“DID Our Lord write any part of the New Testament or command His Apostles to do so?  Our Lord Himself never wrote a line, nor is there any record that He ordered his Apostles to write; He did command them to teach and to preach. Also He to Whom all power was given in Heaven and on earth (Matt. 28-18) promised to give them the Holy Spirit (John 14-26) and to be with them Himself till the end of the world (Mat. 28-20).

“COMMENT: If reading the Bible were a necessary means of salvation, Our Lord would have made that statement and also provided the necessary means for his followers.

“How many of the Apostles or others actually wrote what is now in the New Testament?  A Few of the Apostles wrote part of Our Lord’s teachings, as they themselves expressly stated; i.e., Peter, Paul, James, John, Jude, Matthew, also Sts. Mark and Luke. None of the others wrote anything, so far as is recorded.

“COMMENT: If the Bible privately interpreted was to be a Divine rule of Faith, the apostles would have been derelict in their duty when instead, some of them adopted preaching only.

“Was it a teaching or a Bible-reading Church that Christ founded?   The Protestant Bible expressly states that Christ founded a teaching Church, which existed before any of the New Testament books were written. (more…)

FULL video here. (H/t Guide to Kulchur on Telegram)  

THE shepherds sing; and shall I silent be? My God, no hymn for thee? My soul ’s a shepherd too; a flock it feeds Of thoughts, and words, and deeds. The pasture is thy word: the streams, thy grace Enriching all the place. Shepherd and flock shall sing, and all my powers Out-sing the day-light houres. Then we will chide the sunne for letting night Take up his place and right: We sing one common Lord; wherefore he should Himself the candle hold. I will go searching, till I finde a sunne Shall stay, till we have done; A willing shiner, that shall shine as gladly, As frost-nipt sunnes look sadly. Then we will sing, shine all our own day, And one another pay: His beams shall cheer my breast, and both so twine, Till ev’n his beams sing, and my musick shine. --- from "Christmas," The Temple (1633), by George Herbert  

[Reposted]

ALAN writes:

A series of memories dating back many decades of Christmastime in St. Louis include:

The cold, pervasive, mysterious darkness that lay just beyond our living room windows on Christmas Eve nights in the 1950s and that stood in such contrast to the light, the warmth, the laughter, the conversation and the Christmas cheer that filled that room, and to the soothing voices of Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Gene Autry on the 78-rpm Christmas records I played at age five while seated on the floor;

My grandfather reacting gratefully and gracefully when he received a modest gift from one of his children; having never expected much from life and being content with the basic necessities, he appreciated even a few simple, utilitarian gifts;

The two, tall, glass-enclosed candles that stood alit on our mantel every Christmas Eve;

The big evergreen Christmas tree in Aunt Lydia’s apartment in 1955 that stood as high as the ceiling;

Christmas visits at the home of cousin Carmella and her family of six children, evenings ending invariably with Christmas cookies and milk and coffee at their kitchen table;

Being taken by my father to see the huge Christmas trees in the lobby of the Missouri Athletic Club and the German House in St. Louis in the 1950s; (more…)

 EV'RY star in heaven is singing, All through the night, Hear the glorious music ringing, All through the night. Songs of sweet ethereal lightness, Wrought in realms of peace and whiteness; See, the dark gives way to brightness, All through the night. Look, my love, the stars are smiling, All through the night. Lighting, soothing and beguiling, Earth's sombre plight: So, when age brings grief and sorrow, From each other we can borrow Faith in our sublime tomorrow, All through the night (A. G. Prys-Jones, Ar hyd y nos)  

     Link

 OBSERVE the contempt that greets black commentator Jesse Lee Peterson on the Dr. Phil Show as Peterson argues that the government is destroying fertility, especially that of whites. The decline in the white birth rate is a disaster and will not benefit other races, he claims. The white women in the audience are unperturbed by comments by the eugenicist Les Knight, who says the government should subsidize sterilization services for people in their early 2os. They glare with hatred when Peterson defends procreation.  

“WE might note here that Pius IX, who defined Mary’s Immaculate Conception, had been an epileptic. Even though he had severe seizures he was allowed to remain on at the Seminary, but was told he could never be ordained. He prayed and begged our Lady to cure him of epilepsy. For some time before the perspective ordination he had no seizures. The then Pope intervened and reluctantly allowed him to be ordained, under one condition: that he would never offer Mass alone, but would always for the rest of his life have a Priest next to him in case during Mass he would have another seizure. Now as a Priest he prayed: “Mary, no more seizures, please. Also, would you please spare me the embarrassment and inconvenience of never being allowed to offer Mass without another Priest at my side.” (more…)

"[T]HE close ties which were to unite the Son of God with Mary, and which would elicit from Him the tenderest love and the most filial reverence for her, had been present to the divine thought from all eternity: and the conclusion forces itself upon us that therefore the divine Word had for this His future Mother a love infinitely greater than that which He bore to all His other creatures." -- Dom Prosper Guéranger, "The Immaculate Conception," The Liturgical Year  

"Our own evil inclinations are far more dangerous than any external enemies." --- St. Ambrose  

CHRISTIANS FOR TRUTH reports that Amazon will not be censoring the allegedly anti-semitic documentary Hebrews to Negroes:

Jews know that the cat is out of the proverbial bag — and that everyone — from Van Morrison to mothers at PTA meetings — knows they control the media and Hollywood — and every time they try to deny it, they merely put their collective foot in their mouths and prove that they do.

Perhaps if there were as smart as they think they are, they’d stop having a meltdown every time someone says something remotely unflattering about Jews, and just ignore it or laugh it off — the way Larry David did when everyone noticed that Jews were at the center of the sexual harassment scandal in Hollywood [skip ahead to 3:45 into his monologue].

Because the more they deny the obvious, the more hostility and distrust they create for themselves — as the Jewish CEO of Amazon has clearly figured out.

By trying to destroy Kanye West — costing him billions in lost product endorsements — merely proves that Jews — uniquely — have the collective power to do so.

The grandfather of Zionism — Theodore Herzl — laid out the cold, hard facts about the Jews and their financial power: (more…)

SEE Part II here.

IT happens again and again: An uppity brat coached in supposed realism by his parents or an older sibling comes into his kindergarten class a few weeks before Christmas. He tells his classmates the brutal truth: Santa Claus does not exist. Tears, panic and existential shock ensue. Children return home to interrogate their parents. The parents are put in a difficult spot. They themselves believe Santa isn't real. So they are forced to lie or to puncture the most beautiful of fairy tales. It happens over and over again. Sensitive children feel betrayed. Brats rejoice in their power over the mystery and enchantment of Christmas. A solution to this reoccurring scenario is all too obvious. We must tell children the truth. The truth is, Santa Claus does exist. Here is his story: His name is St. Nicholas. On earth, he lived in the fourth century in a town near the Aegean Sea, in what is today Turkey. He became an orphan when very young. From an early age, he loved the Christ Child deeply. So great was his love, he wanted to help the poor and suffering always. His parents had been well off and he distributed the money he inherited to people in want. He wanted to give gifts more than anything else. He liked to give gifts at night when no one could see him because he was humble and did not want to receive any credit or…

"BEHOLD, you have heard Who He is that comes; consider now whence and to whom He comes. He comes from the heart of God the Father to the womb of a virgin mother; He comes from the highest heaven to this low earth, that we whose conversation is now on earth may have Him for our most desirable companion. For where can it be well with us without Him, and where ill if He be present; What have I in heaven, and besides Thee what do I desire upon earth? Thou art the God of my heart and the God that is my portion for ever and though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; if only thou art with me." --- Sermons of St. Bernard on Advent