“I had hardly begun to take off my stocking when I heard the sound of wind, as in a storm. I turned towards the meadow, and I saw that the trees were not moving at all. I had half-noticed, but without paying any particular heed, that the branches and brambles were waving beside the grotto.

I went on taking my stockings off, and was putting one foot into the water, when I heard the same sound in front of me. I looked up and saw a cluster of branches and brambles underneath the topmost opening in the grotto tossing and swaying to and fro, though nothing else stirred all around.

Behind these branches and within the opening, I saw immediately afterwards a girl in white, no bigger than myself, who greeted me with a slight bow of the head; at the same time, she stretched out her arms slightly away from her body, opening her hands, as in pictures of Our Lady; over her right arm hung a rosary.

I was afraid. I stepped back. I wanted to call the two little girls; I hadn’t the courage to do so. I rubbed my eyes again and again: I thought I must be mistaken.

Raising my eyes again, I saw the girl smiling at me most graciously and seeming to invite me to come nearer. But I was still afraid. It was not however a fear such as I have had at other times, for I would have stayed there for ever looking at her: whereas, when you are afraid, you run away quickly.”

 — Recounted by Abbé François Trochu in Saint Bernadette Soubirous, (1844-1879)

— Comments —

Kathy writes:

I think the film “The Song of Bernadette” does a nice job of depicting the “Voltairians” opinions of little Soubirous. I am in such awe of the great saints of the past, even the talents and simple common sense of our ancestors. What a weak, dumbed down, enslaved lot we are, and how appalled they would be at what has happened to Western Civilization. at what we have become. I recall reading “Revelations” as a kid, and thinking ‘That’ll never happen in my lifetime!”, and the very idea that Christians could be actually persecuted in America! Laughable! 50 years later, it’s happening.

Peccantem me quotidie by Carlo Gesualdo

I who sin every day
and am not penitent
the fear of death troubles me:

Responsum
For in hell there is no redemption.
Have mercy upon me, O God, and save me.

Versus
God, in your name save me,
and in your virtue set me free.

Variant 1

I tremble at my misdeeds and blush before you:
when you come to judge, condemn me not:
have mercy upon me, O God, and save me.

“HOW to Root out Hidden Faults” by Rev. James F. McElhone (1890-1963) is another great resource for Lent (and the rest of the year). Here he looks at the fault of gluttony — caring too much about the quality or quantity of what we eat or drink:

In our day the tendency is to think and speak much about things to eat and drink. Emphasis is placed on physical fitness. In fact, there are many who practice self-denial for the sake of physical fitness alone. Now there is no doubt that temperance is a help to health; but should not the spiritual idea come first? Temperance is a virtue; to practice it is to gain merit and grace; to practice it is a means of keeping well.

Right reason should regulate our lives in regard to eating and drinking. We should think correctly in this matter; our state of mind should be spiritual. We eat to live; we should not live to eat. Excess is to be avoided, so is defect; to be over-fed or under-nourished is harmful and wrong. Prudence is the guide, for what might be too much or too little for one is not excessive or defective for another. Let reason determine the amount to be taken and the manner in which it is taken. [emphasis added]

THE Seven Penitential Psalms were traditionally prayed every day in Lent.

See here.

THE word “meditation” is tossed around a lot today, but it often refers to empty and harmful practices.

The highest form of meditation, the one for which we were all destined, concerns the events of the last week of the life of Jesus Christ. Please see my Lenten Reading List for suggestions.

If you have a busy life — there is no crime in having many obligations — a few minutes a day devoted to this practice can make a huge difference, helping you to grow in wisdom and virtue.

From Of Prayer and Meditation by Venerable Louis of Granada:

Albertus Magnus saith, That it is more profitable for a man to meditate every day a little upon the holy passion of our Savior Christ, than to fast with bread and water all the Fridays in the year and to discipline and scourge himself until he shed blood, and to say all the whole Psalter from one end thereof to an other. At the least wise this is very certain, that this holy exercise is a passing great help to direct the soul in all virtue, and goodness. For considering that our Savior Christ is (as he himself saith) The way, the truth, and the life, there is none other exercise more fit and convenient to direct us to go unto God, to know God, and to enjoy God, than to fix always our eyes upon our Savior Christ. For though Christ be unto us the way, the truth, and the life, in all things wheresoever we consider him, yet is he most especially so unto us, when we behold him upon the Cross.

And,

This is so copious and so plentiful a matter to meditate upon, that certainly if a man should continue thinking upon it until the end of the world he should always find new reasons of the conveniency of this holy mystery, and new causes to induce him to lift up his spirt more and more in admiration of the high wisdom and providence of almighty God herein.

“THESE clips are over 50 years old, yet the talking points are almost identical to those of today. The public’s concerns over immigration have never been addressed, not once. The public has never supported immigration.”

Fascinating comment from one of the men who says people were never “prejudiced,” but now they are.

Racial harmony is the result of distinct homelands, not artificial and soulless multiculturalism.

I WENT to a fitness class today where we exercised to “music.”

The instructor announced she was going to be playing her Valentine’s Day playlist.

“It’s not love songs,” she said. “It’s songs about relationships.”

Then she added:

“Well, actually it’s mostly pi**ed-off women complaining about men.”

And it was.

MICHIGAN state senator Josh Shriver has become the villain of the day for his common sense, true statement above.

In the clip below, reporters wonder if anything else can be done to penalize him other than stripping him of his staff and slandering him.

This is the status of the white man in his own country.

To his credit, Shriver has not backed down and has issued this statement:

O GOD, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, give me the grace to detest my sins as Thou dost detest them. Make me see that my sins and imperfections offend Thee, that they keep me from striving for perfection, that they are the cause of unhappiness to myself and to others. Fill my heart with sorrow for sin, so that | may never sin again.

O Holy Spirit, soften my heart, that | may detest my sins as | will on judgment day, which is so terrible even for the innocent soul.

O Mary, Mother of God, and my mother pray for a poor sinner who places all his confidence in thee. St. Joseph, listen to my prayer. All ye Saints of Paradise, help me to detest my sins and imperfections.

(Source)

“HIS only bed must be of stone. Here he is to spend forty days; after which, He will permit the angels to visit Him and bring Him food.

“Thus does our Savior go before us on the holy path of Lent. He has borne all its fatigues and hardships, that so we, when called upon to tread the narrow way of our lenten penance, might have His example wherewith to silence the excuses, and sophisms, and repugnances, of self-love and pride.”

— Dom Prosper Guéranger, The Liturgical Year

“THERE is, throughout history, a melancholy sameness in the reactions of mankind, sighing for redemption, to the Redeemer that would answer its appeal. ‘As it is Jesus Christ, yesterday and to-day and the same for ever,’ so man, looking for salvation, is yesterday and today and the same for ever. The one thing fallen man desires to know is how to live his life on earth so as to be happy. This is the very thing that Jesus desires to let him know. And yet, as was prophesied by Simeon, the Redeemer ever remains ‘a sign to be contradicted.’ The sick world, like a patient in the delirium of fever, is for ever turning on its physician and submitting him to violence and maltreatment. It is because the problem of happiness is so intimately bound up with the problem of pain. There is no purification of soul without suffering. Through purification the soul reaches that close intimacy with God and that vision of Him, which makes the soul happy. When men are told that the beatitude they seek is conditioned by suffering, they find the doctrine a hard saying. They will have none of it, and will continue to indulge the hope that they can reach the goal of human desire another way.”

— Fr. Edward Leen, Why the Cross?

THE news is 90 percent lies: deliberate mental torture to demoralize and break people down so they can be easily controlled.

And yet, we are told we live in a free society.

Legalman discusses the pervasive lies and brainwashing.

“Being subjected [to a world] where literally nothing makes sense whatever is extremely damaging to everyone’s mental health — and that’s exactly what they want.” Read More »

“THE worst part of this performance, aside from breaking into laughter while recounting this ‘horrific brush with death’, was all the religious programming entwined throughout the diatribe. Saying things like ‘This is a sign of the end times’ and encouraging people to ‘Pray’ in response to their fake events is straight-up psychological manipulation. The reason why they constantly call for your “Thoughts and Prayers” is because they desire to harness and direct your consciousness, such participation is a form of consent. Your emotional energy is breathing life into their false constructs.” [Source]

NOT ONLY did Christians in the ages of faith observe fasts with much greater intensity during the 40 days of Lent, they also abstained from legal proceedings, hunting and war under edicts of various rulers.

Dom Prosper Guéranger, in his “History of Lent, describes these times of calm and reflection which “ennobled the soul.”

In the 4th century, we have the Emperor Constantine the Great enacting, that no military exercises should be allowed on Sundays and Fridays, out of respect to our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered and rose again on these two days, as also in order not to disturb the peace and repose needed for the due celebration of such sublime mysteries. The discipline of the Latin Church, in the 9th century, enforced everywhere the suspension of war, during the whole of Lent, except in cases of necessity. Read More »

FROM Andrew Torba on Gab:

The advertising campaigns for the Super Bowl that demonize hatred are a prime example of the misguided attempts to suppress the natural and God-given emotions of mankind.

Hatred is a natural part of being a Christian because it is a natural response to evil. We are commanded to hate what the Lord hates and to hate evil. This is not the same as personal animosity, but rather a response to the sinful nature of the world.

The Bible teaches that Christians are to love their neighbors as themselves, but it also teaches that we are to hate what is evil. This includes hating sin, wickedness, and anything that opposes God’s will. It is through this hatred of evil that we are able to sincerely love what is good and righteous. Romans 12:9 – “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”

The demonization of hatred is a result of moral relativity and rampant secularism. It is not wrong to hate what is evil. These advertising campaigns are promoting a false narrative that hatred is something to be ashamed of.

Instead, we should be promoting the idea that hatred of evil is a necessary part of our Christian faith and always has been. Read More »

“BLAMING Biden for how the country is run is like blaming the clown at McDonald’s for how the company is run.”

— Apolitical

COMMENTS on Telegram:

Tucker Carlson’s interview of Putin is honestly his best one ever.

It confirms everything we knew about the war. That it wasn’t about NATO’s expansion but Russian imperial expansion.

The irony of this all is that Tucker was running excuses for Putin earlier by blaming the US and not Russian (Putin’s) internal motivations. Now he won’t be able to.

Tucker didn’t want to hear Putin’s historical lecture (Putin’s casus belli for why Ukraine doesn’t exist) and that is why he was interrupting him so much. What Putin said in this interview completely overrides every single excuse that Tucker has previously assigned to him.

[…]

So Ziggers, remember: this is your current narrative. Russia is at war with Ukraine not because of US has provoked it or NATO has expended too close into Russia’s borders but because Ukraine doesn’t exist and that is why it must be ruled by Moscow.

Full transcript of interview.

King Wenceslaus of Bohemia

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 Lent is the very badge of the Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of the cross of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe.

Yikes!

If the eloquent Guéranger or prophetic Benedict XIV could see Europe today, they would have every right to say very plainly, “We told you so.”

According to the French monk, writing in the 1840s,

More than a hundred years have elapsed since this solemn warning of the Vicar of Christ was given to the world; and during that time, the relaxation he inveighed against has gone on gradually increasing. How few Christians do we meet who are strict observers of Lent, even in its present mild form!

And must there not result from this ever-growing spirit of immortification, a general effeminacy of character, which will lead, at last, to frightful social disorders? The sad predictions of Pope Benedict XIV are but too truly verified. Those nations, among whose people the spirit and practice of penance are extinct, are heaping against themselves the wrath of God, and provoking His justice to destroy them by one or other of these scourges — civil discord, or conquest. [emphasis added]

The nations of Europe can’t say they weren’t warned.