Friday, October 31, 2014

Behind the smile, the devil lies

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

The Devil's False Promise of Happiness

This scene is from the island of Ischia, in Italy, after a storm. Nature has recovered her cheerful appearance and an elderly peasant woman accompanied by her children - perhaps her grandchildren - walks up a hillside. The road is not made of asphalt, nor is it lined with movie theaters, cafes, windows displays or flashy advertisements. No one in this group dreams of having a Cadillac or even a Lambretta. All are barefoot and dressed like poor folk.


Nevertheless, how healthy they are! How their souls overflow with those simple and fundamental joys of country life! The age-old tradition of Christian austerity makes them feel so well. They are happy because they are in good health, the air is pure, the countryside is beautiful, and they are rooted in a family atmosphere full of love without sentimentality but rich in the sense of sacrifice and mutual dedication. In the simplicity of their ways, the children gather around the central figure with an attitude of true veneration. In this veneration, there is so much affection and confidence!

We are far from belittling the benefits that civilization and culture provide. Nonetheless, by a monstrous deviation caused by neopaganism, we live in an age where civilization and culture rouse insatiable appetites and ambitions in men and artificial pleasures that destroy the Christian sense of austerity and sacrifice. The unleashed passions eliminate a certain freshness of soul whereby one can taste the temperate satisfactions of a daily life consecrated to prayer, duty and family. For the victims of this process, their existence is transformed into a tragic rush in search of gold or a frenzied dance around the pleasures of the flesh.

We were not given life to be happy but to render glory to God. However, it is important to note that even from the viewpoint of earthly happiness, neopaganism is bad business. There is more joy in an austere and Christian society, even when life is modest, than in the fallacious splendor of a super-civilization - perhaps better said, a "pseudo-civilization"- that puts all its happiness in the delights of sensuality or the illusions of money.

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This candid shot was taken in Moufetard Street in Paris. Walking home, a boy caries two bottles, providing for two pleasant days - Saturday and Sunday.

What modest pleasure! What triumphant and overflowing joy! How can such a meager pleasure cause so much delight?

He is obviously a boy from a very modest social class. He is dressed with extreme simplicity though not in poverty. In classes like his, people often preserve - even in large cities - a chaste and austere joy in living a simple, toilsome, everyday life. However it is a life directly or indirectly inspired by the supernatural and beneficent influence of faith. They accumulate reserves of peace of soul, vitality and virtuous energy that delight with any supplementary small treat, and with this they are content. On the table of a family like this, a small portion of lavishness of food and drink is enough to cause great joy.

So once again one sees that it is not abundance of gold and much less excesses of luxury that give man the measure of happiness possible on earth. On the contrary, it is in mortification, in sobriety, in the serious and effective integration in a normal and, at times, painful daily life that man acquires that virtuous balance that affords him the pleasure of living.

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But, after mankind abandoned Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Church, all these moral values, whose source is grace, began to decline. What the devil promises man is exactly what he will steal from him. Since the dawn of Western man's apostasy in the fourteenth century, the devil has bee promising a civilization that uses technology to multiply the riches and delights of sensuality to produce a greater joy of living!

Discover What Happened To The Pious Lady Who Snubbed the Rosary

In his book, The Secret of the Rosary, St. Louis de Montfort writes of a pious but self-willed lady who lived in Rome. She was so devout that she put many a religious to shame.

One day, hearing of the holiness of St. Dominic, great apostle of the Rosary, she decided to make her confession to him. For penance the saint told her to say a Rosary and advised her to make it’s recitation her daily practice.

“But, Father, “ she protested, “I already say so many prayers and practice so many exercises…I walk the Stations of Rome every day, I wear sack-cloth and a hair-shirt, I scourge myself several times a week, and often fast…”

Click here to Order your free Rosary booklet

St. Dominic insistently advised that she adopt the recitation of the Rosary, but she would not hear it. Moreover, she left the confessional horrified at the methods of this new spiritual director who wanted to impose on her a devotion for which she had no taste.

One day, when she was saying her prayers, she was shown a vision. In this vision she saw her soul appear before the Supreme Judge. She also saw St. Michael holding the scale of her life. On one side he placed all her prayers and penances, and on the other all her sins and imperfections. Down went the scale on the side of sins and imperfections, outweighing all her good works.

Wide eyed, the good lady cried out for mercy, and turned to Our Lady imploring her help. Our Lady then gently set down on the tray of her good works the only Rosary she had ever said, which was the one St. Dominic had imposed on her as a penance.

This one Rosary was so heavy that it outweighed all her sins as well as good works.

Our Lady then reproved her for having refused to follow the counsel of her son Dominic and for refusing to adopt the practice of the daily recitation of the Rosary.

When the lady came to, she rushed to St. Dominic and casting herself down at his feet, told him what had happened. She begged forgiveness for her unbelief, and promised to say the Rosary faithfully every day. By this means she grew in holiness, and finally attained the glory of eternal life.

Thus says St. Louis de Montfort, “You who are people of prayer, learn from this the power, the value and the importance of this devotion of the holy Rosary when it is said with meditation on the mysteries.”

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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Our Lady Loves These PHOTOS of the Rosary Rallies

With your generous help and participation, our Rosary Rally Crusade this year was very successful.

Many of this year’s Rosary Rally captains have uploaded their rally photos already. View these photos. It’s exciting and satisfying.

If you’re a rally captain and haven’t yet uploaded your rally photos, please login and upload your photos here. It’s a very simple process.

When you view these photos you’ll see authentic Catholic Action all across America and even the world in local public squares by “ordinary” Catholics (extraordinary in my view) – unashamed of their true Faith and humbly praying for their country where all can see.

Notice how the people and children are all so genuinely happy in these photos. You’ll see just how simple a public square rosary rally can be done and how important it is join us as a Rosary Rally Captain in 2015.

These are photos that surely bring a smile to Our Lady and Our Lord.

Monday, October 27, 2014

October 28 – Saint Alfred the Great: Saint, Soldier, Statesman

Statue of St. Alfred the Great in Winchester, England.

Statue of St. Alfred the Great in Winchester, England.

In this incomparable prince were united the saint, the soldier, and the statesman in a most eminent degree. Sir Henry Spelman (Conc. Brit.) gives us his character in a rapture. “O, Alfred,” says he, “the wonder and astonishment of all ages! If we reflect on his piety and religion, it would seem that he had always lived in a cloister; if on his warlike exploits, that he had never been out of camps; if on his learning and writings, that he had spent his whole life in a college; if on his wholesome laws and wise administration, that these had been his whole study and employment.”

It may be doubted whether ever any king showed greater abilities on a throne; but in this circumstance he was perfectly happy,—that all his wonderful achievements and great qualifications were directed and made perfect by the purest motives of piety and religion, and a uniform heroic sanctity. Alfred was the fourth and youngest son of Ethelwolph, the pious king of the West-Saxons, and second monarch of all England.

St. Albert's father, Ethelwulf of Wessex.

St. Albert’s father, Ethelwulf of Wessex.

He was born at Wantage, in Berkshire, in 849. His wit, beauty, and towardly disposition endeared him from his infancy to the whole kingdom, especially to his father, who sent him to Rome when he was only five years old, that he might receive the pope’s blessing. Leo IV who then sat in St. Peter’s chair, adopted him for his son, and, as Malmesbury says, by a happy presage of his future dignity, anointed him king. Leland rather thinks this unction was the sacrament of confirmation; but this, according to the discipline of the English, Spanish, and several other churches, was given to infants as soon as it could be done after they were baptized. Montfaucon and other French historians observe, that Pepin in France was the first Christian king who (in imitation of the Jewish kings by God’s appointment) was anointed at his coronation; and Alfred was the first among our English princes who received that rite. Whether the pope thought it due to so promising a son of a great king, or whether he looked upon it that some sovereignty in England would fall to his lot, is uncertain. Ethelwolph soon after, making himself a pilgrimage to Rome, carried Alfred thither a second time.

Æthelbald, King of England

Æthelbald, King of England

Through the confusion of the times, amidst the Danish invasions, this prince was twelve years old before he learned to read. He had a happy memory and an excellent genius, and we have a proof of his eagerness and application in the following instance. His mother one day showed him and his brothers a fine book in Saxon verse, promising to give it to him who should first read and understand it. Alfred was only beginning to learn to read; but, running straight to his master, did not rest till he not only read it but got it by heart. He naturally loved poetry, and in his childhood got several poems by heart. He excelled more in all other arts and sciences than in grammar, that study being then at a low ebb in this country, says Bishop Tanner, from an ancient chronicle.

His elder brothers, Ethelbald, Ethelbert, and Ethelred, successively filled the throne; Alfred, though very young, appeared often at the head of their armies. The death of Ethelred, which happened on the 22nd of April, set the crown upon his head in the year 871, the twenty-second of his age.

The Danes at that time poured upon this island like a tempest, landing in several parts at once; they had lately martyred St. Edmund, were possessed of the three kingdoms of the East-Angles, Northumbrians, and Mercians, and with several armies were in the very heart of that of the West-Saxons, which then comprised all the rest. The English having fought eight or nine great battles within the compass of the preceding year, were exhausted and dispirited, and seeing new armies rise up against them on every side, were at a loss whither to betake themselves.

St. Ethelbert, King of Kent & second brother of St. Albert

St. Ethelbert, King of Kent & second brother of St. Albert

The young king had scarcely solemnized his brothers’ funerals, when, in a month’s time, he was obliged, with an inconsiderable army, to engage the whole power of the Danes near Wilton. By his courage and valour they were at first forced to fly; but, finding the number of the pursuers to be small, they rallied, and became masters of the field. Twice they were compelled to leave West-Sex, and to promise never to return; but new armies immediately renewed their depredations. Contrary to their oaths and obligations, in the beginning of the year 878, they entered West-Sex with a great power, took Chippenham, the royal palace in Wiltshire, and laid waste the whole country.

King Alfred was constrained, with a small number of attendants, to retire among the woody and boggy parts of Somersetshire, and conceal himself between the rivers of Thone and Paret, in the isle of Athelingay, now called Athelney, where he built a little castle. Here he lay hid six months, making reading and prayer his chief employment, and frequently visiting St. Neot, his spiritual director. With a small troop of stout men he often surprised his enemies with good success, and if he happened to be overpowered by numbers, he always appeared formidable to them in the manner in which he made his retreat. His afflictions were to him a school for the exercise of all virtues, and he sought in the first place, by his penance, patience, and confidence in God, to appease the divine indignation.

Queen Osburga with her son Alfred

Queen Osburga with her son Alfred

While he lay in this little castle, or rather, according to the terms of the historian, in a poor cottage in that country, it being winter, and the waters being all frozen so that no fish could be got in that place, his companions went out at some distance to get some fowl or fish for provisions. In the mean time a poor man came to the door, begging an alms. The king, who was reading, ordered some bread to be given to him. His mother, who was alone with him, said there was but one loaf in the castle, which would not suffice for themselves that day. Yet he prayed her to give half of it to the poor man, bidding her trust in him who fed five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes. Several of our best historians add, that the king, soon after falling into a slumber, received, in recompence of his charity, an assurance from St. Cuthbert in a vision, that God would shortly restore him to his kingdom.

Soon after he heard that Hubba, the Danish general, brother to Hinguar, landing in Devonshire, had been defeated and slain by Odun, the loyal earl of Devon, near the castle of Kenwith. The place where Hubba was buried, under a great heap of stones, is called to this day Hubble-stones. The Reafan, or Raven, the sacred standard of the Danes, who placed in it a superstitious confidence, and on which that bird was painted, was found among the spoils.

Prince Alfred boar-hunting

Prince Alfred boar-hunting

Upon this news Alfred left his retreat, assembled an army in Selwood forest, and marched against the Danes at Edingdun, where, having chosen his post on a rising ground, he gave the infidels a total overthrow, so that they were obliged to receive his conditions. The chief of these were, that all the idolaters should quit the island, and that those Danes that embraced the Christian faith should confine themselves to the kingdom of the East-Angles, which they had possessed ever since the martyrdom of St. Edmund, in 870; but which they were now to hold of King Alfred. Gunthrum, one of their vanquished kings, received baptism, with a multitude of his people, at Aller, Alfred’s palace, in Somersetshire. King Alfred stood godfather to him, and made him king of the East-Angles, where he reigned twelve years; and after him Eoric; after whose decease Edward the Elder reunited that kingdom to the English monarchy. Alfred drew up a particular body of laws, adapted to the Danish converts, which he gave to King Gunthrum, and obliged him and his people to observe. They are extant in Spelman, Wilkins, and the ninth volume of Labbe’s Councils.

In 883, Alfred vanquished and slew Hinguara and Haltdene, two Danish leaders in the north, took great care to repeople and cultivate those depopulated provinces, and constituted Guthred king of the Northumbrians, who, being a most religious and valiant man, defended his dominions, and gave to the church of St. Cuthbert at Durham, the country which is since called the bishopric of Durham, as Simeon of Durham and the Chronicle of Mailros relate. Alfred was no less active in restoring the desolate provinces of Mercia, where the Danes, in 874, had burnt Rependune, now Repton upon Trent, in Derbyshire, the ancient burial place of the Mercian kings, and had laid waste the whole country.

The Submission of Guthrum to King Alfred by Herbert Alfred Bone

The Submission of Guthrum to King Alfred by Herbert Alfred Bone

The infidels made again formidable descents in Kent and other places in the following years: but were as often totally routed by this vigilant and valiant king, who is said to have fought fifty-six battles. He every where encouraged the English to resume their spirits, and taught them to conquer. But the detail of his military exploits we leave to the writers of the civil history of our country, and only repeat with William of Malmesbury, that when this king seemed cast down on the earth, he was still a terror to his enemies; that in all battles he was every where present, striking fear into their breasts, and paleness over their countenances, and inspiring his own soldiers with courage. He alone would restore the combat when his army was ready to disperse; he alone would present his breast to the swords of the enemy, and by his example force his soldiers to repulse the insulting and pursuing infidels.

Charles the Simple giving his daughter, Gisele, to Rollo.

Charles the Simple giving his daughter, Gisele, to Rollo.

About the year 890, the Normans, or barbarians from the northern coasts of the Baltic, landed in England, but being repelled by King Alfred made a descent upon the western coasts of France, carried their aims into the heart of that kingdom, thrice laid siege to Paris, and during fourscore years compelled the provinces to redeem themselves from plunder by exorbitant sums of money, which were an allurement to repeat their invasions, till Charles the Simple gave his daughter Gisele in marriage to Rollo, their leader, in 912, with part of Vexin, and that part of Neustria which from that time has been called the duchy of Normandy. Rollo, receiving baptism, took the name of Robert.

King Alfred, being aware that the safety and natural strength of this island consists in its navies, became himself well skilled in maritime affairs, and spent three years in building and fitting out a fleet, by which, in 883, he gave the Danish pirates every where the chase, and asserted the dominion of the British seas. This fleet he afterwards much increased, and, with wonderful sagacity, devised himself a kind of ships of a new construction, which gave him infinite advantages over a people continually practised in naval armaments. Sir John Spelman was not able to determine whether they were ships or galleys. But it appears, says Mr. Campbell, (Lives of Admirals, t. 1. p. 56,) that they were galleys, for the facility of running them close unto shore, or up into creeks. We are at least assured, that they were longer, higher, and swifter than the vessels in common use in a duplicate proportion.

At the same time this king extended the commerce of his subjects with other nations, knowing of what advantage this is to a kingdom, by which foreign riches perpetually flow into it; also how necessary it is for the improvement of navigation, and for a constant supply of able and skillful seamen for the navy. He sent out ships to discover and describe far distant countries, and employed Ohther the Dane for the discovery of a north-east passage, and afterwards Wulfstan, an Englishman, to explore the northern countries. In the manuscript accounts of these voyages, and the survey of the coasts of Norway and Lapland, we find, says Mr. Campbell, so surprising accuracy and judgment as must oblige us to confess, that the age of Alfred was an age of good sense; and far superior in knowledge to those that succeeded it. Alfred’s victories over the Danes procured him frequent intervals of peace; and this became at length fixed and lasting, the latter part of his reign not being disturbed with any fears of invasions.

19th century Portrait of Alfred the Great

19th century Portrait of Alfred the Great

If the conduct and courage of this great king in war was admirable, his wisdom appeared still more conspicuous in the care and prudence wherewith he improved his kingdom by the arts of peace, and by wholesome laws and a constant attention to see them well executed. When he came to the throne, the whole country was become a desert, and it was a difficult matter for men to find subsistence even when they were freed from the fear of enemies. Alfred encouraged agriculture, and all the necessary and useful arts, in which he was himself the author of many new improvements. For, by conversing with men of abilities, and by comparing together his informations not only in the sciences, but also in various arts, he came to the knowledge of many things; and by his penetration, the justness of his reasoning and reflections, and a superior judgment, he made many important discoveries, and arrived at a degree of skill, of which even they from whom he received his intelligence, were often ignorant. Such was the desolate condition to which several provinces were reduced by the late devastations and wars, that he was obliged to order seed to be distributed gratis to sow the earth, and to encourage tillage by premiums. It is a just remark of Felibien, that the state of architecture has always been in every country the sure proof in what degree arts flourished, and true taste and elegance prevailed. This appeared in the reign of Alfred, as it had done among the Greeks and Romans.

This prince adorned his kingdom with many magnificent churches, and other buildings, directing himself the artificers. He taught the people to build their houses of brick or stone, which till then had been usually made of wood and mortar. He erected several castles and fortresses, repaired the walls of London, and founded three monasteries, a rich nunnery at Shaftesbury, in which his daughter Algiva or Ethelgiva was the first abbess, and a monastery at Athelingay, now Athelney, into which he turned the castle in which he lived during his retreat there.

Athelney Abbey was a religious house for monks of the Order of St. Benedict in 888. It was dedicated to Our Lord, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Egelwine. It was demolished under Henry VIII in 1539. The monastery’s location is marked by this monument which was built by Sir John Slade in 1801.

Athelney Abbey was a religious house for monks of the Order of St. Benedict in 888. It was dedicated to Our Lord, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Egelwine. It was demolished under Henry VIII in 1539. The monastery’s location is marked by this monument which was built by Sir John Slade in 1801.

London was a flourishing Roman colony under Nero, and probably had been founded under Julius Cæsar soon after his landing in Britain. King Alfred is justly styled its second founder, as he was of the constitution of this kingdom, of its legislation, and of its fleet and navigation. He was himself the inventor of many necessary arts to the great advantage of all his subjects, and the restorer of the military art, in the highest perfection, and established in every branch of the administration, perspicuity, order, wisdom, activity, and life. He protected and cultivated the arts and sciences; was the wisest, the most eloquent, and the most learned man in his kingdom, and the best poet, which adds a true lustre to his name and dignity, as he was not less attentive to every branch of his government, and was at the same time the greatest, the most excellent, and watchful of kings. The ingenious Gaillard, in his history of the rivalship of France and England, t. 1, p. 75, says of him, that Charlemagne, the glory and founder of the western empire, and the greatest of all the kings of France, formed the English Egbert in the arts of war and of government, and taught him by uniting kingdoms to form an empire. But confesses that England seems to have possessed a greater prince than Charlemagne in Alfred, grandson to Egbert: though conqueror in fifty battles by land and sea, which he fought in person against barbarous invaders flushed with victory, and though he was obliged to be always armed, yet it was only in the defence and against the most cruel and unjust oppressors of his own kingdoms, and of all the rights of humanity. His reign is more interesting than that of Charlemagne in this circumstance, that he had learned to suffer with heroic constancy, and had learned all perfect virtues by practising them in the school of adversity: that having raised his kingdom from a state of entire ruin into which it was fallen by his personal valour, military skill, and prudence, and subdued all his enemies, he was always an enemy to conquests, and a stranger to the rage and ambition of commanding great empires; the love of peace was the constant reigning disposition of his great soul; and he consecrated all his talents to its arts and to the study of the happiness of his people.

A Stained glass window of St. Alfred in Chester, England.

A Stained glass window of St. Alfred in Chester, England.

One useful discovery or institution does more honour to his memory than a hundred great victories could ever have done. If, like Charlemagne, he converted his enemies to the Christian faith, he did this by the rules of the gospel and the apostles, without baptizing them through rivers of blood. His reign had not the taste of that of Charlemagne, but it had more of the paternal character of the truly great king and Christian saint. Master of all his passions, (no small miracle of grace, especially in his station,) he never was enslaved to or warped from the purest view of justice and virtue by any; was equally free from the allurements of all the softer passions, and from the rage of the fiercer. He was a prince of so great abilities, natural and acquired, and endowed with so extraordinary virtues and prudence, that no historian was ever able to find a but or flaw in his reign, or charge him with the least reproach, or the want of any single virtue, either in his regal, religious, or civil character. In him we have an exception to the trite distich:
Si Nisi non esset, perfectus quilibet eset
Et non sunt visi, qui caruere Nisi.
Whilst Charles the Simple dismembered Neustria to settle a fierce enemy within his own kingdom to be a seed of an eternal rivalship and unquenchable wars carried with the Normans into England and Sicily, and perpetuated during above nine hundred years, Alfred, far more wisely, incorporated the converted Danes into his own people, and strengthened himself by increasing the number of useful subjects at home.

Nothing is more famous in the reign of this king than his care and prudence in settling the public tranquility of the state, by an exact administration of justice. In the preceding times of war and confusion, especially whilst the king and his followers lurked at Athelney, or up and down and in cottages, the English themselves became lawless, and in many places revolted and plundered their own country. Alfred, by settling a most prudent polity, and by a rigorous execution of the laws, restored so great a tranquility throughout the whole kingdom, that, according to the common assertion of our historians, if a traveler had lost a purse of money on the highway, he would find it untouched the next day. We are told in Brompton’s Chronicle, that gold bracelets were hung up at the parting of several highways, which no man durst presume to touch.

Alfred compiled a body of laws from those of Ina, Offa, and Ethelbert, to which he added several new ones, which all tended to maintain the public peace and safety, to enforce the observance of the divine precepts, and to preserve the respect which is due to the church and its pastors. For crimes they inflict fines or mulcts proportioned to the quality and fortune of the delinquent: as, for withholding the Peter-pence, for buying, selling, or working on the Lord’s day, or a Holyday, a Dane’s fine was twelve ores or ounces, an Englishman’s thirty shillings: a slave was to forfeit his hide, that is, to be whipped. The mulct of a Dane was called Lash-lite, that of an Englishman, Weare-wite, or gentleman’s mulct. Were or Weregild was the mulct or satisfaction for a crime: it was double for a crime committed on a Sunday, or Holyday, or in Lent. By these laws it appears that slaves in England enjoyed a property, and could earn for themselves, when they worked at times in which they were not obliged to work for their masters: in which they differed from strict slaves of whom the Roman laws treat.

Alfred’s laws were mild, scarcely any crimes except murder being punished with death; but only with fines, or if these could not be paid, with the loss of a hand or foot. But the severity with which these laws were executed, maintained the public peace. Alfred first instituted trials to be determined by juries of twelve unexceptionable men, of equal condition, who were to pass judgment upon oath as to the evidence of the fact or crime: which is to this day one of the most valuable privileges of an English subject. To extirpate robberies which, by the confusion occasioned by Danish devastations, were then very common, this king divided the kingdom into shires, (though there were some shires before his time,) and the shires into hundreds; and the hundreds into tithings or tenths, or in some places into wapentakes, and every district was made responsible for all robberies committed within its precincts. All vagabonds were restrained by every one being obliged to be enrolled in some district.

Oxford University

Oxford University

The capital point in Alfred’s administration was, that all bribes or presents were most rigorously forbid the judges, their conduct was narrowly inspected into, and their least faults most severely punished. Upon any information being lodged against a judge or magistrate, he was tried by a council established for that purpose by the king, who himself presided in it; he is said to have condemned in one year forty-five judges to be hanged for crimes committed by them in their office. By this severity he struck a terror into all his magistrates; and such was the effect of his perspicacity and watchfulness in this respect, that, as Milton says, in his days justice seemed not to flourish only, but to triumph.

This prince, who was born for every thing that is great, was a lover and zealous patron of learning and learned men. He considered that arts and sciences cultivate and perfect those faculties in men in which the excellency of their nature consists, and bestow the empire of the mind, much more noble, pleasant, and useful than that of riches; they exceedingly enhance all the comforts and blessings of life, and extend the reputation and influence of a nation beyond any conquests. By this encouragement of learning have so many great geniuses been formed, to which the world stands most indebted; and to this the greatest nations owe their elegance, taste, and splendor, by which certain reigns have been distinguished. By what else did the golden elegant ages of Rome and Athens differ from the unknown brutal times of savage nations? Certainly nothing so much exalts the glory of any reign, or so much improves the industry and understanding, and promotes the happiness of a people, as the culture of leading geniuses by well-regulated studies. As Plato says, (l. 6. de leg.) man without culture and education is the most savage of all creatures which the earth nourishes. But sciences are still of infinitely greater importance with regard to religion; and this consideration above all others recommended the patronage of learning to this pious king.

The ancient public schools being either destroyed or almost fallen to decay with the monasteries during the wars, Alfred founded the University of Oxford. Alfred, canon of Beverley, in 1120, writes in his manuscript history, that king Alfred stirred up all gentlemen to breed their sons to the study of literature, or if they had no sons, some servants or vassals whom they should make free. He obliged every free man who was possessed of two hides of land, to keep their sons at school till they were fifteen years of age; for, said the king, a man born free, who is unlettered, is to be regarded no otherwise than a beast, or a man void of understanding. It is a point of importance, that persons of birth, whose conduct in life must necessarily have a strong and extensive influence over their fellow-creatures, and who are designed by providence to be charged with the direction of many others, be formed from their infancy to fill this superior rank which they hold with dignity, and to the general advantage of their species. In order to be qualified for this purpose, their tender hearts must be deeply impressed with the strongest and most generous sentiments of sincere piety and religion, and of true honors: by being inured to reason in their youth they must acquire a habit of reasoning well and readily, and of forming right judgments and conclusions. Their faculties must be raised and improved by study, and when by passing through the circle of the sciences, their genius has been explored, their studies and employs ought be directed into that channel, which, by their rational inclinations, talents, particular duties, and circumstances of life, the great Author of nature and Master of the world shall point out to each individual.

Statue of St. Alfred the Great in Winchester, England.

Statue of St. Alfred the Great in Winchester, England.

King Alfred also exhorted the noblemen to choose, among their country vassals or villains, some youths who should appear by their parts and ardent inclinations to piety, particularly promising to be trained up to the liberal arts. As for the rest it was not then the custom to give the poorer sort too much of a school education, which might abate their industry and patience at manual labor. But this prince was solicitous that care should be taken for the education and civilizing of all by religious instructions and principles. Agriculture, in the first place, and all the useful and mechanical arts never had a greater patron or protector.

He regretted his having applied so late to his studies; and, during his whole life afterwards, redoubled his diligence in them. It is incredible how he found time for so many and so great employments; but he was never idle, knowing the value of every moment, and squandering away no part of his time in idle amusements and diversions, which the great ones often look upon as the privilege of their rank; though if they well considered all their obligations, they would confess this maxim to be very inconsistent with their duties. This great prince in his youth, as soon as he had learned to read, got the whole Psalter and other prayers of the Church by heart, as monks then usually did in their novitiate.

Whilst he was king he translated paraphrastically from Latin into the Saxon tongue, Bede’s Church History; which work was published first by Wheloc, at Cambridge, in 1644, and again by John Smith, in 1722. He also translated St. Gregory’s Pastoral, (of which book he sent a copy, with a pencil, to every bishop in his dominions,) Orosius’s Roman History, and Boëtius De Consolatione Philosophiæ, which last book he always carried about with him. These translations, with those of the flowers of St. Austin’s Soliloquies, and the dialogues of St. Gregory, and a book of the parables of King Alfred, are extant in several of our libraries, in manuscripts. Alfred also wrote an Enchiridion, or manual of meditations. He began an interpretation of the Psalms, which he never finished, being prevented by death. This imperfect work was published by Sir John Spelman, in 1640. King Alfred’s Saxon translation of the New Testament was printed at London, in 1571, and more correctly at Dort, with notes, in 1664. A beautiful manuscript copy, which belonged to Archbishop Piegmund, is preserved in the Cottonian Library. Alfred’s laws are most accurately published by Wilkins, (Conc. Brit., t. 1, p. 186, 191.) King Alfred, as Asserius and William of Malmesbury write, whenever business allowed him leisure, was always reading, or conversing with learned men, or hearing others read; in his chamber he had always some book open before him, and in all his journeys he carried books with him. He substituted the use of the Italian or French alphabet for that of the old Saxon, which till then was used in writing Saxon books: a specimen of which is exhibited in the notes to the Latin edition of Spelman’s life of King Alfred, though imperfect and inaccurate, says bishop Tanner. (Bibl. Script. Britan., p. 32.)

Notwithstanding so many great employments and achievements in the world, piety and religion engrossed the soul of this great king, and to this he referred all his views and studies. To promote this in himself and in others was all his ambition, and the sole end of all his endeavours. Sir John Spelman throws out a surmise that he could not have been in the interest of the Roman see; otherwise his name would have been found in its calendar. But it is manifest that though all the greatest kings among the Saxons seemed to vie with each other in their devotion to the apostolic chair, yet Alfred stands among the foremost in that respect. His laws testify, that he raised even with rigor the Peter-pence, or annual charitable contribution to the apostolic see. Asserius, William of Malmesbury, Matthew of Westminster, and the Saxon chronicle mention frequently his sending the same to Rome with large additional alms of his own: they often name the great nobleman or prelate who was the bearer of these royal largesses to Rome: they speak of a vow which he made of sending thither an extraordinary alms, which he afterwards fulfilled. At the same time he sent Sigelin, bishop of Shireburn, to carry a considerable alms to the poor Christians of Saint Thomas’s, in the East Indies; for his ships sailed thither for commerce, though the navigation of the ocean, if known, was afterwards lost, till restored by the Portuguese. It is indeed hard to imagine that King Alfred’s merchants could make this voyage round Africa, all by sea, before the use of the compass; and it is more probable, that they traveled through Egypt or Chaldæa and the Indies, sailing only through the Mediterranean.

The Saxon Chronicle, Asserius, and Matthew of Westminster inform us, that at this king’s request, Pope Marinus freed the English school at Rome from all taxes and tribute, and that in gratitude for his liberalities to the Holy See, he sent him the most precious present of a considerable portion of the sacred cross of Christ, with other great gifts. This relic of the cross the king bestowed on the abbey of Glastenbury, as John, the historian of that monastery testifies.

King Alfred the Great was fond of reading and learning.

King Alfred the Great was fond of reading and learning.

The great actions and exploits of this glorious king are truly admirable, because they were the result of heroic piety and religion, and free from stains of base human passions. It is necessary to give a short sketch of the eminent virtues which he practised in private life, as they are set forth by Asserius, who conversed familiarly with him, and is a writer of so great authority, diligence, and veracity, that no one ever suspected or called in question any thing which he affirmed, as Dr. Cave remarks. (Hist. Liter., t. 2, p. 66.) This historian tells us, that Alfred was from his infancy a diligent and devout visitor of holy places, and that in his whole life he feared nothing so much as to offend God in the least thing.

It was his custom to rise privately at the cock crowing, and to repair to some church or chapel in which was kept the shrine of some saint, and there he continued long prostrate, praying with great fervour: he was wont to repeat the same prayer often over, redoubling each time his earnestness in it, in imitation of our Saviour in the garden. No hurry of public affairs, even in the midst of his wars, ever made him interrupt this custom. After he had happily finished his wars with the Danes, he made it his rule to spend every day eight hours out of the four-and-twenty, in reading and prayer: other eight in giving attendance to the affairs of his kingdom, leaving the other eight for his corporal refections and sleep. He was very exact in observing all the canonical hours of the divine office in the church with the clergy or monks. As to the use of clocks: sun-dials, by observing the shadow of the sun on certain steps were known among the Jews in the time of Achaz, and probably from the beginning of the world. Hour-glasses were in use among the Greeks and Romans. St. Boniface, about the year 730, seems to have sent for a clock from England, Cloccam, (ep. 9, Serarius, not. ib.,) but probably of a frame not fit for a private closet or church. Gerbert, preceptor to King Robert of France, afterwards archbishop of Rheims, then of Ravenna, and at length pope under the name of Silvester II., about the year 995, invented clocks with a balance, which continued in use till pendulums began to be employed, in 1650. (See Rivet, Hist. Liter., and Henault Chron. de Tr., t. 1, p. 126.) However, in England no clocks were then known fit for apartments, as Asserius assures us. Whence Alfred, by his own contrivance, ordered six wax candles, of the same length and bigness, to be kept always burning before the relics of saints, in his private oratory, which he caused always to be carried about with him wherever he went. Each candle was divided into inches, which were all marked; and by these he measured time in his oratory, that he might observe the canonical hours with the most punctual exactness: such was his spirit of religion in the minutest circumstances. Lest the wind should at any time put out these candles, or make them burn faster, he had them put in lanthorns, made of cows’ horns, cut into thin plates: and this, as we are assured, was the first invention of such lanthorns, at least in England; for Plautus (Amphit. Act. 1, v. 185,) and other Roman writers seem to speak of the like. Windows were formerly low, and generally of lattice, whence this invention of King Alfred was found very useful to keep in the church lamps.

Statue of King Alfred in Wantage Market Square, England.

Statue of King Alfred in Wantage Market Square, England.

His great piety, and the ardour and even ecstacy of his devotion were still more worthy admiration than his assiduity in prayer. From a sincere and humble sentiment of religion proceeded the reverence which he showed to bishops and other ecclesiastical persons, at whose feet he would often prostrate himself, as Ingulphus testifies. He constantly and attentively heard sermons, and often caused some of his servants to read the holy scriptures and other holy books to him. His affability and liberality towards persons of all ranks and conditions, were proofs of his sincere humility and charity. He was bountiful to the poor, whether subjects or strangers. When his wars were at an end, he divided the yearly revenues of his patrimony into two parts; the first of which he subdivided into four equal portions, one for the poor, the second for the subsistence of the monasteries which he founded, the third for his schools, and the fourth for other occasional charities at home and abroad; for he often sent large alms into distant parts, especially Gaul and Ireland, and to remote monasteries. The other moiety of his revenues he distributed into three equal shares, of which the first he allowed to pay the officers and servants of his court, the second to pay his workmen, and the third to defray the expenses of hospitality and of his household.

He loved his clergy and nobility, and he took delight in causing the children of the latter to be educated in his own court; and instructed in learning under his own eyes. He always entertained many learned men about him: among these are named Asserius of Menevia, Telmund, who was afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, Athelstan, Werwalf, etc.

Never, perhaps, was any king more justly or more cordially honoured, or more tenderly beloved by his nobility and people. Envy itself dropped its sting, respected him, and paid a just tribute to his extraordinary talents and virtues. So transcendent were these that slander itself seems never to have touched him: and no historian, whether Catholic or Protestant, ever so much as laid to his charge the least reproach or imputation of any vices. His virtue was perfected by the weight of many trials; besides external afflictions, he is said scarcely ever to have passed a day without feeling some extraordinary pain or aching; and he performed so many and so great things in a very infirm and crazy body.

Subscription7

This great and good king ended his most glorious reign by a happy death on the 25th of October, in the year 900, the fifty-first year of his age, having reigned twenty-nine years and about six months. His body was deposited in the cathedral of St. Swithun, at Winchester, called Ealdenminster, or the Old Minster, but removed into the church of the new monastery called Newanminster, when it was finished. His remains were translated with this monastery from the close near St. Swithin’s, where it first stood, to the suburb without the north gate, since called Hyde, and laid before the high altar in the same tomb with the bones of his son and successor, Edward the Elder, with their names inscribed on two tables of lead. St. Grimbald was interred in the same church.

Asserius of Minevia wrote the life of King Alfred, and died bishop of Shirburn, in 909, according to the additions made to the chronicle of St. Neot’s, not in 893, as Godwin mistakes. The best edition of this excellent life was published by Fr. Wise, at Oxford, in 1722. On this king see also Malmesbury, and our other historians both ancient and modern. His life is compiled by Sir John Spelman, (son to our learned antiquarian, Sir Henry Spelman,) first in English, afterwards in Latin, at Oxford, in 1678, with learned marginal notes added by the best scholars in Oxford, at that time, especially in University-College, which glories in the title of Alfred’s-College. In its library is a copy of this book with large manuscript notes of Obadiah Walker in the margin.

King Alfred is only placed among the saints by certain private biographers. He is named among the saints in two Saxon calendars mentioned in a note on the Saxon translation of the New Testament; also in some other private calendars, and in Wilson’s inaccurate English Martyrology on the 28th of October. Yet it does not appear that he was ever proposed in any church to the public veneration of the faithful.

Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73).  Volume X: October.
The Lives of the Saints.  1866.
pp. 304-308

By making beautiful things, the artisan’s sacrifice taught all society to love excellent things as a way that they might know and love God more

With Christ as the perfect model, this “Way of the Cross” economy also served God’s glory by awakening in men a passionate pursuit of excellence for excellence’s sake.

carving

To medieval man, this pursuit of excellence was an arduous task, not unlike a Way of the Cross that ultimately led not to profits but to God. He believed he could give glory to God by making His creation even more excellent. By making beautiful things, the artisan’s sacrifice taught all society to love excellent things as a way that they might know and love God more. In this way, even the most modest things in Christian civilization tended to have a certain splendor, so that all creation could better sing the glory of God and thereby elevate souls towards Him.

Sacred Heart Church in Newark, NJ

One could see this in the craftsman who set about his arduous tasks motivated by this higher ideal. “The laborer toiled not merely to win sustenance,” writes Richard Weaver, “but to see this ideal embodied in his creation.”* The perfume-maker, for example, was motivated by a desire to produce a most excellent perfume. It was with great metaphysical joy that he made more effort and accepted less money in this quest to leave mankind a better perfume.

Interior of J.B. Filz Sohn perfume shop in Vienna. Family owned since 1809 and becoming the Court Perfumer of the Imperial family, receiving the privilege of Hoftitels.

Interior of J.B. Filz Sohn perfume shop in Vienna. Family owned since 1809, supplying not only the Nobility and the upper middle class with cologne, but also the Imperial Court. Becoming the Court Perfumer of the Imperial family, Wilhelm Filz received from the Emperor the privilege of Hoftitels in 1872.

* Richard Weaver, Ideas Have Consequences (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984), 73.

 

John Horvat II, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need To Go (York, Penn.: York Press, 2013), 332-3.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

What Does it Take to Get Half a Million Frenchmen in the Streets?

by Luis Dufaur

Close to 530,000 French paraded in Paris and Bordeaux on October 5 against artificial insemination for lesbian couples (medically assisted procreation or PMA) and the so-called womb-for-rent system (surrogate pregnancy or GPA, in its French acronym) to favor homosexual couples. These procedures are currently illegal in France and cannot be funded by the public health system.

The protesters were called by an umbrella organization known as “La Manif pour tous” [“The Demonstration for All,” a take on the Socialist Government’s ‘Marriage for All’ –read same-sex marriage--policies] which has promoted massive protests against same-sex "marriage" over the last couple of years, French dailies such as La Croix reported.

Rumors had it that the movement was on the wane and its grassroots discouraged, but the huge demonstrations clearly showed they were nothing but wishful thinking by leftist media eager to make it fizzle.

The family public, made up of conservative Catholics in its vast majority, came out just as strongly as it had in the past, causing astonishment among many journalists, experts and sociologists accustomed to ‘laboratory reasoning’.

Unfortunately – what else is new? - the media at large reported little or nothing about these huge demonstrations diametrically opposed to the socialist left and its Sexual Revolution.

In an effort to empty out the demonstrations, Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls gave an interview to La Croix, the unofficial newspaper of the French Bishops Conference, promising that the controversial legislation will not be approved.

Only an accomplice or a simpleton could believe promises from a politician in dire straits, and particularly from a socialist.

Countless delegations of parents with children from all corners of France marched across Paris between the Porte Dauphine and Montparnasse neighborhoods.

The cortege was so long that it took five hours to pass by the famous dome of the Invalides!

Many banners proclaimed the reasons for the popular unease: “Stop the Tax-Bludgeoning of Families;” “A Human Being Is Not a Commodity,” and “A Woman Is Not a Baby-Making Machine.”

The demonstrations had nothing to do with parades financed by the government or some pressure group. The protesters paid out of pocket for all their transportation and other expenses, arriving by groups in rented buses, trains, or by car sharing setup ​​through social networks.

Laurence came from Le Mans (Sarthe) with her ​​two young sons. She never missed a demonstration and said, “Clearly, [Prime Minister] Manuel Valls’ assurances are nothing but a game. We’ve had enough words, we want facts.”

A group of students came from Fribourg, Switzerland, where they study philosophy and theology. One of them, Grégoire, 23, said he felt sick about the maneuvers aimed at "changing our morals to base it on things other than the natural order.” “Surrogate pregnancy leads to the objectification of men and can end up in eugenics,” he explained.

The demonstrators continue to demand the abrogation of the law allowing same-sex "marriage".

In Bordeaux, between 30,000 protesters from southern regions such as Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées, Poitou-Charentes, Limousin and Vendée heaped criticism on Mayor Alain Juppé, who claims to stand with the “right” but said he will not abolish the same-sex “marriage” law [if elected president].

Geoffroy, 36, father of five and a resident of Pau, not far from Lourdes, showed his banner mocking that politician: "This will not be my president."

Same-sex “marriage,” surrogate pregnancy (GPA)', 'medically assisted procreation (PMA), gender ideology and other egalitarian aberrations have eventually formed a pack of morally perverse procedures directed against the very purpose of the family and repudiated by the demonstrators.

For the vast majority of those present, the demonstration transcends the positions of political parties, including those now rising on their claim of being defenders of the family. "We cannot rent out the family body,” insisted Jean-Baptiste de Scorraille, mayor of a district in Toulouse.

For Constance, 19, from Bayonne, "it is important to show, with these demonstrations, that the family and youth are against this world that seeks the commoditization of children.”

Thursday, October 23, 2014

October 24 – Missionary to Cuba, St. Antonio María Claret was also confessor to the Spanish Queen

St. Anthony Mary Claret, C.M.F.

St. Anthony Mary Claret, C.M.F.

Spanish prelate and missionary, born at Sallent, near Barcelona, 23 Dec., 1807; died at Fontfroide, Narbonne, France, on 24 Oct., 1870. Son of a small woollen manufacturer, he received an elementary education in his native village, and at the age of twelve became a weaver. A little later he went to Barcelona to specialize in his trade, and remained there till he was twenty. Meanwhile he devoted his spare time to study and became proficient in Latin, French, and engraving; in addition he enlisted in the army as a volunteer. Recognizing a call to a higher life, he left Barcelona, entered the seminary at Vich in 1829, and was ordained on 13 June, 1835.

He received a benefice in his native parish, where he continued to study theology till 1839. He now wished to become a Carthusian; missionary work, however, appealing strongly to him he proceeded to Rome. There he entered the Jesuit novitiate but finding himself unsuited for that manner of life, he returned shortly to Spain and exercised his ministry at Valadrau and Gerona, attracting notice by his efforts on behalf of the poor. Recalled by his superiors to Vich, he was engaged in missionary work throughout Catalonia. In 1848 he was sent to the Canary Islands where he gave retreats for fifteen months. Returning to Vich he established the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (16 July, 1849), and founded the great religious library at Barcelona which bears his name, and which has issued several million cheap copies of the best ancient and modern Catholic works.

St. Anthony Mary Claret

Such had been the fruit of his zealous labours and so great the wonders he had worked, that Pius IX at the request of the Spanish sovereign appointed him Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba in 1851. He was consecrated at Vich and embarked at Barcelona on 28 Dec. Having arrived at his destination he began at once a work of thorough reform.

The seminary was reorganized, clerical discipline strengthened, and over nine thousand marriages validated within the first two years. He erected a hospital and numerous schools. Three times he made a visitation of the entire diocese, giving local missions incessantly. Naturally his zeal stirred up the enmity and calumnies of the irreligious, as had happened previously in Spain. No less than fifteen attempts were made on his life, and at Holguin his cheek was laid open from ear to chin by a would-be assassin’s knife. In February, 1857, he was recalled to Spain by Isabella II, who made him her confessor.

Queen Doña Iabel II of Spain with her three youngest daughters: Pilar, Paz and Eulalia

Queen Doña Iabel II of Spain with her three youngest daughters: Pilar, Paz and Eulalia

He obtained permission to resign his see and was appointed to the titular see of Trajanopolis. His influence was now directed solely to help the poor and to propagate learning; he lived frugally and took up his residence in an Italian hospice. For nine years he was rector of the Escorial monastery where he established an excellent scientific laboratory, a museum of natural history, a library, college, and schools of music and languages.

St. Anthony Mary Claret pointing to Our Lady of Charity, Patroness of Cuba.

St. Anthony Mary Claret pointing to Our Lady of Charity, Patroness of Cuba.

His further plans were frustrated by the revolution of 1868. He continued his popular missions and distribution of good books wherever he went in accompanying the Spanish Court. When Isabella recognized the new Government of United Italy he left the Court and hastened to take his place by the side of the pope; at the latter’s command, however, he returned to Madrid with faculties for absolving the queen from the censures she had incurred. In 1869 he went to Rome to prepare for the Vatican Council. Owing to failing health he withdrew to Prades in France, where he was still harassed by his calumnious Spanish enemies; shortly afterwards he retired to the Cistercian abbey at Fontfroide where he expired.

St Anthony Mary Claret

His zealous life and the wonders he wrought both before and after his death testified to his sanctity. Informations were begun in 1887 and he was declared Venerable by Leo XIII in 1899. His relics were transferred to the mission house at Vich in 1897, at which time his heart was found incorrupt, and his grave is constantly visited by many pilgrims. In addition to the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Heart of Mary (approved definitively by Pius IX, 11 Feb., 1870) which has now over 110 houses and 2000 members, with missions in W. Africa, and in Chocó (Columbia), Archbishop Claret founded or drew up the rules of several communities of nuns.

By his sermons and writings he contributed greatly to bring about the revival of the Catalan language. His printed works number over 130, of which we may mention: “La escala de Jacob”; “Maximas de moral la más pura”; “Avisos”; “Catecismo explicado con láminas”; “La llave de oro”; “Selectos panegíricos” (11 vols.); “Sermones de misión” (3 vols.); “Misión de la mujer”; “Vida de Sta. Mónica”; “La Virgen del Pilar y los Francmasones”; and his “Autobiografia”, written by order of his spiritual director, but still unpublished.

Catedral Sant Antoni Maria Claret de Vic

Catedral Sant Antoni Maria Claret de Vic

AGUILAR, Vida admirable del Venerable Antonio María Claret (Madrid, 1894); BLANCH, Vida del Venerable Antonio María Claret (Barcelona, 1906); CLOTET, Compendio de la vida del Siervo de Dios Antonio María Claret (Barcelona, 1880); Memorias ineditas del Padre Clotet in the archives of the missionaries of Aranda de Duero; VILLABA HERVAS, Recuerdos de cinco lustros 1843-1868 (Madrid, 1896); Estudi bibliografich de los obres del Venerable Sallenti (Barcelona, 1907).

A. A. MacErlean (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Pets outnumber children 4 to 1 in America

The fertility rate per woman in the United States is 1.9, which is below replacement level.

Yet pets outnumber children 4 to 1 in America. And new evidence shows that pets are being treated like human family members.

There is obviously something wrong here. Everyone knows that a nation without strong and moral families gradually withers and dies.

This is not an economic problem but a moral one that lies deep inside the soul of the nation. And what America needs is a return to order.

Here are articles that show how that return can happen.

10 Outstanding Traits of Organic Christian Society

Towards An Organic Christian Society

This Single Vice Throws Economy and Society Out of Balance

What’s Really Wrong with Our Economy?

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Catholic College to Host Pro-Aborti​on Speaker (sign petition here)

This Catholic institution plans to host radical & notorious pro-abortion promoter Gloria Steinem.

Every pro-lifer should sign this urgent protest now…

While dedicated pro-lifers work to save babies, St. Norbert College will be doing something oddly different:

Welcoming a radical pro-abortion promoter to campus.

St. Norbert College -- a Catholic institution in Wisconsin -- has invited avowed abortion activist, Gloria Steinem, to speak next semester.

It’s so wrong and scandalous. Especially at a Catholic campus.

But I still think that you and I have enough time to make a real difference if we peacefully protest today and call the college to cancel Gloria Steinem's talk.

So sign your urgent protest NOW

In fact, similar TFP Student Action petitions were really successful in getting other Catholic colleges to cancel pro-abortion speakers on campus.

So let’s do it again.

Because Gloria Steinem is like Margaret Sanger. Or even worse.

She boasted about her own abortion, saying: "it felt positive."

On another occasion, she said: “There is no organization in this country or the world that is more important than Planned Parenthood.” (NJ.com, Sept. 17, 2011)

And she also said this:

"Approximately one in three women in this country needs an abortion at some time in her life. It should be a part of reproductive rights." (The Washington Post - Nov. 19, 2013)

So, I'd like to ask you:

How on earth can a woman like Gloria Steinem with such a public pro-abortion record be invited to give a lecture at a Catholic institute, which ought to be a cornerstone in the defense of innocent life?

Every pro-lifer should sign this peaceful protest today -- here

The unborn depend on you and your voice.

Thank you for defending innocent life.

P.S. -- To amplify your voice for the unborn, please share this urgent pro-life alert with all your friends. May God reward you for spreading the truth.

Contact information (be polite yet firm)

Mr. Thomas Kunkel
President, St. Norbert College
1527 Fox Ridge Court
De Pere, WI 54115
Office: (920) 403-3165
Home: (920) 632-7485
thomas.kunkel@snc.edu

City threatens to arrest ministers for refusing to “marry” homosexuals

From the American Family Association:  -- The city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is threatening two ordained Christian ministers with arrest if they refuse to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.

The Hitching Post Wedding Chapel is across the street from the Kootenai County Clerk’s office, which issues marriage licenses. Last week, Donald Knapp and his wife Evelyn, both ordained ministers who run the chapel, respectfully declined to perform a same-sex “marriage” ceremony.

According to the Coeur d’Alene city attorney, they now face up to 180 days in jail and up to $1,000 in fines for each day they decline to perform that ceremony.

City officials said the Knapps are required to perform such ceremonies or face months in jail and/or thousands of dollars in fines. The city claims its "non-discrimination" ordinance requires them to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies despite the fact that they are Christians and the chapel publicly states it only performs Christian-based ceremonies.

The Knapps have secured legal counsel through Alliance Defending Freedom and have filed a lawsuit claiming the city's ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians is unconstitutionally forcing them to violate their religious beliefs by performing same-sex marriages. You can read the entire story here.

TAKE ACTION

Once again, homosexual bullies have targeted Christian-owned businesses in their attempt to silence all opposition to their sinful lifestyle.

Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer is the chief executive officer for the city. We have prepared an email you can send to Mayor Widmyer. Or, you can call Mayor Widmyer or post a comment to the city’s Facebook page or Twitter.

Urge Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter to get involved and defend Christian-based businesses in Idaho. Encourage him to publicly speak out in support of Donald and Evelyn Knapp's right to religious freedom of speech.

One thing is for sure. If you fail to speak out, more pastors and ministers will soon face the relentless anti-Christian wrath of homosexual activists.

TAKE ACTION NOW!


Monday, October 20, 2014

Rosary Rallies blanket America

In a world in crisis, 12,629 Rosary Rallies took place in America!

And 12,629 Red roses were offered to Our Lady in Fatima!

Click here to watch a video and read report.

I'm thrilled to inform you that 12,629 Public Square Rosary Rallies were held last Saturday, Oct. 11, from coast to coast .

My brother who heads the TFP Student Action group of Catholic young man put together a video you will want to watch.   Click here.

But why so much insistence on the Rosary?

One of my favored quotes about the Rosary is from Saint Dominic:

“The Rosary will be a very powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin and dispel heresy.”

That’s why we organized a record-breaking number of Public Square Rosary Rallies.

A total of 12,629 rallies across America...

Over 12,000 acts of faith and public devotion...

Over 12,000 reasons for hope and courage...

Watch the New York City Rosary Rally video.

Everyday we see how our warped culture tries to banish God from the public square, and uproot moral values and dismantle the family.

But we cannot let that continue.

That’s why a growing number of Americans are turning to God and the Blessed Mother for strength, courage and hope.  In fact, the need for conversion, prayer and penance is more pressing today than it was in 1917 when Our Lady appeared to Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia.

And where is our hope?  The Rosary is our hope.  We need a big time miracle.

Our Lord Jesus during His public life cured many people but He would then say to person he cured, “Your Faith has cured you.”  If America can have faith in the Rosary, America will be cured!

So let's never give up.  Never.

Because the Mother of God has given us a promise of God's final triumph:

"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph!"

I invite you to click here and read the report and then sign up to become a Rosary Rally Captain for 2015.  Help the Rosary effort!  Help save America!  Help save souls!

Also, on October 12, the eve of the feast of the Miracle of the Sun, 12,629 Red roses and thousands of White roses more were offered to Our Lady of Fatima, in Portugal.

See slide show.

God bless you and see you next year, in the public square, with Rosary in hand!

Click: The report includes pictures and a video

Sign up and become a 2015 Rosary Rally Captain

Sunday, October 19, 2014

A “Way of the Cross” Society

Painting by Leopold Loeffler of a family that lost everything due to war.

Painting by Leopold Loeffler of a family that lost everything due to war.

Lest we be accused of glorifying the past, any dream of an ideal society cannot exclude the reality of hardship and suffering that comes from God’s punishment of our first parents: “With labor and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life” (Gn 3:17).

Dreams become nostalgic and romantic fantasies if they are not linked with the reality of suffering and tragedy. We must therefore take to heart the model of the Cross.

crucifixJust as consumer society presupposes the consumer, Christian civilization presupposed the Christian. The Christian was not just a religious label. Rather it was the development of “the human type that had been produced by ten centuries of spiritual discipline and intensive cultivation of the inner life.”* He was and is “another Christ,” inseparable from His Cross.

Livonia Knight

What characterized early medieval man was his understanding that once disordered passions were let loose, they would unleash a tyrannical rule upon everything. This applied to private life, but this could also be seen in the barbaric and unruly passions of invading peoples who wreaked such havoc on medieval Europe.

Painting by Gustav Reinhold

Painting by Gustav Reinhold

Thus, medieval man perceived that the fight against these unbridled passions must play a central role in his private life. He also understood that in society there must always be dedicated sectors on the front lines of this great battle that, inspired by the Faith, take an attitude of fighting to the death at any moment to defend society as a whole.** The medieval knight, for example, held this ideal literally, as the civilizing monks of the West did analogously in their interior martyrdom.

* Christopher Dawson, Religion and the Rise of Western Culture (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1950), 9.

** “The life of man upon earth is a warfare” (Jb 7:1).

John Horvat II, Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need To Go (York, Penn.: York Press, 2013), 331.

 

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Massive bouquet of roses from the United States delivered to Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal – despite heavy soaking rain

By Michael Gorre

Ninety-seven years ago, rain soaked the 70,000 witnesses of the miracle of the sun at the Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal. Part of the miracle was that they were completely dry within a matter of minutes.

Although we did not witness a miracle and we remained wet to the bone, ANF members Mr. Alvaro Zapata and myself presented over 13,000 roses to Our Lady in that very spot where she made the sun dance. Not letting the gusts of wind and driving rain deter them, our determined team of Portuguese pilgrims under the able direction of Mr. Felipe Barandiaran set down huge containers full of roses and held up the banners containing the names of all the 12,629  2014 Rosary Rally Captains (represented by the red roses) and all the Rosary Rally Sponsors (represented by the white roses).

In all the seven years we have been presenting the ever-increasing number of roses to Our Lady of Fatima, we have never been rained upon. It was as if Our Lady was putting us to the test as the winds and storms of our current world situation continue to get more and more difficult.

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Hoping to be able to light our large candles during a break in the torrential rain, we came to the Cova da Iria on October 13 with all eighteen of them. These heavy long candles had been made from the thousands of small ones sent in by our America Needs Fatima members with their accompanying intentions. The pouring rain continued unabated, however, and only seemed to intensify as we strained to light the candles in the downpour. Nevertheless, we managed to do it and their fiery glow was a beautiful contrast to the dark clouds that hung over us. Gazing at the flickering flames, we reflected deeply upon what they symbolize: the faith of each and every ANF member who perseveres in difficult times, in times when the storms and trials of life should have snuffed them out.

As we prayed at the Chapel of the Apparitions and at the tombs of Blesseds Jacinta and Francisco, we remembered all the valiant Rosary Rally Captains who put aside their human respect to pray for our country in public places. Later, as we walked among the olive trees of Valinhos where Our Lady appeared in August of 1917 and visited the site where the Angel of Portugal appeared to the three shepherds to prepare them for the coming of Our Lady, we continued to pray for all our ANF members and their intentions, asking Our Lady that she make of them shining examples of faith, hope and charity, in a world of doubt, despair and rejection of God.

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Pietas Mariana Britannica: England’s Extraordinary Devotion to Mary

by Ben Broussard


When mentioning the country of England, images immediately come to mind of the Houses of Parliament, double-decker buses, high tea and…devotion to Mary?

In a book published in the late 19th century titled Pietas Mariana Britannica: A History of Devotion to the Mother of God in England, Mr. Edmund Waterton takes his readers far from all the modern stereotypes to a time when England was known as Dos Mariae, Our Lady’s Dowry.

During the Middle Ages, devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary thrived in every European country, and England was no exception. On the contrary, from the cosmopolitan city of London to the fishing villages of Cornwall, from the northern stretches of Yorkshire to the storied city of Canterbury, every corner of the country had its own particular way of paying homage to the Mother of God.

The view of England as a cold, closed nation marked by a Protestant spirit contrasts greatly with the realm portrayed by Waterton. Studying in continental Europe during his youth, the author makes known his initial dismay at the lack of Catholic piety in his native land. However, through the influence of his professors and investigating the hidden history of his country, the fruits of his research have yielded a beautiful tome which details the marvelous ways in which Englishman paid homage to their Heavenly Queen.

A Marian Culture
Mr. Waterton clearly demonstrates how for centuries, being English and being devoted to Mary were synonymous. In every parish in the land, laypeople would meet daily to recite the Little Office of Our Lady, which was commonly memorized and prayed while travelling. Students at Oxford and Cambridge were required to recite Matins from the Office of Our Lady while making their beds in the morning, as well as pray the Rosary while hearing the morning Mass. Beggars would sing the Salve Regina when asking for alms, and Saturdays were days of fasting and almsgiving in Our Lady’s honor. Expectant mothers were given girdles with the text of the Magnificat inscribed on them. The author shows just how ingrained Marian devotion was by enumerating how vast numbers of churches, chapels, bells, gates, estates, lands, guilds and entire cities came to be consecrated to Mary in every part of England.

Mr. Waterton spends the entire second half of the book detailing the particular devotions of more than 200 English villages and towns, from the more obscure such as Our Lady of Pity at Southwold, to the impressive array of Marian sanctuaries in London and Coventry. As he makes clear in this second section, Catalogue of Shrines, Sanctuaries, Offerings, Bequests, and Other Memorials of the Piety of Our Forefathers, the research was limited due to the numerous documents which had been destroyed by the time he was writing in the late 19th century. He makes clear that many volumes could be filled had there not been so much devastation wrought by previous generations. Nonetheless, the reader cannot fail to be impressed by the widespread and centuries-long piety in all parts of the kingdom.

Our Lady of Walsingham, a centuries old devotion to Our Lady in England.

Photo credit Thorvaldsson.

Our Lady Comes to England
The great Mother of God even graced the island with her presence when she appeared at Walsingham and commanded a sanctuary built in her honor, and for centuries called the Holy Land of Walsingham. In 1061 the widow Richeldis received a vision of the Blessed Virgin, and coming to the site Our Lady had designated for the sanctuary, stood astonished as the angels proceeded to construct the shrine exactly the same as the Holy House at Nazareth. Mr. Waterton makes clear the striking similarities between the shrine at Walsingham with the Holy House of Loreto, Italy.

Devotion grew over the centuries, and every king and queen of England from St. Edward the Confessor up to and including Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon walked barefoot as pilgrims from London to Walsingham, a distance of over 120 miles.
The most popular place of pilgrimage in England was not only frequented by the English, but Europeans from various countries would travel there to seek the intercession of Our Lady of Walsingham for their temporal and spiritual needs.

Much is Lost, Much to be Regained
Since the time Mr. Waterton was writing, there has been a significant loss in the level of the average reader. Many reading his work today will have trouble with extensive passages in Latin and French which he leaves untranslated, as well as the occasional section in Old English which may take some moments to decipher.

The reader who perseveres, however, will be mourning the much greater loss of such a vibrant Marian culture that thrived prior to the Protestant Revolt. Indeed, the facts described within these pages make Henry VIII and his contemporaries’ break with the Church all the more monstrous. If little survived to the days of Mr. Waterton in the 19th century due to the unprecedented iconoclasm of previous eras, the same can be said with greater certainty today as to the extant legacy of the Marian devotion of our ancestors.

The author leaves no stone unturned in such a monumental work extolling the devotion to the Queen of Heaven in the land of England, and leaves his reader with the distinct hope that what was once so commonplace can one day be regained. May Our Lady of Walsingham place this wonderful book in the hands of those who need it most, and may devotion to her once again thrive among all Englishmen and their descendants throughout the world.