December 2 – Our Lady, Cause of Our Joy

Our Lady of Liesse

In 1134 three Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, prisoners of the Muslims in Egypt, miraculously found or received in their prison a statue of Our Lady, which they named Our Lady of Joy, or Notre Dame de Liesse.

Painting of the Basilica of Notre Dame de Liesse where the Image of Our Lady of Liesse is enthroned.

In response to their prayers, a young Muslim princess named Ismerie took an interest in the Knights, and through the intercession of Our Lady and the mercy of God, the princess was converted. The princess arranged the escape of the pious crusaders and joined them on their journey to France. They carried the statue with them, and in the region of Laon, about 35 miles northwest of Reims, they founded a church as a resting place for the statue.

In June 1686, St. John Baptist de la Salle and twelve Brothers went to the shrine of Our Lady of Liesse to renew their vow of obedience. Painting by Giovanni Gagliardi, 1901

Through local devotion the church took on the name of the statue, and gave that name to the whole region, so that Notre Dame de Liesse came to refer to both the devotion and the place. The statue came to be venerated by many, and Notre Dame de Liesse became the Patroness of the Diocese of Soissons.

In 1620 the titular Bailiff of Armenia, Fra’ Jacques Chenu de Bellay, built a church to Our Lady of Liesse at Valletta in Malta. It is today the chaplaincy church of the Port of Valetta.

The original statue was destroyed during the French Revolution, but the medieval basilica at Liesse remained a center of devotion to the Mother of God, and a new statue was installed and crowned there in 1857. It is still the focus of pilgrimage, especially on Whit Monday.

Memorial in the Missal of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order

of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta

How to love and imitate Christ

To be like Our Lord Jesus Christ was the ideal that inspired the Middle Ages. Medieval man desired to be linked to Him in the most complete way possible; to lose himself in Him.

These sentiments were not only loving movements of admiration and awe. Medieval man took them to their final consequences, reasoning that Christ could have come to earth in all His glory, shining forth for all the nations. Yet He chose the hardest, saddest, and most terrifyingly difficult path to accomplish His mission for our salvation. Stirred by gentle compassion, the medieval mind was “saturated with the concepts of Christ and the cross.”*

With inflexible uprightness, he noted how Our Lord foresaw His sufferings yet nevertheless embraced the Cross, accepting it even to the point of asking with touching supplication: “Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: But yet not my will, but thine be done” (Lk 22:42).

The Medieval Spirit of the Anima Christi

Although not from the medieval period, Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s prayer Anima Christi conveys the same intense medieval desire of union with Christ. He implores:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.

Body of Christ, save me.

Blood of Christ, inebriate me.

Water from Christ’s side, wash me.

Passion of Christ, strengthen me.

O Good Jesus, hear me.

Within Thy wounds hide me.

Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.

From the malicious enemy defend me.

In the hour of my death call me.

And bid me come unto Thee,

That I may praise Thee with Thy Saints and with Thy Angels

Forever and ever. Amen.

* Johan H. Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages: A Study of the Forms of Life, Thought and Art in France and the Netherlands in the XIVth and XVth Centuries (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1954), 190.

Free Copy of The Book of Confidence

This little book is big on content!

Drawing on Sacred Scripture and the lives of the saints, the masterful pen of Fr. Thomas de Saint-Laurent carries us to the serene realm of confidence. The case Fr. Saint-Laurent makes for Confidence is wonderful, consoling, peace-giving, bullet-proof against all possible guilt, loneliness, suffering, illness, grieving or fear.

At the back of this edition is a unique, marvelous meditation by Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira which I am sure you will enjoy. And at the end of the book you will find the Irresistible novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the same one Saint Padre Pio used to say.

Order your FREE copy of this marvelous and moving book.

Sorry! This Free offer is for US Residents only. For international orders, please call: (570) 454-2126.

A Christmas Prayer

(It is piously believed that whoever recites the below prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (Patron of Scotland; 30th Nov.) until Christmas will obtain what is asked.)

America Needs Fatima also believes it's pleasing and efficacious any time of the year.

Click the image to download it.

The Paris Tragedy

The article below about the Nazi conquest of Paris in 1941 was written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira and published in Legionário, on November 16, 1941.  The comments he makes on the Nazi takeover have an uncanny similarity to the recent Muslim Paris terror attack.  See what you think.

                                                        *** 

A few days ago, Havas (HTM), the Vichy government’s unofficial news agency issued a cable reporting on the present situation in Paris. After the catastrophe, a heavy and somber silence has fallen upon the French capital.

This is neither the place nor the time to make a case against French culture. It is true that we have received from France many seeds of corruption and impiety. Allow us, however, to narrate a significant episode in this regard. Once, a most distinguished Brazilian bishop was present at a dinner of French prelates. During the meal, our virtuous and eminent patrician engaged a conversation with a neighboring bishop to whom he communicated his sorrow for the wave of immorality and skepticism coming to us from France.

With that courteous refinement that characterizes the spirit of his land and people, the French prelate answered: “It is certain that France exports many deplorable things, but who orders them? Is it not perhaps the foreign nations?” Indeed, nineteenth-century France, for example, not only produced a monster like Gambetta, an impious man like Renan, or frivolous actresses such as those that scandalized world travelers in Montmartre’s nightclubs. France also produced a Louis Veuillot, a Frederic Ozanam, a Montalembert, a Lacordaire, and a rose of purity and innocence such as St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

Who is to blame if all mankind quenches its thirst in dens of corruption or works of apostates rather than in the fountains of talent and holiness which have never gone dry in French lands? France alone?

Who could dare say, for example, that only Germany is to blame as people in so many countries around the world begin to imitate Mr. Hitler? Who does not understand that Mr. Hitler is not Germany, that there is a Germany heroic even unto martyrdom, faithful to Christ even in the greatest sacrifices, a Germany of Cardinal Falhauber and Theresa Neumann, who the contemporary world does not imitate because it abhors good and loves evil?

                                                           *  *  *

All this said, there is no doubt that Paris has committed serious sins and suffers immense punishment. For a long time the capital of France, the eldest daughter of the Church has been the author of endless scandals. It surrounded herself with lights and was called the City of Lights. It was filled with profane joys and was named the world metropolis of joy. In its museums, intellectual circles and art galleries it revered not only the truth, beauty and good but put its talents at the service of error, evil and ignominy. For this reason, an apocalyptic catastrophe has fallen upon it. The lights of the City of Lights are off.

The joyous songs of its always cheerful people have silenced. Its schools, museums, galleries are deserted. Some argue that criminal hands have begun to disperse its treasures accumulated over centuries... The Parisian flair has been muted. Point by point, the ruin in which Paris finds itself is reminiscent of the narration, in the Old Testament, of the great misfortunes that fell upon Jerusalem when it violated its duties.

How many ‘prophets’ have now flocked to the bedside of this great agony! Most of them put on the painful feelings of Jeremiah only to more easily to reproach France and justify the Nazi occupation. They are wolves assuming the airs of sheep...

This will not be our attitude. While recognizing (with the sadness with which the prophets recognized the guilt of Jerusalem) that Paris is far from being an innocent city, we comment on its fall with a heart heavy with bitterness. Indeed, Paris had an historical mission in Christendom. And we should mourn its downfall like the prophets mourned the destruction of Jerusalem, while showing through our tears the hopes and desires of its resurrection.

If the disgrace of Paris was deserved, let us worship and kiss the Divine Hand that allowed that punishment. Let us not, however, exculpate those to whom that great misfortune is due. Indeed, believing in the designs of Providence in no way justifies, excuses or mitigates the serious violation of the laws of international morality that the demise of Paris represents.

                                                             * * *

To what has been reduced that great and beloved city, a city all the greater the more it prostrates under the purifying blows of suffering?

“HTM” begins by stating that “the city is less sad and the atmosphere less heavy.” Further on it assures that “food supplies are improving a little. Meat cards entitle people to purchase this food, unseen for a long time.

“But in any case, the misery is so great that the authorities are considering giving garbage collector credentials to those who rummage through garbage cans every morning. Competition from amateurs has reached such a point that the old practitioners of this new craft have decided to organize as a corporation.” Later the Havas news agency says, “in the gardens of Paris, potatoes are being dug up and the last beans harvested. The mayor of Paris has just forbidden shop windows to display more than ten pairs of shoes per square meter” as “it was useless to tempt prospective buyers for whom the shoe problem appears increasingly distressing.”

Indeed, a few lines down the report clarifies that “it causes wonder” to see numerous Parisian ladies are still not wearing wooden-soled shoes. It also causes wonder that they “still walk around with silk stockings.” As for sadness, this passage is typical: “The French seem tired of going out at night and especially of being forced to return home on foot. Theaters are staging old repertory pieces or replaying successes of the last season.” Apparently, even ancient ornaments stored at the bottom of chests and trunks are becoming rarer. Indeed, “hats are naturally different than they were six months ago. One no longer sees veils; there are fewer multicolored birds, fewer scarves waving in the wind…” Sad and poor leftovers from past fashions…

Who does not see the enormity of this punishment? Paris, with its artistic gardens transformed into coarse orchards already devastated by hungry inhabitants; Paris with dark streets at night, no traffic and no means of locomotion; Paris, whose inhabitants grew up in the shadow of castles and palaces and assiduously frequented most sumptuous restaurants and now rummage through garbage cans in "amateur ranks"; Paris whose women begin to wear clogs (any wood-soled shoe is nothing but a disguised clog); Paris, the city of latest fashions which now exhumes from the bottom of its drawers the lace and feathers of old times to preserve a bit of elegance and a small smile even in misfortune: this is Paris, wounded by God’s hand.

But if God thus punishes this city, what punishment this means for Christendom as a whole! Today the former capital of the Most Christian Kings has been taken over by the troops of neo-paganism! From heaven, what will Saint Louis and Saint Joan of Arc have to say?

At this time of disgrace, let us not curse Paris, let us not applaud those who oppress it, let us not become accomplices of those who desolate it. Let us pray for Paris. And if a converted city is reborn from the ashes of this terrible penance, what else could we wish for France, which is and will always be the Eldest Daughter of the Church?

True Piety is NOT Weakness

Saint Francis of Sales, though one of the gentlest of the saints of God, knew how to defend himself from the swords of his enemies in the day of danger.

As a young man, the great saint took up residence in Padua, where his father sent him to pursue his studies. It happened that certain young men, who seemed to live for no other purpose than to gratify their evil passions, were offended at his humility and meekness. These virtues were a condemnation of their own sinful ways.

They mocked the holy youth behind his back, attributing his good conduct to cowardice and effeminacy. In their wicked hearts they formed the design of waylaying him and giving him a severe beating. To accomplish their design, they made plans for an ambush. They took up arms and hid in a thicket which the saintly youth had to pass on his return to his house.

They, knowing his habitual gentleness, imagined that he would offer them no resistance, and that, after having beaten him severely, they would be able, by running speedily away.

But in this they deceived themselves, for they had forgotten, or perhaps were not aware,that the virtue of religion which teaches meekness and humility of heart inspires also courage and intrepidity in the hour of need.

When Saint Francis had reached the spot where his assailants were waiting, they rushed out to attack him unawares, and began by trying to raise a quarrel; then they called him names, and finding all these of no avail to provoke him to anger, they prepared to inflict on him the bodily cruelties they had previously designed. But the pious youth, knowing that here he owed himself the duty to resist, promptly drew his sword.

Brandishing it over his cowardly aggressors, he caused them to beat a hasty retreat. Saint Francis pursued them for a time, then—surprise. Realizing their own danger, his attackers turned to him trembling in confusion. Falling to their knees, they implored the saint’s forgiveness, and promised never to repeat such unpardonable conduct.

Taken from The Catechism in Examples, Vol. III by the Rev. D. Chisholm, pp. 273-275.

Paris Attack - Satanic Islam and Satanic Rock Music

by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo

On Friday, November 13th, Islamic terrorists carried out a concerted attack at several places in Paris with automatic rifles and suicide bombers leaving 130 dead and 368 injured, many seriously. The self-proclaimed Islamic State organization (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attack.^[1]

Satanic Nature of the Paris Show
Among the various places targeted in the attacks, the one that caused the most victims ─ 89 dead and over 200 injured ─ was at the Bataclan theater, where an American rock band, the Eagles of Death Metal, was performing.

The satanic character of death metal rock has been greatly emphasized by Christian writers and by music critics. The shrill sound, cacophonous melody and psychedelic lights create an ambience of violent exaltation and irrationality. Added to this mix, already conducive to diabolic infestation, are anti-Christian and often explicitly satanic lyrics.

At the moment the Islamic terrorists began the Bataclan massacre, the Eagles of Death Metal band were beginning to play the satanic song Kiss the Devil, which continually repeats: Who’ll love the devil?… Who’ll sing his song?… Who will love the devil and his song?… I’ll love the devil!… I’ll sing his song! And ends by proclaiming: I WILL LOVE THE DEVIL AND SING HIS SONG! (our emphasis).

At the moment the Islamic terrorists began the Bataclan massacre, the Eagles of Death Metal band were beginning to play the satanic song Kiss the Devil,which continually repeats: Who’ll love the devil? Who’ll kiss the devil? Who’ll sing his song?…
Photo: “Lucifer, King of Hell” engraving by Gustave Doré illustrating Canto XXXIV of Divine Comedy, Inferno.

Nonchalance Facing the Satanic Music and Show
But let us see what eyewitnesses are saying about the event. Here is a testimony given to the Paris daily Le Figaro by a 43-year-old couple ─ parents of two girls who stayed with their grandmother:

We [Celia and Benjamin] arrived at the Bataclan around 8:30 P.M.The show started around 9:00 P.M. We were near the bar, close to the entrance. We remained standing; the Bataclan was bursting at the seams. Some people sat on the balcony floor. It’s a pretty fun rock band; the audience was between 20 and 50 years old. Some parents brought their teens. The atmosphere was very jovial. The band played for about an hour. They had just sung “We love you Paris” and had begun the “Kiss the Devil” song with the words: “I Meet the Devil and this is His[sic] Song” when we heard very clearly detonations behind the front entrance [our emphasis]. Celia: “Since the show was funny I thought it was firecrackers and as I don’t like them I moved away from Benjamin to the right. Something hit me from behind, and much later I saw that it was shrapnel from a bullet.”

Among the various places targeted by the Islamic terrorists in the Paris attacks, was the Bataclan theater, where an American rock band, the Eagles of Death Metal, was performing.
Photo credit: Bataclan theater, Paris, France by jxandreani, taken Apr.3, 2009. Licensed under cc-by-2.0.

It is terrifying to see the ease with which this mother of a family describes the show as fun and refers unaffectedly to a song praising the devil! As far as she is concerned, there is nothing unusual about “kissing the devil.” The fact this happens in a nominally Catholic country such as France goes to show how faded the true religion has become in the land of the “first born daughter of the Church,” the land of Saint Joan of Arc!

The Flip Side of the Coin: the Satanic Hatred of Islamist Terrorists
That is one side of the coin. Let us now look at the other: the satanic hatred of Islamist terrorists.

The hatred of Muslim terrorists for Christianity has manifested itself in inhumane acts against Christians such as beheadings, crucifixions, and destruction of churches. And now, in the brutality of the Paris attacks.

This hatred finds its justification in the teachings of the Koran and its commentators.

Indeed, the Koran denies the fundamental dogma of Christianity, which is the Holy Trinity.

The Koran denies the fundamental dogma of Christianity, which is the Holy Trinity. According to Islam, Christians are polytheistic, and as such, are subject to the most grievous of penalties.

According to Islam, Christians are polytheistic because they believe in the Holy Trinity. The Son and the Holy Spirit are supposedly “gods” worshiped together with the one God, Allah. Christians are thus labeled as “polytheists” or “associators” (those who associate other gods ─ namely, the Holy Trinity ─ to Allah).

Thus, for example, Sura 4.171 says: “So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not ‘Three’. Cease! (it is) better for you! Allah is only One God.” And Sura 5, verse 73 says: “They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One God. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them [our emphasis].”

The Koran denies the divinity of Jesus in various other passages, presenting Him merely as a prophet inferior to Mohammed.

“Kill Polytheists Wherever You Find Them”
What is the consequence? ─ Death to “blasphemers” and “polytheists”!

That is what Sura 9:5 prescribes: “Then, when the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every ambush. But if they repent, and maintain the prayer and give the zakāt then let them alone. Indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful [our emphasis].”

Needless to say, “all-forgiving, all-merciful” only if “the polytheists” convert to Islam… (our emphasis).

Satanic Hatred for Life
Suicide-bombing as a weapon of destruction is said to be based on the belief that one who dies in the defense or expansion of Islam would be a martyr and receive 72 virgins as recompense in paradise.

London’s daily The Guardian reports:

In August, 2001, the American television channel CBS aired an interview with a Hamas activist Muhammad Abu Wardeh, who recruited terrorists for suicide bombings in Israel. Abu Wardeh was quoted as saying: “I described to him how God would compensate the martyr for sacrificing his life for his land. If you become a martyr, God will give you 70 virgins, 70 wives and everlasting happiness [our emphasis].”

Self-exploding to kill others, especially innocent persons, has nothing to do with the true notion of martyrdom but is entirely consistent with satanic hatred for life.  For Jesus called the devil a “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).

These are a few considerations about the attacks by Muslim terrorists in Paris.  There is a commonality between satanic hatred against Christianity and the near-worship of the devil manifested at the Death Metal show presumably being given and attended mostly by Christians or former Christians.

1.

For an analysis of ISIS doctrine, see Robert Spencer’s The Complete Infidel’s Guide to ISIS. ^↑

Wearing the Miraculous Medal means placing oneself under the protection of the Most Holy Virgin

Mary will be proclaimed

Queen of the Universe Confirming the predictions of Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort,  Saint Catherine says that the Most Holy Virgin will be proclaimed Queen of the Universe: “Oh! how beautiful it will be to hear: Mary is the Queen of the Universe. The children and everyone will cry with joy and rapture.

That will be a lasting era of peace and happiness. She will be displayed on standards and paraded all over the world.”

Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the graces I am asking of thee and inspire me, above all, to pray for the graces that thou most wants to grant me.

Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

---

About the Miraculous Medal

In 1830, during the apparitions in the chapel on Rue du Bac in Paris, the Holy Virgin presented the Miraculous Medal to Saint Catherine Labouré: “Those who wear it, blessed, around their neck will receive great graces. The graces will be abundant for those who wear it with confidence.”

At the time of Saint Catherine Labouré’s death, the distribution of the medal in the world had surpassed the one billion mark. The innumerable conversions, cures and cases of extraordinary protection, quickly lead to its being called the “Miraculous Medal.”

Wearing and disseminating the Miraculous Medal means placing oneself under the protection of the Most Holy Virgin. It means placing oneself under the sign of the Immaculate and taking a stand in face of the troubles and indifference affecting the modern world.

“The whole world will be overwhelmed by misfortunes of all kinds... All will seem lost, but I shall be with you,” the Holy Virgin promised Saint Catherine, who repeated this prophecy till the end of her life.  The rays coming from Our Lady’s hands symbolize the graces she obtains for everyone who prays to her with confidence.

Miracles of the Miraculous Medal & The Conversion of the Jewish Banker Alphonse Ratisbonne

 

Born in 1814, Alphonse Ratisbonne was from a family of wealthy, well-known Jewish bankers in Strasbourg, France. In 1827, Alphonse’s older brother, Thèodore, converted to Catholicism and entered the priesthood, thus breaking with his anti-Catholic family whose hopes now lay in the young Alphonse. At 27, Alphonse was intelligent and well mannered. He had already finished his law degree, and decided to travel to Italy before marrying and assuming his responsibilities in the family business. However, God had other plans for him.

While in Rome, Alphonse visited works of art, and strictly out of cultural curiosity, a few Catholic churches. These visits hardened his anti-Catholic stance, and nourished his profound hatred for the Church. He also called on an old schoolmate and close friend, Gustave de Bussières.

Gustave was a Protestant and several times had tried, in vain, to win Alphonse over to his religious convictions. Alphonse was introduced to Gustave’s brother, Baron de Bussières, who had recently converted to Catholicism and become a close friend of Father Thèodore Ratisbonne. Because of the Baron’s Catholicism and closeness with his turncoat brother, Alphonse greatly disliked him.

On the eve of his departure, Alphonse reluctantly fulfilled his social obligation to leave his calling card at the Baron’s house as a farewell gesture.

Click here to Order your free Miraculous Novena and Medal

Hoping to avoid a meeting, Alphonse intended to leave his card discreetly and depart straight away, but was instead shown into the house. The Baron greeted the young Jew warmly, and before long, had persuaded him to remain a few more days in Rome. Inspired by grace, the Baron insisted Alphonse accept a Miraculous Medal and copy down a beautiful prayer: the Memorare. Alphonse could hardly contain his anger at his host’s boldness of proposing these things to him, but decided to take everything good-heartedly, planning to later describe the Baron as an eccentric.

During Alphonse’s stay, the Baron’s close friend, Count de La Ferronays, former French ambassador to the Holy See and a man of great virtue and piety, died quite suddenly. On the eve of his death, the Baron had asked the Count to pray the Memorare one hundred times for Alphonse’s conversion. It is possible that he offered his life to God for the conversion of the young Jewish banker.

A few days later, the Baron went to the church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte to arrange for his friend’s funeral. Alphonse reluctantly went with him, all the while making violent criticisms of the Church and mocking Catholic practices. When they arrived, the Baron entered the sacristy to arrange the funeral while Alphonse remained in the church.

When the Baron returned just a few minutes later, the young man was gone. He searched the church, and soon discovered his

young friend kneeling close to an altar, weeping. 

Alphonse himself tells us what happened in those few minutes he waited for the Baron: “I had only been in the church a short while when, all of a sudden, I felt totally uneasy for no apparent reason. I raised my eyes and saw that the whole building had disappeared. Only one side chapel had, so to say, gathered all the light. In the midst of this splendor, the Virgin Mary appeared standing on the altar. She was grandiose, brilliant, full of majesty and sweetness, just as she is in the Miraculous Medal. An irresistible force attracted me to her. The Virgin made a gesture with her hand indicating I was to kneel.”

When de Bussières talked to Alphonse, he no longer found a Jew, but a convert who ardently desired baptism. The news of such an unexpected conversion immediately spread and caused a great commotion throughout Europe, and Pope Gregory XVI received the young convert, paternally. He ordered a detailed investigation with the rigor required by canon law, and concluded that the occurrence was a truly authentic miracle.

Alphonse took the name Maria Alphonse at baptism, and, wishing to become a priest, was ordained a Jesuit in 1847. After some time, and at the suggestion of Pope Pius IX, he left the Jesuits and joined his brother Thèodore in founding the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion, dedicated to the conversion of the Jews. Father Theodore spread his congregation throughout France and England, while Father Maria Alphonse went to the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, he established a house of the congregation on the plot of land where the praetorium of Pilate had formerly stood.

The two brothers died in 1884, both famed and well-loved for their exceptional virtues.

By Armando Santos

Click here to Order your free Miraculous Novena and Medal

Thanksgiving Thought -- Why is gratitude such a difficult virtue?

 

I am sure you remember the story in the Gospel about the 10 lepers that Our Lord cured.  Only 1 came back to thank Him.  Surprising?

Imagine.... that you are suffering from a terminal illness with 6 months left to live.

I know it sounds dreadful but just picture it for a moment.

You have prepared your family and friends and arranged your final will…

…you look around your surroundings and you realize that soon you will not see any of it any more.

The thought of dying and leaving all your friends and loved ones behind is constantly on your mind and it overwhelms you.

Day after day you sit on your porch and find yourself listing all the things you wish you had done for people and for God… but your life will soon be over, time is running out.

You weep over and over on your own…   Death stares you in the face and every day it comes a little closer.  You are frightened and scared. Really scared!

And then, one blessed day you run into a holy man. He looks at you and feels pity on you. He approaches and touches you and soon you feel different. You go to the doctor and, after a series of tests, you are given a clean bill of health, your illness is gone. And in fact, the doctor tells you that you are healthier than ever before.

Imagine your reaction:  shock, followed by disbelief.  Then joy and amazement! 

A few days later, you receive the official medical report in the mail confirming what the doctor told you at the hospital.

You again sit on your porch and it slowly begins to sink in.  You begin smiling to yourself and tears of joy run down your face.

Then you rush to the phone and begin calling all your family and friends to share the wonderful news with them.

But then, what would be the next thing you would do?

The answer is obvious. “I need to go thank the man who cured me.  I will be indebted to this man forever.  Where is He?”

This would be the right and the just thing to do! 

But this was not what the 9 lepers did.  Unfortunately, such ingratitude is quite common for human nature.

My dear friend, this Thanksgiving I would like to be bold enough to suggest something to you. It is only a suggestion from a brother in the Faith.

Find a quiet moment by yourself and make a list of all the things you should thank God for.  Write them all down and keep the list near your bed. You may find days in the future when it will profit you spiritually to read the list to yourself again and maybe even add a thing or two to it.

Also, I want to share with you a couple of articles about Gratitude that may help you.

• Article 1 – Give Thanks and Be Happy
• Article 2 – The Alphabet of Gratitude

And last but not least, I have my own list of gratitude and it includes all my friends like you at America Needs Fatima. It also includes 14,108 Public Rosary Rallies this year and so many other opportunities to fight for the honor of Jesus and Mary which I am only able to do with your help and support.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

And please remember to take a moment to thank those around you who deserve your gratitude.  Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving,

Stop the Madness of Un-Thanksgiving

by John Horvat II

As we gear up for the Thanksgiving holidays, many are preparing to engage in a strange new ritual that is crowding out the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie. The ritual, of course, is the extension of Black Friday shopping into Thanksgiving Day.

It is a practice so shocking that we might as well create a new holiday—un-Thanksgiving—since nothing could be more contrary to the intention of the real holiday than its present evolution.

This year, media will again report on frenzied shoppers mobbing retail stores in search of super bargains. People will camp out in front of giant box stores for hours on end to get the jump on their fellow bargain hunters. Indeed, there is the extreme case of some fanatical California shoppers camping out at Best Buy a full twenty-two days ahead of the un-Thanksgiving stampede.

Undoubtedly, such shoppers will find bargains. And retailers will also be making lots of money. But the new un-holiday is not about bargains. It’s about joining in the frenzy. It’s about the thrill of entering into a culture of unrestraint. ”Joining in the frenzy” has been with us for a long time. It is a manifestation of a deeper problem that has long plagued our culture. There is what might be called a restless spirit of frenetic intemperance inside modern economy that helps destroy limits, break down traditional institutions (like Thanksgiving) and encourage instant gratification.

Un-Thanksgiving just takes this experience to new depths. In this new buying binge, we see more clearly the terrifying consequences of our extreme individualism that leads people to enter, to paraphrase Hobbes, into a veritable “war of every shopper against every shopper.” We sense the frustrating burden of materialism that compels shoppers to buy the latest and greatest gadgets that will eventually clutter their basements and garages. There is the paradox of celebrating a bland and sterile secularism on a day set aside to thank God for His blessings.

The result of this “joining in the frenzy” is that we are losing that human element so essential to life together in society. Things are becoming cold and impersonal, fast and frantic, bland and superficial. Un-Thanksgiving is not just a shopping spree; it’s a brutal celebration of this cold, frenetic spirit.

There are three reasons that might be cited to explain why this un-holiday has only appeared now.  

The first is because of the ever-accelerating pace of life. In our culture of unrestraint, everyone must have everything, now, instantly, effortlessly. Marketers have ramped up the calendar to sell things earlier. Technology has responded with newer and faster ways to spend the money we often don’t have. Ironically, un-Thanksgiving is made possible by i-Phones, i-pads and so many uberdevices that facilitate our mad rush to experience life ever faster…and that are sold at giant discounts on a now Black Thursday.

The second reason is more profound. Un-Thanksgiving involves “joining in the frenzy,” which speeds us up. Real Thanksgiving is about connecting with family, community and church that slows us down.

Indeed, the sad state of our social institutions is what makes this frantic un-holiday possible. When family ties wither, mature adults can spend twenty-two days camped out in front of Best Buy to get gadgets “to die for,” rather than stay home and cultivate values to live for.

On the contrary, Thanksgiving happens when the norm of life is for each individual to belong to a family, community and parish church. Then, traditions, customs, habits, and ways of being can be passed down from generation to generation. These three social anchors provide a solid mooring for a “Thanksgiving” society.

Today, these institutions are no longer anchors, but options. The present culture encourages so many to opt-out of all three. At the same time, we are all pressured to accept the option of “joining in the frenzy.” We have now reached that tragic tipping point where frenzy can compete with tradition…and tradition often loses.

The final and most important reason why this un-holiday has appeared is because our secular society has effectively dethroned God to whom we should render our thanksgiving. A politically correct tyranny has exiled God from the public square, the school and workplace. Even in the home, God is often ignored amid the rush of everyday life. When God is no longer the object of our longings, the spiritual vacuum will be filled by material idols found in our shopping-mall temples on major un-feast days.

Fortunately, the notion of Thanksgiving still resonates in the hearts of many Americans. They deplore the exploitation of the holiday and seek a return to order. However, it is not enough to simply return to the turkey and fixings. Rather, we must stop “joining in the frenzy” that destroys economies and cultures.

We must reconnect, give thanks and have recourse to God and call upon His blessings
As pubished on Spero News.

"NO Smartphones at my Thanksgiving"

When you’re talking to someone, how do you feel when they ignore you to check their smartphone?

I personally can’t stand it. And I hope that at your Thanksgiving dinner there are no guests who interrupt the conversation by checking their smartphones.

On the issue of smartphones, you may find interesting facts to fill your Thanksgiving conversation here:

The Smartphone: A Double-Edged Sword

Actually, for a very hot topic of conversation for Thanksgiving, take a look at this:

What Saint Thomas Says About Immigration

It’s the most popular article right now on the Return to Order website.

Another tragic topic is the spread of Satanism in America.

In this line, we’re promoting a protest and petition drive against the new show Lucifer planned by Fox. Please sign and spread this urgent petition:

Tell Fox TV to Cancel Lucifer

Finally, and most importantly, we turn to Almighty God on this Thanksgiving in prayer and gratitude for all of His blessings.

I wish that you and your family have a Thanksgiving Day that is abundantly blessed.

Fox’s upcoming January TV series will portray Satan as a “nice guy”

Fox TV Series Plants A Seed For Lucifer
As A Charming Friend Of Mankind
And Victim Of A Tyrant God

Tell Fox: Be Gone LUCIFER!

The malice of Lucifer is such that he wants people to worship him as God.  He even tempted Our Lord to worship him!

Our words and efforts should echo the response of Christ Himself:  “Be gone, Satan: the Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him alone shalt thou serve!” (Matt.4:10)

Now, see how Fox TV seems to plan to help Lucifer appeal to our weak sides in their scheduled series “Lucifer” for January, 2016.

• Fox’s online “About The Show” presents the devil as “charming, charismatic and devilishly handsome.”
• In the show – Lucifer refers to God like this: “Hey, he’s my father, not yours. I can say whatever I want about the guy. I quit Hell because I was sick and tired of playing a part in Dad’s plan. I believe in free will, not the tyranny of all his predestination hoo-ha.”
• Lucifer continues: “Thank you! But I’ve been doing a fair amount of thinking. Do you think I’m the devil because I’m inherently evil or simply because dear ol’ Dad decided I was? Is this a classic case of labeling? What do you think?”
• The film is quite demonic in its subtlety. In a nightclub, clips show plenty of gyrating, scantily clad dancers, sexual innuendos, glorify a party lifestyle, and portray Lucifer as a fun loving young man while God and his angel Amenadiel are no fun at all and don’t relate to modern man.

Like St. Michael the Archangel, we make no compromises with evil. PROTEST To FOX NOW

We will not allow Fox TV to get our children used to Lucifer

PROTEST FOX TV NOW

Our Divine Redeemer Himself spoke of the devil like this: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8, 44).

The devil is a murderer and the father of lies, the liar par excellence, who hates truth, because truth leads to God.

Do NOT Let Fox TV Bring Lucifer To America

PROTEST To FOX NOW

There’s more: Fox’s upcoming January TV series will portray Satan:

• Lucifer gets bored running Hell and comes to the City of Angels in human form.
• Lucifer is a successful, handsome, dashing, witty, likeable, and intelligent young man innocently “indulging in a few of his favorite things – wine, women and songs.”
• Lucifer’s “conscience” is increasingly touched by a successful, beautiful, serious, likeable, and intelligent young woman detective.
• Lucifer starts helping this woman to solve crimes by bringing out the innermost thoughts and desires of suspects.
• Lucifer, enjoying himself and carefree, is pestered to return to Hell by an angel from heaven dressed all in black and with black wings.

Do NOT Let Fox TV Try To Make Lucifer Charming & Harmless
PROTEST To FOX NOW

HERE’s More TRUTH About The Fallen Angel Lucifer
"Satan is distinguished by his guile,” writes Monsignor Cristiani. “Guile is a deceitful scheme. The being that acts with guile has bad intentions. If he speaks, it is not to say the truth, but to deceive, to lead to falsehood. Satan is treacherous, false. One cannot trust him. He lacks equity, loyalty, frankness. He is erroneous, voluntarily obscure and dissimulative."
A Perverted Will

In his book Angels and Demons, author Luis Solimeo states:   The devils are pure spirits, since they are Angels. They do not have the weaknesses of men. From this, we understand why their revolt against God is permanent, immutable, and eternal.

• Their will became perverted and fixed in evil after they abandoned the Highest Good as their objective.
• As a consequence, the devils do not wish anything but evil in all their voluntary acts and, even when they appear to do good (as, for example, when they restore someone's health, give riches, or teach something), it is only as a means to cause more evil, leading the person to final perdition, which is their ultimate wish for all men.

PROTEST To FOX NOW

May God protect us from the snares of the Devil.

PS: This Is Just The Beginning – Tell Fox TV – Send Lucifer Back To Hell!

Catholic martyrs in Vietnam

Joseph Marchand (August 17, 1803 – November 30, 1835) was a French missionary in Vietnam, and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society.

Born August 17, 1803, in Passavant, in the Doubs department of France, in 1833 he joined the Lê Văn Khôi revolt by Lê Văn Khôi, son of the late governor of southern Vietnam Lê Văn Duyệt. Khoi and Marchand vowed to overthrow Emperor Minh Mạng and replace him with My Duong, the son of Minh Mạng’s late elder brother Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh, who were both Catholics.

Marchand and Khoi appealed to the Catholics to join in overthrowing Minh Mạng and installing a Catholic emperor. They quickly seized the Citadel of Saigon and the uprising lasted two years.

He was arrested in 1835 in Saigon and martyred, by having his flesh pulled by tongs (the torture of the hundred wounds).

He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.  His feast day is November 30, and his joint feast day with the Vietnamese Martyrs is November 24.

_____________________

Pierre-Rose-Ursule-Dumoulin Borie

Bishop-elect of Acanthus, Vicar Apostolic of Western Tongking and Martyr; born 20 February, 1808, at Beynat, Diocese of Tulle, France; beheaded 24 November, 1838. He studied successively at the colleges of Beaulieu and Servieres, and in 1826 entered the seminary of Tulle. Meanwhile the desire to devote his life to the evangelization of distant lands matured, and in 1829 he proceeded to Paris and spent thirteen months at the Seminary of the Foreign Missions.

Too young for the priesthood, he was to have been ordained at Pondicherry, on his way to his missionary post. However, a dispensation from Rome permitted his immediate ordination, which took place at Bayeux (1830). He sailed from Havre, 1 December, 1830, and, after spending some time at Macao, in China, arrived in Tongking in the year 1832. His progress in the language of the country was rapid, but eight months after his installation an edict of persecution was issued (January, 1833). Borie had to remain almost continually concealed and to endure great privations.

In 1834, failing health increased the acuteness of the sufferings of persecution. He regained his strength the following year and was enabled to visit even the least accessible Christian communities of the vast district of which he was in charge. He fell into the hands of the persecutors in 1838. During his captivity he received the news of his nomination to the Vicariate Apostolic of Western Tongking, with Acanthus as titular see. Shortly after this, on the 24th of November, 1838, the death sentence was pronounced on him and two native priests; the execution took place that same day. His remains were brought to France in 1843, and are religiously kept at the Seminary of the Foreign Missions, in Paris.

P.D.H. BORIE (brother of Monseigneur Borie, writing anonymously), Vie de Mgr. Borie, par un prêtre du diocèse de Tulle (Paris, 1844; 2d ed., 1846); LAUNAY, Les cinquante-deux serviteurs de Dieu (Paris, 1895), 133-162.

N.A. WEBER (Catholic Encyclopedia)

As the Climate Debate Heats Up, the Polar Caps Ice Over

by Gary J. Isbell

In a surprising new study, NASA satellite telemetry indicates that an increase in Antarctic snow accumulation is currently adding enough ice to the continent to outweigh the losses from its thinning glaciers. No doubt this data will not set well with climate alarmists who claim that anthropogenic global warming is destroying the polar ice caps. However, we live in an age where agenda and propaganda trump logic, facts and science.

This new study challenges the 2013 report of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that claims that Antarctica is losing ice. This mantra has the full support of some in the media who propagandize the IPCC’s unfounded claims. According to climate expert Professor John Turner at the British Antarctic Survey, the increase of ice was not expected because “the world’s best 50 [computer] models were run and 95% of them have Antarctic sea ice decreasing over the past 30 years.”^[1] Actually, the polar caps have been losing ice in recent years, and then they gain it back in the normal growth and loss–for which there are only 35 years of data to compare.

Using projections based on computer models, an article from Catholic Online titled “2020: Antarctic ice shelf could collapse,” claims “the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and those polar ice caps keep right on melting. Things have deteriorated so badly - especially the Larsen B ice shelf, that scientist now fear the entire Antarctica ice shelf will collapse by the end of this decade, in the year 2020.”^[2] It’s not entirely clear how this article links wealth and poverty to melting ice caps, but this is what is reported regularly and will be discussed at the next climate summit in Paris, Conference of Parties, COP-21.

The goal is clear for COP-21, they want all nations to adopt a legally binding agreement that will reduce global carbon emissions aimed at keeping alleged warming below the agreed threshold of 2°C, and to acquire the authority to punish offenders. A 2°C limit is quite a safe figure because alarmists know there is little to no measurable warming, so if an agreement is made at COP-21, they can claim the temperatures did not rise because of environmental restrictions.

Negotiations in Paris in December will not only focus on participant’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gases, but will attempt to establish a $100 billion per year commitment fund starting in 2020. In spite of the fact that is undefined which First World countries would supply the money, it is intended to help developing countries combat climate change and progress through sustainable development.

To put these goals of climate alarmists in perspective, it should be understood as a socialist’s dream come true; something like a modern version of Robin Hood. If made, this agreement will constitute the largest re-distribution of wealth the world has ever seen and will be accomplished through emotional scare tactics and bogus data.

To date, there are no proofs that CO2 does anything other than make vegetation grow faster and greener; it simply does not cause an increase in temperature. The greatest greenhouse gas is water vapor and that is not primarily anthropogenic.

Arctic ice levels are well within the average measured by satellites since first recordings a mere 35 years ago and are currently growing.

Polar bear populations are up.

Alarmists predicted global warming super-storms that simply have not materialized.

Even the godfather of the greenhouse gas theory Roger Revelle, professor of Science and Public Policy published a statement opposed to the radical views of the IPCC, Al Gore and other alarmists in which he says “drastic, precipitous and, especially, unilateral steps to delay the putative greenhouse impacts can cost jobs and prosperity and increase the human costs of global poverty, without being effective. Stringent controls enacted now would be economically devastating, particularly for developing countries for whom reduced energy consumption would mean slower rates of economic growth without being able to delay greatly the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”^[3]

Yale economist William Nordhaus, deals quantitatively with the economics of the greenhouse effect and has indicated that “... those who argue for strong measures to slow greenhouse warming have reached their conclusion without any discernible analysis of the costs and benefits ... It would be prudent to complete the ongoing and recently expanded research so that we will know what we are doing before we act. ‘Look before you leap’ may still be good advice.”^[4]

As the climate debate heats up and the polar caps ice over, Mother Nature has not supported the alarmists by providing the prophesized cataclysmic events. It seems painfully clear that the climate agenda has little to do with climate change and everything to do with the destruction of Western civilization.

1.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/09/why-is-antarctic-sea-ice-at-record-levels-despite-global-warming ^↑

2.

http://www.catholic.org/news/green/story.php?id=60541 ^↑

3.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=58e0c50c-1631-46ca-8719-778c0973526e ^↑

4.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=58e0c50c-1631-46ca-8719-778c0973526e ^↑

November 25 – The day a 16 year old Catholic leper defeated a huge Muslim army

Battle of Montgisard painting by Charles-Philippe Larivière

The Battle of Montgisard was fought between the Ayyubids and the Kingdom of Jerusalem on November 25, 1177. The 16 year old King Baldwin IV, seriously afflicted by leprosy, led an out-numbered Christian force against the army of Saladin. The Islamic force was routed and their casualties were massive, only a fraction managed to flee to safety.

More than wisdom and courage, what made Baldwin IV a great king was his indomitable faith – a virtue he demonstrated at the famous battle of Montgisard. After the attack on Egypt was cancelled, Philip of Flanders took his army to campaign in the northern territories of the kingdom, where Raymond of Tripoli joined him. The move left Jerusalem in a precarious situation. Very few troops had stayed behind to defend the capital and the king’s condition had worsened.

Battle of Montgisard Painting by Charles-Philippe Larivière

Saladin was quick to seize the opportunity and directed his main army of 26,000 elite troops toward Jerusalem. From his sick bed, Baldwin summoned what little strength he had and rode out to meet his adversary with less than 600 knights and a few thousand infantrymen. By this point Baldwin’s strength was so deteriorated many thought he would die. Bernard Hamilton quotes a contemporary Christian writer who described the king’s condition as “already half dead.”(1)

Realizing the impotence of the king’s force, Saladin ignored him and continued his march to Jerusalem until Baldwin intercepted him near the hill of Montgisard, only 45 miles from Jerusalem.

Seeing the overwhelming Muslim army, the Christians became petrified. However, such desperate situations afford great men an opportunity to show their mettle, and Baldwin rose to the challenge. Dismounting his horse, he called for the Bishop of Bethlehem, to raise up the relic of the True Cross he carried. The king then prostrated before the sacred relic, beseeching God for success. Rising from prayer, he exhorted his men to press the attack and charged. Historian Stephen Howarth describes the battle that ensued:

“There were twenty-six thousand Saracen horsemen, only a few hundred Christians; but the Saracen were routed. Most were killed; Saladin himself only escaped because he rode a racing camel. The young king with his hands bandaged, rode in the forefront of the Christian charge – with St. George beside him, people said, and the True Cross shining as brightly as the sun. Whether or not that was so, it was an almost incredible victory, an echo of the days of the First Crusade. But it was also the last time such a great Muslem army was beaten by such a small force.”⁽²⁾

Deluged by heavy rains and suffering the loss of roughly ninety percent of his army, Saladin returned to Cairo in utter defeat. Years later, he would referred to the battle disdainfully as “so great a disaster.”⁽³⁾

Realizing that divine assistance was largely responsible for his triumph, Baldwin erected a Benedictine monastery on the site, dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, on whose feast day the victory had been won.

Painting of Saladin by Cristofano dell’Altissimo

Notes: 1. Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 133.
2. Stephen Howarth, The Knights Templar (New York, Barnes and Noble Books, 1991) p. 133.
3. Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King and His Heirs, p. 136.
Video:

“Ad Jesum per Mariam,” through Mary we go to Jesus -- remedy for contemporary moral hardness

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Today we see all these things: mothers in whose bowels the love of their children decreases in intensity; husbands who cast an entire family into disgrace solely to satisfy their own instincts and passions; children who, indifferent to the misery or moral abandonment in which they leave their parents, focus exclusively on enjoying this life’s pleasures; professionals who enrich themselves at the expense of others and often show a cold, calculated cruelty that causes much greater revulsion than the extremes of wrath to which combatants can be led in wartime.

Indeed, acts of cruelty can more easily be gauged in war when those who commit them can claim, if not as an excuse, at a least as a mitigating circumstance that they were driven by the violence of combat. No such excuse can be given to something plotted and carried out in the tranquility of daily life. Above all, this is true when such acts are not isolated actions but inveterate habits which multiply wrongdoing indefinitely.

As it is now waged, war is an index of cruelty, but it is far from being the only manifestation of contemporary moral hardness.
He who is cruel is selfish. Man only harms his neighbor out of selfishness or desire to benefit from advantages to which he is not entitled. Thus, the only way to extirpate cruelty is to eliminate selfishness.

Now theology teaches us that man can only be capable of having complete and genuine self-denial when his love of neighbor is based on the love of God.

Apart from God, no human affection can have stability or fulfillment. Either man loves God to the point of forgetting about himself – and then he will really know how to love his neighbor –or he loves himself to the point of forgetting about God – and then selfishness tends to dominate him completely.

“Ad Jesum per Mariam.” It is through Mary that one goes to Jesus. As we write on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, how could we not say a word of filial emotion before this Immaculate Heart [of Mary] that understood and loved the Divine Redeemer better than anyone else?

May Our Lady obtain for us some sparks of the immense devotion she had to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; may she kindle in us some of that fire of love with which she burned so intensely, are our wishes on this suave and soothing octave.

The above is an article by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira originally published in the Legionário, on June 22, 1941. It has been translated and adapted for publication without the author’s revision. –Ed.

Sprinting to do Business in Communist Cuba?

by Gary J. Isbell

American telecom giant Sprint Corporation has the not-so-coveted distinction of having signed the first trade agreement with communist Cuba to provide cellular roaming coverage to the few Cubans that have phones and some tourists. Sprint hopes to turn a profit on the combination of visiting Americans and the little more than 15 percent of the Cubans that actually own a cell phone.

As the Cuban economy slowly dies from the inexorable grip of communism, the Castro brother dictators have conjured up another idea of attracting foreign business to prop up their moribund economy. The new idea was the recent state sponsored fair called the Havana International Fair (FIHAV). The promotion sought to promote what it called “Cuba’s changing business climate” that is struggling to secure sorely needed foreign investment.

One major problem corporations face is that all business deals must go through the communist government or one of its tightly controlled state companies. High taxes, suffocating regulations, past property confiscations are making most foreign companies more than gun-shy to do business with a socialist state.To counter these handicaps, present dictator Raul Castro boasts of a new investment law aimed at cutting foreign taxes and improved ties with the United States. While he crows of his new found relationship with the U.S. as an advantage in attracting foreign investors, ironically he says “we must not expect that in order forrelations with the United States to improve, Cuba will abandon the ideas that it has struggled for.”^[1]

In other words, business as usual for the apparatchik. Cuba will continue to suffer under socialist totalitarianism brutally oppressing anyone who disagrees.The Castros are fully committed to keeping Cuba a socialist state and are not broadening business opportunities to foreign investors as a step to a free market economy.

By attracting foreign investment, they are hoping to build a sustainable socialist state. This statement would be laughable if it were not entirely cynical. A socialist state is unsustainable by its very nature. Socialism is no different than any other Ponzi scam. At first it appears like utopia, then after a short while, the originators need to find an endless supply of investors to keep it afloat.

As the late Margret Thatcher so succinctly put it, “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” If it were not for decades of handouts from the Soviet Union and then Venezuela, Cuba would most likely not exist today. So why is Sprint so anxious to sign a deal with country that has so little to offer?

As with any nation strangled by communism, a broad consumer base does not exist in Cuba because the state sets most wages and prices thus preventing just wages and private initiative. Take for example the disparity and lack of buying powerbetween an average doctor’s monthly wage and a taxi driver. A Cuban doctor can now earn up to a stunning $67 per month^[2] while a taxi driver can earn as much as $1,500 per month.^[3]

This inequality stems from the socialist state mandating what it calls “free healthcare” for all citizens, and consequently dictates a doctor’s wage and prices for his services in order to offer healthcare for free.

Unfortunately, government mandates removes all incentives for a doctor to care for his patients well and perfect his practice while obliging him to accept bribes to make ends meet—which is how business is done in Cuba. On the contrary, despite the fact that a taxi drive has to pay $20 per day in taxes to the politburo, he is free to keep the rest. With a few rides to the airport at $25 he is poised to be one of the highest paid professions on the prison island.

Clearly the Castros have no intention of abandoning the erroneous ideas of communism. It seems like the only ones making concessions today are those willing to compromise their principles and bow to socialist despots. With so little to gain and so much to lose, perhaps that is why only 30 U.S. companies showed up at the FIHAV event—not exactly sprinting to do business with communist Cuba.

1.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/obamas-new-cuba-policy-could-transform-washingtons-ties-with-latin-america/2014/12/20/8e6ee050-2180-409a-a15b bc8806cc045d_story.html ^↑

2.

http://www.medicaldaily.com/cuban-doctors-get-salary-raises-67-month-after-government-cuts-100k-redundant-jobs-272310 ^↑

3.

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/26/9593658/cuban-castro-taxi-driver-doctor-economy ^↑

FRRE ebook about the Prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success For Our Times

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Our Lady of Good Success appeared in Quito, Ecuador to a Spanish nun whose little-known but extraordinary life has a direct connection with our days.

One of these prophecies is:

“Unbridled passions will give way to a total corruption of customs because Satan will reign through the Masonic sects, targeting the children in particular to insure general corruption.

FREE Ebook Prophecies

Christ the King? Or Christ the President?

A HEAVENLY KING ABOVE ALL, BUT A KING WHOSE GOVERNMENT IS ALREADY EXERCISED IN THIS WORLD. A KING WHO BY RIGHT POSSESSES THE SUPREME AND FULL AUTHORITY. THE KING MAKES LAWS, COMMANDS AND JUDGES. HIS SOVEREIGNTY BECOMES EFFECTIVE WHEN HIS SUBJECTS RECOGNIZE HIS RIGHTS, AND OBEY HIS LAWS.

“Jesus Christ has rights over us all: He made laws, he governs the world and will judge men. It is our responsibility to make the kingdom of Christ effective by obeying its laws.

“This kingdom is an individual fact, if it is considered in regards to the obedience every loyal soul gives to Our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the kingdom of Christ is exercised over souls; and therefore the soul of each one of us is a part of the territory under the jurisdiction of Christ the King. The kingdom of Christ will be a social fact if human societies obey him. It can therefore be said that the kingdom of Christ becomes effective on earth, in its individual and social sense, when men in the intimate of their souls and in their actions conform to the law of Christ and societies do so in their institutions, laws, customs, cultural and artistic aspects.”

(This quote of Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira is from Crusader of the 20th Centuryby Prof. Roberto de Mattei.)

After Paris Attacks, French Mayors Say “Ban Nativity Scenes From Public Places…!”

According to a report from LifeSiteNews, there was a meeting of the Association of French Mayors this week that “came up with an idea: let’s ban Nativity scenes from all public places.”

“Having a proper law to make sure that no town hall can have a ‘crèche’ at Christmas was one of the major proposals made in a report that the Association had been working on in the wake of the Charlie-Hebdo attack in January.

“Their ‘Guide for good secularist conduct’ was presented on Wednesday and their president, Republican François Baroin, explained: ‘It is up to us, who are elected and close to the population, to hold up secularism, which is at the same time a condition for community life and a means to emancipate human beings.’

My comment is: How will removing the Nativity Scenes from public places protect France from more attacks?

Christian Is Attacked Near Luciferian "Church"

By Bentley G. Hatchett II

Chuck after the attack: Notice swelling under right eye and bruises.

"... as soon as I turned around I got punched directly in the face."

“I don’t feel safe,” is not something you would expect to hear in the idyllic Old Town Spring, Texas. However, that’s exactly what one local said after being violently attacked.

(For the victim's future safety, his full name has been withheld.)

Chuck, father of 3, who lives about 15 minutes from the newly opened Greater Church of Lucifer describes the events surrounding his assault the night before the GCOL’s grand opening on October 30.

"[A] buddy of ours, he’s a Protestant, came over and he wanted to see the Luciferian church, but he didn’t want to go alone – which is understandable. So I volunteered to go over there. We walked across the parking lot, stayed in the parking lot… never went on their side of the street or anything and my friend… wanted to say the Lord’s Prayer. He said it real loud, real clear…”

Those present outside the Luciferian "church" responded to the peaceful prayer with threatening looks.  Concerned with their safety and wanting to preserve the peace, Chuck urged his friend to return to the Blue Giraffe, where they had been eating previously.

“After he finished the prayer, I said that’s enough, we need to get out of here," explained Chuck in a video interview. "We were sitting down having a couple of drinks and just relaxing. About 15 – 20 minutes later in come about… somewhere between six and ten pretty big looking guys. I mean some of them [had] tattoos all the way down their arms, rough and tough looking guys… There were two older ladies in there and [the men] started being real loud, yelling profanities. The guy I was with got pretty scared and the ladies were looking over… so I said come on, let’s go out… as soon as I turned around I got punched in the face…”
The assailant, described as being 6’, heavy set and tattooed, ran back in to the Blue Giraffe.

“I didn’t do anything to provoke this assault," said Chuck in the interview.

The police arrived on the scene moments later and asked the victim, “What do you want us to do?”

“Well, I got assaulted, I got punched in the face, is there anything you can do? I’d like to press charges."

“Absolutely no, we can’t do it,” the police officer said.

“I couldn’t believe it.”

Chuck after the attack:
Notice swelling under right eye and bruises.

In spite of the Greater Church of Lucifer directors’ claims about wanting to coexist, many locals  are feeling unsafe around the people they attract.

Numerous comments on Facebook by mothers with children, old-time shoppers and visitors, local residents and businesses in the area, express their dismay at the presence of followers of Lucifer in the Christmas-shopping haven of Old Town Spring.

This historic little enclave of the Houston area, with its Norman Rockwell air, has much of the character of small town America. Why would Lucifer want to open shop on Main Street Spring, next to a Thomas Kinkade Art Gallery or a Victoriana antique store?
Families don't want to bring their children to see Santa and a Nativity scene, and find Lucifer as part of the tour.  Many parents and shoppers are saying:  “We will never go back there again.”

This naturally has many local business owners, Texans and Ten Commandment Americans gravely concerned.

In fact, local citizens presented a petition against the "Church" of Lucifer – signed by some 28,000 people – to the Spring Preservation League and the Harris County Commissioners. The petition was delivered on November 18.

Together with Chuck who was brutally assaulted, many local community members are saying, "I don't feel safe."

The Story of the Marvelous Sword

Le Loi statue in front of the City Hall of Thanh Hoa province. Lê Lợi, Emperor of Vietnam and founder of the Later Lê dynasty. Photo by Nguyễn Thanh Quang.

In 1418, the Chinese invaded Vietnam. One day during that very same year, the Chronicles say that a simple fisherman LeLoy, casting his net into the lake Hoan Kien Ho, pulled up a marvelous sword, which was all resplendent.

LeLoy saw in the event a sign that he was invested with the supernatural mission of freeing his people. With that conviction, carrying the marvelous sword, he unleashed a relentless war against the Chinese, expelling them ten years later. LeLoy was then rightfully named Emperor.

Sword Lake in Hanoi. Photo by Benoît Prieur (Agamitsudo) – CC-BY-SA.

In Lake Hoan Kien Ho, on a little island called “the mountain of the lights,” a monument was erected to celebrate the finding of the providential sword.

On the small bridge leading to the island, one may read this statement: “This way goes to water in the mountains. It is the entrance to marvelous regions.”

Crusade for a Christian Civilization July-August 1975

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 501

St. Ignatius of Loyola Understood the Beauty of the Fight More Than Crusaders

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Someone defined courage as follows: “It is the will to strike blows and the patience to take them!” If one does not have both things, one does not have courage. Therefore, some people may take a painful blow and be happy – Ah, he’s taken a blow! But even happier are you, who struck a blow….

As far as I know, not even the crusaders knew how to underline the beauty and sanctity of the fight as much as Saint Ignatius Loyola, who gave the Society of Jesus the title which, in the archaic language of that time [compañía, company], meant a section of the army.

In other words, a company in the military language of the time was a battalion, a regiment or something like that. The Company of Jesus was made to fight!

(Excerpt from a Palavrinha of Monday, September 18, 1989.)

(Nobility.org translation.)

Satan Fears Holy Mary's Name

At the name of Mary, the angels rejoice and the demons scramble.

Thomas a Kempis, author of the famous Imitation of Christ, affirms that:

“The devils fear the queen of heaven so much that by just hearing her name pronounced they fly from the person who utters it like from a burning fire”.

St. Ambrose compares her name to a sweet ointment, because whenever pronounced, it is a healing balm to our sinful souls.

“The name of Mary heals sinners, rejoices hearts and inflames them with God’s love”, says St. Alphonsus Liguori in his Glories of Mary.

Our Blessed Lady revealed to St. Bridget that there is not on earth a sinner, no matter how far he may be from God’s love who, on invoking her name with the resolution to repent, does not cause the devil to flee from him or her. No matter how imprisoned a sinner may be in the devil’s grip, as soon as the latter hears this sinner pronounce the sweet name of Mary, he is obliged to release him or her.

Our Lady also revealed to St. Bridget that in the same way as the devils fly from a person invoking her name, so do the angels approach pious souls that pronounce her name with devotion.

So, fellow sinners, this Lent let us invoke this “air-clearing” sweet and powerful name of Mary often! We and our loved ones will be the better, the freer and the happier for it!

Taken from The Glories of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Liguori

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November 20 – Another strong and mighty angel

St. Felix of Valois

Born in 1127; died at Cerfroi, 4 November, 1212.  He is commemorated 20 November.

He was surnamed Valois because, according to some, he was a member of the royal branch of Valois in France, according to others, because he was a native of the province of Valois. At an early age he renounced his possessions and retired to a dense forest in the Diocese of Meaux, where he gave himself to prayer and contemplation.

He was joined in his retreat by St. John of Matha, who proposed to him the project of founding an order for the redemption of captives.

After fervent prayer, Felix in company with John set out for Rome and arrived there in the beginning of the pontificate of Innocent III. They had letters of recommendation from the Bishop of Paris, and the new pope received them with the utmost kindness and lodged them in his palace. The project of founding the order was considered in several solemn conclaves of cardinals and prelates, and the pope after fervent prayer decided that these holy men were inspired by God, and raised up for the good of the Church. He solemnly confirmed their order, which he named the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives. The pope commissioned the Bishop of Paris and the Abbot of St. Victor to draw up for the institute a rule, which was confirmed by the pope, 17 December, 1198. Felix returned to France to establish the order.

He was received with great enthusiasm, and King Philip Augustus authorized the institute France and fostered it by signal benefactions. Margaret of Blois granted the order twenty acres of the wood where Felix had built his first hermitage, and on almost the same spot he erected the famous monastery of Cerfroi, the mother-house of the institute.

Within forty years the order possessed six hundred monasteries in almost every part of the world. St. Felix and St. John of Matha were forced to part, the latter went to Rome to found a house of the order, the church of which, Santa Maria in Navicella, still stands on the Caeclian Hill. St. Felix remained in France to look after the interests of the congregation. He founded a house in Paris attached to the church of St. Maturinus, which afterwards became famous under Robert Guguin, master general of the order. Though the Bull of his canonization is no longer extant, it is the constant tradition of his institute that he was canonized by Urban IV in 1262. Du Plessis tells us that his feast was kept in the Diocese of Meaux in 1215. In 1666 Alexander VII declared him a saint because of immemorial cult. His feast was transferred to 20 November by Innocent XI in 1679.

Michael M. O’Kane (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Tagged as: Chivalry, France, Leaders, Nobility, Royal and Noble Saints, Saints