St. Francis Borgia and his Warning on Human Respect!

I love reading about the saints. Most days I spend part of my morning prayer time reading from Butler's Lives of the Saints. How many friends we have in heaven! And I always read the names of all the saints of day and ask for their intercession. Don't we all need as many prayer warriors as we can get?

My Butler's is about fifty years old so I don't have any of the updates, but with four thick volumes I have plenty of friends to consult even if more modern saints like Mother Teresa and Padre Pio are missing. Since I read my Benedictus prayer book every day, I catch them on their feast days.

St. Bridget's Vision about a Bad Pope Is Relevant for Our Day and Age

It's good to remember that times in the Church have always been challenging, even when they seemed like the "best" of times. And often, it's been the "worst" of times. Don't we see that daily with the synodal shenanigans? The modernist attack on Holy Mother Church disfigures her more than every other heretical attack in Church history. Even the Arians couldn't inflict the damage we're living through today.

Dickens had it right when he opened The Tale of Two Cites with his declaration that: 

In this Jubilee year of St. Francis, Let Us Pray for All Those Trying to Save Our Crumbling Church

I've said it before. God has a sense of humor. While the porn-writing head of the DDF apparently expected hordes of SSPX priests to head for the exit door, the opposite is happening. Priests are heading for the open door to the SSPX and affiliating with the Society. LifeSiteNews has this:

Leo XIV’s excommunication backfires:   SSPX lists multiple priests who just joined them

What's Wrong with the Novus Ordo?

I'm reading an article on substack titled Deficiencies of the New Mass, describing a talk given in 2014 by Fr. Daniel Themann, SSPX at the Angelus Press Conference titled, “What is Our Objection to the New Mass.” It raised numerous points that are still relevant today. 

The first point is this:

The New Mass – Novus Ordo Missae – is ecumenical in its construction and Protestant in its orientation. It is the most tangible expression of the Vatican II revolution, affecting every Catholic directly and deleteriously.

Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces and Mother of All People

At our SSPX chapel, we recently had a catechism class by a Dominican, Fr. Albert, who sometimes helps out. He spoke about Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces. While the Vatican rejects that title the Church has taught it for over 1500 years. Father began by talking about Jacinta, the little mystic of Fatima. As she was dying she begged her cousin Lucia not to "go and hide," but to tell the world about Mary. God's will, Father told us, is to ask Mary for graces. Mark Miravalle, professor of Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, has promoted the "fifth Marian dogma" of Mediatrix of all graces for decades.

Nick Freitas Discusses Family Estrangement

I'm a big fan of Nick Freitas. His videos are often so on target I just nod my head. He's a military vet, a Green Beret, who served two tours in Iraq.  He also spent ten years in the Virginia House of Delegates. I love listening to him because he is masculine in the best way possible. He's a husband, a dad, a Christian and had a 100% pro-life voting record in the General Assembly. And, to top it off, he's often funny. 

Thought for the Day: Embrace a Leper!

I have something challenging coming up and was praying about it this morning. Providentially, my spiritual reading addressed it. Catching up on my Benedictus meditations, I read this from October 5th: "The soldier of Christ must begin by victory over himself." 

Ho Hum! Is this Bishops' Conference like our own Scandalous USCCB?

The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference and several other bishops in Africa have warned their flocks to stay away from the SSPX accusing them of schism. The SSPX in Kenya is disputing the charge. Fr. Pierre Champroux, who serves at the SSPX's Holy Cross Parish in Nairobi, contested the accusation stating that:SS

Celebrating 57 Years of Marriage

Last Sunday, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Larry and I celebrated our 57th wedding anniversary.  How we got here so fast is a puzzle. It seems like yesterday we were making our vows at my parents' parish, St. Augustine in Elkridge, MD. Sunday was drizzily and chilly unlike that glorious October 4th in 1969 which was sunny and warm. I'll never forget my dad's toast wishing us the combined fertility of both families. I was one of 11, ten living; Larry was one of 11, nine living. Needless to say there was plenty of laughter in the room.

Will the Real Protestants Please Stand Up! (Hint: It's NOT the SSPX.)

What's coming down the pike in the Church? New crises! The Prayerful Posse looked at several serious issues related to the synodal process that will protestantize the Church. In some of the situations there is a profound lack of truth, particularly the spin on illegal immigration about "welcoming immigrants" without distinguishing between those who come in lawfully and those who enter as invaders.