This dog is beat tonight so instead of my usual pontificating, I thought I’d share something actually worthwhile. I came across this meditation last night and found it to be incredibly moving. Enjoy.
It’s been a minute since I’ve don’t a general stockpot of mixed thoughts under specially-fonted headings. In a crossword puzzle this would be called an “oleo”. Let’s kick off, shall we?
Ask and Ye Shall Receive
Yesterday I posted a request for “non-squishy” novena prayers to St. Joseph. I woke up this morning to a number of emails from dear readers who did not disappoint. Thank you one and all! Now I have to decide which one I will begin praying. I spent part of my day just replying to each of you who sent something and if I missed anyone I apologize. I will get to you very soon. The important thing is that I have options. I love St. Joseph. I am trying to grow in devotion to this great man. As a husband and father, he is my patron. Thank you again and know that there will be more on this in the days to come.
Latin is Still Killing
Any of you fellow homeschoolers will know the struggle. We’re trying to get some loose ends wrapped up before beginning the third quarter in earnest next week. Coming back from Christmas break is hard but it had to be done. The kids and I tackled our Latin exams today. The following actual conversation may have taken place:
“Son, why did the Gauls hate the Romans?”
“Um… because they were French and they hate everyone?”
It’s hard for me to fault him on that one. We’ll go for half-credit.
Saying Thank You
Didn’t I just say thanks above? See paragraph 1. Tonight I had the pleasure of visiting with a small group of fellow parishioners. After the meeting I stepped outside because I am a slave to Phillip Morris. In the dimly lit exterior corridor outside the hall, a gentleman approached and asked if he could join me as he drew a long stemmed pipe from his pocket. As he stepped into the light I instantly recognized him. You would too. I won’t mention his name here but it should be TradeMarked. We proceeded to have a very pleasant conversation. Tobacco does that. Of course, I introduced myself using my real name. To my surprise, he had heard of me (under my real name). Before he turned his attention to one of his fans who had also approached, I was able to get in these words:
“You know, you were instrumental in bringing me into the Latin Mass.” He looked genuinely puzzled and replied, “How so?” “Your videos,” I answered. If he happens to see this, he should drop me a line. I’d love to carry on the conversation anytime. I rather enjoyed it.
Sometimes the “Separated Brethren” Don’t Get It Too Wrong
I am a fan of English chorale music. Since this is the month of the Holy Name of Jesus – the only name by which we may be saved – I’m dropping a video of a very nice arrangement of one of my favorite hymns, albeit sung by the choristers of the First Pentecostal Church of the Redeemer Almighty or something like that. Good voices are good voices. Pray for their conversion. And you really can’t beat that pipe organ.
Still better than David Haas.
That’s a wrap for this Wednesday night. Remember to stop every time you pass a crucifix and bless yourself. I’ve started doing that and it has had the most phenomenal effect on my spirit.
In the spirit of humility, I, your humble blogger, am seeking some assistance.
I would like to offer a novena in honor of St. Joseph, in particular to seek a special grace. the only problem is that the novenas I’ve come across online are all a bit squishy.
Anyone have any suggestions for a St. Joseph novena that’s a little more manly and traditional?
Thanks in advance!
PS: If you have a link to one, email me at harvey@harveymillican.com
Here we go again. JM Bergoglio, the Petrine Squatter is reported to have delivered some “off-color” remarks to a group of Spanish seminarians back in December.
Know what this reminds me of? If you guessed my own time in McCarrick’s seminary, then you’d be right and I will award you one gold star.
I saw this on Canon212 earlier (and please hit Frank’s donate button). If what is being reported is true (and please check out the story), then JMB is at best a dirty old man, at worst, well, it doesn’t get much worse than being an antipope and , as Barnhardt calls him, the “probable false prophet forerunner of the antichrist”.
But let’s stick with the dirty old man motif for a second. Is it important that men being trained for priesthood have a basic awareness of the kinds of situations they might face especially in the confessional? Yes. Is it necessary that these men be sexually harassed in the process? You don’t think that’s what this is? In any workplace situation where the CEO comes in to address the most Junior of trainees and starts using that kind of language and indulging himself with sex banter in blunt terms, those trainees could sue. And rightly so. No one wants to be forced to listen to an octogenarian talk about sex at all, let alone in anything other than the most sanitized and clinical terms and only if absolutely necessary.
Let’s not even dig deeper into the question of his supposedly telling these young men to absolve everything even in the absence of a sign of repentance on the part of the sinner. If that’s true then we simply have more evidence that two “churches” exist side by side. Apparently Our Lord’s instruction that some sins could be refused absolution means nothing to Papa Pervo.
But back to my days studying for the holy priesthood. I will never forget the day when the rector of my college seminary delivered a talk to the 25 or so of us young men sitting in the chapel. It was the weekly rector’s conference. I believe his topic was something along the lines of chastity. Yet somehow, about five minutes in, he began describing in vulgar detail the male ejaculation. Only he used other words. He couched it at first by giving the etymology of the French term “petite mort” – the “little death”. I was so confused wondering where he was going with all of this. And then he just blurted it out. “Men, I’m talking about [Latin conjunction for with]-ing”
Whoa.
I was 19. I had never been with a woman. I was not unwise to the workings of human reproduction. I knew the words he was using. I was still as red-faced as a tomato. In front of the Blessed Sacrament, no less! What was he thinking?
Years later I got a copy of the Catechism of Trent and discovered that the Church used to teach that such matters should be broached with great discretion. Not to our rector. Apparently he thought it was “chill” to be “down with the kids”. Again, I never did figure out how his talk related to chastity or what practical information a seminarian could glean from this garbage. I do remember him describing the marriage act in graphic detail including observations about how couples need to “work together to achieve mutual pleasure”. I’ll spare you those details. You’re welcome.
He went on to become a bishop, the Vicar General for McCarrick, and got his own see not long after. Good old Teddy strikes again.
Coming back to Bergoglio, though, I have no doubt that this story is true. For starters, it appears certain that he abandoned his prepared speech. My guess is he noticed actual theological terms on the first page that he knew he couldn’t pronounce.
Regardless, it would behoove him to remember that just because he’s a twisted fetishist doesn’t mean everyone else is. Also, if you’re still wondering how the older stream of Vatican II wickedness still seems to flow through the Church today, look no further. It’s called grooming and they’ve been doing it for years.
I was asked by a good friend earlier today if I would write a rebuttal to an article linked on Canon212. You will understand why I am not goin to mention either the name of the article or the author or the same. It was a classic screed written by a man who apparently knows very little about Tradition and even less about the Traditional Latin Mass. Frank Walker refers to him as one of the two “ThugBrothers”. I hope Frank trademarks that word. The author waxes idiotic about his premise. “There ought to be one, single liturgy in the Roman Rite,” he opines, or some other such horseshit. “And that liturgy should be the Novus Ordo.” Wow, big shocker from a big brain. He goes on to write a few hundred more words to prove that he has indeed made good use of that thesaurus the other ThugBrother gave him for Christmas.
I remember a conference I attended some years ago in the Denver Archdiocese for Teachers of Theology in Catholic high schools. One of the speakers, a brilliant man, gave a talk wherein he lamented the state of the young mind, how it had been absolutely raped by our degenerate culture. This was in late 2015. He talked of how he would give lectures at local high schools and students would ask him ridiculous questions such as, “Why does the Church hate the gays when they just want to love each other?” and “What’s wrong with trannies and when is the Church going to stop being racist?” He told the assembled group for this conference something that made absolute sense. “I very quickly realized,” he said, “that I will not engage with them anymore. They don’t want answers. They don’t have logic. They cannot argue from reason. Shake the dust from your shoes and move on.” And so to the friend who asked me to rebut the Thug, I will say something similar.
I would love to engage in a battle of wits with this man but I don’t fight unarmed men.
Wagers
George Neumayer tweeted something recently. I’m not on Twitter but others are and they forward me the tweets. I have been a fan of George for many years. I even had the privilege of meeting with him on one or two occasions. As an aside, he is perhaps the most down-to-earth guy you’d ever meet. He is a true reporter. I admire his work. George tweeted to the effect that the Vatican might not be able to produce the laicization documents for my old ordinary/nemesis Teddy McCarrick because they might not exist. I’d be willing to wager that George is right. I think I shall explore this question further… Stay tuned.
I don’t put much stock in the workings of our so-called political system anymore. They’ve stolen elections, imprisoned protestors, driven the empire into the ground, gaslit everyone along the way, and rubbed it in our faces.
For years we were told to vote for this or that candidate because… because… they weren’t the other guy. For a while it seemed to make sense. If one candidate said he was pro-life, I felt compelled to vote for him. Until… I realized that even they were being less than truthful about their convictions. There was a guy who did some good things. He also did some bad things. They ran him out of town on an express train to Mar-a-Lago. As of now I cannot in conscience vote for him again. Support of sodomy is still in his bag as is the whole “warp speed” thing. In truth, the country died years ago. We’re just watching it’s last gasps.
The late Fr. Hesse. My nephew just had this image plastered on a coffee mug for me.
But today I watched the fourth, fifth, and sixth votes for House Speaker. I got a bit of a kick out of watching Kevin McCarthy receive no more votes each time than the previous time.
Yet it was the 20 “Republican holdouts” as the media kept calling them (or hostage takers, I heard both today) that sparked a bit of pride in my myocarditis-free heart. They’ve seemingly had enough of the nonsense. They’re tired of being hoodwinked and lied to. They probably have ulterior motives but I’m rolling with this one for a moment. And I can relate to them.
It’s almost like they’re some kind of remnant of a bygone day when people demanded some accountability. They’re being told their fight is futile and then threatened with nasty names when they don’t cave. I’m surprised they haven’t been called “rigid” yet. Their alternative is a cadre of effeminate men and some women on the edge of dykiness who will mash the throttle on debt and sodomy.
Or the whole thing could just be a total farce. Whatever. My flights back home from the Fatherland have just been delayed and I’m trying to rebook. I guess Jersey just wanted to hold onto this Jersey boy a bit longer.
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 