Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Nigel Farage is now campaigning for Trump???

HERE, under the heading: "BREXIT Pioneer Destroys Hillary Clinton."

President Helter Skelter commutes sentences of 111 Federal inmates (total now: 562)


Gangsta-in-Chief, President Barack Hussein Obama has now raised the total number of sentences he's commuted for convicted felons to 562. His motive is reportedly 'compassion' for the mostly black families of offenders sentenced for non-violent charges of drug dealing -- families who, he says, need their fathers home. Oh really? You don't think you have some idea of how that's going to play out? Do you suppose, for a moment, that it's intended to quell the tensions of racial violence sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement? Think again. One suspects that as a lame duck president, since he has nothing more to lose, this president of surprises will have many more such 'gifts' to pass on to his beloved America.

[Many sources. Here's one.]

A quick look at ISIS' and al Queda's slick propaganda magazines: Dabiq and Inspire


You can download any of the first 15 issues of ISIS' magazine Dabiq [pictured above] HERE [PDF files]. Very telling. This is a serious magazine with articles on everything from Muslim theology to current events. Glossy color photos. A consistent, seamless Islam promoting terror for non-Muslims. Ugh.


Al Queda's counterpart, Inspire magazine [pictured above] features issues devoted to subjects like "assassination" outlining strategies intended to 'inspire' acts of terrorism. PDF files are also available online, and HERE is an an article by Wikipedia on the magazine.

See also Church Militant's panel discussion of these magazines and "The True Face of Islam" on their program Download HERE.

Any Muslim or non-Muslim who claims that Islam is a "religion of peace" has a major challenge on his hands in the face of these magazines and their stated views.

Hilarious: "Trump vs. Hillary: A Summation" by Paul Craig Roberts

Paul Craig Roberts, "Trump vs. Hillary: A Summation" (Institute for Political Economy, August 25, 2016). Excerpts:
Note (Roberts): I just heard a NPR report that young people were deserting the Republican Party, had turned leftwing and were flocking to Hillary. So now in America the leftwing candidate is a warmonger and agent of Wall Street! Amazing.

We know from their words and deeds and material success that the Clintons are agents for Wall Street, the Big Banks, the military/security complex, Israel, agribusiness, and the extractive industries. Their large personal fortune, approximately $120 million, and the $1,600 million in their foundation, much of which came from abroad in exchange for political favors, attests to the unchallengable fact that the Clintons are agents for the oligarchy that rules America, indeed, that rules the American Empire from Australia and Japan, through North America and Western and Eastern Europe to the Russian border.

We know that Hillary, like Bill, is a liar.

We know that Hillary is a warmonger.

We know that Hillary made the most irresponsible statement ever uttered by a presidential candidate when she declared the President of Russia to be the “new Hitler,” thereby raising tensions between the nuclear powers to a higher level than existed during the Cold War.

We know that Hillary is allied with the neoconservatives and that her belief in the neocons’ ideology of US world hegemony is likely to result in war with Russia and China.

All we know about Trump is that the oligarchs, who sent America’s jobs overseas, who flooded the country with difficult-to-assimilate immigrants, who destroyed public education, who bailed out Wall Street and the “banks too big to fail,” who sacrificed American homeowners and retirees living on a fixed income, who intend to privatize both Social Security and Medicare, who have given the public killer cops, relentless violations of privacy, the largest prison poplulation in the world, and destroyed the US Constitution in order to increase executive power over the American people, are violently opposed to Trump....

The entire power structure of our country is behind Hillary. Both Democratic and Republican political establishments and both ideologies, neoliberals and neoconservatives, are united behind Hillary.

How much more evidence do Americans need in order to know that a vote for Hillary is a vote for their own emasculation?

Apparently, Americans remain captives of their insouciance. According to news reports, a majority of voters still haven’t a clue about the consequences of voting for Hillary....

If Hillary gets into the Oval Office, nuclear war is likely before her first term is over. A vote for Hillary is a vote for nuclear war.

If you look at the forthcoming election realistically, you have no alternative but to conclude that the entirety of the presstitute media and American Establishment prefers the risk of nuclear war to the risk of losing control of the government to the voters.
Read much, much more >>

[Hat tip to Sir A.S.]

Dr. John Rao: Lake Garda Statement and Lecture: "Even Now the Devastation Is Begun"

Via Rorate Caeli (August 26, 2016): HERE. A penetrating "State of the Church."

Monday, August 29, 2016

Douthat: the myth of liberal cosmopolitanism: how the self-congratulatory elite are actually blinkered tribalists

Ross Douthat, "The Myth of Cosmopolitanism" (New York Times, July 2, 2016):
NOW that populist rebellions are taking Britain out of the European Union and the Republican Party out of contention for the presidency, perhaps we should speak no more of left and right, liberals and conservatives. From now on the great political battles will be fought between nationalists and internationalists, nativists and globalists. From now on the loyalties that matter will be narrowly tribal — Make America Great Again, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England — or multicultural and cosmopolitan.

Well, maybe. But describing the division this way has one great flaw. It gives the elite side of the debate (the side that does most of the describing) too much credit for being truly cosmopolitan.

Genuine cosmopolitanism is a rare thing. It requires comfort with real difference, with forms of life that are truly exotic relative to one’s own. It takes its cue from a Roman playwright’s line that “nothing human is alien to me,” and goes outward ready to be transformed by what it finds.

The people who consider themselves “cosmopolitan” in today’s West, by contrast, are part of a meritocratic order that transforms difference into similarity, by plucking the best and brightest from everywhere and homogenizing them into the peculiar species that we call “global citizens.”

This species is racially diverse (within limits) and eager to assimilate the fun-seeming bits of foreign cultures — food, a touch of exotic spirituality. But no less than Brexit-voting Cornish villagers, our global citizens think and act as members of a tribe.

They have their own distinctive worldview (basically liberal Christianity without Christ), their own common educational experience, their own shared values and assumptions (social psychologists call these WEIRD — for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic), and of course their own outgroups (evangelicals, Little Englanders) to fear, pity and despise. And like any tribal cohort they seek comfort and familiarity: From London to Paris to New York, each Western “global city” (like each “global university”) is increasingly interchangeable, so that wherever the citizen of the world travels he already feels at home.
Read more >>

[Hat tip to JM]

Fr. Perrone on the real prospect of serious persecution, and a petition to invoke Mother Teresa's intercession for the coming election

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" [temporary link] (Assumption Grotto News, August 28, 2-16) [emphasis added]:
In the past several years a great deal has been written about the English martyrs during the time of the Protestant takeover in the sixteenth century. The reason for this abundant writing, I opine, is the ominous expectation of how things may well come about in the USA should a reign of terror descend upon the Church. We have been getting signals to help prepare us for such an eventuality for sometime now, in learning that our religious freedoms are in a threatened state. The upcoming presidential election will play a significant if not decisive role in the outcome of the social, moral and religious life of our citizens.

As many of you know, the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta is immanent. The soon-to-be-saint was often present in our country for various purposes. I will recall the reception of Mother when she founded the community of her sisters in Detroit. There was a lot of media hullabaloo at the time which, as the saying goes, rolled easily over Mother's back. She who could not help being made noticed for her humble service (the inherent irony of humility) would hardly have been impressed by the presence of the press and TV cameras. Her firm aim in establishing the community of her sisters here was thereby to mediate the presence of the compassionate Christ thirsting for the souls of the indigent and wretched underclass people in the city of Detroit.

The process of canonization is ordinarily a rather protracted one due to the complexity of gathering testimony about the proposed subject's life, the examination of all pertinent writings and correspondences, and the attendant ecclesiastical business of which I know not a single thing. Exceptions to the prolonged procedure are rare. The canonization of St. Pope John Paul II is the outstanding recent example of this, and one is soon to follow in the case of Mother Teresa. But my reason for writing about Mother's soon-to-be-realized sainthood has to do with an idea I have had.

I am inviting all of you to say a prayer to Mother Teresa every day from now until election time to beg her to intercede for the good outcome of the November election. So much is at stake for our country, for our Catholic Church, and indeed for the whole world, that it cannot be understated. Would not she who showed such compassion for the spiritual and physical welfare of so many not willingly respond to the prayers of some devout souls who beseech her on behalf of the people of the United States? A simple daily formula might take the form of three Hail Mary's (or three Memorares) with an invocation to Blessed Mother Teresa to intercede for the welfare of our country in the November elections. (Other formulas would be as good. It's not a matter of hitting upon a magical formula but of the sincerity and fervor of the one praying.)

Many of you are justly worried over the possible course of things to come. I have repeatedly asked you to stay after Mass for the daily rosary to pray "for God's mercy on our country." I know many of you pray the rosary elsewhere privately, but this communal rosary (for which a plenary indulgence may be gained) is a special uniited parish effort for Our Blessed Mother to plead our case. If you love your country, your freedoms, righteousness, and your Catholic faith, you ought not lightly to excuse yourself from the rosary and from the aforementioned prayer to Mother Teresa. As I said in a recent homily, should the dread things every come to pass it will then be too late to change course without untold sufferings (cf. the English martyrs at the time of the Reformation). In such case, what will you who have excused yourselves from these prayers say?

Yes, I'm putting moral pressure on you to pray. We have thus far lost the battle (to be unisex bathrooms and ... who can say what? I guess legal prostitution, the right to public nudity and coition, and the suppression of at least some part of Catholic faith and practice.) You may scoff at these speculations as being over-drawn, but I ask you to consider where we were only a few decades ago, how things stand now, and what's being proposed now, openly.

Kindly make for yourselves a little prayer sheet to remind you daily to offer prayer to Mother Teresa for the above-stated intention and to be faithful to the daily rosary, especially in church with your priests and your Catholic fellows.

What life will be like under the other Clinton

The Church Militant quartet of the 'Download' program -- Bradley Eli, Simon Rafe, Christine Niles, and anchor Michael Voris -- discuss the prospect a Hillary Clinton victory in November. Suffice it to say, the complacent Catholic in his comfortable pew doesn't have much of a clue what's in store beyond the first few weeks.

Wikileaks: George Soros apparently believes money can buy anything, including the Pope's influence


Elizabeth Yore, Catholic speaker, writer, and founder of an international child protection advocacy group, claims to have identified information in the latest dump by Wikileaks about a strategic plan from a Board Meeting of George Soros' Open Society Foundation for seeking to use the influence of Pope and Cardinal Rodriguez, his senior advisor and confidant, to further its own ends. Scary.

Tridentine Community News - Ft. Hood holds first Missa Cantata; Annual bus tour to Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation; Shrine of the Little Flower Solemn High Mass; Bus Tour to St. Louis; TLM Mass schedule


"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"

Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (August 28, 2016):
August 28, 2016 – Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Fort Hood Holds First Missa Cantata

The enterprising team of Sergeant Major John Proctor, his wife Amy, and chaplains Fr. Lito Amande and Fr. Jose Herrera marked a milestone in the development of the U.S. military’s first Extraordinary Form community on Monday, August 15: A packed house of around 150 faithful was present for the first Missa Cantata to be celebrated on an Army post since Vatican II, at the Old Post Chapel at Fort Hood, Texas. The Latin Mass Choir from Austin’s St. Mary Cathedral provided the music. A crew from Extraordinary Faith was on-site to film the Mass and interview the organizers beforehand.


It is worth noting that the Old Post Chapel, a traditionally-appointed but necessarily non-denominational facility, has been given over for virtually exclusive use by the Latin Mass community. Let us pray that this is the first of many similar initiatives to come to provide traditional liturgy to those who serve in our armed forces.

Annual Bus Tour to Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation


On Thursday, September 8, Prayer Pilgrimages will hold its annual bus tour to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio. A Tridentine High Mass will be held at 12:00 Noon in the main Upper Basilica church (pictured at left). Lunch will be offered in the Shrine cafeteria, followed by a procession, outdoors if weather permits. Interestingly, two other pilgrimage groups, one from Louisville, Kentucky, heard about this Mass and scheduled their own trips on the same day so that they could be present.

Shrine of the Little Flower Solemn High Mass

The first week of October is shaping up to be a busy one for traditional Catholic events: On Sunday, October 2 at 10:00 AM, as previously reported, the first Tridentine Mass at St. Paul Albanian Church in Rochester Hills, Michigan will be offered. On Monday, October 3, at 7:00 PM, there will be a Solemn High Tridentine Mass at Royal Oak’s National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica, as part of a Prayer Pilgrimages bus tour there on the Feast of St. Therèse of the Child Jesus. Fr. Ryan Adams will be the celebrant. This will be the third Tridentine Mass to be held at Shrine. The first was a Solemn High Mass in 2009 which attracted approximately 650 of the faithful, a local record for attendance at a post-Vatican II Tridentine Mass yet to be surpassed. A second, more modest Mass took place in 2011 in the St. Therèse Chapel, part of a pre-Juventútem pilgrimage of young adults down Woodward Avenue.

Bus Tour to St. Louis


Immediately upon the heels of the Mass at Shrine, Tuesday-Friday, October 4-7, Prayer Pilgrimages will be offering a bus tour to the historic churches of St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis is known for some spectacular architecture, including the Shrine of St. Joseph [pictured] – a lay-run church one can think of as a fully-restored version of St. Albertus – and the so-called “new” Cathedral, a masterpiece of mosaic design. A Tridentine Mass at St. Francis de Sales Oratory is planned.

For more information or to register for any of Prayer Pilgrimages’ bus tours, visit www.prayerpilgrimages.com or call (248) 250-6005.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 08/29 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Beheading of St. John the Baptist)
  • Tue. 08/30 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary (St. Rose of Lima, Virgin)
  • Fri. 09/02 7:00 PM: High Mass at Old St. Mary’s (St. Stephen of Hungary, King & Confessor) [First Friday] – Devotions prayed before Mass. Reception after Mass in the Parish Hall.
  • Fri. 09/02 7:00 PM: High Mass at St. Josaphat (St. Stephen of Hungary, King & Confessor) [First Friday]
  • Sat. 09/03 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (St. Pius X, Pope & Confessor)
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for August 28, 2016. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Masses coming this week to metro Detroit and east Michigan


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week


    Sunday


    Monday

    • Mon. 08/29 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Beheading of St. John the Baptist - 3rd class)
    • Mon. 08/29 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Beheading of St. John the Baptist - 3rd class)
    • Mon. 08/29 12:00 Noon: High Tridentine Mass at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Beheading of St. John the Baptist - 3rd class)
    • Mon. 08/29 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Beheading of St. John the Baptist - 3rd class)
    • Mon. 08/29 7:00 PM: Ad ordientem Novus Ordo Mass celebrated by Archbishop Allen Vigneron at Assumption Grotto, Detroit, followed by Eucharistic procession (Beheading of St. John the Baptist - 3rd class)
    • Mon. 08/29 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Joseph's Church, Detroit (Beheading of St. John the Baptist - 3rd class)

    Tuesday


    Wednesday


    Thursday

    • Thu. 09/01 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or St. Giles - 4th class, or Jesus Christ the High Priest - 3rd class)
    • Thu. 09/01 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Feria - 4th class, or St. Giles - 4th class, or Jesus Christ the High Priest - 3rd class)
    • Thu. 09/01 7:00 PM: Low Mass (usually) Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or St. Giles - 4th class, or Jesus Christ the High Priest - 3rd class)

    Friday

    • Fri. 09/02 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Stephen of Hungary - 3rd class, or Sacred Heart of Jesus - 3rd class) [First Friday]
    • Fri. 09/02 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at a href="http://www.sspxmichigan.com/#!schedule/c24jx">St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Stephen of Hungary - 3rd class, or Sacred Heart of Jesus - 3rd class) [First Friday]
    • Fri. 09/02 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (St. Stephen of Hungary - 3rd class, or Sacred Heart of Jesus - 3rd class) [First Friday]
    • Fri. 09/02 7:00 PM: Low Mass (usually) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Stephen of Hungary - 3rd class, or Sacred Heart of Jesus - 3rd class) [First Friday]
    • Fri. 08/05 7:00 PM: High Mass at Old St. Mary’s (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major) – Reception after Mass in the Parish Hall [First Friday]
    • Fri. 09/02 7:00 PM: High Mass (periodically) at St. Joseph's Church, Detroit (St. Stephen of Hungary - 3rd class, or Sacred Heart of Jesus - 3rd class) [First Friday]

    Saturday

    • Sat. 09/03 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Pius X - 3rd class, or Immaculate Heart of Mary - 3rd class) [First Saturday]
    • Sat. 09/03 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 1/2 hour before Mass: call beforehand) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Pius X - 3rd class, or Immaculate Heart of Mary - 3rd class) [First Saturday]
    • Sat. 09/03 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Pius X - 3rd class, or Immaculate Heart of Mary - 3rd class) [First Saturday]
    • Sat. 09/03 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi, South Lyon, MI (St. Pius X - 3rd class, or Immaculate Heart of Mary - 3rd class) [First Saturday]
    • Sat. 09/03 6:00 PM Tridentine Mass at SS. Cyril & Methodius Slovak Catholic Church, Sterling Heights (St. Pius X - 3rd class, or Immaculate Heart of Mary - 3rd class) [First Saturday]

    Sunday

    * NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins." These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites. Also please note that St. Joseph's SSPX Chapel in Richmond has moved to Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

"The Language of Love in Qur'ān and Gospel"

Gordon Nickel, "The Language of Love in Qur'ān and Gospel" (Academia) - thorough, scholarly, helpful:
"This study [demonstrates] that there are indeed significant differences between the materials on love in the Qur'ān and Gospel, both in language and theology. It is not simply a matter of different meanings being expressed by the scriptural terminology of love in New Testament Greek and Qur'ānic Arabic. Rather, the difference extends to the characterization of relationships which are envisioned to exist among God and people."
[Hat tip to E.E.]

"What It's Like to Chestfeed" ~ the problems of the transgendered

Rod Dreher, "Problems That The Other America Has" (American Conservative, August 24, 2016):
... I am not interested in understanding the bodies or experiences of women who think they’re men who are bitching because nobody understands what it’s like to want to suckle your child at the breast you had cut off.

What I am interested in is trying to get inside the head of a coastal elite media that is obsessed with decadent crap like this. I think we can safely say that the people in J.D. Vance’s book aren’t readers of The Atlantic.com (one of my favorite websites, by the way), nor are most people in my part of the world who are out there mucking houses, feeding flood victims and doing their laundry. I get that. No magazine or web publication can be all things to all people all the time, nor should it try to be.

[I]f you read The Atlantic, The New York Times, and other publications edited by coastal elites, you would think that the travails of transgenders was the worst social problem facing America today. The bizarre degree of coverage and interest says little about transgenders and everything about the priorities of the media gatekeepers.

... I submit to you that most people in the elite media are far more concerned about the difficulties of a breastfeeding transman than they are with the struggles of a single mom in Appalachia trying to keep her kids from falling into opioid addiction, or the flood victims from Livingston Parish who tear up when you give them a package of toilet paper (this really happened), because they have nothing, not even that. I believe that our colleges are turning out graduates who are trained in the obsessions of the professoriat, such that they cannot even see their own country anymore.

As I keep saying, I am not for Donald Trump, and think he does not have what it takes to be president. And I’m certainly not for Hillary Clinton, who is the epitome of what’s wrong with our Establishment. But this kind of thing — showcasing the woes of the chestfeeding freakshow — is what makes me glad that the Trump people are throwing a brick through the Establishment’s window. Elites in Washington, New York, Boston, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood spend more time worrying about whether or not a transman can get his (“his”) baby to suckle at his absent breast, and society’s shameful indifference to that, than they do worrying about most any struggle in the daily lives of poor dumb rednecks and coonasses in Jesus Land.
Wow!

[Hat tip to JM]

Florence Foster Jenkins (movie)

Guy Noir contacted me with some remarks about this article by Megan Basham, "Florence Foster Jenkins" (World, September 3, 2016). Noir remarked:
I have not seen the movie, "FFJ."

I still can not bring myself to risk any Meryl Streep project after sitting through the effrontery that was "Mamma Mia!", and deciding she might be as self-indulgent as Streisand.

But even if this new movie is somehow affecting, as one singer-friend told me it is, this review offers a window into the modern (post-modern, or whatever you want to call it) mindset. "They're happy, so what's the conundrum." That in a nutshell is the worldview that pervades the culture in which we find ourselves.
Granted, "Mamma Mia!" was pretty appalling, despite what the greying Woodstock generation regards as good nostalgic music. Yet Streep is a terrific actress, nonetheless; just as Hugh Grant may be, to whom (in his earlier career) my own reaction is as viscerally negative as Noir's is to Streep here.

The Basham article in World magazine says that this historical 'dramedy' offers an inescapable sense of sadness. Indeed.

Friday, August 26, 2016

The New Ben Hur Falls Short of the Original Classic


So says Monica Migliorino Miller (Crisis, August 26, 2016), and I agree.

Despite impressive special effects in the naval battle scene and the chariot race, the most important part of the original narrative, the supernatural Christian faith that gives meaning to the whole in the original novel, is denatured in the movie, flattening out the vertical dimension of repentance and rebirth into horizontal banalities about overcoming hate and restoring ruptured human relationships.

But read Dr. Miller's account for a superlative analysis.

[Hat tip to Dr. Echeverria who treated me to a 3-D screening of Ben Hur last Saturday]

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Attention Catholic teachers and home schoolers: announcing new ancient history textbook


The eminently capable Phillip Campbell, who teaches history at St. Augustine's in Ann Arbor, with its highly-regarded classical curriculim, has just published the first volume in a series of 5th-7th grade-level history textbooks (publisher: TAN Books). The First volume is entitled The Ancient World: The Story of Civilization. Available with the textbook is a Test Book, Teacher's Manual, Activity Book, Timeline, Drama CDs, and Streaming Lecture Series.

If anyone is looking for a 5th-7th grade-level ancient history text written from a faithful and richly-informed Catholic perspective, look no further. This is what you want.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Superlatively thorough analysis of Laudato Si


This [also available here] is an analysis of Laudato Si, the Pope's "environmental encyclical," by 'Boniface', the moniker by which the author of Unam Sanctam Catholicsm is known. It is the most thoroughgoing analysis of Laudato Si that I have seen with penetrating evaluations and criticisms of those parts of the work that are bound to confuse and possibly mislead the faithful, yet not without appreciation for all that is positive.

This is one of those treatments that reminded me of how simply reading an ecclesiastical document, such as an Apostolic Exhortation, Encyclical, or Vatican II document, doesn't necessarily mean one has understood it. It takes a great deal of insight and background to analyze ecclesiastical documents; and reading this analysis, I thought to myself: I didn't realize half of what was in there. Good heavens! This is illuminating.

For example, the author points out how most conservative commentators objected to Pope Francis's critiques of western-style capitalism, whereas ironically he found these parts far from problematic: "they are," he writes, "some of its strongest parts."

By contrast, the parts that the author does find problematic may surprise some, especially in terms of the detailed analysis.

I wish I had time to do a justice to this analysis of Laudato Si that even approached something comparable to that which the author does to the Holy Father's work. Alas, the tyrannical business of the beginning of a semester prevents me.

But check out the work for yourself. It's an eBook and can be purchased here or here. It's entitled: Laudato Si: The 40 Concerns of an Exhausted Layman.

Cardinal Burke: Holy Father will need to offer clarification


David Gibson, "Cardinal Burke insists he is serving Francis, not opposing him" (RNS, August 22, 2016):
“We can’t understand this document to be magisterium in the way other documents have been because Pope Francis simply has a different approach to the papacy,” the cardinal said. “In his documents he mixes his own thoughts and approaches, which are personal, with questions of doctrine.”

Burke says he knows some disagree with him, but he said that he and “many serious-minded people” in the church hierarchy are calling for Francis to issue a follow-up document.

“I trust that something will have to happen also because some very formal calls for clarification are in process and they simply will demand a response,” Burke said, “not in any kind of hostile or aggressive way, but simply for the sake of souls because people are getting confused.”
Read more >>

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Tridentine Community News - Rail Car Chapels; Juventútem Michigan Leaders to Wed; TLM Mass schedule


"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"

Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (August 21, 2016):
August 21, 2016 – Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Rail Car Chapels Private rail cars have long been the province of politicians and the wealthy, but did you know that some have been outfitted to serve as Catholic chapels, hosting the Tridentine Mass? The Catholic Extension Society built at least three such cars. The St. Anthony Chapel Car is an early example, dating from 1908 and made out of wood.



A later example from the Extension Society is the St. Paul Chapel Car, made out of steel. The below diagram indicates that it contained a Communion Rail, organ, and behind the altar, priests’ living quarters. Even in regions such as Europe where rail travel is still a principal mode of long-distance transportation, it’s difficult to imagine that such a conveyance would be built today. Despite the cramped surroundings, it was still possible to hold an organ-accompanied High Mass in a dignified architectural setting. What a testament to the faith of the Catholics of that era.



Juventútem Michigan Leaders to Wed

Juventútem Michigan board members Michelle Harrison and Paul Schultz will marry each other at St. Thomas the Apostle, Ann Arbor, at 2:30 PM on Sunday, September 4. Everyone is invited to attend this Mass and to pray for their happy marriage. Fr. Zach Mabee will celebrate the Solemn High Mass for the Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost. Wassim Sarweh and singers from Windsor’s St. Benedict Choir will assist the Mass with Palestrina’s Missa Papæ Marcélli.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 08/22 7:00 PM: High Mass at Our Lady of the Scapular (Immaculate Heart of Mary) – Wassim Sarweh will provide the music
  • Mon. 08/22 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (Immaculate Heart of Mary)
  • Tue. 08/23 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary (St. Philip Benizi, Confessor)
  • Sat. 08/27 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (St. Joseph Calasance, Confessor)
  • Sun. 08/28 9:45 AM: Pontifical Missa Cantata at OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart (Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost) – Celebrant: Bishop Donald Hanchon
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for August 21, 2016. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Tridentine Masses coming this week to metro Detroit and east Michigan


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week


Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
  • Wed. 08/24 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Bartholomew - 2nd class)
  • Wed. 08/24 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Bartholomew - 2nd class)
  • Wed. 08/24 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Bartholomew - 2nd class)
Thursday
  • Thu. 08/25 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Louis IX - 3rd class)
  • Thu. 08/25 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Louis IX - 3rd class)
  • Thu. 08/25 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Louis IX - 3rd class)
Friday
  • Fri. 08/26 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or St. Zephyrinus - 4th class)
  • Fri. 08/26 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at a href="http://www.sspxmichigan.com/#!schedule/c24jx">St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Feria - 4th class, or St. Zephyrinus - 4th class)
  • Fri. 08/26 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or St. Zephyrinus - 4th class)
  • Fri. 08/26 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or St. Zephyrinus - 4th class)
  • Fri. 08/26 7:00 PM: High Mass (periodically) at St. Joseph's Church, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or St. Zephyrinus - 4th class)
Saturday Sunday
* NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins." These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites. Also please note that St. Joseph's SSPX Chapel in Richmond has moved to Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

National Catholic Register: "Satan fuels Islamist violence against Christians"

Deacon Nick Donnelly, "Satan Fuels Islamist Violence Against Christians" (National Catholic Register, August 10, 2016)
COMMENTARY: The beheading of Father Jacques Hamel was clearly intended as a deliberate desecration of the Church.


The brutal murder of 86-year-old Father Jacques Hamel by Islamic State terrorists on July 26 is an evil beyond the comprehension of all decent and moral people. The fact that Adel Kermiche and Abdelmalik Petitjean chose to attack a priest celebrating Mass and cut his throat as he knelt at the foot of the altar takes this act into the realm of demonic evil. The archbishop of Rouen told the congregation at Father Hamel’s requiem Mass that his dying words were, “Get away from me Satan.”
Read more >>

Related: Richard Ducayne, "Paris Archbishop calls God of Islam 'God of Death'" (CM World News, August 1, 2016): The French Archbishop, Andre Cardinal Vingt-Trois, has openly called the God of Islam, Allah, the "God of death" and even compared Allah to the pagan god Moloch, who demanded human sacrifice.

Putin vs. Obama: Who Occupies the High Ground?

Michael Matt, "Putin vs. Obama: Who Occupies the High Ground?" (The Remnant, August 20, 2016).


I realize this is anathema to the majority of both right- and left- wing US media. Russia is, in the public mind, the remnant of what Reagan called "the evil empire." Still, I have no idea why the U.S. is positioning its nuclear weapons increasingly closer to Russia and the Ukraine. Yes, I know about the amassing of Russian troops there. But that's hardly unprovoked. I frankly don't know what to think about Putin. I know of his nefarious KGB connections. I also know of his ostensible Christian connections and defense of public virtue. My hunch is that the chief reason he is demonized by the Western media is not because of the skeletons in his closet but because, like Trump, he is not 'owned' by the corporate interests of the international globalist financiers, like George Soros.

Friday, August 19, 2016

When Vatican gender politics has you feelin' weary, just crank up some of these tunes and pour yourself a good Cabernet

In particular, listen to this version of "Delta Dong," by Tanya Tucker with the new lyrics provided by our indefatigable Amateur Brain Surgeon in "Controversy erupts as Vatican considers accepting female to male seminarians [sic]" (Mick Jagger gathers no Mosque, August 15, 2016).

It's enough to make a tear come to your eye, ain't it ...

Michal Sean Winters's Discontent with Abp Chaput's critique of contemporary politics

By Card. R. Trueman. In First Things. Very good.

[Hat tip to JM]

Tridentine Masses coming this week to metro Detroit and east Michigan


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

Sunday Monday
  • Mon. 08/15 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 1st class)
  • Mon. 08/15 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 1st class)
  • Mon. 08/15 12:00 Noon: High Tridentine Mass at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 1st class)
  • Mon. 08/15 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 1st class)
  • Mon. 08/15 7:00 PM: Ad ordientem Novus Ordo Mass celebrated by Archbishop Allen Vigneron at Assumption Grotto, Detroit, followed by Eucharistic procession (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 1st class)
  • Mon. 08/15 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Joseph's Church, Detroit (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 1st class)
Tuesday
  • Tue. 08/16 7:00 AM High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin - 2nd class)
  • Tue. 08/16 8:00 AM: Low Mass (call for Confession schedule) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin - 2nd class)
  • Tue. 08/16 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Canada (St. Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin - 2nd class)
  • Tue. 08/16 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Joachim, Father of the Blessed Virgin - 2nd class)
Wednesday
  • Wed. 08/17 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Hyacinth - 3rd class)
  • Wed. 08/17 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Hyacinth - 3rd class)
  • Wed. 08/17 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Hyacinth - 3rd class)
Thursday
  • Thu. 08/18 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or St. Agapitus - 4th class)
  • Thu. 08/18 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Feria - 4th class, or St. Agapitus - 4th class)
  • Thu. 08/18 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or St. Agapitus - 4th class)
Friday
  • Fri. 08/19 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. John Eudes - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 08/19 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at a href="http://www.sspxmichigan.com/#!schedule/c24jx">St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. John Eudes - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 08/19 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (St. John Eudes - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 08/19 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. John Eudes - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 08/19 7:00 PM: High Mass (periodically) at St. Joseph's Church, Detroit (St. John Eudes - 3rd class)
Saturday Sunday
* NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins." These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites. Also please note that St. Joseph's SSPX Chapel in Richmond has moved to Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Dreher: "The Problem of Uncertain Trumpets"

Rod Dreher, "The Problem of Uncertain Trumpets" (August 12, 2016):
Maybe you heard that our Catholic vice president, Joe Biden, recent recipient of the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame, presided over the wedding of two of his male staffers recently ...

Not a peep was heard from the Catholic bishops about this [UPDATE: Three peeps were heard, and three cheers for these bishops. — RD] — and this got Protestant theologian Carl Trueman to thinking. Excerpt:
... I have made it clear before that I believe Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option seems to build on the most realistic premise: that we must despair of national politics delivering anything for us and refocus on the local. This, as Dreher has pointed out again and again, will require withdrawal from certain spheres.

But I suggest that it will mean more than simple withdrawal. It will also require the drawing of certain lines and thereby the exclusion of certain people from church circles. We cannot bring clarity to the identity and testimony of the church unless we draw some pretty clear boundaries about who belongs and which beliefs and behaviors are legitimate....
As Carl says, if the most prominent Catholic elected official in the country can voluntarily preside in a secular capacity over a same-sex wedding, and not get disciplined by the Catholic hierarchy, something has gone very wrong. It’s not that the Church — Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, whatever — has to weigh in on every single issue. But come on, this is the Vice President of the United States. Carl is right: a church that will stand for anything stands for nothing.

The Protestant Trueman goes on to say:
As of this moment, the leadership of all of our churches in the U.S. leaves much to be desired. Mainline Protestant denominations sold out to the world two generations ago. Evangelicalism is full of vibrant enthusiasm but lacks any intellectual depth or consistency when it comes to social teaching. Confessional Protestants are such a small minority that we are barely noticeable. Key to the religious future of the United States is the Roman Catholic hierarchy. It alone has the status and the potential cohesion to make a difference. All of our hopes depend upon the Roman Catholic Church taking a clear and bold stand.

Yet therein lies the problem.
Read more >>

Catholic journalist & lawyer argue case for "Trumping Hillary"


Decisive issues for Catholics touched upon:
  • Deceit of Rino Republicans
  • Moral reasoning: principle of double effect vs. lesser of two evils
  • Post-Christian America
  • Slowing down civilizational collapse
  • Immigration crisis
  • Islamic terrorism
  • National security
  • Second Amendment as means of resisting nanny state & big government
  • Religious freedom
  • Education, Home schooling, Common Core, federal regulation
  • Globalism & New World Order
  • Supreme Court appointments
  • Legal positivism and legislating justices
  • Obergefell & same-sex 'marriage'
  • Abortion on demand
  • Overturning of the Johnson Amendment
Related:

Catholic millennials discuss 2016 Presidential Election (New Catholic Generation)

Daniel Amon, "Never Hillary: A Catholic Democrat's Wake-Up Call" (Fetzen Fliegan, August 8, 2016).

John Vennari: stage 4 cancer, refuses chemo, requests prayer


He reports HERE that he is in good spirits, his family is making a novena to both Our Lady of Good Success and Saint Philomena, and he asks for prayer.

Sunday, August 07, 2016

Tridentine Community News - Reminder: Assumption Church (Windsor) opening; New York church bus tour report; Msgr. Browne to deliver talk on spiritual battles; TLM Mass schedule


"I will go in unto the Altar of God
To God, Who giveth joy to my youth"

Tridentine Community News by Alex Begin (August 7, 2016):
August 7, 2016 – Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost

Reminder: Assumption Church Opening

Windsor’s Assumption Church reopens for visitation next Sunday, August 14 from 2:00 – 5:00 PM, and on its titular Feast day, Monday, August 15 from 12:00 Noon – 6:00 PM. Please stop by and pray that a solution will be found to restore the church.

New York Church Bus Tour Report

Prayer Pilgrimages bus tour director Michael Semaan led another inspiring tour of historic Catholic churches, this time in and around New York City, July 25-29. This writer was privileged to participate in the tour. Usually a local Catholic priest is part of Mike’s tours, but that was not possible this time. As a result, the only Tridentine Mass that was included in this tour was at Manhattan’s Holy Innocents Church, celebrated by new pastor Fr. James Miara. Fr. Miara is a familiar face to many of our readers, having visited Detroit several times and celebrated Masses in the Extraordinary Form at St. Josaphat and Sweetest Heart of Mary.

Among the more notable stops on this tour: St. Igantius Church, the surprisingly ornate Jesuit parish in Manhattan.


The meticulously and immaculately restored St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Brooklyn, where these coves were recently painted.


Newark’s ultra-clean Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which, like Manhattan’s St. Patrick Cathedral, has removed its freestanding altar and now offers all Masses at the High Altar. It also has Stations of the Cross, each of which is a Side Altar. On April 23 of this year, this cathedral hosted a Tridentine Mass.





Msgr. Browne to Deliver Talk on Spiritual Battles

While on the above bus tour, this writer attended a show at New York City’s Hayden Planetarium. Planetarium shows can be a powerful booster to one’s Catholic faith. The incomprehensible vastness of outer space, for this reader at least, points to the existence of an omnipotent Creator. In this particular show, it was stated that if the mapped portion of the universe – which incorporates stars that are over 13 billion light years away – corresponded to the size of the planetarium dome, the believed size of the entire universe would be as large as the planet Earth. Mind bogglingly large. Along similar lines, another subject which can be enormously faith-bolstering is the practice of Exorcisms. When one reads about spiritual warfare, the battle for souls, and demonic possession, one realizes that demons respect the Name of our Lord, the authority of validly ordained priests and canonically appointed exorcists, and the power of the Traditional Rite of Exorcism, in many ways more than we ourselves do. Next Sunday, August 14, at a reception following the 9:45 AM Tridentine Mass at the OCLMA/Academy of the Sacred Heart, Msgr. Ron Browne will deliver a fascinating talk he has given before elsewhere, “Spiritual Battles and How to be on the Good Side,” which includes a discussion of the practice of Exorcism.

Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
  • Mon. 08/08 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat (St. John Mary Vianney, Confessor)
  • Tue. 08/09 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary (Vigil of St. Lawrence)
  • Sat. 08/13: No Mass at Miles Christi [Priests on vacation]
[Comments? Please e-mail tridnews@detroitlatinmass.org. Previous columns are available at http://www.detroitlatinmass.org. This edition of Tridentine Community News, with minor editions, is from the St. Albertus (Detroit), Academy of the Sacred Heart (Bloomfield Hills), and St. Alphonsus and Holy Name of Mary Churches (Windsor) bulletin inserts for August 7, 2016. Hat tip to Alex Begin, author of the column.]

Friday, August 05, 2016

Tridentine Masses coming this week to metro Detroit and east Michigan


Tridentine Masses This Coming Week

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
  • Wed. 08/10 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Lawrence - 2nd class)
  • Wed. 08/10 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Lawrence - 2nd class)
  • Wed. 08/10 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Lawrence - 2nd class)
Thursday
  • Thu. 08/11 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or Sts. Tiburtius & Susanna - 4th class)
  • Thu. 08/11 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Feria - 4th class, or Sts. Tiburtius & Susanna - 4th class)
  • Thu. 08/11 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Feria - 4th class, or Sts. Tiburtius & Susanna - 4th class)
Friday
  • Fri. 08/12 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Clare - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 08/12 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at a href="http://www.sspxmichigan.com/#!schedule/c24jx">St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (St. Clare - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 08/12 7:00 PM: Low Mass at St. Josaphat, Detroit (St. Clare - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 08/12 7:00 PM: Distribution of Holy Communion with lectionary readings of the day at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (St. Clare - 3rd class)
  • Fri. 08/12 7:00 PM: High Mass (periodically) at St. Joseph's Church, Detroit (St. Clare - 3rd class)
Saturday
  • Sat. 08/13 7:30 AM: High or Low Mass (varies) at Assumption Grotto, Detroit (Saturday of Our Lady - 4th class, or Sts. Hippolytus & Cassian - 4th class)
  • Sat. 08/13 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 1/2 hour before Mass: call beforehand) at St. Ann's Church, Livonia [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Saturday of Our Lady - 4th class, or Sts. Hippolytus & Cassian - 4th class)
  • Sat. 08/13 8:00 AM: Low Mass (Confessions 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM) at St. Joseph's Church, Ray Township [NB: See note at bottom of this post about SSPX sites.]* (Saturday of Our Lady - 4th class, or Sts. Hippolytus & Cassian - 4th class)
  • Sat. 08/13 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi, South Lyon, MI (Saturday of Our Lady - 4th class, or Sts. Hippolytus & Cassian - 4th class)
  • Sat. 08/13 6:00 PM Tridentine Mass at SS. Cyril & Methodius Slovak Catholic Church, Sterling Heights (Saturday of Our Lady - 4th class, or Sts. Hippolytus & Cassian - 4th class)
Sunday
* NB: The SSPX chapels among those Mass sites listed above are posted here because the Holy Father has announced that "those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins." These chapels are not listed among the approved parishes and worship sites on archdiocesan websites. Also please note that St. Joseph's SSPX Chapel in Richmond has moved to Ray Township, at 57575 Romeo Plank Rd., Ray Twp., MI 48096.

The Remnant defends Pope Francis. It's not what you think.

Christopher A. Ferrara, "In Defense of Pope Francis" ( The Remnant,, August 3, 2016). For the record. Advisory: Rules ##7-9.

[Hat tip to JM]

Non-Catholics who think Pope Francis is promoting a new world order with a one-world religion

Michael Snyder, "12 Times Pope Francis Has Openly Promoted a One World Religion or a New World Order" (INFOWARS, August 1, 2016). Certainly this needs to be taken with a grain of salt, though it is probably significant that this has become a topic so frequently touched upon by our current Pontiff that an established pattern is now able to be both illustrated and enumerated.