Many of you might have noticed that there are extra prayers being said during Mass, specifically  an extra Collect, and an extra Postcommunion.  There is also an additional Secret being said, but the Secret is said sotto voce, of course.

These extra prayers are because we are in the Octave of Church Unity which began on January 18th, the old calendar feast of the Chair of St. Peter in Rome, and concludes on January 25th, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.

If you have the Baronius Press 1962 Missal that so many of us do, the Votive Mass for the Unity of the Church is on page 1655.

What I especially love is the Collect, which gives every indication of having been composed by the Divine Providence for our times.  It is absolutely perfect:

O God, who settest straight what has gone astray, and gatherest together what is scattered, and keepest what Thou hast gathered together: we beseech Thee in Thy mercy to pour down on Christian people the grace of union with Thee, that, putting disunion aside and joining themselves to the true Shepherd of Thy Church, they may be able to render Thee worthy service.

Might I suggest adding this to one’s concluding prayers of the Rosary?

Here is a picture of Antipope Victor IV Conti submitting to the true Pope, Pope Innocent II Papareschi.  Antipope Victor actually was the second consecutive Antipope.  His “predecessor” was Antipope Anacletus II Pierleone, who, GET THIS, reigned uncontested in Rome for EIGHT YEARS and died peacefully in his bed.  The situation was fixed by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who, after studying the CANONICAL VALIDITY of the events leading to the usurpation by Antipope Anacletus II went to Rome and very patiently met with people and calmly and rationally demonstrated the Canonical Case that Pope Innocent II was and had been the one and only true Pope all along.  Antipope Victor IV acknowledged the truth of St. Bernard’s case, and went to Pope Innocent II, cast off his “Antipapal” Tiara, and did public submission and obeisance to the One True Pope, Innocent II.

If you would like to read this fascinating history in full, click HERE.

When I went to Rome years ago, I visited the church of St. Agnes, as it is situated on one of the most prominent spots in the entire city: Piazza Navona.

I prayed in the chapel containing the reliquary with St. Agnes’ skull, very visible.

God forgive me, I harbored doubts as to the veracity of the skull, as it was SO TINY. Yes, St. Agnes was only thirteen, and yes, people back then were “malnourished” compared to us. But….

Happily, the Divine Providence soon provided a corrective proof. I was on a Roman public bus (shudder), and a little old teeny-tiny Roman woman boarded the bus. She was clearly over 80. And much like my own grandmother, this lady’s hair had thinned and thinned evenly to a mere wispy halo, as she aged. When the little Roman lady boarded the bus at the Ara Coeli stop, the afternoon sun put her in a semi-silhouette such that her cranium was clearly visible in the sense of shape and size.

Exactly the same as St. Agnes.

Lessons?

1.) Quit second-guessing this stuff. The Christians 1700 years ago were neither liars nor imbeciles. They knew exactly what happened, to whom, where, how and when. And they wrote it all down immediately, and damn-sure told their kids about it. REPEATEDLY.

2.) Also, intercessory miracles. Lots and lots of intercessory miracles. And I’m not talking, “I left the house without a scarf and didn’t die of pneumonia.” Real, actual, MIRACLES.

3.) We are, all of us, relatively speaking, GIANTS. That whole business of being forced to choke down whole milk and eggs and steak every day that was my (and your!) early childhood is all BRAND NEW. I’m 5’4″. 100 years ago I would have been 5’0″. In Italy (I have zero Italian blood), I would have been 4’9″ or 4’10”.

Meanwhile, not to get side-railed here, but has anyone noticed that Barron Trump, who is not yet FOURTEEN, is… eleven feet tall? Poor kid must be experiencing some pretty intense knee pain. The lad is growing FAST, and isn’t close to being done. Melania’s young man might be a seven-footer.

Here, from over the transom, is a photo from TODAY of the blessing of the lambs for the feast of St. Agnes in Rome.

Feel free, just for today, to relish in the abject cuteness of the little food animals.

And below, please see my favorite artist, Guido Reni’s, St. Agnes. Please forgive the watermarks and sepia-and-white. It’s the best image I could find. This is housed in Palazzo Corsini in Rome.

Finally, a truly edifying quote about St. Agnes:

“Secure in the Canon, between St. Lucy and St. Cecilia, St. Agnes is every Mass’ reminder that an Empire is no match for a girl, when that girl is out to win God’s Heart.“

Words to live by. Truly.

Pope Benedict is surrounded by “minders” from the “Communion and Liberation” organization. His household staff consists of lay women who swear creepy oaths of obedience to Communion and Liberation and its head, Father Julián Carrón. These women are called “Memores Domini”.

C&L is similar to the Legionaries of Christ in that it seeks first financial power, and is massively financially corrupt. It is also riddled with horrific sexual corruption. It would not be unreasonable to describe C&L as the Italian analogue to the Legionaries of Christ. Both market themselves as “soft-right”, “moderate-conservative” groups in order to maximize their grift, targeting the wealthy “elite” and those with political power. C&L brags that through its top members, it has connection to over €100 billion in assets.

The most notorious case by far is that of Mauro “Don Mercedes” Inzoli, a notorious C&L pedophile priest who abused and raped hundreds of boys. Inzoli’s nickname comes from his very flashy and high-living lifestyle, not unlike that favored by Legion of Christ upper-echelon bosses.

(Fr. Thomas Williams, aka Mr. Liz Lev, being a prominent example, who likewise has a massive sexual misconduct dossier with the CDF, particularly his sexual relationships with his students while he was the Dean of Moral Theology at the Legion’s university in Rome. Williams, upon fleeing the priesthood in order to avoid exposure and adjudication of his sexual predation of young people under his authority, was placed at Breitbart by Steve Bannon, who was palling around with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein as recently as September of ARSH 2018. But I digress…)

Antipope Bergoglio, despite strident warnings and objections from Cardinal Muller who headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the body which handles sex abuser priest cases, restored Inzoli to full faculties in ARSH 2014. This was done at the personal request of two of the most notorious sodomites in the Vatican: Cardinal Coccopalmerio, presider of the infamous cocaine-fueled gay orgy (it was actually a satanic liturgy) in an apartment in the Palace which holds the CDF, mere yards from St. Peter’s Basilica. The other lobbyist for the full restoration of the Communion and Liberation known raper of young boys, Inzoli, was Monsignor Pio Vito Pinto, one of Antipope Bergoglio’s most vicious attack dogs.

Antipope Bergoglio fired ++Muller and several of his staff that worked on sex abuse investigations from the CDF because of Muller’s opposition to Antipope Bergoglio’s pro-pedofile demands and agenda, with the C&L Inzoli being first among them.

And, exactly like the criminal Legionaries of Christ, Communion and Liberation is 110% in the tank for Antipope Bergoglio. Because POWER and MONEY. Check out this piece from Crux titled, “If you don’t think Francis is the cure, you don’t grasp the disease,’ CL head says”

Over my transom yesterday came a piece published in a C&L journal, penned by a high-ranking C&L layman operative, Massimo Borghesi, in the C&L rag, “Il Sussidiario”.

This piece, titled “FRANCIS AND RATZINGER / The “two” Popes and the crisis of authority in the Church” is being taken in Italy as a thinly-veiled directive to the C&L jailers of Pope Benedict to sequester him even further and to silence him.

Algorithmic translation of the money quote:

If Ratzinger wants to be consistent with the commitment he made when he decided to keep the name of Benedict XVI, Pope emeritus, then he should observe the rule of silence in the matters that are the subject of discussion by the bishops and Pope. He could only intervene if his word proves to be in support of papal action.

But do read the whole piece. It is a vomitous screed, in which Borghesi repeatedly calls faithful Catholics “the Anti-church”.

And remember, these people market themselves as “soft-right moderate conservatives”.

Pray for Pope Benedict, the Papacy, and Holy Mother Church.

(This video was put together by the chap that translated Antonio Socci’s book, accurately titled “The Secret of Pope Benedict XVI: Why He Is Still Pope” into English for Angelico Press, who then went over Socci’s and the translator’s head to change the title to a question, “Is he still Pope?” Be sure to read the end title card. Brilliant!)

https://youtu.be/uBVND877xmU

Link HERE.

Also in this case, no one can pretend to know the personal thoughts of Benedict XVI. Certainly Pope Bergoglio was not elected by him, but by a College of Cardinals that clearly had no knowledge of the candidate during a conclave and pre-conclave of which there are many details that still need to be clarified. 

But, as far as what concerns the resignation and his choice to be “Pope Emeritus,” I believe that, based on the documents in hand, it is now clear that Benedict XVI did not intend to resign — or totally resign — the Petrine munus.  

As Archbishop Ganswein explained in his famous conference at the Gregorian University:  

“Both before and after his resignation, Benedict understood and understands his task to be a participation in such a “Petrine ministry.” He left the papal throne, and yet, with the step taken on February 11, 2013, he has not abandoned this ministry at all.“

There is another passage from Archbishop Ganswein that I would like to highlight:  

“He has not abandoned the office of Peter, a thing which would be completely impossible for him following his irrevocable acceptance of the office in April 2005.“

To me, these seem to be explosive words (and they have never been denied by Pope Benedict). The closest collaborator of Benedict XVI explains to us that for Joseph Ratzinger “the acceptance of the office” of Peter is “irrevocable” and to abandon it is “totally impossible.” Although the Vatican continues to pretend that everything is clear, we the Christian people are allowed to ask questions about what really happened in February 2013 and what is the place of Benedict XVI in the Church today. 

-Antonio Socci quoted at ChurchMilitant.com under Aldo Maria Valli’s byline

No Traditional Latin Mass in your backyard?

If you are a single person who works from home, if at all, and especially if you have rich priests in London offering, in writing, to subsidize your entire existence? (Cough, ahem)

MOVE.

It’s not rocket surgery.

Priorities. Priorities. Priorities.

PRIORITIES.

People with cars? Which means EVERYONE in North America, read this well:

Immediately after the promulgation of the Novus Ordo on 30 November ARSH 1969 – and I do mean IMMEDIATELY, a Catholic family in rural Colorado southeast of Colorado Springs, led by the masculine, non-effeminiate husband and father, declared that assisting at the Novus Ordo was not acceptable given that it was POSSIBLE to assist at a Sunday Mass of Pius V…

IN RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA.

This family, with… MANY children, piled into TWO vehicles every Saturday morning and drove TEN HOURS one way from down around Lamar, CO all the way up to Rapid City, SD, where a very St. Jerome-ish Grumpycat elderly diocesan priest categorically refused to say the Novus Ordo. The bishop didn’t want to fight him… so.

The family lodged Saturday nights with parishioners in Rapid City (can you imagine how great those conversations were?), got up, went to Sunday Mass, piled back in the cars, and drove the ten hours back to SE Colorado.

They did this for TWENTY YEARS.

You realize what this means, yes?

This family sacrificed the entire concept of “weekend” for twenty years. The father had no weekend rest. Much less time to work on the house and yard, golf, etc.

Nevermind the gas.

The children had no childhood weekend activities as so many of us had. They were packed into a car. ALL WEEKEND.

May God reward that man, and his family. The least we can do is regale the planet with tales of this man’s and his family’s example.

The Holy Sacrifice MUST be our top priority. It is the most important thing in the universe, and we should acknowledge that.

Whining about any drive less than ten hours each way to Sunday Mass, given the above, falls on deaf ears with me. Sorry. But I can’t lie. Emails from people complaining about the forty minute drive from one part of Dallas to another, or whatever, not only doesn’t move me, but actively disgusts me. Again, I can’t lie. Can you sit forty minutes watching Tee-Vee? That’s Jeopardy and the first third of Wheel.

That’s one third of a ComicBook movie.

Forty minutes is a SHORT video game session. For those effeminate and pathetic enough to actually play video games. 🤢🤮

You will know them by their fruits, and you will know them by their priorities.

No excuses. No whining. GO.

I cannot emphasize this with sufficient vehemence: GO. TO. MASS.

The best you can absolutely, possibly do. Move “heaven and earth”.

I first became introduced to Mr. Spalding years and years ago via his blogging and reportage against everyone’s favorite satanic totalitarian political system masquerading as a religion. His website is worth a bookmark.

Mr. Spalding has also written for 1P5, but has now been shunned by Trad Inc. parti$an$. How cultish-creepy. Like a page out of the the Legionnaires, or something.

Welcome to the rapidly swelling ranks of Benedict-is-Pope, Oakes!

Ride! Ride for Pope Benedict! Ride for the Papacy! Ride for Jesus Christ and His Holy Catholic Church!!!

Rorate Caeli, the very influential international Traditional Catholic blog, just retweeted this – a response to Professor Roberto de Mattei’s piece of a few days ago.

Here is the money quote from de Mattei’s piece:

You all know my position on politics, politicians, Kayfabe, etc.

BUT…

If Trump called his top flag officers “a bunch of dopes and babies”, all I can say is:

DAMN STRAIGHT.

Might I be permitted to add:

“a wretched hive of pervert-coddling sell-out recreational-cuckold mediocrities with pathological delusions of adequacy.”

The only thing more spectacularly corrupt and degenerate than the USMIL flag officer corps is the Vatican.

(I know- Hepburn. Ignore that and focus on the aesthetic.)

Our Lady of Good Success:

The devil will work to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every way, working with baneful cunning to destroy the spirit of their vocation and corrupting many. Those who will thus scandalize the Christian flock will bring upon all priests the hatred of bad Christians and the enemies of the One, Holy, Roman Catholic, and Apostolic Church. This apparent triumph of Satan will cause enormous suffering to the good pastors of the Church…and to the Supreme Pastor and Vicar of Christ on earth who, a prisoner in the Vatican, will shed secret and bitter tears in the presence of God Our Lord, asking for light, sanctity, and perfection for all the clergy of the world, to whom he is King and Father.”

“To be delivered from the slavery of these heresies, those whom the merciful love of my Son has destined for this restoration will need great will-power, perseverance, courage, and confidence in God. To try the faith and trust of these just ones, there will be times when all will seem lost and paralyzed. It will then be the happy beginning of the complete restoration….”

So I’m not the only one to notice??

“If I go, Theoden dies. Rohan is mine!”

Um… no.