16 September 2021

Pfizer Pain

 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)

15 September 2021

When things get toxic in Tradland.

 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

09 September 2021

A letter...I concur

 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

RORATE CÆLI: Open Letter of Traditional Lay Faithful to the Catholic Faithful of the Whole World - Francis, time to revoke Traditionis Custodes: WE WILL NOT DEPRIVE OUR CHILDREN (rorate-caeli.blogspot.com)

27 August 2021

Tolle, Lege! Book recommendation

 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



26 August 2021

It's what they do that matters.

 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



23 August 2021

Learning from your mistakes, finding a new path and starting afresh.

 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 


Believe it or not, those are Cabbages.

Last Autumn I dug in 40 bags of partially composted horse manure. My back was not happy. After a few weeks I planted the cabbages. With Autumn rains and the cooler winter temperatures here in Portugal most of them started to do well.

Then Spring came and with it, the searing Portuguese heat. From May to October it rarely, if ever, rains.

As you can see the soil is sand. Yes, we built our house on sand.

I know that you're thinking. Jesus said not to do that. But it was what we could afford as a family.

Anyway, the sun came. The rains went. The sand baked.

We collect rainwater in 1000 litre tanks. We have 4 tanks. All well and good. But when you pour water on sun baked sand it does two things.

1) Runs off
2) Evaporates.

We don't have a well. We literally rely on what falls from the sky.

Now God is good. A few times I have cried out

"Lord, please! Send rain. We need water Lord! The vegetables are dying Lord!"

And it has rained, contrary to what the weathermen predicted.

So first lesson reinforced is : God does answer our prayers.

However, we have lost a lot of our crops. God is trying to tell me something

"I will send you what you need but your have to do what you need to do. You must work with me."

I have stubbornly tried to improve, fix, correct, change this blasted sand pit for 5 years now. I have asked myself 100s of questions. How come I can't do it? How the heck did the Monks of Cîteaux do it?

I have had to admit that I have gone about this the wrong way. It's hard to admit that you've lost so much in all the work done over the years. It takes humility and I'm not very humble. I'm stubborn.

But God has managed to get through. In sheer frustration I have done research. And this the result.



Raised beds built by yours truly (and my Dad). No they aren't perfectly straight but ignore the lack of builder's skills for the moment.

They're made out of cheap cinder blocks. They're about 24 inches deep and filled with compost. We sealed the bottom of each with thick cardboard to stop weeds growing through.

Precisely because they are filled with compost and are compact they retain water much better. Each beds gets a good watering from a filled watering can. There's no waste and the soil stays moist on the hottest days.

Their height also means that my back will be grateful (although not yet as it's a back breaker making the blasted things!!!)

So voilà!


Things are looking really good already.

The hard part is to accept that I've missed most of this Summer's growing season, although here in Portugal it tends to stay very warm well into October.

So I have concentrated on winter veg.

Apart from the Salad Lettuce and Radishes I have planted Turnips and Spinach. Next will be Cauliflower. My eyes are firmly fixed on the Christmas dinner plate!

What is the moral of all of this? Maybe you'll draw your own conclusions. For me it is learning to admit that I got it wrong. Learning new skills. Growing in every sense. Trusting that God will provide when we are being foolish. He will even provide us the way out of our foolishness.

I think it is also a parable for the state of the Church. Moreover it is a parable of how to move out of the madness, the mess and the devastation.

We need humility. We need to realise that we have been doing it wrong. We need the courage to admit that. We need to look for where there is growth. Be humble and admit that the reason there is growth is because something is being done correctly.

The Hierarchy desperately needs this lesson. They need to courageously and humbly admit that, on the whole, the past 50 years have lead to a barren Church and measly pickings. The desertification of the Church has been catastrophic.

It needs the firm "compost" of Tradition, the water of Grace and the fruitfulness of the Holy Ghost.

We have been wandering in the barren wastelands trying to renew the Church on our own terms whilst ignoring, jettisoning or, even worse, reviling the treasures we had.

It is time to:
  • Open our eyes. 

  • Admit we screwed up.
 
  • Return to Tradition and flourish.

God bless








18 August 2021

Leftist dictatorship in full control

 18th August 2021


Booksellers' organization apologizes for promoting book on trans damage to children - LifeSite (lifesitenews.com)

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