Keep
your eyes open!...
September 30, 2024
(Jer
22:23) O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the cedars, how you will
be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in labor!”
ACN: Attacks on Lebanon “are affecting everybody”
CNA: As Lebanon faces increasing conflict, Christians stand firm against war
ALETEIA: Ten Things to know about the Christians in Lebanon
X: Archaeo - Histories @archeohistories
Christianity was introduced to Lebanon in 1st Century AD. Tradition
states that it was brought to Lebanon by St Peter and St Paul, and
there has been a continuous Christian presence in the country since
then.
Lebanon, then part of the Roman Empire, was one of the first places
Christianity spread to in the first century AD. Sidon, on Lebanese
coast, is mentioned in Acts (27:3). It is where St Paul (then a Roman
prisoner) was allowed ‘to go to his friends so they might provide for
his needs’, possibly indicating a very early Christian presence.
St George’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Beirut was said to have first
been built by Eusebius of Nicomedia, Bishop of Berytus (modern-day
Beirut), who died in 341 AD, although the current building is much
later. But it’s the Maronite Church that has had the biggest influence
in Lebanon and its history. In 4th Century, Maronite Christians
(followers of St Maron, an aesthetic monk from Syria) moved into
Lebanese mountains and began converting the population. Their
monasteries in Kadisha Valley are some of oldest in the world and
Maronite Church is largest Christian presence in Lebanon today.
Although part of Catholic branch of the church, it developed
independently and has a unique character. Maronite community lived for
many centuries in seclusion of Lebanese mountains, largely cut off from
Rome (and rest of church). They and other indigenous Christian
communities (Greek and Syriac Orthodox), resisted assimilation with
Arab conquerors, who moved into Levant in 7th Century, and maintained a
significant level of autonomy.
During 11th-12th Centuries, Crusaders briefly established Western
Christian rule in region. Before they were driven out by the Muslim
army, they built several churches and castles, including St John-Marc
Cathedral in Byblos, and reestablished contact with Maronite church.
Congregationalists and Presbyterian churches began to appear after
Protestant missionaries arrived in Lebanon in around 1820s, and first
Baptist congregation was founded in Beirut in 1895, but their numbers
have remained small.
More significant in terms of numbers are Armenian Christians. Many fled
to Lebanon during the Armenian Genocide in 1915, bringing with them
their unique Christian heritage. Armenians are considered to be the
world’s first Christian nation, when King Dirtad III converted to
Christianity in 301 AD. By 1926 there were 75,000 Armenians in Lebanon,
many concentrated around Beirut. Today this number has risen to around
a quarter of a million. For much of Lebanon’s history the indigenous
Christian community and larger Muslim community have lived in relative
harmony. Notable exceptions being 1860 Mount Lebanon Druze-Maronite
conflict and the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). Power-sharing
agreements between Christians and Muslims have been part of Lebanese
politics since at least 19th Century and Christians continue to play a
significant role in government and culture of Lebanon today.
Today, Christians in Lebanon face an existential crisis, as their
country increasingly has become controlled by Hezbollah terrorists who
answer to Iran, prompting a mass exodus. Over the years, Lebanese
Christians have faced multiple attacks, now they also face a new threat
in the form of a rapidly declining proportion in relation to the
Islamic element in the country. Many “unfortunately now feel like
strangers in their own home country,” Maronite priest Jad Chlouk said
in 2021. “This is negatively affecting the whole Christian community,
because it is losing most of its brightest and best, and especially its
young people, who are supposed to be the future of the Christians here.
Hence, the number of Christians in the country is decreasing day by
day, and this is badly affecting the situation and causing still more
pressure for those who remain, in a situation where they might soon
suffer from persecution.”
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
5. Some demons once came near Arsenius in his cell, and they were
troubling him. The same brothers who usually ministered to him
arrived. As they stood outside the cell, they heard him crying
aloud to the Lord, 'Lord do not leave me, though I have done nothing
good in your sight. Grant me, Lord, by your loving kindness, to
make at least the first beginnings of good.'
September 26, 2024
(Jer 31:15) Thus
saith the Lord: A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning,
and weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be
comforted for them, because they are not.
FR. KIRBY HOMILY: I Should Vote for WHO?
ALETEIA: Bishops’ pro-life month statement calls on Catholics to vote
CNA: Harris calls for end to Senate filibuster to pass ‘abortion rights’ legislation
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris this week called for an
end to the Senate procedure known as the filibuster, saying the change
should be made in order to pass federal legislation protecting access
to abortion.
In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) that aired Tuesday,
Harris said eliminating the filibuster rule — which sets a 60-vote
threshold in the Senate to advance legislation — would allow for the
passage of “protections for reproductive freedom” with votes by a
simple majority of 51 senators.
The 60-vote filibuster rule means that Democrats, who hold a slim
majority in the Senate, cannot pass legislation without some Republican
support. In order to end the filibuster rule, a procedure known as
invoking cloture, a two-thirds majority would have to agree on the rule
change, the Senate website notes.
Harris’ idea is not a new one — in 2022, as vice president, Harris said
she looked forward to casting a deciding vote to “break the
filibuster.” And as a candidate for president in 2019 when she was a
U.S. senator, she also said she would support ending the filibuster to
pass environmental legislation known as the Green New Deal, WPR
reported.
President Joe Biden, whom Harris replaced as the Democratic nominee for
2024, has called for an “exception” to the filibuster in order to
expand abortion. Before Biden took office as president, observers
warned he and Harris might move to end the filibuster, in line with
proposals already put forth by some Democrats.
Critics have warned, however, that eliminating the filibuster would
cause additional political polarization by giving the majority party in
the Senate the power to pass whatever legislation they want while
flipping that same power to the other party if they gain a majority.
Harris has made pro-abortion advocacy a major focus of her campaign,
pledging in several speeches to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law.
RELATED
TOWNHALL: Kamala Harris — the Collaborator in Chief With the Abortion Industry
FIRST THINGS: VP Nominee Tim Walz Supports the Right to Infanticide
CATHOLIC CULTURE: Why Kamala Harris is skipping the Al Smith dinner
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
3. Antony also said, 'I saw the devil's snares set all over the earth,
and I groaned and said, "What can pass through them?" I heard a
voice saying "Humility."
September 24, 2024
(Mat 26:52) Then Jesus saith to him: Put up again thy sword into its place: for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
TIMES OF ISRAEL: Lebanese health ministry raises death toll from today’s IDF airstrikes to 356
The Lebanese health ministry raises the death toll of the IDF airstrikes in Lebanon today to 356.
Another 1,246 are wounded, the ministry says.
The figures do not differentiate between members of the terror group and civilians.
The IDF says it has been striking Hezbollah sites, including homes where the terror group has been storing weapons.
It warned civilians ahead of time
to flee from buildings where Hezbollah has placed rockets, missiles,
drones, and other weapons.
AP: Lebanon sees deadliest day of conflict since 2006
Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the
southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut
in the biggest exodus since 2006. More than 1,000 people were wounded
in the strikes — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling
from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.
The death toll surpassed that of Beirut’s devastating port explosion in
2020, when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse
detonated, killing at least 218 people and wounding more than 6,000.
In a recorded message to Lebanese civilians, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to heed Israeli calls to evacuate, saying
“take this warning seriously.” The Israeli military announced it hit
some 800 targets, saying it was going after Hezbollah weapons sites.
Some strikes struck residential areas in the south and the eastern
Bekaa Valley. One hit a wooded area as far away as Byblos in central
Lebanon, more than 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the border north of
Beirut.
The military said it was expanding the airstrikes to include areas of
the valley along Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria. Hezbollah has
long had an established presence in the valley, where the group was
founded in 1982 with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
MORE: US is sending more troops to the Middle East as violence rises between Israel and Hezbollah
CNN LIVE UPDATES: https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-09-23-24-intl-hnk/
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
2. Antony said to Poemen, 'Our great work is to lay the blame for our
sins upon ourselves before God, and to expect to be tempted to our last
breath.'
September 22, 2024
(Jas 4:1-3) From
whence are wars and contentions among you? Are they not hence, from
your concupiscences, which war in your members? You covet, and have
not: you kill and envy and cannot obtain. You contend and war, and you
have not: because you ask not. You ask and receive not: because you ask
amiss, that you may consume it on your concupiscences.
YOUTUBE: Apocalyptic Warning Published by Vatican- Fr. Mark Goring, CC
VATICAN NEWS: Cardinal Zenari: In Syria, the bomb of poverty is killing hope
Cardinal Mario Zenari, a steadfast witness to Christ’s light in
Damascus and a beacon of fading hope for the Syrian people, presided
over Sunday Mass at Santa Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci where he
serves as Deacon. In his homily, and during his interactions with
parishioners afterward, he vividly described the immense suffering of a
nation worn down by over a decade of war.
“The Syrian people are exhausted,” Zenari lamented. “They struggle to
see the light of the future.” The numbers speak of a tragic reality:
500,000 lives lost, more than 7 million internally displaced, and over
5 million forced to flee to neighboring countries. According to the
United Nations, 16.7 million Syrians urgently need humanitarian
assistance, and almost 13 million face severe food insecurity.
Drawing parallels between personal suffering and collective hardship,
Zenari reflected on the crosses, both great and small, that people bear
in their lives. Yet, in Syria, he noted, the weight of these crosses is
almost unimaginable. He recalled haunting memories of past years,
particularly the image of over a million Syrians trudging through rain
and snow, fleeing violence with only what they could carry—a “Way of
the Cross stretching for miles.” He then shared another poignant
memory: a Good Friday in Homs, when bombs rained down on the city. A
sacristan, amid the destruction, asked Father Michele where to prepare
the liturgy, as even the churches lay in ruins. “Father Michele
instructed him to take a long rope, encircle the devastated
neighborhoods, and place a sign in the center reading ‘Calvary.’
Today,” the cardinal emphasized, “that rope extends far beyond Homs,
stretching for miles across the entire Middle East.”
RELATED: War, economic crisis threaten Lebanon’s Catholic schools
X: 10 of Cardinal Robert Sarah's most striking warnings to Western civilization
- “A West that denies its faith, its history, its roots, and its
identity is destined for contempt, for death, and disappearance.”
- “The West does not for an instant imagine the unlimited
consequences of its spineless cowardice with regard to its Christian
artistic history”
- "I am convinced that one of the most important tasks of the Church is to make the West rediscover the radiant face of Jesus."
- "As a bishop, it is my duty to warn the West! The barbarians are already inside the city."
- "Western civilization is in a profound state of decadence and
ruin! Like Notre-Dame cathedral, it is crumbling. It has lost its
reason for being: to show forth and lead others to God."
- “The Church is the guardian of civilization. I am convinced that
western civilization is passing at present through a mortal crisis. It
has reached the extreme of self-destructive hate.”
- "Abortion is the greatest tragedy of our time"
- “Those who deny the values of their own tradition, culture and
religion are condemned to disappear, for they have lost all their
motivation, all their energy and even all the will to fight to defend
their own identity.”
- “What happens in the United States has repercussions everywhere.
The entire globe looks to you, waiting and praying, to see what America
resolves on the pressing challenges the world faces today. Such is your
influence and responsibility.”
- “The violence against Christians is not just physical, it is also
political, ideological and cultural... Do we not see signs of this
insidious war in this great nation of the United States?”
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Humility
1. Antony was confused as he meditated upon the depths of God's
judgments, and he asked God, 'Lord, how is it that some die young and
others grow old and sick? Why are there some poor and some rich?
Why are there those who are bad and rich and oppress the good
poor?' He heard a voice saying to him, 'Antony, worry about
yourself; these other matters are up to God, and it will not do you any
good to know them.'
September 19, 2024
(Luk 1:46-49) And
Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his
handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me
blessed. Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and
holy is his name.
ALETEIA: Do Catholics need to believe in private revelations?
VATICAN NEWS: Pope Francis grants ‘Nulla Osta’ for Medjugorje
THE PILLAR: Vatican approves ‘nihil obstat’ declaration for Medjugorje
The Vatican’s
doctrine office offered a cautiously positive assessment Thursday of
alleged Marian messages emanating from Medjugorje, authorizing the
local bishop to issue a declaration of “nihil obstat” (“nothing stands
in the way”).
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith shared the judgment Sept. 19 in a 10,000-word “note,”
approved by Pope Francis at an Aug. 28 audience with the dicastery’s
prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and doctrinal section
secretary Msgr. Armando Matteo.
As Fernández and Matteo discussed
the note at a Vatican press conference, Bishop Petar Palic of
Mostar-Duvno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued a nihil obstat decree.
According to the DDF’s note, “the
nihil obstat indicates that the faithful can receive a positive
encouragement for their Christian life through this spiritual proposal,
and it authorizes public acts of devotion.”
The note said: “Evaluating the abundant and widespread fruits, which
are so beautiful and positive, does not imply that the alleged
supernatural events are declared authentic.”
“Instead, it only highlights that the Holy Spirit is acting fruitfully
for the good of the faithful ‘in the midst’ of this spiritual
phenomenon of Medjugorje. For this reason, all are invited to
appreciate and share the pastoral value of this spiritual proposal.”
“Moreover, the positive assessment that most of the messages of
Medjugorje are edifying does not imply a declaration that they have a
direct supernatural origin. Consequently, when referring to ‘messages’
from Our Lady, one should always bear in mind that they are ‘alleged
messages.’”
CNA: What has the Catholic Church said about Medjugorje? A timeline
CATHOLIC JOURNEYS: Medjugorje story – 5 Stones, Fr. Jozo, Apparitions
5 Stones or Weapons
Our Lady wants to show us through Her messages the real face of
Christianity and the path to peace. She says that we must realize that
Satan is real and that he uses us for his own ends and purposes. His
main purpose is destruction. Destruction of love, peace, faith, family,
and life. Just as God gave David 5 stones with which to defeat Goliath,
Our Lady is also giving us 5 Stones, or Weapons, that we can use to
defeat satan. They are:
- Daily Prayer (Of the Rosary)
- Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays
- Holy Mass (Eucharist)
- Daily Reading of the Bible
- Monthly Confession
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The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
15. The hermits used to say, 'From those who have not long been
converted to monastic life, God demands nothing so much as sincere
obedience.'
September 17, 2024
(Joh 14:12-13) Otherwise
believe for the very works' sake. Amen, amen, I say to you, he that
believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do: and greater
than these shall he do. Because I go to the Father: and whatsoever you
shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do: that the Father may be
glorified in the Son.
THE CATHOLIC THING: The Stigmata of St. Francis
VIA X: Historically today is the commemoration of the Imprinting of the Holy Stigmata on the Body of St. Francis.
Saint Bonaventure, biographer of Saint Francis of Assisi, wrote that
two years before his holy death he had been praying on Mount Alverno in
a solitary retreat, where he had gone to fast for forty days in honor
of the Archangel Michael. No one ever meditated more than Francis on
the Passion of his Lord. During his retreat he beheld in vision a
six-winged Seraph attached to a cross, and received at the same time a
painful wound of the heart, which seemed to transpierce it. When the
vision ended his own hands and feet bore the marks of the angelic
crucifixion which he had seen in the vision. He understood by his
vision that the soul must come to resemble Christ by the ardors of its
interior fire, rather than by any physical, exterior means.
We reproduce here a meditation of the saintly 19th century Abbot, Dom
Guéranger of Solemnes in France The Feast of the Stigmata of Saint
Francis, whom we will soon honor again on his feast of October 4th, is
not only to glorify a Saint; it commemorates and signifies something
which goes beyond the life of any single man, even one of the greatest
of the Church. The God-Man never ceases to live on in His Church, and
the reproduction of His own mysteries in this Spouse whom He wants to
be similar to Himself, is the explanation of history.
In the thirteenth century it seemed that charity, whose divine precept
many no longer heeded, concentrated in a few souls the fires which had
once sufficed to inflame multitudes. Sanctity shone as brilliantly as
ever, but the hour for the cooling of the brazier had struck for the
peoples. The Church itself says so today in its liturgy, at the
Collect: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, when the world was growing cold, You
reproduced the sacred marks of Your passion in the body of the most
blessed Francis, in order that Your love might also set our hearts
afire.’ The Spouse of Christ had already begun to experience the long
series of social defections among the nations, with their denials,
treasons, derision, slaps, spittings in the very praetorium, all of
which conclude in the legalized separation of society from its Author.
The era of the Passion is advanced; the exaltation of the Holy Cross,
which for centuries was triumphant in the eyes of the nations, acquires
in the sight of heaven, as the Angels look down upon it, the aspect of
an ever closer resemblance with the Spouse to the sufferings of her
crucified Beloved.
Saint Francis, loved today by all who know of him—and few there are who
do not—was like precious marble placed before an expert sculptor. The
Holy Spirit chose the flesh of the seraph of Assisi to express His
divine thought, thus manifesting to the world the very specific
direction He intends to give to souls thereafter. This stigmatization
offers a first example, a complete image, of the new labor the divine
Spirit is meditating—total union, on the very Cross of Christ itself,
of the mystical Body with the divine Head. Francis is the one honored
by this primacy of choice; but after him the sacred sign will be
received by others, who also personify the Church. From this time on,
the Stigmata of the Lord Jesus will be at all times visible, here and
there on this earth. (Excerpted from L’Année liturgique, by Dom Prosper
Guéranger The Time after Pentecost V”, Vol. 14, translation O.D.M.)
A CATHOLIC LIFE BLOG: Thomas of Celano, writing within a few years of St. Francis’ death in 1229 AD, described what happened:
“....the marks of nails began to
appear in his hands and feet, just as he had seen them slightly earlier
in the crucified man above him. His wrists and feet seemed to be
pierced by nails, with the heads of the nails appearing on his wrists
and on the upper sides of his feet, the points appearing on the other
side. The marks were round on the palm of each hand but elongated on
the other side, and small pieces of flesh jutting out from the rest
took on the appearance of the nail-ends, bent and driven back. In the
same way the marks of nails were impressed on his feet and projected
beyond the rest of the flesh. Moreover, his right side had a large
wound as if it had been pierced with a spear, and it often bled so that
his tunic and trousers were soaked with his sacred blood.”
Prayer:
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, when the
world was growing cold, in order to enkindle in our hearts the fire of
Thy love, didst renew the sacred makers of Thy Passion on the body of
blessed Francis: mercifully grant, that with the aid of his merits and
prayers we may ever bear our cross, and bring forth worthy fruits of
penance: Who livest and reignest.
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
13. The hermits used to say, 'God demand this of Christians: to obey
the inspired Scriptures, which contain the pattern of what they must
say and do, and agree with the teaching of the orthodox bishops and
teachers.'
September 13, 2024
(Isa 30:15) For
thus saith the Lord God the Holy One of Israel: If you return and be
quiet, you shall be saved: in silence and in hope shall your strength
be. And you would not:
CWR ARCHIVES: Learning to do nothing: The art of sacred silence
THOMAS A KEMPIS: On the Love of Solitude and Silence
ANTONIO CARDINAL BACCI: Interior Silence
1. Many people allow themselves to
be swept away in the confusion of the world around them. Modern life
has become a whirling machine which snatches men up into its enormous
rotators and carries them with it. Not only has it become difficult to
remain a Christian, but it is even difficult to continue to be a man.
We cannot cast aside the natural gifts of intellect, free will, and
personal dignity which God has given us. Still less can we renounce the
dignity of being Christians. This dignity can be retained by interior
recollection, which will be nourished by divine grace if we ask for it
and will find its external expression in good works. A man must be able
to detach himself from the din of modern life and spend an occasional
moment in recollection. No matter what is going on around him he must
be able to find time to raise his mind to God. Otherwise he will
realise one day that life has passed him by like a cloud, or, worse
still, like a lost battle. We shall not be tormented with useless
regrets on our deathbed if we think about this now.
2. God speaks readily when our souls are silent. He cannot be heard in
the noise of the world. But we do not have to abandon our normal way of
life in order to find a little interior recollection. It is enough to
pause for a moment and remember God's presence. Once we have formed the
habit of doing this, it becomes quite easy at any time and in any
place. We may be walking along the street or in the middle of our work.
We may be in a room full of people chatting together. Wherever we are,
we shall be able to pause and raise our minds to God. If we acquire
this habit, we can lead peaceful lives on a completely supernatural
level.
3. It is much easier to recollect ourselves in the Church in front of
the altar. For this reason one could not sufficiently recommend a visit
to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament every morning before going to work
and every evening before going to bed.
The ideal is always daily Mass and Holy Communion. This will be tiring
and may be inconvenient. But God is infinitely good and will handsomely
reward us for anything we do out of love for Him or for our own
spiritual welfare.
CARDINAL ROBERT SARAH:
The one who keeps vigil at night goes out of himself, the better to
find God. The silence of night is the most capable of crushing all the
dictatorships of noise. When darkness descends upon the earth, the
asceticism of silence can acquire more luminous dimensions. The words
of the Psalmist are final: “In the night. . . I think of God, and I
moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints. You keep my eyelids from
closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of
old, I remember the years long ago. I commune with my heart in the
night; I meditate and search my spirit” (Ps 77:2-6).
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
11. Hyperichius said, 'The monk's service is obedience. He who has this
shall have his prayers answered, and shall stand by the Crucified in
confident faith. For that was how the Lord went to his cross, being
made obedient even unto death' (cf. Phil 2:8).
September 10, 2024
(1Co
6:9-11) Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor
adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy
nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the Kingdom of
God. That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had
yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
NCR: Harris Leads Trump Among Catholic Voters, Per EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research Poll
CRISIS MAGAZINE: A Pre-Debate Huddle
CATHOLIC VOTE: Harris releases full policy platform one day before debate with Trump
During the early hours of Monday morning, the campaign of Democratic
presidential nominee Kamala Harris and vice-presidential nominee Tim
Walz posted a full policy platform to its website.
The release of Harris’ platform, titled “A New Way Forward,” came one
day before Harris is set to square off with Republican presidential
nominee Donald Trump in a Tuesday night debate. The online platform was
unveiled 50 days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and
endorsed Harris and 34 days after she selected Walz, the governor of
Minnesota, to be her running mate.
The new “issues” page of the Harris-Walz campaign website states that
the ticket is “fighting for a New Way Forward that protects our
fundamental freedoms, strengthens our democracy, and ensures every
person has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead.”
In the second section of its platform, the Harris-Walz camp vows that
it will safeguard “fundamental freedoms,” including “the freedom to
make your own decisions about your own body without government
interference; the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride;
and … the freedom to vote.” The platform clarifies that Harris would
sign a hypothetical bill passed by Congress “to restore reproductive
freedom nationwide.” “Reproductive freedom” is a euphemism for abortion
widely used by the modern Democratic Party.
“A New Way Forward” continues by highlighting the fact that Harris had
“officiated some of the nation’s first same-sex marriages” and “refused
to defend” Proposition 8 as attorney general of California.
Proposition 8 was a 2008 ballot initiative approved by 52% of
California’s voters that affirmed the traditional definition of
marriage in the state.
FR. RIPPERGER: Consecration of the Election to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary Immaculate, living tabernacle of the Divinity, where the eternal
Wisdom lies hidden to be adored and served by angels and men, Queen of
heaven and of earth, beneath whose sway are subject all things that are
lower than God, Patroness of the United States of America, sorrowful
and mindful of our own sinfulness and the sins of our nation, we come
to thee, our refuge and hope.
Knowing that our country cannot be saved by our own works and mindful
of how much our nation has departed from the ways of thy Son, we humbly
ask that thou wouldst turn thine eyes upon our country to bring about
its conversion. We consecrate to thee the integrity of the upcoming
election and its outcome, so that what is spiritually and morally best
for the citizens of our country may be accomplished, and that all of
those who are elected would govern according to the spiritual and moral
principles which will bring our nation into conformity with the
teachings of thy Son. Give grace to the citizens of this land so that
they will choose leaders according to the Sacred Heart of thy Son, that
His glory may be made manifest, lest we be given the leaders we
deserve.
Trusting in the providential care of God the Father and thy maternal
care, we have perfect confidence that thou wilst take care of us and
will not leave us forsaken. O Mary Immaculate, pray for us. Amen
The
Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
10. She also said, 'We ought to behave always with discretion and
remain in the community, not following our own will, nor seeking our
own good. Like exiles we have benn separated from the things of the
world and have given ourselves in faith to the one Father. We need
nothing of what we have left behind. There we had reputation and plenty
to eat; here we have little to eat an not much of anything else.'
September 8, 2024
(Mat 1:22-23) Now
all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by
the prophet, saying: Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us.
THE CATHOLIC THING: The Birth of Mary by Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas
VIA NIGERIA: Hurrah! It’s Blessed Virgin Mary’s birthday
A MOMENT WITH MARY: Mary's birth is a sure sign of new times
A less solemn feast than the
Assumption, the Nativity of Mary is joyfully celebrated by Christians,
like the birth of John the Baptist. Both births herald the dawn of
salvation. In the liturgy, Mary's birth and her future divine maternity
are connected.
The Church of Jerusalem was the first to honor the memory of the
Nativity of the Mother of God, with a feast that Rome probably adopted
towards the end of the 7th century, when Pope Sergius I endowed it with
a procession.
Mary's birth is a sure sign of the
new times. The Old Testament comes to an end, and finds its fulfillment
in a new and eternal pact that God makes with mankind.
Joy is the keynote of this feast. All generations call her blessed,
this Virgin who bore the Son of the eternal Father. This feast is also
celebrated by Eastern Churches.
EXCERT COMMENTARY: In
any case it is Our Lord Himself – in complete control of coming world
events and allowing the calamities only for our own greater good – who
has told us that to reward His Mother for the special part She has
played in the saving of souls, especially in modern times, He wants it
to be the Immaculate Heart of Mary which will take the credit among men
for the eventual rescue of mankind from its present dire straits. For
indeed mankind will be rescued in the Triumph of Our Lady’s Immaculate
Heart, a brief Golden Age for the Church, following on the
Chastisement, and constituting the greatest world-wide victory of Our
Lord’s Church in all its history. Then sin will return, with the
run-down to the Antichrist and to the fiercest persecution of
Christians, generating some of the greatest Saints in all Church
history.
Into this cosmic drama preceding the end of the world fits Our Lady as
its queen and our guide, as appointed by Her Divine Son Himself. At
Akita half a century ago, She did warn us, like a good mother, of “fire
falling from Heaven which will eliminate a large part of mankind, both
the good and the bad, sparing neither priests nor laity, and leaving
survivors so desolate that they will envy the dead. At that moment you
will have two weapons left: the Rosary, and the sign left by My Son (It
is not yet certain in what that sign consists). Pray the Rosary for the
Pope, for bishops and priests.”
The
Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Obedience
9. Syncletica said, 'It seems to me that for those who live in
monasteries obedience is a higher virtue than chastity, however
perfect. Chastity is in danger of pride, obedience has the promise of
humility.'
September 6, 2024
(1Co
15:51-53) Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall all indeed rise again:
but we shall not all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound and the dead
shall rise again incorruptible. And we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption: and this mortal must put on
immortality.
YOUTUBE: Tell Your Children This INCORRUPT BODY Story - Fr. Mark Goring, CC
CNA: St. Teresa of Ávila’s body remains incorrupt after almost 5 centuries
ORTHODOX SOURCE: The Incorrupt Left Hand of St. Mary Magdalene
Among the many holy relics of
Simonopetra Monastery on Mount Athos is the left hand of the
Myrrh-bearing woman, St. Mary Magdalene. It is the most sacred treasure
of Simonopetra. This hand is incorrupt, exudes a beautiful heavenly
fragrance, gives off a bodily warmth as if it is still living, and
works many miracles. Because of these many miracles, St. Mary Magdalene
is held with great reverence by the monks of Simonopetra, who consider
her to be the second foundress of the Holy Monastery. Below is an
example of the grace which issues forth from this holy relic:
In 1945 a great
fire took place in the forests of the Holy Monastery of Iveron. The
wind was very strong so thatwithin a few hours the fire reached the
ridge bordering the monasteries of Iveron, Philotheou, Xeropotamou and
eventhe forest of Simonopetra. Everyone believed the forests would be
destroyed. The monks of Simonopetra ran to the forest where the fire
was. Two pious hieromonks named Neophytos and Panteleimon took with
them the holy relic of St. Mary Magdalene. None of the monks dared
approach the fire, lest they be encircled and unable to escape.
However, asthe two brothers approached the fire with the holy relic,
the fire was held back. The priests began a Holy Water Service then
chanted a Supplication Service to St. Mary Magdalene. By the time the
services were done, the fire was completely extinguished, to the great
wonder of the fathers who were all gathered there as witnesses.
AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE: The Incorrupt Corpse Of George Calciu
Not every saint’s body is incorrupt, but every incorrupt body (it is
believed) belongs to a saint. To be clear, you didn’t need to see an
incorrupt body to know that Father George was a holy man. He suffered
unimaginable horrors for the faith at the hands of Ceaucescu.
VIA FIRST THINGS:
Fr. George’s
faith was more mature and well formed than during his first
imprisonment, and this time, despite beatings, torture, and
deprivation, he did not break. At one point, he was so exhausted from
unremitting interrogation that he could not even recall the Lord’s
Prayer. “Then I remembered that there is a prayer to Jesus Christ:
‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.’ . . . I was no
longer scared . . . and I was able to resist.”
He spent years in solitary. He knew nothing of his family, and they,
nothing of him. One night, Fr. George heard the joyful peal of many
church bells: It was Easter. Early the next morning, the worst guard in
the prison—who delighted in torture—entered the priest’s cell. He
should have turned his face to the wall. Instead, Fr. George looked his
tormenter boldly in the eye and proclaimed, “Christ is risen!” Rather
than delivering a blow, the guard paused, and blurted out, “In Truth He
is Risen!” and nervously backed out of the cell.
That was when Fr. George experienced a vision of what Orthodox theology calls the Uncreated Light:
He shut the door and I was petrified, because of what he had said. And
little by little, I saw myself full of Light. The board against the
wall was shining like the sun; everything in my cell was full of light.
I cannot explain in words the happiness that invaded me then. I can
explain nothing. It simply happened. I have no merit.
When Fr. George was put in a cell with two criminals ordered to murder
him, he instead converted them to Christ. By this time, Ceauescu was
under pressure from Western leaders to not harm the dissenting priest.
As a consequence, he was released to house arrest in 1984, and the next
year exiled to America where he spent the rest of his life in freedom.
Fr. Calciu lived what he preached. He did not hate his persecutors.
Rather, he prayed for them daily and trusted in God’s mercy for their
salvation. He also found joy. In her introduction to the book,
Frederica Mathewes-Green, one of Calciu’s spiritual children writes of
Fr. Calciu, “He had a beaming smile. He was often amused by life, and
ready to laugh. . . . Fr. George was joyful. . . . He was naturally
affectionate, and would hold my hand or anyone’s . . . just beaming
with a radiant smile.”
The important thing is not this apparent miracle involving the
preservation of Father George’s body. The important thing is what this
miracle points to, which is the life he led, and the One for whom he
led it.
The
Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Hospitality
8. A hermit who was very holy lived near to a community of monks. Some
visitors to the community happened to go to see him and made him eat,
though it was not the proper time. Later the monks of the community
said to him, 'Weren't you upset, abba? He answered, "I am upset when I
do my own will.'
September 4, 2024
(Rev 17:12-14) And
the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have not yet
received a kingdom: but shall receive power as kings, one hour after
the beast. These have one design: and their strength and power they
shall deliver to the beast. These shall fight with the Lamb. And the
Lamb shall overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings:
and they that are with him are called and elect and faithful.
BLOG: The Universal Call to Holiness as a “Politics” for Our Time
CRISIS MAGAZINE: Getting Our Spiritual Foundations Right
X: The Actual "New World Order"
COMMENTARY: Evil Globalism
If enemies of God so seem to prevail, It’s only because His friends, in praying, fail.
In his book, now censored,
“Conspirators’ Hierarchy: the Story of the Committee of 300,” Dr. John
Coleman (born 1940), who has long studied the criminal rulers of the
modern world, presented a list of 20 means by which they mean to force
upon the world their New World Order. The interest for Catholics is to
recognise, if they have not yet done so, just how criminal are our real
rulers today, who control our puppet governors but are themselves
hidden from public view. Catholics must realise with what cunning and
co-ordination the globalists operate, and how close they are to
achieving their totally godless aims. God will not let them finally
conquer, but He will let them put us through the severe trial which
they show that we deserve –
1. To erect a One World Government with a single Church and a single money-system, under their control.
2. To destroy completely all sense
of national identity and pride in one’s nation, since only so will men
accept a World-Government above all nations.
3. To destroy all religion, especially the Christian religion, with one exception: their own new “religion.”
4. To establish thought control techniques so as to create human robots controlled from outside.
5. To stop all industrialisation,
except for the computer and service sectors. What is needed is a
“Post-industrial no-growth society.” Industry needed can be outsourced
to inexpensive Third World countries.
6. To promote the consumption, even
legalisation of drugs, and to turn pornography into an art form, so as
to make it widely accepted and even seen as normal.
7. To depopulate big cities, on the model of the Pol Pot massacres in Cambodia.
8. To suppress all scientific development, unless it serves the purposes of the globalists.
9. To bring about the death of 3
billion people by 2050 either through “limited local wars” in the
developed countries, or through hunger and sickness in the undeveloped
countries. For instance, the US population must be brought down to 100
million by 2050.
10. To weaken the morals of the
people and further demoralise the working classes by unemployment.
Youth must be encouraged by means of drugs and wild music to rebel
against the status quo, which will lead also to the weakening and
dissolution of the family.
11. To make people unused to
deciding their own fate by exposing them to one crisis after another.
People must feel so overwhelmed by the decisions needed to decide their
own fate, that they become apathetic.
12. To introduce new religious cults, and to promote the cults already existing.
13. To promote Christian
Fundamentalism, which sees the Zionist State of Israel as “God’s Chosen
Race,” so that Israel gets support with, amongst other things, huge
sums of money.
14. To push for the spread of
extreme religious sects like the Muslim-Brotherhood and the Sikhs and
to perform thought-control experiments, as Jim Jones did in his death
camp in Jonestown in 1978.
15. To bring about a collapse of the world economy, and therewith total political chaos.
16. To take control of all national and international policies of the USA.
17. To give the greatest support to
Supranational Institutions like the UN, IMF, the Bank of International
Settlements in Basel, the International Court in The Hague, while
national institutions are weakened.
18. To infiltrate and take over all governments, so as to dissolve the supreme rights of each single nation.
19. To create an international terrorism, and to negotiate with any terrorists who have actually acted.
20. To take control of all educational institutions in the USA, so as to ruin them completely.
The
Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Hospitality
7. A brother came to a hermit: and as he was taking his leave, he said,
'Forgive me, abba, for preventing you from keeping your rule.' The
hermit answered, 'My rule is to welcome you with hospitality, and to
send you on your way in peace.'
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