Today Begins the St. Andrew Novena! Ready, Set, Pray....

The best Christmas present you can give anyone is prayer. And what better intention can anyone offer than for the salvation of the souls of their loved ones. That will be our intention for this 25-day novena seeking the intercession of St. Andrew. I love St. Andrew and ask him to do for me what he did for his brother, Peter. Take me to Jesus! 

St. Andrew Christmas Novena

New here? Join us in Prayer! Click here to get novena reminders by email!

I Need a Little Christmas!

           

Life is often filled with challenges and sometimes they seem overwhelming. This has been a rough year for many reasons, so the other day, I just started singing a song from Auntie Mame. I definitely "need a little Christmas!" so we set up the tree. Larry dragged up the canvas bag and out came the pre-lit evergreen. We gave up on real trees about ten years ago when we just got too old and tired to deal with getting down on the floor to water it every day and cleaning up all the pine needles. I've never regretted it.

Happy Thanksgiving and May We All Grow in Gratitude to God and Our Neighbors!

There's a bit of a dispute as to where the first Thanksgiving actually took place. The pilgrims and the Plymouth colony always get the credit, but their thanksgiving was held in 1621 in Massachusetts. My own home state hosted an earlier Thanksgiving in 1619 at Berkley Plantation near Williamsburg. The Thanksgiving event was written into the charter. This fact doesn't diminish the importance or fascination with the Thanksgiving in Plymouth, but it illustrates the attitude of gratitude our forefathers had. May we imitate them in that. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

In Honor of the Blessed Mother, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces

In honor of the Blessed Mother as the intercessor who always takes our requests straight to the throne of God, I am re-posting Fr. Tom Collins two-part article. Our Lady is a mother and friend who will never fail us.

Fr. Tom Collins shares his view of Mary as Co-Redemptrix - Part A

Continued, Part B

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, it's the perfect day to say thank-you to the Blessed Mother. She was no "ordinary girl" as Pope Francis called her. She was and is the Immaculate Conception. Not one of us "ordinary girls" can claim that distinction.

Where is the New Evangelization Leading Us? To Comfortable, Complacent Christianity?

What is the "New Evangelization?" In light of Pope Francis scolding people for "proselytizing" and synodal clerics bragging about never baptizing an indigenous person, not to mention the messages that all faiths are paths to salvation....what exactly is the "New Evangelization?" Is there such a thing? Do we find it in Abu Dhabi with its monuments to Judaism, Islam, and, by the way, Christianity?

A Bishop For Our Time: Henry Edward Cardinal Manning -- Lecture 3

You can read my posts on the first two lectures by clicking on the links below. Cardinal Manning's lectures are particularly appropriate as we end the liturgical year. I hope you'll read them in toto and not just my excerpts. He was a prophet and much of what he describes is directly applicable to our own time.

I Should Have Posted This on Halloween! Add to the Weird World File

 Really? 

Cremation jewelry?  Christmas tree ornaments? 

Hey! You can hang Nana on your Christmas tree. Or how about wearing Daddy around your neck or in ear rings. 

A locket with hair is one thing, but wearing the ashes of the dead in a pendant? 

We are certainly living in a weird world. 

A Bishop for Our Time: Henry Edward Cardinal Manning -- Lecture 2

To read my post on Lecture 1 go here.  

On to Lecture 2!

In his second lecture on The Present Crisis in the Holy See, Cardinal Manning focuses on the nature of the Antichrist. At the time, some writers claimed that the Antichrist would not be an individual person, but a corporate group or spirit. Refuting that belief, the cardinal looked to the number of Apostles, Fathers of the Church, etc. who disputed that interpretation. He quotes St. Robert Bellarmine saying, “All Catholics hold that Antichrist will be one individual person.”

Interestingly, Manning offers the opinon of many scholars that the Antichrist will come from the Jewish race:

...the Fathers, with unanimous consent, teach as undoubted, that Antichrist will be a Jew.2 Ribera repeats the same opinion, and adds that Aretas, St. Bede, Haymo, St. Anselm, and Rupert affirm that for this reason the tribe of Dan is not numbered among those who are sealed in the Apocalypse.3 Wiegas says the same, quoting other authorities.4 And this will appear probable, if we consider that the Antichrist will come to deceive the Jews, according to the prophecy of our Lord: “I am come in My Father's name, and you receive Me not : another will come in his own name, him you will receive;” which words are interpreted by the Fathers with one consent of the false Messias, who shall pass himself off upon the Jews as the true. And this, again, is the unanimous interpretation of the Fathers, both of the East and of the West, as St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Ephrem Syrus, St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Gregory Nyssen, St. John Damascene, and also of St. Irenaeus, St. Cyprian, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine.https://www.britannica.com/topic/spiritualism-religion

Ten Novels Every American Should Read to Understand the Culture Part 1

We all have our favorite books that we think everyone should read, both novels and non-fiction. I could probably name a hundred that I think need to be on your Don't Miss This! list.  Why? Because they help us understand what's going on in the world and how to respond to it. I'll start with only ten of my favorite books in a two-part post. Every one is worth reading more than once and reflected upon. Each has prophetic elements that strike the tocsin, the warning bell. We would do well to pay attention! 

Ending Roe Did NOT End Abortion on Demand

Instead it resulted in a return to the coathanger era. Abortion drugs are, indeed, the new bloody  coathanger. Abortions using telemed services and abortion-inducing chemicals leave women unsupervised by any medical providers. The mothers kill their babies at home, expel the little one in the toilet, then flush them away to pollute our water systems. 

Are these abortions safe, legal, and rare? Legal, yes, in most places. And even in states where they aren't, little can be done to stop them. Are they rare? No. In 2023, the estimate was that six out of ten abortions (600,000 or more) were by pill. 

The Bishops Left Baltimore; Did They Leave Us Behind as Well?

Things are a mess these days. The culture is a mess, the political landscape is a mess, the schools are a mess, the family is a mess. 

Francis didn't need to tell everyone to "make a mess" because the mess has been in the making for decades with one pope after another telling us that all faiths lead to God as they advance syncretism and undermine the reality that there is one true faith and one true Savior. 

The Church, which should be the main housekeeper cleaning up the mess, has, in many ways, become the messiest of all. The German Church allows gay masses, a vampire mass; anything edgy and bizarre makes the cut. The CDF (Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith), which is supposed to defend the faith, is run by a cardinal who wrote a sexually explicit book on kissing and, from all evidence, may have deep-sixed his own faith years ago. Sodomy champion Jesuit Fr. James Martin is welcomed at the Vatican while those who dare to embrace the traditions of our forefathers are ridiculed and despised. Yes, indeed, things are a mess.

A Bishop for Our Time: Henry Edward Cardinal Manning - Lecture 1

I recently came across the quote above from Cardinal Manning. Frankly, I never quite trust anything I see in a Facebook meme, so I looked for the source. The cardinal's statement appeared in a collection of lectures:

THE PRESENT CRISIS OF THE HOLY SEE

TESTED BY PROPHECY.

Four Lectures

BY

CARDINAL HENRY EDWARD MANNING, D.D.

LONDON :

Oink, oink! The Left is going ballistic over Trump's piggy comment!

The hypocrisy of the Left never fails to astound me, although at this point it shouldn't. If a leftist opens his/her/it's/theirs/cis/xyr/etc. mouth, he/she/they/etc. is either lying, spouting a stream of obscenities, or engaging in a tsunami of hypocrisy.

I'm Ready to Secede -- Shenandoah County Should Just Say Yes to West Virginia's Proposal!

A West Virginia state senator, Chris Rose, is floating a proposal to invite 27 Virginia counties and several from Maryland to secede. I am so ready to join the great state of West Virginia! Now that would be a marriage made in heaven: the lovers of Virginia embracing the freedom-loving patriots of West Virginia! Not only that, my husband is a West Virginia boy and would love to call his birthplace home once again. Bring it on!

With Advent and Christmas Coming, Take Note: Mary was NOT an Unwed Mother!

We all have a tendency to view the world from our own limited perspective sometimes ignoring the cultural differences that make that perspective incorrect. I once accepted the notion that Mary was an "unwed mother." It's rather a natural mistake for Christians since we think of the Jewish betrothal as similar to our engagement period. That's led to an error that slanders both God and Mary. What kind of spouse would the Holy Spirit be to allow His bride to be set up for contempt, disrespect, and possible death by stoning? I was corrected years ago and want to share that correction with others as Advent and Christmas approach.

Marriage in the Jewish religion involved two stages, the betrothal and the formal wedding ceremony. The betrothal bound the couple in a covenantal relationship which could not be broken except by divorce. While the couple did not live together, they were married. Let me repeat that. Mary and Joseph were married! The later wedding ceremony ratified the relationship. After the formal marriage, the bride moved in with her spouse and they consummated the marriage.

How Many More Centennials Will Be Celebrated in the U.S.?

Alaric escorts the Christian treasures of Rome to safety at Saint Peter's Basilica
during the Gothic sack of AD 410. 

The United States prepares to celebrate 250 years of existence. [See the White House announcement.] Drag out the flags and bunting and decorate the house! But is the primary song to be sung, Happy Birthday, or will it be a Dies Irae for our funeral? 

For Shame, for Shame, Notre Dame

And double shame for the bishops who met in Baltimore this week. When will you free us from the scourge of bad university presidents and wolfish bishops, Lord?

First Notre Dame

Is there anything shameful the administration at Notre Dame won't do? They gave Barack Obama, the most pro-abortion, divisive, bigoted president in history (Am I exaggerating?) an honorary law degree and the privilege of being their 2009 commencement speaker. Obama's entourage met a crowd of protesters including a friend of mine who was arrested and had to spend the next year traveling back and forth from Texas to deal with the draconian tactics used against those arrested some of whom weren't even on campus. President John Jenkins, the baby-faced villain of that debacle is gone, but Notre Dame continues on its pathetic and anti-Catholic trajectory.

They Have Dethroned the Queen of Heaven

Note: The recent release by the CDF of the document Mater Populi Fidelis was a shock to all Catholics who love the Mother of God and recognize her exalted and unique role as Queen of Heaven and Earth, God's "twelve star general" as Fr. Norman Weslin (Baby Father Doe) used to describe her. 

According to the new and debased CDF under the tutelage of kissing expert, Cardinal Fernandez, Mary must be reduced and submerged. (To make the faith more acceptable to Protestants?). Their document dethrones her and throws millennia of Marian tradition on the ash heap of Church history. TheVatican treated Pachamama with more respect than Our Lady. 

Boycott the CCHD Collection along with Other Thoughts for Thursday

• The CCHD (Catholic Campaign for Human Development) collection is coming up. This is the fraudulent pocket picking of pew sitters to divert Catholic contributions to groups that lobby for liberal Democrats and support abortion, contraception, and sodomy. Check out the Lepanto Institute report and see how the collection funds intrinsic evils. Don't give a plug nickle; do put in a note that you will not be supporting the parish until they issue an apology for passing the basket to enable evil. I made the video above 16 years ago. Nothing much has changed at the CCHD except it's worse than ever. It's way past time to eliminate that group for good. Add prayers and penance to your boycott. 

Look Up And See! And Then Give Thanks.

Writing an "I'm thankful" message on the holiday tablecloth.

Thanksgiving approaches. For many it's just a day of gluttony: food for the belly and football for the eyes -- two f words. Throw in a third -- no not that one -- fun. For many that's the meaning of life. Find all the fun you can in food, frolicking and you know what.

Do You Try to Avoid Bioengineered Food Products?

I don't know about you, but I'm a label reader at the grocery store. I avoid bioengineered food products, other gmo foods, high fructose corn syrup, and most seed oils. Since most canned soups fall into the bioengineered ingredients no-no list, I've begun making most of my own soups. 

Celery soup is a staple in a number of recipes I make regularly. Cheesy potatoes occupies a regular place on the Sunday brunch table and it calls for a can of cream of chicken soup. I always used celery soup instead. Now I make my own. I also like tomato soup and used to gourmet-up canned soup with tomato chunks, basil, wine, and some other herbs. Now I make it from scratch. 

"To Have and To Hold from this Day Forward"

I recently read an article about the need for couples to make their relationship a top priority, especially when family life gets hectic and demanding. I couldn't agree more. A husband and wife are married to each other, not to their children. Of course the offspring are important, but, as the saying goes, "The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother; the best thing a mother can do for her children is to love their father." And love doesn't just happen; it needs to be cultivated.

Guest Post: Fr. Tom Collins Shares His Views on Mary as Co-Redemptrix Part B

 Editor's note: See the first part of this article here. Keep in mind as you read this that God made man not only to be an individual made in His image and likeness, but to live in relationship with others. "It is not good for the man to be alone." [Genesis 2:18] The poet, John Donne, put it another way. "No man is an island." We are meant to be in a covenant relationship with God first and foremost, but also to be in relationship with our fellow man, the second great commandment.

The understanding of integral man as a covenantal being helps to bring into focus the profound spirit of self-abnegation (kenosis) to which God the Son committed Himself in the sacred mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption (It needs to be emphasized here that the Incarnation and Redemption are sacred mysteries, and not merely sacred historical events. As mysteries, they continue to engage and transform humanity throughout all of history). If God originally created man as a covenantal being, then the mystery of the Incarnation would require that God the Son take to Himself a covenantal human nature. In such a nature, the work of redemption is a covenantal mission and ministry. (It should be noted that this covenantal human nature, which God the Son embraced, was in stark contrast to the more aloof and hermetically-sealed type of spirituality embraced by many of the Pharisees) And it is shared in such a way that both Jesus and His beloved disciples participate in the struggles, sufferings, frustrations and glorification involved in the mystery of human redemption from the power of sin. 

Can we hope that the government will actually re-open?

Let's hope the obstructionists don't throw more roadblocks up to open the government. Lots of people want to travel for Thanksgiving. Right now air travel is iffy at best. I talked to one of my granddaughters who talked about a recent travel trip that ended in a five hour delay getting home. Multiply that exponentially for the biggest travel days of the year around Thankdsgiving. Note that for some reason after the six minute mark, the video repeats the speaker's statement. Pray for an end to all the nonsense.

Guest Post: Fr. Tom Collins Shares His Views on Mary as Co-Redemptrix Part A

Editor's note. Father's article is challenging but well worth reading. When I read a challenging article I ask the Holy Spirit for understanding. I've highlighted some of the unfamiliar terms Father uses and linked them to definitions. May we all grow in wisdom by immersing ourselves in the truths of the faith. A big thank you to Fr. Collins for his articles. Because of it's length, I've divided this post into two.

Part I

THE ORIGINAL BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN GENESIS AS THE BASIS FOR DECLARING THE DOCTRINE OF MARY AS CO-REDEMPTRIX

By Fr. Tom Collins

Basic premises for these reflections:

1) Only Jesus is God incarnate - both as Person and Mystery.

2) Being and action are the same in God. He does not just love, He is love. Therefore Jesus' saving act is His saving being. Covenant is not only what Christ does, it is also intrinsically Who He is.

Words, words, words! "Abundant word do not yield abundant wisdom!"

Yesterday, I mentioned an article by Chloe Mastour at Chronicles. I'm re-reading it this morning because I think it's so important. It exposes a serious problem in our society -- humanity's submission to shallow consensus thinking. We saw it during COVID. How many people actually did the research on what was essentially an experimental therapy that we see now damaged the immune system and crossed the brain/blood barrier to wreak havoc on the population. [That statement will no doubt get me censored by the Blogger blathering fact checkers. So I'm posting at Substack where people can provide evidence without the facts being labeled misleading and a violation of B's woke guidelines.]

Conservatism Amid the Signal Flood

The Danger of "the Tumultuous Torrent of Fugitive Ideas"

Stop and think!

I always enjoy reading Chronicles magazine. The article I read today described divisions in the political right. It isn't just the Dems who reflect chaos these days. The author made the point that language is being used on both sides of the aisle "less as an instrument of reasoning" and more as a justification for "tribal loyalty" with premises that "remain unexamined" resulting in "impoverished discourse in which both factions retain an appetite for shock and awe but very little for restraint, calibration, or discovery."

Wow! Too true!

What author Chloe Mastour describes isn't just evident in political disagreements. It seems to be the default position today in many areas and is particularly evident on social media. Many adopt fixed and unchangeable positions. No amount of reasoned argument can touch them. And sometimes those with opposite views, are equally fixed and unchangeable. 

Ecumenism Rules: No Titles for Mary as Coredemptrix and Mediatrix

I double post these days because of Blogger's censorship. Check out my free Substack website.

I'm reading the recent document on the Blessed Mother released by the Vatican Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith. If you haven't heard of it yet, this document crushes the movement to declare Mary Coredemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces. How low that office has fallen under its new prefect, the scandalous Cardinal Fernandez of kissing fame. 

Obviously, my expectations were not high considering the source, and it immediately became apparent why the Queen of Heaven is getting short shrift. The second paragraph of the document makes it abundantly clear what drives the dicastery: "a particular ecumenical effort." 

The Winner in Yesterday's Elections? Karl Marx!

Readers can now see my posts on Substack which is friendlier than blogger. See this post there and please subscribe. A fellow member at Substack tells me they have never censored one of his posts. The B in Blogger stands for Bigot. If they dump me altogether, meet me at Substack.

Candidates who illustrate the assassination culture of the Democrat party swept Virginia yesterday. New York and New Jersey did no better. As for California, Gavin Newsom got the green light to gerrymander the state before the midterms to secure and maintain Democrat seats at the national, state and local levels. 

What now? 

From the "Just Gotta Laugh" File

Sometimes ya just gotta laugh. I'm concerned about the advance of Islam in the U.S., but this headline from July caught my eye:

Lesbian woman's outrage against Muslim immigrants in the U.S. goes viral after Pride parade ban.

Silly woman, are you so totally ignorant of Islam that you didn't know they execute homosexuals in many countries where they rule? Poor lady feels betrayed because she helped them get all the goodies paid for by the taxpayers and this is her reward. She will no doubt be happy when they crack down on Christians, but her alphabet allies? That's a horse of a rainbow color.

The Race is On! May all the polls showing it's close in Virginia prove wrong!

 Let the true patriots win.

Winsome Sears

Jason Miyares

Advice for Election Day Tomorrow!

Censorship is Alive and Well

Well, the gurus at this platform got me again for two articles which were removed. One was about the Church and Twilight Zone. Was it this photo that initiated the censorship?

Or was it the commentary about the insanity in the German Church? Who knows? They never tell you, just drop the curtain over your posts.

If you read Blogger's guidelines, they can censor anything at all no matter how truthful, non-violent, and accurate it is. You can read their guideline policy here and note that they can turn anything into "hate speech" or "misleading content." 

This particular post got a lot of viewers coming from Canon212 which may have triggered the censorship. Did some readers of a certain persuasion complain? I'm sure they found it offensive. God forbid that we should tell the truth about intrinsic moral evils that endanger the souls of those who engage in such sins.

FreeRepublic posted the article here, so it's still on the internet. I wish I were more tech savvy. I'd switch to a different platform. I've started using substack, but things don't post the same way and I haven't learned how to use it as easily as I could use blogger. I'm one of those old dogs who has a hard time learning new tricks. 

We'll see if this post stays up. Meanwhile, anyone coming from Canon 212 or any other site that linked to the ariticle will get a not found message. 

I'd appreciate a few prayers that I can continue this little writing apostolate if it is pleasing to God and helpful to those trying to practice the faith according to the will of God.

May Jesus Christ be praised!

Is Pope Leo Francis II? The Papal Posse Addresses Tough Questions!

The Prayerful Posse offers a clear response to the confusion in the Church. I always find their discussions well reasoned, calm, and charitable. What a blessing in today's hysterical world! If you want out of the weeds of confusion, they can help.

Sunday Meditation: "Wickedness in the High Places"

I came across the phrase "wickedness in the high places" this morning while I was reading the meditation for the day in Benedictus. We're certainly seeing plenty of that these days. Earlier this week I blogged about the queer Mass in Germany aired on the diocesan website. The "presider" priest may not occupy a high place in the diocese, but his bishop does. And that Mass was, indeed, wicked and scandalous. 

Catholic Lite?

Lite foods may be fine for dieters, but does lite spiritual food really nourish the soul? Today being All Saints Day, my husband and I went to the early low Mass at the Linden Chapel. Yesterday I asked someone what time they were going to Mass on the "Holy Day of Obligation." She reminded me that it isn't a holy day because the feast fell on a Saturday and when they fall on Saturdays or Mondays the obligation is lifted.