WHEN King Wenceslaus of Bohemia became ill in 1297, his doctors and aides agreed that it would be best for him to eat meat during Lent to regain his strength, even though Catholics at that time were forbidden all meat during the forty days of the annual season of penance. The king appealed to Pope Boniface VIII for a dispensation, the only way a person -- even the king himself -- could violate the rules of abstinence with a clear conscience. The pope granted the exception on the condition that the king continue to abstain from meat on Fridays, Saturdays and the vigil of St. Matthias -- and that he not eat meat in the presence of others or do so with excess. Lent was so rigorous in the Middle Ages that everyone collectively refrained from meat and from more than one meal a day. In the 19th century, Dom Prosper Guéranger commented in his famous Liturgical Year, from which this account of the Bohemian king comes, that the gradual adoption of milder forms of abstinence and fasting was due to a "decay of piety, and the general deterioration of bodily strength among the people of the western nations." Can you imagine what he might say about "the bodily strength" of Westerners if he visited an average Walmart today? In 1741, as he recounted, Pope Benedict XIV issued an encyclical to all bishops, warning them of dire consequences: The observance of…

"It is rare to find a heretic that loves chastity.” -- St. Jerome  

 VICTORIAN England is often romanticized in movies and mini-series. Americans relish scenes of English manors, butlers in livery and rolling countryside. But for the poor, it was a hellish and callous society. With many small farmers forced off the land and into cities, industrial England was a place of squalor, disease, Malthusian disdain for the poor and inhumanity, all famously depicted by Charles Dickens in the 19th century. It is not surprising that Karl Marx found refuge in London and published his famous Das Kapital there in 1867. The horrors of 19th-century capitalism were largely responsible for the popularity of his views. To call industrial England of that time a "Christian society" takes quite a stretch of the imagination.  

"DR. Frank Garlock, in his book, The Big Beat, describes rock as 'characterized primarily by repetition; strong, driving beat; and intense, loud volume.' "It is actually a type of noise which has no moral or cultural value. The dictionary describes 'noise' as 'a din.' The word, 'din,' is defined as 'Noise: particularly loud, confused sound that is continued.' The verb form of 'din' is defined in this way: "to assail with loud noise, to press with constant repetition." "In those two definitions of 'din' we have two of the basic and most fundamental components of rock: intense, loud volume and constant repetition! "In his book, How to Sing for Money, Charles Henderson tells some of the secrets of captivating audiences with modern music, with the help of instruments which scoop and slide, using unresolved dissonances (6ths, 7ths, and 9ths) and repetitive use of the same few chords. Never-changing, throbbing syncopation occurs. Often two or three syncopated rhythms are played simultaneously. There is a heavy beat, with dissonances and rhythms which keep the nervous system keyed up and tense. Heavy emphasis on rhythm instruments: drums and bass guitar. "Add to this the 'mike in mouth' syndrome, producing the intimate sensual sounds. "Finally, combine all these into a 'total sound,' then amplify it to a screaming extreme—and you have rock." FROM Inside Rock Music  

"AS has been said, Christianity cannot be accused of failure: it is European man that can, with strict justice, be accused of failure, because, on the whole, he has failed to respond to the appeal of Christianity. It is more than doubtful if it can be maintained with any truth that, at any time, since the beginning of the Christian era, any body politic whole-heartedly accepted and applied the full Christian programme in the organisation and regulation of its life. Doubtless such an application has been made partially and, on occasions, even to some considerable extent. But the Christian philosophy of life, in its political and social aspects, was never given full and unhampered play in moulding the public life of the nations of Europe." --- Why the Cross?, Edward Leen (Sheed and Ward, 1938)  

FROM Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville:

I think then that the species of oppression by which democratic nations are menaced is unlike anything which ever before existed in the world: our contemporaries will find no prototype of it in their memories. I am trying myself to choose an expression which will accurately convey the whole of the idea I have formed of it, but in vain; the old words “despotism” and “tyranny” are inappropriate: the thing itself is new; and since I cannot name it, I must attempt to define it.

I seek to trace the novel features under which despotism may appear in the world. The first thing that strikes the observation is an innumerable multitude of men all equal and alike, incessantly endeavoring to procure the petty and paltry pleasures with which they glut their lives. Each of them, living apart, is as a stranger to the fate of all the rest—his children and his private friends constitute to him the whole of mankind; as for the rest of his fellow-citizens, he is close to them, but he sees them not—he touches them, but he feels them not; he exists but in himself and for himself alone; and if his kindred still remain to him, he may be said at any rate to have lost his country.

Above this race of men stands an immense and tutelary power, which takes upon itself alone to secure their gratifications, and to watch over their fate. That power is absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild. It would be like the authority of a parent, if, like that authority, its object was to prepare men for manhood; but it seeks on the contrary to keep them in perpetual childhood: it is well content that the people should rejoice, provided they think of nothing but rejoicing. For their happiness such a government willingly labors, but it chooses to be the sole agent and the only arbiter of that happiness: it provides for their security, foresees and supplies their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages their principal concerns, directs their industry, regulates the descent of property, and subdivides their inheritances—what remains, but to spare them all the care of thinking and all the trouble of living? (more…)

“POLITICAL correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.” -- Theodore Dalrymple    

"MONARCHY is when your rulers do what they want and you blame them when things don’t work. "Democracy is when your rulers do what they want and voters blame each other when things don’t work." -- Mark Taylor  

 GOVERNMENT forces threaten Irish civilians protesting radical transformation of their nation through mass immigration, funded by NGO's and the government. Ireland is for the Irish. Yet, these protestors are denounced as bigots by many of their countrymen.  

SECRETARY of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas responds to criticism for his refusal to protect the southern border.

Below, from 2015, Biden envisions “an unrelenting stream of immigration” and says “people of European descent will be in the absolute minority.” Mayorkas sits next to him.

[H/t Arminius News] (more…)

A MOTHER, in an interview at Children's Health Defense, describes the sudden personality changes in her son at the age of two. Years later, after continuing problems, a brain scan revealed heavy metals. The only source of these, she concluded after much research, was the childhood vaccines he had received.  

 WOULD the great composer have been inspired by .... groundhogs?  

HAVE you ever seen a groundhog? Up close?

I have. And I will never forget it. He was just a few inches away. I had seen them many times from afar. But never so close.

I can assure you, they are the most hideous animals — all waddling, distended stomach and long, sharp, threatening claws. Shockingly ugly and destructive, that’s a groundhog for you. They are so unpopular there is no record at all of human affection for them. No one keeps a groundhog for a pet, even in this age of fanaticism. Many amateur methods of killing these creatures have been devised. Some peaceful souls learn to use a gun for the sole purpose of killing groundhogs.

Groundhog Day is an obscene joke. It makes about as much sense as “Vulture Day” or “Black Widow Spider Day.” When life is stripped of meaningful ritual and festivity, people come up with some truly sick ideas. Anyone who gathers in a group with excitement, waiting to see a disgusting, ravenous groundhog emerge from a hole, is, well, in serious need of better things to do. (more…)

"WHILE Dunstan's mother was pregnant with her holy unborn child, the feast of the Purification of the blessed ever-virgin Mary shone forth. People from all the surrounding area flocked to the church dedicated to the Virgin in Glastonbury, to render the service of devotion at this great festival to Christ, the King of Kings. The boy's father Heorstan went with his wife, Cynethryth, to be present with their lighted candles at the Mass. During the service, it began to be read how the child Jesus was brought by his parents to the temple. And suddenly the glory of the Lord appeared in the temple: all the lights were extinguished, and the whole building was plunged into darkness by a thick mist. A cold fear crept through the congregation, their hair stood on end, their knees knocked together; they stood paralysed and stupefied by fear. But - so that all that the Lord intended should be made clear - suddenly a light from heaven blazed forth in the temple, and lit the candle which the pregnant woman bore in her hand. If they had marvelled at the loss of light, now they marvelled still more at its appearance!" The Clerk of Oxford tells more about these strange events on Candlemas in tenth century England.

[Revised and reposted]

IT’S Groundhog Day in America and Crepe Day in France. These empty customs fill the void where the beautiful and uplifting Feast of the Purification of Mary, also known as Candlemas Day, the liturgical end to the Christmas season, once was — and still is to the few.

“All the mysteries of the Man-God have for their object the purifying of our hearts,” said the renowned Dom Prosper Guéranger. And so it is with Candlemas. It’s “a day of purification, renewal, hope, an honoring of obedience, and light.”

A young couple and their infant, turtle doves, an ornate temple and two wizened figures filled with mystical fervor.

These are the vital elements of this day. “The most pure and beautiful Virgin, in obedience to the law, presented the child Jesus in the temple, offering a couple of turtle-doves for her purification, and five sicles as a ransom for her first-born, Jesus,” wrote Guéranger.

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FROM Fr. James F. Wathen's The Great Sacrilege: ... The Revolution cannot tolerate the solitary man, the self-possessed man, the contemplative, the man who does not need to be forced to conform. The Revolution incessantly repeats the word 'freedom.' What it means by this word is that every man should free himself from the laws and self-preserving instincts of his own nature, that he should dispossess himself of all inner strength, restraint, and virtue, to say nothing of the inner dominance of Christ by His truth and grace. The purpose of corrupting a person is to put him at the disposal of his fallen nature; the purpose of destroying his faith and of dispossessing him of all certainty is that he will have to be controlled from without. The Revolution means to unshackle a man interiorly, that it may have the excuse of encircling him with the mindless mob (which the 'Community' is), of regimenting him, binding him, and putting him under guard. Despising virtue, which is man’s mastery of himself by the power of Christ, even being unable to comprehend it, the Revolution cannot conceive a community of truly free men, nor the idea of peace through the rule of the Spirit of God. The true Revolutionary cannot stand to be alone, to be in silence, to be inactive. In such a condition he would either go mad or find God. Because of his own spiritual vacuity and restlessness, and because…