(NEW) THE WAY

 

                                                                                           CARDINAL ROBERT SARAH

Quoted approvingly in his book "PRISON JOURNAL VOL.3 " by His Eminence George Cardinal Pell, is this extract from  "the Day Is Now Far Spent" by His Eminence Robert Cardinal  Sarah, is this compelling passage"

"The evil of efficient activism has infiltrated everywhere.We seek to imitate the organization of big business.We forget that prayer alone is the blood that can course through the heart of the Church ......Someone who no longer prays has already betrayed.Already he is willing to make all sorts of compromises with the world.He is walking on the path of Judas."   ( Page 11 "The Day Is Now Far Spent." Ignatius Press.

His Eminence George Cardinal Pell

These are words to arrest every Catholic, and especially Clergy and Seminarians or intending Seminarians.

( PAST ) 1912 HEROIC CATHOLIC PRIESTS TITANIC ..."BERGS, GROWLERS AND FIELD ICE"

They did not know the day or the hour :: our three Heroic Catholic Priests did not know that on Sunday the
14th April, 1912 they had celebrated their last Holy Masses.

"Every Mass as if it is your first....
 Every Mass as if it is your last.."

WARNINGS
At 9.00 a.m. the CARONIA, headed in the opposite direction, informed TITANIC of "bergs, growlers and field ice"ahead. And at 20 minutes to 12.00 the NOORDAM advises "much ice"in the same position. At 18 Minutes to 2.00 pm the BALTIC signals icebergs and field ice 250 miles ahead. Three minutes later the German AMERIKA reports passing 2 large icebergs.At 7.30pm the CALIFORNIAN reports 3 large icebergs sighted - this message is NOT posted in TITANIC or passed to Captain Smith.At 9.30 pm MESABA reports heavy pack ice and large icebergs encountered.
 

ON WATCH
At 10.00pm the Watches are relieved. First Officer Mr. Murdoch relieves Second Officer Mr, Lightoller on the Bridge. And  Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee take up their duty as Forward Lookouts instructed to watch for small ice and growlers.They will be witnesses to History.

1 Hour and 39 minutes later they see the Iceberg.  Three times they ring the Bridge warning bell and telephone "Iceberg , right ahead!
 

REACTION
"The response is electrifying for the crew : First Officer Murdoch orders down the voice pipe to the Engineroom "All engines Stop"as the bells of the Engineroom Telegraph are repeating the message, this is quickly followed by "Full Astern", but the great piston engines and the centre shaft turbine cannot just switch on and off. It takes time for the great pistons to stop turning the crankshafts, before the engines can be reversed, and the turbine driving the centre propeller cannot be reversed - turbines being what they are. 

At the same time Mr . Murdoch has roared at the Helmsman : "Hard a'Starboard!"because he wants the ship to turn to Port away from the Iceberg now seen on the Starboard side of the bow. Now this may sound very odd, but in TITANIC'S day ( but not for long afterwards) this had always been the case since the days of sail. For in those sailing days the rudder worked in just that way as it had when earlier ships were steered by long oar- like rudders- to go to Port you leant on or pushed it right and vice versa.. Sailors being great Traditionalists did not change the traditional orders even when the steering mechanisms changed.

37 Seconds after the warning to the Bridge, the 60feet tall Iceberg struck TITANIC abaft the Starboard bow and, it was later discovered, slit her open below the water line across several water tight compartments. Ice sprays across the deck. The great ship gives a slight tremble but continues ahead. Not for long. Captain Smith has been stirred from his sea cabin and orders all engines stopped. He orders an immediate assessment of the damage, if any. Mr.Andrews the Designer is on hand to judge the results - to everyone's surprise he announces that the ship cannot be saved. This is surprising because at this stage her situation does not seem alarming at all. She is a little down by the bows, but surely the pumps... He is polite but brutal in describing the rate at which she is taking water and how the watertight compartment are transverse only(there are none running fore and aft) and they do not rise vertically through all decks, allowing water , once it fills one compartment to flow over to fill the next and so on steadily pushing TITANIC under the surface. In essence she had been designed to deal with a head on collision but the slitting of her side had not been envisioned at all.

At 12.05 am on Monday Morning the Captain orders the Lifeboats uncovered.The White Star Line had reduced the number of Lifeboats Mr.Andrews had provided for, to avoid cluttering the deck. As result , there were not nearly enough Lifeboats for all on board. At 12.10 am Monday TITANIC sends out her first distress call by Morse Code : "CQD MGY SOS". CQD Was the old international distress signal.  MGY was TITANIC 's identifying code and SOS was the recently introduced international distress signal.

At 12.25pm "Women and Children "were ordered into the Lifeboats. Whilst some deluded themselves into thinking this was a drill, for the majority the terrible reality took hold.
 

   BLESS ME FATHER..

 

Now our Heroic Catholic Priests could see what was happening they each gathered to them their separate language groups and anyone who cared to join them. They led them in prayer , a group one of the priests lead in saying the Rosary was surrounded for a time by jeering anti-Catholic passengers. They heard Confessions and as the numbers grew and the situation became more desperate as the great vessel sank by the bows and her stern commenced to rise, they gave general absolutions to all penitents.They are each recorded in the numerous testimonies of witnesses at Inquiries in England and in the United States as continuing their ministry to the last and each refusing to accept a place in the Lifeboats when it was pressed upon them. Each of the bodies of the three Priests was never recovered, or if one or more was, it was unidentifiable.There are hundreds of victims of the great ship's loss in Heaven to-day, the 99th Anniversary of that terrible and truly tragic event, because of the Holy and Heroic sacrifice of the three '" other Christs ."

At 2.20 am the icy sea closed over the last of the stern of the sunken TITANIC.

Fathers Byles , Peruschitz and Montvila Pray for us to the Lord Our God to deliver His peopleall from  harm.

( PAST ) 1912 HEROIC CATHOLIC PRIESTS TITANIC EVENTS MOVE SWIFTLY

 

At 6 .30pm that same day, Wednesday, after an uneventful crossing of the Channel, TITANIC lay off  CHERBOURG, FRANCE. Two tenders bring out her  passengers, and, at. 8.10 p.m. she is underway again and headed for Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland.

On Thursday 11th April, at 11.30 am just before Lunch TITANIC arrives in all her splendour off Queenstown, once again she cannot dock because of her draught, but anchors in the roadstead about 2 miles from the shore and the tenders Ireland and America bring out her passengers , luggage and mail. One tender takes away at least one passenger, our Jesuit Seminarian, Mr Francis Browne. He must have been devastated, for he had been offered by a wealthy American couple, a free passage to the United States . But a telegraphic request to his Provincial gained the following terse reply "GET OFF THAT SHIP". God was at work, saving the future Father Francis Browne Military Cross winner for his heroic work among the dying on the battlefields of World War I, all that was required was Mr.Browne's adherence to Religious Obedience. And he had freely given it.

By 1.40 pm TITANIC had all loaded and she set off for New York City the fabled destination in the New World

The last photograph of R.M.S. TITANIC afloat.

 

 

On Friday April 12th, the Marconi Wireless operators were busy sending and receiving Morse code messages. The incomings were often congratulations on her maiden voyage from other vessels. Some of them mentioned ice in the sea lanes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

" PAST " HEROIC CATHOLIC PRIESTS R.M.S. TITANIC "WELCOME ABOARD"

Ninety -nine years ago to-day, R.M.S. TITANIC commenced taking on her full crew in Southampton.All officers ( except Captain Smith) had spent the night aboard. From 5.18 a.m. a continuing stream of crew members came aboard. At 6.00 a.m. Thomas Andrews the Ship's Designer came aboard and Captain  Smith boarded at 7.00 a.m.

 

 Passengers then commenced boarding including our three Heroic Catholic Priests and our holidaying Seminarian ( see our Post 15 th March,2011 "Saved for War"). The process of receiving all passengers had to be accomplished in a few short hours, for TITANIC was due to sail for Cherbourg , France to collect more passengers.She would leave at 12.00 Noon. All of the passengers had to be checked in, shown their cabin allocation and any hold luggage struck below."There was not a moment to lose"as an earlier sailor used to say.

Father Thomas Byles

 Father Thomas Byles (Second Class Ticket 244310 cost 13 Pounds) was an Englishman and a convert received into the Church in 1894.His Father was an Evangelical Minister. Thomas Byles entered the Seminary in 1899 at the Baeda College in Rome and was ordained Priest 0n 15th June, 1902. He was reputed as a fine Preacher, and an accomplished Teacher and Boxing Instructor for the boys in his Parish School at Ongar. It was agreed that he could celebrate Holy Mass in the Second Class Lounge - God, being a Catholic was apparently not welcome in First Class

Father Juozas Montevila was a Lithuanian by birth, but his country was then part of Czarist Russia. Juozas studied for the Priesthood at the Seminary at Seinai which is now part of Poland.On 22nd March, 1908 he was ordained Priest. The exercise of his Priestly ministry was complicated by the persecution of the Czarist police. For Father Montvila was attempting to secretly minister to the Ukrainian Catholics whom the Czarist authorities were trying to suppress on account of their communion with the Holy See. The authorities made the situation impossible, so that Father Montvila was effectively forced to emigrate if he was to exercise his Priestly ministry at all .

Father Joseph Benedikt Peruschitz O.S.B.

 

Father Joseph Benedikt Peruschitz ( holder of Second Class Ticket 237393) had paid his 13 Pounds fare in order to take up an appointment in the United States. He was a German, a Bavarian to be precise, and was born on 21st March, 1871. He entered the Seminary in 1890 and , in 1894, he entered the Benedictine Order at the monastery of Scheyern He was ordained Priest on 28th April, 1895 - the Feast of Saint Paul of the Cross.

So,the great drama opened , at 12.00 TITANIC was set in motion after her lines had been cast off. Her departure was not without incident, as the tremendous cavitation of her three giant propellers sucked the adjoining S.S. New York toward her , but the situation was quickly taken in hand and she was on her way. She carried with her a secret from the public at large, and from her passengers - a fire was burning in one of her coal bunkers - such things were not uncommon - but efforts to extinguish it were not successful yet.

 

Events would be allowed to take their course, but the good God had his "other Christs" in place to take care of those who could not remotely guess what was about to overtake them.

 

" PAST " EN KINDLED

A knock at the door on Friday, the UPS Man hands me a light weight box , and I am catapulted into the outer regions of the electronic "envelope"!!

Thanks to the amazing generosity of my daughter Justine, and her husband Paul, I am now the proud and enthusiastic owner of a KINDLE 3G E-Reader. Stunning ! Imagine carrying around an item the size of a small format Paperback, capable of containing 3,500 books and able to facilitate search within any one or all of them, that remembers what page you are up to in the one's you are reading etc., etc.

Needless to say I am immeasurably grateful, and impatient to extend the library to facilitate my reading and reference work for my Blogs and FOUNDATION.One of my early coups has been to load Whiston's Complete Works of Flavius Josephus for about $5-00 - the paperback of one of his works costs $ 34 !
Let me know if I get boring about Kindle - but the possibilities! Already I am re-reading in the Kindle Edition "The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ"by Archbishop Alban Goodier S.J. and reading for the first time the Autobiography of Ulysses S. Grant- just as terrific a read as my Brother-in -Law Tony Hannon said it is!

" PAST " ANOTHER ECUMENICAL PROBLEM SOLVED

 

 

OUTGOING - Bishop William Malone of Maitland - Newcastle Diocese.

 

The Holy Father has announced the resignation of Bishop William Malone of Maitland-Newcastle Diocese and the appointment of Father William Wright Parish Priest of Liverpool in his stead.

Bishop Malone 's ecumenical adventures with the local Anglican Bishop verged on the truly weird and at the outer edge were suppressed by the Holy See as soon as announced and before they could come into effect. Bishop Malone's actions were an embarrassment to any well-informed Catholic, yet he had his "isn't he nice "supporters too, not to mention salaried nuns pushing the same un Catholic line as the Bishop.

Father William Wright has had his share of tough assignments including Parish Priest of Moree with all its Aboriginal problems for several years and Parish Priest of Sutherland South of Sydney which had its own particular problems in the past.

It will no doubt take some time to get the Diocese back on track after cleaning out the stables.

" PAST " SUNDAY MASS A VERY AUSTRALIAN CONGREGATION

 

St.Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, Australia

 

 

The 10.00 a.m. Mass at St.Stephen's Cathedral Brisbane is always a solemn occasion, supported by the singing of the Cathedral Choir. Yesterday, Laetare Sunday or Rose Sunday was no exception.

The Mass was celebrated by Rev. Father Paul Chandler O.Carm. who is the Spiritual Director of Holy Spirit Seminary.and Lecturer in Church History. His celebration of Holy Mass was exemplary in devotion, love of the Liturgy and comportment. It was his misfortune to supply on Rose Sunday which caused him to wear the vestments acquired last year - they are not a success. The colour is a light salmony pink, and not the proper liturgical Rose and the cut (in the Gothic style)is ludicrously full. When the Dean first wore them last year, people found difficulty in suppressing mirth and sought to avoid eye contact. Small wonder the Dean was not about this time.Father Chandler's homily was excellent dealing with the miracle of the blind man cured by Jesus,  carefully and thoroughly going beyond the required reading to the full account in the Gospels to develop the lesson . He made the point that the continuing blind people were those who would not see God made man before their very eyes, something the cured blind man was well able and willing to do.

Here we had a near ideal celebration of Holy Mass, save for the standard Cathedral offence of consecrating the wine in a silver jug from which the Precious Blood is later poured into mini Chalices ( about the size and shape of a birdbath champagne glass - but these are Silver) - this pouring is FORBIDDEN in "Redemptionis Sacramentum".

But the other interesting aspect of the 10.00 a.m. Mass is always the composition of the congregation .It is a very Australian congregation representing most nations on Earth it seems, at the least every Continent is well -represented. There are a few sprinkled grey haired Anglo-Celts like us, a Mexican, Italians, Slavs, Ukrainians, Indonesians, Malays, Singaporeans, Japanese, South Koreans, Chinese of several regions, North Americans, Chileans, Africans of several regions, Scots, Irish, English,Indians and on and on. It is a pleasure to make one's thanksgiving after Holy Communion at anytime, but it is doubled when one can make it with our brethren and fellow citizens from around the world. We are indeed the lucky country.And Thank God, we know it and cherish the reality.

 

R.M.S.TITANIC ALONGSIDE SOUTHAMPTON AWAITING FULL CREW AND PASSENGERS

 

Thursday 4th April, 1912 after travelling the 570 miles ( 917 Km) from Belfast to Southampton, in the early minutes of the morning, R.M.S. TITANIC comes alongside Berth 44 at the WHITE STAR DOCK .  Both the passengers from London and the balance of the crew , will come aboard on the following  Wednesday . Southampton is ideally situated for ease of travel  for the passengers  who will come aboard  on that following  Wednesday 10th April,1912.

Our Heroic Priests, ignorant of the great challenge ahead of them are travelling toward embarkation, no doubt full of detailed arrangements to be finalised  and hearts full of prayer for the success of their separate missions. Our young Irish Seminarian, with a keen interest in photography, must be marvelling at the opportunities which will present themselves to his lens on this glamorous  maiden voyage which will take him on his short journey to Queenstown ( Cobh now).

 

" PAST " HEROIC CATHOLIC PRIESTS TITANIC SEA TRIALS ONE DAY ONLY

Complete and magnificent in every detail - R.M.S. TITANIC .

 

 

On this day, 2nd April, 1912, our three Heroic Catholic Priests and 1 Seminarian were making their way to their embarkation points for the travel on the "unsinkable"R.M.S. TITANIC's maiden voyage. An Englishman to officiate at his brother's wedding in New York, a German Benedictine to take up a teaching role in the United States and a (then Russian) Lithuanian to escape political persecution and a young orphaned Irishman to enjoy his Guardian 's ( a Bishop uncle) generosity . All of these holy men save one, God was moving into place for ministry to vast number in the appalling calamity soon to be revealed. The young man was being saved for a later greater ongoing calamity.

Amazingly, for such a huge vessel and the status of technology in 1912, TITANIC spent less than a full day in Sea Trials, she exercised her great engines at reasonable speed, turns to Port and Starboard , stopping, turning a full circle under the supervision of Captain E.J.Smith and his officers and the Executive Engineers of the builders Harland and Wolff. And that was that.No working up period for the crew, no shakedown trials of prolonged duration. The big day for embarkation of passengers was very near.

 Three Catholic Priests and a Seminarian are making their way toward the places where they would board the "unsinkable" RMS TITANIC in the coming days.Incredibly, the great ship was only completed to-day..Soon - on the 10th of April,  she will commence boarding passengers.In the interim she must take on fuel ( 5,892 Tons of coal), crew and do sea trials. Then she must take on huge quantities of crockery, glassware, cutlery, food and drink and get the crew organised and settled into those routines which make for efficient action and perfect service.

The fitting out of TITANIC has involved fitting 29 Boilers, the massive engines and turbines, 200 miles of electric cable , 20 lifeboats (including four with collapsible canvas sides). Over 3,000,000 rivets have been used in her construction.

" PAST " REVEALING THE CENTRALITY OF LOVE SAINT JOHN

 

SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

Recurringly, in his Gospel and his other writings, Saint John  leaves off his narrative for a major reflection on the meaning of the Life of Christ, and the significance  of Faith that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.

In his Gospel narrative,  ( 3:16) he opens up the subject of God's Love:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish

but have eternal life.

For God sent the Son into the world,

not to condemn the world,

but that the world might be saved through Him.

He who believes in Him is not condemned;

he who does not believe in Him is condemned already,

because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light,because their deeds were evil.

For everyone who does evil hates the light,and does not come to the light,

lest his deeds should be exposed.

But he who does what is true comes to the light,

that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.

Later, in the First Epistle of Saint John (iv : 7 -11), he reveals how that Divine Love flows through us outward to transform the world:

Beloved, let us love one another;

for love is of God,and he who loves

is born of God and knows God.

He who does not love does not know God;

for God is Love.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us,

that God sent His only Son into the world,

so that we might live through Him.

In this is love,

not that we loved God but that He loved us

and sent His Son to be the expiation of our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

No man has ever seen God; if we love one another,

God abides in us and His Love is perfected in us.

There we have laid out for us, by the Divinely inspired Saint John, the beloved disciple, the full significance of Divine Love for each of us and for the world at large. It is inspiring and challenging and gives us the measure of our success or otherwise as followers of Christ.

( PAST ) DAMAGE OF THE WASTED YEARS AND A PROBLEM OF CONSCIENCE

 

The Mitred Head of a Bishop

  

The approach of the 75th birthday of a Bishop,when he is obliged to tender his resignation to the Holy Father,  brings into focus the record of that Bishop in his sacred office.

Sometimes that record has not been one that one would wish to praise, but rather condemn - one can think of several cases in the United States over the years and even quite recently , where this has been the case. Of course when the situation is in one's own Diocese, the issue is surrounded with greater difficulty and considerations of giving scandal loom larger.Yet, at the same time , when the whole apparatus of a Diocese is geared up to boost the image of the retiree, and the composite picture becomes wholly false, other considerations arise.

 Is a great deception to be to be tolerated?

On the other hand, surely the Church in the particular Diocese has the right to mark the approaching retirement of its Bishop. It is unthinkable that it should attack or revile the man ordained and installed to be at the Head of that Diocese.Again, one would not wish to be churlish, recounting  the litany of disasters, and of effectively heretical addresses and homilies, and administrative measures not taken against rogue priests.

It is a complex  issue to weigh in the balance. But if I am confronted again by some of the fabricated drivel I encountered in the Diocesan Paper at the weekend, referring to the man as a great scholar - which he is far from being, and lauding his achievements when there are none worth mentioning  that have come to notice in years of close observation , I shall feel obliged to lay out the record in detail in defence of the truth. And I have it chapter and verse. But I do not want to do that - so much the better if he just goes and is replaced by someone who "does what the Catholic Church does, and teaches what the Catholic Church teaches"and we can get on with repairing the damage of the wasted years.

" PAST " HEAVEN KEPT SILENT ....WAITING FOR THE MAIDEN'S REPLY

 

The Annunciation  -  Fra Angelico

 

 

God's great gift of Free Will  to mankind has caused many an unusual situation in its operation. Many, but never one like this !

Great lover of mankind that He is, He had a plan to bring about the Redemption of Man and, to set this plan in train He had sent the Archangel Gabriel on this day, to the Virgin Mary a young maiden of Nazareth. But unlike most Divine plans this plan depended for its operation on the prior consent of the young maiden.

 
One can imagine the unfamiliarity of the circumstance. God, who knows even what is yet to happen, knew that Mary would accept, but left the decision to her - the Angels did not know and we might imagine , in our limited terms,their keen interest in the matter.

The Blessed Virgin had been uniquely prepared for her sacred role, she had been in the "mind"of God from all Eternity, and so when the time came for her to be conceived , she was accorded Immaculate Conception. That is to say, from the very first moment of her existence she was preserved free of the taint of Original Sin. Little wonder the Archangel would say to her : "Hail full of grace"- the salutation recognised her unique status. And it was this fullness of grace that was to lead her response to what was put to her

In her profound humility, she did not express doubt that it could happen. She humbly, modestly asked only how this could happen.The Archangel's explanation, though it must have been mysterious to her, was enough - now she knew God's Will fully.

The great silence was broken by her ready reply of complete trust: "Be it done unto me according to thy word." The most extraordinary exercise of Free Will in the history of the world.History was made at that moment , thanks be to God! Who at that moment became Man and took up His abode in the Womb of that Blessed Virgin who thus became the Ark of the New Covenant. Truly "full of Grace."

 

" PAST " THE LITTLE GIANT SUBVERTS THE DEFORMATION

" I  verily think no man can be said to have done more good of all those who laboured in the English vineyard. He was the immediate occasion of saving the lives of many hundreds of persons, both ecclesiastical and secular." (Father John Gerard S.J. 1564 - 1637)

The martyrdom of Nicholas Gooden Owen

 

Nicholas Gooden Owen is understood to have been born in Oxford around 1550 into a devout Catholic family, suffering under the Penal Laws directed against Catholics.He trained as a carpenter and for thirty years witnessed to his great Faith by going about the country building "Priest Holes" - these were secret hiding places within English homes where Priests could hide secure from the King's Commissioners enforcing the Penal Laws.

Calling himself "Little John"- for he is said to have been abnormally short - close to a dwarf perhaps - he travelled around the country plying his Priest Hole making trade. He asked for no payment other than his accommodation and sustenance, and sufficient food to get him to his next job.He always worked alone and at night in order to minimise the chance of betrayal.The total number of projects he completed is not known, but it seems likely to have been in the hundreds. He worked for the Jesuit Priest Henry Garnet (Martyr 1555-1606) for some years and became a Jesuit lay brother in due course.

Following the Martyrdom of Saint Edmund Campion, Nicholas publicly proclaimed Saint Edmund's innocence of the charges brought against him, Nicholas was arrested for a time and later released. But in 1594 he was arrested again and this time tortured but disclosed nothing. He was fined, but the fine was paid by an admiring Catholic family and so his release was again received - for the authorities had no inkling of his achievements, merely thinking him an accomplice of Priests in some general way.

But in 1606, the time of the Gunpowder Plot hysteria, he contrived to give himself up in order to facilitate the escape of several nearby Priests. Lord Cecil, the Secretary of State said of his capture: It is incredible, how great was the joy caused by his arrest.. knowing the great skill of Owen in constructing hiding places, and the innumerable quantity of dark holes which he had schemed for hiding Priests all through England."

He was at first delivered to the Marshalsea Prison, that strange institution which held men convicted by Court Martial for offences committed at sea, those who had committed "unnatural crimes",political figures and intellectuals accused of sedition or other inappropriate behaviour and debtors from London at the whim of their Creditors. A good indication of its operation and peculiarity can be gained from Dickens' story "Little Dorrit". From there he was transferred to the Tower of London.

THE MARSHALSEA PRISON - A STRANGE INSTITUTION

 

In the Tower, Saint Nicholas was most cruelly tortured. He was strung up by the wrists and increasingly heavy weights were tied to his feet until at last "his bowels gushed out with his life". He died in 1606 - most authorities say on 2nd March, a few make the date 12th November. He was canonized on 25 October,1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

The Tower of London

 

The Tower of London is notorious for the high profile political prisoners it has held including: the Princes in the Tower,  Ann Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, Princess Elizabeth before she became Elizabeth I,Sir Walter Raleigh, in addition Blessed Margaret Pole and Saint Thomas More and many other heroes of the Faith.

Saint Nicholas Owen had the body of, maybe, a near dwarf - but he had the heart and spirit of a Giant with achievements to match.

Saint Nicholas Pray for us that we may have the grace to aim for your courage and vigour in defending the Faith, and be blessed with even a fraction of your achievements in the same cause. Amen.

" PAST" BATTLE IS JOINED TO DEFEND CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES

 

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney - Forthright Leadership

Serving with the Angels

The action of the Bishops of New South Wales in urging the faithful to vote against the Greens in the State Election on 26th March, 2011 is refreshing and commendable, the action of the Bishop of Broken Bay David Walker, in refusing to co-sign is indefensible and reprehensible given the Greens advocacy of Abortion, Same sex “Marriage”, Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Euthanasia, compounded by a policy which would reduce Government funding to many Catholic Schools.

Too often in Australia Bishops have kept silent whilst the winds of radical “Green” politics rose and rose in fury. Very late it seems, they have realised that these people are not so much concerned with matters environmental which are “warm and fuzzy “as they are fundamentally anti-human and anti-Christian.


The technique of subverting a popular movement as a path to power is one that the Marxists in their Communist days had honed to a fine sharp edge. Too often unionists found their legitimate grievances used as a stepping stone by those who wanted control of the union for other reasons and for causes the workers did not support. Now we find the Green movement has been similarly subverted by glib Marxist programmed types not so much concerned with the trees and the atmosphere as ending the lives of the unborn, unnatural sex, terminating the lives of the sick and the elderly, abusing the bodies of the stillborn or aborted and using social engineering to attack Christian Schools.


Having spent the last forty years protecting the hard-won community acceptance of Catholics, the Bishops have, until very late in the piece, mostly lost the habit of advocating Catholic doctrine when it is directly counter cultural. Thank heaven they have woken up corporately, even though the day is close to dusk – better late than never. We can be thankful for the long haul leadership of Cardinal Pell and Bishop Fisher(Parramatta), for Bishop Jarrett(Lismore) and Bishop Matthys(Armidale) also, though the media does not have them on its radar.

Fortunately in the United States where politics is more regularly wedded to principles than in Australia where pragmatism usually rules, a large corps of newer Bishops, orthodox, well-educated, intelligent and articulate has developed and they have not hesitated at all to engage in public discourse and use their positions responsibly to influence the faithful in support of Catholic doctrine.


We are grateful to see this turning of the tide as Secularism becomes ever more brazen.

" PAST " THE WAR AT SEA COMES HOME

 

 

H.M.S. Repulse British Battle cruiser ( in 1916) sunk with H.M.S. Duke of York Battleship on 10th December, 1941, when attacked by 350 Japanese land based Aircraft.The giant ships had been sent without escort to shore up defences in the East.

The war at sea was very much in the mind of Australians during WW II - and rightly so. The phrase "tyranny of distance"had yet to be coined, but if any phrase covered our situation it might have been "splendid isolation" - so that our safety depended on sea power, and our Royal Australian Navy was fairly large in relation to our small population of only 3.5 Million.Even so, given our enormous coastline, it was really inadequate and we relied heavily on our "great and powerful friends""Mother"Britain and our American "cousins".

As time would tell, "Mother"did not succeed in "coming to our aid"until the show was almost over and the British Pacific Fleet was formed late in the war. It was not lost on the Australian public that Australian ships, soldiers and airmen had , from 1939 served with the British throughout the European and North African theatres.The bulk of them were not withdrawn until the Japanese threat was revealed.

But the War at Sea came home to Berala in 1944. My brother Pat finished his secondary schooling at Marist Brothers Lidcombe in 1943 at the end of Third Year as was the custom for most young fellows of the time - very few went on to Matriculate and go to University. The famed Parish Priest of Lidcombe was Father Lloyd who was a legend in Sydney for his ministry to the Boxing fraternity. He was equally famous in the Parish of Lidcombe for getting young fellows leaving school at the Brothers ' jobs. The Great Depression never really ended in peacetime and getting jobs was a tough assignment. Well, Father Lloyd did it regularly , and he got young Pat Dixon a job with the American owned JANTZEN ( "the Trademark is the Jantzen Diving Girl"said the jingle on the wireless) swimwear factory out on Parramatta Road, Lidcombe as a machine mechanic apprentice.This suited the young 16 years old for some months, but in 1944 he got the idea in his head that he wanted to join the Navy.

And so the War at Sea came to our home. By this stage of 1944 it was clear that we - the Allies- were winning the war and that nothing could reverse that trend. In fact I grew up with the moral certainty that we would win the War , and except at the end of 1941 in the East, and a little later in Europe, I gather that was the case with adults as well. My Mum and Dad were firmly opposed to their 16yrs old Pat, who had a good job, going needlessly into the Navy. The battle was largely engaged in the evenings , after I had been put to bed.The salvos were then fired back and forth. Sometimes pleading, sometimes angrily on either side. This went on for weeks it seems to me.It was so memorable because ours was normally a very peaceful household. Then a decisive intervention took place. Pat's boss at JANTZEN, a very nice fellow apparently , with the exotic name of Andy Ortega - himself an American I think, wrote a letter to Mum and Dad saying how pleased he was with Pat's work and what a bright future he had with JANTZEN, and urging them not to consent to their son enlisting (a  consent that was necessary for anyone under 18yrs). That put Pat's case back several paces and steeled Mum and Dad's resolve. I have an idea that Brother Loyola, the tough little Headmaster at Lidcombe was also pressed into service on Mum and Dad's side at some stage. Finally it was over. The family was to have no association  with the Navy. At least, not until I joined the R.A.N. Reserve in the 1960's.But that is another story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The war at sea was very much in the mind of Australians during WW II - and rightly so. The phrase "tyranny of distance"had yet to be coined, but if any phrase covered our situation it might have been "splendid isolation" - so that our safety depended on sea power, and our Royal Australian Navy was fairly large in relation to our small population of only 3.5 Million.Even so, given our enormous coastline, it was really inadequate and we relied heavily on our "great and powerful friends""Mother"Britain and our American "cousins".

As time would tell, "Mother"did not succeed in "coming to our aid"until the show was almost over and the British Pacific Fleet was formed late in the war. It was not lost on the Australian public that Australian ships, soldiers and airmen had , from 1939 served with the British throughout the European and North African theatres.The bulk of them were not withdrawn until the Japanese threat was revealed.

But the War at Sea came home to Berala in 1944. My brother Pat finished his secondary schooling at Marist Brothers 'Lidcombe in 1943 at the end of Third Year as was the custom for most young fellows of the time - very few went on to Matriculate and go to University. The famed Parish Priest of Lidcombe was Father Lloyd who was a legend in Sydney for his ministry to the Boxing fraternity. He was equally famous in the Parish of Lidcombe for getting young fellows leaving school at the Brothers ' jobs. The Great Depression never really ended in peacetime and getting jobs was a tough assignment. Well, Father Lloyd did it regularly , and he got young Pat Dixon a job with the American owned JANTZEN ( "the Trademark is the Jantzen Diving Girl"said the jingle on the wireless) swimwear factory out on Parramatta Road, Lidcombe as a machine mechanic apprentice.This suited the young 16 years old for some months, but in 1944 he got the idea in his head that he wanted to join the Navy.

And so the War at Sea came to our home. By this stage of 1944 it was clear that we - the Allies- were winning the war and that nothing could reverse that trend.( In fact I grew up with the moral certainty that we would win the War , and except at the end of 1941 in the East, and a little later in Europe, I gather that was the case with adults as well.) My Mum and Dad were firmly opposed to their 16yrs old Pat, who had a good job, going needlessly into the Navy. The battle was largely engaged in the evenings , after I had been put to bed.The salvos were then fired back and forth. Sometimes pleading, sometimes angrily on either side. This went on for weeks it seems to me.It was so memorable because ours was normally a very peaceful household. Then a decisive intervention took place. Pat's boss at JANTZEN, a very nice fellow apparently , with the exotic name of Andy Ortega - himself an American I think, wrote a letter to Mum and Dad saying how pleased he was with Pat's work and what a bright future he had with JANTZEN, and urging them not to consent to their son enlisting (a  consent that was necessary for anyone under 18yrs). That put Pat's case back several paces and steeled Mum and Dad's resolve. I have an idea that Brother Loyola, the tough little Headmaster at Lidcombe was also pressed into service on Mum and Dad's side at some stage. Finally it was over. The family was to have no association  with the Navy. At least, not until I joined the R.A.N. Reserve in the 1960's.But that is another story.

" PAST " WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ARK OF THE COVENANT?

 

 

A RE-CREATION OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

 

Whatever happened to the Ark of the Covenant?

The Ark of the Covenant was sacred to the people of Israel long before the Temple at Jerusalem was built. The Ark itself was built according to Divine instruction, including the detail of its design.

It contained the two tablets of stone God gave to Moses inscribed with the Ten Commandments, the staff of Aaron which had flowered indicating that he should be High Priest and a portion of the Manna with which God had fed the people of Israel whilst they wandered in the desert.

God had decreed that the Ark should be built thus:

A rectangular box

Approx.1.2 Metres by 0.7 Metres by .0.7 Metres.

Made of Acacia wood, it was gilded inside and out.

On each side were two golden rings through which were placed the poles used to carry the Ark in solemn procession

Atop the Ark, was a solid Gold plate . This provided the base for two golden statues of seraphim. Their wings extended over their heads, and where their wings met, God would appear to His people.

This appearance was called the Shekinah, and the place where this occurred was known as the “kepporet””the “mercy seat".

When the Israelites were a wandering people, the Ark was carried by priests and when camp was made, they set up the Sanctuary Tent which housed the Ark. King David brought it to Jerusalem and finally it was installed in Solomon’s Temple in the Holy of Holies. In the earlier wandering times, the Ark had even been carried into battle. On one occasion it was captured by the Philistines, in a terrible defeat. For seven months they retained the Ark, but it brought them plague and they finally brought it back, together with golden votive offerings to appease the One True God.

The awesome sacred nature of the Ark was highlighted by an incident on the first occasion David tried to bring it into Jerusalem. It was being carried on a carriage and at one stage seemed about to topple, when an attendant named Uzza in reaction, stretched out his hand to steady it and touched the Ark. He was instantly struck dead.

King David was so overcome by this demonstration of the Ark’s sacred character that he halted the proceedings and for three months kept the Ark in the nearby home of Obed-Edom.The latter prospered during that time, so David regained his courage and once again in great and celebratory procession, the Ark was brought into Jerusalem and placed on the very spot where it was believed Abraham had been prepared to sacrifice Isaac.

David was forbidden to build a permanent structure to house the Ark, by the Prophet Nathan. The task was reserved to Solomon who built the mighty Temple for that purpose. For 400 years it remained there, visited only one day a year on the Day of Atonement, by the High Priest. But Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. There we lose track of the Ark. It is not mentioned among the objects plundered by the invaders. A later Jewish tradition tells the story that the Prophet Jeremiah hid the Ark, burying it on Mt. Nebo, where Moses was buried, and that it would appear in the skies to foreshadow the Day of the Lord.

In New Testament times we are told in the Letter to the Hebrews that such sacred objects of the past only foreshadowed the coming of Christ who is Himself the “mercy seat”- the true meeting point between God and Man. And Saint Luke in his Gospel fully rounds out our understanding of the new Covenant: Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant bearing in her womb the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Like the Ark of old, she was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.

" PAST " STRANGE DAZE INDEED1

 

In Happier Times - The  Consecration of St.Joseph's Cathedral Rockhampton

Bishop "Call me Brian"Heenan of Rockhampton

 

Strange “Daze” Indeed!


Now, we know that Rockhampton has been through a lot of late, what with the terrible floods and all, but does that excuse anything and everything?

We have been accustomed to many odd things in the Diocese of Rockhampton, from Episcopal liturgical abuse on down. But the current Lent 2011 booklet of the Diocese “BEING EUCHARIST TO EACH OTHER” just about takes the cake! (We won’t bother about the photograph on the cover of an American family holding hands whilst “giving thanks” before a Thanksgiving Meal – huge turkey, candied vegetables and all.). No, let’s concentrate on the genuine local content, or is it?

Bishop “Call me Brian” Heenan writes in the introduction: “We are invited to reflect on how we are eucharist to one another. What does this way of life call us to do? It calls us to gather together with others, listen to God’s word and share in the Eucharist, and to be to others what Jesus is for us, “To Be Eucharist To Each Other”.

What is happening here? We know that the word “eucharist” is a noun meaning “thanksgiving” and that the Catholic Church speaks of “the Eucharist” Holy Mass (this usage has become very common among the clergy since the Council especially- it was originally common among liturgically inclined Protestants) it is much less commonly used in referring to the Blessed Sacrament. But Catholics have NEVER spoken of “being “eucharist. And that, quite reasonably, because it is meaningless.

I began to wonder where this abuse of language might have originated. Sure enough! “Only in America” as they say! But who would seek to abuse this most sacred Catholic word, it seems a queer thing to do. “Queer” indeed as it turns out. About six years ago the use of this weird language by the Diocese of Rockhampton - indeed Bishop “Call me Brian” Heenan himself on Holy Thursday evening was highlighted by the then sole lay voice of orthodox Catholicism in Australia, the magazine AD 2000. It came from a poem called “The Eucharist” and had originally been contributed to the website of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco” The Author, one R. Voight is said to have been a regular contributor.”We primarily serve the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community” the website tells the enquirer very openly. Further internet enquiry makes this all too clear.

Is it not puzzling that a Catholic Bishop should take up such a weird abuse of language, and even more so when it comes from a homosexual source? And a militant one at that!

The Bishop goes on “Eucharist is about being in relationship allowing each of us to be present to each other as well as forgiving and welcoming to outsiders.”Remember we are not talking about “the Eucharist”-just as well- but about this invented Americanism. Rather neat really, because it is meaningless one might be free of criticism. "And Eucharist can confirm and enable the things we are passionate about” says the Bishop. What are we talking about here?

All of this is stirred in with occasional references to “the Eucharist” and one or two concepts Catholics are familiar with. In the end it is a bit like a badly made trifle, little bits of cake a lot of watery jelly drowned in a sickeningly thin custard. One is left to wonder, who in Rockhampton Diocese is so familiar with a homosexual website for so many years, and still in a position to get this rubbish used? The Deceiver is at work leading people away by destroying the meaning of words.

" PAST " THE TRIUMPH OF THE CRUCIFIX

 

Crucifix by Giotto

The tide of, radical secularism riding the wave of "rights language"has at last, thanks be to God, received a severe check. And, of all places, in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In November, 2009 the Court had found in favour of a militant secularist who petitioned the Court to ban Crucifixes from all Italian schools alleging that they infringed the rights of children and teachers of non-Christian or no Faith. Now on Appeal, the Court has reversed the earlier decision by a 15 -2 majority.

There had been very widespread and significant protests throughout Italy because of the earlier decision. The new decision will greatly strengthen those defending the Crucifix in  other cases.

" PAST " GUARDIAN OF THE SAVIOUR CHILD

JOSEPH! to thee by hosts on high
and choirs of Christians, laud be paid!
saintly of life, -by purest tie
joined unto her, the glorious Maid.




When thou didst doubt thy wife's repute,
and mark her great with motherhood,
the angel taught thee that her fruit
came from the Holy Ghost of God.


To clasp the Son, the Lord, was thine,
to share His flight to Egypt's shore,
with tears, to seek in Salem's shrine
Him lost, -with joy, to find once more.


Death brings to other Saints their rest;
through toil they win the victor's place;
thou happier, like the Angels blest,
alive, hast seen God face to face.


Spare us, O Trinity most High!
grant that, with Joseph, we may gain
Thy starry realm, and ceaselessly
there raise to Thee our thankful strain.
Amen.


(Roman Breviary - Hymn Te Joseph celebrent agmina coelitum 17th Cent.)


"Though thou hast recourse to many saints as thine intercessors,go especially to St. Joseph, for he has great power with God." - St. Theresa of Jesus : Maxims (16th Cent.)St.Joseph