16th September 2021
I watched this video. I cried.
'Pfizer vaccine killed my son': Grieving father speaks out (lifesitenews.com)
This is what is happening to so many families. So many people. So many young lads.
Please watch this video and kindly pray for this poor man and his son (RIP)
Please, inform yourselves. Protect your children.
'Pfizer vaccine killed my son': Grieving father speaks out (lifesitenews.com)
15th September 2021
Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Blessed Lady
In some quarters of the Church Traditionalist Catholics have a bad reputation of being somewhat toxic. Toxic Trads they call us.
But is there any truth in this?
A recent discussion with someone I respect made me give this whole subject some thought. The discussion centred over an article written on a blog.
The article was titled "The myth of the chaste Homosexual".
As I read the article I could understand the anger, especially among American Traditional Catholics, at what has happened and continues to happen in the Church.
They are, as we all are, very angry at the whole McCarrick scandal. The disgusting behaviour of perverted clerics has destroyed the lives of the little ones so loved by Our Blessed Lord.
Then there are the likes of the wayward priest James Martin S.J who go unreproached, who are praised and lauded, spreading falsehoods whilst good priests teaching the Catholic faith are censored, bullied, ousted and cancelled. Trads are understandably and rightfully angry. I am very angry at this grave evil.
But we also have to be careful that our anger does not blind us.
This is where the article comes in. Basically the author of the article argues that those, especially in the priesthood, who self identify as "Gay" or "Homosexual" may be sexually abstinent but they can never be truly chaste. This in itself is not false. Obviously if a person identifies with an ideology that is completely at odds with Catholic doctrine then that person cannot live out Catholic teaching in a full and flourishing manner.
However, that is not the issue with the article. The problem is that it lacks what I would call Catholic nuance. It doesn't stem from a pastoral heart and I had this confirmed by a Traditional priest with whom I shared the article's contents.
The author does not address those Catholics who suffer from Same Sex attraction, acknowledge it to be a disorder and live fully Catholic lives through prayer, penance and the Sacraments.
These people exist. People afflicted with Same Sex attraction yet striving for real holiness. I was blessed to make friends with such a person.
In 2013 I moved London.
London is wonderful, crazy, weird and fascinating place. You find all sorts of people there. The good, the bad, the ugly and everything else. Honestly, it sometimes reminded me of scenes from the Men in Black films.
London is also a place where the Catholic Faith flourishes beautifully. There is the Tyburn Convent and many wonderful Churches. Think of the amazing Brompton Oratory.
Whilst at Church I met and made friends with an Irish Catholic gentleman who was in his 70s. I shall call him Patrick to protect and respect his privacy.
Over time I got to know this quiet, gentle and unassuming man. One day we were speaking about our lives and families when the conversation turned to why he never married and had children.
"Well, I'm Homosexual" he told me. He must have seen my eyes widen because he continued
"I knew that I was since I was young. I was always surrounded my women as a child. My mother and my aunts. There was no real father figure, no real male role model so I guess I was soaked in the feminine."
I asked him how the whole LGBTQ ideology had affected him.
"Oh I have never been a part of that. I have never even watched Pornography. I honestly could never offend Our Lord like that! My strength comes from Our Lord. I am blessed to spend three hours a day in Adoration."
Wow. THAT is holiness, dear friends. This one man (there are others) puts to flight the utter nonsense that those afflicted with same sex attraction cannot be chaste.
How many of us can say that we have been that pure, that devout and that dedicated to prayer?
Patrick is a witness to both the James Martins and those Trads who say that chastity for those attracted to their own sex is a myth.
Both the writer of that article and James Martin are angry. Their anger comes from different sources but it has blinded them. For James Martin it has blinded him into thinking that chastity is impossible because "gays should be able to love" and for the Trad writer it has blinded him because of the likes of McCarrick.
God's Grace, however, does do wonders.
If a "Satanist priest" like Blessed Bartolo Longo can end up repenting and getting into Heaven then those who look most lost can be saved too.
Let us look at these people and not be blinded by our anger. Yes, be angry at the horrific scandals in the Church. But be not blind.
Right now, when the LGBTQ crowd seem to have the upper hand and their screams are deafening there are wonderful stories of men and women who have encountered Christ, thrown aside a false identity and have put on the Lord Jesus.
There are the likes of Joseph Sciambra, for example. Look him up on YouTube or here Sons of St. Joseph (josephsciambra.com)
Our Lady in Fatima asked for prayer and penance for sinners. She did not say "except this group or that group of sinners".
Now, if you are a person (especially a teenager) reading this blog post and you are same sex attracted please do not listen to people who leave you feeling hopeless or try to give you false hope. Here is my advice
1) Lady Gaga is wrong. You were not born that way.
2) You are not disordered but your sexual attractions are. God made male and female. There is no third option.
3) There are people who have been healed of their unwanted SSA. It is not guaranteed to happen but there is help out there. Here is a good place to start National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (narth.us)
4) God loves you and has always loved you from all eternity.
5) You can be chaste. Go to Confession and Holy Communion (Better to go to the Traditional Latin Mass).
6) Pray the Rosary everyday. Read and reflect on the 15 Promises of the Rosary. Get close to Our Lady.
7) Get officially enrolled in the Brown Scapular by a priest.
8) If you fall into any serious sin, pick yourself up, get to Confession and don't listen to the lies of the devil.
9) Do some sort of penance. A little bit of fasting (no seconds for example). A cold shower (if you can take it)
10) Don't isolate yourself. Make good, Catholic friends. Mix with people who don't have SSA and are living good Catholic lives. Sin, SSA and dirty, dark secrets thrive in isolation.
11) Find a good, Traditional priest to be your Spiritual Director and Confessor.
12) Never let the devil or toxic people steal your hope. God wants your salvation more than you do and it is God who has the final word.
As for Traditional Catholics please examine your conscience. Have you become too embittered to the point of making sweeping, negative statements?
Are you praying for the conversion and salvation of people have been mislead by the evil LGBTQ ideology?
Do you try to spread hope even whilst you fight corruption?
Do you encourage those who struggle with this disorder to repent, convert and grow in grace?
Finally, what would you do if it was your own kid?
People, being a Traditional Catholic means both firm orthodoxy and charity. We are all sinners. Let's encourage each other to become Saints.
Whilst we must fight the evil that has slithered into the Church we must also practise charity. Let us not tear people down.
Be truthful. Do not water down the truth but do not present it as an ideal beyond reach either.
Encourage people to set aside sin. Encourage people to embrace the Catholic Faith in its fullness. Encourage people to abandon Modernism and false ideologies.
Encourage people to become truly, really and deeply Holy and in love with God.
God bless
* Some details have been altered to protect the privacy of others
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It is with great sadness that we learned of Pope Francis' decision to abrogate the main provisions of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI on July 7, 2007. After decades of divisions and quarrels, that Motu Proprio was, for all the Catholic faithful, a work of peace and reconciliation.
Rome violates the word given by Pope Benedict XVI with brutality and intransigence, far from the much vaunted fraternal welcoming.
The explicit will of Pope Francis, stated in the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes, of July 16, 2021, is to see the celebration of the Mass of the Tradition of the Church disappear. This decision drives us to great dismay. How can we understand this rupture with the traditional Missal, a “venerable and ancient” actualization of the “law of faith,” which has bore fruit through so many nations, so many missionaries, and so many saints? What harm is done by the faithful who simply want to pray as their ancestors had done for centuries? Can we be unaware that the Tridentine Mass converts many souls, that it attracts young and fervent assemblies, that it arouses many vocations, that it has given rise to seminaries, religious communities, monasteries, that it is the backbone of many schools, youth groups, catechism activities, spiritual retreats, and pilgrimages?
Many of you, Catholic brothers and sisters, priests, and bishops, have shared with us your failure to understand this and your deep sorrow: thank you for your many testimonies of support.
To promote peace within the Church, in order to build unity in charity, and also to lead Catholics to reconnect with their own heritage by making as many people as possible discover the riches of liturgical tradition, the treasure of the Church: those were the goals pursued by Summorum Pontificum. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI witnesses his work for reconciliation destroyed during his own lifetime.
In a time steeped in materialism and torn by social and cultural divisions, liturgical peace appears to us as an absolute necessity for the Faith and for the spiritual life of Catholics in a world that is dying of thirst. The drastic restriction of the authorization to celebrate Mass in its traditional form will bring back mistrust, doubt, and it heralds the return of an agonizing liturgical war for the Christian people.
We solemnly affirm, before God and before men:
We will not let anyone deprive the faithful of this treasure which is first of all that of the Church.
We will not remain inactive in the face of the spiritual suffocation of vocations laid forth in the Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes.
We will not deprive our children of this privileged means of transmitting the faith which is faithfulness to the traditional liturgy.
As children to their father, we request Pope Francis to reverse his decision, by abrogating Traditionis Custodes and restoring full freedom to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, for the glory of God and the good of the faithful.
Bread rather than stones.
September 8, 2021,
on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
*** Copied and pasted from Rorate Caeli
27th August 2021
I would really, really like to recommend The Incredible Catholic Mass by Fr Martin Von Cochem.
The Incredible Catholic Mass: An Explanation of the Catholic Mass (tanbooks.com)
I bought and read this book a number of years ago after reading the great influence it had on Fr Kenneth Walker FSSP (RIP) and his family. You may remember Fr Walker as the priest who was murdered in Arizona.
A tribute to Fr. Kenneth Walker, FSSP (1985-2014) - LifeSite (lifesitenews.com)
It was thanks to this book that Fr Walker's family experienced a conversion and fell in love with the Traditional Mass. Furthermore, his priestly vocation has, in many senses, its roots in this very book.
Please, if you have not read this book, read it.
When I read it I cannot express how much it moved me. It brought me to tears of joy at the sheer beauty of the Traditional Latin Mass.
If you are looking for something to read that will make you appreciate the depth, meaning, spirituality and beauty of the "most beautiful thing this side of Heaven" then get a copy of this book.
Trust me. You will not be the same afterwards.
God bless
26th August 2021
You've heard the expression
Actions speak louder than words
In the Catholic Church that could not be truer, especially in the crazy times in which we now find ourselves.
So with that in mind take a look at this little beauty
Messe dans la Basilique St-Pierre de Rome, chapelle saint Pie X • La Porte Latine
What you are seeing is the Tridentine Mass or TLM celebrated by a priest of the SSPX (Society of St Pius X) in ST. PETER'S BASILICA.
Let's note a few things
1) There are no Altar Cards
2) The priest is using a Novus Ordo style semi Gothic Chasuble
3) He is not wearing a Maniple
4) The Missal is much smaller than usual.
What can we draw from these points?
The Altars in St. Peter's Basilica are not set up for the TLM, hence why there are no Altar cards.
Also, this is a group of French Pilgrims. They have gone to Rome with their Priest, Abbé Michel de Sivry who, understandably, hasn't brought an entire sacristy with him.
Imagining that they were there for about a week, it would be too much to lug a trunk load of Chasubles around and about the city of Rome. So they used what was available in order to have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
There is no Maniple in most Novus Ordo vestment sets. The SSPX is not so rigid as to make a song and dance about it. He gets on with it.
The Missal is small because it is a Travel Missal. SSPX priests are used to travelling light to bring the Sacraments to the Faithful.
No rigidity here.
Yet what is most telling is that this Mass, offered by a priest of the SSPX in early August of 2014, is taking place in St. Peter's Basilica.
Why is a "Schismatic priest" offering the Mass in the very heart of the Catholic Church???
Remember that actions speak louder than words.
Using common sense here we can deduce what happened. The priest and Faithful turned up at the Basilica and asked the officials if they could say Mass.
The officials would have asked them who they are.
KNOWING FULL WELL that they were SSPX, the officials let them use the Altar dedicated to none other than St. Pius X, Patron of the SSPX.
Remember, actions speak louder than words.
The Roman Authorities know full well that the SSPX are not, nor ever were, Schismatic.
They know full well that the state of being "illicit" or "canonically irregular" is, in fact, completely unjust.
The SSPX are truly Catholic.
However, they will not openly admit this.
Why? Because is pulls down the entire Modernist edifice that they have built.
This leads us to where we are today. It answers why Francis is doing his utmost to murder the TLM.
The Plandemic exposed the utter futility and inherent weaknesses of the whole Novus Ordo set up. They closed their Churches over a virus that gives you roughly 99% chance of surviving it.
But is has been all but fatal for the Novus Ordo ideology.
The SSPX and other TLM Communities largely carried on as normal, with same adaptations.
Many people saw it. They made the logical move to where they could get the Sacraments. That and seeing the Theological mess pushed by Francis et al.
The Modernists "had to act". Traditional Catholicism, being truly Godly, is a huge threat to their nefarious and demonic dogmas.
That is why they are trying to destroy it. They know that it is uncompromisingly Catholic.
So next time someone tries to tell you that you are a Schismatic, show them this video and ask them
Why were Schismatics allowed to say Mass in the Vatican?
Of course someone may quip that things are different now as such Masses have been restricted in the Vatican.
The point still stands.
This was 2014. This was before Francis "gave them Faculties to hear Confessions" etc. If they were Schismatic back then what were Vatican Officials doing by allowing them to say Mass?
If in 2014 the Tridentine Mass was permitted in the Vatican, why is it suddenly verboten in 2021?
What is really going on?
Remember
Actions speak louder than words!!!
SSPX Mass in St. Peter's Basilica: video - District of the USA
23rd August 2021
It's not easy failing. No one likes it.
But we do.
I do.
But it brings learning, growth (hopefully including the vegetables) and some humility (with God's Grace).
As you are aware this blog is also about Homesteading. Often that has taken a bit of a back seat on here but Homesteading is something I am passionate about. I also like to encourage others to take it up as much as possible in some form or another.
So here is my failure
18th August 2021
Reading the above article on Lifesitenews there can be absolutely no doubt that we are now moving very fast towards the lowest point of the Leftist dictatorship.
Soon you will not be able to call your own child "son" or "daughter".
I wouldn't be surprised if we will be given a list of approved genderless, gender neutral, unisex names which must be used for your child.
Anything gendered or Traditional will be illegal. So long Mary. Goodbye Joseph. Adios Michael.
Humanly speaking, we have lost the war. We are so far gone now that there is very little that we can do to bring about real and affective change.
The shrieking madness of the Leftist loons is getting louder and louder and they have full control of the asylum.
This may sound pessimistic. Actually, it's a call to every single serious, faith loving Catholic to pray deeper and better.
Pray more Rosaries. The time has come when 5 mysteries a day won't cut it.
Do more penance. A little fasting if you can. Skip seconds of your favourite food. A cold shower on Fridays. Wear a cilice (Carmelite monasteries often sell them cheaply). Make your own hair shirt (the children of Fatima wore a rough rope). In all of this first seek the advice, counsel and guidance of a good priest.
Do more spiritual reading.
The crazy train is getting ever faster. Pray so that God may be your strength when it all derails.
He will. He is always faithful. He never loses.
God bless
16th August 2021
On Saturday I was at the table having lunch at my cousin's house. She had invited my parents, sister, niece, myself together with a number of friends.
During the lunch the conversation turned to the subject of the "vaccine".
"Oh boy! Here we go!" I thought to myself as people started explaining to each other when they had their respective doses.
One lady, who works as an Auxiliary Nurse in a nearby hospital, turned to me and asked if I had received the "vaccine."
Up to that point I had been sitting there quietly and listening.
I felt the blush of emotion rise to my cheeks. I was angry. Angry that she had dared to ask me such a personal, medical question over the BBQ chicken wings. Angry that there is this widespread expectation and angry that everyone is behaving like sheep!
"No. I have not!" I said, rather curtly.
"Why not?" she retorted.
Well that question made me even hotter under the collar. Unfortunately, I am quite a fiery character, especially when it comes to things I am passionate about, morality and people's almost infinite ability to be quite unintelligent.
"Because it has been developed using aborted babies' cells" I said in a very sharp tone.
"You should get it!" said another lady at the table.
Well that was it.
"If a woman wanted an abortion you'd say that it was her body her choice. Yet I don't want an experimental drug injected into my body and you won't say his body, his choice?!?"
I then reeled off how the so called "vaccine" has not been subject to clinical trials because we are the clinical trial. That the "vaccine" was developed in such a short time frame that it is impossible for it to be both safe and effective. That many cases of people now in ICUs around the planet are double vaccinated. That COVID 19 has a survival rate of approx. 99%. That the real pandemic is of other diseases such as Cancer, Alzheimers, Parkinsons and Famine, all of which seem to have 'magically vanished' in the past 18 months.
It all came flowing out. All that pent up frustration and annoyance at the sheer denseness of my fellow human beings.
Suffice to say, I don't think they'll raise the subject with me again.
I am absolutely sick and tired of this...you fill in the gap with a word of your own selection.
Absolutely fed up to the back teeth of it all.
So it is loud and clear for all to hear.
I have to stand before Almighty God. Face to face with that terrible, awful, awesome and exactingly just Judge.
I WILL NOT BE TELLING Him that I "benefitted" from a murdered unborn baby (albeit indirectly) to avoid what, in most cases, is an annoying cough and a loss of taste.
I get it that people have died. May they rest in peace. God bless their mourning loved ones. But the reality is that for the vast majority who get this blasted virus the symptoms are barely noticeable, if at all.
It's a cough people. For most, that is the most they suffer. A cough.
For that we have to indulge in infanticide, steal civil liberties and break moral law?
NO!
8th August 2021
11th Sunday after Pentecost
I came across this article by Peter Kwasniewski.
Gearing Up for the Long Campaign - OnePeterFive
Honestly, if you can read anything by this writer (including his books) then please do. His writings are absolutely brilliant.
But what struck me most about the article was the photo. There is something deeply beautiful in its pathos.
Devout, deeply committed Catholics shut out by their pastors, shepherds and their own brethren. Rejected and despised. Left out in the cold. Unwanted.
Just like Jesus was.
It also brings to mind the dear Archbishop Lefebvre.
Going further back it reminds us of the great St. Athanasius who said
"They have the buildings but we have the Faith".
They did it to Our Lord.
They did it to the Saints.
We are in very great and wonderful company. To be persecuted like the Saints is truly a marvellous consolation.
Remember, as beautiful as they are you can't take a Church building with you to your personal judgement. But YOU CAN take your Faith. The One True Catholic Faith, pure and unadulterated.
Take consolation in the fact that not only are you in great company but that History itself teaches you that you are on its right side.
A blessed Sunday to everyone!
6th August 2021
Feast of the Transfiguration
The Traditional Latin Mass has been called, especially by the Saints, the Most Beautiful thing this side of Heaven.
Indeed, it is truly beautiful but its beauty needs to be frequently meditated and reflected upon in order to gain a deeper appreciation of this immense treasure.
Regardless of whether we are dealing with a Pontifical High Mass in a glorious Cathedral or a Low Mass in a humble little chapel, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass always begins with the sign of the Cross.
How often do we make the sign of the Cross without reflecting? Yet that quintessentially Catholic act sums up our Faith. We adore the One True God. His oneness is shown in that we pray in the Name and not names. One name. One Divine Being. Yet God is Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Three distinct Persons, one Divine Being.
The sign of the Cross tells us that our Communion with the One True God is through Jesus' Sacrifice on the Cross.
At Baptism we were marked and claimed by the sign of the Cross. This sign is in everything we do as Catholics and it is present in all of the Sacraments.
This is most especially true of the Sacrifice of the Mass.
The priest, in the person of Christ (Persona Christi), stands at the Foot of the Altar and invokes both the Cross and the Trinity.
From this moment a prayer rises up to his lips as well as ours:
Introibo ad altare Dei
Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy : deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.
For thou art God my strength : why hast thou cast me off? and why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicteth me?
Send forth thy light and thy truth : they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles.
And I will go in to the altar of God : to God who giveth joy to my youth.
To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp : why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him : the salvation of my countenance, and my God.
Here, priest and people stand at the edge of God's Holy Mountain, the Holy Hill mentioned in the Psalm.
This is Mount Sinai. This is Mount Moriah. This is Mount Tabor. This is the Holy Hill of Calvary.
Throughout Scripture we see that God has descended from Heaven to the mountain tops to meet man. At the Incarnation God Himself descended into the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. His goal was the summit of Calvary, there to reign as our King from the Cross.
We pause at the foot of the Holy Hill, the Altar, with bated breath. We brace ourselves to enter, in and through the priest, unto the Holy of Holies. This is the Holy Mystery of the Mass, a foretaste of Heaven.
God is our Salvation and our Joy. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest act of adoration and thanksgiving we can offer Him.
But we are all sinners. We are unworthy and impure. The littleness of our sinful nature can never match the awesome and unutterable majesty of the all Holy God.
We tremble. We dare not approach without first acknowledging our true nature. We are sinners.
Confiteor Deo Omnipotenti
The priest, himself a sinner, publicly confesses before Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin, all the angels and Saints as well as before us that he has sinned and fallen short.
Since it is he, in Persona Christi, who will stand in the breach before God and His people, the priest must acknowledge his own need for repentance, forgiveness, grace and mercy. We all may approach God but we must repent of our offences against Him.
We, too, publicly confess our sinfulness. No sin, no matter how secret it may be, is ever truly private. God sees. The whole of Heaven sees. Our sins not only offend the Most Blessed Trinity but they wound humanity. They help to widen the gap between God and man. Not only that but on Judgement Day all ours sins will be laid bare. Nothing will be hidden. This is why the Mass forces us to acknowledge our sins as we will be forced to do on the Day of Days.
After seeking God's mercy the priest slowly ascends the steps to the Altar, whispering
Take away from us our iniquities, we beseech Thee, O Lord; that being made pure in heart we may be worthy to enter into the Holy of Holies. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The priest now kisses the centre of the Altar. Here lie the relics of the Saints. The priest is now in the Holy of Holies. This is where Heaven and earth touch. Heaven and earth are wedded. The priest is beyond the reach of the profane and the mundane. He stands before the Throne of the Trinity. In this sacred moment filled with the immensity and majesty of eternity the priest steps aside and prays the Introit.
This stepping aside is no mere trifle. It is no mere accident of Liturgical history. There are no accidents in the Traditional Liturgy. Every gesture, every act has been gently sculpted over the centuries by none other than the Holy Ghost who hovers over the Church, the Bride. This gesture teaches us that we must step aside in order to allow God His rightful place. It also teaches us that we, each in our personal lives, must give way to the action of the Holy Ghost.
Once again the priest moves to the centre of the Altar. Joining with the Nine Choirs of Angels he pleads for mercy for mankind
Kyrie Eleison x 3
Christe Eleison x 3
Kyrie Eleison x 3
The Kyrie has sadly been truncated in the Novus Ordo. This is a deep tragedy. Not only do the 3 + 3 + 3 represent the Nine Choirs of Angels but most importantly it brings to mind the Most Holy Trinity.
The Father is Kyrie.
The Son is Christe
The Holy Ghost is Kyrie.
It is a cry to each Person of the Most Holy Trinity, begging for mercy.
The symbolism of 3, the Thrice Holy God, is completely obliterated in the Novus Ordo Kyrie.
This moment in the Traditional Mass is a perfect opportunity to reflect on how the Mass incarnates the Catholic Faith.
Yes, it is prayer. But it is also dogma, teaching and Catechism. The Mass forms us.
It is truly Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi.
As we pray so we believe. As we believe so we pray. Each feeds into the other, forming our hearts, minds and souls in the Catholic Faith.
This part of the Mass, called the Mass of the Catechumens, is not just something to get through. We are already being washed in the Blood of the Lamb. We repent. We petition. We tremble. We wait for God's Mercy.
We are surrounded by the whole host of Heaven. Around us the Nine Choirs of Angels ascend to the Throne of God and descend to the Altar, carrying our prayers to the Most High.
The moment has now come to join our voices with theirs
Gloria!
(To be continued...)
