I'm fascinated by words and as I thought about the steadiness of the candle flame I wondered where the word came from and about it's meaning. I got this from an etymology site:
steady(adj.)1520s, "firmly fixed in place or station" (displacing earlier steadfast, which came to be used of persons and characters), from stead + adjectival suffix -y (2), perhaps on model of Middle Dutch, Middle Low German stadig.
We weren't alone. A young man motorcycling through Virginia on the way to visit his mom in Maryland was also enjoying the view. We had a lovely conversation and I've been praying for him.
As a professional working with the increasing population of estranged parents, I had created a training to illuminate this popular movement and its emotional impact. The reality that many of the current estrangements were seeded and rooted in therapy rooms compelled me to create space for deeper understanding. Instead, I was met with vitriol and hostility on a professional platform—an intensity that stunned me. Only later did I realize that many of the keyboard screamers were themselves estranged. My words had tapped into their stories and threatened their perceived peace.
There was a time when I totally trusted Phil Lawler's take on things. I read several of his books with pen in hand and made margin notes to return to later. A trusted source, he was my regular go-to source as I slogged along in the Church crisis. So I was truly disappointed in his recent articles on the SSPX situation and upcoming consecrations. I was staggered when he said there was no state of necessity since it's up to Rome to make that decision. Really? If I see a child about to run into the street and be hit by a car, I'm not waiting for a policeman to tell me I can jaywalk. I also disagree with Lawler's interpretation of Fr. Pagliarani's statement that “In an ordinary parish, the faithful no longer find the necessary means to ensure their eternal salvation.” Perhaps that statement was overbroad, but certainly not untrue.
Let's start here with a few syllogisms of logic:
Have you ever had a good friend who ditched you after a disagreement? In these days of TDS and disputes over religion, it seems pretty common. I still mourn over some lost friends. I pray for one who died years ago. I'm confident she and I will be friends again worshiping together before the throne of God. Until that day, I think of her kindly and pray for the repose of her soul and our happy reunion.
Happy Mothers Day to all my daughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, all Mother Superiors of religious orders, and all grandmothers and great grandmothers. I especially wish a Happy Mother's Day to all you women who, although not biological mothers, serve in a motherly role to your relatives and friends and all the children you know. Every woman has a mother's heart if she nurtures her gift and looks for those who need it. This is not a day that excludes any woman at all, but recognizes the grace of motherliness which all women possess. Thank a mom today, your own or someone who treated you like her precious child. And don't forget, above all, to thank our heavenly mother Mary.
O Mary, Queen of heaven and earth and Mother of the Church, pray for us.
It isn't easy these days under the tyranny of Governor Abigail Spanberger to find much light in Virginia. But yesterday the Supreme Court of Virginia set off some colorful fireworks. The judges declared that the redistricting election was unconstitutional, since the Democrats violated procedural rules for amending the state constitution. The Democrats immediately made plans to appeal to the Supreme Court based on the dissenting opinion of Judge Cleo Powell. You can read the decision and dissent here. It was close, four to three, like the vote on the amendment itself which squeaked through. But the wording of the amendment was a lie and a fraud:
In 1972 Brian Moore wrote a short novel titled Catholics about a remote abbey on an island off the coast of Ireland. [online here] It's the year 2000 and the monks continue to offer the Latin Mass after Vatican II and even after Vatican IV. The Protestants have long been acclimated to the new Church and the new faith. The move now is to incorporate the Buddhists and a conference is scheduled in which the head of the order is participating.
The monks have become an embarrassment and stumbling block to the new church. Ever since a television crew televised the Mass thousands of Catholics from all over the world flock to the liturgy offered on the mainland. The crisis comes when the head of the order in Rome sends a young priest to examine the abbey and order the monks to immediately adopt the new mass. There are no more private confessions. No one is required to believe that the bread and wine really become the Body and Blood of Christ at the consecration. No clergy are allowed to resist. They are ordered to conform.
He was the son of John Shakespeare, a recusant who kept the faith, a local low-level politician who resigned his office rather than take the oath of supremacy. His son William's missing years were probably spent being educated on the continent which explains his broad knowledge of Italy, particularly Venice. Another indication of his Catholicism was his ownership of a house in London used for secret Masses. It was exposed when a floor collapsed under the weight of several hundred Catholics hearing the Mass. [Brief article on Shakespeare's Catholicism.]
In the old calendar, today is the feast of Pope St. Pius V, a courageous reformer. He put into Catholic practice many of the reforms of the Council of Trent. His holiness was obvious to the flock he served. An interesting bit of trivia relates to his impact on publishing and printing. He ordered that all books have the author and publisher announced on a title page. Prior to that many printers omitted the authors and their own responsibility for the book. Think of that the next time you look to see the publisher of a book and the date it was printed. I did that just yesterday with two books by Walker Percy to see which one was published first.
Papolatry refers to the excessive reverence or worship of the pope. It is derived from the combination of "papa," meaning pope, and "latry," which denotes worship or adoration.
Really! Yes, some Catholics put the pope right up there with Jesus Christ, the head of the Church. After all, since the pope is the "visible" head of the Church, he must be a saint who never gets anything wrong. Right?
Poor Wheeling-Charleston, a diocese that covers the entire state of West Virginia! What has Pope Leo done to you, conservative state that cooperates with ICE? He's named a bishop committed to the illegal invasion as your spiritual father. In fact, the bishop is himself an illegal invader who's never apologized for or repented of his own criminal entry into the country. Let's face it, most of those who enter illegally claim a right to be here and a right to help themselves to the wallets of citizens. Hospitals closing and schools overwhelmed? Citizens victimized by criminals? No problemo for the leftist thugs.
During my middle school years, my parents rented a lovely home on Juniper Lane in Falls Church, Virginia. The street got its name from an enormous Juniper tree that occupied a plot along the road. I think it was in the center and the road went around it on both sides, but that memory may not be accurate. At any rate, it was an impressive sight! Much more than the picture above.
Our SSPX community in Linden, VA recently started a website that is now online. I invite and encourage you to visit virtually and then join us for Sunday Mass if you live in the area or are visiting. If you've never been to a Traditional Latin Mass it will no doubt seem a little uncomfortable at first. What's going on? Why is the priest doing that? Where am I in the book?
If the Society and priests who minister to me are about to be declared schismatic and excommunicated, I want to know the rationale and justification for their consecrating bishops without a papal mandate. Canon law 1387 from the 1983 revised code of 1917 says this about those consecrations:
Can. 1387 Both the Bishop who, without a pontifical mandate, consecrates a person a Bishop, and the one who receives the consecration from him, incur a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. [For anyone who wants to read the law, the entire 1983 code is online here.]
