Ss Blaise and Ansgar

Today is the Feasts of St Blaise, Patron of throat diseases and of St Ansgar, Apostle of the North, and Patron of Scandinavia.

Both biographies below, with some edits, are taken from Catholic Online.

St Blase

Saint Blaise was the bishop of Sebastea and a doctor. The first known record of the saint's life comes from the medical writings of Aëtius Amidenus, where he is recorded as helping with patients suffering from objects stuck in their throat. Many of the miraculous aspects of St. Blaise's life are written of 400 years after his martyrdom in the "Acts of St. Blaise."

Saint Blaise is believed to begin as a healer then, eventually, became a "physician of souls." He then retired to a cave, where he remained in prayer. People often turned to Saint Blaise for healing miracles.

In 316, the governor of Cappadocia and of Lesser Armenia, Agricola, arrested then-bishop Blaise for being a Christian. On their way to the jail, a woman set her only son, who was chocking to death on a fish bone, at his feet.

Blaise cured the child, and though Agricola was amazed, he could not get Blaise to renounce his faith. Therefore, Agricola beat Blaise with a stick and tore at his flesh with iron combs before beheading him.

In another tale, Blaise was being led to the prison in Sebastea, and on the way came across a poor old woman whose pig had been stolen by a wolf. Blaise commanded the wolf return the pig, which it did -alive and uninjured - to the amazement of all.

When he reached Sebastea, the woman came to him and brought two fine wax candles in an attempt to dispel the gloom of his darkened cell.

In the Middle Ages, Blaise became quite popular and his legend as a beast tamer spread. He was then referred to as the "saint of the wild beast."

Many German churches are dedicated to Saint Blaise, sometimes called Saint Blasius.

In Great Britain, the village of St. Blazey got its name from Saint Blaise, and a church dedicated to the saint can be found in Decon hamlet of Haccombe, near Newton Abbot.

There is a Saint Blaise's Well in Kent, and the water is believed to have medicinal properties. A Blessing of the Throats ceremony in many Churches on or near his Feast Day. My Parish is having the blessing both on his Feast (today) and tomorrow at Sunday Mass.

A Catholic middle school was named after Saint Blaise in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The name was decided upon when the link between Bradford and the woolen industry was connected to the way St. Blaise was martyred: with woolcomb.

Saint Blaise is often depicted holding two crossed candles in his hand, or in a cave with wild animals. He is also often shown with steel combs. The similarity of the steel combs and the wool combs made a large contribution to Saint Blaise's leadership as the patron saint of wool combers and the wool trade.

St Ansgar

Ansgar was born of a noble family near Amiens. He became a monk at Old Corbie monastery in Picardy and later at New Corbie in Westphalia. He accompanied King Harold to Denmark when the exiled King returned to his native land and engaged in missionary work there. Ansgar's success caused King Bjorn of Sweden to invite him to that country, and he built the first Christian Church in Sweden. He became Abbot of New Corbie and first Archbishop of Hamburg about 831, and Pope Gregory IV appointed him Legate to the Scandinavian countries. He laboured at his missionary works for the next fourteen years but saw all he had accomplished destroyed when invading pagan Northmen in 845 destroyed Hamburg and overran the Scandinavian countries, which lapsed into paganism. He was appointed first Archbishop of Bremen about 848, and the See was united with that of Hamburg by Pope Nicholas I. Ansgar again returned to Denmark and Sweden in 854 and resumed his missionary activities, converting Erik, King of Jutland. Ansgar's success was due to his great preaching ability, the austerity and holiness of his life, and the miracles he is reputed to have performed. Though called "the Apostle of the North" and the first Christian missionary in Scandinavia, the whole area lapsed into paganism again after his death at Bremen on February 3rd. His name is also spelled Anskar.

The Feast of Blessed Charlemagne, and a Prayer Written by Dom Prosper Gueranger O.S.B.

Today is the Feast of Blessed Charlemagne, Most Serene Augustus Crowned by God, the Great and Pacific Emperor Ruling the Roman Empire. If you're German, he's Karl der Große, if Serbian, Чарлс Великог, and if Swedish, Charles den Stora. In Latin, it's Carolus Magnus.

It is also, my middle son Charles' Name-day.

Born the son of Pepin the Short in AD 742, he became King of the Franks in AD 768 and King of the Lombards in AD 774. When he became King of the Lombards, it is likely that he was crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy, which in addition to being a regal crown is also a reliquary containing one of the Nails used to fix Our Crucified Lord to the Holy Cross.

He was raised to the Imperial Throne on the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, AD 800, in succession to Constantine VI of the 'Eastern' Empire. Constantine had been deposed and the Throne usurped by a woman who pretended to be Empress in her own right. A woman may not be Emperor of the Romans any more than a man may give birth!

James, Viscount Bryce says in his monumental The Holy Roman Empire,

When Odoacer compelled the abdication of Romulus Augustulus, he did not abolish the Western Empire as a separate power, but caused it to be reunited with or sink into the Eastern, so that from that time there was, as there had been before before Diocletian, a single undivided Roman Empire. In A.D. 800 the very memory of the separate Western Empire, as it had stood from the death of Theodosius till Odoacer, had, so far as appears, been long since lost, and neither Leo nor Charles nor any one among their advisers dreamt of reviving it. They too, like their predecessors, held the Roman Empire to be one and indivisible, and proposed by the coronation of the Frankish king not to proclaim a severance of the East and West, but to reverse the act of Constantine, and make Old Rome again the civil as well as the ecclesiastical capital of the Empire that bore her name. Their deed was in its essence illegal, but they sought to give it every semblance of legality: they professed and partly believed that they were not revolting against a reigning sovereign, but legitimately filling up the place of the deposed Constantine the Sixth, the people of the imperial city exercising their ancient right of choice, their bishop his right of consecration.

Bryce, Viscount James. The Holy Roman Empire (Kindle Locations 741-750). Vook, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

His 'signature'. See the little 'point' forming a tiny square in the larger square at the centre of K(A)R(O)L(U)S? A scribe would write out the sentence, and the Emperor would 'sign' his name by making the two short lines to make the tiny square.

Here is a prayer in his honour written by Dom Prosper Gueranger O.S.B., and it is not a prayer to gladden the hearts of liberal 'Catholics' and their left-wing henchmen!

Prayer to Charlemagne 

"Hail, O Charles, beloved of God, Apostle of Christ, defender of His Church, protector of justice, guardian of good customs, terror of the enemies of the Christian name! 

"The tainted diadem of the Caesars - purified by the hands of Leo - sits on your august forehead; the globe of the Empire rests in your vigorous hand; the ever-victorious sword in your combats for Our Lord is sheathed at your waist, and on your forehead the imperial anointing was added to the royal unction by the hand of the Pontiff who consecrated you and confirmed your authority. As the representative of the figure of Christ in His temporal Royalty, you desired that He would reign in you and through you.

"Now God rewards you for the love you had for Him, for the zeal you displayed for His glory, for the respect and confidence you showed toward His Spouse. In exchange for an earthly kingship, transitory and uncertain, you enjoy now an immortal kingdom where so many million of souls, who by your hands escaped idolatry, today honor you as the instrument of their salvation. 

"During the days of celebration of the birth of Our Lord by Our Lady, you offered to them the gracious temple you built in their honor (the Basilica of Aix-la-Chapelle), and which is still today the object of our admiration. It was in this place that your pious hands placed the newborn garment worn by her Divine Son. As retribution, the Son of God desired that your bones should gloriously rest in the same place to receive the testimony of the veneration of the peoples. 

"O glorious heir to the three Magi Kings of the East, present our souls before the One who wore such a humble garment. Ask Him to give us a part of the profound humility you had as you knelt before the Manger, a part of that great joy that filled your heart at Christmas, a part of that fiery zeal that made you realize so many works for the glory of the Infant Christ, and a part of that great strength that never abandoned you in your conquests for His Kingdom. 

"O mighty Emperor, you who of old was the arbiter of the whole European family assembled under your scepter, have mercy on this society that today is being destroyed in all its parts. After more than a thousand years, the Empire that the Church placed in your hands has collapsed as a chastisement for its infidelity to the Church that founded it. The nations still remain, troubled and afflicted. Only the Church can return life to them through the Faith; only she continues to be the depositary of public law; only she can govern the powerful and bless the obedient. 

"O Charles the Great, we beseech you to make that day arrive soon when society, re-established at its foundations, will cease asking liberty and order from the revolutions. Protect with a special love France, the most splendid flower of your magnificent crown. Show that you are always her king and father. Put an end to the false progress of the faithless empires of the North that have fallen into schism and heresy, and do not permit the peoples of the Holy Empire to fall prisoner to them."

And here is a link to an article my friend, the Mad Monarchist, did a few years ago:

The Mad Monarchist: The Feast of Charlemagne

And, from even longer ago, a post from Roman Christendom.

28 January - the Feast of Emperor St Charlemagne, the founder of the Holy Roman Empire

Vox Cantoris: Capuchin Friar accuses Pope Francis of "calumny" and "demeaning" the importance of doctrine and creating confusion!

Re-blogged, by permission, from Vox Cantoris.

Capuchin Friar, Fr. Thomas Weinandy released a letter publicly, a letter which he wrote to Pope Francis in July. Weinandy is not unknown for controversy of the good kind, at least according to the National Uncatholic Reporter as they rejoiced in his stepping down from a USCCB post a few years ago.

As interesting and notable as the letter he issued to the Bishop of Rome is the lead up to it.



"There was no longer any doubt that Jesus wanted me to write…"

by Thomas G. Weinandy

Last May I was in Rome for an International Theological Commission meeting. I was staying at Domus Sanctae Marthae, and since I arrived early, I spent most of the Sunday afternoon prior to the meeting on Monday in Saint Peter’s praying in the Eucharistic Chapel.

I was praying about the present state of the Church and the anxieties I had about the present Pontificate. I was beseeching Jesus and Mary, St. Peter and all of the saintly popes who are buried there to do something to rectify the confusion and turmoil within the Church today, a chaos and an uncertainty that I felt Pope Francis had himself caused. I was also pondering whether or not I should write and publish something expressing my concerns and anxiety.

On the following Wednesday afternoon, at the conclusion of my meeting, I went again to St. Peter’s and prayed in the same manner. That night I could not get to sleep, which is very unusual for me. It was due to all that was on my mind pertaining to the Church and Pope Francis.

At 1:15 AM I got up and went outside for short time. When I went back to my room, I said to the Lord: “If you want me to write something, you have to give me a clear sign. This is what the sign must be. Tomorrow morning I am going to Saint Mary Major’s to pray and then I am going to Saint John Lateran. After that I am coming back to Saint Peter’s to have lunch with a seminary friend of mine. During that interval, I must meet someone that I know but have not seen in a very long time and would never expect to see in Rome at this time. That person cannot be from the United States, Canada or Great Britain. Moreover, that person has to say to me in the course of our conversation, ‘Keep up the good writing’.”

The next morning I did all of the above and by the time I met my seminarian friend for lunch what I had asked the Lord the following night was no longer in the forefront of my mind.

However, towards the end of the meal an archbishop appeared between two parked cars right in front of our table (we were sitting outside). I had not seen him for over twenty years, long before he became an archbishop. We recognized one another immediately. What made his appearance even more unusual was that, because of his recent personal circumstances, I would never have expected to see him in Rome or anywhere else, other than in his own archdiocese. (He was from none of the above mentioned countries.) We spoke about his coming to Rome and caught up on what we were doing. I then introduced him to my seminarian friend. He said to my friend that we had met a long time ago and that he had, at that time, just finished reading my book on the immutability of God and the Incarnation. He told my friend that it was an excellent book, that it helped him sort out the issue, and that my friend should read the book. Then he turned to me and said: “Keep up the good writing.”
I could hardly believe that this just happened in a matter of a few minutes. But there was no longer any doubt in my mind that Jesus wanted me to write something. I also think it significant that it was an Archbishop that Jesus used. I considered it an apostolic mandate.


So giving it considerable thought and after writing many drafts, I decided to write Pope Francis directly about my concerns. However, I always intended to make it public since I felt many of my concerns were the same concerns that others had, especially among the laity, and so I publicly wanted to give voice to their concerns as well.



Now, the letter...


Your Holiness,

I write this letter with love for the Church and sincere respect for your office. You are the Vicar of Christ on earth, the shepherd of his flock, the successor to St. Peter and so the rock upon which Christ will build his Church. All Catholics, clergy and laity alike, are to look to you with filial loyalty and obedience grounded in truth. The Church turns to you in a spirit of faith, with the hope that you will guide her in love.

Yet, Your Holiness, a chronic confusion seems to mark your pontificate. The light of faith, hope, and love is not absent, but too often it is obscured by the ambiguity of your words and actions. This fosters within the faithful a growing unease. It compromises their capacity for love, joy and peace. Allow me to offer a few brief examples.

First there is the disputed Chapter 8 of "Amoris Laetitia." I need not share my own concerns about its content. Others, not only theologians, but also cardinals and bishops, have already done that. The main source of concern is the manner of your teaching. In "Amoris Laetitia," your guidance at times seems intentionally ambiguous, thus inviting both a traditional interpretation of Catholic teaching on marriage and divorce as well as one that might imply a change in that teaching. As you wisely note, pastors should accompany and encourage persons in irregular marriages; but ambiguity persists about what that "accompaniment" actually means. To teach with such a seemingly intentional lack of clarity inevitably risks sinning against the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit is given to the Church, and particularly to yourself, to dispel error, not to foster it. Moreover, only where there is truth can there be authentic love, for truth is the light that sets women and men free from the blindness of sin, a darkness that kills the life of the soul. Yet you seem to censor and even mock those who interpret Chapter 8 of "Amoris Laetitia" in accord with Church tradition as Pharisaic stone-throwers who embody a merciless rigorism. This kind of calumny is alien to the nature of the Petrine ministry. Some of your advisors regrettably seem to engage in similar actions. Such behavior gives the impression that your views cannot survive theological scrutiny, and so must be sustained by "ad hominem" arguments.

Second, too often your manner seems to demean the importance of Church doctrine. Again and again you portray doctrine as dead and bookish, and far from the pastoral concerns of everyday life. Your critics have been accused, in your own words, of making doctrine an ideology. But it is precisely Christian doctrine – including the fine distinctions made with regard to central beliefs like the Trinitarian nature of God; the nature and purpose of the Church; the Incarnation; the Redemption; and the sacraments – that frees people from worldly ideologies and assures that they are actually preaching and teaching the authentic, life-giving Gospel. Those who devalue the doctrines of the Church separate themselves from Jesus, the author of truth. What they then possess, and can only possess, is an ideology – one that conforms to the world of sin and death.

Third, faithful Catholics can only be disconcerted by your choice of some bishops, men who seem not merely open to those who hold views counter to Christian belief but who support and even defend them. What scandalizes believers, and even some fellow bishops, is not only your having appointed such men to be shepherds of the Church, but that you also seem silent in the face of their teaching and pastoral practice. This weakens the zeal of the many women and men who have championed authentic Catholic teaching over long periods of time, often at the risk of their own reputations and well-being. As a result, many of the faithful, who embody the "sensus fidelium," are losing confidence in their supreme shepherd.

Fourth, the Church is one body, the Mystical Body of Christ, and you are commissioned by the Lord himself to promote and strengthen her unity. But your actions and words too often seem intent on doing the opposite. Encouraging a form of "synodality" that allows and promotes various doctrinal and moral options within the Church can only lead to more theological and pastoral confusion. Such synodality is unwise and, in practice, works against collegial unity among bishops.

Holy Father, this brings me to my final concern. You have often spoken about the need for transparency within the Church. You have frequently encouraged, particularly during the two past synods, all persons, especially bishops, to speak their mind and not be fearful of what the pope may think. But have you noticed that the majority of bishops throughout the world are remarkably silent? Why is this? Bishops are quick learners, and what many have learned from your pontificate is not that you are open to criticism, but that you resent it. Many bishops are silent because they desire to be loyal to you, and so they do not express – at least publicly; privately is another matter – the concerns that your pontificate raises. Many fear that if they speak their mind, they will be marginalized or worse.

I have often asked myself: "Why has Jesus let all of this happen?" The only answer that comes to mind is that Jesus wants to manifest just how weak is the faith of many within the Church, even among too many of her bishops. Ironically, your pontificate has given those who hold harmful theological and pastoral views the license and confidence to come into the light and expose their previously hidden darkness. In recognizing this darkness, the Church will humbly need to renew herself, and so continue to grow in holiness.

Holy Father, I pray for you constantly and will continue to do so. May the Holy Spirit lead you to the light of truth and the life of love so that you can dispel the darkness that now hides the beauty of Jesus’ Church.

Sincerely in Christ,

Thomas G. Weinandy, O.F.M., Cap.
July 31, 2017
Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola

All Hallows

Today is the Feast of All Saints. I would like to wish all my readers (if I have any) a blessed Feast Day. And Latin Rite Catholics! Remember today is a Holy Day of Obligation. We must abstain from servile work and attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

A Christian EU?

Reblogged from Theodore Harvey's Royal World, by permission.

As a monarchist who rejects the Italian, German, and French republics in principle, I'm not especially sympathetic to conservative arguments (though Metropolitan Hilarion has also made comments favorable to monarchy) that the European Project was founded by Devout Christians but only later went off track. Alcide De Gasperi, Theodor Heuss, Konrad Adenauer, and Robert Schuman were not acceptable substitutes for legitimate Christian kings. At a personal level, they remind me of the sort of people I used to argue with on Catholic forums who were dismissive of my monarchist beliefs. That they would probably be appalled by what the EU has become today doesn't mean their sort of "conservatism" wasn't part of the problem. That Western Europe, including its republics, was a superficially decent enough place to live during the second half of the 20th century (I'm not so sure about today) doesn't make the catastrophic political changes of the first half acceptable. France, Portugal, Germany, Austria, and Italy shouldn't _have_ presidents, no matter how "conservative" or "Christian." They should have kings. We can't bring the dead of the World Wars back to life. But we can rebuild buildings, and we can restore monarchies, and we should never give up on the real Europe which is Royal as much as it is Christian.

Kyrie Eleison!

I own a prayer book, the Jesus+Mary+Joseph Novena Manual, imprimatured by His Excellency Francis J. Mugavero, D.D., Bishop of Brooklyn on 5 August 1975, well after the close of the Second Œcumenical Council of the Vatican. In that prayer book occurs this prayer:

To Our Lady Help of Christians
«for loyalty to Holy Mother Church »
MARY, Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and our Mother « thou seest how the Catholic Faith is assailed by the devil and the world « that Faith in which we purpose by the help of God, to live and die. To thee we entrust our firm purpose of never joining assemblies of heretics. Do thou, all holy, offer to thy Divine Son our resolutions, and obtain from Him the graces necessary for us to keep them unto the end. Amen.
Mary, help of Christians, pray for us.

Why am I posting this? Because that prayer expresses the unchanging teaching of the Church on dealings with heretical sects.

Tomorrow is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's rebellion against Catholic Truth and Unity, a rebellion that began Europe's and the West's long decline into the relativistic moral cesspit it is now. And how is the post-Conciliar Church treating this horrific anniversary? By celebrating it!

Around the world, with the active encouragement of the Pope and many hierarchs, Churches are holding joint celebrations with the Lutheran heretics, the founder of which sect once said, 

 I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist.

And this is what that anti-Catholic, anti-Christ attitude of celebrating a heresiarch, who was also the debaucher of a Consecrated Virgin, leads to, Catholics praying Hail Mary removed by Police from Brussels Cathedral during "Reformation Celebration".

A group of Catholics, who actually believe in obeying the age-old teaching of the Church, decided to 'protest' the desecration of a Cathedral dedicated to St. Michael and St. Gudula, St Michael, of course, being the Prince of the Heavenly Host, tasked by God with fighting against the enemies of Christ's Holy Catholic Church. Their 'protest' took the form of simply kneeling to pray the Ave Maria in reparation for the sins being committed in this abomination. 

The response of the Cathedral staff, masquerading under the name 'Catholic' was to call the police and have these faithful Catholics physically removed from the Cathedral.

How long, O Lord, how long?

God's Bounty

At every Mass, during the growing season, we pray for clement weather and sufficient rain for the crops. Now we're praying for good weather for the reaping, a good harvest, and a just price for the grain and for livestock. It seems God is answering our prayers. The harvest is in full swing and there is neither sufficient storage nor enough rail cars to transport the corn as it is brought to the Farmers' Co-op. Here's what they do. And, yes, those are full-sized pickup trucks, and that little dot to their left is a man!

The Feast of Christ the King

Today, in the General Roman Calendar of 1960, approved for use by Traditional Institutes such as the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter and other Traditional groups, is the Feast of Christ the King. In the General Roman Calendar of 1969, it has been moved to the last Sunday in Ordinary Time, a not insignificant change as we shall see. It was instituted by His Holiness Pope Pius XI, of Blessed Memory, in 1925 by his Encyclical Letter, Quas Primas.

Quas Primas was a a development of ideas going back to the Church Fathers, but concretely  presented earlier by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, and Pope Pius himself. Pope Leo had said in Annum Sacrum,

 His empire extends not only over Catholic nations and those who, having been duly washed in the waters of holy baptism, belong of right to the Church, although erroneous opinions keep them astray, or dissent from her teaching cuts them off from her care; it comprises also all those who are deprived of the Christian faith, so that the whole human race is most truly under the power of Jesus Christ. 

And Pope Pius had said in his Ubi arcano Dei consilio, 

 ...(A)s long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.

A short comparison of the Rites: 

 The Collect from the Traditional Roman Rite:

Almighty and everlasting God, who in thy beloved Son, the King of the whole world, hast willed to restore all things: mercifully grant that all the families of nations, now kept apart by the wound of sin, may be brought under the sweet yoke of his rule.Who with thee liveth and reigneth, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

And for comparison, the Collect for the Feast from the Missal of Pope Paul VI:

Almighty ever-living God, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of the universe, grant, we pray, that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

A pretty stark difference, eh? From all the nations of the world brought under the sweet yoke of Christ's rule to all of creation rendering service and proclaiming God's praise. The last time I checked, all of creation, except Man and the fallen angels, did all of that as essential to their nature.

With one exception the readings have been changed, as well. In the Traditional Rite, the Epistle is Col 1:12 - 20, and the Gospel is John 18:33 - 37. The Gospel from John survives in Year B in the three year cycle, Year A being Matt 25:31-46, and Year C, Luke 23:35-43

The point of these alterations, along with the change of date, seems to have been to remove the idea that Christ should reign as King today, the date being in the Time after Pentecost, in our hearts, our homes and families, in our societies, and in our nations, to be replaced with the idea that Christ will reign at the end of time, with the date on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time. over all creation. This, of course, removes the pesky idea that Christ is King, even now, over protestant. Muslim, Jewish, pagan, and atheist hearts, homes, societies and nations. That would be triumphalist and exclusionary!

And, by placing it on the last Sunday in October, it was deliberately placed close to 'Reformation Day', kept by many protestant churches on the same Sunday to celebrate the heresiarch Luther's rebellion against Christ's Holy Catholic Church.

The doctrine of the Feast is expressed very well in this prayer from Fr Stedman's Jesus+Mary+Joseph Novena Manual: 

 HAIL, CHRIST, OUR KING 

 MOST SWEET JESUS! Come near to us, Thy children. Receive from our hands that crown which those who are but dust of earth, try to seize from Thee. Enter now in triumph among us, Thy fervent Lawmakers may break the tables of Thy Law, but whilst they lose their thrones and are forgotten, we, Thy subjects, will continue to salute Thee « Hail, Christ, our King! 

They have said that Thy GOSPEL is out-of-date, that it hinders progress, and must no longer be considered. They who say this soon disappear into obscurity and are forgotten; whilst we, who adore Thee, continue to salute Thee « Hail, Christ, our King! 

The proud, the worldly « those who possess unlawful riches « those who thirst for riches, honors and pleasures alone « declaring Thy moral law to be for past ages « will be hurled against the Rock of Calvary and Thy Church and falling, will be reduced to dust, and sink into oblivion, « whilst we, Thy followers, continue to salute Thee « Hail, Christ, our King! 

Those who seek the dawn of a material civilization, divorced from God, will surely die, poisoned by their own false doctrine, deserted and cursed by their own children « whilst we, who would console Thee, will continue to salute Thee« Hail, Christ, our King! 

Yes, hail to Thee, O Christ, our King! Put to flight Lucifer, the fallen angel of darkness, from our homes, schools and society « force him and his agents into Hell « chain him there everlastingly « whilst we, Thy friends, continue to salute Thee« Hail, Christ, our King!

Stedman, Fr. Joseph F.. Jesus, Mary, Joseph Novena Manual: The New Revised (Kindle Locations 935-952). Confraternity of the Precious Blood. Kindle Edition. 

An excellent explanation of the ideas and doctrines of the Feast of Christ the King may be read in Mr Michael Davies', 'The Reign of Christ the King'. This booklet is a transcript of the keynote speech at the Catholic Voice International Conference in Chicago in the early 1990s. I was also a speaker at the conference on the subject of Christ the King and Monarchism, so I got to hear Mr Davies deliver his speech, after having been privileged to have dinner with him the night before.

And for those who do not have access to the prayers and hymns of the Traditional Office of Christ the King, here is a 'Little Office' I compiled some years ago, based on the example of the approved Little Offices, such as the Immaculate Conception, St Joseph, and the Holy Angels.

A Catholic Queen in India-The Story of Begum Samru

Being a retired Old Curmudgeon, I spend a good deal of my day surfing the 'net and watching educational videos on YouTube (OK, I admit it, sometimes I watch clips of cartoon shows!). The other day, in watching a non-cartoon video, I ran across a reference to someone called Begum Samru, mentioned as the only native Catholic Monarch India ever had. Who would have thought that in the late 18th-early 19th century there would be a Catholic ruler in India, excepting, of course, the French and Portuguese Kings? 

Portrait of Begum Samru

She was born a Muslim under the name Farzana Zeb un-Nissa. Her father died when she was six. She started life as a nautch girl in the court of the Raja of Bharatpur, but when she was 14, she married a Luxembourger named Walter Reinhardt, a mercenary who had begun as a private soldier in the French East India Company. By the time Farzana met him, he was a condottiero, leading a group of mercenary soldiers, offering their service to the petty princelings for use in their wars. Because of his sombre mien, the Europeans of his acquaintance gave him the sobriquet, 'Le Sombre', which later became pronounced by the Indians as 'Samru' or  'Sumru'.

Reinhardt was made Nawab of Agra, but in 1773 he was granted a large jagir (a feudal land grant) by the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II, and made the town of Sardhana his capital. Sardhana is in what is now the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh, in the northeast part of India, bordering on Nepal. 

When he died, five years later, his wife took command of his 82 European officers, 4,000 sepoys, and the Principality of Sardhana. She was called Begum Samru, begum being the female equivalent of beg or bey, Turkish for a high official.

Just 25, and standing just over 4'3" (1.3 metres), she was a formidable woman. Not only did she rule Sardhana effectively and efficiently, riding horseback, she led her troops into battle in a struggle to hold Sardhana. 

A guide book to the history of Sardhana says of her, 

“A favourite of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, Sumru is said to have saved his life twice and used the might of the sword and the lure of gold to win him supporters and fend off all his rivals. It earned her the titles of Zeb-un-Nisa (jewel amongst women) and Farzand-i-Azizi (most beloved daughter).”

Three years after her husband's death she converted to Catholicism, taking the baptismal name Joanna Nobilis and the surname Sombre from her husband's nickname. This is especially interesting because the English were rapidly becoming overlords of India through the Honourable East India Company, and Catholicism was still oppressed in England despite the Papist Acts in 1778, designed to lessen discrimination. Therefore, it would seem quite clear that this was not a 'conversion of convenience' to curry favour with the dominant power, but a conversion from the heart.

Prior to his death, her husband had expressed a desire to erect a Church in Honour of Our Lord and His Most Blessed Mother. In order to fulfill his wishes, she contracted the services of an Italian architect, Antonio Reghelini from Vicenza. Built in 1822 at the cost of 400,000 rupees, it was modeled on St Peter's in Rome with a touch of Andrea Palladio’s Italian architectural influence. It was dedicated to Our Lady of Graces. It remains a pilgrimage place to this day.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Graces

On 13 December 1961, Pope John XXIII granted the Church the title and dignity of a minor basilica. It is one of only 23 minor basilicas in India and the only one in northern India, most of the others being in the south where Christianity was planted by St Thomas the Apostle and strengthened by the Portuguese and French colonisers.

Her Palace in Sardhana is now owned by the Archdiocese of Agra and used as a school.

She also built a rather ornate palace for herself, in a suburb of New Delhi, now owned by the Bank of India.

Her Palace in New Delhi, after being damaged in the Sepoy Rebellion, 1857.

The back of the Palace, restored, as it exists today.

She is buried in the Church which she built. Memory Eternal!

Allegory in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings?

I was very pleased to find this essay, 'Is “The Lord of the Rings”' an Allegory?, by Mr Joseph Pearce, on 'The Imaginative Conservative'. As I read the title of it, I turned to my Other Half, and remarked that whatever the author of the essay and Professor Tolkien might say, The Lord of the Rings is, indeed, an allegory.

It seems my position is borne out by no less an authority than the good Professor himself. In a letter to Fr Robert Murray, S.J., he wrote 'The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.'

How could it be else? The man himself was a devout Catholic, indeed a Traditionalist, and his Faith informed virtually everything he wrote. The Nine Walkers depart Rivendell on their Quest to destroy the one Ring on the Feast of the Nativity, Christmas Day, in the year 3018 of the Third Age.

The Ring is destroyed on the Feast of the Annunciation, Lady Day, in the year 3019. Lady Day, 25 March, was, until Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar reform in 1732, the beginning of the new year. To reinforce this point, the beginning of the Fourth Age, according to the reckoning of Gondor, takes place two years later on 25 March, 3019.

These dates are not arbitrary. Professor Tolkien did not conjure them out of thin air. 

The entire trilogy is replete with allegorical allusions to the culture and society of the High Mediæval period, the Great Ages of Faith. The shire is the Professor's idealisation of the yeoman society of England during that time. Possibly the only thing that could have made it any more obviously a Catholic allegory would have been to engrafted the entire panoply of mediæval Catholicism on the tale, with Gandalf as a Bishop, etc.

Regardless of Professor Tolkien's distaste for 'allegory', clearly stated in the Preface to the second edition of the Lord of the Rings, 'As for any inner meaning or ‘message,’ it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical…. I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence', it is obvious to any Catholic reader, especially of a Traditionalist bent, that the story is chock full of allegory. I am glad Mr Pearce has written this essay to clarify the various ways in which 'allegory' may be defined, and in what way it quite obviously applies to one of the greatest works of Catholic fiction of all time.

Being a Catholic In Wilber, Nebraska

As is obvious from my profile to the right, I am a Traditional Catholic. I prefer the Mass and Sacraments as celebrated according to the approved liturgical books of 1962 and I recite the Roman Breviary as reformed by Pope John XXIII or the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin according to the Carmelite Rite in its last pre-conciliar recension.

However, since I no longer drive and the nearest Traditional Latin Mass is just a bit over 25 miles away, I am constrained to attend the Mass of Pope Paul VI. In the past, this has been a source of frustration and ofttimes anger for me, but now I'm blessed to live in the most orthodox Diocese in the US, the Diocese of Lincoln,  under our Bishop, His Excellency James Douglas Conley.

Many years ago, I had occasion to hear Mass in St Mary's Church, across the street from the State Capitol in Lincoln. After Mass, I approached the Celebrant and told him that in all the years I had been Catholic, I had never seen the Mass of Paul VI celebrated strictly according to the rubrics, or as Father Z would say by, 'saying the black, and doing the red'. Father replied that I could have attended any Church in the Diocese because that was just the way it was done under His Excellency Fabian Bruskewitz, the Ordinary at the time. A gentleman who overheard my remark said that Bishop Flavin, Bishop Bruskewitz's predecessor, had spent his entire time as Bishop building a wall around the Diocese and that Bishop Bruskewitz was adding to it brick by brick! I can honestly say that Bishop Conley is continuing the construction! And, we have St Gregory the Great Diocesan Seminary, envisioned by Bishop Flavin and brought to fruition by Bishop Bruskewitz. In a post-conciliar era of closing diocesan seminaries, as it says in the history of the seminary, 'It is the first free-standing diocesan seminary to be opened in the United States for many decades.'

We are, to my knowledge, the only Diocese in the US that does not allow girls to serve the altar or employ Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Boys serve the Altar, but they are never called 'acolytes', because assisting the Celebrant in the Sanctuary, and distributing Holy Communion, are mature men who are instituted acolytes, an official ministry in the Rite of Paul VI.

Not only are our Bishop and Clergy solidly orthodox, we also have an FSSP Parish in Lincoln offering the Traditional Latin Mass, the FSSP's Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton (the TLM that's 25 miles from me), and the Traditional Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in Valparaiso.

So what does this mean for a crotchety old curmudgeon in a little rural town? Well, it means that when I go to Mass, I know that it will be straight from the book. When we have a visiting Priest, as we did today, I know that his Mass will be identical to my Pastor's Mass next week. For the first time in my Catholic life, I'm actually considering buying a Missal of Paul VI. In the past, I saw no reason to do so, since every Priest seemed to be making up his own Mass as he went along, no matter what was printed in the missal or what the rubrics said. Why invest in a missal if I couldn't even follow the Masses I was hearing?

It means that I can expect solid Catholic teaching in the homilies. We hear about sin, the necessity for confession, fasting, Holy Days of Obligation, Fatima, Consecration to Mary, the Rosary, etc. You know, all that stuff that got 'de-emphasised' after Vatican II.

It means I belong to a vibrant Catholic Parish, albeit a small one. We don't have 'coffee hour' every Sunday, but when we do, I don't plan on eating lunch! The preparation is taken on by Parish families in an alphabetic rotation. This morning, the Priest announced that there would be coffee and rolls after Mass. We did have cake, but I didn't see any rolls! What I did see in addition to the cake, was biscuits and gravy, a breakfast casserole of bacon, eggs, potatoes, and corn, a fruit salad, and a couple of dishes that I didn't sample. We did, however have coffee (and orange juice).

It means that when our Patronal Feast of St Wenceslaus, Patron of Prague, Bohemia and the Czech Republic, as well our little Parish in the Czech Capital of the US,  rolled around, we celebrated the External Solemnity the Sunday before since it was on Thursday this year. Our Mass was as 'High' as we could get. Extra servers, incense, and all sung. After Mass, we had a Eucharistic Procession through the town to the outdoor Czech Theatre, where Father offered Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. On the way to the theatre we prayed the Rosary in unison, and on the return trip we sang old, traditional hymns. After the procession, we adjourned to St Ludmila's Hall, our Church basement, named for St Wenceslaus' grandmother who taught him the Catholic Faith. There we feasted on a potluck! I can't even remember all the dishes we had, but the centrepiece was duck, dumplings and sauerkraut, a traditional Bohemian feast day meal.

It means that, for the first time since I left my FSSP Latin Mass Community over ten years ago, I feel at home in the Parish in which I attend Mass!