Daily Archives: 2011/10/25

2011/10/25 · 13:49

Thanks to Benefactors (against all my protestations)!

The following greeted me at the mail box this morning:

Thanks to B & A H. for the donation with the above card from the Met, which depicts the Rouen Cathedral by Claude Monet in 1894. They must have thought that I like impressionism because of some of the pictures my camera takes on its less than better days. Actually, I do. We had two impressionist paintings in the house when I was growing up. Very cool. Thank you!

Thanks to whoever is behind the Florida 32741 postal code for your donation, depicted above. It’s good to get a Federal Reserve Note instead of just a blog visit from the Federal Reserve Board!

Thanks to G.P. & S.M. E. for their contribution, as well as the picture to the left!

Thanks to S.W. for his donation. He includes this note:

I hereby force you to take this donation against your protestations to be used for the stove project. There may be many merits received from the act of suffering through the cold of winter without the assistance of heat, however, I believe more may be accomplished by you and your mission if you are able to move about freely, rather than staying in the fetal position surrounded by many blankets. All joking aside, my prayers are with you.

Last Winter was the Winter without heat! Right now, just one blanket, one of those light plastic fuzzy ones which I’m borrowing from the Fathers of Mercy. Being from Minnesota, I know cold and have enough clothes to dress in layers when it gets down to freezing. The stove is for the sake of keeping the books dry and the computer able to run and the fingers able to thaw out enough to be able to type! Thanks, S.W.!

Thanks to whoever it was who picked up the grain mill on the wish list, completely against my protestations. The UPS Store forced it on me, saying they have no room for it there. What to do? It will be extremely handy. Thank you!

Thanks to L.H., for the contribution. L.H. added: “In hopes that this can add a bit of warmth to your ‘cave’. We have a mutual friend. Thank you!

Thanks to E.D. for the donation. E.D. adds: “Please, accept a donation, which you have not solicited!” There are some names of priests and of a bishop for me to pray for, along with some other intentions. Yes! The stationary has a great quotation for a hermit:

Even when alone, be cheerful, remembering always that you are in the sight of the angels. — St. Therese

Thanks to J.G. for the contribution. J.G. adds: “I covered up the return address on the envelope, so you will have to keep the donation!”

Thanks to S.M.F. for the donation and best wishes and prayers. There is a hand written verse:

“Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever!”

I’d like to ask readers to pause right now and offer a little prayer for S.M.F., who is considering a vocation to religious life with a congregation that I’ve worked with since before I knew the Fathers of Mercy existed some twenty five years ago. Hail Mary…

Thanks much to F.J. and M.E. F., for their donation, this being also from N. and J.-H. and B. and L. and F. and M.R. and C. and J. and baby K. Very, very awesome!

Thanks to J.M. D. for the contribution. J.M.D. adds: “There’s nothing more important than praying for our priests.” Pax et bonum! Thank you.

Also, thanks much to those who sent in contributions with no note:

  • G.C. & L.H.
  • B.T.W.JR.
  • A.M. & T.G. C.
  • M.O’N.
  • J.W.M.

Each and every one has my prayers and blessings along with Holy Mass offered for you and your intentions about once a month.

May the Lord continue to bless you all according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception.

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· 12:17

fall colors

How obedient nature is! to the greater honor and glory of God!

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· 10:20

2 – On the vesting prayers for priests in preparation for Holy Mass

AD AMICTUM

Impone Domine, capiti meo galeam salutis, ad expugnandos diabolicos incursus.

Place upon my head, O Lord, the helmet of salvation, for conquering diabolical assaults.

The idea of the syntax here is not that we, of ourselves, have the power to beat down whatever future diabolical assaults there may be during the ultimate religious battle during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but that, knowing that we cannot do that, we humbly ask the Lord that He Himself cover us with the grace of salvation, which, of itself, conquers the assaults of the Evil One.

We are reminded of Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (6,12-17 of the old NAB):

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

A helmet, obviously, protects the head, with a spiritual helmet fending off untoward assaults of a spiritual nature. Such spiritual assaults are usually mind games the devil puts before us, about which Saint Paul instructs and reprimands us: “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the [...] evil spirits in the heavens.”

The temptation is for us to dumb-down the battle to that of flesh and blood, a sheer idiocy on our part, laying ourselves wide open to diabolical assaults, having us be filled with rancor and discord and, to justify ourselves, disobedience to the faith. And one can offer Holy Mass with that kind of attitude, which is horrific, but it happens with so very many of us.

Saint Paul here speaks of obedience to the truth of the faith, which frees one to be an apostle of the Gospel, to be the edge of that sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. In one’s preaching, with all clarity of mind and agility of spirit, one helps others to understand that we do not battle with flesh and blood, but with the evil spirits, and that we are to pray and help each other to be the best of friends with our Lord Jesus, to be His humble servants.

Remember that original sin came about because of the deception, the mind games of Satan, who tried to get flesh and blood to battle with flesh and blood, with rancor and discord all around. This prayer is an in-your-face mockery of Satan’s assault on Adam, and therefore on mankind, from the very beginning. This prayer points to the promised Redeemer of Genesis 3,15. Having taken the initiative to crush the head of Satan and be crushed – what is happening at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we prepare to offer with this prayer – only our Lord Jesus can provide us with the helmet of salvation so as to repel the deceit, the mind games, of the Evil One.

When our Lord Himself was especially assaulted by the mind games of the devil during those forty days in the desert after He made the waters of baptism holy by His own Baptism, the temptation was about things of flesh and blood, about egoism and rancor and discord. The response of the Lord to each temptation was about His bond of union in all charity with His, with our heavenly Father. Love conquers all mind games. The helmut of salvation means to have a mind and a judgment of things based on love of God and love of neighbor with one and the same act of love.

“Place upon my head, O Lord, the helmet of salvation…” Yes! A prayer we would surely want to say before offering the Holy Sacrifice.

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· 09:41

The MQ-9 Reaper Hunter/Killer UAV of GA-ASI Predator Drone again seen in Western North Carolina over civilian areas

Just a couple hundred feet up, for two days running, first over the neighbor’s house in the mountains, and then over the neighbor’s shop dozens of miles away in Brevard.

  • If it’s someone who’s made a mock version of a drone, should he be allowed to fly where he wills at such low altitudes, day after day, in civilian areas? We’re talking about competency issues among the brass here, are we not? As the neighbor said, “This is no longer a joke.” That’s right, on so many levels.
  • If it really is a military drone, and this is just a stunt of one of the operators (someone I know all too well, by the way), should that really be allowed? Can such planes, which are suppossed to be up at 30,000 feet or more, be allowed to be used as a stunt? My dad used to fly his Willy Roger Checkerboard Squadron Corsair over the house in Minnesota, almost taking off the shingles, back in the 1960s, but we’re a bit stricter about such flights today, are we not? We’re talking about competency issues among the brass here, on so many levels, are we not?
  • If it really is a military drone, but is not a stunt, so that the military is now being directed to make its presence known to civilian Americans, what’s the message? Are Americans suppossed to be oh-so-put-on-guard right before an election, so that we vote for those who are presently in power, the usual tactic? Bad precedent, that. We’re talking about competency issues among the brass, on so many levels, are we not?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m as pro-military, pro-just-war, pro-strong defense as you can get, patriotic as you can be. However, I see this as a mistake in the military I support.

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