Friends, this evening, while on vacation at a beach on the Eastern Seaboard, a friend invited me to visit a friend of his a few miles further along the beach. We got in the car and drove. We drove until the pavement ended. We drove onto the sand in a 4 wheel drive only area. Fortunately our vehicle has 4 wheel drive. We arrived at a beautiful house. We weren’t sure if it was the right house. I walked up the steps and peered through the glass.
“There’s a high altar up against the wall! This is clearly the place!” I said.
And it was.
And not only did I get to fraternize with like minded Catholics, I met him. He is one of the cancelled priests of the past few years. I have seen his videos and read his words. Tonight I shook his hand (kissed his hand because he’s a priest). And then I talked with him for two hours and I realized that he is the real deal.
I will leave out the details of our conversation but I will tell you that at the end of the night, I took my leave and asked him for his blessing.
I kneeled before him as he blessed me through the intercession of St, Rita.
Pray for our priests. Pray especially for him. Pray for the cancelled priests.
Wednesday of this week, in addition to being Ember Wednesday of the Octave of Pentecost (that’s a mouthful), also happened to fall on the traditional feat of the the Queenship of Mary.
I hope you all took time out to honor Our Queen. Tomorrow is June. I saw a blogger refer to that month as the Satanic Season because of the sodomite co-opting of it.
We, of course, have always had recourse to the Sacred Heart of Jesus during this month.
I understand that I may be able to facilitate a high Mass here at the beach. And the best part is that I might be able to snag a “celebrity” trad priest to assist. More to come. If I pull it off, I might actually post a picture of myself. TLM forever.
I am at the point in my long summer road-trip where I am actually on vacation. As in, I am not currently engaged in any work related activities. I am at the beach for the next week. I have a priest staying with our family. He is an old family friend and he is saying a TLM for us every day, facing the east – the literal east, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.
Life if good.
In the meantime, the posts will be light for a few days. Since it is the Octave of Pentecost, enjoy some music.
And please keep me and my family in your prayers. The drive starts up again next week.
Happy birthday to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church! And while we’re on it, not because I hate anyone but out of love for my fellow man, I pose a question. If you have not found your way into the One True Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, why not? What are you waiting for? Sure, the place is a trainwreck right now but it’s still the only guarantee of salvation. Remember Peter’s words to Christ: “Lord to whom should we go? You have the words of everlasting life.”
The first Pentecost saw the Blessed Mother surrounded by the Apostles sitting together praying. They had prayed for nine days. They anticipated the Spirit but probably had no idea what to expect (save for the Blessed Mother, who had been pondering in her Immaculate Heart all these things for years). The Spirit came upon them and they were emboldened. What flowed from that awe-inspiring event – the tongues of flame and the rushing wind – was a mass baptism. Thousands were converted that day.
Flash forward nineteen hundred years. The Apostles’ successors promised a “new springtime”, a “second Pentecost”. What followed that frightful event was the greatest apostasy in the history of the Church. Priests left the priesthood in droves. Convents and monasteries emptied almost overnight. The faithful were treated to spiritual whiplash as just about every tenet held by Catholics from the very beginning was undermined. Those who remained went uncatechized, malformed, and malnourished.
Some springtime!
Today, many of us spend hours praying our novenas, trusting in Our Lord’s promise that He will never abandon us. It is hard not to identify with the people in that upper room in the moments before the Spirit came upon them.
On Pentecost I often recall the holy martyrs of the Church. Filled with the Spirit, these men, women, and even children willingly spilled their blood out of love for Him Who died for them. Many of these martyrs were subsequently removed from the Roman calendar after the Council, by the way. I wonder why. I think in particular of the Martyrs of Compiegne, France. During the Reign of Terror, these Carmelite sisters were rounded up, stripped of the dignity of their garb, led to the scaffold, and beheaded. One by one, they ascended the steps to their beheading. To the last woman, they had the mystical lyric poem on their lips. Veni Creator Spiritus! The scene was recreated in the film Dialogues des Carmelites.
Come Holy Ghost! Renew in the hearts of Thy people Thy seven-fold gifts. Make us to see that to live for Christ is to die to ourselves and that to die for ourselves is to live in Him forever. Thy Church is in disarray, in terrible eclipse. Make us to love Thy commandments and to burn with zeal for Thy house.
I completely forgot to post this yesterday. So, through the magic of postdating, I am posting it now with a second post to follow shortly. Please pray for our priests, especially for the newest among them. What a joy and blessing it is to be given new priests! As a priest I heard recently said, “Pray for priests. Pray for holy priests. Pray for many holy priests.”
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 