A FEW WORDS from Fish Eaters: "Though most Protestants -- and far too many Catholics -- see this time of year as a part of the 'Christmas Season,' it isn't; the Christmas season does not begin until the first Mass at Christmas Eve, and doesn't end liturgically until the Octave of the Epiphany on January 14. It goes on in the spiritual sense until Candlemas on February 2, when all celebrations of Christ's Childhood give way to Septuagesima and Lent. "The mood of this season is one of somber spiritual preparation that increases in joy with each day, and the gaudy 'Christmas' commercialism that surrounds it in the Western world should be overcome as much as possible. The singing of Christmas carols (which comes earlier and earlier each year), the talk of 'Christmas' as a present reality, the decorated trees and the parties -- these things are 'out of season' for Catholics; we should strive to keep the Seasons of Advent holy and penitential, always remembering, as they say, that 'He is the reason for the Season.'" We prepare for His second coming too, now more than ever since we are living in the Great Apostasy and are bereft of faithful churches: At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the…

“TODAY, the most progressive lands in America remain the regions firmly steeped in Puritan lore, tradition, and history, or the regions that were settled by New England Puritan diaspora (the West Coast).

“The Puritan’s DNA is rooted in restless iconoclasm, reform, and protest.  It is the only trinity Puritanism ever knew, and it remains the only trinity known to all the descendants and inheritors – consciously and unconsciously – of puritanism today.  After all, it is only in Puritan and Calvinist countries where iconoclasm still manifests itself today.  It is precisely modern secularism’s revolutionary, iconoclastic, utopian, and progressive spirit as to why most sociologists and philosophers see secularism as ‘the preservation of certain Biblical habits and ideas even after the atrophy of Biblical faith.’ Alan Simpson’s 1954 article captured the essence of Puritanism in its title: Saints in Arms: English Puritanism as Political Utopianism. The Puritans may be dead, but their soul is still marching on.”

— Hesiod’s Corner, “Puritanism and the Utopian State of Mind” (more…)

"NOW, why is it that the riches and pleasures of this world cannot make us happy? It is because the soul was not created by and for them, but by God for himself. It is God who made our heart, and he made it for himself. When man first came forth from the hand of God, his heart turned to God naturally, and he loved creatures only as loving keepsakes of God. But sin and death came into the world. The heart of man was defiled and degraded. He turned away from the pure and holy love of God, and sought for love and happiness amid creatures. But our heart seeks in vain among creatures. Our heart is small indeed, but its love is infinite. It can find rest only in God. Whatever we love out of God brings only pain and bitter disappointment. "A thing is made better only by that which is better than the thing itself. Inferior beings can never make superior beings better. The soul, being immortal, is superior to all earthly things. Earthly things, then, cannot make the soul better. God alone is the soul's supreme goodness and happiness. He who possesses God is at rest. The more closely we are united with God in this  life, the more contentment of mind, and the greater happiness of soul we shall enjoy," -- Fr. Michael Mueller, The Church and Her Enemies, 1880  

MY God, I give Thee thanks for what Thou givest, and for what Thou takest away; Thy will be done. Indulgence of 300 days (Pius X, 1906) The Raccolta  

A READER writes: Just also to let you know how I came across your website originally. I’m Catholic and used to follow a wide number of blogs concerning Church issues between, say, 2010 and 2015, and yours popped up along the way, recommended by others. I’ve always been eager to hear your opinion on many matters, even where we might differ slightly, because you’re unafraid to stand firm on what you believe, regardless of the opinions of others, and that’s so good! Also, whilst having a terrible time personally in 2015 and beginning to understand the nature of sociopathic behaviour in individual people and systems of power (especially in the Church), I one day saw your re-posting of a video of interviews of New York firemen during 9/11 (I think the video may have been connected with Architects and Engineers for 911 Truth) and that changed everything for me. It really did! You posted the video with a disclaimer saying that you didn’t want to be dragged into this ‘conspiracy’ nonsense but that the video itself presented something which indicated an enormous scandal, a lie which had been told to us for so long that we simply had to acknowledge it to get our proper bearing of who really held the reins of power. I thank you for that because this sort of knowledge can change and yes, ultimately save lives in this era.  

YEARS AGO, on the day before Thanksgiving, my husband put a load of wet clothes in the dryer at my parents' house. He turned the dryer on and left the room. Three freshly-baked pies -- pumpkin, apple and pecan -- sat on top of the dryer. He didn't really notice. About 15 minutes later, the pies were jostled by the vibrations of the dryer and they slid to the floor with a crash. Fortunately, my mother was in a good mood. How could she not be? The black coffee my husband had spilled on her cream-colored carpet was no longer visible (after frantic scrubbing and dabbing) --- and she had a new grandson. She picked up the smashed pies and put them back together. Happy Thanksgiving! I hope the things that go right --- and the things that go wrong -- on this Thanksgiving Day make you grateful for what is simple and true. This recording of Johann Sebastien Bach’s cantata, Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, sung here by the Monteverdi Choir was made in the Abbaye d’Ambronay in France in 2000. The English Baroque Soloists are conducted by John Eliot Gardner. Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, und das ist der Weg, dass ich ihm zeige das Heil Gottes. (Psalm 50, 23) Who thanks giveth, he praiseth me, and this is the way that I shall show to him God’s healing.  

IN “The Richest Man in the World,” a very, very long article at The Unz Review, Larry Romanoff makes the point that famous billionaires like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Elon Musk are merely figureheads and front men, created through extensive planning by those whose wealth vastly exceeds theirs. This is unquestionably true.

From the article:

Looting Americans 1975 to 2022

The situation is not different with the 2008 financial meltdown in the US. We had clearly deliberate attempts to inflate the housing market to almost atmospheric levels, with nearly zero interest rates and the removal of all restrictions and requirements – to the point where unemployed homeless people were buying $500,000 homes. This was again done with the full cooperation of the FED. Then, they simply collapsed the bubble, resulting in tens of millions of foreclosures. And again, when the blood was running in the streets, firms like Blackrock and their ilk were busy buying up these foreclosed homes at perhaps half price, as rental properties – often, to the same people who lost them. There is no accurate record of the total purchases, but the buying was almost frenzied. At one point, one agent in Florida for one “investment firm” alone, was bidding on more than 200 homes per week. With even conservative estimates, the transfer of housing assets alone from the American middle class to these same few people, would have been $7 or $8 trillion, all within two or three years. (more…)

ALAN writes:

Much of our lives in the 1950s took place in the city block where we lived in south St. Louis.

I had three girlfriends. One of them lived in a house on the corner of our block.  Another corner was occupied by a grocery store, and there was a tavern on a third corner. Our church and my school were across the street from the corner market. At age 5, my world was largely bounded by those outposts.

On some days during kindergarten and first grade, the Catholic nuns allowed pupils to purchase penny candy and soft pretzels from cardboard boxes in our classroom.

I remember the vivid colors — red, blue, silver, purple, green, and black — on 78-rpm records of Big Band music that my mother kept from the 1940s and allowed me to play if I didn’t break too many of them. In 1953 my aunts and uncles teased me about my fondness for Patti Page’s recording “(How Much is That) Doggie in the Window?”  At age 3, I was appalled:  There they were — my own family — poking fun at my dead-serious concern for that little puppy. (more…)

"TO find ourselves forgotten on earth by those whom we love and who have loved us is a cruel trial – but to find ourselves in Purgatory – forgotten by all whom we loved and helped on earth must be a most painful sorrow." Prayer: Our father, three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis O my God, infinitely just, hear our prayers in reparation for the souls suffering in Purgatory for want of charity. Release them from their pains that they may evermore praise Thee and intercede at Thy Judgment Seat for us at the hour of our death. Source  

FOR A LONG TIME, I have felt like a billionaire trapped in a middle class person's body. This psychological condition is so intractable, it must be innate. It has caused me acute distress, especially lately because I need a billion dollars so that I can give it all away to people I know could really use it. I could make a big difference if I had those bucks. I just have this feeling. This inescapable feeling. I'm a billionaire, or maybe just a millionaire, but society refuses to recognize me as such. Yesterday, I was so surprised at the bill at the grocery store that I was overcome by a dysphoric attack of great intensity. I was trapped in a social construct -- an economic identity assigned at birth without my consent. The bank refuses to recognize me as a billionaire. Car dealers, utility companies, the construction industry -- they all refuse to see the truth. That's discrimination. Just because I don't have millions doesn't mean that inside, where it really counts, I'm not loaded. No foundations or organized psychologists are out there to help people like me transition to the super rich. The world is a cruel place. I know a man who lives in a tiny mobile home, all because he is an unrecognized billionaire. His suffering is totally ignored. Maybe those who share the same disorder can someday organize. We should make our plight known because as things stand…

IN A CEMETERY, the dead own a bit of real estate. Each plot is, you might say, a little home. The tombstone says something solid and important exists here. The bereaved visit the dead in a realm set apart from the hectic world. One remembers at the grave the face and the living personality. One's thoughts are drawn to eternity. Fortunately, praying for the dead is a two-way street. What one gives, one gets back. The cemetery is an ancient institution -- so ancient we take it for granted. But more and more, the dignity and reverence it accords the dead are condemned. The cemetery is guilty of elitism, environmental wastefulness, extravagance and other Marxist sins. Five states in response have already legalized a new practice for disposing of the dead: human composting. There is a pseudo-scientific name for every new form of dehumanization and in this case it's Natural Organic Reduction. This is the wave of the future -- the environmentally correct mass grave. In NOR, the body is reduced to dirt by the application of voracious microorganisms and through rotation in straw, woodchips and dirt -- as you would turn the eggshells and tea leaves in your backyard compost pile with a pitchfork. It takes about six weeks and creates enough dirt to fill a pick-up truck, about 800 pounds in all. That's a lot more to dispose of than cremated ashes because the body needs to be…

pic.twitter.com/swNZyEd3L0 — BIPOC Doing Racism (@BIPOCracism) October 30, 2022

VIDEO link  

  These videos can be found here and here  

"A disgusting example or what Scottish academia has become. "Children are convinced that the planets woes are caused not just by co2, but by the white man's c02. Convinced to advocate for concepts such as climate justice, are taught about racism and revisionist history but above all else, are totally indoctrinated." ResistingTheyLies  

DE PROFUNDIS. Out of the Depths. (Psalm 129 in the Vulgate; Psalm 130 in the Hebrew.) "Out of the Depths". Out of the depths, I have cried to You, O Lord: Lord hear my voice. Let Your ears be attentive, to the voice of my supplication. If You, O Lord, will mark iniquities; Lord, who shall stand it? For with You there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of Your law, I have waited for You, O Lord. My soul has relied on His word: my soul has hoped in the Lord. From the morning-watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord. Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with Him plentiful redemption. And He shall redeem Israel, from all his iniquities. V. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord. R. And let perpetual light shine upon them. V. From the gate of hell. R. Deliver their souls, O Lord. V. May they rest in peace. R. Amen. V. O Lord, hear my prayer. R. And let my cry come unto You. V. The Lord be with you. R. And with your Spirit. (Indulgence of 50 days, three times a day, to all who say the De Profundis with the VERSICLE and RESPONSE. "Requiem aeternam (Eternal Rest)." Leo XIII., February 3, 1888.)  

STEPHEN I. writes: Your quotation on sweeping reminded me of that marvellous scene in the film Chariots of Fire where a character observes that: "You can praise God by peeling a potato if you peel it to perfection ..."  I am reminded of one of my favorite biblical admonitions: "Be still and know that I am God" Perhaps God wishes simplicity for us because it's in the simple physical actions, focused only on what is before us or in our hands, that we can quiet our minds and tune out the everyday assaults from the outside, as well as from within in the form of our very own static: our constant plannings, plottings, worrying, desiring, fearing and all the other vanities and distractions. This Catholic faith is so very unlike any belief system that came before it, no? A perfect God that creates an imperfect humanity and loves it; perfection that doesn't just assume the guise of humanity but actually becomes incarnate, becoming weak flesh born to simple, powerless people and living humbly amongst them. With each passing day I become more convinced that truth and the surest path to dignity is only really to be found in the simple and unassuming elements of life. How strange that a perfect and omnipotent God has designed us and the world in such a way so that to be most fulfilled and come to best know him we need only embrace the…