Sunday 22 December 2019

O Rex Gentium


O King of the Gentiles and the desired of them,
Thou cornerstone that makest both one,
come and deliver man,
whom Thou didst form out of the dust of the earth.

Saturday 21 December 2019

O Oriens


O Dawn of the East,
brightness of the light eternal,
and Sun of Justice,
come and enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Friday 20 December 2019

O Clavis


O Key of David, and Spectre of the house of Israel, 
who openest and no man shuttest,
who shuttest and no man openest:
Come and bring forth from the prison-house, 
the captive that sitteth in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Thursday 19 December 2019

O Radix Jesse


O Root of Jesse, who standest for an ensign of people,
before whom kings shall keep silence,
and unto whom the Gentiles shall make their supplication:
Come to deliver us, and tarry not.

Wednesday 18 December 2019

O Adonai


O ADONAI, and Leader of the House of Israel,
who didst appear to Moses in the flame of the burning bush,
and didst give unto him the law on Sinai:
Come and with an outstretched arm redeem us.

Tuesday 17 December 2019

O Sapientia



O WISDOM, coming forth from the mouth of the most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Sunday 15 December 2019

GAUDETE SUNDAY


To-day, again, the Church is full of joy, and the joy is greater than it was. It is true that her Lord has not come; but she feels that He is nearer than before, and therefore she thinks it just to lessen some what the austerity of this penitential season by the innocent cheerfulness of her sacred rites. And first, this Sunday has had the name of Gaudete given to it, from the first word of the Introit; it also is honoured with those impressive exceptions which belong to the fourth Sunday of Lent, called Laetare. The organ is played at the Mass; the vestments are rose-colour; the deacon resumes the dalmatic, and the subdeacon the tunic; and in cathedral churches the bishop assists with the precious mitre. How touching are all these usages, and how admirable this condescension of the Church, wherewith she so beautifully blends together the unalterable strictness of the dogmas of faith and the graceful poetry of the formulae of her liturgy. Let us enter into her spirit, and be glad on this third Sunday of her Advent, because our Lord is now so near unto us. To-morrow we will resume our attitude of servants mourning for the absence of their Lord and waiting for Him; for every delay, however short, is painful and makes love sad.

The Station is kept in the basilica of St. Peter, at the Vatican. This august temple, which contains the tomb of the prince of the apostles, is the home and refuge of all the faithful of the world; it is but natural that it should be chosen to witness both the joy and the sadness of the Church.

The night Office commences with a new Invitatory. The voice of the Church no longer invites the faithful to come and adore in fear and trembling the King, our Lord, who is to come. Her language assumes another character; her tone is one of gladness; and now, every day, until the vigil of Christmas, she begins her nocturns with these grand words:

The Lord is now nigh; come, let us adore.

Now let us take the book of the Prophet, and read with the Church:

From the Prophet Isaias.

Ch. xxvi.
In that day shall this canticle be sung in the land of Juda. Sion the city of our strength: a Saviour, a wall, and a bulwark shall be set therein. Open ye the gates and let the just nation, that keepeth the truth, enter in. The old error is passed away, thou wilt keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in thee. You have hoped in the Lord for evermore: in the Lord God mighty for ever. For he shall bring down them that dwell en high, the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall pull it down even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down; the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. The way of the just is right, the path of the just is right to walk in. And in the way of thy judgements, O Lord, we have patiently waited for thee: thy name and thy remembrance are the desire of the soul. My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to thee.

O holy Roman Church, city of our strength! behold us thy children assembled within thy walls, around the tomb of the fisherman, the prince of the apostles, whose sacred relics protect thee from their earthly shrine, and whose unchanging teaching enlightens thee from heaven. Yet, O city of strength: it is by the Saviour, who is coming, that thou art strong. He is thy wall, for it is He that encircles, with His tender mercy, all thy children; He is thy bulwark, for it is by Him that thou art invincible, and that all the powers of hell are powerless to prevail against thee. Open wide thy gates, that all nations may enter thee for thou art mistress of holiness and the guardian of truth. May the old error, which sets itself against the faith, soon disappear, and peace reign over the whole fold! O holy Roman Church! thou hast for ever put thy trust in the Lord; and He, faithful to His promise, has humbled before thee the haughty ones that defied thee, and the proud cities that were against thee. Where now are the Caesars. who boasted that they had drowned thee in thine own blood? where the emperors, who would ravish the inviolate virginity of thy faith? where the heretics, who, during the past centuries of thine existence, have assailed every article of thy teaching, and denied what they listed? where the ungrateful princes, who would fain make a slave of thee, who hadst made them what they were? where that empire of Mahomet, which has so many times raged against thee, for that thou, the defenceless State, didst arrest the pride of its conquests? where the reformers, who were bent on giving the world a Christianity, in which thou wast to have no part? where the more modern sophists, in whose philosophy thou wast set down as a system that had been tried, and was a failure, and is now a ruin? and those kings who are acting the tyrant over thee, and those people that will have liberty independently and at the risk of truth, where will they be in another hundred years? Gone and forgotten as the noisy anger of a torrent; whilst thou, O holy Church of Rome, built on the immovable rock, wilt be as calm, as young, as unwrinkled as ever. Thy path through all the ages of this world’s duration, will be right as that of the just man; thou wilt ever be the same unchanging Church, as thou hast been during the eighteen hundred years past, whilst everything else under the sun has been but change. Whence this thy stability, but from Him who is very truth and justice? Glory be to Him in thee! Each year, He visits thee; each year, He brings thee new gifts, wherewith thou mayst go happily through thy pilgrimage; and to the end of time, He will visit thee, and renew thee, not only with the power of that look wherewith Peter was renewed, but by filling thee with Himself, as He did the ever glorious Virgin, who is the object of thy most tender love, after that which thou bearest to Jesus Himself. We pray with thee, O Church, our mother, and here is our prayer: ‘Come, Lord Jesus! Thy name and Thy remembrance are the desire of our souls: they have desired Thee in the night, yea, and early in the morning have they watched for Thee.’



Gaudete in Domino Semper - Introit

Saturday 14 December 2019

Advent is a Time to Repent from Sins of Hatred and Anger. A time to Flee the Diabolical




We live in a world of so much hatred. For those of you who use social media, you are well aware that it is seething in anger and hatred. This is a sign of the diabolical. 

But this hatred and anger not only exists amongst those who have no religion, it even exists amongst those who claim to be Catholics. Those who claim to profess in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ, must remember that to enter into eternal life we must love our enemies and even forgive them. The sins of hatred and anger is a cause for great scandal. Non-believers look at Catholics hating each other, and mock us. 

What is the root cause of hatred and anger? The Church Fathers teach is it a lack of humility: it is the dwelling on the remembrance of "wrongs", the desire for revenge, leading the soul to bitterness, disfiguration and arrogance. It is born in spiritual pride. Since God is a God of peace, anger and hatred is a sure sign of the diabolical. 




Sin and mental illness are at times confused, and even, in their external manifestations, seem to be indistinguishable. The truth is, sin eventually drives a man insane. History is replete with psychopaths driven literally insane due to their addiction to sin. If you are addicted to sin, it is a sign of the diabolical. 

It is Advent. It is time to flee the diabolical. It is time to flee hatred, anger. Time to free oneself from enslavement to sin. It is a time for us to increase our prayer life, get back to Confession.

We need to reform our lives: NOW. Not tomorrow, but today. 

Have you committed a mortal sin of anger, hatred? Do you hate your brother or sister? Repent and truly believe in the Gospels. 

Have you failed to live the good Catholic life? I know at times I have, and I know, dear reader, you have too. Do you hate, do you feel anger? Repent, get to Confession, and amend your life. 

Tomorrow is Sunday. Do not forget how we are to present ourselves before God at Mass. He died for you and me on the Cross. What can we do for Him?

"Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift". 
(St. Matthew 5:24)

It is past time to suppress the Jesuits ... again


This makes me want to vomit, the amount of disrespect shown to the Blessed Virgin.

In 1773, Pope Clement XIV formally suppressed the Jesuits across the world in light of what he (and others) viewed to be their failure to produce "abundant fruits" to Christendom. The suppression was lifted in 1814 by Pope Pius VII.

It is time to reinstate that suppression in light of this blasphemy - sadly, the latest in a long line that has been active for many decades.


Palestrina: Alma Redemptoris Mater - Tallis Scholars

Rorate Caeli


Friday 13 December 2019

George Galloway: The Labour Party's WAR against the workingman was its undoing.

Ultra-wealthy, establishment London remained loyal to Labour and its betrayal of Workingmen


This is not a political blog, but occasionally, I find it necessary to comment on politics. Most readers will be aware that through the night the Labour Party was obliterated in the British General Election. For a long time I was well aware that the Labour Party that had since betrayed the British workingman, was going down to defeat for its refusal to accept the Brexit referendum. 

It was bizarre to see the commentators on the BBC mentioning the Labour defeats in northern constituencies that were held for decades, simply because of Labour fanaticism to remain in the EU. Seats were lost simply because the myopic addiction to neo-liberalist globalism was too consuming to break. It was their addictive narcissism that workingmen are but simpletons, narrow-minded "bigots", "homophobic", "transphobic" and had to be "guided" into the utopian brave new world that inhibited Labour MPs from following their constituents demands to leave Europe. 


Identity and sexual "politics" are Labour's obsession

The war on social media is foreign to the workingman. Workingmen's lives do not evolve around Twitter or Facebook. The workingman (or country farmer) do not have the luxury of the elitist urbanite to be spending hours on social media. They live in the real world, not virtual reality. These men form their ideas on the factory floor, in the fields as they work, and in the pubs where they meet - face to face - with their friends. They knew and discussed only one thing: Brexit. They knew that since joining Europe the steel industry was destroyed, the coal industry was destroyed. The great northern industrial heartland was destroyed by EU regulations and crony, protectionist capitalism. Pride in making something, pride in providing for family with an honourable, decent paying job was gone. 


The Bentley Factory in Crewe. Workingmen are interested
in honour and hard work, not ideologies.

The economy was (and is) driven by an artificially inflated repo-equities market that is an illusion of wealth. Quick, and obscene fortunes were made in the City by speculators, but the workingman suffered. Labour (just look at the election map and see how Labour swept the ultra-wealthy, multi-millionaire saturated constituencies of north London) not only was detached from the daily toils and care of the workingman, but had grown to distain him as well. 





The words of the erudite political thinker, and maverick man of the left, George Galloway, should be carefully studied. His observations about the election have been prophetic. I have followed him closely over this past year and every prediction he made has come to pass. 

Not since the election of 1935 has the Parliamentary Labour Party been so small. When political dinosaurs roamed the earth a split Labour Party collapsed to the challenge of the Great Depression and seemed bound for extinction.

Ten years later they had their biggest ever election win sweeping Mr Churchill the War Leader from office.
 
My point is not merely to put in scale what happened in the British general election but also to illustrate the famous truth that there is no "final victory," and no "final defeat" either. It's never over. 
I consistently predicted, on RT and everywhere, that Labour seats would go down like dominoes, that Labour would lose dozens maybe scores of seats throughout the Midlands, the north-west and north-east of England, and in Wales. All my expectations came to pass as counting continued into a real-life Friday the 13th for Labour. 
It was Brexit of course – only the foolhardy deny their own electorate on such a matter, and so brazenly and for so long – but not only Brexit. In former premier Harold MacMillan's words "it's never one damned thing, it's one damned thing after another." 
Labour's defiance of its own supporters behind its 'red-wall' – seats in some cases it had held for a hundred years, seemed to put the tin-hat on things for the British industrial and post industrial heartlands. For American readers, imagine Michigan, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.  
And that's after many years of amused bemused tolerance of an increasingly metropolitan liberal Labour Party – which regularly parachuted in such liberals in Labour livery into what were until now safe Labour seats. So, for example, that well known coal-miner Tony Blair dropped in for a while as the MP for the mining town of Sedgefield with his fancy London Barrister ways…

Read the entire article HERE.


But after Brexit, what next? That is the question, to paraphrase Shakespeare.

Wednesday 11 December 2019

Reminder: Rorate Masses in the Archdiocese of Toronto this Saturday


"And now, in heaven, a great portent appeared; a woman that wore the sun for her mantle, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars about her head." - Apocalypse 12:1

The term Rorate comes from the first word of the Introit of the Votive Mass for Our Lady in Advent, which is what this is. In Northern Europe during the medieval era, Rorate Masses were done in the early morning in almost complete darkness, hence its association of being said by candleight in our time. (The Propers for the Mass can be found here.)

This Saturday, please feel welcome to attend either one of these Masses - although a treat is in store for those who attend the Sung Mass.

May the grace of God fill us all as we enter the closing days of Advent.

Friday 6 December 2019

Happy Feast Day of St. Nicholas!


St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas still remains a a very important saint for a number of Nations. In central-north Europe, as well as the eastern European Nations who are predominantly Orthodox, the holy bishop is deeply venerated. 


President Vladimir Putin, venerating relics of St. Nicholas


Sadly, this great man is but a mere "memorial" in the Latin calendar (including the pre-conciliar calendar). In the decadent West he has been twisted from a saintly bishop into a Nordic pagan Bacchus. 


St. Nicholas and "Black Peter", his Moorish assistant.
A Polish tradition. 

To all readers who still retain a devotion to St. Nicholas, a happy, joyous Feast Day. Now say a prayer to St. Nicholas, and look under your pillow for some sweets!

Thursday 5 December 2019

Let us imitate the examples set to us by the Holy Fathers


Last night, I chanced upon these words from The Imitation of Christ:
Look upon the lively examples of the holy Fathers in whom shone real perfection and the religious life, and you will see how little it is, and almost nothing that we do. Alas, what is our life when we compare it with theirs? Saints and friends of Christ, they served our Lord in hunger and in thirst, in cold, in nakedness, in labor and in weariness in watching, in fasting, prayers and holy meditations, and in frequent persecutions and reproaches. Oh, how many grievous tribulations did the Apostles suffer and the martyrs and Confessors and Virgins, and all the rest who resolved to follow the steps of Christ! For they hated their lives in this world, that they might keep them in life everlasting. Oh, what a strict and self-renouncing life the holy Fathers of the desert led! What long and grievous temptations did they bear! How often were they harassed by the enemy, what frequent and fervent prayer did they offer up to God, what rigorous abstinence did they practice! 
What a valiant contest waged they to subdue their imperfections! What purity and straight forwardness of purpose kept them towards God! By day they labored, and much of the night they spent in prayer; though while they labored, they were far from leaving off mental prayer, They spent all their time profitably. Every hour seemed short to spend with God; and even their necessary bodily refreshment was forgotten in the great sweetness of contemplation. They renounced all riches, dignities, honor and kindred; they hardly took what was necessary for life. It grieved them to serve the body even in its necesssity. Accordingly, they were poor in earthly things, but very rich in grace and virtues.
In this holy season of Advent, let us seek perfection as the Church Fathers did - and many after them.

A good start towards this end would be to follow the request made by four exorcists in the wake of the Amazonian Synod - to offer up tomorrow, December 6th, as a day of fasting in reparation for the sins committed during that Synod.

More information can be found here.

A blessed Advent to all of our readers.


Monday 2 December 2019

ADVENT I

Apologies for being a day late.


This Sunday, the first of the ecclesiastical year, is called, in the chronicles and charts of the middle ages, Ad te levavi Sunday, from the first words of the Introit; or, Aspiciens a longe, from the first words of one of the responsories of Matins. 
The Station * is at St. Mary Major’s. It is under the auspices of Mary - in the splendid basilica which possesses the crib of Bethlehem, and is therefore called, in ancient documents, St. Mary’s ad Praesepe - that the Roman Church recommences, each year, the sacred cycle. It would have been impossible to select a place more suitable than this for saluting the approach of the divine birth, which is to gladden heaven and earth, and manifest the sublime portent of a Virgin Mother. Let us go in spirit to this august temple, and unite in the prayers which are there being offered up: they are the very ones we also use, and which we will now explain. 
[* The Stations marked in the Roman missal for certain days in the year, were formerly processions, in which the whole clergy and people went to some given church, and there celebrated the Office and Mass. This usage, which dates from the earliest period of the Roman Church, and of which St. Gregory the Great was but the restorer, still exists, at least in a measure; for the Stations are still observed, though with less solemnity and concourse of people, on all the days specified in the missal.] 
In the night Office, the Church commences the reading of the Book of Isaias, who, of all the Prophets, has the most distinctly and explicitly foretold the Messias; and she continues this same Book until Christmas day inclusively. Let us strive to enter into the teaching of the holy prophet, and let the eye of our faith affectionately recognize the promised Saviour in the descriptions, sometimes consoling and sometimes terrifying, under which Isaias depicts Him. 
The first words of the Church, in the still midnight, are these: 
Come, let us adore the  King our Lord, who is to come. 
This first duty of adoration complied with, let us listen to the oracle of the prophet Isaias, delivered to us by the holy Church. 
Ch. i.The vision of Isaias, the son of Amos, which ho saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem, in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda. Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken: I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood. Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children. They have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards. For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad. From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein; wounds, and bruises, and swelling sores; they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil. 
These words of the holy prophet, or rather of God who speaks to us by the prophet, should make a deep impression on the children of the Church, at this opening of the holy period of Advent. Who could hear without trembling this voice of our Lord, who is despised and unknown even at the very time when He is coming to visit His people? Lest men should be terrified at the splendour of His majesty, He divested Himself of it; and far from acknowledging the divine power of Him who thus humbled Himself out of love to them, these men have refused even to know Him; and the crib where He lay after His birth, had, at first, but two dumb animals to honour or notice it. Do you feel, Christians, how just are the complaints which your God here makes? And how your indifference for all His love is an insult? He calls heaven and earth to witness; He utters anathema against the sinful nation, His ungrateful children. Let us honestly confess that we, too, have not known the value of our Jesus’ visit to us, and that we have but too faithfully imitated the obduracy of the Jews, who heeded not the bright light when it burst upon their darkness. In vain did the angels sing on that December night; in vain did shepherds receive and welcome the invitation to adore the Babe and know Him; in vain did the Magi come from the east, asking where they were to find the crib of the King that was born. At this last example, the city of Jerusalem was somewhat moved; but the astonishment was only for a moment, and the old indifference soon stifled the good tidings. 
Thus it is, O Jesus, that Thou comest unto darkness, and darkness does not comprehend Thee. We beseech Thee, let our darkness comprehend the light, and desire it. The day will come when Thou wilt disperse the spiritual and voluntary darkness of men by the awful light of Thy justice. Thy glory, O sovereign Judge, will be magnificent on that day, and we love to think upon Thy having it: but during these days of our life on earth, deliver us from Thy wrath. We are one great wound from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head; Thou knowest not where to strike: be, then, a Saviour, O Jesus, in this coming, for which we are now preparing. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad: come, and raise up this head which shame and vile passions bow down to the earth. Come, and comfort this heart oppressed with sin and fear. We confess it, our wounds are deep and sore; come, thou good Samaritan, pour in Thy soothing oil and heal them. 
The whole world is in expectation of its Redeemer; come, dear Jesus, show Thyself to it by granting it salvation. The Church, Thy bride, is now commencing another year, and her first word is to Thee, a word which she speaks in the anxious solicitude of a mother for the safety of her children; she cries out to Thee, saying: ‘Come!’ No, we will go no farther in our journey through the desert of this life without Thee, O Jesus! Time is passing quickly away from us; our day is perhaps far spent, and the shades of our life’s night are fast coming on; arise, O divine Sun of justice. Come! guide our steps and save us from eternal death.
- From Dom Prosper Gueranger's commentary on Advent I in The Liturgical Year.