The DC diocese just can't catch a break.

When I was a girl growing up in DC, Archbishop Hickey was not popular. He was known and is remembered as the bishop who closed down most of the Catholic schools including my high school. Some adults asked where the money for all those closed and sold off schools went but never got satisfactory answers.  There was so much bitterness about this that a lot of people my age who were affected by the closings stopped going to Mass as soon as they were confirmed or turned 18.

After Hickey, DC got Cardinal McCarrick who did evil in private and showed subtle approval of evil in public. Then came Cardinal Wuerl. Now the DC diocese is apparently about to get Archbishop Gregory of Atlanta.  Gregory was once a protege of Cardinal Bernadin... which raised the alarm bells because apparently Cardinal Bernadin had no use for normal, devout priests. Poor DC. Hopefully Archbishop Gregory will stay in DC  and leave the country parishes alone but it doesn't look good.

In loving memory

Grant eternal rest, Oh Lord to my faithfully departed Daughter of Charity teachers.

Father Richards and a big mess

 Back in January when  Father Larry Richards gave a speech at the annual Legatus summit he probably thought it was just another speaking engagement.  When he said that someone from Church Militant TV threatened to kill him  it went from being another day at the "office" to a mess. The Legatus organization is for Catholic CEOs and while its members aren't as noticeable as the Knights of Columbus they as a group and individually contribute generously to various Catholic organizations and their concerns are taken seriously.  There was probably a flurry of calls, emails and letters to Church Militant demanding an explanation. Michael Voris didn't take it lying down.    By last week Father Richards  backed off his statements in a Tweet. Church Militant was not mollified and is talking about legal action. I have a feeling that Father's superiors in the Diocese of Erie will either diffuse this by having him go on a long retreat at an unspecified location  or he'll come out swinging at Church Militant. Depending on what he decides to do, the next few days should be interesting.


St. John Vianney, pray for us.

A sad day

I went to a funeral today. The deceased was the son of one of my cousins. He was a bad boy. There is no way to sugar coat it.  His criminal record goes back to 2013. He was killed by someone who refused to be his victim.  I sat in that pew and watched and listened to his insta-canonization (a photo of him with wings and halo was on the cover of the funeral program)  and wanted to scream in frustration. Instead I squeezed my mother's hand and hugged his grandmother, my aunt. When my cousin's son got up last week and decided to do what he did, he had no idea that someone would fight back and win. He had no idea that this was his last day on earth. I hope that in the last minutes of his life he repented and begged God for mercy. Anything is possible.

Holy God, holy mighty God of justice and mercy, Thy will be done.
Saint Dismas, pray for us.

St. Patrick

I've never understood why people celebrate St. Patrick's day by behaving dishonoring  him by getting drunk and acting a fool. This is Saint Patrick. 

Don't leave the Lord because of His vicar

Pope Francis and his favorites are going to shock you, shame you, cause you grief like you never thought possible but don't leave the Church. Look at the crucifix. See Our Lord on that cross. See His agony. See Him abandoned by all His disciples. Don't leave Him and if in a moment of fear and weakness you do leave Him for a time, come back and stay with Him until death.

Random thoughts on a Saturday afternoon

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for the Church

• Ash Wednesday was interesting at work. Only one Catholic had visible ashes this year and he declined to partake of the morning bagel spread. The rest of us decided to go to Mass after work or must have hidden the ashes with bangs. I only heard one loudly told offensive conversation from co-workers down the hall this year. I have no idea what this means.
  
  
• “For it is this which violates sobriety, kills modesty, slays chastity. It butchers virginity with the sword of a most filthy contagion. It befouls everything, it stains everything, it pollutes everything, and for itself it permits nothing pure, nothing foreign to filth, nothing clean..." St. Peter Damian from the Book of Gomorrah
  
  Whenever someone shows up at your child's story hour at the library and reads to them about homosexuality remember what St. Peter Damian said. These people can't tolerate your little child;s innocence and purity. When two women or two men with a child show up at your Catholic school and use the poor kid as a weapon to demand that the school change Catholic teaching remember what St. Peter Damian said. You and your children will not be left in peace. The spirit of Sodom and Gomorrah can not abide it.
  

• The Transformed Wife is not Catholic and I don't think she'd like me much but boy I wish a Catholic woman writer would say something like this.
  
  
  
• Rocky's recovery from hip surgery went pretty well. It's funny but those 9 weeks were the longest period of unbroken time we've ever been side by side in 31 years. Even when he was able to stop using the walker and was no longer a fall risk I was uncomfortable leaving his side for any more than it took to be at work. Once again I am reminded that love is at it's best when you are serving somebody.
  
  
  
  
• Anytime someone says to you that you need to follow them because they are here to change or save the world, run away. You 're dealing with a narcissist. 

Not ready to join the Pell bandwagon yet

There is a very sweet man who has been defending Cardinal Pell with passion and devotion. I haven't said a word to him about it because anything less than saddling up and riding out with him on crusade will not do for him. Cardinal Pell's conviction is so ridiculous that whether you like the man or not you have to admit that what he is accused of is impossible. Think about how many people are in a sacristy after Mass when the bishop comes to your own parish.  Now imagine your elderly bishop attacking two choir boys in full view of all those people. 

Perhaps Australia as several fiery Pell defenders have said, is at the end of the day, just anti-Catholic as you would expect from a daughter of England. Perhaps the country is in the grip of hysteria like the US was in the 80s. Remember that shameful episode? Day care workers and owners were accused of eating babies, flying in balloons, raping  toddlers in the classroom and in underground tunnels and cutting children with knives that left no scars or caused no bleeding. People were convicted and went to prison on the strength of that mad testimony so Australia is no worse than we are in that respect.

All that being said, I don't feel like jumping on the Cardinal Pell bandwagon. I think he is innocent of what he was accused of in this case and unless the Australians have completely lost their minds his appeal in this case will be successful  but I can't ignore those nagging rumors about him that have swirled in Australia and out for years. Those rumors could have been filthy lies. The old man who said he saw a naked Pell strutting and posing in a changing room in front of boys could have lied. The young males who claimed that Pell groped their genitalia in the pool could have lied. The people who claim that Cardinal Pell is homosexual could be lying. Maybe it is a conspiracy and the Vatican officials who found Pell's interference in their shady accounting at the Vatican bank had a hand in getting rid of him but I feel a strong urge towards caution, waiting and seeing in this case. Sorry.

Lent is Here

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.

Where did Theodore McCarrick come from?

 Susan Matthiesen at the Les Femmes blog wrote back in January about how young Ted McCarrick was expelled from high school at age 15, and was apparently was a ghost for 16 months.  That post deserved a lot more attention than it got. Where was he?  Did the boy sit in his room sulking? Was he with his late father's family in Virginia? Was he running the streets? Who was advising the boy and his mother? I don't know what the truancy laws in New York were in the 40s but surely there must have been some busybody neighbor  or agent of the court who wanted to know where this kid was.

Young McCarrick started high school again at 17, and attended Fordham Prep on scholarship. McCarrick has said that his indefatigable  mother talked to a Jesuit or an family friend alumni, (exactly who has been lost to time), about her bright son and got him into Fordham and that may be true.  I remember reading a speech by a man who said his success began because his father who was a West Virginia miner walked into a rich man's office and told him about his son and the rich man was so impressed by the nerve and devotion of that poor man that he arranged for the boy to be educated at a very good school. At any rate some important person made it possible for young McCarrick to attend Fordham Prep despite his having been expelled from Xavier High School. When I went to high school every girl knew that if you messed up and got expelled that was it. Unless your dad could pull some long strings no other Catholic school in the diocese would take you.

Theodore McCarrick graduated from Fordham prep and although he was a poor boy on scholarship with a widowed mother he was able to afford to go to Europe with a friend on what we now call the gap year. At one point, according to McCarrick  he was in a Carthusian monastery in Switzerland discerning his vocation.  Before James Grein's testimony one could only assume that Mrs. McCarrick was doing quite well at her factory job. Grein, who is believed to be McCarrick's first victim says that his wealthy family took young Ted to Switzerland with them on their vacations so that could be how the plane and train tickets, food and accommodations were taken care of.

After his gap year he comes back to the States goes to Fordham University and then to St. Joseph's Seminary. From there he takes off like a rocket. Les Femmes concludes that young Ted caught some influential perverts eye early on and he used that to further his career and because one or more of his superiors were already compromised nobody was in position to say anything when he began preying on the innocent.  Church Militant and Complicit Clergy have proposed another theory.  What if young Ted met some nasty old perverts and joined in ,but these particular nasty old perverts were part of the school of darkness with Bella Dodd?  As you may have read, Bella left the Communists and converted thanks to Archbishop Sheen. She said that her job in the party was to help with the seminarian project. The project was to get rotten young men into the priesthood, create a network that would serve the party and degrade the Church from within. The young men were promised all the sex they wanted and protection so long as they served. A match made in Hell. No matter who McCarrick's sugar daddy really was it's clear that he had one or several and in turn he played that role for others. This is distasteful but every Cardinal, every bishop and every priest who owes his position to McCarrick has got to be asked two questions: What did you know about McCarrick's beach house and why did he like you so much?

Stella Maris

Our Lady, Star of the Sea, pray for us. 

at prayer

A Woman to Admire

Chief Warrant Officer Oscar and Mrs. Grammer 

Every war leaves a mess of immorality for decades to come. The black children of American soldiers stood out and suffered in Germany. A good Catholic woman named Mabel Grammer tried to do something about it and found homes for 500 of them.

In the Closet of the Vatican and other random thoughts

1. A number of people in the office were gleefully talking about this book. Last Ash Wednesday Catholic co-workers heard some jokes from  non-Catholic co-workers. Heaven only knows what it's going to be like this year.  I am not complaining. A few just on the edge of louche remarks  are nothing compared to the Know Nothings attacking Catholics in the streets or burning convents but it is just a little unnerving. Between the  the pedophile scandals the perception that the Church supports  illegal immigrants whether the locals are happy about strange men wandering around the neighborhood or not, the jokes are going to get worse and I have a feeling that the day is coming when complaints to HR about it will fall on deaf ears.

• An anonymous homosexual priest says to the New York times that he's not in the closet but a cage since he doesn't dare tell his parishioners about his sexual interests.  I'm guessing this priest is so self observed that he does not even dream that many of his parishioners already know about him. He also would probably be surprised to know how many young males in his parish were completely turned off of parish life because of him and his gushing fans. 

• She and her daughter, Queen Catherine will never be canonized but there is an open cause for Queen Isabella of Spain's canonization.
  
  
• Yes, that is Theodore McCarrick in stained glass to the right of John Paul II. As my father-in-law once said, never make a memorial to a man until he's dead. I would add that  even then you might want to wait a few years in case something embarrassing comes out about him. 

The end of a dirty game or have the cards just been reshuffled?

The ever charming, ever smiling Cardinal McCarrick is now Mr. McCarrick.  His former roommate and protege Cardinal Farrell, (who claims that he NEVER saw anything freaky or suspected anything untoward about Cardinal McCarrick the whole six years he lived with him),will be in charge of the entire Church in the event of the pope's death until the end of the conclave. His favorites are still in charge of the Church in America so McCarrick-ism lives on. 

Is this the end of Teddy?

There are reports from foreign sources that Archbishop McCarrick going to be cast out of the priesthood. I'll believe it when I see it.

The higher the monkey climbs

The higher the monkey climbs the more he exposes..... If Dr. Ralph Northam had stayed out of public life and hadn't chosen to use his power to try to kill babies  this never would have come to light. 

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.

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.