Who, or What, is ‘Jane's Revenge’? A Look at the Group Being Invoked in Pro-Abortion Vandalism

A look at the domestic terrorists who are claiming responsibility for the attacks on Churches and pro-life centres. Of course, they're attacking with 'impunity'! Does anyone really expect Biden's DOJ to take action?

From the National Catholic Register

By Kevin J. Jones/CNA

Jane‘s Revenge’s acts should be viewed through the lens of terrorism.

WASHINGTON — Anarchist groups and individuals using the moniker “Jane’s Revenge” are among those who claim to be planning a “Night of Rage” to respond to the Supreme Court’s expected overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Their grandiose rhetoric portrays churches, crisis pregnancy centers, and pro-life groups as their enemy, and these actors seem to be behind at least six vandalism or arson attacks on pro-life groups, crisis pregnancy centers, and churches.

The first communique from a group calling itself Jane's Revenge was posted May 8 to the anonymous blogging host noblogs.org, the same day as a vandal and arson attack on Wisconsin Family Action that appeared to be anarchists motivated by animosity towards the group’s pro-life cause.

The communique characterized the attack as a “warning” and claimed it would not issue any further warnings. Its authors claimed to be the victims of a “war” and to have been “shot, bombed, and forced into childbirth without consent.”

Claiming that attacks on abortion clinics and abortion doctors were happening with “impunity,” the Jane’s Revenge communique demanded “the disbanding of all anti-choice establishments, fake clinics, and violent anti-choice groups within the next thirty days.”

Madison police said they were aware that a group had claimed responsibility for the attack and was working with federal partners to determine whether the claim is true.

On May 10, Robert Evans, a journalist who reports on online extremism, posted screenshots of the communique to Twitter, saying he received the statement from “an anonymous intermediary I trust,” hosted on a site on the semi-private internet network Tor.

A May 30 statement at noblogs.org and attributed to Jane’s Revenge called for a “Night of Rage” the night the final Supreme Court decision is released.

Why the Name ‘Jane’s Revenge’?

Evans appears to be among the first to connect the group’s name with the Jane Collaborative, which does not appear in the first Jane’s Revenge statement. The collaborative was an illegal abortion procurement ring operating out of Chicago in the late 1960s and early 1970s. National Public Radio ran several stories on the group in early May.

An HBO documentary, The Janes, was released on June 8. The HBO website portrays the group as “defying the state legislature that outlawed abortion, the Catholic Church that condemned it, and the Chicago Mob that was profiting from it.” The group performed abortions on about 11,000 women, resulting in the deaths of their babies.

Are these anarchist groups organized? It’s not clear.

The size of Jane’s Revenge is hard to determine. While its first communique claimed to have backers across the U.S. in every city, its May 30 message claims its movement will be “unsustainable” if it continues to rely on “the same few hundred people.”

The group’s second statement, published May 30, calls for activism and the creation of “autonomously organized self-defense networks” The group tends to be critical of more mainstream abortion activists and their “demure little rallies for freedom.”

“We cannot sit idly by anymore while our anger is yet again channeled into Democratic party fundraisers and peace parades with the police.”

Jane’s Revenge called for a “Night of Rage” on the day the final Supreme Court decision on abortion is issued at 8 p.m., calling this a “general guideline” to be adapted for local conditions.

The statement claimed inspiration from “reproductive liberation” autonomous organization movements in Argentina, Mexico, and Poland.

Contending that abortion foes “work to oppress us,” the group's May 30 statement repeated another slogan used to vandalize pro-life groups and churches: “If abortion isn’t safe, you aren’t either. We are everywhere.”

Kyle Shideler, a senior analyst for the Homeland Security and Terrorism at the Center for Security Policy, said militant abortion groups like Jane’s Revenge “organize in local cells” and its claimed members have “likely voluntarily self-identified themselves as Jane’s Revenge.”

“It is unlikely that there is a hierarchy or that they receive orders, although they may communicate from cell to cell or use social media or in other ways,” he told the EWTN news show “The World Over” on June 9.

According to Shideler, the government does not treat anarchist organizations as criminal conspiracies, but as “a bunch of looney individuals operating separately.”

In his view, this is the wrong approach.

“Although they are cellular in structure they are very organized and they need to be treated as an organization,” he said.

What Has Jane’s Revenge Done?

The first crime invoking “Jane” appears to have taken place early in the morning of May 8, Mother’s Day, when the Madison, Wisconsin headquarters of Wisconsin Family Action was targeted by arson and vandalism. The vandalism involved an anarchist symbol, an anti-police slogan, and the phrase “if abortions aren’t safe, you aren’t safe either.”

Other incidents followed.

On the night of May 13, a vandal spray-painted slogans, including the words “Jane’s Revenge,” on the walls of the Alpha Pregnancy Center in Reisterstown, Maryland.

On May 22, St. Michael Parish in Olympia was vandalized with the words “Abort the church” spray-painted on a wall. Several other non-Catholic churches were targeted by vandals. In a message submitted anonymously to Puget Sound Anarchists, the Bo Brown Memorial Cell of Jane’s Revenge claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The group said it was motivated by the churches’ ties to crisis pregnancy centers, which it characterized as “religious fake clinics that manipulate mostly poor people into having and keeping children they don’t want or aren’t ready for and marrying whomever impregnated them whether or not that relationship is healthy or safe.” It characterized both the Catholic Church and the LDS / Mormon church as “patriarchal sex abuse cults.”

The group’s “cell” is named for a local anarchist who was a member of the George Jackson Brigade, a self-styled revolutionary group that committed several bank robberies and multiple pipe bombings in Washington State and Oregon in the 1970s.

In a separate crime on May 25, Next Step Pregnancy Center in Lynnwood, Washington, was tagged with graffiti saying, “Jane’s revenge” and “If abortions aren’t safe, you aren’t either." At least five of its windows were smashed.

An Archdiocese of Miami-run pro-life pregnancy center in Hollywood, Florida, was defaced with pro-abortion graffiti over Memorial Day weekend.

“If abortions aren’t safe then niether [sic] are you,” “Janes revenge,” and an anarchist symbol were written outside the South Broward Pregnancy Help Center, located about 45 minutes north of Miami. You can watch surveillance footage of the vandalism suspects in action below.

Miami’s Archbishop Thomas Wenski denounced the vandalism, saying “it also expresses contempt for the beliefs, values and practices of a faith community and could easily escalate to physical harm to members of these faith communities.”

Another attack took place June 3, when the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center in Washington D.C. was vandalized with red paint and spray paint that said “Jane says revenge.”

In upstate New York, a pro-life pregnancy center sustained major damage in a fire and was defaced with pro-abortion graffiti the morning of June 7.

The center, CompassCare, located in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, New York, posted photos showing shattered windows and office space heavily burned and damaged. The words “Jane was here” spray-painted on the side of the building.

Rev. James Harden, a Methodist minister and CEO of CompassCare, said there were “multiple perpetrators” who caused “catastrophic damage.” He told The World Over that the FBI is involved in the investigation.

He also called on government officials to condemn crimes against crisis pregnancy centers.

Is Jane’s Revenge a Terrorist Group?

Shideler said Jane‘s Revenge’s acts should be viewed through the lens of terrorism.

In his view, these actions are aimed “to intimidate an arm of the government,” namely the Supreme Court, and “to intimidate the public, members of the pro-life movement, and to disrupt their ability to organize at the state and local level.”

The groups say they will “escalate violence if the government does not do what they wish,” in Shideler’s words, and “that is the definition of terrorism.”

He faulted a “very poor” federal response to such groups. He said federal officials wrongly treat anarchist individuals as “primarily a local law enforcement problem.”

Shideler also lamented the existence of “mainstream tolerance for this kind of behavior,” similar to tolerance for political violence in 2020.

Infographic: How To Spot A Homeschooler

From The Bee, but I'm not tagging it as satire because it is factual.

From The Babylon Bee

With homeschooling on the rise, there's a good chance you and your children may come in contact with one of these strange homeschooled people. Oh no!

To help you remain vigilant, we have created this handy infographic that will help you spot them.

NOT SATIRE: Your children deserve an education free from political agendas, woke culture, and LGTBQ+ curriculum inclusion mandates. Set your children on a firm foundation of truth with a homeschool curriculum that is written from a Biblical worldview. Encourage your students to discover the wonder of Creation and see the fingerprints of God in every aspect of learning. Equip your students (and future leaders) to be bold in their faith.

Magnae Dei Matris - On the Rosary and Christian Life

Issued on the Nativity of Mary, this Encyclical holds up the Rosary as a means of learning to imitate Our Lady in living a Christian life.

Pope Leo XIII

8 September 1892

To Our Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.

As often as the occasion arises to stimulate and intensify the love and veneration of the Christian people for Mary, the great Mother of God, We are filled with wondrous satisfaction and joy, as by a subject which is not only of prime importance in itself and profitable in countless ways, but which also perfectly accords with the inmost sentiments of Our heart. For the holy reverence for Mary which We experienced from Our tenderest years, has grown greater and has taken firmer hold of Our soul with Our advancing age.

2. As time went on, it became more and more evident how deserving of love and honor was she whom God Himself was the first to love, and loved so much more than any other that, after elevating her high above all the rest of His creation and adorning her with His richest gifts, He made her His Mother. The many and splendid proofs of her bounty and beneficence toward us, which We remember with deep gratitude and which move Us to tears, still further encourage and strongly inflame Our filial reverence for her. Throughout the many dreadful events of every kind which the times have brought to pass, always with her have We sought refuge, always to her have We lifted up pleading and confident eyes. And in all the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, that We confided to her, the thought was constantly before Us to ask her to assist Us at all times as Our gracious Mother and to obtain this greatest of favors: that We might be able, in return, to show her the heart of a most devoted son.

3. When, then, it came to pass in the secret design of God’s providence that We were chosen to fill this Chair of St. Peter and to take the place of the Person of Christ Himself in the Church, worried by the enormous burden of the office and finding no ground for reliance upon Our own strength, We hastened with fervent zeal to implore the divine aid through the maternal intercession of the ever blessed Virgin. Never has Our hope, We are happy to acknowledge, at any time of Our life but more especially since We began to exercise the Supreme Apostolate, failed in the course of events to bear fruit or bring Us comfort. Thus encouraged, Our hope today mounts more confidently than ever to beseech many more and even greater blessings through her favor and mediation, which will profit alike the salvation of Christ’s flock and the happy increase of His Church’s glory.

4. It is, therefore, a fitting and opportune time, Venerable Brethren, for Us to induce all Our children — exhorting them through you — to plan on celebrating the coming month of October, consecrated to our Lady as the august Queen of the Rosary, with the fervent and wholehearted devotion which the necessities weighing upon Us demand.

5. It is only too plain how many and of what nature are the corrupting agencies by which the wickedness of the world deceitfully strives to weaken and completely uproot from souls their Christian faith and the respect for God’s law on which faith is fed and depends for its effectiveness. Already the fields cultivated by our Lord are everywhere turning into a wilderness abounding in ignorance of the Faith, in error and vice, as though blown upon by some hideous pest. And to add to the anguish of this thought, so far from putting a check on such insolent and destructive depravity, or imposing the punishment deserved, they who can and should correct matters seem in many cases, by their indifference or open connivance, to increase the spirit of evil.

6. We have good reason to deplore the public institutions in which the teaching of the sciences and arts is purposely so organized that the name of God is passed over in silence or visited with vituperation; to deplore the license — growing more shameless by the day — of the press in publishing whatever it pleases, and the license of speech in addressing any kind of insult to Christ our God and His Church. And We deplore no less the consequent laxity and apathy in the practice of the Catholic religion which if not quite open apostasy from the Faith, is certainly going to prove an easy road to it, since it is a manner of life having nothing in common with faith. Nobody who ponders this disorder and the surrender of the most fundamental principles will be astonished if afflicted nations everywhere are groaning under the heavy hand of God’s vengeance and stand anxious and trembling in fear of worse calamities.

7. Now, to appease the might of an outraged God and to bring that health of soul so needed by those who are sorely afflicted, there is nothing better than devout and persevering prayer, provided it be joined with a love for and practice of Christian life. And both of these, the spirit of prayer and the practice of Christian life, are best attained through the devotion of the Rosary of Mary.

8. The well-known origin of the Rosary, illustrated in celebrated monuments of which we have made frequent mention, bears witness to its remarkable efficacy. For, in the days when the Albigensian sect, posing as the champion of pure faith and morals, but in reality introducing the worst kind of anarchy and corruption, brought many a nation to its utter ruin, the Church fought against it and the other infamous factions associated with it, not with troops and arms, but chiefly with the power of the most holy Rosary, the devotion which the Mother of God taught to our Father Dominic in order that he might propagate it. By this means the Church triumphed magnificently over every obstacle and provided for the salvation of her children not only in that trial but in others like it afterward, always with the same glorious success. For this reason, now, when human affairs have taken the course which We deplore, bringing affection to the Church and ruin to the State, all of us have the duty to unite our voice in prayer, with like devotion, to the holy Mother of God, beseeching her that we too may rejoice, as we ardently desire, in experiencing the same power of her Rosary.

9. When we have recourse to Mary in prayer, we are having recourse to the Mother of mercy, who is so well disposed toward us that, whatever the necessity that presses upon us especially in attaining eternal life, she is instantly at our side of her own accord, even though she has not been invoked. She dispenses grace with a generous hand from that treasure with which from the beginning she was divinely endowed in fullest abundance that she might be worthy to be the Mother of God. By the fullness of grace which confers on her the most illustrious of her many titles, the Blessed Virgin is infinitely superior to all the hierarchies of men and angels, the one creature who is closest of all to Christ. “It is a great thing in any saint to have grace sufficient for the salvation of many souls; but to have enough to suffice for the salvation of everybody in the world. is the greatest of all; and this is found in Christ and in the Blessed Virgin.”[1]

10. It is impossible to say how pleasing and gratifying to her it is when we greet her with the Angelic Salutation, “full of grace”; and in repeating it, fashion these words of praise into ritual crowns for her. For every time we say them, we recall the memory of her exalted dignity and of the Redemption of the human race which God began through her. We likewise bring to mind the divine and everlasting bond which links her with the joys and sorrows, the humiliations and triumphs of Christ in directing and helping mankind to eternal life.

11. It pleased Christ to take upon Himself the Son of Man, and to become thereby our Brother, in order that His mercy to us might be shown most openly; for “it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest before God.”[2] Likewise because Mary was chosen to be the Mother of Christ, our Lord and our Brother, the unique prerogative was given her above all other mothers to show her mercy to us and to pour it out upon us. Besides, as we are indebted to Christ for sharing in some way with us the right, which is peculiarly His own, of calling God our Father and possessing Him as such, we are in like manner indebted to Him for His loving generosity in sharing with us the right to call Mary our Mother and to cherish her as such.

12. While nature itself made the name of mother the sweetest of all names and has made motherhood the very model of tender and solicitous love, no tongue is eloquent enough to put in words what every devout soul feels, namely how intense is the flame of affectionate and active charity which glows in Mary, in her who is truly our mother not in a human way but through Christ. Nobody knows and comprehends so well as she everything that concerns us: what helps we need in life; what dangers, public or private, threaten our welfare; what difficulties and evils surround us; above all, how fierce is the fight we wage with ruthless enemies of our salvation. In these and in all other troubles of life her power is most far-reaching. Her desire to use it is most ardent to bring consolation, strength, and help of every kind to children who are dear to her.

13. Accordingly, let us approach Mary confidently, wholeheartedly beseeching her by the bonds of her motherhood which unite her so closely to Jesus and at the same time to us. Let us with deepest devotion invoke her constant aid in the prayer which she herself has indicated and which is most acceptable to her. Then with good reason shall we rest with an easy and joyous mind under the protection of the best of mothers.

14. To this commendation of the Rosary which follows from the very nature of the prayer, We may add that the Rosary offers an easy way to present the chief mysteries of the Christian religion and to impress them upon the mind; and this commendation is one of the most beautiful of all. For it is mainly by faith that a man sets out on the straight and sure path to God and learns to revere in mind and heart His supreme majesty, His sovereignty over the whole of creation, His unsounded power, wisdom, and providence. For he who comes to God must believe that God exists and is a rewarder to those who seek Him. Moreover, because God’s eternal Son assumed our humanity and shone before us as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, our faith must include the lofty mysteries of the august Trinity of divine Persons and of the Father’s only-begotten Son made Man: “This is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”[3]

15. God gave us a most precious blessing when He gave us faith. By this gift we are not only raised above the level of human things, to contemplate and share in the divine nature, but are also furnished with the means of meriting the rewards of heaven; and therefore the hope is encouraged and strengthened that we shall one day look upon God, not in the shadowy images of His creatures, but in the fullest light, and shall enjoy Him forever as the Supreme Goodness. But the Christian is kept so busy by the various affairs of life and wanders so easily into matters of little importance, that unless he be helped with frequent reminders, the truths which are of first importance and necessity are little by little forgotten; and then faith begins to grow weak and may even perish.

16. To ward off these exceedingly great dangers of ignorance from her children, the Church, which never relaxes her vigilant and diligent care, has been in the habit of looking for the staunchest support of faith in the Rosary of Mary. And indeed in the Rosary, along with the most beautiful and efficacious prayer arranged in an orderly pattern, the chief mysteries of our religion follow one another, as they are brought before our mind for contemplation: first of all the mysteries in which the Word was made flesh and Mary, the inviolate Virgin and Mother, performed her maternal duties for Him with a holy joy; there come then the sorrows, the agony and death of the suffering Christ, the price at which the salvation of our race was accomplished; then follow the mysteries full of His glory; His triumph over death, the Ascension into heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit, the resplendent brightness of Mary received among the stars, and finally the everlasting glory of all the saints in heaven united with the glory of the Mother and her Son.

17. This uninterrupted sequence of wonderful events the Rosary frequently and perseveringly recalls to the minds of the faithful and presents almost as though they were unfolding before our eyes: and this, flooding the souls of those who devoutly recite it with a sweetness of piety that never grows weary, impresses and stirs them as though they were listening to the very voice of the Blessed Mother explaining the mysteries and conversing with them at length about their salvation.

18. It will not, then, seem too much to say that in places, families, and nations in which the Rosary of Mary retains its ancient honor, the loss of faith through ignorance and vicious error need not be feared.

19. There is still another and not lesser advantage which the Church earnestly seeks for her children from the Rosary, and that is the faithful regulation of their lives and their conduct in keeping with the rules and precepts of their holy religion. For if, as we all know from Holy Scripture, “faith without works is dead.”[4] — because faith draws its life from charity and charity flowers forth in a profusion of holy actions — then the Christian will gain nothing for eternal life from his faith unless his life be ordered in accordance with what faith prescribes. “What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him?”[5] A man of this sort will incur a much heavier rebuke from Christ the Judge than those who are, unfortunately, ignorant of Christian faith and its teaching: they, unlike the former, who believes one thing and practices another, have some excuse or at least are less blameworthy, because they lack the light of the Gospel.

20. In order therefore that the faith we profess may the better bring forth a harvest of fruits in keeping with its nature, while the mind is dwelling on mysteries of the Rosary the heart is wonderfully enkindled by them to make virtuous resolutions. What an example we have set before us! This shines forth everywhere in our Lord’s work of salvation. Almighty God, in the excess of His love for us, takes upon Himself the form of lowly man. He dwells in our midst as one of the multitude, converses with us as a friend, instructs and teaches the way of justice to individuals and to multitudes. In His discourse He is the teacher unexcelled; in the authority of His teaching He is God. To all He shows Himself a doer of good; He relieves the sick of the ills of their bodies and, with paternal compassion, heals the most serious sickness of their souls. Those above all whom sorrow troubles or whom the weight of worry crushes, He comforts with the gentle invitation: “Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you.”[6] Then into us, at rest in His embrace, He breathes that mystic fire which He has brought to all men, and benignly imbues us with the meekness and humility of His own heart, with the hope that, by the practice of these virtues, we may share the true and solid peace of which He is the Author: “Learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls.”[7] For Himself, in return for that light of heavenly wisdom and that stupendous abundance of blessings which only He could merit for mankind, He suffers the hatred of men and their most atrocious insults; and, nailed to the cross, He pours out His blood and yields up His soul, holding it to be the highest glory to beget life in men by His death.

21. It would be utterly impossible for anyone to meditate on and attentively consider these most precious memorials of our loving Redeemer and not have a heart on fire with gratitude to Him. Such is the power of a faith sincerely practiced that, through the light it brings to man’s mind and the vigor with which it moves his heart, he will straightway set out in the footsteps of Christ and follow them through every obstacle, making his own a protestation worthy of a St. Paul: “Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword?”[8] “I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me.”[9]

22. But lest we be dismayed by the consciousness of our native weakness and grow faint when confronted with the unattainable example which Christ, who is Man and at the same time God, has given, along with mysteries which portray Him, we have before our eyes for contemplation the mysteries of His most holy Mother.

23. She was born, it is true, of the royal family of David, but she fell heir to none of the wealth and grandeur of her ancestors. She passed her life in obscurity, in a humble town, in a home humbler still, the more content with her retirement and the poverty of her home because they left her freer to lift up her heart to God and to cling to Him closely as the supreme Goodness for which her heart yearned.

24. The Lord is with her whom He has filled with His grace and made blessed. She is designated by the heavenly messenger sent to her as the Virgin from whom, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the expected Savior of nations is to come forth clothed in our humanity. The more she wonders at the sublime dignity and gives thanks to the power and mercy of God, the more does she, conscious of no merit in herself, grow in humility, promptly proclaiming and consecrating herself the handmaid of God even while she becomes His Mother.

25. Her sacred promise was as sacredly kept with a joyous heart; henceforth she leads a life in perpetual union with her son Jesus, sharing with Him His joys and sorrows. It is thus that she will reach a height of glory granted to no other creature, whether human or angelic, because no one will receive a reward for virtue to be compared with hers; it is thus that the crown of the kingdoms of heaven and of earth will await her because she will be the invincible Queen of Martyrs. It is thus that she will be seated in the heavenly city of God by the side of her Son, crowned for all eternity, because she will drink with Him the cup overflowing with sorrow faithfully through all her life, most faithfully on Calvary.

26. In Mary we see how a truly good and provident God has established for us a most suitable example of every virtue. As we look upon her and think about her we are not cast down as though stricken by the overpowering splendor of God’s power; but, on the contrary, attracted by the closeness of the common nature we share with her, we strive with greater confidence to imitate her. If we, with her powerful help, should dedicate ourselves wholly and entirely to the undertaking, we can portray at least an outline of such great virtue and sanctity, and reproducing that perfect conformity of our lives to all God’s designs which she possessed in so marvelous a degree, we shall follow her into heaven.

27. Undaunted and full of courage, let us go on with the pilgrimage we have undertaken even though the way be rough and full of obstacle Amid the vexation and toil let us not cease to hold out suppliant hands to Mary with the words of the Church: “To thee do we send up our sigh mourning and weeping in this valley of tears; turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us. . . Keep our lives all spotless, make our ways secure, till we find in Jesus joys that will endure.”[10]

28. Although she was never subject to the frailty and perversity of our nature, Mary we knows its condition and is the best and most solicitous of mothers. How willingly will she hasten to our aid when we need her; with what love will she refresh us, and with what strength sustain us. For those of us who follow the journey hallowed by the blood of Christ and by the tears of Mary, our entrance into their company and the enjoyment of their most blessed glory will be certain and easy.

29. Therefore the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, combining in a convenient and practical form an unexcelled form of prayer, an instrument well adapted to preserve the faith and an illustrious example of perfect virtue, should be often in the hands of the true Christian and be devoutly recited and meditated upon. We address this commendation especially to the Confraternity of the Holy Family which We recently praised and approved. Since the mystery of the hidden life which Christ our Lord long led within the walls of the house in Nazareth is the reason for the existence of this association, that its members may constantly conform themselves to Christian life on the model of the Holy Family established by God Himself, its intimate connection with the Rosary is plain.

30. Especially is this so in the joyful mysteries, which end with the one in which Jesus, after manifesting His wisdom in the temple, came with Mary and Joseph to Nazareth and was subject to them, preparing, as it were, for the other mysteries which are more closely connected with the instruction and the Redemption of mankind. From this all the members may understand that it is their duty to be devotees of the Rosary themselves and to be diligent in propagating devotion to it among others.

31. For Our part, We confirm and ratify the grants of sacred indulgences made in years past in favor of the faithful who spend the month of October in the manner We have prescribed. Because of your authority and zeal, Venerable Brethren, We know that the Catholic people will be fired with devotion and holy emulation in venerating through the Rosary, the Blessed Virgin, Help of Christians.

32. And now let Us bring Our exhortation to a close in the way it began, proclaiming once more and even more openly the devotion we cherish toward the great Mother of God, a devotion both mindful of past blessings and full of joyous hope. We ask the prayers of the Christian people in devout supplication before her altars on behalf of the Church, tormented by such adverse and turbulent times, and on behalf of Ourself as well. Advanced in age, worn out with labors, fettered by distressingly difficult events with no human help to rely upon, We must yet carry on the government of the Church. Our hope in Mary, powerful and benign Mother, is daily more confirmed and more sweetly consoling. To her intercession We attribute the many and remarkable gifts We have obtained from God; with thanks still more profuse do we attribute the fact that it has been given Us to reach the fiftieth anniversary of Our episcopal consecration.

33. It is, indeed, a great comfort to us, looking back over the long years of Our pastoral charge, troubled as they have been by daily worry, that We are still engaged in ruling the whole Christian flock. During that time We have had, as happens in men’s lives and as the mysteries of Christ and Mary illustrate, reasons for joy mixed with reasons for many and bitter sorrows, as well as occasions to glory in gains won for Christ. All of this We, with a mind submissive to God and with a grateful heart, have tried to turn to the good and the honor of the Church. And now — for the rest of Our life will run a course not unlike the past — should new joys come to gladden Our heart, or sorrow to threaten Us, or honors to glory in, We, steadfast in the same heart and mind, yearning only for the heavenly glory which God confers, say with David: “Blessed be the name of the Lord”;[11] Not to us, but to thy name give glory.”[12]

34. From Our devoted children, whose filial and affectionate concern for us We know burns bright, We look for heartfelt thanks to God, prayers, and holy aspirations, rather than for congratulations and honors. It will be a special joy to Us if they ask for Us this grace, that all the strength and life that remain to Us, all the authority and grace with which We are invested, may profit the Church, and in the first place bring back into her fold her enemies and those who have wandered from the right way, to whom our voice has this long time been appealing for reconciliation.

35. Upon all of Our dearly beloved children may there flow, from the happiness and joy of Our coming Jubilee, God granting, gifts of justice, peace, prosperity, holiness, and all good things. This, with paternal love, We beg God; this do We exhort in the words of His Holy Scriptures: “Hear me. . . and bud forth as the rose planted by the brooks of waters: Give ye a sweet odor as frankincense. . . Send forth flowers, as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace and praise with canticles and bless the Lord in his works. Magnify his name, and give glory to him with the voice of your lips, and with the canticles of your mouths. and with harps. . . With the whole heart and mouth praise ye him, and bless the name of the Lord.”[13]

36. If these plans, so ardently desired, be scoffed at by the wicked who blaspheme that of which they are ignorant, may God mercifully spare them. But that He may give Our hopes His propitious aid through the prayers of the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, take as a token of divine favor and at the same time as a pledge of Our affection, Venerable Brethren, the Apostolic Benediction, which We, lovingly in the Lord, bestow on each of you, on your clergy, and on your people.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, the eighth of September, 1892, in the fifteenth year of Our Pontificate.

---

ENDNOTES:

• 1. St. Thomas Aquinas, Super Salut. Ang.
• 2. Hebr. 2:17.
• 3. Jn. 17:3.
• 4. James 2:20.
• 5. James 2:14.
• 6. Mt. 11:28.
• 7. Mt. 11:29.
• 8. Rom. 8:35.
• 9. Gal. 2:20.
• 10. Sacred Liturgy.
• 11. Ps. 112:2.
• 12. Ps. 113:1.
• 13. Ecclus. 39:17-20, 41.

A Guest Post From Jack Seney

Mr Seney reviews a recent biography of Andrea Dworkin, the radical Left-wing feminist and revolutionary. There are a few facts about her life that surprised me.

By Jack Seney

Martin Duberman's book Andrea Dworkin: The Feminist as Revolutionary, from 2020 is a biography of the radical feminist known for her corpulent frame, hillbilly overalls and straggly hair. What was I doing reading it? Dworkin was an interesting person despite my disagreeing with her on some matters. What more reason is needed?

Born a shy Jewish Jersey girl with strict parents, Dworkin's radicalization started as it often does - in her college years, in her case in Vermont in the late 1960s. Dworkin then traveled to Greece and lived in the Netherlands, writing poetry and hanging out with left-wing crowds while having affairs with men and women alike. This always surprises those who were sure she was strictly a lesbian, or even asexual due to her weight issues.

Dworkin tried to write her first feminist book while married to an "anarchist" Dutch man. She regularly wrote her parents for survival money despite her radicalism, but was homeless for some periods anyway.

Dworkin's husband became highly abusive, and once again many will be surprised to see her as an entirely beaten and crushed wife who still tried to please her sociopathic spouse.

Dworkin rallied, however, coming back to the U.S. with her pets and settling in New York where she began to be published. Her feminist books and journalism, embrace of protest and angry public speeches soon made her famous on the radical circuit.

My favorite photo of Dworkin is of her in debate with Alan Dershowitz, and giving him the middle finger. Such a response to the insufferable Dershowitz is something that I am surely okay with.

I agree with Dworkin's anti-pornography views, which I believe have been proven correct over the decades with even mainstream researchers now admitting the harmfulness of porn addiction. I agree with her anti-war stance as well. And she was instrumental in helping me to realize just how many women and girls have been abused by men throughout the ages, with the numbers increasing rather than decreasing under liberalism. She also condemned the sleazebag William Clinton and supported his victims at a time when other "radical feminists" refused to.

On other things, especially her pro-abortion position, Dworkin was the opposite of me. And also of feminists like Susan B. Anthony who opposed abortion, being fully aware of the fact that abortion, you know, often kills female babies! And Dworkin's "ground-breaking" ideas on "transgenders" and "multiple possibilities concerning sex" make no more sense to me today than when she first spewed them as radical bromides.

Dworkin ended up marrying a man again, and this time the union was a success. He supported her continuous writing and her spirits in the midst of numerous health problems, and was with her when she died of cardiomyopathy at age 58 in 2005.

This biography is absorbing and well-researched while moving at the exciting pace of a novel. It will give Dworkin disagreers a new and entirely more human view of her even as differences remain, and one can hope for little more than that.

The Caliph of Islam in Turkey

MM commemorates the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924.

From The Mad Monarchist (4 March 2013)

 It was on March 3, 1924 that the last Muslim caliphate was officially abolished and Abdul Mejid II, the last Caliph of Islam (and heir to the last Ottoman Sultan, his cousin) was removed from his position and expelled from Turkey by the first republican and then secular government of modern Turkey. Looking back, perhaps because of all that has happened in the world of the Middle East since, it seems slightly strange that the two positions did not disappear at the same time or that it was the position of Padishah Sultan that was abolished first. To be denied the title of Sultan while still retaining the title of Caliph seems rather like telling someone, ‘we do not trust you to be the ruler of our country but we still believe you are the representative of God on earth”. Does not quite make sense to me. For Turks who hold fast to their faith and the system of traditional authority embodied by the Sultan and Caliph this can only be a sad anniversary. Yet, outsiders should consider the occasion as well. The fall of the caliphate has not yielded much benefit for anyone; Turkish or not, Muslim or not.

Whether things would be a great deal better if there was still a Caliph in Turkey no one can say, but it could only be an improvement. Look beyond the Turkish borders for a moment and consider the worldwide problem today with terrorism. There are people of the worst sort, who are both murderers and cowards, carrying out terrible and despicable deeds all in the name of Islam. They butcher helpless innocents and call themselves “holy warriors”. And no one should make any mistake about what is in the hearts of these criminals, after all, the terrorists who carried out the 9-11 attacks in America spent their last night on earth at a strip club. The faithful these are certainly not. Yet, they have fooled many people into thinking that they are and by making such a claim they have blackened the name of Islam, perhaps worse than at any other point in history. I say that because, even in the days of the Crusades, a Christian like King Richard I could look at a Muslim like Sultan Saladin and consider him a brave and worthy adversary. Even in those days of open religious warfare Christians could respect the gallantry of their Muslim foes who would send their doctors to care for the Christian King.

There were terrible things that happened of course, but things were more organized and certainly it would be helpful if there were a Caliph of Islam who could speak with authority in denouncing the atrocities of the terrorists who kill the defenseless and claim to be religious men. However, as beneficial as that could be, there is also the very real possibility that such a Caliph would be ignored. Would Arab and other Muslims react positively to a Turkish Caliph of Islam? The question must be asked, I think, because the Ottoman Empire, led by the Sultan and Caliph, was brought down in part by Arab and other Muslims rising in rebellion against the Turkish Sultan and joining with the Allies (primarily the French and British) in bringing down and eventually breaking up the Ottoman Empire; the last caliphate. When, in the midst of World War I, the Sultan formally pronounced a jihad against the Allied powers, he was, for the most part, ignored by the rest of the Muslim world.

There is also the question as to whether or not our increasingly anti-traditional world would even tolerate such a figure. Turkey, for some reason which completely escapes my comprehension, seems desperate to join the European Union and the E.U. has certainly not shown itself to be favorably inclined toward organized religion. Would they allow Turkey into the E.U. if the Caliph was restored? Personally, I think that would be all the more reason to do it but I’m not Turkish and most seem to want to join the European Union. However, although the amount of wider good a restored Caliph might do is debatable, one certain thing is that the people of Turkey would have a better form of moral guidance and by going that extra step to restoring the monarchy there would be greater consistency and a form of government more in keeping with Turkish traditions and hearkening back to the days when Turkey was a great nation, a major world power and not reduced to the status of appealing for favors from the EU government in Brussels. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, having the Sultan and Caliph back would do none harm and possibly be of great benefit in countries far distant as a voice of legitimate authority.

Bishop Challoner's Meditations - June 25th

ON THE LESSONS WE ARE TO LEARN FROM ST. JOHN BAPTIST

Consider first, that the design of keeping the festivals of the saints is not only to honour God in his saints, and to give him thanks for the grace and glory bestowed upon them through Jesus Christ, but also to encourage the faithful to an imitation of their virtues, in hopes of arriving one day at their blessed company, by walking in their footsteps. If then we desire to keep the festival of St. John in a suitable manner, we must endeavour to learn the lessons he teaches by his great example. His whole life in the desert was one continued exercise of prayer and mortification; these are the lessons that all Christians must, in some measure, learn, that desire to come to the eternal society of the saints. If our daily occupations, if human frailty will not allow us to have that continual attention to God which St. John had, at least we must frequently and fervently aspire after him, in the midst of all our other employment, and give every day a regular and competent time to the holy exercise of prayer. If we cannot think of bringing ourselves to such hard diet, clothing, and lodging as his was, at least we must daily retrench superfluities in eating, drinking, clothing, sleep, and unnecessary diversions; we must mortify our vanity, curiosity, and sensuality, and learn on many occasions to renounce our own will, to give up our own humours, and to contradict our darling inclinations.

Consider 2ndly, the humility of St. John, how mean an opinion he had of himself, how little regard he had for the esteem and applause of the world; how he freely and openly professed to the people, who had the highest opinion of him, that he was neither Christ, nor Elias, nor a prophet, but only 'a voice of one crying in the wilderness,' &c., and unworthy of doing the meanest office for him that was to follow him; how glad he was when he saw himself decrease in the opinion of the world, and his glory eclipsed by the preaching and miracles of Jesus Christ. O blessed humility which alone art capable of making any one great before the Lord! All other virtues are grounded on thee - without thee they degenerate into vices. Christians, let us study well this most necessary lesson.

Consider 3rdly, the zeal of St. John for the glory of God, and his constancy in maintaining justice and truth, without respect of persons, even to the laying down his life in the cause. He was not 'a reed shaken with the wind:' he knew not what it was to flatter worldlings in their evil ways, or to comply through human respects, with anything contrary to conscience; he would not call evil good nor good evil. He zealously preached to sinners, of all degrees and conditions, the necessity of effectually renouncing their evil ways, and bringing forth worthy fruits of penance; he denounced the heavy judgments of God to the impenitent, and encouraged the penitent with the prospect of mercy. Christians, let us attend to these lessons which the Baptist so strongly inculcated both by word and work. The God whom we worship is the sovereign justice and the sovereign truth. If then we would be Christians indeed, we ought, like St. John, be willing to lay down our very lives rather than to offend against justice and truth.

Conclude to walk in the footsteps of St. John, and they will bring thee to Christ. He was sent to prepare the people for him, and to direct them to him; attend to his preaching and to his example, and he will do this good office for thee.

25 June, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day

Purity of Intention

1. Purity of intention consists in doing the will of God in all things from the motive of pure love. We should not be egocentric, but theocentric; in other words, we should perform all our actions, not for our own satisfaction, but to please God. Since God is our final end, everything should be done for Him. Why are we so often agitated and discontented? It is because we are looking for success and for the approval of men. If we do not get these, we imagine that we have failed and have accomplished nothing.

Men judge the value of an enterprise by its external success and by the amount of work which went into it. It is not so with God. He judges the value of our actions from the sincerity of our desire to please Him and to prove our love for Him. This is enough for Him; success is not necessary. If we do everything for the love of God, we shall always be content as the Saints were, whether our projects succeed or fail. We shall have achieved our purpose if we have pleased God.

Purity of intention in our actions is fundamental in the Christian life. “If thy eye be sound,” Jesus Himself tells us, “thy whole body will be full of life. But if thy eye be evil, thy whole body will he full of darkness.” (Mt. 6:22) “Man seeth those things that appear; but the Lord beholdeth the heart.” (I Kings 16:7)

A man who works solely for the love of God will have great peace of soul in this life and an everlasting reward in the next. But if in our actions we seek our own satisfaction or the praise of men, we shall have already received our reward on earth and cannot expect to receive it in Heaven. “They have received their reward.” (Mt. 6:2)

Purity of intention, inspired by the love of God, transforms even our most trivial actions and makes them pleasing to God. Without it we lose all merit in the sight of God.

Do you remember the Gospel incident of the poor widow who offered her last two coins in the Temple? Others were there offering up large sums of money, but she could not have given more. “Amen I say to you,” said Jesus, “this poor widow has put in more than all those who have been putting money into the treasury.” (Mk. 12:41-44)

2. St. Alphonsus indicates the signs by which we can judge whether our actions are performed from the pure intention of pleasing God. (1) The first sign is that you are not disturbed when your projects are unsuccessful, but retain the same composure as if you had succeeded. This will be the case when you are working for God alone, so that once you realise that God has not desired your efforts to succeed, you no longer desire it either. You know that He is not concerned with the outcome of your work, but only with whether you have undertaken it with the purpose of pleasing Him. (2) The second proof is that you are as pleased with the good which is worked by means of others as if it had been achieved through you. (3) The third sign is that you do not long for one position rather than another, but are content with whatever Providence has arranged for you, so that you seek only to please God in everything which you do. (4) The final proof is that you do not look for approval or gratitude because of your good actions. If you are not appreciated or are ill-treated in any way, you retain your peace of mind because you have already achieved your purpose, which was to please God by working for love of Him. (Cf. Al Divino Servizio II, 7)

3. Principles:

God alone is deserving of all our love.

We should do everything which we should wish to have done at the hour of death.

We should live on earth as if nothing else existed but God and ourselves. (Ibid)

Eastern Rite - Feasts of 25 June AM 7530

Today is the Feast of the Holy Venerable Virgin-Martyr Febronia.

✠✠✠✠✠

The Virgin Martyr Febronia suffered during the reign of Diocletian (284-305). She was raised at a monastery in the city of Sivapolis (Assyria). The head of the women’s monastery was the abbess Bryaίnē, the aunt of Saint Febronia. Being concerned about her niece’s salvation, she assigned her a stricter form of life than the other nuns. According to their monastic rule, on Fridays the sisters put aside their other duties and spent the whole day in prayer and the reading of Holy Scripture. The abbess usually assigned the reading to Saint Febronia.

News of her pious life spread throughout the city. The illustrious young widow Hieria, a pagan, began to visit her, and under the influence of her guidance and prayer she accepted holy Baptism, bringing her parents and kinsfolk to the Christian Faith.

Diocletian sent a detachment of soldiers to Assyria under the command of Lysimachus, Selinus and Primus for the destruction of Christians. Selenos, the uncle of Lysimachus, was noted for his fierce attitude against Christians, but Lysimachus was of a different frame of mind from him, since his mother had sought to inspire love for the Christian faith in her son, and she had died a Christian. Lysimachus had discussed with his kinsman Primus how it would be possible to deliver Christians from the hands of the torturer. When the detachment of soldiers approached the convent, its inhabitants hid. There remained only the abbess Bryaίnē, her helper Thomais and Saint Febronia, who was seriously ill at the time.

It grieved the abbess terribly that her niece might fall into the hands of the torturers, who might defile her. She prayed fervently that the Lord would preserve her and strengthen her in the confession of Christ the Savior. Selinus gave orders to bring him all the nuns of the convent. Primus with the detachment of soldiers found no one, except the two old women and Saint Febronia. He regretted that they had not hidden, and he suggested to the nuns that they flee. But the nuns decided not to leave the place of their labours and they entrusted themselves to the will of the Lord.

Primus told Lysimachus about the particular beauty of Saint Febronia and advised him to take her for himself. Lysimachus said that he would not seduce a virgin dedicated to God, and he asked Primus to hide the other nuns somewhere so that they would not fall into the hands of Selinus. One of the soldiers overheard the conversation and told Selinus. They led Saint Febronia off to the military commander with her hands bound and a chain around her neck. Selinus urged her to deny Christ, promising her honours, rewards, and marriage with Lysimachus. The holy virgin firmly and fearlessly answered that she had an Immortal Bridegroom, and she would not exchange Him for any mortal man. Selinus subjected her to fierce torture. The saint prayed, “My Saviour, do not abandon me in this terrible hour!”

They beat the martyr for a long time, and blood flowed from her wounds. In order to intensify the suffering of Saint Febronia, they tied her to a tree and set a fire under it. The tortures were so inhuman, that the people began to demand an end to the torture, since there was no confession of guilt by the girl. Selinus continued to mock and jeer at the martyr, but Saint Febronia became silent. Because of weakness, she was unable to utter a word. In a rage, Selinus gave orders to tear out her tongue, smash her teeth, and finally, cut off both hands and feet. The people were unable to bear such a horrid spectacle and they left the scene of the torture, cursing Diocletian and his gods.

Among the crowd was the nun Thomais, who afterwards recorded Saint Febronia’s martyrdom in detail, and also her student Hieria. She came forth out of the crowd and in the hearing of all reproached Selinus for his boundless cruelty. He gave orders to arrest her, but learning that Hieria was of illustrious standing whom he could not readily subject to torture, he said, “By your speech, you have brought on Febronia even greater torment.” Finally, they beheaded the holy Martyr Febronia.

Departing the place of execution, Lysimachus wept and withdrew to his quarters. Selinus made ready to eat, but he was not able to take food and went off to the quiet of his own chambers. Suddenly, he became like one deranged. Looking up to the heavens, he raved and bellowed like a bull, then fell down and struck his head on a marble column and died. When Lysimachus learned of this, he said, “ Great is the God of the Christians, Who has avenged Febronia’s blood, so unrighteously shed!” He prepared a coffin, placed the martyr’s body in it, and took it to the convent.,

Abbess Bryaίnē fell senseless, seeing the mutilated remains of Saint Febronia. Later, she recovered her senses and gave orders to open the convent gates so that all would be able to come and venerate the holy martyr and glorify God Who had given her such endurance in suffering for Christ. Lysimachus and Primus renounced their idol worship and accepted both Baptism and monasticism. Hieria gave her wealth to the convent and petitioned Abbess Bryaίnē to accept her at the convent in place of Saint Febronia.

Every year, on the day of the martyric death of Saint Febronia, a solemn feast was celebrated at the convent. During the time of the all-night Vigil, the nuns always saw Saint Febronia, at her usual place in the church. From the relics of Saint Febronia occurred numerous miracles and healings. The Life of Saint Febronia was recorded by the nun Thomais, an eyewitness to her deeds.

In the year 363, the relics of Saint Febronia were transferred to Constantinople.

Soon after the death of Saint Febronia, Saint James the Bishop of Nisibis (January 13) built a church and transferred into it a portion of the holy martyr’s relics. 

Troparion — Tone 3

Like a fragrant rose in the ascetic life, / you breathed forth the myrrh of Christ. / Therefore he has glorified you as a righteous martyr, O Febronia. / Now intercede with him for those who cry: / “Rejoice, O noble and blessed martyr!

”
Troparion — Tone 4

Your lamb Febronia, calls out to You, O Jesus, in a loud voice: / “I love You, my Bridegroom, and in seeking You I endure suffering. / In baptism I was crucified so that I might reign in You, and I died so that I might live with You. / Accept me as a pure sacrifice, / for I have offered myself in love.” / Through her prayers save our souls, since You are merciful.

Kontakion — Tone 3

You were adorned with the grace of virginity and the beauty of martyrdom, / O Febronia, bride of Christ. / You wisely carried your lamp and ran to your Bridegroom / receiving an incorruptible crown. / Pray for those who faithfully sing hymns of praise to you!

Kontakion — Tone 6

“Most sweet Jesus, my Bridegroom, / it is not hard for me to follow You;” cried Febronia, / “the sweetness of Your love gives wings of hope to my soul, / the beauty of Your mercy has sweetened my heart; / may I drain the cup of sufferings in imitation of You, / so that You may count me worthy to be among the wise virgins: / those who dance with You in Your bridal chamber.” / Therefore, venerable passion-bearer, as we honour the struggles of your labours we entreat you: / “Pray that we do not find the doors of the bridal chamber locked to us.”

IN LUMINE FIDEI: 25 JUNE – SAINT WILLIAM OF VERCELLI (Abbot)

IN LUMINE FIDEI: 25 JUNE – SAINT WILLIAM OF VERCELLI (Abbot): William was born of noble parents at Vercelli in the Piedmont in 1085. His parents died while he was still a child and he was brought...

25 June, The Chesterton Calendar

JUNE 25th

A man's good work is effected by doing what he does: a woman's by being what she is.

'Robert Browning.'

25 June, The Holy Rule of St Benedict, Patriarch of Western Monasticism

CHAPTER XVIII. In what order the Psalms are to be said

24 Feb. ( if it be leap-year; if not it is added to the preceding day). 25 June. 25 Oct. 

The order of psalmody for the Day-Hours being now arranged, let all the remaining 25 Psalms be equally distributed among the seven Night- Offices, dividing the longer Psalms among them, and assigning twelve to each night. Above all, we recommend that if this arrangement of the Psalms be displeasing to anyone, he should, if he think fit, order it otherwise; taking care in any case that the whole Psalter of a hundred and fifty Psalms be recited every week, and always begun afresh at the Night-Office on Sunday. For those monks would shew themselves very slothful in the divine service who said in the course of a week less than the entire Psalter, with the usual canticles; since we read that our holy fathers resolutely performed in a single day what I pray we tepid monks may achieve in a whole week.

26 June, The Roman Martyrology

Sexto Kaléndas Iúlii Luna vicésima sexta Anno Dómini 2022

June 26th 2022, the 26th day of the Moon, were born into the better life:

At Rome, upon the Celian Mount, the holy brethren John and Paul, both martyrs. John was provost of the household, and Paul chief steward of the Virgin Constantia, daughter of the Emperor Constantine. Under the Emperor Julian the Apostate they both received the palm of martyrdom by the sword.
At Trent, [about the year 400,] the holy Vigilius, Bishop [of that see,] who, because he was striving to stamp out utterly the last remains of idolatry, was stoned by savage men, and so compassed martyrdom for Christ's Name's sake.
At Cordova, in Spain, [in the tenth century,] the holy child Pelagius, who crowned his confession of the faith with a glorious martyrdom, by being torn to pieces with iron pincers, by order of Abdu'l-Rahman, King of the Saracens.
At Valenciennes, [at the beginning of the ninth century,] the holy martyrs Salvius, Bishop of Angoulême, and Superius. Also the commemoration of the holy Anthelm, Bishop of Bellay, [in the year 1178.]
At Poitou, [in the sixth century,] the holy Priest and Confessor Maxentius, who was famous for miracles.
At Thessalonica, [likewise in the sixth century,] the holy Hermit David.
On the same day, [in the sixth century also,] the holy Virgin Perseveranda.
V. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.

Memes of the Day

"Disney, Other U.S. Companies Offer Abortion Travel Benefit As Supreme Court Strikes Down Roe

See my post,Now the Work Begins!!! for how little difference the overturn of Roe will make to the number of child murders in the US and how this will help keep the numbers high.

From Reuters

NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - U.S. companies including Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) said on Friday they will cover employees' expenses if they have to travel for abortion services after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday took the dramatic step of overturning the landmark 1973 ruling that recognized a woman's constitutional right to an abortion and legalized it nationwide, handing a momentous victory to Republicans and religious conservatives who want to limit or ban and, in some states criminalize, the procedure. read more

Many states are expected to further restrict or ban abortions following the ruling, making it difficult for female employees to terminate pregnancies unless they travel to states where the procedure is allowed.

For example, in Oklahoma a bill signed in April bans abortion except in medical emergencies and penalizes providers who violate the law with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison. The law is due to take effect in August. States offering abortion protections include New York and Maryland. read more

Disney told employees on Friday that it recognizes the impact of the abortion ruling, but remains committed to providing comprehensive access to quality healthcare, including for abortions, according to a Disney spokesperson. read more

Meta will reimburse travel expenses for employees seeking out-of-state reproductive care, but the company was also "assessing how best to do so given the legal complexities involved," according to a spokesperson.

Companies that offer reimbursements for abortion-related travel could be vulnerable to lawsuits by pro-life groups and Republican-led states, and even potential criminal penalties.

Lawyers and other experts said employers could face claims that their policies violate state laws banning, facilitating or aiding and abetting abortions.

A draft of the Supreme Court ruling on abortion was leaked in May. At that time, many other companies including online review site Yelp (YELP.N) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Tesla (TSLA.O) said they will help cover the cost of travel for employees seeking reproductive services.

Yelp co-founder and Chief Executive Jeremy Stoppelman on Friday said the ruling "puts women's health in jeopardy, denies them their human rights, and threatens to dismantle the progress we’ve made toward gender equality in the workplace since Roe."

Alaska Air Group (ALK.N), parent of Alaska Airlines, said on Friday it is "reimbursing travel for certain medical procedures and treatments if they are not available where you live. Today’s Supreme Court decision does not change that."

Other companies offering the benefit include online dating sites OkCupid and Bumble Inc (BMBL.O), Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the nation's largest bank. read more

"OkCupid is horrified by the news of Roe being overturned. This is an issue of gender equality and an issue of human rights," said. OkCupid Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Hobey."