Snagged!

Does this surprise anyone? The United States College of Catholic Bishops gives YOUR money to groups that advocate abortion, contraception, gay marriage, and hosts of other evils. No wonder they are they always on the wrong side of the debate. The Smoke of Satan has indeed entered the Church.

As if there was any doubt.

The Neon Mysteries

In another post I wrote that Pope John Paul II had "screwed around with the Rosary".

To understand my statement, one must view from a scholarly standpoint what the Rosary actually is. There are those who rightly say that the Rosary is a part of the small "t" tradition of the Church, and therefore can be changed. That doesn't mean to say that it should be changed.

What I mean by this is that while I feel smoking my pipe and wearing my kilt and having picnics are all fine to do, I shouldn't do these things in Church because they are wildly inappropriate. The same goes for changing the Rosary.

If JPII wanted the faithful to meditate on the public ministry of Jesus Christ, there are better ways to do so rather than changing traditions. But as has been poined out by a regular reader, the Pope is well within his rights to do so.

But.

The Pope is also the defender of the Catholic Church and its Traditions and traditions. He also has the duty to hand down the unadulterated Faith to others.

So now let's look at the Rosary's history a bit.

Way back in the day, the faithful prayed all 150 psalms. (Try getting some Catholics today to pray one decade of the Rosary...!) As we move into the Middle Ages, people had trouble learning all the psalms, and they longed for a way to do it, so at some point to help these folks, the tradition began of saying 150 Pater Nosters, and in time it eventually became 150 Ave Maria's.

This tradition of saying 150 Ave Maria's was already well under way for hundreds of years by the time Saint Dominic Gusman came along and was told by the Blessed Mother at the church at Prouille "Wonder not that you have obtained so little fruit by your labors, you have spent them on barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine Grace. When GOD willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter composed of 150 Angelic Salutations and 15 Our Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest".

It was thereafter known as Our Lady's Psalter. "Psalter" because as I explained, the Rosary is modeled off of the Breviary, with it's 150 Ave Maria's in place of the 150 Psalms. But when John Paul the Innovator decided to add mysteries to the Rosary, by adding 50 Ave's, the whole structure of the traditional Rosary is screwed up.

Hence, JPII screwed with the Rosary. If you don't like my choice of words, remember it could have been much worse.

So we can see that now with the new mysteries suggested by JPII, we have 200 Ave's instead of the traditional 150. But this is no great surprise, for in this great time of Catholic awakening since Vatican II, priests and religious don't even say the 150 psalms anymore because the VII genuises omitted some of the psalms in the newer form of the Breviary.

So, let's get back to small "t" traditions in the post Vatican II era and changing the Rosary. History has shown that whenever the Novus Ordites want to attack capital "T" Tradition, they always go after the small "t" traditions, and during our post Vatican II springtime we have seen it time and again. They went after Latin, Chant, the Mass (!), the Eucharistic fast, Communion on the tongue, Communion kneeling, they removed Prime from the Breviary for whatever reason, they instituted altar girls and EMHC's, they allowed women in the Sanctuary, and they threw out saints because they claimed there wasn't enough proof they existed.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

When you attack traditions, you attack the Traditions handed down by the Apostles themselves, and you breakdown traditional devotion and piety. When you change traditions you change the religion. If you don't think that is the case, have a look around at the havoc that has been wrought in the Church the last forty years.

And that true believers, is why changing the Rosary is a bad idea.

Ok?

The Obacommandments

Stolen while the Catholic Caveman was busy staring down a heretic in the communion line.

I. Thou shalt have no God in America, except for me. For we are no longer a Christian nation and, after all, I am the chosen One. (And like God, I do not have a birth certificate.)

II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, unless it is my face carved on Mt. Rushmore.

III. Thou shalt not utter my middle name in vain (or in public). Only I can say Barack Hussein Obama.

IV. Remember tax day, April 15th, to keep it holy.

V. Honour thy father and thy mother until they are too old and sick to care for. They will cost our public-funded health-care system too much money.

VI. Thou shalt not kill, unless you have an unwanted, unborn baby. For it would be an abomination to punish your daughter with a baby.

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery if you are conservative or a Republican. Liberals and Democrats are hereby forgiven for all of their infidelity and immorality, but the careers of conservatives will be forever destroyed.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal, until you've been elected to public office. Only then is it acceptable to take money from hard-working, successful citizens and give it to those who do not work, illegal immigrants, or those who do not have the motivation to better their own lives.

IX. Thou shalt not discriminate against thy neighbor unless they are conservative, Caucasian, or Christian.

X. Thou shalt not covet because it is simply unnecessary. I will place such a heavy tax burden on those that have achieved the American Dream that, by the end of my term as President, nobody will have any wealth or material goods left for you to covet.

An Act Of Reparation

O sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thy altar eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries, to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.

The Final Stretch

Here and here we've been trying to release 100,000 souls from Purgatory by praying Saint Gertrude's Prayer:

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ,
in union with the Masses said throughout the world today,
for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal church,
for those in my own home and within my own family.
Amen.

We need 9 more prayers said before midnight to reach our goal. Let's try to surpass it!

Post your numbers in the comments.

EDIT: As of 2:30pm EST we have surpassed our goal by 11 prayers! Keep it coming if you can, let's see how far we can go!

EDIT: We surpassed our first Holy Souls In Purgatory Blog-A-Thon! 119,000 Souls removed from Purgatory per Our Savior's own words! Well done! And don't stop there, keep on praying this excellent devotion on your own and help more Holy Souls reach the Beatific Vision!

Excellent News!

This should really irritate a lot of heretics...I mean progressives! Slip of the keyboard there...

Pope Desires FSSP To Be Given Full Pastoral Care Of Faithful

Pope Benedict XVI wishes that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter be entrusted, beyond the celebration of Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form, at as many places as possible, with the cura animarum, i.e. the full pastoral care. This was reported by Fr. John Berg, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, at the Annual Meeting of Pro Tridentine Missa, which was held today in Wiesbaden. Fr. Berg had on 6 July, a private audience with the Pope, during which he was able to speak for fifteen minutes with him at his desk in the papal library. The Holy Father was very interested in whether the Fraternity was able to exercise its apostolate without obstacles, as intended. He inquired whether its priests, where they operate, could really work pastorally for the souls.

Queering The Rosary

If John Paul II hadn't screwed around with the Rosary to begin with, I'm sure this type of thing never could have been imagined.

But of course homosexuals have a history of doing things that never could have been imagined before, so who knows?

This sickens me, especially that these colon cowboys take Mary's Psalter of all things and twist it to their own wicked ends. Our Blessed Mother gave us the Holy Rosary to meditate on the lives of Jesus and Mary and they pervert it, just like they pervert everything else they touch. I just don't know what to say.

From California Catholic Daily

When Oakland’s Bishop Salvatore Cordileone visited Berkeley’s Jesuit School of Theology at the Graduate Theological Union on September 22, he was greeted by approximately 20 protestors. The protestors were seminarians and faculty from the theological union’s schools. The bishop was there to commemorate the merging of the Jesuit school with Santa Clara University. The protesters were there to oppose Bishop Cordileone for his defense of natural marriage.

According to the QueerToday.com website, protestors included Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, president of the Starr King (Unitarian Universalist) School of Ministry; Rev. Roland Stringfellow, the organizer of the GTU’s Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies; Rev. Sanna Reinholtzen, a Lutheran minister; and graduate student Eugene McMullan, apparently a Catholic.

According to the Bay Area Reporter, Mr. McMullan is the founder of Catholics for Marriage Equality. There is more than one organization with that name; presumably they mean the one in the bay area. On August 13, the BAR published an article called “Pray for Equality Outside St. Mary‘s.“ The article began: “The recently formed Catholics for Marriage Equality will be holding a prayer vigil outside St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco Saturday, August 15, which is the feast of the Assumption. Organizer Eugene McMullan noted that on the Assumption, the Catholic Church celebrates Mary being bodily raised into heaven. Catholics for Marriage Equality will be praying the rosary while contemplating the Relational Mysteries.”

Many Catholics, even devout ones, may be excused for never having heard of the “Relational Mysteries.” That’s because they exist nowhere except on the agenda of homosexual activists. According to the June 2009 issue of “Impact“, the international newsletter of the Metropolitan Community Church, under the heading “Queering the Rosary,” the “relational mysteries” were devised by Mr. McMullan.

A crystal-clear description of purpose of the “Relational Mysteries” was given in the online calendar of the New Spirit/MCC Church in Berkeley. The entry was for an event held on Sunday, May 31, 2009, and reads: “GTU doctoral student Eugene McMullan and Reverend Jim Mitulski will lead a two part class on "Praying the Queer Rosary," based on stories from the bible which depict Queer Families or Relationships. The class will include a brief history of the rosary, introduction to Catholic devotions, sharing of stories, and praying together.”

The MCC is an overtly homosexual activist church; that was its founding purpose, so it is not surprising to see such an event held there. Unfortunately, the homosexual activists have managed to introduce the “relational mysteries” into at least one Catholic parish as well. The September 13 web bulletin of Berkeley’s Newman Hall - Holy Spirit Parish announces: “Praying the Rosary in solidarity with LGBT Catholics. Join us Sept. 17, 7:30-9:00 p.m. in the lounge as we explore the Relational Mysteries: Fidelity—Ruth's pledge to Naomi (Ruth 1:16-18); Grief—The parting of David and Jonathan (I Sam 20:35-42); Intercession—Esther intercedes for her people (Est 4:9-5:2); Restoration—the raising of Lazarus (John 11:38-44); and Discipleship—the two encounter Christ on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). The group will be co-facilitated by Mike Campos and Eugene McMullan, Ph.D. students at the Graduate Theological Union.”

One may ask just how these biblical events fit in to the homoactivist agenda. The process is defined as “eisegesis” (the interpretation of a text by reading into it one's own ideas) as opposed to “exegesis,” and it seems to be an ecumenical practice among religious homosexual activists. For example, the relationship between Ruth and Naomi will be interpreted as a lesbian one. The relationship between Saul, David, and Jonathon was interpreted by Episcopal Reverend John Kirkley, one of the nominees to be the next Episcopal suffragan bishop of Los Angeles, as a “Biblical Love Triangle.” The raising of Lazarus was the subject of a homily at San Francisco’s Most Holy Redeemer by Fr. Donal Godfrey, the executive director of University Ministry at USF. He titled his homily “The Call to Come Out.”

DOMA Challenged Again - By Our Side!

Let's see what the gutless USCCB is going to do about THIS.

Thanks for the heads up from the Catholic Caveman

Thirty-five Catholic lawmakers cosponsor bill to Repeal Defense of Marriage Act

New York Congressman introduces bill to eliminate protections for traditional marriage in the United States which would lead to litigation forcing states to recognize same-sex marriages

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines marriage as a "legal union between one man and one woman for purposes of all federal laws, and provides that states need not recognize a marriage from another state if it is between persons of the same sex." Thirty-nine states have passed legislation and constitutional amendments to protect marriage as the union between one man and one woman.

Last week Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-New York) introduced the Respect Marriage Act - H.R. 3567. In reading the title one might think this bill is about protecting traditional marriage...just the opposite.

In a statement on his website, Rep. Nadler writes, "The introduction of the Respect for Marriage Act responds directly to a call from President Obama for congressional action on the issue. As the president recently confirmed: 'I stand by my long-standing commitment to work with Congress to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. It's discriminatory, it interferes with states' rights, and it's time we overturned it."

H.R. 3567 is off to a good start having 90 co-sponsors at its introduction -- 35 Catholic.

If it is true that all Catholics are obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions, Catholic politicians are obliged to do so in a particular way, in keeping with their responsibility as politicians.

When legislation in favour of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic law-maker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favour of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral.

When legislation in favour of the recognition of homosexual unions is already in force, the Catholic politician must oppose it in the ways that are possible for him and make his opposition known; it is his duty to witness to the truth.

Below is a list of the Catholic U.S. Representatives co-sponsoring H.R. 3567. Please ask them to reconsider their support and remind them of their responsibility as a Catholic lawmaker.

MaryJo Kilroy, (D-OH15) Mr. Bob Brady (D-PA1) Ms. Carol Shea-Porter(D-NH1)
Jackie Speier, (D-CA12) Mr. Luis Gutierrez(D-IL3) Mr. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI1)
Raul M Grijalva, (D-AZ7) Mr. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH10) Mr. Paul Tonko(D-NY21)
Peter Welch, (D-VT-at large) Mr. Frank Pallone (D-NJ6) Mrs. Grace Napolitano(D-CA38)
Linda T Sanchez(D-CA39) Mr. John Larson(D-CT1) Mr. John Tierney(D-MA6)
Mike Capuano(D-MA8) Mr. Xavier Becerra(D-CA31) Mr. Joe Courtney(D-CT2)
Mr. Jose Serrano (D-NY16) Mr. Jim Moran(D-VA8) Mr. Michael Doyle(D-PA14)
Mr. Ed Markey (D-MA7) Ms. Lucille Roybal-Allard(D-CA34) Mr. Charles Rangel (D-NY15) Ms. Nydia Velazquez(D-NY12) Mr. Ed Pastor (D-AZ4) Mr. Dan Maffei(D-NY25)
Mr. George Miller(D-CA7) Mr. Bill Delahunt (D-MA10) Ms. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT3)
Mr. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY22) Mr. Jim McGovern(D-MA3) Ms. Betty McCollum (D-MN4) Ms. Diane Watson(D-CA33) Mr. Joe Sestak (D-PA7)

Franklin VS Marx

Saint Michael!

It is the feast day of this blog's patron - Saint Michael. Here's a bit for you to read.

One day, after celebrating Mass, the aged Pope Leo XIII was in conference with the Cardinals when suddenly he sank to the floor in a deep swoon. Physicians who hastened to his side could find no trace of his pulse and feared that he had expired. However, after a short interval the Holy Father regained consciousness and exclaimed with great emotion: "Oh, what a horrible picture I have been permitted to see!"

He had been shown a vision of evil spirits who had been released from Hell and their efforts to destroy the Church. But in the midst of the horror the archangel St. Michael appeared and cast Satan and his legions into the abyss of hell. Soon afterwards Pope Leo XIII composed the following prayer to Saint Michael, which is the original version:

Original - Prayer to St. Michael

“O Glorious Prince of the heavenly host, St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle and in the terrible warfare that we are waging against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the evil spirits. Come to the aid of man, whom Almighty God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of Satan.

“Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

“These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where the See of Holy Peter and the Chair of Truth has been set up as the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be.

“Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly find mercy in the sight of the Lord; and vanquishing the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.
R. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered the root of David.
V. Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.
R. As we have hoped in Thee.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

Let us pray.

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy Name, and as supplicants, we implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin Immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious St. Michael the Archangel, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all the other unclean spirits who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen.”

Roman Raccolta, July 23, 1898, supplement approved July 31, 1902,
London: Burnes, Oates & Washbourne Ltd., 1935, 12th edition.

Some Questions...On Holy Communion

I have been thinking and praying a great deal lately on some items of interest to Catholics. It is my hope that these questions will cause you to think about what has happened in the Church, maybe for the first time.

Have you noticed a change in the way the Catholic Church receives and administers Holy Communion from the way it once was?

Do you remember when Catholics always knelt for Holy Communion?

Do you remember when Catholics received Holy Communion on the tongue only?

Do you remember when only the priest administered Holy Communion?

Do you remember our priests and sisters teaching us it was sacrilegious for anyone but the priest to touch the Sacred Host?

Discuss.

Muslim Day of Unity Goes Bust

I posted here and here on the Muslim march on D. C. which was scheduled for last week. I understand it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

What I Saw at the (Muslim Prayer) Revolution
Robert Knight
Friday, September 25, 2009

Visitors to Washington D.C. today got to hear what residents in Hamtramck and Dearborn, Michigan, as well as areas of London, Amsterdam and other Western cities already endure five times a day: The sound of amplified Muslim prayers lifted to Allah.

This time, the prayers reverberated over America’s front lawn as some 2,000 Muslims gathered for the Jummah Prayer on Capitol Hill: A Day of Islamic Unity. Promoters had planned for 50,000 but came nowhere near that.

Hadn’t you heard about this? If not, it’s probably because the media have been tight lipped, the better not to embarrass the One in the White House. While some women in burkas were sighted in the crowd, there was no sign of Nancy Pelosi in a hijab, which she wore on her Middle East tour.

The purpose of Friday’s event, according to its Website, was to “manifest Islam’s majestic spiritual principles” in chants echoing “off the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and other great edifices that surround Capitol Hill.”

Well, they probably didn’t carry that far. These are not church bells, folks. This is the sound, however muted, of the world’s most aggressive religion rearing up and lyrically cooing its desire to master the world under Allah. Islam means, literally, Submission to Allah.

Author and Islam scholar Robert Spencer, who I saw at the rally, described the prayers, said in Arabic, as ultimately about Islamic superiority. While they may not sound threatening, the message they send to those who understand the language is that “our time has come.”

Another purpose for Friday’s prayer on the Mall was to show Muslims worldwide that Islam is on the advance in the U.S. Dubai-based Islamonline.com, which bills itself as “the leading and original Islamic portal on the Internet,” played up the prayer rally, giving it prominent homepage coverage.

Now, before you accuse me of lumping all Muslims in the same bowl, let me say that there are many nice, hardworking Muslims in America who mean no harm. In fact, many are here because they couldn’t stomach living under Sharia Law in the countries of their origin. They may believe that the world will someday be subdued under Islam, but America’s a fine place to be while waiting. Radical Muslims want to recruit moderate Muslims by convincing them that the day of Sharia is right around the corner, not in the distant future. Hence the more muscular approach at the Capitol. To understand why this is more than just a prayer rally, consider this:

The Prophet Mohammad divided the world into two areas: The world of Dar al-Islam, and the world of Dar al-Harb, or House of War. Everyone on Earth is therefore either a Muslim or an infidel who must convert or else. The Koran is quite clear about this.

In Muslim majority nations, such as Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims are regarded as Dhimmis, second-class people whose testimony in court is worth only a fraction of that of a Muslim and who must pay extra taxes. Forget equality under the law, and don’t even ask how they treat Dhimmi women.

Another event all but ignored by the press was a Capitol Hill press conference Thursday held by Former Muslims United, led by Nonie Darwish. She and other ex-Muslims warned that Rifqa Bary, the 17-year-old Ohio Christian convert who fled to Florida because she fears an “honor killing” is not alone. Darwish and many other experts are featured on the documentary Radical Islam on the March, which will be broadcast on The Coral Ridge Hour on Sunday, Sept. 27.

While the Muslim prayer rally sponsors insist their purpose was to show the world that America is a free land that welcomes Muslims, visitors to the Website can hear a loud Islamic greeting in Arabic. If Muslims are interested in being viewed as just another group of Americans, why the Arabic? Why not English? Not even all Muslims speak Arabic. The real message on the site is in large block letters: Our Time Has Come.

Muslims have been emboldened by President Obama’s election and apology tour and his frequent nods to Islam. Their pulses must have raced as he referred four times in Cairo on June 4 to the “Holy Koran,” while noting that the Middle East is where Islam “was first revealed.” They probably cheered when he became the first president in recent years not to host a Christian-sponsored National Day of Prayer event on May 7 at the White House but found time to preside over an Iftar dinner at the White House on Sept. 1 to mark the end of Ramadan.

Rightly or wrongly, many Muslims feel they have one of their own in the White House. Obama’s formative years were spent learning Islam. It’s not for nothing that the Bible declares, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6, KJV).

Along with Obama’s recent conduct, that might be why Moammar Gadhafi referred to Obama as “my son” in his 95-minute speech at the United Nations on Wednesday. It’s partly why Obama himself received a huge ovation as he came to the UN podium even before he took shots at Israel while gently chiding radical Muslims, and apologizing yet again for America.

A major organizer of the prayer rally is attorney Hassen Abdellah, president of the Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Abdellah represented several terrorists, including: Mahmoud Abouhalima, who was convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and is serving a life sentence in Florence, Colorado, and Mahamed el-Atriss, who was convicted of selling fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers. On Oct. 25, 1993, New York Times reporter Richard Bernstein described Abdellah as “by far the most aggressively combative of the lawyers in the case.”

Abdellah says he “represents all kinds of people.” Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch says that’s a fair statement, but that Abdellah’s client list is “consistent” and “interesting.”

In 1993, Abdellah spoke on behalf of Nidal A. Ayyad to The New York Times:

“’You look at Ayyad,’ he said of one of the defendants. ‘He's an American. He can practice his religion and his way of life here. Why would he blow up the World Trade Center?’"

Nidal A. Ayyad is now in the supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado after being convicted of blowing up the garage of the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring 1,042.

Another major organizer of the prayer rally is Manhattan imam Sheihk Ahmed Dewidar, who says Muslims need to project a more moderate image in order to achieve their ultimate goals.

On June 9, 2005, during an interview translated by MEMR TV, short for the Middle East Research Institute Monitoring Project, he quoted another imam uncritically:

Dewidar: In 1995 I heard some sermons, saying that Muslims should march on the White House from some of the mosques.

Host: What do you mean by “march on the White House”?

Dewidar: One cleric said in his sermon: “We are going to the White House, so that Islam will be victorious, Allah willing, and the White House will become into the Muslim house.”

Dewidar then explained that Muslim ideas will be victorious if they lose their radical image.

Another imam, Abdul Malik, is also an organizer. His Facebook site has an interesting lecture for young people. Here are some excerpts:

I want you to hear me very clearly: we must remember as Muslims, we submit and we surrender to nothing and no one: not the government, not the police, not the FBI, not the CIA. We submit and we surrender Allah alone, nothing else. Nothing else….. It’s not gonna be easy and you don’t have time to waste believing that you’re young and that you can involve yourself in sport and play because when the enemies of truth drop the bombs on the world of Islam, their number one target, and the number one people that suffer the most, it is the children who suffer, it is the old, it is the women and that day they become widows and they poison the waters and the air, and the children upon, with cancers and other diseases … Democracy is not revelation, and democracy does not equal freedom, for in democracy...you have all of the vices that are against the spirit of truth; so no we don't want to democratize Islam, we want to Islamize democracy. That's what we want."

Indeed. As the ’60s hippies once said in a more conducive climate, “Peace, Man.”

New Caption Contest!

YES!!!

Save The Souls!

Don't forget we are in the middle of a Save The Holy Souls Blog - A - Thon!

We have 44,000 souls saved far, with a few days to go. Our goal was 100,000 by October 1, so we are nearly half way there!

EDIT: 9/28/09
We are only 29,000 away! Keep 'em coming! Your blessings will be great!

TLM Video

The Springtime Continues

A new survey shows 34 million Americans, or 15 percent of the population, say they have no religion.

Even more significant is that one-third of those, about 11 million people, are Irish Americans.

The survey by professors at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, does not explain why Irish Catholics are by far the highest number of people who are losing their religion every year in America.

(cont.)

"...a fabrication..."

What Cardinal Ratzinger had to say about the new Mass. Very interesting...

"The liturgical reform, in its concrete realization, has distanced itself even more from its origin. The result has not been a reanimation, but devastation. In place of the liturgy, fruit of a continual development, they have placed a fabricated liturgy. They have deserted a vital process of growth and becoming in order to substitute a fabrication.They did not want to continue the development, the organic maturing of something living through the centuries, and they replaced it, in the manner of technical production, by a fabrication, a banal product of the moment."
(Revue Theologisches, Vol. 20, Feb. 1990, pgs. 103-104)

Reason 5,683

I did something tonight I hardly ever do - I went to the Saturday evening Mass. I went to one of those Wilkes-Barre churches where the priest is overworked with three parishes and they are trying to balance seeing after several flocks with all their different needs.

So I do not blame the pastor for having three Extraordinary Ministers Of Holy Communion at tonight's Mass. Even though I can't stand the site of EMHC's. But you already knew that.

Tonight was reason 5,683 why I hate EMHC's.

Now, I have the unequaled talent of being able to form an opinion of someone in 7.2 miliseconds, and I am usually right. Kind of like Padre Pio without the hoilness to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Tonight was no different.

One of the Communion Babes I pegged right off the bat as being a frustrated "Why can't I be a priest if I want to be?" type as she processed in.

One of the games I like to play at Church is "let's see if I sit on the side of the Church Father decides to distribute Communion to". Sometimes I win.

Tonight I lost.

As I approached the future Womyn Priest member I heard her say loudly as she distributed to the faithful, "bodychrist!"

I thought perhaps she had simply forgotten what she was actually supposed to say, but again she repeated "bodychrist!" as she jabbed the Eucharist at the hands of the communicant before me.

I approached her and she again roared "bodychrist!" and plunged Jesus into my midsection, presumably for me to take into my hands. As I leaned towards her, she realized with horror that I was one of THOSE people. The one's who take communion on the tongue (!).

To say she did not place the Holy Eucharist on my tongue is putting it lightly.

She was so afraid I might mistake her for a salt lick that the host ended up smooshed by her on the tip of my lip and I had to hastily reach up and put the Precious Body of our Lord into my own mouth.

Then I gave her a dirty look for being so irreverent in her duty.

I know, I know.

But it absolutely kills me that these people are entrusted with an honor so tremendous.

And they treat it like they are playing ring toss.

If you're so worried about getting the pig flu, go find another way to spend your time.

What We Already Knew

SCRANTON – Cardinal Justin Rigali, head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Scranton, announced several new priest assignments in the local diocese Thursday, most of them in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties

The Rev. Philip Altavilla left his post as chaplain at Holy Cross High School in Dunmore to serve as administrator at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and St. John the Evangelist parishes in Scranton, effective Sept. 4. Altavilla will continue to serve as Episcopal vicar of the northeast pastoral region, a post he was given by Rigali when the cardinal temporarily took the reins in Scranton upon Bishop Joseph Martino’s resignation last month.

Effective Sept. 11, The Rev. Christopher Sahd left the post as director of the office for divine worship as well as assistant director of the office for vocations to become administrator at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Archbald and St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish, Eynon. Sahd had served at St. Boniface Church and at St. Aloysius School in Wilkes-Barre, but had been assigned to Scranton and administrative duties by Bishop James Timlin, Martino’s predecessor.

The Rev. Christopher Washington assumed the job of chaplain at Holy Cross, effective Sept. 1, while continuing to hold the titles of director of seminarians and director of vocations, and assumed the duties of director of the office of divine worship.

The Rev. Stephen Stavoy finished a stint as chaplain in the U.S. Naval Reserves to become assistant pastor at St. Nicholas Church in Wilkes-Barre on Sept. 10.

The Rev. Anthony Generose left his post as administrator at St. Catherine of Siena in Moscow, effective Sept. 14, and took up residence at St. Aloysius Parish, Wilkes-Barre. Resident priests are typically retired but may assist in parish responsibilities as required. Generose will continue to serve as judicial vicar and Episcopal vicar for consecrated life.

The Indoctrination Begins

I wonder if they capitalized "his" in their "scripts". And when did it become ok to call Comrade Obama "Hussein" again? Of course here at The Rockin Traddy we are not afraid to call him by his middle name. Political correctness isn't practiced around these parts.

And I couldn't help but notice the hip-hop arangement being used. I wonder if this school is in a black neighborhood?

Can't Wait For My Kids To Be School Age!

If this doesn't convince you how far to the crazy left Obama is, I don't know what will.

Kevin Jennings has been asked to be the Nation's Czar for "Safe and Drug Free Schools".

Oh. He is also the nation's leading advocate for homosexuality, bisexuality, and transexuality in schools today.

In his own words, activist Kevin Jennings, director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) describes how immorality got a foothold in the Massachusetts schools by using “safety” as an issue.”

“We immediately seized upon the opponent’s calling card — safety — and explained how homophobia represents a threats to students’ safety by creating a climate where violence, name-calling, health problems, and suicide are common. Tilting our report, ‘Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth,’ we automatically threw our opponents onto the defensive and stole their best line of attack. This….short-circuited their arguments and left them back-peddling from day one.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the appointment of Kevin Jennings to be President Obama’s Safe School Czar:

Kevin Jennings, the man selected to be the Director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, has a history of promoting homosexual conferences wherein unsafe sex practices are sold to underage kids. He is also a former drug user. As a counselor, he failed to notify the authorities of a sexual encounter between an adult gay man and a high school kid. And, not to be outdone, he has a history of bashing Christians.

Jennings, raised a Baptist by his minister father and non-believing, anti-Catholic mother, is known for lecturing the Catholic Church about its teachings on sexuality. He has also railed against the “hard core bigots” whom he says make up the “religious right.”

Jennings’ hatred of religion began at the age of 17, right after he masturbated at the thought of watching two “hot guys” take off their shirts in his home. We know this because this is exactly what he wrote in his book, Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son: A Memoir.

Following his masturbatory experience, Jennings revealed what happened next: “I developed a new attitude toward God as a result. Before, I was the one who was failing God; now I decided He was the one who had failed me.” Continuing, he wrote, “I decided I had done nothing wrong: He had, by promising to ‘set you free’ and never delivering on His promise. What had He done for me, other than make me feel shame and guilt? Squat. Screw you, buddy—I don’t need you around anymore, I decided.” [His italics.] He ends by saying that for many years he “reacted violently to anyone who professed any kind of religion.”

NOT The Way To Handle A Song

If anyone loves the musical "Camelot", please don't hate William Shatner too much...

U.S. Condemned For Pre-Emptive Use Of Hillary Clinton

Help A Traddy Out!

Scroll down a bit and and click on some of those stupid Google Ads, would ya? I was hoping they would utilize blog specific ads, but that was just wishful thinking I see. If you catch anything inappropriate in the ads, please alert me. Thanks.

Now go click on those ads!

Caption This Photo!

Have at it!

Jindal Defunds ACORN!

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal today cut off state funding for the community activist group ACORN.

Jindal has also blocked any state agency for entering into contracts with the organization.

The executive order also cuts off any future state funding of ACORN, on the heels of a series of embarrassing incidents for the organization.

The governor’s action follows a subpoena of documents from the group’s national headquarter office in New Orleans.

According to Jindal’s executive order, “ACORN’s actions make clear that financial involvement with ACORN is contrary to the public policy of the State of Louisiana and the best interests of its citizens.”

Free The Holy Souls Blog-A-Thon!

Our Lord told Saint Gertrude The Great that by saying the following prayer, that we would release 1,000 souls each time we said it. Let's see how many souls we can release here at The Rockin' Traddy! Post your "soul count" in the comm box! We have the power, with Jesus' blessing, to send as many souls into Heaven as we choose. This is a great way to get some Good Works under your belt.

Let's try to get 100,000 souls out of Purgatory by October 1!

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ,
in union with the Masses said throughout the world today,
for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal church,
for those in my own home and within my own family.
Amen.

EDIT: Thursday at 6:32pm. So far I have freed 10,000 souls. God be praised.

Ecclesiastical Eyecandy

Just feeling in the mood to show off some hardcore Catholic images. They'll be more coming, too. Enjoy.

ACORN video No.5

This is almost becoming laughable, the lows these ACORN people stoop to.

Hussein Obama and the March on D.C.

There is a rumor floating out there that Barry Obama will greet the Muslims at the march in Washington planned for the end of the month.

No great surprise.

He was conspicuously out of town last week when between 10,000 and 2,000,000 (depending on which news you watch) patriots marched on Washington.

He also refused to have an event at the White House for the National Day of Prayer in May, which itself spoke volumes about his Christian faith.

He went to Cairo praising Muslims while vilifying Americans.

But he might make an appearance when some Muslims march on the Capital.

Like I said: no great surprise.

Santorum Considers Run At 2012

Santorum Admits to Pondering Run for Republican Presidential Nomination - Asks for Prayers

By John-Henry Westen

ORLANDO, FL, September 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) -
Speaking to a room full of prominent US Catholic leaders Friday night, Senator Rick Santorum was challenged to run for the Republican Presidential nominaion. Responding to a room already thick with applause, Santorum revealed that he was indeed "thinking about it" but asked for prayers and detailed his thinking on the matter.

His remarks came after his address to the closing dinner of the 12th annual Catholic Leadership Conference - an invite-only gathering of Catholic leaders from academia, law, media, medicine, and politics, as well as leaders of movements within the Church such as pro- life, pro-family and evangelization. Posing the challenge was long-time legal, political, and media activist Keith Fournier.

Santorum is not only a Catholic in name but a faithful one who is noted for his strong pro-life activism and work to bring decency back to America. He revealed that he has seven children, with one in college. The reason why the sixth is not college-bound is the fact that his 16-month-old 'Bella' was born with Trisomy 18, a genetic disorder which is fatal before birth in 90 per cent of cases.

Santorum referred to Bella as "our angel" marveling at how she changed his life, and that of his family for the better. Speaking of children like Bella, he said, "They teach you things you can't even imagine."

Here Santorum turned to abortion describing his reason for fighting against it politically saying, "I think of we treat these people in society and how we destroy them. 86% of Down syndrome children are aborted - killed. And Down syndrome is 5 times better than what20Bella has."

Considering how his children may themselves be the targets of nasty politics, as has happened in the recent past, gives Santorum pause. "That weighs on me," he said. "When you stand up for the things I do and say the things I say, they brutalize you and they won't stop at you."

Those are the things, he explained that "as a father I've got to think about."

"On the other side," he added, "as a father, I've got to think about whether they are going to have a country to live in … Are they going to be able to practice their faith in a way that's consistent with what the Church teaches."

The last consideration in favor of his run was on the practical level. He said: "Six months ago I would not have spent ten seconds on your question, but it's not six months ago. I see that, I hate to be calculating, bu t I see that 2012 is not just throwing somebody out to be eaten, but it's a real opportunity for success."

In closing he said that while he was "thinking about it", it is the first time his ambition which is, as he said, "in his DNA" was checked by a resistance saying, "no, I'm not sure."

Ending the session, Catholic political powerhouse Deal Hudson (President George W. Bush's Catholic advisor for a period of time) cited Plato's famous saying that the best governors are those who do not wish to govern.

Fr. Bechtel: Knight For Christ

Fr. David Bechtel, a priest in the Diocese of Scranton ordained in June 2008, and a frequent commenter here at The Rockin" Traddy, has been kind enough to give us a taste of his first year serving the people of Christ. This Knight For Christ understands what his mission is, and he carries it out everyday.

Give it a read, post your comments, and join me in welcoming Father Bechtel to The Rockin' Traddy!

I went to three seminaries. For the sake of brevity I will talk only about Saint Charles, since that is the one I most recently graduated from. Seminary has four areas of formation: Academic, Spiritual, Pastoral, and Human. The ones given the emphasis are naturally Academic and Spiritual.

Academically Saint Charles prepared me for ministry because the professors are very orthodox. They gave me the tools I need to both defend and teach what the Church believes. I am very grateful to the seminary for the Academic training I received. I feel it adequate not in content, but only in so far as there is so much to learn in such a confined time. I would love to take the opportunity to go into even more detail. There are a lot of attacks on the Faith which come in many forms- whether from protestant fundamentalism or liberal, secular, atheistic humanism. In any case priests need to be able to defend and teach the Faith, and because of Saint Charles I am far better able to teach and defend the Faith then I was before going.

The Spirituality of the seminary tends to be devotional in nature. Stations of the Cross were staples during Lent on Fridays. Marian devotions were plentiful. One of the weaknesses of seminary life is that things tend to be monastic in nature. In other words our day is planned around our prayer. However ministry is quite the opposite- you plan prayer around your day. There is not going to be a bell to summon you to chapel for evening prayer, or night prayer. In ministry you have to make the time to pray, if you don't make that time, you will not be faithful to your prayer life. I find I have the time to pray most days if I want the time to do so. Priests who claim they are too busy to pray (including myself) are simply too busy. They need to step back and put their priorities in order. This was no surprise for me upon entering priestly ministry. Though the seminary prayer life is far different from parish life, I fully expected it to be so.

Pastorally, Seminary gives each student an "Apostolate" whereby one day a week, (weekends for Transitional Deacons) they leave the seminary and work in some ministry setting. It might be a hospice, a hospital, a prison, a parish, etc. You get pastoral experience through these assignments, then reflect on them in seminary.

Human Formation is always on going. Basically seminary evaluates your progress and work, your personality, etc to see if you are suitable for ministry. They don't change your personality, but rather try to smooth out the rough edges so you can be effective in ministry.

My first assignment was Saint Mary of the Mount in Mount Pocono. There I was a Transitional Deacon for a year. I had a wonderful experience there. My first priestly assignment was Saint Matthews. I knew the parish and the area being stationed in Mt Pocono as a Deacon. My first assignment was everything I expected. Saint Matthew's in particular was everything I expected it would be. There were no surprises. The pastor who is well respected by the people and the Diocese, leads the parish in a way not atypical of priests in his generation. The assistants for the most part tend to the ministry aspect of parish life, the pastor to the business aspect though not exclusively.

My duties included the hospital, CCD presence, grade school presence, youth group, hospice and nursing home visits, home visits, etc. Given that as a Deacon I did all of this at Saint Mary's it was nothing for me to show up at Saint Matthew's and continue these duties. It was quite a smooth transition. The only difference was that now I could hear Confessions and anoint people instead of referring them to a priest. In other words the ministry did not change, what changed was that I could now offer the people Sacraments, especially Confession and Anointing.

Honestly after my first year as priest I feel that seminary best prepared me for MINISTRY. However the time will come when I will also have to be a PASTOR whereby I will make decisions, set the agenda, direction, goals, etc, of a parish. This is something seminary did not prepare me for nor any parish experience. Naturally only one person can be in charge and make the decisions and that is the role of the pastor, not the assistant or Transitional Deacon. However when I was a Deacon at Saint Mary's the pastor did try to teach and share with me the "how to" in running a parish. He might explain what decision he made and his thought process behind the decision, etc. This was very helpful for me to understand the different aspects and factors involved as to why something is done in the manner in which it is done, etc. He would talk about his previous assignments and the challenges he faced in them and how he met them.

I was only at Saint Matthew's for a year, but given the size of the parish, and the fact that there is something going on there just about every night of the week, sometimes two and three things at a time, I was able participate in every conceivable parish ministry and gain more experience with it. I think that because of my time at Saint Matthew's I have been prepared for every conceivable ministry one might encounter in a parish. The people of the parish are wonderful people and very generous.

My new assignment is working full time as a chaplain to a school system whereby I teach and provide the Sacramental and spiritual needs for the students. As of right now, until someone can be hired or appointed for full time Campus Ministry, the Diocese has chosen to join Penn College with my assignment at the school. They have appointed me part time Chaplain to Penn College. It is as of now unclear when someone would be hired or appointed, so I will serve the college for an indeterminate time. I will serve the college pretty much in the same capacity as I serve the school. I will provide the Sacramental and or Spiritual needs of the students/staff/professors with particular attention to Catholic students of course.

The Faithful at both assignments, and my current one have received me well, at least as far as I can observe. Saint Mary's was very welcoming, Saint Matthew's the same. I am not naive to think all of the Faithful loved me, I am sure some did not like me at all. I am sure in this assignment there will be Faithful who will not like me. However thus far if anyone did not like me, they were not vocal about it that I ever heard. I was never aware of any complains at either of my former assignments. This is not to say there weren't any, but I was never aware of them. I can only assume whatever mistakes I made were not seen as huge or unforgivable by the Faithful.

I was only rebuked twice. The first was by someone after Mass for a homily they found "offensive." I publicly mentioned Nancy Pelosi's error on abortion. I called her sarcastically the "Shrieker of the House." The congregation roared with laughter, but there is always someone who just has to take the requisite "offense" at something. The person told me they felt that was unprofessional and unbecoming of my office and that such comments ought to be left to "Fox News, not the pulpit." I gave the person the benefit of the doubt on that one, since they did not rebuke me for speaking against abortion, but only the manner in which I did so. For the record I never heard Fox News refer to Pelosi in that way. I got that from Mike Church Sirius Patriot 144 Satellite Radio. But- again, I can grant the person's complaint and give them the benifit of the doubt.

The second was when I spoke about priesthood. During the homily I brought up why the Church reserves ordination to men. Men image Christ the Bridegroom, women the Church, the Bride of Christ, etc. A person said to me after Mass "Well Father perhaps the Church will allow discussion on the issue of women's ordination in the future." To which I replied "What is there to discuss? The Church has already discussed and settled the issue. What is it you would like the Church to discuss at this point?" To which the person walked away in a huff. That I cannot help or grant of course, since as a priest I teach what the Church teaches, not what people think I should teach or want to hear.

As far as the whole Martino controversy all I can say is that it really was not an issue where I was at either assignments. Catholicism in the Eastern end of the Diocese is very different from valley style Catholicism. (Wilkes-barre/Scranton) The culture is different. It is something you have to experience. As a newly ordained priest, I can say that I miss him as our bishop. I grant he was not perfect- I grant I did not always agree with everything he did--- but one thing that always helped me was the realization that the Diocese does not revolve around me. I did not get ordained so the Diocese can serve ME, rather I got ordained to serve the Diocese. Bishop Martino had a tough job to do. The people seemed quick on complaints, but short on lasting and meaningful solutions to the very real problems this Diocese faces. Their reaction to what he had to do is rather confounding given that they were aware of the problems long before he took over.

The ACORN Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

Just though I'd let you know that our Senator, Little Bobby Casey was one of the 7 people that voted to continue ACORN's funding this morning. Do we need any more proof what kind of boy sits in our Senate seat? Make me sick....

Vantastic!

I'm thinking about getting this bumper sticker for the family van. What do you think?

Is Springtime Negotiable?

The guy consecrating the peanut butter cookie here, is Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn.

He was recently quoted as saying that the Vatican would "draw a red line in the sand" regarding the upcoming Vatican/SSPX talks.

It just strikes me as funny that this ultra modernist priest, who is already a laughing stock for his blessing gay marriages, his disco Masses, and his fresh baked hosts would even want to try to speak to the Vatican's position concerning the SSPX.

Pope Benedict is much more likely to lean towards the SSPX views we feel, especially given His Holiness' actions in the past. He freed the traditional Mass, allowed the Institute of the Good Shepherd back in the Church, and he has lifted the excommunications of the the SSPX bishops.

No matter what happens, pray that the Vatican/SSPX talks further the cause of Holy Mother Church.

Exaltation Of The Holy Cross

Other wise known as Roodmas, or Holy Cross Day, The Exaltation of the Holy Cross was started as a commemoration of the dedication of the Basilica of the Resurrection which was built by the mother of Constantine the Great: Saint Helena. Since Saint Helena also found the True Cross, the two events were celebrated together, with the Basilica commemoration becoming a mere footnote, and hardly mentioned today.

Scientific study of the relics of the True Cross show it to be made of some species of pine. The Titulus Crucis -- the wood on which the inscription "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" was written in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew (Matthew 27:37, Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38 and John 19:19) -- is made of an olive wood. The Titulus has been scientifically dated to the 1st c. and the script is still legible (interestingly, the Latin and Greek are in reverse script), though the Hebrew is missing due to the entire thing being halved, the second half having been lost in the 6th century. It is from the Latin inscription -- "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum" that we get the abbreviation "I.N.R.I." that is found on many Crucifixes.

The Titulus Crucis and relics of the True Cross can be seen in Rome's Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.

The story of the finding of the True Cross, from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

In the year 326 the mother of Constantine, Helena, then about 80 years old, having journeyed to Jerusalem, undertook to rid the Holy Sepulchre of the mound of earth heaped upon and around it, and to destroy the pagan buildings that profaned its site. Some revelations which she had received gave her confidence that she would discover the Saviour's Tomb and His Cross. The work was carried on diligently, with the co-operation of St. Macarius, bishop of the city.

The Jews had hidden the Cross in a ditch or well, and covered it over with stones, so that the faithful might not come and venerate it. Only a chosen few among the Jews knew the exact spot where it had been hidden, and one of them, named Judas, touched by Divine inspiration, pointed it out to the excavators, for which act he was highly praised by St. Helena. Judas afterwards became a Christian saint, and is honoured under the name of Cyriacus.

During the excavation three crosses were found, but because the titulus was detached from the Cross of Christ, there was no means of identifying it. Following an inspiration from on high, Macarius caused the three crosses to be carried, one after the other, to the bedside of a worthy woman who was at the point of death. The touch of the other two was of no avail; but on touching that upon which Christ had died the woman got suddenly well again.

From a letter of St. Paulinus to Severus inserted in the Breviary of Paris it would appear that St. Helena herself had sought by means of a miracle to discover which was the True Cross and that she caused a man already dead and buried to be carried to the spot, whereupon, by contact with the third cross, he came to life. From yet another tradition, related by St. Ambrose, it would seem that the titulus, or inscription, had remained fastened to the Cross.

After the happy discovery, St. Helena and Constantine erected a magnificent basilica over the Holy Sepulchre, and that is the reason why the church bore the name of St. Constantinus. The precise spot of the finding was covered by the atrium of the basilica, and there the Cross was set up in an oratory, as appears in the restoration executed by de Vogüé. When this noble basilica had been destroyed by the infidels, Arculfus, in the seventh century, enumerated four buildings upon the Holy Places around Golgotha, and one of them was the "Church of the Invention" or "of the Finding". This church was attributed by him and by topographers of later times to Constantine. The Frankish monks of Mount Olivet, writing to Leo III, style it St. Constantinus. Perhaps the oratory built by Constantine suffered less at the hands of the Persians than the other buildings, and so could still retain the name and style of Martyrium Constantinianum. (See De Rossi, Bull. d' arch. crist., 1865, 88.)

A portion of the True Cross remained at Jerusalem enclosed in a silver reliquary; the remainder, with the nails, must have been sent to Constantine, and it must have been this second portion that he caused to be enclosed in the statue of himself which was set on a porphyry column in the Forum at Constantinople; Socrates, the historian, relates that this statue was to make the city impregnable. One of the nails was fastened to the emperor's helmet, and one to his horse's bridle, bringing to pass, according to many of the Fathers, what had been written by Zacharias the Prophet: "In that day that which is upon the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord" (Zechariah 14:20). Another of the nails was used later in the Iron Crown of Lombardy preserved in the treasury of the cathedral of Monza.

Thanks to Fisheaters.com for their assistance

More Martino Bashing

Ok, so who is this guy and why do we want to read his opinion? I have no idea who he is, this is the first I'm hearing of him, but he apparently spews hatred for the Washington Post and dwells somewhere in our Diocese. And of course he felt he had to jump on the "bash the Bishop" bandwagon, but he writes things we've already read, and he doesn't say them very well.

He calls the Bishop's spirituality "deformed".

If defending the unborn and teaching the truth of the Catholic Church makes his spirituality "deformed", I pray my spirituality is 1/10th of that of Bishop Martino's.

If you want to go ahead and read his drivel be my guest. But I don't recommend it...

Wake Up, Wussieboy!

Thanks to Gaurdian of the Redeemer for posting this:

Betraying Our Dead

An Excellent OpEd in today's NY Post by Ralph Peters.

Eight years ago today, our homeland was attacked by fanatical Muslims inspired by Saudi Arabian bigotry. Three thousand American citizens and residents died.

We resolved that we, the People, would never forget. Then we forgot.

We've learned nothing.

Instead of cracking down on Islamist extremism, we've excused it.

Instead of killing terrorists, we free them.

Instead of relentlessly hunting Islamist madmen, we seek to appease them.
Instead of acknowledging that radical Islam is the problem, we elected a president who blames America, whose idea of freedom is the right for women to suffer in silence behind a veil -- and who counts among his mentors and friends those who damn our country or believe that our own government staged the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

Instead of insisting that freedom will not be infringed by terrorist threats, we censor works that might offend mass murderers. Radical Muslims around the world can indulge in viral lies about us, but we dare not even publish cartoons mocking them.

Instead of protecting law-abiding Americans, we reject profiling to avoid offending terrorists. So we confiscate granny's shampoo at the airport because the half-empty container could hold 3.5 ounces of liquid.

Instead of insisting that Islamist hatred and religious apartheid have no place in our country, we permit the Saudis to continue funding mosques and madrassahs where hating Jews and Christians is preached as essential to Islam.

Instead of confronting Saudi hate-mongers, our president bows down to the Saudi king.

Instead of recognizing the Saudi-sponsored Wahhabi cult as the core of the problem, our president blames Israel.

Instead of asking why Middle Eastern civilization has failed so abjectly, our president suggests that we're the failures.

Instead of taking every effective measure to cull information from terrorists, the current administration threatens CIA agents with prosecution for keeping us safe.

Instead of proudly and promptly rebuilding on the site of the Twin Towers, we've committed ourselves to the hopeless, useless task of rebuilding Afghanistan. (Perhaps we should have built a mosque at Ground Zero -- the Saudis would've funded it.)

Instead of taking a firm stand against Islamist fanaticism, we've made a cult of negotiations -- as our enemies pursue nuclear weapons; sponsor terrorism; torture, imprison, rape and murder their own citizens -- and laugh at us.

Instead of insisting that Islam must become a religion of responsibility, our leaders in both parties continue to bleat that "Islam's a religion of peace," ignoring the curious absence of Baptist suicide bombers.

Instead of requiring new immigrants to integrate into our society and conform to its public values, we encourage and subsidize anti-American, woman-hating, freedom-denying bigotry in the name of toleration.

Instead of pursuing our enemies to the ends of the earth, we help them sue us.

We've dishonored our dead and whitewashed our enemies. A distinctly unholy alliance between fanatical Islamists abroad and a politically correct "elite" in the US has reduced 9/11 to the status of a non-event, a day for politicians to preen about how little they've done.

We've forgotten the shock and the patriotic fury Americans felt on that bright September morning eight years ago. We've forgotten our identification with fellow citizens leaping from doomed skyscrapers. We've forgotten the courage of airline passengers who would not surrender to terror.

We've forgotten the men and women who burned to death or suffocated in the Pentagon. We've forgotten our promises, our vows, our commitments.

We've forgotten what we owe our dead and what we owe our children. We've even forgotten who attacked us.

We have betrayed the memory of our dead. In doing so, we betrayed ourselves and our country. Our troops continue to fight -- when they're allowed to do so -- but our politicians have surrendered.

Are we willing to let the terrorists win?

Ralph Peters' new thriller, "The War After Armageddon," goes on sale next Tuesday.

Islam In D.C. And A Final Tribute

It would appear that the Muslims are going to march on Washington D.C. on September 25. Their goal is to "...express and illustrate the wonderful diversity of Islam." Much diversity indeed...

















Also, they say they would like "...to work for the greater good of all people." Especially people in towers in New York City I'm sure...

As this 8th anniversary of the September 11th attacks by Muslims on Americans draws to a close, a final tribute.

9-11 little girl




Thank you, Islam.

This Nun Rocks!

Apparently she rolls as well.

Thanks to The Crescat for finding her!

More Changes?

With the naming of Monsignor Joseph Bambera as Delegate to His Eminence, Cardinal Justin Rigali last week, don't be too surprised to see some changes coming down the pike.

And sometime soon, too.

Just a few short weeks ago, priests across the diocese were shuffled around, but now that a new sheriff is in town, so to speak, we can expect more of the same I believe.

Watch closely how this is managed, it will be very telling as to how the diocese will conduct business in the future.

Let us pray it is all done under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to whom we all appeal for renewed faith, strength, and wisdom.

Keep yer eyes peeled, and if you hear anything, lemme know!

National Day Of Service

Comrade Obama has declared today the First National Day of Service to the State.

I declare it a day to remember fallen heroes.

You would think that Barry would attend a memorial service in NYC considering it is his first September 11th in the White House.

Nope.

How about we put some legal Americans to work? I know of a "shovel ready" project that could use some funding.















Yeah, that's the hole in the ground the terrorists left us. 8 years on, and no progress.

Let's take a moment to read the story of Todd Beamer, one of the heroes from Flight 93

Todd Beamer, who resided in Cranbury, New Jersey, was an account manager for the Oracle Corporation. He died at age 32 in the September 11, 2001 attacks on board United Airlines Flight 93. He is survived by his wife, Lisa Beamer, two sons, David and Drew, and a daughter, Morgan Kay, who was born on January 9, 2002 . nearly four months after her father's death.

Todd and other passengers had been in communication with people via in-plane and cell phones and learned that the World Trade Center had been attacked using hijacked airplanes. Beamer tried to place a credit card call through a phone located on the back of a plane seat but was routed to a customer-service representative instead, who passed him on to supervisor Lisa Jefferson. Beamer reported that one passenger was killed and, later, that a flight attendant had told him the pilot and co-pilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded. He was also on the phone when the plane made its turn in a southeasterly direction, a move that had him briefly panicking. Later, he told the operator that some of the plane's passengers were planning "jump on" the hijackers. According to Jefferson, Beamer's last audible words were "Are you guys ready? Let's roll." This term would later become the war cry for those fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Though it was a widely-held belief that the passengers crashed the airliner in an attempt to save the lives of others on the ground, the 9/11 Commission's findings (based on the "black box" cockpit recording) were that the passengers on Flight 93 did not cause the plane to crash intentionally. They burst into the cockpit and fought with the terrorists over the controls for the plane.

A post office in Cranbury, New Jersey, was named after him. There is also a high school (Todd Beamer High School) in Federal Way, WA, named after Beamer. Wheaton College also has a building named after him (the Todd M. Beamer Student Center). Beamer attended Los Gatos High School, Wheaton Academy, DePaul University, California State University, Fresno and Wheaton College.

Litany Of The Sacred Heart

So, I'm sitting here drinking my Prince of Wales tea, when I remember it's Friday. And Friday means it's time to go pray to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

From the 1969 Enchiridion of Indulgences

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Response: have mercy on us

Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father,
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother,
Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God,
Heart of Jesus, of Infinite Majesty,
Heart of Jesus, Sacred Temple of God,
Heart of Jesus, Tabernacle of the Most High,
Heart of Jesus, House of God and Gate of Heaven,
Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity,
Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love,
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love,
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise,
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts,
Heart of Jesus, in Whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
Heart of Jesus, in Whom dwells the fullness of divinity,
Heart of Jesus, in Whom the Father was well pleased,
Heart of Jesus, of Whose fullness we have all received,
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,
Heart of Jesus, patient and most merciful,
Heart of Jesus, enriching all who invoke you,
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness,
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins,
Heart of Jesus, loaded down with opprobrium,
Heart of Jesus, obedient to death,
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation,
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection,
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation,
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins,
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in you,
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in you,
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the Saints,

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V. Jesus, meek and humble of heart.
R. Make our hearts like to yours.

Let us pray:

Almighty and eternal God, look upon the Heart of Your most beloved Son and upon the praises and satisfaction which He offers You in the name of sinners; and to those who implore Your mercy, in Your great goodness, grant forgiveness in the name of the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You forever and ever.

Amen.

9/11

It's almost the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Pray for the souls of the victims even now that it is 8 years later. Keep praying for them, and don't forget what happened. Let's hope the inhabitant of the White House remembers what happened, even as he goes to Muslim countries and praises them on the world stage.

Don't ever forget.

Prayers For Priests

To continue our "Pray for our priests" regular feature here at the Rockin Traddy, I ask for your prayers for a regular commenter here, Father David Betchel.

O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayer on behalf of Your priests. Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their priestly life.

In their loneliness, comfort them. In their sorrows, strengthen them. In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show them that they are needed by the Church; they are needed by souls; they are needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests, take to your heart your sons who are close to you because of their priestly ordination and because of the power which they have received to carry on the work of Christ in a world which needs them so much. Be their comfort, be their joy, be their strength, and especially help them to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy.