My wife this morning mentioned the feast of Joan of Arc. “Funny,” I said, “but the missal lists St. Felix, pope and martyr.” Unique expression? One rite two forms? How’s that working out?…
The entry for St. Felix tells me that it was he who ordered his priests to celebrate mass over the tombs of the martyrs.
These martyrs are the seed. Their blood, shed sometimes in the most horrific manner, waters the tree of Christianity. They died for love of Christ. They died because they loved His law. They sure as hell didn’t love sodomy. And they gave their last drops for that law.
I bet they loved the sixth commandment just like they loved the other nine.
Cardinal McElroy? Why he’s the biggest alphabet soup ally around. The fag Jesuit said so.
God help us all.
Many of you know of my run-ins with the former cardinal now known as Teddy McCarrick. McElroy was one of his boys. Antipope Bergoglio seems to love everything touched by McCarrick except the victims. If you don’t recognize that this appointment is a jab in the eye with an Argentine thumb to everyone and everything literally and figuratively raped by Teddy, then you won’t understand why the martyrs so happily shed this earthly existence for eternal union with Him.
Return to the tombs of the martyrs. Call upon them. Ask them to intercede that Our Lord, who so loved them He gave them courage to give their lives will intervene for His Body, the Church today. Pray He gives us that same courage. We will be martyred too – this time by the successors of His apostles.
St. Philomena, St. Lucy, St. Agatha, and all the rest…
From a source in law enforcement who has served on the tactical response team in his department in a large northeastern city.
Here’s what should’ve gone down in Uvalde:
1.) Establish a tactical perimeter of the school. This is not to keep desperate parents away from rescuing their children; it’s to contain the threat to a single localized area. Smart. Effective. Never try to stop a desperate parent but to keep everyone safe.
2.) Once it became obvious that this was a mass casualty event, i.e., NOT a negotiable hostage incident or a “barricaded subject” a rescue team should have been immediately assembled and deployed. We’re talking within minutes, 5 minutes at the most. This is not a complicated task; most police departments train all their officers for such events. Not a complicated task unless there are other motives at play…
3.) Most if not all law enforcement agencies train their personnel not to engage a potential threat without backup unless it’s unavoidable. What is baffling is that by some reports there were more than 15 officers armed with patrol rifles on the scene for more than a half an hour. This was more than enough personnel to enter the school. See comment above about other motives. Nothing about this situation adds up.
4.) The one who made the call not to breach the building and confront the shooter should not only be fired immediately, he could be subject to charges of neglect of duty and official misconduct. And let’s add should be subject to capital punishment. Whoever he is, he’s already subjected himself to a hefty “dressing down” at his particular judgment.
OK folks, there you have it. In four short blurbs, my source has outlined for you what should have been done. Instead we had armed thugs physically assaulting parents who were justifiably angry that their kids were dying and no one was doing anything. Heads should roll.
Woke up this morning to learn of the death at age 94 of Angelo Cardinal Sodano. The cardinal was Secretary of State of the Vatican during the 1990’s. He it was who proffered the patently false third secret of Fatima. He it was who appeared in Malachi Martin’s Windswept House under the name Cardinal Graziani. And he it was who appeared at the seminary where I was a young seminarian at the turn of the century.
Let’s back up. In 2000 yours truly was entering second theology at a seminary (do a Google search) in New Jersey where my ordinary was a now-layman named Teddy McCarrick. None of us knew why the Vatican Secretary of State was visiting our humble abode. I’m sure McCarrick had some financial and immoral scheme at hand. I shook his hand and said hello and that’s about all I remember.
But when I think about it now I realize that these birds of a feather definitely flocked together. I also met the then-Vatican Nuncio to the US, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo. You see, Teddy knew I was a smoker. Still am. Other than the state of my lungs, the reason that matters is that McCarrick abhorred smokers. He wouldn’t dream of coming near me. Thank God! Didn’t know it at the time. You know who did? The Blessed Mother. My own mom had asked me to pray a Memorare every day when I entered seminary. She said, “Mary will protect you.”
Boy was she right.
It’s a nasty habit but it kept me safe. There was one moment when Teddy approached me while I was on campus sucking down some nicotine. I was nervous because he had asked me to quit many times. This time, he came up to me almost with a pleading tone. “Do you have a light for the Nuncio?” Of course I did. The Nuncio was a smoker, as many Colombians are. McCarrick needed something from me.
Years later I wondered how deep all the ties went. How far did all the connections run? McCarrick knew them all. Montalvo. Sodano. You name it.
Blessed Mother kept me very safe with a few tar sticks. I love my mother (earthly and Blessed). But these men?
See my last post about drinking a gin and tonic and waiting for the end times.
Meanwhile, prayers for Sodano. The glory of the world passes. Judgment is eternal.
As near as I can tell, the nitwits running this parish “participated” in the synodal gay way by gathering a sampling of young people from the parish to trash the Catholic faith, about which they know absolutely nothing because they were taught in Catholic schools.
With me so far?
Deacon Tom (Paul VI really laid a number on us with the perma-deacons, none of whom observe clerical continence) lays out the bullet points from the “listening sessions”. I’ve chosen three at random for your reading pleasure.
1.) “We need to create an atmosphere whereby the LGTBQ community feels welcomed and loved.”
-Or we could really be charitable and tell them to stop calling themselves by a bunch of letters, stop committing physically harmful and spiritually abhorrent acts of sodomy, and straighten up because God wills their eternal salvation not damnation. Let’s welcome them by teaching the Catholic faith!
2.) “Our young people commented… can’t women be priests?”
-No. in like manner, I, a man, can never be a mother. Man gives. Woman receives. Seed. Field. Do any of you twits ever observe nature or are you so glued to your phones you speak in meme?
3.) “We need more programs for… 18-25 year olds to better understand their faith”
Good God! Does anyone remember midnight basketball? What we need is solid catechesis from solid, manly priests. I’m talking priests who aren’t inclined toward post-pubescent boys and who wear their cassocks like a tomb enclosing their earthly frames. Teach the faith. Live the faith. Want a “program”? Try daily mass and fifteen decades of the rosary every day.
Call me when the Church has completely imploded. I’ll be sipping on my gin and tonic.
“Devout” Catholic Joe Biden just said today that anyone who owns an AR-15 is “sick”.
Forgive me for laughing.
By the way, mine is a-maze-ing. Customized to my liking. The next thing for her is to have Psalm 42 etched in Latin onto the stock. “Judica me, Deus…”
This reminds me of the time my then-bishop said I was a “vigilante” for even owning a handgun, let alone ever training with it regularly, following every safety precaution, etc. He said I couldn’t carry it onto diocesan property. Sorry, Your Grace, but Texas law says otherwise. In conscience I had to weigh those two dictates and I chose the better part.
Can you believe this man once blocked me? Really?
Look, purple piping, the safety of my family will ALWAYS come first.
That bishop, by the way, is now Cardinal Farrell. I know. I was shocked. Shocked…
Look, prelates and presidents , I’ve been called worse by better men. I’ve been blocked on Twitter by the best of the worst. You can try your best but I simply do not care anymore. You do you, as the kids say. Preach your synodal gay way.. Me? I’ll be over here defending my family. It’s my God-given obligation and my right.
And as long as you’re calling people sick and vigilantes, just remember I survived Uncle Ted. I know your kind. I will not be cowed nor will I be silenced.
On this trip, as previously mentioned, I had prayed for a Latin mass every day I am traveling. Again, this is a rather large request – trying to find a Catholic mass in the United States. Stop and re-read that.
So far, the Blessed Mother has not disappointed me. Late last night I knelt down to say my prayers and asked again, “Blessed Mother and Guardian Angel, please wake me at 5:30. The mass nearby is at 6:15 and if I miss it, I’m out of options.” Well, they did. And guess what I did.
I hit snooze.
Truthfully, I really needed sleep. I had been deprived of slumber for a while, what with sitting behind the wheel for hours on end the past week. But I thought to myself when I woke up again some two hours later, “She made it available to me. I just didn’t respond in kind.” And I feel awful about it.
But let’s come back to that headline because I know some of you have thought it. And it’s not just for guys like me taking my family on a road trip. Remember, I will always be at a Sunday mass. I will never again let the bishops shut me out of that. And I will always be at a daily mass provided I truly cannot make it.
But you know it’s coming. You know it will be harder to find TLM’s. Every other week I read a headline that this or that bishop has decided to “follow the Responsa ad dubia” that we all know weren’t ever asked. By anyone. Ever. It might just become near impossible to find the mass of the ages.
This is just a thought, but what if someone were to start a network of underground TLM priests? What if the retired priests who say the old mass privately in their homes were to leave their side doors unlocked and some of us just happened to wander in?
I could be overthinking this. Perhaps it’s not that dire. Look, it’s not like our bishops placed us under interdict for a year because of a seasonal cold, right?
I’m combining yesterday and today into one exposition.
Yesterday the kids and I drove through the town of Charles Town, WV. This eastern panhandle hamlet had been previously known to me as the home of a horse racing track and that’s about it. Mass is offered here by the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem.
“So what’s a canon?” you ask. Short answer: canons are priests who live in community following the rule of St. Augustine. These canons were established by Cardinal Burke when he was Archbishop of St. Louis and somehow made their way to West Virginia. The church, a small-ish structure on a quiet tree-lined street downtown is unassuming from the outside. Stepping inside, though, I found a structure that was a tribute to the people who had transformed it into the home of Our Lord.
A couple of oddities(?) I noticed. First, this was a dialogue mass. These aren’t common in TLM communities. Typically the people only chime in at a high mass. Personally, I tend to follow along in my missal, silently (or at least extremely quietly) praying along the whole mass. There were only four other congregants this day. This was also unusual to me. I come from a large parish where the infants on hips outnumber the elderly (and there are many of them too). I dutifully followed along, brushing up on my Latin responses along the way. I’m hoping to learn to serve mass myself. You never know when it will be necessary. Humility will direct me to ask my 7 year-old nephew for help when I return home. The final quirk here was that the priest read the Epistle and Gospel in English from the altar. I suspect this is a TC thing and I don’t like it. Enough said.
Notice the canon hiding in plain sight. Priory of the Annunciation of the Blessed Mother, Charles Town, WV
Today my guardian angel violently woke me at an ungodly hour. I had asked him to do that so I had to comply. Mass at St. Lawrence in Harrisburg, PA was only at 7:10 and it’s a 20 minute drive from here. Fortunately I’ve been coming here for a few years whenever I visit my sister and I not only know some of the parishioners but also the parish well. This is a beautiful church one block in from the Susquehanna River and one block out from the State Capitol. The diocesan cathedral sits between the two. This parish has a full mass schedule (Sunday-Saturday) and is run by the FSSP.
It is what happened right before mass that I want to tell you about here. I try to go to frequent confession. Even though we were running late, we made it in the door at 7:05. I prayed a priest would be in the box. I find Our Lord tends to answer these prayers quite favorably. I noticed a woman exiting the confessional so I quickly stepped in the door. I imagine Fr. was hoping he’d be free to step out and vest for mass. Instead he got me.
Fr. gave me a manly penance. I LIKE MANLY PENANCES. I do not like “Think about something nice about someone…” Still wonder why I tradded?
Again, St Rita makes her appearance (first window on the left). St. Lawrence, Harrisburg, PA
And then Fr. invited me (not as part of my penance) to consider practicing daily mortification. He even suggested some tips. In mass I have been meditating of late on Our Lord’s passion. I find myself saying, “Lord Jesus, let me take you down from the cross. My sins put You there. This isn’t fair.” Then I remember His words to Peter when Peter scoffed at the idea of Our Lord’s crucifixion.
“Get there behind me, Satan.”
He called him Satan. Clearly, I can’t take Him down. This is how He satisfied the debt of my sins and still gives Himself to me daily. Instead I have come to understand that He is inviting me gently to be drawn up to the cross with Him. These daily penances, these “mortifications” will be the way. Thank you, my Lord! Give me to suffer with Thee for my sins, my family, the world!
Then Fr. finished by saying, “Go in peace, but let me go first.” You see, he needed to get to the sacristy but didn’t want to see any of his penitents. Good man.
Folks, I got off all that social media nonsense a while ago. Sorry but I'm not on Twitbook, Facepalm, YouHu, WingWang or any of the others. Maybe an event will happen to make me change my mind like Peter and Paul coming down with flaming swords and commanding it be so. Until then, read the blog and if you feel a comment is in order or you feel like sharing a tip or suggestion for a topic, email me at harvey@harveymillican.com.
Harvey Millican's Blog: Musings of a Trad Dad 