Rosary Crusade for Persecuted Christians and Hostages

I would like to propose an online "Rosary Crusade" on Sunday, September 14, the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross.  We will pray to Our Lady, Queen of Peace and Mother of Captives,  for persecuted Christians throughout the world and especially in Iraq, and for all those held hostage by  ISIS and other violent groups. Wherever you are in the world, you can join in at 3 PM, EST.  Would you please spread the word on your own blogs and other social media outlets?

I will see what I can do to get a local priest to have a Holy Hour so we can pray in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.  Maybe those of you who are so inclined could try to do the same.

As more and more is revealed about the Islamic State, it is clear to me that Hell has literally broken loose. Unfortunately, we have a president who is more interested in expanding abortion and contraception than he is in containing evil.   Whether the Islamic State is a threat to the US or not, it is certainly an evil that threatens scores of innocent people.  We should no more stand by and watch passively than we did when Hitler roared through Europe.

The Sorrowful Mysteries

I apologize for being slow to getting to these mystery meditations.  Finding an available computer is a challenge.

The following are meditations based on St. Louis de Montfort's method of praying the Rosary as well as other traditions.

THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN

We offer Thee Lord Jesus this decade in honor of Thy Agony in the Garden, and through this mystery and the intercession of Thy most Holy Mother, we beg of Thee true contrition for our sins.

1. The loneliness of Christ's soul throughout His ministry and especially that night in the garden
2. The consolation He desired from an angel
3. The long vigils of prayer He kept with His Father and especially that night in the garden
4. His admonishment to Peter, James and John: "Could you not stay awake with Me one hour?"
5. The sweat that poured down His face like blood
6/ His resignation to His Father's Will
7. His betrayal by Judas
8. Peter's denial of Him
9. The abandonment of Jesus by His apostles
10 His arrest and captivity by the hands of the Jews

THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR

We offer Thee Lord Jesus this decade in honor of Thy Scourging at the Pillar and through this mystery and the intercession of Thy most Holy Mother, we beg of Thee and the grace to perfectly mortify our senses.

1. Christ stripped of His clothing
2. The outrage that the Son of God, innocent of innocents, sentenced to being scourged
3. The humiliation at the pillar
4. Christ's submission to His barbaric tormentors
5. The anguish He suffered from the scourges
6. His sacred flesh rent by the scourges
7. His Precious Blood falling to the ground uncared for
8. To honor Christ being tied to the pillar and given twice the usual number of lashes
9.  The heartbreak of His Holy Mother, bearing witness to His torment
10. Christ's collapse to the ground in His own Blood

JESUS IS CROWNED WITH THORNS

We offer Thee Lord Jesus this decade in honor of Thy Crowning with Thorns and through this mystery and the intercession of Thy most Holy Mother, we beg of Thee contempt for things of this world

1. The Crown of Thorns
2. Christ's silence and gentleness towards His tormenters
3. His Sacred Head
4. The wounds imparted by the thorns
5. Christ being made to wear the purple cloak
6. Christ struck with a reed
7. Christ mocked as King of the Jews
8. Christ blindfolded and spat upon
9. The derision of which the Son of God was made the object
10.His sacred face buffeted by blows

JESUS CARRIES HIS CROSS

We offer Thee Lord Jesus this decade in honor of Thy Carrying of the Cross, and through this mystery and the intercession of Thy most Holy Mother we beg of Thee the gift of perseverance to patiently carry our crosses.

1. Christ condemned to die
2. Christ rejected by the crowd in favor of  Barrabas
3. Christ's embrace of His cross
4, Christ's journey to Calvary
5. His extreme weakness in carrying the cross
6. His three falls beneath the weight of the cross
7. His sorrowful meeting with His mother
8. His words to the weeping women of Jerusalem
9. The assistance rendered to Him by the Cyrenian
10. The veil of Veronica upon which He left His image

THE CRUCIFIXION

We offer Thee Lord Jesus this decade in honor of Thy Crucifixion, and we beg of Thee through this mystery and the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother the grace to accept and worthily die whatever death Thou has destined for us.

1. Jesus stripped of His clothing
2. The barbaric way in which He is thrown on the cross
3. The wounds imparted by the nails
4. Christ's 3-hour agony once the cross is raised
5. His thirst for the salvation of souls
6. The mystery of the Son of God crucified between 2 common thieves
7. Christ's promise to the Repentant Thief
8. The gift of His Holy Mother to St. John and to all mankind
9. His last seven words
10. The spear that opened His side and the Blood and Water that flowed out.

Men of Blood

This psalm makes me think of the slain journalist James Foley.  It is Psalm 25 in the the DR version of the Psalms and New Testament and it also part of what the priest prays at the offertory in the TLM while he washes his hands.  It seems he might have been freed if a hefty ransom would be paid to ISIS. Apparently this is the only way other captives escaped with their lives. 

Jim's family released the last letter they received  from their son. Well, not a letter one could hold in their hands but one they will treasure always in their hearts.  His captors confiscated any letter Jim attempted to write so when a fellow captive learned he would be released, Foley asked him to commit a letter to memory.  The letter is somewhat prescient because although he tries to remain upbeat and hopeful, he clearly knew time was running out - he wanted any money he might have left in his bank account to go to his brothers. 

I am keeping all captives in my prayers.  

Lord I love the house in which You dwell,

The tenting place of Your glory

Gather not my soul with sinners,

Nor with men of blood my life.

On their hands are crimes

And their right hands are full of bribes.

As for me I walk in integrity, 

Redeem me and be merciful

My foot stands on level ground. 

In the assemblies I will bless You oh Lord 

Black Mass Nixed?

Father MacDonald of the fine blog Southern Orders is reporting that the satanic black mass scheduled for September 21 in Oklahoma has been cancelled.  Thanks be to the Mother of God for heeding the prayers of her children and for the intercession of St Joseph, Terror of Demons.   

Keep praying the Rosary.  

St Louis de Montfort's Method of Praying the Rosary

At some point, those who faithfully pray the Holy Rosary may find themselves struggling to maintain their focus.  St. Therese described how difficult it was for her to pray the Rosary when she wasn't in choir with her sisters.  Thankfully, there are methods one can employ to overcome distraction and make their daily Rosary a spiritual fruitful devotion.

Today, I will begin with the meditations on the Joyful Mysteries as offered by St. Louis de Montfort and other traditions.

First Decade

We offer Thee Lord Jesus, this decade in honor of the Annunciation, and we ask of Thee, through this mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, a profound sense of humility.

(You can meditate on each of the following before each Hail Mary)

\1. The mission the Angel Gabriel was sent on by God
 2. Mary's disposition at the time Gabriel visited her
 3. The Angelic Salutation
 4. Mary's virginal fear
 5. The promise that the Holy Spirit would overshadow Mary
 6. Mary's yes
 7. The formation of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mother
 8. Gabriel's news that Elizabeth was also expecting
 9. The mutual awe of Mary and Gabriel
 10. Mary's faith in the promise of the Messiah

Second Decade

We offer Thee Lord Jesus this decade in honor of the Visitation of Thy Most Holy Mother to her cousin Elizabeth, and we ask of Thee, through this mystery and throuhg Mary's intercession, a perfect charity towards our neighbor.

1. The haste with which Mary set out for the hill country
2. Mary's joyful greeting to Elizabeth
3. The sanctification of John the Baptist by Mary in Elizabeth's womb
4. Elizabeth's proclamation of Mary as the Mother of her Lord
5. Mary's Magnificat
6. The Divine Maternity of Mary and the Miraculous Maternity of Elizabeth
7. Mary's profound humility before Elizabeth
8. The mystery of the Mother of God waiting upon Elizabeth
9. The 3 months Mary spent in service of Elizabeth
10. The message of the Angel to Joseph to take Mary into his home

Third Decade

We offer Thee Lord Jesus this decade in honor of Thy Nativity, and we ask of Thee through this mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, esteem of spiritual values.

1. The journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem
2 The rejection Mary and Joseph met everywhere in Bethlehem
3. The mystery of the Queen of Heaven giving birth to the world's Redeemer in a stable
4. The abject poverty into which the Son of God was born
5. The painless delivery of the Infant Jesus
6. The joy of Mary and Joseph in taking custody of the Infant Jesus
7. The swaddling clothes which Mary prepared for Jesus with her own hands
8. The stable that witnessed the Divine Birth and the manger where the Infant Jesus was laid
9. The joyful announcement of the Heavenly Host to the shepherds.
10. The joy of the shepherds in finding the Christ Child in the manger

Fourth Decade

We offer Thee Lord Jesus this decade in honor Thy Presentation in the temple and we ask of Thee through this mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the gifts of purity and obedience.

1. The fidelity of Mary and Joseph to the Law
2. The Temple where the Son of God was offered
3. The ransom of the Infant Jesus with the purchase of two turtle doves
4. The poverty of Mary and Joseph
5. The Circumcision of Our Lord
6. The Precious Blood shed by the Infant Jesus
7. The joy of Mary and Joseph in hearing the name Jesus conferred upon the Infant
8. The faith of Anna and Simeon
9. The promise of God to Simeon regarding the Messiah
10.The prophecy of Simeon and the joy of taking the Infant Jesus into his arms

Fifth Decade

We offer Thee Lord Jesus this decade in honor of Thy Finding in the Temple, and we ask of Thee through this mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother,  fidelity to our vocations

1. The Holy Familty's celebration of Passover
2. The 3 days Jesus was missing from the Holy Family
3. The 3 days Jesus lay in the tomb
4. The parental fear of Mary and Joseph
5. The joy of discovering the Christ Child among the doctors
6. The awe of the doctors at the wisdom of Jesus
7. Mary's questioning of Jesus
8. Jesus' response to His Mother about going about His Father's work
9. The subjection of the Christ Child to St. Jospeh
10. The Sanctity of the Holy Family.

Next time I am able to post, I will do the same with the Sorrowful Mysteries.  Feel free to comment on any meditations which I have not provided but upon which you find it helpful to pray.

It's Not Enough to Just Say the Holy Rosary

Part of my vacation reading has been a second time around with St Louis de Montfort's The Secrets of The Rosary.  I found this little gem, so old it's pages yellowed and crumbling, buried at the back of a shelf in a religious gift shop. I swore the saint was talking to me and had probably observed how badly I pray the Rosary.  

This past Lent I made it my resolve to fully contemplate each Gospel mystery and to conquer all distractions so that each Rosary I prayed would truly form a crown of glory on the heads of Jesus and Mary. I employ the prayers and meditations offered by de Montfort and I highly recommend them to anyone who ever struggles praying Our Lady's Psalter. 

This passage sadly described me until recently. 

"It is really pathetic to see how most people say the Holy Rosary - they say it astonishingly fast and do not properly pronounce the words at all.  We could not expect anyone, even the most unimportant person to think that a slipshod address of this kind was a compliment and yet we expect Jesus and Mary to be pleased with it!  Small wonder that the most sacred prayers of our religion seem to bear no fruit and that, even after saying thousands of Rosaries, we are still no better than we were before!" 

To be perfectly honest, this description is what makes it preferable for me to pray the Rosary alone rather than in a group. But de Montfort discourages this practice as well whenever possible.  

"There are several ways of praying The Holy Rosary but that which gives Almighty God the greatest glory, does the most for our souls and which the devil fears more than any other is that of saying or chanting the Rosary in two groups."

He goes on to say that our minds tend to be more alert in groups and that when prayed in common, everyone benefits even when some do not pray as well as others.  He also says that when we pray the Rosary in common - say, in a group of 30 people - we reap the benefits of 30 Rosaries and not just a single one. 

Further, he makes the case that in times of public tragedy and suffering the Church has always advocated public group prayer. 

This is why our bishops need to wake up already when it comes to what's happening in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, the Ukraine and even Oklahoma with the threat of a Black mass looming.  

Another common fault cited by the saint is that we fail to name an intention. 

He begs us to begin our Rosary by invoking the Holy Ghost, naming our intentions and then saying the following:

" I unite myself with all the saints in Heaven, and with all the just on Earth; I unite myself with Thee my Jesus in order to praise Thy Mother worthily and to praise Thee in her and by her. I renounce all the distractions that may come to me while I am saying this Rosary."

More to come including short meditations for each Gospel mystery. 

The Enemy of My Enemy

I think one could spend their entire life trying to figure out Middle East history and ultimately, the intricacies of tribal feuds and religious riffs will never make sense. 

Remember when Iran seized the American embassy and held its workers and diplomats hostage?  The sect that kidnapped the Americans were Shiites. I remember hearing about two sects of Muslims and it was believed the Sunnis were the more innocuous of the two.   Not so if you have tried to follow the turmoil happening now in the Middle East. 

Apparently, ISIS is comprised of Sunnis and Sunnis consider Shiites heretics. Kind of like the Sedevacantists and their disdain for Vatican II types but with one earth-shattering difference:  Catholics aren't beheading one another and taking women and children hostage.  

In short, there are precious few good guys left in that part of the world.  

When America was attacked on 9-11, recall the countries of origin of the 19 hijackers.  Not a single one was of Iraqi descent.  The majority were from Saudi Arabia.  Some Middle East analysts see the Saudis behind the rise of ISIS as a kind of war on Iran. Iran now backs US diplomacy in wanting to rid Iraq of Prime Minister Maliki. Go figure. 

Remember even further back when, specifically when the Iranians were our mortal enemies and Iraq and Iran were at war?  As I recall our government had no problem with Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons when he was using them on the Iranians.  A scant few years later, those same weapons were supposedly the justification for invading a sovereign nation. Oh how the world turns in that part of the universe. 

I don't really know what the political or diplomatic  answer is to the insanity that is the oil-rich Middle East. No country seems the slightest bit trustworthy.  

Unfortunately, the United States broke Iraq and now, like it or not, we own it.  

The only solution I see is a religious one. Mother Mary implores us to beg her intercession through her Holy Rosary. 

Did you hear a word uttered about this at Mass this past Sunday?  I know I didn't.  I'm really sorry about the death of Robin Williams, but practically speaking, it's a story that pales in comparison to the powder keg in Iraq. Finally, at the urging of the Pope, our Archbishop issued a communique urging prayers for this crisis. There will be a Holy Hour this Sunday for the victims of violence in Iraq, especially the Christians.  Great. But in the face of such evil, it is not enough.  

We need to storm Heaven with Rosaries and penance.  And we ought not wait until Sunday to begin. 

Hopefully, tomorrow I will begin a short series on praying the Rosary as prescribed by St Louis de Montfort.  

We may have arrived at the point in time when Our Lady will save the world through her psalter. 

America's Chickens Are Coming Home To Roost

I do not subscribe to the near lunatic rantings of popular so-called Catholic bloggers that Obama has a mission to see Muslims wipe out Christianity.  What we are in fact seeing are the cumulative effects of America's follies throughout the world accelerated by a president who has forwarded the most immoral agenda imaginable.  Abomination is America's new normal.

I saw a comment in Father Z's combox that has truly given me pause. The writer spoke of the Apocalypse starting with a homosexual takeover of the West with a Muslim takeover of the East. Doesn't this make you wonder?

I now have co-workers who refer to their same-sex lovers as husbands or wives.  One has given birth to biologically engineered children who have been brought into a world of gender-bending confusion and immorality disguised as a loving home.  I say nothing, offer no congratulations or in any way express interest or concern for this farce other than to pray for their conversion and the spiritual well-being of the children.

It's only going to get worse.

Last week the meteorologist on a popular newscast simultaneously exited the proverbial closet and announced the birth of his son with his partner via a surrogate in one fell swoop. You should see the PC crowd falling down all over the place to sell this poison.  This is why if you have small children you might want to trash your television.  You just never know where this deception is going to come at you next.

We live a very simple life in this house.  Lately I have been over-ridden with guilt for simply enjoying a movie or a Phillies game (even if they are having a dismal season).  I now know why. There isn't much time and there is really nothing else that needs be done right now except pray and do penance.

Satan has a whole new legion of recruits. Some want your very life. Others just want to rob you of your soul in the most insidious way possible: by taking perversion to new heights and trying to convince you that it's ok to have an abortion because, after all, it's just a clump of cells.  It's ok for two men to raise a baby because after all, look at all the welfare queens birthing babies into abuse and neglect.  Got a problem with this?  You're labeled a homophobe and a barrage of blasphemy is released in the direction of Jesus Christ that makes you physically ill.

And what will come of the genocide in the Middle East?   I do not know but throughout the history of the Church martyrdom has never marked the end of Christianity.  The Blood of the Lamb always given rise to new members of His Mystical Body.  The beheading of children is our sick and sordid world's version of feeding Christians to lions. At least these innocents died with Christ in baptism and will rise with Him now that their earthly lives are over.  In the end, they triumphed.

America's children who are prevented from knowing Christ or, worse, have outright rejected Him face a fate that is no less terrifying and which will know no end.

"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will be your only refuge".

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Rambling About This And That

At Mass, the priest reminded us that today is not only the Feast of the Transfiguration but also the anniversary of the atomic bomb getting dropped on Hiroshima.    He also talked about the call today to fast and pray for the persecuted Christians in Iraq and Syria.  He made the sobering announcement that the for the first time in 1600 years, no Mass has been celebrated in Mosul for nearly a month.  A place where no Mass is celebrated is as barren as one that has been vaporized by a nuclear bomb, spiritually speaking.

The Holy Father talked today about the ways we waste time on this earth.  I'm as guilty as anyone of some of the offenses.  Sometimes I think it might not be such an awful thing if a solar flare knocked out the power grid.   Then we'd all be in the same boat.  I'm sure some would disagree.

Russian hackers stole over a billion passwords.  The more dependent we become on technology, the more vulnerable we are.

ABC News ran a story on how fast food isn't fast enough for some people.  Apparently, having to wait 3 minutes for a Big Mac is asking too much.   Hmmm

For Father's Day the kids gave my husband a boxed set of the HBO series "The Pacific".  I loved "Band of Brothers " ( the late Bill Guarnere lived around the corner from us when I was a kid).  It was tough to love its Pacific front counterpart.  One of the protagonists, an unlikely Marine,  wrote a book about his experience and this series is based in part on what has been called one of the best war memoirs ever written.  The battle of Okinawa was a particularly gruesome and difficult installment to watch.  After living for nearly a month in mud, maggots and decaying bodies, it became a source of ire to return home and hear people complain about their coffee not being hot enough or their service at the counter not fast enough.

I can't believe that I am going to say this, but I am.  As horrific as the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were,  I don't know that the alternative was that much better.    When will men learn?

All of the unrest in this world is rooted in greed and power.   There is only one remedy, but fewer and fewer people are turning to Him.  At our meager dinner tonight I reminded the kids of the plea to make sacrifices and pray for the persecuted Christians.  There was no mention of this at any Mass that any of us attended on Sunday, though I would venture to bet that at the Maronite-Rite church we are increasingly attending,  it most probably was.

The battle over immigration continues.  Every night after dinner we take a walk through the nearby open air market that is home to Italian, Asian and Latino merchants.  The last group opens their shops practically at daybreak and they don't close until late at night.  The whole family is involved in running the business.  In that sense,   their shops are not only their living but a daily social event.  Both parents are present along with the children. The merchants tend to "visit" with their fellow shopkeepers in the evening. There is nothing threatening about family closeness and hard work.

There was a study recently that looked at the lives of the poor and it concluded that they live more meaningful lives.  It's not hard to believe when you think about it.

A few months back I watched a PBS documentary on the Amish ritual of shunning.  An off-camera interview took place with an Amish woman who described her daily routine - getting up at 5 am, making breakfast, gathering the family for devotions before everyone goes off to school or their work around the farm.  She described how when she is going about her work, even while doing the dishes,  she can feel her soul "kneeling before the Lord."

Sometimes I worry that I am not even aware of my own soul.   It simply isn't possible to offer all my daily prayers before the Blessed Sacrament, and yet I struggle so much to truly converse with Jesus when I can't pray in a church or chapel.  I've concluded that although my pleasures in life could hardly be described as anything but simple, I need to work more on self-denial and mortifying my senses.   I used to wake up every morning with a burning desire to receive Jesus.  Now it's a struggle to get out of bed on the mornings when it is possible to attend Mass before work.  When I make it to evening Mass, my mind wanders to what I'm going to make for dinner.  I'm seriously flawed.

One thing in my favor is this:  I often wake up at night praying the Hail Mary.  I don't know why it happens, but it does.  Some people talk in their sleep or sleep walk; I apparently pray the Hail Mary. I'm not going to even attempt to explain how or why this happens but simply accept this as a gift and pray it continues.

God bless you.

A Short Insight on Improvisation at Mass

For the umpteenth time since my reversion, I found myself getting agitated at Mass to the point where I really had to check myself.  You name it, I saw it and/or heard it.  At the expense of sounding like a broken record, the shenanigans don't happen at the TLM because there is no opportunity for improvisation. 

I'm not going to get upset with myself anymore when it angers me because the priest or a congregant takes liberties. If the Mass hasn't been messed with,  distractions caused by improvisation or other misbehavior would be few and far in between. 

You can have the most orthodox priest possible celebrate the Novus Ordo and someone will still attempt to sabotage the solemnity of the Mass.  Because they simply can. 

I know I sound like a broken record.  I don't care. 

I saw something on an FSSP site recently that succinctly explained why reverence at Mass is a must. To paraphrase, the author reminded us that Christ gave us the Eucharist in order to be close to us, but His desire to have us draw near does not remove the need for the utmost respect. 

Amen.