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I always pay attention to ikons that weep myrrh. The meaning is always the same: Repent. Yes, the myrrh is a blessing, and, yes, people are frequently healed through the miracle. However, for the faithful the message to all is a call from God to repent. Almost always such a miracle is sent as a warning from Heaven for all to return to the Most High God.
The ikon weeping at the Russian Orthodox parish in Hawaii is one of which you may not have heard, but its significance at this time is striking. Click here to be taken to a story with video about the ikon.
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29 November 2013
Pope Francis of the Poor
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In today's Houston Chronicle (one of the last major newspapers still in existence in the USA) there are several positive Catholic articles today, and one in particular from AP regards our Pope Francis and his care of the poor:When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was known to sneak out at night and break bread with the homeless, sit with them on the street and eat with them, as part of his aim to share the plight of the poor and let them know someone cared. That's not so easy to do now that he's pope.
But Francis is still providing one-on-one doses of emergency assistance to the poor, sick and aged through a trusted archbishop. Konrad Krajewski is the Vatican Almoner, a centuries-old job of handing out alms — and Francis has ramped up the job to make it a hands-on extension of his own personal charity.
Pope Francis of the Poor ... The remainder of the article may be read by clicking here.
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26 November 2013
Short and to the Point
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A brief letter appeared in the New York Times from Bridget Kurt that expresses the feelings of many regarding Pope Francis' off the cough remarks. Click here to read.
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A brief letter appeared in the New York Times from Bridget Kurt that expresses the feelings of many regarding Pope Francis' off the cough remarks. Click here to read.
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25 November 2013
23 November 2013
Dirksen: Rejoice, ye pure in heart
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Feast of Christ the King
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Dr. Farrell on JFK's Murder
Dr. Joseph Farrell's wide ranging interests stretch from the writings of St. Photios to the secret technologies of the Nazi Empire, and from the lies and deceits of the Banksters of Wall Street and the City of London to far more esoteric interests. His take on the sad anniversary of the orchestrated murder of President John F. Kennedy is one the average person is unlikely to encounter through the mainstream media, but the points he raises and the questions asked (as well as the advice given) are all closer to my own point of view than the ridiculous rehearsal of the findings of the Warren Commission one is likely to see in print or view on the major television networks. For that reason, I am reprinting his blog post below and hope that you, dear reader, will find it food for thought. Dr. Farrell writes:
"Today is the 50th anniversary of the conspiratorial murder of President John F. Kennedy during his open motorcade through Dallas, TX. It is perhaps fitting that the date of the perfidy in 1963 fell on a Friday, and that today, the 50th anniversary of the deed, is also a Friday. For me, it is a bitter memory… I remember where I was when I was a six year old boy, and first heard the news. I was home sick from school, sipping on chicken noodle soup my mother had just cooked, and had just finished watching the old tv game show and was a few minutes into the old soap opera, As the World Turns, when the CBS announcer broke into the program with the flash news from Dallas… and the rest of the day was spent watching in disbelief.
"The murder of President Kennedy announced a half century of the theater of blood, a surreal bizarrerie which to contemplate can only leave one – if one is truly honest and paying attention to the details – with a sense that everything is connected to it.
"It ushered in a new era of the political murder, as Senator Robert Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, HRH Princess Dianna, Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme, Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro, and many others, were added to the list of suspicious deaths and bizarre murders. There were serious attempts on the lives of Presidents de Gaulle, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan. On and on one could go.
"It ushered in an era of unbelievable scandals, each of which, to the attentive eye, had connections with all the others: the Watergate fiasco, Iran-Contra, Mena Arkansas, the BCCI banking scandal, the collapse of Franklin Bank, Penn Square, the Savings and Loan Scandal, Nugan Hand Bank in Australia. There were the Ruby Ridge and Waco Sieges (remember Janet “it’s for the children” Reno?). There were the strange allegations of voting fraud via computerized voting, “Votescam”… a trial run in Reno’s home county of Dade county, Florida.
"There was the Oklahoma City bombing and the strange disappearance of suspects, the suppression of the State of Oklahoma’s own investigation and grand jury, the quick demolition of the Murrah Building and the destruction of evidence, the allegations of retired USAF brigadier general Benton Partin that showed clear evidence of demolition charges in the building; there were the 1993 WTC attacks.
"There was the Baader-Meinhof gang in Europe, the Saville scandal in the United Kingdom with allegations stretching back to the Heath government; there was the Franklin scandal in the USA; there was the P2-G affair in Italy, the murder of Roberto Calvi at London’s Blackfriars Bridge; there were the bizarre school shootings from Columbine to Sandy Hook with Batman murders in the theater; Anders Brevik in Norway and the Oslo bombing; there has been all of this and so much more besides, and, of course, the defining “JFK” event of more recent times: 9/11.
"For these reasons alone, the conspiratorial murder of JFK still matters. But there are other reasons, deeper and more disturbing reasons, that it still matters. Ask most Americans, and, I suspect, most Canadians, Australians, British, French, Spanish, Italians, Russians, Germans, if they think JFK was murdered by the “lone nut” Oswald, or by a conspiracy, and I suspect one will find that most people think it was a conspiracy.
"But ask the talking heads of the American media on the left or right, and you will hear answers that basically parrot the Warren Report. The same for 9/11… most people I encounter at least entertain a suspicion or a doubt about the official 9/11 story, and yet, one cannot ever hear of any alternative theory on the mainstream Amerikan media without, at some point, hearing the words or phrase “conspiracy theory” uttered in context, to cast the pall of suspicion over anyone or any theory contrary to the official fable.
"It is intriguing and interesting, that the hardened ideological positions both of the left and of the right major media in the USSA, are united on this one point: the Warren Report was right; everyone else is wrong. (And that means, even the Congressional committees that concluded differently).
"It matters because, even though the talking heads on the media know their position is nonsense, and know that most people know that it’s nonsense, but yet the theater and the fable are continued. And the reason why is simple: the same forces that murdered the president are still running the show today (see the litany of connected scandals in paragraph two above). And those same people own or exert extraordinary influence within the major media and publishing houses to this day, in spite of the dwindling audience for their operas(why have Salieri when you can have Mozart?) It matters because their methods are still the same: lies, fraud, deception, deceit, theft, broken promises, and murder.
"It matters because lies, fraud, deception, theft, broken promises, have never worked as organizing principles for a civil and open society. So today, if you’re in the JFK conspiracy camp, send a message to the purveyors of the official fable: turn them off – television, radio, movies – turn them all off, cancel that subscription to the major newspaper that will produce all the op-ed and “looking back” pieces in defense of the fable, and read a book about the subject instead.
"See you on the flip side."
"Today is the 50th anniversary of the conspiratorial murder of President John F. Kennedy during his open motorcade through Dallas, TX. It is perhaps fitting that the date of the perfidy in 1963 fell on a Friday, and that today, the 50th anniversary of the deed, is also a Friday. For me, it is a bitter memory… I remember where I was when I was a six year old boy, and first heard the news. I was home sick from school, sipping on chicken noodle soup my mother had just cooked, and had just finished watching the old tv game show and was a few minutes into the old soap opera, As the World Turns, when the CBS announcer broke into the program with the flash news from Dallas… and the rest of the day was spent watching in disbelief.
"The murder of President Kennedy announced a half century of the theater of blood, a surreal bizarrerie which to contemplate can only leave one – if one is truly honest and paying attention to the details – with a sense that everything is connected to it.
"It ushered in a new era of the political murder, as Senator Robert Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, HRH Princess Dianna, Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme, Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro, and many others, were added to the list of suspicious deaths and bizarre murders. There were serious attempts on the lives of Presidents de Gaulle, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan. On and on one could go.
"It ushered in an era of unbelievable scandals, each of which, to the attentive eye, had connections with all the others: the Watergate fiasco, Iran-Contra, Mena Arkansas, the BCCI banking scandal, the collapse of Franklin Bank, Penn Square, the Savings and Loan Scandal, Nugan Hand Bank in Australia. There were the Ruby Ridge and Waco Sieges (remember Janet “it’s for the children” Reno?). There were the strange allegations of voting fraud via computerized voting, “Votescam”… a trial run in Reno’s home county of Dade county, Florida.
"There was the Oklahoma City bombing and the strange disappearance of suspects, the suppression of the State of Oklahoma’s own investigation and grand jury, the quick demolition of the Murrah Building and the destruction of evidence, the allegations of retired USAF brigadier general Benton Partin that showed clear evidence of demolition charges in the building; there were the 1993 WTC attacks.
"There was the Baader-Meinhof gang in Europe, the Saville scandal in the United Kingdom with allegations stretching back to the Heath government; there was the Franklin scandal in the USA; there was the P2-G affair in Italy, the murder of Roberto Calvi at London’s Blackfriars Bridge; there were the bizarre school shootings from Columbine to Sandy Hook with Batman murders in the theater; Anders Brevik in Norway and the Oslo bombing; there has been all of this and so much more besides, and, of course, the defining “JFK” event of more recent times: 9/11.
"For these reasons alone, the conspiratorial murder of JFK still matters. But there are other reasons, deeper and more disturbing reasons, that it still matters. Ask most Americans, and, I suspect, most Canadians, Australians, British, French, Spanish, Italians, Russians, Germans, if they think JFK was murdered by the “lone nut” Oswald, or by a conspiracy, and I suspect one will find that most people think it was a conspiracy.
"But ask the talking heads of the American media on the left or right, and you will hear answers that basically parrot the Warren Report. The same for 9/11… most people I encounter at least entertain a suspicion or a doubt about the official 9/11 story, and yet, one cannot ever hear of any alternative theory on the mainstream Amerikan media without, at some point, hearing the words or phrase “conspiracy theory” uttered in context, to cast the pall of suspicion over anyone or any theory contrary to the official fable.
"It is intriguing and interesting, that the hardened ideological positions both of the left and of the right major media in the USSA, are united on this one point: the Warren Report was right; everyone else is wrong. (And that means, even the Congressional committees that concluded differently).
"It matters because, even though the talking heads on the media know their position is nonsense, and know that most people know that it’s nonsense, but yet the theater and the fable are continued. And the reason why is simple: the same forces that murdered the president are still running the show today (see the litany of connected scandals in paragraph two above). And those same people own or exert extraordinary influence within the major media and publishing houses to this day, in spite of the dwindling audience for their operas(why have Salieri when you can have Mozart?) It matters because their methods are still the same: lies, fraud, deception, deceit, theft, broken promises, and murder.
"It matters because lies, fraud, deception, theft, broken promises, have never worked as organizing principles for a civil and open society. So today, if you’re in the JFK conspiracy camp, send a message to the purveyors of the official fable: turn them off – television, radio, movies – turn them all off, cancel that subscription to the major newspaper that will produce all the op-ed and “looking back” pieces in defense of the fable, and read a book about the subject instead.
"See you on the flip side."
Joseph P. Farrell, DPhil (OXON)
18 November 2013
A Collect of Saint Joseph
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OF THE GUARDIAN OF THE REDEEMER
ASSIST us, O Lord, we beseech thee,
by the merits of thy beloved SAINT JOSEPH,
the most chaste Spouse of thy most holy Mother
and the very terror of demons:
that those things which of our own power we cannot obtain,
may through his fatherly intercession
be granted unto us for thy tender mercies' sake:
Who livest and reignest with the Father,
in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
ever one God, world without end. Amen.
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17 November 2013
"Thank you, Mr. Obama"
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I have received a letter from my health insurance provider here in the USA telling me that my policy has been cancelled and that I should go to healthcare.gov to find new insurance through the Obamacare website.
My response is to share the following YouTube video:
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St. Luke 21: 5-19
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21: 5 And some saying of the temple, that it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said: 6 These things which you see, the days will come in which there shall not be left a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down.
7 And they asked him, saying: Master, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when they shall begin to come to pass? 8 Who said: Take heed you be not seduced; for many will come in my name, saying, I am he; and the time is at hand: go ye not therefore after them.
9 And when you shall hear of wars and seditions, be not terrified: these things must first come to pass; but the end is not yet presently. 10 Then he said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 And there shall be great earthquakes in divers places, and pestilences, and famines, and terrors from heaven; and there shall be great signs.
12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands upon you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons, dragging you before kings and governors, for my name's sake. 13 And it shall happen unto you for a testimony.
14 Lay it up therefore into your hearts, not to meditate before how you shall answer: 15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay.
16 And you shall be betrayed by your parents and brethren, and kinsmen and friends; and some of you they will put to death. 17 And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake. 18 But a hair of your head shall not perish. 19 In your patience you shall possess your souls.
The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to St. Luke 21:5-19
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
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16 November 2013
A Litany to the Lord Jesus Christ in union with Our Lady of Sorrows
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An Anglo-Catholic litany Be merciful, O Lord, to us sinners, and at the pleading of thy mother, sorrowing in thine agony and sharing in thy bitter cup, O Jesus mercy.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.Be merciful O Lord, to us sinners and at the pleading of thy mother, suffering in thy sufferings and bruised with thy stripes, O Jesus mercy.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.Be merciful, O Lord, to us sinners, and at the pleading of thy mother, who saw thee crowned with thorns and robed with shame, O Jesus mercy.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.Be merciful, O Lord, to us sinners, and at the pleading of thy mother, whose love unvanquished trod thy way of sorrows, O Jesus mercy.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.Be merciful, O Lord, to us sinners, and at the pleading of thy mother, whose soul was pierced beneath thy Cross, O Jesus mercy.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.
Eric Milner-White
"Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, have mercy on me."
Saint Margaret Clitherow
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15 November 2013
Of the Ordinariates
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Friends and members of the Ordinariates and other interested parties will want to read David Clayton's splendid post published on his blog The Way of Beauty.
Click here for his blog.
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The Foresight of Cardinal Wojtyła
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“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has ever experienced.
I do not think that the wide circle of the American Society, or the whole wide circle of the Christian Community realize this fully.
We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the antichrist.
The confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence. It is, therefore, in God’s Plan, and it must be a trial which the Church must take up, and face courageously…”
Cardinal Wojtyła
(Pope John Paul II)
Eucharistic Congress, 1976
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14 November 2013
From "Faith and Future" by Cardinal Ratzinger
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"We have arrived, then, at the present day and find ourselves looking toward tomorrow. Today, likewise, the future of the Church can and will issue from those whose roots are deep and who live from the pure fullness of their faith. It will not issue from those who accommodate themselves merely to the passing moment or from those who merely criticize others and assume that they themselves are infallible measuring rods; nor will it issue from those who take the easier road, who sidestep the passion of faith, declaring false and obsolete, tyrannous and legalistic, all that makes demands upon men, that hurts them and compels them to sacrifice themselves.
"To put this more positively: the future of the Church, once again as always, will be reshaped by saints, by men, that is, whose minds probe deeper than the slogans of the day, who see more than others see, because their lives embrace a wider reality. Unselfishness, which makes men free, is attained only through the patience of small daily acts of self-denial. By this daily passion, which alone reveals to a man in how many ways he is enslaved by his own ego, by this daily passion and by it alone, a man’s eyes are slowly opened.
"He sees only to the extent that he has lived and suffered. If today we are scarcely able any longer to become aware of God, that is because we find it so easy to evade ourselves, to flee from the depths of our being by means of the narcotic of some pleasure or other. Thus our own interior depths remain closed to us. If it is true that a man can see only with his heart, then how blind we all are!
"How does all of this affect the problem we are examining? It means that the big talk of those who prophesy a Church without God and without faith is all empty chatter. We have no need of a Church that celebrates the cult of action in political prayers. It is utterly superfluous. Therefore, it will destroy itself.
"What will remain is the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church that believes in the God who has become man and promises us life beyond death. The kind of priest who is no more than a social worker can be replaced by the psychotherapist and other specialists; but the priest who is no specialist, who does not stand on the sidelines, watching the game, giving official advice, but in the name of God places himself at the disposal men, who is beside them in their sorrows, in their joys, in their hope and in their fear, such a priest will certainly be needed in the future.
"Let us go a step farther. From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge—a Church that has lost much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes, so will she lose many of her social privileges. In contrast to an earlier age, she will be seen much more as a voluntary society, entered only by free decision.
"As a small society, she will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members. Undoubtedly she will discover new forms of ministry and will ordain to the priesthood approved Christians who pursue some profession. In many smaller congregations or in self-contained social groups, pastoral care will normally be provided in this fashion.
"Alongside this, the full-time ministry of the priesthood will be indispensable as formerly. But in all of the changes at which one might guess, the Church will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was always at her center: faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, in the presence of the Spirit until the end of the world.
"In faith and prayer she will again recognize her true center and experience the sacraments again as the worship of God and not as a subject for liturgical scholarship. The Church will be a more spiritual Church, not presuming upon a political mandate, flirting as little with the Left as with the Right.
"It will be hard going for the Church, for the process of crystalization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church secret. And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals.
"But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already with Gobel, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death."
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
(Pope Benedict XVI)
Faith and The Future
Ignatius Press
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10 November 2013
Health Care in the USA
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Caring for the sick and infirm is a Christian's concern. Considering the situation in the USA, I think when a government lies to its people about health care, Christians should evaluate their participation in both the government and its plans.
"Should a Christian be involved in health insurance?" is a question few even bother to consider. Is government directed health insurance what God would want us to do in answering the call to care for each other? Can we look to the government as fulfilling our responsibilities when we know the government lies with impugnity?
Perhaps it is a good time in the USA to reconsider all of this and look at alternatives like the Amish method of health care, the old Lodge doctors once known in the USA, or Christian MediShare which has been growing quickly since its method is Biblical and it is an "out" written into the Obamacare law... for now.
Even if you live in the States and have adequate health coverage, do look at what Christian Care provider MediShare is doing. Two similar ministries doing roughly the same thing and also exempt through the Obamacare law are Samaritan Ministries and Christian Health Ministries and both deserve consideration as a model for how this is done or as an option my American readers may wish to pursue.
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09 November 2013
04 November 2013
Must see / Must read
The Syrian rebels supported by the USA and Saudi Arabia have engaged in horrific crimes against Syria's Christian population. If you are a U.S. American, why does your Obama government and the McCain Republicans support terrorists in Syria who kill Christian women, children, and men?
Read the link: click here.
02 November 2013
Signs of the Times: Repent
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The holy ikon of the Archangel Michael has begun weeping on Rhodes. All such mystical events involving Holy Michael Archangel are very significant. The meaning can be debated, but such an event always calls the Faithful who follow the Lord Jesus Christ to repent of their sins, return to the Lord with all their heart, and to pray and intercede for a world in grave danger:
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Next they came for the Mormons ....
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An example of a very common theme in the USA's current political climate (which can be characterised as 'Weimar Republic Redux': "Why is the Obama government targeting (fill in the blank) Church?"
This time it is the Mormons who are being attacked and that may explain why Evangelical leaders have been making their way to Salt Lake City to speak for the first time with the LDS Church. 'Come, brethren, let us reason together...' or at least commiserate ... or better yet join forces against a common threat.
So here is a post that looks at the Obama government's attacks on the LDS Church's canneries where they prepare food in state of the art facilities for those in disasters: http://federalistpress.com/is-obama-targeting-lds-canneries.php
Remember, little children, no matter what happens in life, Turn to Jesus!
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