Look, we all know that Pope Francis and his toadies are nefarious characters by now.  I will have more to say about their efforts to schism and destroy as much of the Church Militant as possible using the Sixth Commandment as their primary locus of attack.  HOWEVER, something happened yesterday that is far more subtle, but perhaps more intensely nefarious.  Pope Francis Bergoglio announced that an Armenian theologian from the Tenth Century, Gregory of Narek, is going to be named a Doctor of the Universal Church.

Yawn.  Snooze.  So what?  Booooooring.  Whatever.

Not so fast.

Gregory of Narek, while certainly a very holy man, was outside of communion with Rome, and also was a heretic, namely a Miaphysitite.

Yawn.  Snooze.  So what?  Booooooring.  Technical.  Whatever.

No, not whatever.  Miaphysitism holds that Christ has only one nature, which contains both a divine “character” and a human “character”.  Miaphysitism is the heresy held by what are referred to today as the “Oriental Orthodox” churches, which includes among others the Armenians and also the Copts in Egypt.

This is wrong.  Christ is One Person with two natures: divine and human.  Jesus Christ is FULLY GOD and FULLY MAN.  This truth, given to the Church by the Holy Spirit at the Council of Chalcedon in ARSH 451, is technically referred to by Christological theologians as Dyophysitism. Recalling the post earlier this month about Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, and logic, we must remind ourselves, as products of a diabolic system of post-Christian contra-education, that two contradictory premises cannot both be true.  Period.  And if we do in fact believe in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, then we KNOW and CANNOT DOUBT what the truth is in this case.  The Church teaches infallibly that Dyophysitism is TRUE and everything else, including Miaphysitism is false, and thus heretical. Period.  Full stop.  End of story.

Now here is the point, which is nuanced, especially to the post-modern, post-Christian mind of western man, so stay with me.

While there have been and are holy people in these “Oriental Orthodox” churches, and let us certainly put at the head of that list for purposes of this explanation both Gregory of Narek AND the 21 Coptic martyrs who died on the Libyan beach just last week with the Most Holy Name of Jesus on their lips, we cannot permit sentimentality to subvert truth.  As Dr. John Senior put it so eloquently and prophetically in his ARSH 1978 masterwork “The Death of Christian Culture”:

Sentimentalism is not just a weakness, and is certainly not a virtue – it is confused with mercy – but a crime; and vicious sentimentalism is ordinary sentimentality raised up in place of principle.  It is, as I said, poisoning the wells.

It is not this law or this or that case, but law itself, justice itself that has been challenged, and it is only at the level of first principles that a proper defense can be made.  The crisis in law and order today is not a legal one.  It is a disaster at the level of first principles.  Not just the courts, but our whole civilization sickens as it spreads.

Sentimentalism, as the constitutive parts of the word imply, is the subjugation of the “mental” to the “sentient”.  It is an attempt to found a philosophy on feeling.

As a friend said to me a while ago, and it struck me particularly hard and has remained in the forefront of my mind ever since, “The First Commandment is FIRST, and the Sixth Commandment is SIXTH for a reason.  It is a far more serious and grave thing to be wrong, or to teach error, about WHO GOD IS than it is to fornicate.”

I was very grateful for this bit of wisdom, because it is so easy to get tunnel vision and start to become totally fixated on the Sixth Commandment to the exclusion of everything else.  And this, I think, just may be what satan is trying to prey upon.  Gregory of Narek was wrong about the Nature of Christ.  He was wrong about WHO GOD IS.  To call Gregory of Narek a “Doctor of the Universal Church” – a monumentally high standard – is an incredibly subtle, backhanded way of saying that it is okay TO BE WRONG ABOUT WHO GOD IS.  That is to say, it is okay to break the First Commandment, that it doesn’t really matter WHO GOD IS, and that the efforts and labor of the Church, espoused to and protected by the Holy Spirit, to bring forth the infallible truth, taught infallibly by the Magisterium for over 1500 years about WHO GOD IS, is either

A.) not important,
B.) in error, or
C.) CHANGEABLE –

because it has to be one of those three. Sound familiar?  This is exactly what it seems Francis and his cabal are trying to do with the Sixth Commandment.  And the First Commandment is, at its core, more important than the Sixth.  Therefore, in the big picture, this putative naming of Gregory of Narek as a Doctor of the Church, is actually worse.

Sadly, the excellent blog Rorate Caeli has printed a piece on this matter that seems to ratify the action, and justifies it by making the wholly erroneous claim that “one cannot always speak straightforwardly of ‘schism’ and ‘heresy’ when dealing with the theological and ecclesiastical divisions of Christendom in that era.”

Oh yes.  Yes we can.  The Council of Chalcedon in ARSH 451 laid down the Church’s infallible teaching on this point, and appealing to mere political machinations as some sort of dispensation or justification for heresy is EXACTLY the sort of worldliness that the Enemy is so delighted to see come spewing from the Vatican, and especially from Pope Francis Bergoglio today.

To end on a positive note, here is a photoshopped version of the icon of Christ Pantocrator – the best icon ever – which I posted immediately below in the “Starting Tuesday Off Right: First Commandment Edition”.  The Cristos Pantocrator icon conveys the truth of Dyophysitism (Our Lord is One Person with two natures – divine and human).  Look at the two sides of His face.  They are quite different.  Entire volumes could be written about this image, but for the purposes of this essay, let us just say that this icon communicates the two distinct natures of Christ, divine and human, dwelling in the One Person of Christ.

The Confession of Chalcedon:

We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; (ἐν δύο φύσεσιν ἀσυγχύτως, ἀτρέπτως, ἀδιαιρέτως, ἀχωρίστως – in duabus naturis inconfuse, immutabiliter, indivise, inseparabiliter) the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person (prosopon) and one Subsistence (hypostasis), not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten God (μονογενῆ Θεόν), the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Ego sum Dominus Deus tuus, qui eduxi te de terra Aegypti, de domo servitutis.

Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
Non habebis deos alienos coram me.

1.  Yes, I yet live.  Thanks for the concerned inquiries.  I have been hustlin’ for a new parking spot, and might be close to closing a deal.  It is much closer to the job where I CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!, which is good, but it is also double the rent.  This is NOT unexpected.  The previous parking spot was extremely favorable in multiple ways, including the price.  So good, in fact, that it can never be replicated.  Thank you for all of the prayers, especially in joining in the St. Joseph Novena.  Please be assured that I prayed for all of your intentions throughout the Novena as well, and continue to do so every day.

2.  Admittedly, enthusiasm and work ethic on this end are flagging.  Yes, there is much to say, but, to be perfectly blunt, writing essay after essay saying “yeah, I told you so – like SIX YEARS AGO” and “well, no shit, Sherlock” is not FUN.  None of this is FUN.  This shit is deadly, deadly serious, and getting more so by the day.  It isn’t exhilarating to be proved right when what one has been warning about is nothing less than the end of civilization as we know it.  I still struggle mightily with the whole moral question of “doom porn”, and what exactly I’m supposed to be doing here, now.  At this point, I just want to die well, and have been thinking about how I should go to my death in various scenarios.  I have decided that no matter what, I want the Name of Jesus to be the last thing I say, because The Holy Name of Jesus contains in itself everything: love, truth, mercy, beauty, justice, reason.  One word.  Two syllables.  Everything’s covered.  Oh, and it’s also HIS NAME.  How could you not want to die with the name of your Beloved on your lips?

3.  I have been asked by other people to continue writing because I tend to be the person who cuts the rhetorical path through the jungle with my verbal machete, thus broaching unpleasant topics, so that other writers and pundits may then follow-up with more staid language.  Yeah.  I know.  And I guess I’m fine with that.  We all have our roles.  That is clearly mine.  So, I shall try to do better, get myself back on the horse, and beginning tomorrow try to clear some more path.

4.  A point of housekeeping.  I have had multiple inquiries recently about my Cattle Marketing DVD set.  YES.  IT IS STILL FOR SALE.  I have order fulfillment elves on standby.  And by the way, if I may say, it is getting better with age.  This version – the second edition – was recorded in March ARSH 2011, and I added modules on SEVERE PRICE INFLATION and how to deal with and remain oriented in an inflating, hyper-volatile, and eventually currency-less market environment, including the criticality of GETTING OUT OF DEBT and expanding not with leverage, but with equity.  These modules seemed cuckoo-pants to some people at the time, but almost everything I talked about has already happened.  Mathematical and moral truths are timeless, and unavoidable.

So, if you want to order the Cornerstone Cattle Marketing Level 1 DVD set, the best bet is to send a check for $500 made out to “Ann Barnhardt” to my mailbox with “CATTLE MARKETING DVD” written in the memo.  Do not be surprised if the cleared check comes back endorsed over to another account.  Also include your shipping address.  The shipping turnaround is usually one business day.

Ann Barnhardt
6834 S. University Blvd.
#419
Centennial, CO 80122

5.  Here is some pick-me-up music.  The finale to the William Tell Overture by Rossini.  I aspire to playing the triangle in a performance of this piece some day.  I could do that.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered for all of my benefactors and supporters, past present and future, on FEBRUARY 11th.  Mark your calendar, and be assured of my daily prayers and unceasing gratitude.

And thanks again to one and all for your prayers during our St. Joseph Novena, which wrapped up today.  I shall keep you posted as to domestic logistical developments as they manifest.

I have been meaning to write this up for months, as it is a regular question that lands in the ol’ inbox.  It is on people’s minds, both inside and outside the Church, especially with the imbecilic, contra-educated words and deeds coming out of the Bishop of Rome in these dark, dark days.  It is time to explain this clearly and forthrightly, because it is actually one of the truths that was most persuasive and attractive in my conversion process.  Why?  Because the explanation is logical, coherent, and satisfyingly beautiful.

This statement is TRUE:

There is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church.

The reason why almost everyone in post-Christian western culture today blanches at this is because we have been taught to deny that there is, in fact, any such thing as “truth”.  ONE TRUTH.  We have been savagely propagandized and manipulated to accept that 2+2 equals 4, AND 7, and 8,349,085 – if that is what someone else wants.  Because there is “my truth” and “your truth” and “we each have our own truth”, and “life is a journey of discovering our own truth”.  The infiltrators have not only torn down the entire notion of truth via soft, cultural means, but also through the hardest of the hard sciences – MATHEMATICS.  Were you taught logic at any point within the context of mathematics?  Do you know what a “truth table” is?  If you are under the age of 45, almost certainly not.  Logic is the use and study of valid reasoning, that is, truth and falsity.  Thus, it was totally scrubbed from math curricula in the western world by the infiltrators by necessity, because logic is the hammer that instantly smashes the vast majority of the staggering, staggering bullshit that we are all, as we speak, drowning in.  The reason why even functionally intelligent people today simply cannot parse current events and get their heads around what should be extremely simple-to-grasp dynamics is because people have been conditioned to view as normal – if not virtuous – the simultaneous holding of utterly contradictory positions.

So, there is exactly, precisely ONE TRUTH, and thus, there must be by mathematical definition, be exactly, precisely ONE CHURCH.  There CANNOT be multiple “churches”, which, by definition, hold contradictory positions (hence their distinctiveness one from another), because two contradictory things CANNOT BOTH BE TRUE.  And we know that there is a CHURCH, because Our Lord Himself in the Gospels made repeated mention of it, not the least of which was this hard-to-get-around statement:

“Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.”

So we know, just from that, that Our Lord does have, in fact, a Church, and that He has ONE Church, because he used the singular form of the noun.  This doesn’t even take into consideration the Holy Spirit’s extensive discussion of the Church as the Body and Bride of Christ through the pen of St. Paul in his epistles.  Look, when God Almighty, Incarnate, says, “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH”, all debates about whether or not there even is a Church ends.  If a person is so far gone that they can’t grind their way through that gearbox, then there’s nothing I  or anyone else can do.

Now let’s discuss what the Church is.  The Church consists of THREE PARTS:
1.  The Church Militant – this is the Church on Earth, this is what we the living see.
2.  The Church Suffering – this is Purgatory, where the souls of the saved go to be purged of all attachment to sin so that they might enter into the presence of God – the Beatific Vision.
3.  The Church Triumphant – this is the Beatific Vision, The Most Holy Trinity, the angels and saints dwelling inside, pondering, adoring and worshipping God from the inside.

Some day, both the Church Militant and the Church Suffering will cease to exist.  The earth, the physical universe, will someday cease to exist, and there will be no additional human beings made.  The reason God has not yet brought about what we call “The end of the world” is because there are not yet enough human beings.  God wants more people for heaven.  Including the babies conceived by the poor, in violent or disordered circumstances, and by women who have already had multiple c-sections.  GOD, not Pope Francis, determines how many humans there should be, and God is very, very clear on this question.  He. Wants. More. People. To. Love.

Since the domain of the Church Militant is the physical universe, when there is no longer a physical universe or living human beings, there will be no Church Militant.  Some day, the last saved soul will be fully purged of all attachment to sin and will enter heaven, and on that day the Church Suffering will cease to exist.

The Church Triumphant, however, will always exist, because the domain of the Church Triumphant is the Triune Godhead Himself, Who Is Existence Itself.  Ever pray the Gloria Patri?  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.  As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

So let’s get our LOGIC jam on now, shall we?  The Church, of which there is only one, is the Body and Bride of Christ, and all of the saved either are now or eventually will be in the Church Triumphant, which indwells, now and forever, inside the Triune Godhead.

Now grind through this, and fight the contra-education you have received as a child of the post-Christian, post-Modern west.  How, EXACTLY, could a person be “saved” and be OUTSIDE of the Church?

Let’s attack this from the angle of the Judgment.  What happens to every person when they die?  They are judged by Jesus Christ.

Stop.

Do you believe this?  No, seriously.  Do you believe that EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING, regardless of race, religious confession, time, place, or any other variable, is judged by Jesus Christ?  If you do not believe this, then I really don’t see how you can possibly claim to be a Christian.  Now, if you don’t like hearing this, you can go listen to Pope Francis spew some irrational, illogical, Modernist, faux-ecumenical garbage, but understand that his priority is very different from mine.  I am interested in the eternal fate of your soul.  Pope Francis, it seems, just wants to be popular.  Let’s go through a list:

What happens to Christians when they die?
They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.

What happens to Jews when they die?
They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.

What happens to Hindus when they die?
They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.

What happens to atheists when they die?
They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.

What happens to musloids when they die?
They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.

What happens to animists when they die?
They are judged by Jesus Christ, and will either attain the Beatific Vision in the Church Triumphant, or be damned to hell.

Noticing a pattern?  Mmmmmm?

I have an anecdote.  If you recall, a few years ago I attempted to take a course on Aristotelian and Thomistic Ethics through the Archdiocese of Denver.  That’s the one that the Novus Ordo Kathys asked the instructor (who was great) to throw me out of, because I didn’t respect “their truth” or whatever.  Well, besides myself and the Kathys, there was one man in the class – a guy in his 60s who did nothing but sleep and talk on his cell phone.  I don’t think he ever actually heard a single word the instructor said.  Behavior like that REALLY chaps me.  Anyway, at the last session I attended there was a discussion at the end of the class, and this guy woke up and said the following, at which I was CLIMBING THE WALLS:

“I’m a catechism teacher for the teens over at St. Xxxx’s and have been for years.  The kids ask about reincarnation for the Hindus, and I tell them, “SURE, THAT’S POSSIBLE.  IF THAT IS WHAT THOSE PEOPLE BELIEVE, WHY NOT?  WHO’S TO SAY THAT THERE ISN’T REINCARNATION? WE DON’T KNOW.”

So, lesson one here is: DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS TO ANY SORT OF CATECHISM CLASSES IN A NOVUS ORDO PARISH.  I’m sorry, but it is just that simple.  They will let ANYONE who volunteers teach, and most of these people, whether we like it or not and whether it is malicious or not, are full-blown heretics if not outright apostates.  Ah, the New Pentecost (TM).  Not QUITE as awesome as the original.

The second lesson is, as we discussed above, people today are so far gone that they can recite the Creed at Mass every Sunday, to wit the parts about “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead” and “we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come”, and then stand in front of a CATHOLIC CATECHISM CLASS and tell a bunch of kids that, sure, if Hindus believe in reincarnation, who’s to say they aren’t reincarnated? AND THEN BRAG ABOUT IT IN A CATHOLIC ADULT ED CLASS.  There is zero sensation of cognitive dissonance or even tension in holding two utterly, completely contradictory positions.  2+2 equals 4.  But also 762, and aren’t I just one of the cool kids because I don’t actually believe in the concept of “truth”, because I’m tolerant, and frankly, a little self-loathing, too.  The mind simply reels.

Let’s focus in on the so-called Christian denominations now.  Do we honestly believe that there are multiple “heavens”?  Do we honestly believe that there is a Presbyterian heaven, and a Methodist heaven, and a Baptist heaven?  Do we honestly believe that there is a heaven where sodomy, for example, is NOT a sin, where all of the people who believe that sodomy is great will get to go?  Is there a heaven where contraception is not a sin – because ALL of the protesting sects today deny the sinfulness of contraception?  Again, let’s get our logic groove rolling again.  How can the Triune Godhead hold contradictory positions as both being true?  Either sodomy is a sin or it isn’t.  Either the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ physically, substantially present, or it isn’t.  Either the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the eternal liturgy of heaven, or it isn’t.  A house divided cannot stand.  If God holds contradictory positions as both “true”, then there is no truth, and thus there is no God.  THIS is the inevitable logical consequence of the Protestant revolt – atheism.

Now this is the part that was so compelling for me in my conversion process.  What of people who cannot, through no fault of their own, either know about or enter the Church?  Can these people be saved?  The answer is: yes.  It is possible.  Let’s take all of the people, for example, who lived their lives on the North American continent in the 1450 years between the establishment of the Church by Christ in the Upper Room in ARSH 33, and the landing of Columbus in North America in ARSH 1492.  How could a man born on the Great Plains in the 5th century, living his entire life 1000 years before any Christian steps foot on the same continent, making it a physical impossibility that he could have known of Christ, much less His Church, much less received baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, be saved?  How could such a man, and billions of others like him over the centuries, possibly be not only saved, but saved IN THE CHURCH, outside of which there is no salvation according to the axiom?  The answer is: The Natural Law.  Christ judged the 5th century Plains Indian according to the Natural Law, which is indelibly inscribed on the heart of every human being by God.  Is it more difficult for those outside The Church?  Of course.  That is why the Church is a Gift from God, and the most obvious manifestation of His love for us, even above and beyond nature and the stars.  The 5th century Plains Indian could not go to the sacrament of confession and hear the words:

God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

But we CAN go to confession and we CAN hear those words, and our sins, venial and mortal, can be forgiven AT ANY TIME.  The Catholic Church is a Gift from God.

And so that 5th century Plains Indian, if he lived his life in accord with the Natural Law, coupled with genuine invincible ignorance (due to physical location), made it through his Particular Judgment before Our Lord, is now far, far, far more Catholic than any of us.  He knows the Mass better than the greatest liturgist alive today, because he is right there at the Altar, worshiping God in the perpetual sacrifice and immolation of the Lamb.  He isn’t in some separate animist-pagan heaven for red skinned Injuns (HAD to throw that in).  He is in the one and only heaven that there is, which is indwelling in the only God there is, which is His Mystical Body and Bride, Church Triumphant, which is most certainly CATHOLIC, because what the word “catholic” means is “universal” or, perhaps more accurately, “on the whole”.

And so it follows from this that Our Good God has not created one single human being “damned”.  Every one of us – and scientists today speculate that there have been roughly 110 billion human beings ever – and every person who ever will be, has been knit together, atom by atom, cell by cell, personally by God who provided and provides a means and path and grace sufficient for every one of us to make it to heaven.  Including the eighth consecutive child delivered by c-section.  Many, many did not and will not make it, but that is our own fault.

Now, isn’t that satisfying?  Doesn’t it make sense?  Doesn’t it just drip with integrity and logical coherence?  AND LOVE?

The big obstacle for post-Christian culture is to shake the pathological need to deny that there is, in fact, ONE TRUTH, and thus ONE CHURCH, and thus ONE TRUE RELIGION, as the world, ruled as it is by satan and his minions, calls us “intolerant”, “rigid”, “fundamentalist”, “haters”, “Nazis” and “Taliban”.

I BELIEVE that the Catholic Church is the ONE, TRUE CHURCH of Christ, instituted by Him in the Upper Room, and is now and always will be His Body and His Bride.  There is only ONE Church.  There is only ONE True Religion.  There is only one heaven, and there is only one God, who is the One and Only Judge of every human being.

Which is why I will scream from the rooftops without the least hesitation or shame:

EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS!

OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH THERE IS NO SALVATION!

Because I actually believe it.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

St. Simeon, the God Receiver

Yesterday was the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, wherein 40 days after His birth, Our Lord was presented at the Temple, thus signifying His entrance into His Church, and also the humble obedience of the Blessed Virgin, who presented herself according to God’s Law to be purified, even though she had absolutely no need of such since her virginity was totally preserved for her entire life.

Our Lord was received by Simeon and the prophetess Anna, and the icon above depicts the wonderful moment wherein St. Simeon, knowing Who Our Lord was, took Him into his arms.  St. Augustine put it so beautifully:

“An old man was carrying a Child; but the Child was the old man’s Lord.”

I was struck by the icon above because it is one of the very few icons I have seen wherein the subject’s face is radiating joy.  Icons often look quite sad, or at minimum extremely solemn.  In this icon, the joy of Simeon, the God-Receiver, tears welling in his eyes and a gentle smile on his lips as he looks upon God Incarnate, is most moving.

St. Simeon, the God-Receiver, is an image of all of us who receive Our Lord into our own physical embrace every time we receive the Eucharist.  Would that we all recognize and know Him as He is brought to us at the Communion rail, like Simeon knew Him on the steps of the Temple; would that we all hold and cradle Our Lord with the care and awe that St. Simeon did when we receive Him in the Eucharist; and would that we all rejoice like St. Simeon at each and every meeting with Our Lord.

Sorry for the dearth of posts, but I have received some bad news with regards to the “parking spot” for the “van down by the river” and have been admittedly preoccupied and out-of-sorts.  It isn’t immediately catastrophic, but I may have to find another “parking spot” within the next few months.  If I do “move the van”, it is a near certitude that “parking fees” will go up.  We shall see.  At any rate, I try not to ask for much, especially considering the astounding generosity and munificence that has already been displayed to me by complete strangers who know only of me what they have seen on a flickering screen, of which I seriously worry that it has been sinful in and of itself to accept, but I am beginning a novena to dear St. Joseph tomorrow as he is the patron of all domestic issues.  The text is below if you would like to join in, and add your own intentions.  If you could, in your generosity, throw in a brief mention of “Ann’s situation with the parking spot for the ‘van down by the river'”, good St. Joseph will know exactly what that means, will stroke his facial hair and nod knowingly, and take it up with his Foster Son.  Thank you, again, for your continued kindness and prayers.

(Say this prayer for nine days for anything you may desire. Then abandon yourself to the Divine Providence. Trust that whatever is the outcome of your novena, it is truly what is best for you in accordance with the Will of God.)

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

O Saint Joseph, assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you with Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. Amen

O Saint Joseph, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. O Saint Joseph, pray for me. (Mention your intention)

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

PATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

St. John Bosco, ARSH 1815-1888

““Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” Therefore, according to the Gospel, any citizen can be a good Catholic – that is, side with Jesus Christ and the Pope, and do good to his fellow men – and at the same time side with Caesar, namely, observe the laws of the land, except when the rulers persecute religion or tyrannize the consciences and minds of citizens.“- St. John Bosco

If your mind and conscience is not tyrannized, at long last, my only question would be: What, exactly, will it take?

1.  The allegory of the Hedgerow.  Man up, mash the throttle and just go straight over the top.  There’s no more time for “around”, or “maybe there’s a gate over there”.  Thirty years ago?  Maybe.  Today?  Nope.  We need to be like Bradley’s First Army in the fields of Saint-Lo.

2.  Mailbag time!  THIS LETTER is why I openly state that Pope Francis is unintelligent.  Because when you explain these things – that is, REALITY – it allows people to process and understand what is happening.  Delusion, denial, pollyannaism, none of these things do anyone any good, and in fact, are repellant.  You know why?  Because at their core, they are all a form of LYING.  Remember, the Truth, even when it is horrific, STILL is connected to beauty because Truth and Beauty are both constitutive qualities of God Himself.  I sit and stare at an image of the Crucifixion for upwards of 90 minutes per day on average because the TRUTH communicated in the horror of God dead on the Cross is the most beautiful thing in the universe.  Read on:

Dear Ann,

I realize you would get masses of mail so am certainly not expecting acknowledgement of receipt of mine. Nevertheless I want to write to you to thank you for your very encouraging words re. (not) leaving The Church on account of Francis.

I have tried to see what Pope Francis has actually said as opposed to the select pieces that the msm tells the world. I feel very uncomfortable, thinking, let alone saying anything bad about the Pope. I have however been guilty of some very uncharitable thoughts and words after the “breeding like rabbits” episode.

I am the mother of 10 children, not because I was unaware of, or incompetent in the use of NFP, but because my husband and I decided more souls for Heaven was more important than an overseas trip. There is much sacrifice in this decision but of course the joy well outweighs it. My siblings all have large families and I know many other large families that are constantly having to defend their decisions to the world. Particularly a world that bows to a green god and to have the breeding like rabbits quote come from the mouth of the head of Christ’s Church made me cry. Breeding like rabbits when likened to human reproduction is ALWAYS a derogatory term, you can’t accidentally use it.

So while I would never leave The Church, I am increasingly wondering what the hell is going on? Where do we go from here? Was this really a Pope chosen by The Holy Spirit? Your words about leaving The Church “because of a staggeringly stupid South American Jesuit” (there I said it!) gave me much encouragement. I just have to keep my eyes on Jesus. Like Peter walking on the water but never faltering – all eyes on Him.

Yours in Christ,
J

1.  The aberrosexual NFL washout Michael Sam “proposed” to the guy whose body he uses for masturbatory friction on the cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome – exactly, directly over the tomb of St. Peter.  Because there was no other place on the surface of the earth that these shameless sodomites could have mocked and aped the sacrament of marriage.  They had to do it whilst LITERALLY dancing on the grave of St. Peter.

Folks, the objective of these people and their satanic agenda is not, never has been, and never will be a “peaceful co-existence”.  The order of progression, once sodomites are given even the slightest quarter in a culture, is:
Tolerance, acceptance, ratification, cooperation, participation.

Now you might be asking, “How can they force people to PARTICIPATE?”

The actor Billy Crystal, who actually played the first open sodomite character on teevee on the creepy sitcom SOAP in the ’70s, said recently that he really doesn’t care to watch sodomite sex scenes on teevee and in movies and was attacked and “forced” to apologize.  Watching pornographic depictions of sodomite activity is a form of participation.  Crystal was “punished” for stating that he preferred not to participate.

2.  I recently posted a brief explanation of the fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary was, in fact, already married to St. Joseph when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her at the Annunciation, whereupon after she gave her fiat, Our Lord was incarnated in her womb by the power of the Holy Ghost.  This is so important because the evil infiltrators of the Church are going to push hard from here forward to destroy the sacrament of marriage and essentially attempt to abrogate the 6th Commandment in the minds of the people.  They’ve already started, and have already made tremendous progress.  Countless millions of souls have been permanently ratified in their mortal sins against the 6th Commandment by EXTREMELY HIGH RANKING prelates.  Others, knowing the truth, but shaken by the fact that it is EXTREMELY HIGH RANKING prelates who are doing this, are losing their faith and willingly leaving the Barque of Peter (more on that in a moment).  Well, here is Cardinal Burke’s excellent sermon on this subject.  Click over, read it, and then ponder the fact that Cardinal Burke is now the patron of a charitable order, “punished”, insulted and vilified for being a believing Roman Catholic.

3.  Just to go on record, I am now praying every day that Pope Francis be removed from office, in addition to praying for the salvation of his soul, and I say that here publicly without any qualms or hesitation.  The sheer quantity of damage he is doing to souls is unprecedented and I don’t see how a person who has the least concern for others (charity) can not be desirous of the soonest possible end to this ongoing catastrophe of a papacy.

4.  I was recently told that I was intellectually inconsistent in saying that there is a mere 36 hour news cycle today and that people forget current events, while at the same time claiming that Pope Francis’ rhetoric is doing permanent damage.  I stand foursquare behind my position.  People will indeed retain and remember when the Vicar of Christ ratifies them in their sin.  Call it “selective memory” or whatever you like.  Think about it.  If a teenaged boy goes to confession and confesses masturbation and Fr. Neopagan Jazzhands tells him that masturbation is NOT a sin, do you think the teenaged boy will EVER forget that?  Oh no.  Not a chance.  It’s off to the self-abuse races.  Do you think that all of these people who have been told by priests, either in the confessional or out, that the pill and contraception in general are not sinful and are even virtuous EVER forget that?  Not a chance.  Oh, we are all guilty of remembering with crystal clarity when other people confirm, ratify and encourage us in our sins.  And how much more magnified is this reality when it is the Pope of Rome who is winkingly feeding people these lies?  Further, Pope Francis’ horrific rhetoric is the “gift that keeps on giving”, because it will be used and cited by people as an appeal to authority literally until Our Lord returns in Glory.  Decades and perhaps centuries hence, people will say, “Well, Pope Francis said….”  I WISH the 36 hour rule applied to him.  But it doesn’t.  And that’s just reality.

5.  I do not think that Francis’ horrific rhetoric should be ignored, but rather explained, because what every one of his episodes provides is an opportunity for catechesis.  Even if just one or two people learn and have a lightbulb go on above their head when unpacking his staggering, malignant stupidity, it is worth it.  It is certainly better than nothing.  For example, when he was recently in the Philippines, a little girl asked him why God permits terrible things like child prostitution to happen.  And, of course, Francis, being dumb and apparently profoundly uncatechized in Catholicism, said, “She is the only one who has put forward a question for which there is no answer….”

Um, no.  The answer is because God Almighty, because He LOVES US, holds our wills SACRED and will not ever overcome our will or coerce us, because the second He does that, we are no longer subjects, but objects.  Plastic chessmen.  Love CANNOT be coerced.  It has to be freely given and freely returned, and that freedom includes the freedom to reject The Lover and to choose evil.  A third of the angels chose evil.  We choose evil with every sin.  And, paradoxically, it is precisely in that reality that we KNOW that we are loved more than we can ever, ever comprehend.

But now somewhere in the Philippines there is a little girl who thinks that God is an indifferent “divine watchmaker” and that the Church has no answer to her question, when in fact it is a children’s Penny Catechism 101 topic.

This is why I pray for God to remove Pope Francis from office.

6.  I’m hearing lots of people tell me that they are seriously thinking of leaving the Church because of Francis.  Lots of people are looking at the Eastern Orthodox, sedevacantist groups, or just ceasing to go to Mass.

And satan oinks and squeals with delight.

Here is what that tells me.  These people are lacking in what the protesters call “a personal relationship with Jesus Christ”.  They are in a mindset wherein Our Lord is not front-and-center, but rather His Church has been reduced to something akin to a political party, and He is just a mascot.  Yeah.  This is a big, big, big problem, even among traditionalists.  Why are you Catholic?  Why do you go to Mass?  The correct answer is:  BECAUSE JESUS.

It seems to me that Our Lord is using this as perhaps one last big sifting, or sorting, to see who REALLY gets it, who really loves Him personally and not as a mere philosophy or legal system, and is going to stick with Him. Again, I think the cancer analogy is very helpful here. If your wife was diagnosed with cancer, would you immediately move out? File for divorce? Because, hey, I didn’t marry someone with cancer, and therefore you are no longer the person I married, right? Nope. Stay in the boat. Because schism only breeds more schism. And besides, that’s exactly what they want you to do. They want you out, because if you’re out, well, for lack of a better phrase… YOU’RE OUT. It is going to be an absolute mess, and Our Lord says this repeatedly in scripture (sorting of sheep from goats, the sorting of the catch in the nets, the weeds growing among the crop, people crying out, “Lord, Lord” and being escorted to hell because “I never knew you”.) Also, we have Our Lady warning us of all of this repeatedly, Fatima and Quito being the two most prominent instances. Bottom line, none of this should be a surprise, and thus we should all be confirmed and “dug in”, with the thought of abandoning Our Lord, or really withdrawing from Him and His Church in any way, to be not just unthinkable, but in diametric opposition to the very circumstances and responses we have been anticipating and preparing ourselves for.

The remedy for this is simple, and Our Lord has told this to many, many approved mystics over the last 2000 years.  He says, again and again, “Think and pray about My Passion.”  Why?  Because the more we think about His Passion and what He went through, the more grounded we are in His Incarnation and Divine Personhood, and the more we realize how much He loves us.  When you think about His Agony in the Garden, His Scourging at the Pillar, the Crown of Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and His Crucifixion and Death on the Cross, the more you are faced and confronted with the fact that God is not just a “divine watchmaker”, but Personal, Incarnate and completely in love with you.  If you get your head around that even a little, and you understand that the Catholic Church is HIS CHURCH, which HE INSTITUTED, and is HIS MYSTICAL BODY and HIS BRIDE, and that HIS PHYSICAL SUBSTANTIAL PRESENCE is confected only at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass therein, then the thought of abandoning Our Lord and His ONE Church because of a staggeringly stupid South American Jesuit is as unthinkable as angrily severing a relationship with a parent, spouse or child because they were diagnosed with cancer.   What are you thinking??

Here is a post from a while back titled “Overshadowing Shoulders” describing the physical torture and agony that Our Lord suffered.  If Pope Francis or anyone else gets you thinking about leaving the Church, read this and I promise not only will those thoughts be put to flight, but you will be dug in even harder, ready to go to war for Our Sweet Lord.

7.  I read lots of comments from people bewailing liturgical abuses at Mass.  But you know what?  NO ONE EVER DOES ANYTHING.  All hat, no cattle, as we used to say back in the day.

I have an action suggestion.

When the liturgical dancers, or tango dancers, or prancing sodomites begin their performance, or when Fr. Jazzhands decides to “come out” during his homily, or sing showtunes or whatever, I would propose kneeling and singing “Tantum Ergo”.  Loudly.  English literal translation below.  The “old practice” and “new rite” is the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, not the Novus Ordo post-Vatican II paradigm, of course.

Hence so great a Sacrament
Let us venerate with heads bowed
And let the old practice
Give way to the new rite;
Let faith provide a supplement
For the failure of the senses.
To the Begetter and the Begotten,
Be praise and jubilation,
Hail, honour, virtue also,
And blessing too:
To the One proceeding from Both
Let there be equal praise.
Amen.