The future is bright, the future in Monastic.

 Happy Feast Day of St Benedict!

Today is the first of two Feasts of St Benedict, the other being on 11th July.

St Benedict, Father of Western Monasticism and one of the Patrons of Europe. 

I think that St Benedict's vision is not really understood by most Catholics. Sure, he is known as the Founder of the Benedictine Order but his actual vision is not known.

However, to understand the future of the Church we need to understand that vision. At its heart the Catholic Church is Monastic, therefore so will its future.

When we look back over History, especially European History, we see how the Benedictines basically built Europe. Monasteries became centres of beauty, Liturgy, art, culture, music, language and academic learning. Around these glorious monasteries many villages, towns and cities grew. 

People instinctively knew the value of Monastic life. The monasteries became the hub around which their lives revolved. Minds, hearts, souls and bodies (the Monasteries provided work and food) were nourished. It was, and still is, a harmonious system. It still continues in certain Traditional monasteries today. 

It is so important that one just needs to look at how desperately ugly and impoverished England became on so many levels after Henry VIII destroyed Monastic life during his reign. He left the country devasted and bereft. He ripped out its heart and left the ruins of many Monasteries as stark reminders of the shell that England had become.

But we take heart. Countless Catholic prophecies point to a Golden Age, the Age of Mary wherein Monasticism will flourish anew. Indeed, many visionaries state that at the end of the world only two religious orders will prevail: Benedictine and Carmelite. These two Religious orders are and have been the main pillars of the Church's spiritual life.

Furthermore, many visionaries also state that during the Age of Mary, the era of Peace, there will be so many vocations and many monasteries and churches will be built that people will struggle to keep pace.

So why Monasticism?

Traditional monasticism distils the very essence of the Catholic Faith. A life lived rooted in a noble and beautiful Liturgy. This is central to the spiritual life. A right ordered adoration of God. The justice of giving God what He is due. A right ordered adoration which, when we cooperate with it, we become right ordered ourselves.

A life of the Glory of God's beauty made manifest in the Traditional Latin Mass and Gregorian Chant. This is the nourishment of the heart and soul, where the Sacraments are celebrated with reverence and are imbued with Tradition. Nothing compares with it. The most beautiful thing this side of Heaven. A true foretaste of the Beatific Vision.

The mind is nourished with Sacred Learning. The writings of the Saints and the Sciences rightly ordered to God's glory and the benefit of man. 

A harmonious relationship with the earth. Yes, Traditional Catholic Monasteries were the original "Green movement" properly understood. Not this superficial, false ideology that you find peddled by the likes of Greta Thunberg. No. What I am talking about is man living in his true environment. Working by the sweat of his brow. Working in harmony with nature just like the Traditional Monasteries do. A truly organic life where nature is respected by those who till the earth. 

Like our grandparents and great grandparents, monastic life wastes nothing. A frugal life filled with simplicity and gratitude was the true "recycling mentality". Our forefathers and the monasteries never polluted the earth.

Truly, pollution only became an issue when modern man moved away from a simple, God centred and ordered lifestyle. Big cities, big bucks and Godlessness took precedence.

So, picture the scene. 

The green countryside. An enormous Benedictine Abbey. The sun is shining. It is the month of May, Mary's month. There are flowers everywhere. Monks and lay people are outside, ploughing the fields, tending the crops and flocks. Honey bees, free from modernistic man's pharmaceutical pesticides, buzz around the medicinal herb garden.

The people are sweating. They are working hard. No one is dropping dead from Myocarditis from any poisonous vaxx.

Families cooperating with each other to educate their children with a Godly, Classical education.

In the distance, the Abbey bell rings out the Angelus. The people pause to pray together.

They gather up their tools. The Monks make their way back to the Abbey in order to pray Sext in their beautifully hand carved Choirstalls.

God imbues everyone, everything, everywhere.

They've finally admitted it!

Matthew Hazell on Twitter: "I notice this morning Arthur Cardinal Roche is embarrassing himself again, this time on BBC Radio 4... "You know, the theology of the Church has changed..." – well, it hasn't, but do go on showing that the hermeneutic of rupture is now in full swing at the DDW, Your Eminence. 🤦 https://t.co/PcwaiJVOMh" / Twitter

Cardinal Arthur Roche has done something very few Modernist heretics have ever done.

He has openly and boldly admitted what he believes. Namely, that the Theology of the Church has changed.

That's it. No more defence of the Hermeneutic of Continuity. The last atom of defence definitively died on 19th March 2023, the Feast of St Joseph the Terror of demons and the Protector of the Church. With God there are no coincidences.

So there is absolutely no hiding it now. We see clearly from his lips and, therefore the lips of the one he represents (BerGOGlio), why they HATE the Traditional Mass and want it destroyed.

CATHOLIC Theology is what they hate.

The SAINTLY Archbishop Lefebvre stands completely, totally and absolutely vindicated.

Vigano stands vindicated.

The Church has been infected by parasites in vestments. Modernist, Homoheretical wolves in sheep's clothing.

Freemasons and Satanists. 

Godless and faithless.

Like a creeping cancer they have been eating away at the bones and the guts of the Church.

BUT for us, in a strange sort of way, this is wonderful news. How come? 

Firstly, we can take great heart. We are on the right track. Through this God is confirming what we believe.

Secondly, we have been given an opportunity to display great courage and say to these perverse heretics a loud, resound NO! We will NOT yield our Faith no matter what.

Thirdly, it can be an opportunity for those who are wavering in Novus Ordolandia to have their blinkers ripped off. They have finally, openly confessed it. Theirs is a DIFFERENT THEOLOGY. It is a changed Theology. 

Think about it like this. If the Theology of the Church has changed then the Church has changed. If that is the case then it is NO LONGER the Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ and adorned by Our Lady and so many countless Saints.

It is no longer the Church of the Martyrs.

It is no longer the Church of our forefathers.

It is a DIFFERENT Church.

It, therefore, cannot be the Catholic Church in its true, fullest sense.

God does not change. Truth does not change. The Theology of the Catholic Church, which is God's Church, cannot change.

So, Cardinal Roche...Here is my message to you.

To HELL with your changed Theology. I don't want. Send it back to Satan from whence it came.

I want the CATHOLIC Theology that my forefathers (especially my Irish ancestors) were persecuted for.

I want the CATHOLIC Theology that my favourite Saints lived and died for.

I DON'T want what you are offering and I resist you and your rubbish to your face.

I will have NO part in it and, by God's grace, will persist in it until my last breath.

Friends, listen to Cardinal Roche's words. He means what he says. So better had we.

Take heart. God is moving to unmask this Counterfeit Church. The enemies are full of arrogance and it is making them overly confident. They are over playing their hand.

Take heart and courage. The Traditional Mass, Sacraments and Faith are growing, especially among the young. The enemies fear it and hate it. We love it and foster it.

Keep it at the forefront of your minds. God is working!

Our Lady will Triumph as She promised in Fatima. 

Take courage. Pray!

Feelings don't matter!

I can't begin to tell you how many times I have been told that by well meaning Catholics.

Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed such people, though well meaning, are flirting with heresy. That heresy has a name: Angelism

Today, on the whole, we are facing two erroneous extremes. On the generally conservative side there is the tendency to downplay feelings and emotions with the saying that "they don't matter."

On the Left you tend to find the polar opposite. 

Just picture the screaming, out of control Left winger with purple hair. Be it abortion or LGBTQ+ etc, they are full of out of control, raw emotion which leads some of them to be demonically oppressed (maybe possessed) and barking mad (some literally barking).

Neither of these positions are correct nor healthy.

To find the Truth we need look no further than Jesus.

We read in St John's Gospel Ch 11 v 35 that "Jesus wept". Furthermore, we read in verse 38 that Jesus was "groaning in himself."

Jesus is crying real human tears. Jesus is groaning in real sorrow and pain at the death of His friend Lazarus and at the mourning of the people gathered there.

Yet Jesus knew what He was going to do for His friend. He knew that death was not to have the final word.

Why did He cry? Why did He show His feelings and emotions?

Firstly, to confirm His humanity. Jesus is True God but also True MAN. Secondly, I believe He showed His emotions to sanctify emotions. In Jesus every aspect of our lives can be sanctified.

The Saint is a Saint in everything. You cannot be a Saint in part.

God created man with emotions. The problem is that since the Fall human feelings and emotions have been tainted by Original Sin and Concupiscence.

So what is the answer? Grace.

With Grace we are able to grow in emotional maturity. Some people think that emotional maturity is a Catholic form of Stoicism. But Stoicism is not Christ like.

This is a particular problem among men. Often you find well meaning men who show little or no emotion. I have seen this sort of thing being praised even among Traditional Catholics.

But the reality is that such men may be just as emotionally immature as the screaming Liberal at the Pride parade. They may be emotionally stunted. Emotional development and affective maturity has been prevented somehow. The Church and the world needs men who have a healthy affective maturity. Compassion and empathy are not just for women.

The man who cries at a sad scene in a film or at the sight of starving children on TV may be affectively more mature than his stoical comrades. Such a man is able to feel sorrow and empathy at the sufferings of others. This is a good thing and something that every man should seek to develop and cultivate in their lives. 

If you are one of those men who weeps at suffering and you are chided for your tears just remember that Jesus wept.

The answer is very simple. A thoroughly healthy emotional maturity is one in which our emotions are submitted to God's Grace. It is not a question of basing our decisions on a whimsical passing feeling. Neither is it about "being in control" to the extent that we fall into a robotic way of behaving.

We are called to grow to our full stature in Grace. Compassion, empathy and the shedding of a tear over our broken world is good. Just remember that St Padre Pio did a lot of crying!

Feelings and emotions, in the right context and in the right way, DO matter. They are a part of being human and the glory of God is "man fully alive. (St Irenaeus)

Remember Jesus and Lazarus next time someone tries to tell you that feelings don't matter.

We are all invited to become more Christ like, even in our tears.

God bless

The Sea Turtles of Lent

 Ash Wednesday 2023

I have to admit it, I struggle with Lent. To be honest, I like my food too much.

But I deeply appreciate the vital important of this most solemn season of Penance.

This year I have decided to give Lent a real chance.

Reflecting on the power of a good Lent has brought to my mind something I saw on YouTube. If you look on there you will find a number of videos of fishermen and Marine Biologists helping poor beleaguered sea turtles.

They haul them onto a boat and start vigorously scraping of barnacles, parasites and other things that have become stuck to their shells with a brutally sharp knife.

Check out this deeply satisfying video

Rescue sea turtles, removing barnacles from poor sea turtles. They suffered pain for long time! - YouTube

This is what God wants to do for us during Lent.

In our day to day lives we pick up attachments. We pick up the parasites of our vices. The clutter. The shallow nonsense of our petty loves.

God wants to free us. He wants to scrape off those things that hinder us from Holiness and from Him.

But it is deeply uncomfortable. The knife that He uses is the knife of Penance, Fasting and Suffering.

We, like those sea turtles, wriggle about. We try to escape His loving hands. We like the comfort of our sins.

Lent is the best time for us to allow God to free us from the crustiness of our sins.

Let us ask Our Lady's help, that we let God act. Let's ask for the grace to offer our little penances and sufferings borne patiently until we arrive at Easter Sunday with our souls less crusted.

God bless

The impact of a beautiful death

It has been such a long time since I have written anything on this blog.

It's a long story and I don't want to bore you with the details.

I would, however, like to share with you a story. It it something that has made a huge impact on me. I am sure it will impact you too.

Many years ago I met a lovely Catholic Arabic family in England. They very kindly invited me to their home for dinner one evening.

The food was absolutely delicious and I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening learning some Arabic phrases (which I still remember) and hearing of their experiences as Catholics who had grown up and lived surrounded by a somewhat hostile Muslim culture.

These people were warm hearted, had a deep tried and tested faith and were as tough as boot nails.

Towards the end of the evening they shared a story with me. It was the anniversary of the death of a 7 year old boy who had died in the house I was visiting. His mother told me the story.

Her son had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. They and the rest of the family had prayed desperately for his healing. One day, as they were driving on a motorway, the boy exclaimed

"Mummy, Mummy! I can see Our Lady. She is travelling in the sky!"

The parents decided that it was a sign. They were going to take the boy to Lourdes and seek a cure in the sacred waters there.

They went to Lourdes. They had a beautiful pilgrimage. But...the boy was not cured.

They returned to England feeling very sad and disappointed but they continued to pray for a miracle.

As the cancer progressed the boy lost the ability to speak and to walk. One day he was laying on the sofa staring intently at the corner of the room.

He mother said "Son, what is it? Can you seen something?

He nodded.

"Is it something bad?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Is it good?"

He nodded very slowly, still staring at the corner of the room.

"Is it Our Lady?" she pressed him

He shook his head.

"An angel?"

Again he shook his head.

"Well, is it Jesus?"

This time he smiled gently and nodded. He was seeing Jesus.

Yet, the boy was not cured. He got worse.

One evening just before 6pm the boy was being cradled in his mother's arms as a district Palliative care nurse was checking on his vitals.

As the clock struck 6pm the boy let out his last breath. Just at that moment his mother cried out in grief saying

"Please God, I beg you. Please, please don't take my son!"

Suddenly the boy took in a sharp breath and started breathing again. His mother cradled him, kissing his forehead through tears.

The nurse sat next to her and, gently putting her hand on the mother's shoulder said

"You have to let him go. He won't go unless you let him. Let him go to be at peace."

The mother, sobbing, turned to her son and said

"Son, go to God and be at peace"

Then the boy let out a very long, gentle breath and died.

Even after all these years whenever I recount this story it brings me to tears.

I am ashamed to say that I don't remember his name. But I do remember his story. 

There is so much that we can draw from this. One could be that God does answer our prayers, even if the answer is no. Another is the power of faith in the family.

For me there is something else.

Even though I never met that boy and I don't remember his name, his short life has made a big impact on me. He never became a famous footballer or actor. He did not create a multi million pound company. He was never a King or a President.

He was a relatively unknown little lad who died aged 7.

But his faith, his suffering and his death have left an inspiring legacy. Perhaps this why God, who is truly mysterious, did not permit him to be healed. That in dying as he did he would inspire others to live as they should.

Many people rightly honour those who are killed for the Faith. But I believe that there are other forms of 'Martyrdom'. There are those who witness to the power of the Catholic Faith through illness, pain and suffering patiently borne.

His simple faith and his beautiful death teach us to imitate him. Remembering his story has certainly sustained me in my faith and has given me much hope, especially in the dark times.

I believe that he will continue to inspire others.

So...

Little lad, I am sorry that I cannot remember your name. Please forgive me. But I have never forgotten you and your story.

I ask you that you pray for me to Our Lord that, when I come to breathe forth my soul I may breathe it forth in peace like you did.

I hope that, on that day, I will finally meet you and thank you for your witness and the way you have inspired me.

Then together, filled with wonder and joy, we will fall down in adoration, praise and love at the feet of the One who loves us.

God bless

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)

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