mad if someone comments negatively about your immodest photos.  You needed attention. You got it.    
    
    
    
15. Pray more. 

75 days

In his homily our parochial vicar criticized the people who haven't come back to Mass after the shut downs.  He implied that they were lazy sinners. He was right to an extent,  but didn't our bishops go right along with the shutdowns? With a few exceptions the only priests I saw doing outside Masses were SSPX. Most of the Faithful  including the weak,  the foolish,  and the isolated were set adrift. For 75 days we couldn't even go unmasked into an empty church for private prayer without being threatened with arrest by the parish priest or a parish staffer.  I've read many heartbreaking stories of people who wrote about how they begged their parish priest to come give a loved one Last Rites during the shutdown and were rejected. We were all told that watching Mass on TV, Facebook or You Tube was good enough and those who mourned the loss of the Mass were called neurotic and selfish.

Even when the civil authorities allowed us to return to Mass, depending on where you lived, the restrooms were closed. Think of all the adults who need to visit the restroom before or after Mass because of age-related or some chronic physical  condition. All these people had to choose between staying away from their parish or risk soiling themselves in public. Even porta-pottys were locked.  How about an apology for abandoning the flock? That YouTube Mass didn't cut it. Frankly, as I sat in the pew and heard Father, I was pissed. 

You aren't going to lose your TLM because somebody is grieving about losing theirs

 This week I read a Tweet by a nice woman saying that the TLM will be cancelled in her parish. People rushed to accuse her of lying. People outside the diocese actually had the nerve to write that she apparently didn't hear what she heard her priest announce. Others rushed in to say that no, Bishop Barron, of World on Fire fame had actually given her an upgrade by inviting the SSPX to take over a church/chapel in another part of the diocese roughly two hours away. "See," they cackled. "Bishop Barron isn't cancelling anything!" How is losing the TLM in your parish that you've been attending and having to go elsewhere not cancellation? 

The most disgusting part of this pitiful episode has got to be the self righteous Pharisees braying, "You bad Trads complain and will make the saintly bishop so mad he'll take the TLM away from all us! Thank God we're glad Trads and not stupid and ugly sinners like you!"

That's like saying to an abuse victim to hush and not cry so much or they'll  provoke the abuser to beat them some  more.  If your bishop is so thin-skinned, petty and evil that he crushes people because a handful irritate him  then I hate to break it to you but you don't have a good and holy bishop. You don't even have a bread and butter bishop who's mostly decent even if he is a company man. You have a martinet, a cruel step-father and someone who ought not be a bishop. 

I've always believed that the diocesan TLM was doomed and would not last much longer than Pope Benedict XVI's life. That doom has nothing to do with a grouchy Trad in Dubuque  talking on Twitter, Facebook or Blogger. You aren't going to lose your TLM because somebody openly grieved about losing theirs. You are going to lose it because Pope Francis and all his boys hate Tradition. If you can't offer sympathy to a person who is sad because they can't go to  Mass anymore then for the love of God, at least don't pile on with the abuse. 

Random thoughts on a Saturday Afternoon.

• St. Peter, pray for us 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Shortsighted people dismiss the importance of the Chinese balloon because China and most of our "allies" already spies on us everyday but spying wasn't the point. By sending a balloon to violate the US airspace the Chinese conducted a humifaction ritual and they got away with it. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The bishop's Lenten Appeal starts next week. Rocky and I may find another parish to go to so we don't have to sit through the always uncomfortable speech that will take the place of the homily. 
  
  
  
  
• I don't excuse Kari Lake for losing her Faith but not being able to even go into a church during Covid didn't help. 
  
  
  
• Pope Benedict XVI's posthumous book was such a disappointment that nobody is talking about it. If the Italian nick-name for Pope Paul VI was "The Sad One," then surely poor Benedict's should be something like, "The Pitiful". 
  
  
  
• Have you ever noticed how many NBA or NFL players went to Catholic high schools? Most don't seem to have taken the Faith from their school years  but their athletic skills were what the school wanted them for and they made money for the school. If your kid's school is financially sound because it's an athletic powerhouse but the kids don't go to Mass regularly and they don't even have a school chapel then what are you paying for?

• Did you see that hideous , blasphemous jacket Damar Hamlin had on at the Super Bowl? He's not a nice guy.

Mother Mary Lange, pray for us

No quick answers in the Neumayr tragedy

 When I first read that George Neumayr was dead I thought it was a stupid joke but then messages from various sources confirmed the news. It is said that he died of malaria, which seems odd to many people. In every photo he Tweeted from Cote d'Ivoire  he was either chomping a cigar or looking like a happy tourist posing with the locals. He didn't appear feverish or in pain at all. On the other hand, he did complain of an episode of food poisoning. It is possible that the nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea that can come with malaria or Yellow Fever  was mistaken for sickness from eating food that had been poorly cooked or kept in unsanitary conditions. Tap water is potable in Cote d'Ivoire but the State Department advises that you stick to bottled water and realize that the ice cubes in your drink at the restaurant or bar probably came from the tap. 

Nobody has commented on what  George Neumayr's general health was like but  some men, even ones who don't look robust,  have the mental and physical  constitution  of bulls. It takes something  catastrophic to make them drop or even admit to being sick. 

Years ago, my Uncle Junior got  walking pneumonia and would have died if other relatives hadn't nagged him into seeing his doctor, who after seeing him, called an ambulance. Until he was unconscious my uncle was insisting that he just had a cold and was not really sick. I can see Neumayr refusing to accept being sick, especially while on a business and pleasure trip until it overwhelmed him. 

Multiple people have written eloquently about the tragic loss of this much loved and admired Catholic author and reporter. There is  passionate speculation about his enemies in various chanceries and the circumstances surrounding his death and there may never be a satisfactory answer. 

I am about to write something indelicate and if you are someone who loved the late George Neumayr you may want to stop reading now. It's been about three weeks since the death and there have been no indications that  George was able to marry his fiancee and the body was buried in country. Presumably the remains are  in a morgue until Neumayr's next-of-kin can fulfill all the local government requirements for release. There  have been no reports about the conditions of morgues in Cote d'Ivoire. Has the body been embalmed?  Does Cote d'Ivoire require that? Have tissue samples been preserved? The mortal remains may have deteriorated beyond the point where a proper autopsy is even possible. 

Contrary to what you've seen in the movies our government doesn't automatically ship deceased civilians home nor does the government pay any medical facility bills. The US consulate takes charge of personal effects and assists next-of-kin to navigate the laws of the land when a citizen dies overseas. 

If a US citizen dies in a first world country getting the body home in a timely fashion can be done. A friend of my mother and of mine  died in London*, while studying there. The embassy did a fine job helping his elderly parents make it to the hospital in time before he was removed from life support and then with paperwork and accommodations until the poor parents could return home. Everything was done with speed and efficiency and kindness. The time from my friend's death to his funeral was not too much more than if he'd died in the US. George Neumayr was visiting a third world country. Nothing about this process is going to be quick. 

Out of all the countries to visit in Africa, Cote d'Ivoire is one that shouldn't be on your list unless you are an experienced third world traveler or have family there. The State Department has four levels of travel advisories from "exercise normal precautions," down to the last one which is "do not travel".  Cote d'Ivoire is rated at level three, that is  "reconsider travel." 

The country has high violent crime. Home invasion, robbery and carjacking are common. Local police, government officials and soldiers have been known to demand bribes. Embassy personnel are not allowed to travel at night.  Visitors are strongly urged to make "evacuation plans that do not rely on U.S. government assistance," avoid crowds and "obtain comprehensive medical insurance that includes medical evacuation." In the State Department's Traveler's Checklist it states that medical evacuation for treatment could cost up to  $100,000.

  Lepanto Institute said that George Neumayr refused to go to the hospital-- probably until he couldn't object anymore-- and if you read the State Department description of medical facilities in Cote d'Ivoire I see why: 

• Adequate health facilities are available in Abidjan and other major cities, but health care in rural areas is below U.S. standards.
• Public medical clinics lack basic resources and supplies.
• Hospitals and doctors often require payment “up front” prior to service or admission.
• Credit card payment is not always available, and most hospitals and medical professionals require cash payment.
• Medical staff may speak little or no English.
• Generally, in hospitals only minimal staff is available overnight. Consider hiring a private nurse or having family spend the night with the patient, especially a minor child.
• Patients bear all costs for transfer to or between hospitals. 
  

Ambulance services in the public system are:

• not widely available, and training and availability of emergency responders may be below U.S. standards.
• not equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment.
• Injured or seriously ill travelers may prefer to hire a private ambulance or take a taxi or private vehicle to the nearest major hospital rather than wait for a public ambulance.

In short, Cote d' Ivorie can be a dangerous place and whatever bad happens there could end up staying there. This is a tragedy that probably won't end with a neat explanation. May George Neumayr rest in peace.

*  British medicine may be free but I'd rather cut my trip short than trust NHS doctors especially as a foreigner. To this day I still think my friend would be alive if he'd gone to see a doctor at home. 

Candlemass

 A Medieval  hymn for Candlemass

The queen of bliss and of beauty.

Behold what life that we run in,

Frail to fall and ever like to sin

Through our enemy's enticing;

Therefore we sing and cry to thee:

Revertere, revertere,

The queen of bliss and of beauty.

Come hither, Lady, fairest flower,

And keep us, Lady, from dolour;

Defend us, Lady, and be our succour,

For we cease not to call to thee:

Revertere, revertere,

The queen of bliss and of beauty.

Turn our life, Lady, to God's lust, [pleasure]

Sin to flee and fleshly lust,

For, after him, in thee we trust

To keep us from adversity.

Revertere, revertere,

The queen of bliss and of beauty.

This holy day of Purification

To the temple thou bare our salvation,

Jesu Christ, thine own sweet Son,

To whom therefore now sing we:

Revertere, revertere,

The queen of bliss and of beauty.

Farewell, Christmas fair and free!

Farewell, New Year's Day with thee!

Farewell, the holy Epiphany!

And to Mary now sing we:

Revertere, revertere,

The queen of bliss and of beauty.

Rest in peace, Sonny Boy

 My Uncle Sonny Boy, died in 2015. Today would have been his birthday.   I loved him very much. 

These People Just Can't Be Anything But Nasty

Petulant, nasty, vicious beyond the pale and just plain tacky.  Cardinal Gambetti may have pleased his master on earth but he'll  have to explain his behavior to the One who wept over Lazarus one day. 







Who made the decision that Benedict's body should be stuffed into a van without a coffin or even a shroud to cover the body? We package our groceries with more care.  Have you ever seen a dead body transported like that for a funeral? 

Random thoughts on a Saturday morning

• Rocky and I made a short visit on Epiphany Eve to a local parish.  I was startled to see Fr. Rupnik's art on the catechetical material in the vestibule. This is nothing against the parish or the pastor who are both known to be fine but shows how ubiquitous Rupnik's work is. Those hideous, dead goggle eyed mosaics are everywhere. Just trashing any images of his work or painting over originals is going to cost a fortune.  
  
  
  
  
  
• Pope Benedict's funeral was enlightening in many ways but I'll mention one very small thing I noticed. I signed onto Twitter and looked at the various professional Catholic accounts. One guy was raging at his enemies and making homosexual jokes. One woman who considers herself to be superior to most Catholics and Americans in particular but constantly seems to be flirting with Eastern Orthodoxy spent the day being bitter and miserable. Days before the funeral  she  stated that she "DGAF" about Benedict. Both these people have asked for donations from Catholics in the past and presume to tell us how we're wrong or ignorant about the Faith. The uglier they got, the uglier they looked themselves. They reminded me of the old Ronald Dahl quote.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Francis Couldn't Behave Properly - Not Even at Benedict's Funeral
  
  
  
  
•  If you have a good parish with a holy priest please don't post photos of him or the interior online unless he agrees.  Do not video his homilies without his permission. We have come to the point where even celebrating the Novus Ordo as reverently as it can be done and sticking to the rubrics is going to cause good priests to be attacked by their bishops.