H.F. writes:

I’m responding to the posts “Clueless Women” and “The Woman as Helpmate.”

To an outsider I look like another clueless woman. My life revolves around studying to become a doctor, often at the expense of spiritual life, time with family, and friendships. Yet I deeply desire to be a mother and helpmate. I’m 22.

Why, then, do I waste my youth poring over textbooks rather than trying to start a family?

I was raised without religion but joined the Church as an adult, to my parents’ disappointment and embarrassment. During my childhood both my parents worked full-time, so I saw little of them. They’ve spent many thousands of dollars on my education. Earning a professional degree is expected of me.

In college I told my parents about my longing to be a housewife. They laughed and said that no man would want a freeloader. They can’t fathom forgoing an income. I tell them that I’ll marry only a Catholic man, or a man willing to convert. They laugh and say that I’m being unreasonable and inflexible, that I can’t expect a man to convert just for marriage. They view marriage as an optimal financial plan rather than as a sacrament. Although they promise to help me find a husband, I have little confidence in their ability to judge virtue, so I can’t rely on my parents for help. While I’ve tried earnestly to meet a virtuous young man, a good man is hard to find. The best men I know are becoming priests.

But the above doesn’t explain why I’ve chosen such a long, grueling educational path. I should be clear: the decision was mine, not my parents’. Prayer illuminated to me that being a doctor is my life’s calling. Based on my personal strengths and interests, medicine is the best way for me to obey Christ’s commands. In fact, I feel that God has called me to be a physician more strongly than He has called me to be a wife and mother.

I understand that medicine isn’t like any other profession. At minimum, it requires substantial time and attention. Being a good doctor and being a good mother are probably mutually exclusive. If I have children, I want to do things right. For instance, I would homeschool my children. Telemedicine is growing in demand, so as a doctor I could work from home while teaching my children, but the quality of the patient care would likely be diminished. (more…)

ROBERT FAURISSON, the famous French scholar and literature professor who researched official accounts of World War II — and was jailed, fined, persecuted, defamed and severely beaten on the street for his conclusions — died earlier this week at the age of 89.

The difficult and brilliant professor’s legacy includes his remarkable study of The Diary of Anne Frank. We all know the vivid and moving story of the young girl which was published in English as The Diary of a Young Girl, and later made into movies, plays and television dramas. Faurisson peered behind the drama for the facts.

Faurisson first worked on the project with the help of his university students in the 1970s. In the resulting article (later a book), he summarized his findings. He described the physical details of the “secret annex” in Amsterdam, where Frank hid from the Nazis with her family:  (more…)

  MOST compassionate Archangel St. Raphael, who, by a miracle wonderful in its simplicity restored the precious gift of sight to the blind Tobias, free my life, I beseech thee, from the blindness which afflicts and dishonours it, so that I may know things in their true aspect. Never permit me to be deceived by appearances, but help me always to walk secure in the way of the divine Commandments. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Source

  ELIZABETH writes: I, too, am a mother of five (all daughters) under the age of eight. The biggest struggle I face is not so much in seeing the value or feeling fulfillment in my life as a wife, mother, and home-educator, it is beating back the distractions which abound in our technological age! How much of my life — my children’s lives! — have I wasted looking down at some stupid screen just because it was there, close to hand? It is a selfishness and self-indulgence that must be checked if we are going to succeed in our vocations as the hearts of our homes. I grew up as the Internet sprang up and blossomed. I am in my thirties and can still remember life before the Internet. Having the world at our fingertips was supposed to be almost miraculous, beautiful, and it was seen as such an amazing advance, it was going to help us connect to one another, but I see it now having the effect of keeping us from focusing on our own little spheres, since we are so distracted by the wider world. Whatever feminism left behind on the hearth, technology is now devouring.

S.K. continues his comments posted here:

I hope the day finds you well. It is strange for me to read my own words on your site. I feel as an outside onlooker. It hit me, regarding the post, that I will never, ever have a helpmate. I mean, I already knew that, but I still found it momentarily shocking. I am not exceptional in this regard of course. In an era of ceaseless chatter regarding erotic fantasies and ‘naughtiness,’ the ‘forbidden’ and such, I’d say that the naughtiest, most ‘forbidden’ fantasy any man dare to dream up would be that of having a helpmate.

Have a wonderful day. (more…)

WHEELER writes: The video you posted on 10/15, "Our World" is frightening, which means that it's realistic and accurate. I couldn't help noticing, though, that one of the most prominent villains, the scary drunk on the subway, is a white male wearing a Confederate flag T-shirt. Just like real life, right? ... Because we all know that packs of feral Southern white men roam the inner city subways, victimizing women and persons of color. Even when an artist or commentator is making a valid point, there's always that irresistible urge to virtue-signal. "I'd better tone this down and preemptively prove that I'm not a racistsexisthomophobenazi."  And virtue-signaling is usually intended to win over the very people who hate the person doing the signaling. This never happens. It's a game that can never be won.

TIMOTHY FITZPATRICK writes about the legalization of marijuana in Canada: A drugged up population is a morally bankrupt population. A drugged up population is a chemically neutered and pacified nation. A drugged up population exhausts the government’s policing, health care, and education systems. The government becomes too distracted to deal with the subversion and infiltration going on within its ranks before it’s too late. Finally, when it reaches the end of its exhaustion, it becomes ripe for economic terrorism and violent revolution. Soviet agent Fidel Castro viewed drugs as “a very important weapon against the United States, because drugs demoralise people and undermine society,” according to Cuban DGI intelligence defector Major Florentino Aspillaga Lombard.

S. writes: I'm in the throes of raising my own little family with five children, the oldest eight years old, the youngest just four months. It is exhausting work, cooking every meal for all the tiny humans that depend on me (and even more exhausting to teach them how to help me cook!). It is so gratifying to hear from you that all the toil and sweat of your mother in the kitchen was not in vain. The endless work of a mother in the kitchen can feel so lonely at times. Your comments on your mother made me think of Galations 6:9 "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." I especially loved these sentences from your post: "Domesticity, its routines and its drudgery, potentially elevates human affairs from an animal-like existence. Domesticity is an art form which simply cannot be mastered by women with busy careers."

S.K., a male reader, writes: The whole "helpmate" idea has been a foreign concept as long as I can remember. I know hardly any women who think that way, at least from my generation ("GenX") on down. Many women are not even conscious that they are doing everything possible to prevent themselves from getting where they want to be. They seem to be innocently clueless and honestly confounded as to why they end up with nothing. One woman acquaintance, who has thrown herself into career with passion and mania, but is not obnoxious or grrrrrl-powery at all, but rather soft-spoken and nice, claimed not long ago that she was "thinking" about starting a family. Thinking about it. In her early 40s. She's gorgeous and possibly thinks that's all that's needed. She told me this more than a year ago; she is still without family, and even a boyfriend. I can't see this ending well. Waiting for all of them to learn on their own is likely not the ticket either.

ALAN writes:

Modern Americans are drenched in distractions and drunk on diversions.

The endless assault upon the senses in modern life means (among other things) the loss or diminishing of something Americans a hundred years ago had mastered quite well:  The ability to concentrate one’s attention, and the understanding of why that is important.

ITEM:  In 1915, an executive in the Detroit Cadillac Motor Car Company wrote to an employee to inform him that his salary would be increased. He wrote: “The writer knows that you will appreciate this and he would suggest that the very best way to show your appreciation would be to cut out all unnecessary talk, petty jokes, and story-telling during business hours and keep your mind entirely on company business….  Eliminate all outside influences….” [Reminisce Magazine, May/June 1999, p. 52] (more…)

O GENTLEST Heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on the souls of Thy servants. Be not severe in Thy judgment, but let some drops of Thy precious Blood fall upon our beloved departed, and do Thou, O merciful Savior, send Thy angels to conduct the souls of Thy servants to a place of refreshment, light and peace. Amen. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

TODAY is the first anniversary of my mother’s death.

I think of my mother, who died at the age of 86, pretty much every day, but I thought of her more this week, not just because of this significant anniversary but because I have been cleaning out her kitchen. My father died in April and we are now packing up their home.

My mother’s kitchen was a workshop, a laboratory and a command center. She was an energetic, industrious and talented cook. From this kitchen — and the one in our childhood home — she prepared thousands of meals for her seven children, her husband, friends, and relatives. This was no secondary occupation, not simply the setting of a beautiful hobby, it was the center of life. It was reality.

We almost never ate in restaurants and hardly knew what take-out was when we were growing up. Despite the large demands on her kitchen time, my mother cooked for strangers too. She regularly made casseroles for a soup kitchen. Her kitchen was filled with her tools — hundreds of humble objects, many of them now battered and tired-looking, as if they belonged in a history exhibit where implements dug up by archaeologists are displayed to illustrate the course of human history. But they resonated with her personality and memories of the simple and indispensable chores they executed. From the baking sheets to the frying pans to the metal bowls and spatulas and knives, from the casserole dishes to the nut crackers to the potholders and candy thermometers, from the bean pot to the bread plates to the cooling racks to the stand mixer, they all seemed like friends I have known — and extensions of her. (more…)

  DR. Dennis Bonnette debunks scientific materialism. He shows why this atheistic worldview – promoted by biologist Richard Dawkins – is illogical.

  IN THIS 1988 interview (sorry about the poor quality of the video), Ron Paul explains some of the basic facts about the Federal Reserve -- facts that even Congressmen didn't know.

KIMBERLY HARTKE explains how meditating on the Book of Genesis changed her life:

This biblical concept of a woman’s role is offensive to modern sensibilities, due to the influence of feminist thought on modern culture. Yet, the role of a woman is her identity, her mission. We have women playing roles in contemporary America. All kinds of roles. The feminists have no objection to this, as long as a woman doesn’t choose the traditional role of wife and mother. Women who choose this role are derided and discounted. Their choice is a direct affront to the feminist agenda. Political feminism strives to erase all differences between men and women. Political feminism is about wresting power from men and advancing women economically through the workforce. We become direct competitors with men, rather than their allies and supporters. It never occurred to me that women can be much better off economically and socially when they invest themselves in the role of wife and mother. The family as an economic partnership is made stronger by clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

But reading and meditating on this verse shed light on my dilemma. Having bought the feminist version of success through career advancement, I realized that I had been pursuing a life independent of men and marriage. (more…)

  [This post has been updated.] POPE Pius XII died on October 9, 1958, sixty years ago last week. The Church has gone through its own extraordinary Passion ever since, its thorns and scourgings coming principally from those at the very top who claim to be its valid leaders and yet are not. Pius XII was not, like John Paul II or Francis, a globetrotting celebrity, traveling the world to apologize for and, equipped with all the sophistries of modern philosophy and messianic politics, outright deny the Catholic religion. He was a pope, and the fact that his false successors have left the Church in virtual ruins attests to the supreme importance of the papacy. See fascinating video clips and some thoughts on the importance of this anniversary at Novus Ordo Watch. In related news, "Pope" Paul VI, a suspected homosexual who led three of the four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, promulgated the New Mass and oversaw mass departures from seminaries and convents, has just been declared a saint. Paul VI was one of the most noxious figures in modern history. He cannot possibly be a true saint of the Roman Catholic Church as he was not even Catholic. His canonization proves that the Vatican II Church is a false Church, in keeping with many prophecies. See Paul VI Beatified by Fr. Luigi Villa and "Blessed Paul the Sick" by Dr. Thomas Droleskey, to understand why the "canonization" of this complex figure makes…

JOHANNA writes:

Last week my husband and I attended the final Rosary of one of the many 54 day Novenas taking place across our country and the world. Our group of about 40 consisted of both young and old with the young outnumbering us which was very encouraging though bittersweet because of close relatives who have lost the faith. We stood together on a Northeastern coastline, feet planted in the wet sand,  surrounded by God’s gifts, reciting His glorious chapters.

A young woman who had brought her dog to the beach was some yards behind us and seemed drawn to what we were doing. Several decades in, I glanced in her direction and she was still there. Just then she prepared to leave and began quietly calling her dog, which had made itself a part of our group. She called and called and it would not go to her even when she came right next to it with her commands. It took a clip of leash to collar and a  forceful tug to get the dog to move away from us. I found this very interesting. (more…)