Dublin Honours Christ on Streets at Christmas

Irish Society for Christian Civilisation – ISFCC, an organization of lay Catholics, held three Christmas rallies on O’Connell St., Dublin on the 4th, 11th and 18th of December. Approximately seventy people attended each rally. The participants prayed the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary and sang traditional Christmas carols such as Silent Night and Angels We Have Heard on High.

When asked why ISFCC organized these rallies, Damien Murphy, the rally leader, said, “We’re here today for two reasons. First, to bring the true joy and peace of Christmas - which is Our Lord Jesus Christ - to people who walk by us and, also, to oppose the secularization of Christmas in Ireland”

The scene moved many people, who often stopped and participated in the carols. The Child Jesus on a cushion in the centre of the rally also touched many others.

“The world is facing multiple crises.” said Damien. “People need to realise that Our Lady has already given us the solution to these problems when she appeared in Fatima and asked us to pray the Rosary every day.”

“The Rosary strengthens us. Through the Rosary, God gives us the wisdom and prudence to solve our problems because at the heart of every crisis in the world today lies a moral problem. A corrupt society will never be able to succeed but slowly sink into chaos.”

While the idea of Christmas rallies is new, ISFCC has held similar rallies in Dublin at the same location for almost ten years.

“We also have monthly Rosary Rallies here at the same place (O’Connell Street) once a month from May to October and get similar numbers, though our last one in October had around 200 people.” continued Damien.

Irish Society for Christian Civilisation and its campaign Ireland Needs Fatima is part of the worldwide movement called Tradition, Family, and Property founded in Brazil by the late Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira.

Latin Attacked Again

Just in time for Christmas, you can read the Vatican’s latest attack on the church’s universal tongue here as the language is limited in Baptisms, Weddings and Confirmations amongst others.

Given that liberals in the Vatican are now pushing for the recognition of Anglican ‘ordinations’ and that English will now be mandatory in most Irish churches, one can only wonder if the Irish martyrs could see this now, how would they feel?

You can read the ridiculous and spiteful document below.

******

Your Eminence / Most Reverend Excellency,

 after the publication by Pope Francis of the Apostolic Letter in the form of a "Motu Proprio" Traditionis custodes on the use of liturgical books prior to the reform of the Second Vatican Council, they reached the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments - which, exercises the authority of the Holy See for matters within its competence (cf. Traditionis custodes , n. 7) - various requests for clarification on its correct application. Some questions have been raised by several parties and with greater frequency: therefore, after having carefully evaluated them, after having informed the Holy Father and having received his consent, the answers to the most recurring questions are now published.

The text of the Motu Proprio and the Letter to all the Bishops that accompanies it clearly express the reasons for what Pope Francis has ordered. The first aim is to continue "in the constant search for ecclesial communion" ( Traditionis custodes , Premessa) which is expressed by recognizing in the liturgical books promulgated by the Holy Pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, the only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite (cf. Traditionis custodes, no. 1). This is the direction in which we want to walk and this is the meaning of the answers that we publish here: every prescribed norm always has the sole purpose of safeguarding the gift of ecclesial communion by walking together, with conviction of mind and heart, in the line indicated by the Holy Father.

It is sad to see how the deepest bond of unity - participation in the one broken Bread which is His Body offered so that all may be one (cf. Jn 17:21) - becomes a reason for division: it is the task of the Bishops, cum Petro et sub Petro , to safeguard communion, a necessary condition - the Apostle Paul reminds us of this (cf. 1 Cor 11: 17-34) - in order to participate in the Eucharistic table.

One fact is undeniable: the Council Fathers felt the urgency of a reform so that the truth of the faith celebrated would appear more and more in all its beauty and the people of God would grow in a full, active, conscious participation in the liturgical celebration (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium n.14 ), present moment in the history of salvation, memorial of the Lord's Passover, our only hope.

As Pastors we must not lend ourselves to sterile polemics, capable only of creating division, in which the ritual fact is often exploited by ideological visions. Rather, we are all called to rediscover the value of the liturgical reform by safeguarding the truth and beauty of the Rite it has given us. For this to happen, we are aware that a renewed and continuous liturgical formation is necessary both for priests and for the lay faithful.

In the solemn closing of the second session of the Council (December 4, 1963) St. Paul VI expressed himself as follows (n.11):

"After all, this passionate and complex discussion was by no means without abundant fruit: in fact that theme which was first of all addressed, and which in a certain sense is pre-eminent in the Church, both by its nature and by its dignity - we mean the sacred Liturgy - has reached a happy conclusion, and today comes to us with a solemn rite promulgated. For this reason Our soul rejoices with sincere joy. In this fact we recognize that the just order of values ​​and duties has been respected: in this way we have recognized that the place of honor must be reserved for God; that we as a first duty are obliged to raise prayers to God; that the sacred Liturgy is the primary source of that divine exchange in which the life of God is communicated to us, it is the first school of our soul, it is the first gift that must be given by us to the Christian people, united with us in faith and assiduity to prayer; finally, the first invitation to humanity to loosen its mute tongue in holy and sincere prayers and to feel that ineffable regenerating force of the soul that is inherent in singing with us the praises of God and in the hope of men, for Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit ».

When Pope Francis (Address to the 68. But National Liturgical Week, Rome, August 24, 2017) reminds us that "after this teaching, after this long journey we can say with confidence and with magisterial authority that the liturgical reform is irreversible," wants to tell us the only direction in which we are joyfully called to direct our commitment as Pastors.

We entrust to Mary, Mother of the Church, our service to "preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph 4: 3).

From the headquarters of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, on 4 December 2021, the 58th anniversary of the promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium .

✠ Arthur Roche
Prefect

The Supreme Pontiff Francis, in the course of an audience granted to the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 18 November 2021, was informed and gave his consent to the publication of these RESPONSA AD DUBIA with attached NOTES EXPLANATORY .

 Traditionis custodes

 Art. 3. Episcopus, in dioecesibus ubi adhuc unus vel plures coetus celebrant secundum Missale antecedens instaurationem years 1970:

 [...]

 § 2. statuat unum vel plures locos ubi fideles, qui his coetibus adhaerent, convenire possint ad Eucharistiam celebrandam (nec autem in ecclesiis paroecialibus nec novas paroecias personales erigens);   

To the question proposed:

Where there is no possibility of identifying a church or oratory or chapel available to welcome the faithful who celebrate with the Missale Romanum ( editio typica 1962), the diocesan Bishop can ask the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments for dispensation from disposition of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes (art. 3 § 2), and, therefore, to allow the celebration in the parish church?

Answer:

Affirmatively.

Explanatory note.

The Motu proprio Traditionis custodes in art. 3 § 2 requests that the Bishop, in dioceses in which up to now there is the presence of one or more groups celebrating according to the Missal prior to the 1970 reform, "indicate one or more places where the faithful adhering to these groups can gather for the Eucharistic celebration (but not in parish churches and without erecting new personal parishes) ". The exclusion of the parish church means that the Eucharistic celebration according to the previous rite, being a concession limited to the aforementioned groups, is not part of the ordinary life of the parish community.

This Congregation, exercising the authority of the Holy See for the matter within its competence (cf. Traditionis custodes , n. 7), can grant, at the request of the diocesan Bishop, that the parish church be used for the celebration according to the Missale. Romanum of 1962 only if it is ascertained the impossibility of using another church, oratory or chapel. The assessment of this impossibility must be made with scrupulous attention.

Furthermore, this celebration is not appropriate for it to be included in the timetable of parish Masses as it is attended only by the faithful adhering to the group. Finally, it should be avoided that there is concomitance with the pastoral activities of the parish community. It is understood that when another location becomes available, this license will be withdrawn.

In these provisions there is no intention to marginalize the faithful who are rooted in the preceding celebratory form: they have only the purpose of remembering that it is a concession to provide for their good (in view of the common use of the only lex orandi of the Roman Rite) and not an opportunity to promote the previous rite.

Traditionis custodes

Art. 1. Liturgical books promulgated a sanctis Pontificibus Paulo VI and Ioanne Paulo II, iuxta decreta Vatican Council II, unica expressio “legis orandi” Ritus Romani sunt.

Art. 8. Normae, dispositiones, concessiones et consuetudines antecedentes, quae conformes non sint cum harum Litterarum Apostolicarum Motu Proprio datarum praescriptis, abrogantur.    

To the question proposed:

Is it possible, in accordance with the provisions of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes , to celebrate the Sacraments with the Ritual Romanum and the Pontificale Romanum preceding the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council?

Answer:

Negatively.

Only to canonically erected personal parishes which, according to the provisions of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes , celebrate with the Missale Romanum of 1962, the diocesan bishop is authorized to grant the license to use only the Ritual Romanum (ultima editio typica 1952) and not the Pontifical Romanum preceding the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council.

Explanatory note.

The Motu proprio Traditionis custodes wants to re-establish in the whole Church of the Roman Rite a single and identical prayer that expresses its unity, according to the liturgical books promulgated by the Holy Pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of the Second Vatican Council and in in line with the tradition of the Church.

The diocesan Bishop, as moderator, promoter and guardian of the whole liturgical life, must work to ensure that his diocese returns to a unitary celebratory form (cf. Pope Francis, Letter to the Bishops of the whole world to accompany the text of the Motu Proprio " Traditionis custodes ") .

This congregation, exercising, for matters within its competence, the authority of the Holy See (cf. traditionis custodes , n. 7), believes that, wanting to advance in the direction indicated by the Motu Proprio, we should not grant permission to use the Ritual Romanum and the Pontificale Romanum preceding the liturgical reform, liturgical books which, like all previous norms, instructions, concessions and customs, have been abrogated (cf. Traditionis custodes , n. 8).

Only to canonically erected personal parishes which, according to the provisions of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes , celebrate with the Missale Romanum of 1962, the diocesan bishop is authorized to grant the license to use only the Ritual Romanum (ultima editio typica 1952) and not the Pontifical Romanum preceding the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. It should be remembered that the formula for the Sacrament of Confirmation was changed for the whole Latin Church by Saint Paul VI with the Apostolic Constitution Divinæ consortium naturæ (August 15, 1971).

This provision intends to underline the need to clearly affirm the direction indicated by the Motu Proprio which sees in the liturgical books promulgated by the Holy Pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul II, in accordance with the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, the only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite (cf. Traditionis custodes , n. 1).

In implementing the provisions, care should be taken to accompany those who are rooted in the previous celebratory form towards a full understanding of the value of the celebration in the ritual form given to us by the reform of the Second Vatican Council, through an adequate formation that makes it possible to discover how it is a witness to a faith. unchanged, expression of a renewed ecclesiology, primary source of spirituality for the Christian life.

Traditionis custodes

Art. 3. Episcopus, in dioecesibus ubi adhuc unus vel plures coetus celebrant secundum Missale antecedens instaurationem years 1970:

§ 1. certior fiat coetus illos auctoritatem ac legitimam naturam instaurationis liturgicae, normarum Vatican Council II Magisteriique Summorum Pontificum non excludere;       

To the question proposed:

In the event that a presbyter who has been granted the use of the Missale Romanum of 1962 does not recognize the validity and legitimacy of the concelebration - refusing to concelebrate, in particular, in the Chrism Mass - can he continue to take advantage of this concession?

Answer:

Negatively.

However, before revoking the concession to use the Missale Romanum of 1962, the Bishop should take care to establish a fraternal confrontation with the priest, to ensure that this attitude does not exclude the validity and legitimacy of the liturgical reform, of the dictates of the Second Vatican Council. and of the Magisterium of the Supreme Pontiffs and to accompany him towards the understanding of the value of concelebration, in particular in the Chrism Mass.

Explanatory note.

Art. 3 § 1 of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes asks the diocesan Bishop to ascertain that the groups that ask to celebrate with the Missale Romanum of 1962 "do not exclude the validity and legitimacy of the liturgical reform, of the dictates of the Second Vatican Council and of the Magisterium of the Supreme Popes ".

St Paul strongly reminds the community of Corinth to live unity as a necessary condition for being able to participate in the Eucharistic table (cf. 1 Cor 11: 17-34).

In the Letter sent to the Bishops of the whole world to accompany the text of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes, the Holy Father expresses himself thus: "Since" liturgical celebrations are not private actions, but celebrations of the Church, which is the sacrament of unity "(cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium n.26 ), must be done in communion with the Church. The Second Vatican Council, while reaffirming the external bonds of incorporation into the Church - the profession of faith, of the sacraments, of communion -, affirmed with Saint Augustine that it is a condition for salvation to remain in the Church not only "with the body", but also "with the heart" (cf. Lumen Gentium n. 14) ».

The explicit desire not to participate in the concelebration, in particular in the Chrism Mass, seems to express a lack both of acceptance of the liturgical reform and of ecclesial communion with the Bishop, necessary requisites to be able to take advantage of the concession to celebrate with the Missale Romanum of 1962.

However, before revoking the concession to use the Missale Romanum of 1962, the Bishop should offer the priest the time necessary for a sincere discussion on the deepest reasons that lead him not to recognize the value of concelebration, in particular in the Mass presided over by the Bishop, inviting him to live in the eloquent gesture of concelebration that ecclesial communion which is a necessary condition for being able to participate in the table of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

Traditionis custodes

Art. 3. Episcopus, in dioecesibus ubi adhuc unus vel plures coetus celebrant secundum Missale antecedens instaurationem years 1970:

[...]

§ 3. constituat, in loco statuto, dies quibus celebrationes eucharisticae secundum Missale Romanum a sancto Ioanne XXIII anno 1962 promulgatum permittuntur. His in celebrationibus, lectiones proclamentur lingua vernacula, adhibitis Sacrae Scripturae translationibus ad usum liturgicum ab unaquaque Conferentia Episcoporum approbatis;     

To the question proposed:

In the Eucharistic celebration with the use of the Missale Romanum of 1962, is it possible to use the complete text of the Bible for the readings by choosing the pericopes indicated in the same Missal?

Affirmatively.

Explanatory note.

Art. 3 § 3 of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes establishes that the readings are proclaimed in the vernacular language, using the translations of Sacred Scripture for liturgical use, approved by the respective Episcopal Conferences.

Since the texts of the readings are contained in the Missal itself and therefore the book of the Lectionary does not exist, in order to observe the provisions of the Motu Proprio, one must necessarily have recourse to the book of Sacred Scripture in the translation approved by the individual Episcopal Conferences for liturgical use, choosing the pericopes indicated in the 1962 Missale Romanum .

No publication of Lectionaries in the vernacular that reports the cycle of readings of the previous rite may be authorized.

It should be remembered that the current Lectionary is one of the most precious fruits of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. The publication of the Lectionary in addition to overcoming the "plenary" form of the Missale Romanum of 1962 to return to the ancient tradition of the individual books corresponding to the individual ministries, realizes what is hoped for in Sacrosanctum Concilium at n. 51: "In order that the table of the word of God be prepared for the faithful with greater abundance, the treasures of the Bible should be opened more widely so that, in a determined number of years, most of the Holy Scripture is read to the people".

Traditionis custodes

Art. 4. Presbyteri ordinati post has Litteras Apostolicas Motu Proprio datas promulgatas, celebrate volentes iuxta Missale Romanum anno 1962 editum, petitionem formalem Episcopo dioecesano mittere debent, here, ante concessionm, a Sede Apostolica licentiam rogabit.    

To the question proposed:

Does the diocesan Bishop have to be authorized by the Apostolic See to be able to grant to priests ordained after the publication of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes to celebrate with the Missale Romanum of 1962 (cf. Traditionis custodes n. 4)?

Answer:

Affirmatively.

Explanatory note.

The Latin text (official reference text) in art. 4 reads as follows: "Presbyteri ordinati post has Litteras Apostolicas Motu Proprio datas promulgatas, celebrate volentes iuxta Missale Romanum anno 1962 editum, petitionem formalem Episcopo dioecesano mittere debent, here, before concession, a Sede Apostolica licentiam rogabit".

This is not a simple consultative opinion, but a necessary authorization given to the diocesan Bishop by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which exercises the authority of the Holy See for the matter within its competence ( cf. Traditionis custodes , n. 7).

Only having received this license will the diocesan Bishop be able to authorize priests ordained after the publication of the Motu Proprio (July 16, 2021) to celebrate with the Missale Romanum of 1962.

This norm is intended to offer help to the diocesan Bishop in evaluating this request: his discernment will be taken into due consideration by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

The Motu Proprio clearly expresses the will that the one contained in the liturgical books promulgated by the Holy Pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul II be recognized as the only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite, in conformity with the decrees of the Second Vatican Council: it is therefore absolutely It is desirable that priests ordained after the publication of the Motu Proprio share this desire of the Holy Father.

Wishing with solicitude to walk in the direction indicated by Pope Francis, all seminary formators are encouraged to accompany future deacons and presbyters in understanding and experiencing the richness of the liturgical reform desired by the Second Vatican Council: it has been able to value every element of the Roman Rite and favored - as wished by the Council Fathers - the full, conscious and active participation of the whole People of God in the liturgy (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium n. 14), primary source of authentic Christian spirituality.

Traditionis custodes

Art. 5. Presbyteri, qui iam secundum Missale Romanum anno 1962 editum celebrant, ab Episcopo dioecesano licentiam rogabunt ad hanc facultatem servandam.         

To the question proposed:

Can the right to celebrate with the use of the 1962 Missale Romanum be granted ad tempus?

Answer:

Affirmatively.

Explanatory note.

The choice of granting the use of the 1962 Missale Romanum for a defined time - of the duration that the diocesan Bishop deems appropriate - is not only possible but also recommended: the end of the defined period offers the possibility of verifying that everything is in harmony. with the orientation established by the Motu Proprio. The outcome of this verification may provide the reasons for extending or suspending the concession.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To the question proposed:

Is the faculty of celebrating with the use of the Missale Romanum of 1962 granted by the diocesan bishop valid only for the territory of his diocese?

Answer:

Affirmatively.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To the question proposed:

In case of absence or impossibility of the authorized priest, must the person replacing him also have a formal authorization?

Answer:

Affirmatively.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To the question proposed:

Do the deacons and ministers instituted who participate in the celebration with the use of the Missale Romanum of 1962 have to be authorized by the diocesan bishop?

Answer:

Affirmatively.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To the question proposed:

Can a priest authorized to celebrate with the Missale Romanum of 1962, which because of his office (parish priest, chaplain, ...) also celebrates on weekdays with the Missale Romanum of the reform of the Second Vatican Council, can combine using the Missale Romanum of 1962?

Answer:

Negatively.

Explanatory note.

The parish priest or chaplain who - in the fulfillment of his office - celebrates on weekdays with the current Missale Romanum , the only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite, cannot combine celebrating with the Missale Romanum of 1962, either with a group or privately .

It is not possible to grant the bination due to the fact that the case of the "just cause" or "pastoral necessity" required by can. 905 § 2: the right of the faithful to the Eucharistic celebration is in no way denied since the possibility of participating in the Eucharist in the current ritual form is offered.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To the question proposed:

Can a presbyter authorized to celebrate with the 1962 Missale Romanum celebrate with the same Missal on the same day for another group of faithful who have received the authorization?

Answer:

Negatively.

Explanatory note.

It is not possible to grant the bination due to the fact that the case of the "just cause" or "pastoral necessity" required by can. 905 § 2: the right of the faithful to the Eucharistic celebration is is in no way denied since the possibility of participating in the Eucharist in the current ritual form is offered.

Irish Politicians Vote for Maximum Pain for Aborted Babies

Irish politicians hit a new low this evening, by celebrating Christmas with a vote to make sure that babies will feel as much pain as possible while they are being aborted.

In a sick and sadistic development, Irish politicians, including many from Sinn Fein, openly mocked the idea of administering pain relief to babies as they were being killed in abortion.

The bill had been brought forward by a number of prolife TDs including Carol Nolan, who spoke of the fact that many liberal TDs will vote for banning cruelty to animals but not to unborn babies. The government ultimately blocked it with 107 votes against 37.

Carol Nolan calling for unborn babies to be given the same legal guarantee to pain relief before they are killed as animals have before operations. pic.twitter.com/06rSeocI7C

— JRD (@JRD0000) December 15, 2021

Another TD, Michael Collins, also pointed out the need for pain relief as many babies feel severe pain as they are being killed by needle or forceps.

Michael Collins preemptively refutes one of the central arguments used by many opposing TDs - that politicians shouldn't be dictating to doctors - by pointing out that we were happy to do this to protect animals.
He goes on to elaborate on the need for pain relief for the unborn. pic.twitter.com/DMP05fJZ3v

— JRD (@JRD0000) December 15, 2021

Danny Healy Rae spoke movingly of how society lets babies down by having them killed in the womb. He also rightfully pointed out that those who support abortion were also part of governments that made life a living hell for mothers and fathers.

We need to do more to help mothers, and fathers, indeed, to ensure there is another way. We are not doing that. Many here were hell-bent on ensuring that the abortion legislation went through. That was their right and for those who voted for it that was their right. But that is not to say that I say it is right. I think that these children, if they grew up, and they do grow up and they are not long becoming men and women, would have been a massive asset to this country. The Government, by its amendment, is looking to delay this. I want to remind the Minister that 18 babies are being aborted daily so they are going to suffer pain. It is 126 weekly and over 6,000 in a year. Surely we should not be wasting time. Is there humanity in the Minister or any of the Government? If there is, now is the time to stand up and do what we ask which is just to administer pain relief in the course of these abortions where we are ending little babies lives.

Danny Healy-Rae points to how we treat unborn babies in nothing even giving pain relief before we kill them as evidence that Ireland has lost its way as a society. pic.twitter.com/aQsvtEjp2X

— JRD (@JRD0000) December 15, 2021

Michael Healy Rae followed the same line of argument, stating:

How could any human being look me straight in the eye and say with any conviction and with any honesty in his heart and soul that it is wrong to want to stop a little person of feeling pain? Every one of us will have to die and how a person could face God after denying a person the right to pain relief is hard to understand. If I was under any one of their whips tonight, I would crack the whip back at them and I would vote with my conscience.

Michael Healy-Rae on his fundamental opposition to abortion and calling for at least as much compassion to be shown to the unborn as for animals. pic.twitter.com/b7rlp6zcum

— JRD (@JRD0000) December 15, 2021

In a typically disgusting display from Sinn Fein, fresh from imposing Westminster’s abortion of disabled Irish babies in the North, David Cullinane stated that he wants the South to also be under London’s abortion jurisdiction:

Sinn Féin is committed to delivering the same services, North and South. We want to see the alignment and delivery of abortion services across the island, and the services available in this State implemented in the North.

David Cullinane attempting to explain why Sinn Féin would be supporting the government's blocking of pain relief for unborn babies before they are killed in late term abortions.

Sinn Féin supports babies have fewer rights than animals. pic.twitter.com/9Jw4VNhQIa

— JRD (@JRD0000) December 15, 2021

We would include some of the other statements supporting babies being aborted with maximum pain, but they were of such low quality, of the kinds of American Lite soundbite clichéd talking points that we dare not waste your time or your brain cells reading the words of people who have no idea of what they are talking about.

We will give one risible example of the low quality of debate, from Ivana Bacik, of pro IMF party Labour:

A classic example of leftist perversion of language and morality - Ivana Bacik calling for pain relief for unborn babies to be blocked in the name of compassion. pic.twitter.com/XsbH7jCjtL

— JRD (@JRD0000) December 15, 2021

We will update when we have the full list of those who voted against the measure, but you may notice the name on the teller for the Yes side, Jack Chambers, who was once a stalwart of the prolife movement and who still has the loyalty of many ‘Catholic’ voters.

There it is. 37, then 36 TDs vote against Govts amendment to block the Foetal Pain Relief Bill 2021. The Bill has therefore fallen. The Dáil rejects pain relief. How indescribably sad. Well done to all the Bill's Sponsors and supporters. You tried. @john_mcguirk @griptmedia pic.twitter.com/Vb32Bfuzoq

— David Mullins (@Mullins77David) December 15, 2021

Sinn Fein Votes Against Babies With Disabilities

Sinn Fein have sent a strong Christmas message to people with disabilities, by voting to ensure that they can be aborted at up to 40 weeks of pregnancy if they have Down Syndrome, a cleft palate or club foot.

The party have become radicalised in their work as enforcers of Britain’s abortion edict in Northern Ireland, a law for which they accepted British rule in the province for the first time in history.

In a vote last night, Sinn Fein continued to add controversy to their already controversial festive season by having 26 MLAs vote loud and strong against proposals to limit abortions on babies who have disabilities.

So called ‘human rights’ group Amnesty International expressed their satisfaction with the gruesome result, which will inevitably lead to essentially the elimination of peoples with Down Syndrome in the North of Ireland as it has done in everywhere else where it has been introduced.

The right result. By 45 to 42 the Severe Fetal Impairment bill has NOT passed consideration stage & is defeated. Thanks to all MLAs who voted to respect & protect choice. Priority remains urgent delivery of fully commissioned services, accessible to all who need them. Onwards. pic.twitter.com/0NvdyFFW4f

— Grainne Teggart (@GTeggart) December 14, 2021

There is simply no doubt about it, Sinn Fein want Ireland in the Commonwealth, they want the 12th of July to be a celebration of anti Catholicism from Belfast to Cork and they want little Irish babies to be killed in the womb because Britain ordered them to do it. To support Sinn Fein now means to oppose an Irish Republic, the Catholic faith and people with disabilities.

In a news story by the BBC last year, one mother of a child with Down Syndrome spoke of how she was offered 15 abortions to kill her baby, but that she was offered no support in order to have him and to raise him.

This is what Sinn Fein have voted for, all in their desperate efforts to do the work of Westminster.

Down's syndrome: 'In all honesty we were offered 15 terminations' - BBC News

Police Supervise French Mass After Beheading Threats

A recent terrorist incident in Nanterre, France has shaken the Catholic world.

The violent Islamist attack on a Marian Procession has barely made a dent in the secular media however, with mainstream European news outlets refusing to carry the story of torches being swiped from faithful, a priest being spat on by Islamists and threats to decapitate Catholics in the name of the Quran.

Now, images have emerged of Mass in the town being supervised by police as the threats were eerily similar to events in recent years in Normandy and Nice, where a priest and parishioners had their heads severed from their bodies during Mass.

To their credit, a number of Muslim groups have done what President Emmanuel Macron is refusing to do and have condemned the terrorism against Catholics.

@92catholique #Nanterre #Nanterreprocession #a2cmgfhttps://t.co/FryQNYYkIH pic.twitter.com/G2ZcVSso31

— a2cmgf (@2cmgf) December 12, 2021

Social Media ROASTS Irish Journalist's Bishop Tweet

The frosty relationship between Irish Catholics and the Irish State’s Propaganda Arm has grown ever colder over the course of the past year. As a result, listenership at RTE has completely collapsed.

Much of this stems from the station’s decision to use public monies to accuse Catholics of worshipping a ‘rapist God’ in a New Year’s Eve ‘comedy’ sketch.

In a tweet this week, Education Correspondent Emma O’Kelly reminded people of the occasion when principals ‘defied’ bishops by forcing children to attend school on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

It's worth remembering that until 2004 most schools in Ireland were obliged to close today - Dec 8th - because it was a Catholic 'holy day of obligation'. Here's my report from '04, when some primary schools defied the bishops & opened. Months later the bishops backed down. pic.twitter.com/gDya5Q0jzQ

— emma o kelly (@emma_okelly) December 8, 2021

Perplexed by the apparent cheerleading of forcing children to attend school rather than take a day off with their families and attend church, Twitter users from around the globe expressed bewilderment with the Irish psyche, with many sarcastically stating that the bishops must have been really terrible to express a desire to give kids a day off from school.

Some of those commenting including author Sohrab Ahmari, who wrote ‘Big L for Ireland’.

Big L for Ireland. https://t.co/CnVtcOFHu6

— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) December 11, 2021

Libs are such joy killers. https://t.co/KAlP8QQ4JF

— Nathan der Schneemann ☃️ (@nguoiyanqui) December 11, 2021

Irish libs love to portray themselves as some heroic vanguard against a theocratic dictatorship when they've really been in charge for decades.

Genuine Catholic schools had functionally ceased to exist by 2004. https://t.co/zFcyesms9I

— Ó Bruadair 2.0 (@Bruadair2) December 11, 2021

Yeah man letting kids have an occasional day off is harmful https://t.co/yDtXbxCvJy

— Christian Pyle, Esq. (@CNPyleEsq) December 11, 2021

Imagine being so bitter and fedoratastic that you think not getting a day off is somehow a win because Catholicism bad. https://t.co/nMaFmoWXrh

— Wiggler is Catholic 🇻🇦 (@WigglyCath) December 11, 2021

Cant have the peons spend more time with their children now

— Margarine-/k/rampus (@TheUnaButters) December 11, 2021

He’ll yeah no days off for kids no sense of a life or world more important than school 💪🏻 nothing sacred, no time for family 🇮🇪

— 🌳Seamus🌳🦌☝🏻 (@fireofthylove) December 11, 2021

French Catholic Procession Attacked by Islamists

French Catholicism has hit the headlines in many different ways over the past number of weeks.

There has been the scandal involving the Archbishop of Paris who has now resigned, there has been the proposed wreckovation of Notre Dame and there was also the protest against a secular concert at a church in Nantes.

Now, a far more sinister story has emerged from Nanterre.

A number of Catholics were attending a Marian Procession in the town when a large group of Muslim men attacked them.

The Muslims shut down the event, screaming ‘THIS IS THE LAND OF ALLAH, ON THE QURAN I WILL SLIT YOUR THROAT!’ echoing the recent martyrdom of Father Jacques Hamyl in Normandy in 2016 and three Catholics in Nice last year.

The details of the attack were released in a Twitter thread belonging to an account which has since been deleted, apparently due to threats.

Twitter user Nicolas Phillippe wrote:

Today we celebrated the immaculate conception in our parish of Fontenelles in Nanterre. For the occasion, a short procession of 1km is organized in the evening with the statue of the blessed virgin as well as songs to the virgin

After only a hundred meters, for our first stop, we began to be insulted by passers-by. Then several young men began to surround us, in total a big dozen, who sneered while insulting us

Then sneers followed increasingly violent insults "children of whores", "gang of whores",then increasingly Christiannophobic words "here is not a cathedral", "you are khouffars of disbelievers", "break you are not at home" 

Faced with the hostility of these young people, it was decided to continue the procession route. There, they get closer to us, the insults become more and more violent, and it spits on the ground in our direction.

The father is attacked first being at the head of the procession. He gets spat on, then thrown cold water. The tension rises, and the group that surrounded us comes into contact. "wallah on the Qur'an I'm going to slit your throat." 

The father explains that it is a procession dedicated to the virgin. Nothing to do, "this is the land of Allah, break yourself". Other words are spoken in Arabic, while several parishioners are violently jostled by these young

We were followed and insulted for almost the entire duration of the procession, under infamous words, which were covered by songs to the virgin. In the end, calm only returned when we returned to the Church, where a police patrol was waiting for us because alerted

No one was injured, but the parishioners were shocked by this inexplicable violence towards a simple procession that was done in a good mood, authorized in the prefecture and on a classic course. The hatred in their eyes was there, without being able to explain it.

Honestly, the climate is very heavy, and it is more and more complicated, even dangerous, to be a Christian in certain territories. I am not trying to take pity only to explain the verbal and physical violence that Christians in France face

Most of the shocking details were confirmed today by the diocese’s social media:

A Marian procession took place at Hauts de Seine prefecture

During this march were planned two stops. During the first stop the procession was taken to task by several people who uttered insults and coarse and violent threats. The torch of a devotee was snatched and thrown on the participants. The procession started again and continued to be joined by the police until Saint Marie des Fontenelles. A complaint is about to be filed. The Diocese has contacted the public authorities so that the public so that the security of legitimately iniquitous faithful is fully assured now and in the future.

#Nanterre pic.twitter.com/BZL7Ezxsk9

— Diocèse de Nanterre (@92catholique) December 11, 2021

With the French Presidential Election currently focusing on the disparate nature of French society, priests being spat on by Muslim gangs threatening to slit the throats of Catholics carrying statues of Our Lady can only add more urgency to the need to solve France’s broken identity.

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange on the Immaculate Conception

[Because of] the nobility of Mary's title, Mother of God, it is . . . appropriate to examine the meaning and implications of the words spoken to her by the Angel Gabriel on the day of the Annunciation: 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women' (Luke 1: 28). As a help to understanding these words spoken in God's name we shall consider: 1st-----the different plenitudes of grace; 2nd-----the privilege of the Immaculate Conception; 3rd-----the sublimity of Mary's first grace.

Article I
THE DIFFERENT PLENITUDES OF GRACE

According to the usage of Holy Scripture, which becomes more and more explicit in the New Testament, it is grace in the strict sense of the term which is implied in the term 'fulness of grace'-----that is to say, grace which is really distinct from nature, both human and Angelic, grace which is a free gift of God surpassing the natural powers and exigencies of all nature, created or creatable. [l] Habitual or sanctifying grace makes us participate in the very nature, in the inner life of God, according to the words of St. Peter (2 Peter 1: 4): 'By whom he hath given us most great and precious promises: that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature.' By grace we have become adopted children of God, heirs and co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8: 17); by grace we are 'born of God' (John i, 13). It prepares us to receive eternal life as a heritage and as a reward of the merits of which it is itself the principle. It is even the germ of eternal life, the semen gloriae as Tradition terms it, since by it we are disposed in advance for the face to face vision and the beatific love of God.

Habitual grace is received into the very essence of the soul as a supernatural graft which elevates and deifies its vitality. From it there flows into the faculties the infused virtues, theological and moral, and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, all of which supernatural organism constitutes a sort of second nature of such a kind as to enable us to perform connaturally the supernatural and meritorious acts of the infused virtues and the seven gifts. We have, too, by habitual grace the Blessed Trinity dwelling within us as in a temple where They are known and loved, even as it were experimentally. And at times we do know Them in this quasi-experimental fashion when by a special grace They make Themselves known to us as the life of our life, for '. . . you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry Abba [Father]' (Rom. 8: 15). Then does the Holy Ghost inspire us with filial love, and in that sense '. . . the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God' (Rom. 8: 16).

While habitual grace makes us thus children of God, actual or transitory grace first of all disposes us for adoptive childhood, and subsequently makes us act, through the infused virtues and gifts working separately or both together, in a manner becoming God's children. This new life of grace, virtues and gifts, is none other than eternal life begun on earth, since habitual grace and charity will outlive the passage of time.

Grace-----call it, if you will, a participation in the Divine nature-----was no less gratuitous for the Angels than for us. As St. Augustine says (De Civ. Dei, XII, c. 9): 'God created them, at the same instant forming their nature and endowing them with grace.' When creating the Angels God conferred grace on them, to which grace their nature, richly endowed though it was, could lay no claim. The Angels, and man also, could have been created in a purely natural condition, lacking the Divine graft whence issues a new life.

The grace intended in the words 'Hail, full of grace' addressed to Our Lady is therefore something higher than nature or the exigencies of nature, created or merely possible.

It is a participation in the Divine nature or in the inner life of God, which makes the soul to enter into the kingdom of God, a kingdom far surpassing all the kingdoms of nature-----mineral, vegetable, animal, human, and even Angelic. So elevated is grace that St. Thomas could say: 'The good of the grace of one soul is greater than the good of the nature of the whole universe.'

The least degree of grace in the soul of a newly Baptized child is worth more than all created natures, including those that are Angelic. Being a participation in the inner life of God, grace is something greater than all miracles and exterior signs of Divine revelation or of the sanctity of God's favoured servants. And it is of this grace, germ and promise of glory, that the Angel spoke when he said to Mary: 'Hail, full of grace.' Gazing at Mary's soul, he saw that, though he himself was in the possession of the Beatific Vision, Mary's grace and charity far surpassed his for she possessed them in the degree required to become at that instant the Mother of God.

Mary, of course, had received from the Most High natural gifts of body and soul in wonderful perfection. Judged even from the natural level, the soul of Jesus united in itself all that there is of beauty and nobility in the souls of the great poets and artists, of men of genius and of men of generosity. In an analogous way the soul of Mary was a Divine masterpiece because of the natural perfection of her intelligence and will and sensibility. There is no shadow of doubt that she was more gifted than anyone who has ever struck us as remarkable for penetration and sureness of mind, for strength of will, for equilibrium or harmony of higher and lower faculties. Since she had been preserved from Original Sin and its baneful effects, concupiscence and darkness of understanding, her body did not weigh down her mind but rather served it. When forming the body of a Saint, God has in mind the soul which is to vivify it: when forming Mary's body He had in mind the Body and the infinitely holy Soul of the Word made flesh. As St. Albert the Great loves to recall, the Fathers of the Church say that Mary, viewed even naturally, had the grace of Rebecca, the beauty of Rachel, and the gentle majesty of Esther. They add that her chaste beauty never held the gaze for its own sake alone, but always lifted souls up to God.

The more perfect these gifts of nature in Mary, the more elevated they make her grace appear, for it surpasses them immeasurably.

When speaking of fulness of grace it is well to note that it exists in three different degrees in Our Lord, in Mary, and in the just. St. Thomas explains this a number of times.

There is, first of all, the absolute fulness of grace which is peculiar to Jesus, the Saviour of mankind. Taking into consideration only the ordinary power of God, there can be no greater grace than this. It is the eminent and inexhaustible source of all the grace which all men have received since the Fall, or will receive till the end of time. It is the source also of the beatitude of the elect, for Jesus has merited all the effects of our predestination.

There is, in the second place, the fulness of superabundance which is Mary's special privilege, and which is so named since it is like a spiritual river which has poured of its abundance upon the souls of men for almost two thousand years.

There is finally the fullness of sufficiency which is common to all the just and which makes them capable of performing those meritorious acts-----they normally become more perfect in the course of years-----which lead them to eternal life.

These three fullness have been well compared to an inexhaustible spring, to the stream or river which flows from it, and to the different canals fed by the river, which irrigate and make fertile the whole region they traverse-----that is to say, the whole Church, universal in time and space. The river of grace proceeds from God through the Saviour, as we read 'Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth a saviour' (Is. 14: 8). And then finally it rises once more to God, the Ocean of peace, in the form of merits, prayers, and sacrifices.

To continue the image: the fulness of the spring has not increased; that of the river, on the contrary, which flows from it has increased. Or, to speak in plain terms, the absolute fulness of Our Saviour knew no increase, for it was sovereignly perfect from the first instant of His conception by reason of the personal union with the Word. For, from the first instant, the lumen gloriae and the Beatific Vision were communicated to Jesus's soul, so that the second Council of Constantinople could say (Denz. 224) that Christ did not grow more perfect by reason of His meritorious acts: 'Ex profectu operum non melioratus est.' Mary's fulness of grace, however, did not cease to increase up to the time of her death. For that reason theologians usually speak of, 1st-----her initial fullness or plenitude; 2nd-----the fulness of her second sanctification at the instant of the conception of the Saviour; 3rd-----the final fulness [at the instant of her entry into glory], its extent, and its superabundance.

Article II
THE PRIVILEGE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

The initial fulness of grace in Mary presents two aspects. One is negative, at least in its formulation: her preservation from Original Sin. The other is positive: her conception, absolutely pure and holy by reason of the perfection of her initial sanctifying grace in which were rooted the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost.

The Dogmatic Definition

The definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, made by Pius IX on December 8th, 1854, reads as follows: 'We declare, announce, and define that the doctrine which states that the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of God Omnipotent and because of the merits of Jesus Christ the Saviour of the human race, free from all stain of Original Sin, is revealed by God and must therefore be believed firmly and with constancy by all the faithful' (Denz. 1641).

This definition contains three especially important points: 1st-----It affirms that the Blessed Virgin was preserved from all stain of Original Sin from the first instant of her conception. The conception meant is that known as passive or consummated-----that in which her soul was created and united to her body-----for it is then only that one can speak of a human person, whereas the definition bears on a privilege granted to the person of Mary. The definition states also that the Immaculate Conception is a special privilege and an altogether singular grace, the work of Divine Omnipotence.

What are we to understand by Original Sin from which Mary has been preserved? The Church has not defined its intrinsic nature, but she has taught us something about it by telling us its effects: the Divine hatred or malediction, a stain on the soul, a state of non-justice or spiritual death, servitude under the empire of Satan, subjection to the law of concupiscence, subjection to suffering and to bodily death in so far as they are the penalty of the common sin. These effects presuppose the loss of the sanctifying grace which, along with integrity of nature, Adam had received for us and for himself, and which he lost by sin, also for us and for himself.

It follows therefore that Mary was not preserved free from every stain of Original Sin otherwise than by receiving sanctifying grace into her soul from the first instant of her conception. Thus she was conceived in that state of justice and holiness which is the effect of the Divine friendship as opposed to the Divine malediction, and in consequence she was withdrawn from the slavery of the devil and subjection to the law of concupiscence. She was withdrawn too from subjection to the law of suffering and death, considered as penalties of the sin of our nature, [8] even though both Jesus and Mary knew suffering and death in so far as they are consequences of our nature [in carne passibili] and endured them for our salvation.

2nd-----It is affirmed in the definition, as it was already affirmed in 1661 by Alexander VIII (Denz. 1100) that it was through the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, that Mary was preserved from Original Sin. Hence the opinion held by some 13th-century theologians-----that Mary was immaculate in the sense of not needing to be redeemed, and that her first grace was independent of the future merits of her Son-----may no longer be admitted. According to the Bull Ineffabilis Deus, Mary was redeemed by the merits of her Son in a most perfect way, by a redemption which did not free her from a stain already contracted, but which preserved her from contracting one. Even in human affairs we look on one as more a saviour if he wards off a blow than if he merely heals the wound it inflicts.

The idea of a preservative redemption reminds us that Mary, being a child of Adam and proceeding from him by way of natural generation, should have incurred the hereditary taint, and would have incurred it in fact had not God decided from all eternity to grant her the unique privilege of an immaculate conception in dependence on the future merits of her Son.

The liturgy had already made this point in the prayer proper to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which was approved by Sixtus IV (1476): 'Thou hast preserved her [Mary] from all stain through the foreseen death of this same Son.' The Blessed Virgin was preserved from Original Sin by the future death of her Son, that is to say, by the merits of Christ dying for us on the Cross.

It is therefore clear that Mary's preservation from Original Sin differs essentially from that of the Saviour. Jesus was not redeemed by the merits of another, not even by His Own. He was preserved from Original Sin and from all sin for two reasons: first because of the personal or hypostatic union of His humanity to the Word in the very instant in which His sacred soul was created, since it could not be that sin should ever be attributed to the Word made flesh; secondly, since His conception was virginal and due to the operation of the Holy Ghost, so that Jesus did not descend from Adam by way of natural generation. [9]

These two reasons are peculiar to Jesus alone.

3rd-----The definition proposes the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception as revealed, that is, as contained at least implicitly in the deposit of Revelation-----in Scripture and Tradition, or in one at least of those two sources.

The Testimony of the Scriptures

The Bull Ineffabilis Deus quotes two texts of Scripture, Genesis 3: 15, and Luke 1: 28, 42.

The privilege of the Immaculate Conception is revealed as it were implicitly or confusedly in the book of Genesis in the words spoken by God to the serpent, and thereby to Satan: 'I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.' The pronoun we translate as 'she' in 'she shall crush thy head' is masculine in the Hebrew text, and stands for the posterity or seed of the woman; this is true also of the Septuagint and the Syraic versions. The Vulgate however has the feminine pronoun 'ipsa', referring the prophecy directly to the woman herself However there is no essential difference of meaning between the two readings since the woman is to be associated with the victory of Him Who will be the great representative of her posterity in their conflict with Satan throughout the ages.

Taken by themselves these words are certainly not sufficient to prove that the Immaculate Conception is revealed. But the Fathers of the Church, in their comparison of Eve and Mary, have seen in them an allusion to it, and it is on that account that the text is cited by Pius IX.

To the naturalist exegete the text means no more than the instinctive revulsion man experiences towards the serpent. But to the Jewish and Christian tradition it means much more. The Christian tradition sees in that promise-----it has been termed the protoevangelium-----the first sketch of the Messiah and His victory over the spirit of evil. For Jesus is pre-eminently the posterity of the woman in conflict with the posterity of the serpent. But if Jesus is termed the posterity of the woman, that is not because of His remote connection with Eve, who was able to pass on to her descendants only a fallen and wounded nature, deprived of the Divine life. Rather is it because of His connection with Mary, in whose womb He took a stainless humanity. As Fr. F. X. Le Bachelet says, in col. 118 of the article referred to already, 'We do not find in Eve the principle of that enmity which God will put between the race of the woman and the race of the serpent; for Eve, like Adam, is herself fallen a victim to the serpent. It is only between Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, that enmity ultimately exists. Hence the person of Mary is included, though in a veiled manner, in the protoevangelium, and the Vulgate reading 'ipsa' [she] expresses something really implied in the sacred text, since the victory of the Redeemer is morally, but really, the victory of His Mother.'

For that reason early Christianity never ceased to contrast Eve who shared in Adam's sin by yielding to the serpent's suggestion with Mary who shared in the redemptive work of Christ by believing the words of the Angel on the morning of the Annunciation.

The promise of Genesis speaks of a victory that will be complete: 'She shall crush thy head.' And since the victory over Satan will be complete, so also the victory over sin which makes the soul slave and the devil master. But as Pius IX teaches in the Bull Ineffabilis Deus, the victory over Satan would not be complete if Mary had not been preserved from Original Sin by the merits of her Son: 'De ipso (serpente) plenissime triumphans, illius caput immaculato pede (Maria) contrivit.'

The Immaculate Conception is contained therefore in the promise of Genesis as the oak is contained in the acorn. A person who had never seen an oak could never guess the value of the acorn, nor its final stage of development. But we who have seen the oak know for what the acorn is destined, and that it does not yield an elm nor a poplar. The same law of evolution obtains in the order of progressive Divine revelation.

The Bull Ineffabilis quotes also the salutation addressed by the Angel to Mary (Luke 1: 28): 'Hail, full of grace . . . blessed are thou among woman', as well as the similar words uttered by St. Elizabeth under Divine inspiration (Luke 1: 42). Pius IX does not state that these words are sufficient by themselves to prove that the Immaculate Conception is revealed; for that, the exegetic tradition of the Fathers must be invoked.

This tradition becomes explicit with St. Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373). Among the Greeks it is found on the morrow of the Council of Ephesus (431), especially in the teaching of two bishop-opponents of Nestorious, St. Proclus who was a successor of St. John Chrysostom in the chair of Constantinople (431-446) and Theodore, bishop of Ancyra. Later we find it in the teaching of St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (634-638), Andrew of Crete (d. 740), St. John Damascene [d. towards the middle of the 8th century]. These different testimonies will be found at length in the article Marie of the Dict. Apol., cols. 223-231.

Understood in the light of this exegetic tradition, the words of the Angel to Mary 'Hail, full of grace'-----that is 'Hail, thou art fully pleasing to God and loved by Him'-----are not limited temporally in their application in such a way as to exclude even the initial period of Mary's life. On the contrary, the Blessed Virgin would not have received complete fulness of grace had her soul been even for an instant in the condition of spiritual death which follows on Original Sin, had she been even for an instant deprived of grace, turned away from God, a daughter of wrath, in slavery to the devil. St. Proclus says that she was 'formed from stainless clay'. Theodore of Ancyra says that 'the Son of the Most High came forth from the Most High'. St. John Damascene writes that Mary is the holy daughter of Joachim and Anne 'who has escaped the burning darts of the evil one', that she is a new paradise 'to which the serpent has no stealthy access', that she is exempt from the debt of death which is one of the consequences of Original Sin, and that she must therefore be exempt from the common fall.

If Mary had contracted Original Sin her fulness of grace would have been diminished in this sense that it would not have extended to the whole of her life. Thus, Our Holy Mother the Church, reading the words of the Angelic salutation in the light of Tradition and with the assistance of the Holy Ghost, saw revealed implicitly in it the privilege of the Immaculate Conception. The privilege is revealed in the text not as an effect is in a cause which could exist without it, but as a part is in a whole; the part is actually contained in the whole at least by way of implicit statement.

The Testimony of Tradition

Tradition itself affirms the truth of the Immaculate Conception more and more explicitly in the course of time. St. Justin, St. Irenaeus, Tertullian, contrast Eve, the cause of death, and Mary, the cause of life and salvation. This antithesis is constantly on the lips of the Fathers and is found also in the most solemn documents of the Church's magisterium, especially in the Bull Ineffabilis Deus. It is presented as perfect and without restriction; thus, Mary must always have been greater than Eve, and most particularly at the first moment of her life. The Fathers often say that Mary is stainless, that she has always been blessed by God in honour of her Son, that she is intemerata, intacta, impolluta, intaminata, illibata, altogether without spot.

Comparing Mary and Eve, St. Ephrem says: 'Both were at first simple and innocent, but thereafter Eve became cause of death and Mary cause of life.' Speaking to Our Blessed Lord, he continues: 'You Lord and Your Mother are the only two who are perfectly beautiful under every respect. In You there is no fault, and in Your Mother there is no stain. All other children of God are far from such beauty.'

In much the same way St. Ambrose says of Mary that she is free from every stain of sin 'per gratiam ab omni integra labe peccati'. St. Augustine's comment is well known: 'The honour of the Lord does not permit that the question of sin be raised in connected with the Blessed Virgin Mary.' If however the question be put to the Saints 'Are you sinless?' he affirms that they will answer with the Apostle St. John (1 John, 1: 8): 'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.' There are two other texts which seem to show that St. Augustine meant his words to be understood in the sense of the Immaculate Conception. Many other texts of the Fathers will be found in the works of Passaglia, Palmieri and Le Bachelet.

It should not be forgotten that the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated in the Church, especially in the Greek Church, since the 7th and 8th centuries. The same Feast is found in Sicily in the 9th, in Ireland in the 10th, and almost everywhere in Europe in the 12th century.

The Lateran Council, held in the year 649 (Denz., 256) calls Mary 'Immaculate'. In 1476 and 1483 Pope Sixtus IV speaks favorably of the privilege in connection with the Feast of the Conception of Mary (Denz., 734 sqq.). The Council of Trent (Denz., 792) declares, when speaking of Original Sin which infects all men, that it does not intend to include the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary. In 1567 Baius is condemned for having taught the contrary (Denz., 1073). In 1661 Alexander VII affirmed the privilege, saying that almost all Catholics held it, though it had not yet been defined (Denz., 1100). Finally, on December 8th, 1854, we have the promulgation of the solemn definition (Denz., 1641).

It must be admitted that in the 12th and 13th centuries certain great doctors, as, for example, St. Bernard, St. Anselm, Peter Lombard, Hugh of St. Victor, St. Albert the Great, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas Aquinas appear to have been disinclined to admit the privilege. But this was because they did not consider the precise instant of Mary's animation, or of the creation of her soul, and also because they did not distinguish, with the help of the idea of preservative redemption, between the debt to contract the hereditary stain and its actual contraction. In other words, they did not always distinguish sufficiently between ' debebat contrahere' and contraxit peccatum'. We shall see later that there were three stages in St. Thomas's doctrine and that though he appears to deny the Immaculate Conception in the second, he admits it in the first, and probably in the third also.

Theological Reasons for Admitting the Immaculate Conception

The principal argument ex convenientia, or from becomingness, for the Immaculate Conception, is an elaboration of the one which St. Thomas (IIIa, q. 27, a. I) and others give for Mary's sanctification in her mother's womb before birth. 'It is reasonable to believe that she who gave birth to the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, received greater privileges of grace than all others . . . We find however that to some the privilege of sanctification in their mother's womb has been granted, as for example to Jeremias . . . and John the Baptist. . . . Hence it is reasonable to believe that the Blessed Virgin was sanctified before birth.' In a. 5 of the same question we read also: 'The nearer one approaches to the source of all grace the more grace one receives; but Mary came nearest of all to Christ, Who is the principle of grace.'

But this argument ex convenientia needs to be expanded before it will prove the Immaculate Conception.
It is Scotus's glory [Thomists should consider it a point of honour to admit that their adversary was right in this matter] to have shown the supreme becomingness of this privilege in answer to the following difficulty which St. Thomas and many other theologians put forward: Christ is the universal Redeemer of all men without exception (Rom. 3: 23; 5: 12, 19; Gal. 3: 22; 2 Cor. 5: 14; 1 Tim. 2: 16); but if Mary did not contract Original Sin she would not have been redeemed; hence, since she was redeemed, she must have contracted Original Sin.

Duns Scotus answers this objection [36] by referring to the idea of a redemption which is preservative, not liberative. He shows how reasonable this idea is, and in some places at least does not link it up with his peculiar doctrine concerning the motive of the Incarnation, so that it can be admitted independently of what one thinks about the second matter.

This is his line of argument.

It is becoming that a perfect Redeemer should make use of a sovereign mode of redemption, at least in regard to the person of His Mother who was to be associated more closely with Him than anyone else in the work of salvation. But the sovereign mode of redemption is not that which liberates from a stain already contracted, but that which preserves from all stain, just as he who wards off a blow from another saves him more than if he were simply to heal a wound that has been inflicted. Hence it was most becoming that the perfect Redeemer should, by His merits, preserve His Mother from Original Sin and all actual sin. This argument can be found in embryo in Eadmer.

The Bull Ineffabilis gives this argument, in a somewhat different form, along with others. For example, it states that the honour and dishonour alike of parents affect their children, and that it was not becoming that the perfect Redeemer should have a mother who was conceived in sin. Also, just as the Word proceeds eternally from a most holy Father, it was becoming that He should be born on earth of a mother to whom the splendour of sanctity had never been lacking. Finally, in order that Mary should be able to repair the effects of Eve's fall, overcome the wiles of the devil, and give supernatural life to all, with, by, and in Christ, it was becoming that she herself should never have been in a fallen condition, a slave to sin and the devil.

If it be objected that Christ alone is immaculate, it is easy to answer: Christ alone is immaculate of Himself, and by the double title of His Hypostatic Union and His virginal conception; Mary is immaculate through the merits of her Son.

The consequences of the Immaculate Conception have been developed by the great spiritual writers. Mary has been preserved from the two baneful fruits of Original Sin, concupiscence and darkness of understanding.

Since the definition of the Immaculate Conception we are obliged to hold that concupiscence has been not only bound, or restrained, in Mary from the time she was in her mother's womb, but even that she was never in any sense its subject. There could be no disordered movement of her sensitive nature, no escape of her sensibility from the previous control of reason and will. Her sensibility was always fully subject to her rational powers, and thereby to God's Will, as obtained in the state of original innocence. Thus Mary is virgin of virgins, most pure, 'inviolata, intemerata', tower of ivory, most pure mirror of God.

Similarly, Mary was never subject to error or illusion. Her judgment was always enlightened and correct. If she did not understand a thing fully she suspended her judgment upon it, and thus avoided the precipitation which might have been the cause of error. She is, as the Litanies say, the Seat of Wisdom, the Queen of Doctors, the Virgin most prudent, the Mother of good counsel. All theologians realize that nature spoke more eloquently to her of the Creator than to the greatest poets. She had, too, an eminent and wonderfully simple knowledge of what the Scriptures said of the Messiah, the Incarnation, and the Redemption. Thus she was fully exempt from concupiscence and error.

But why did the Immaculate Conception not make Mary immune from pain and death since they too were consequences of Original Sin?

It should be noted that the pain and death which Jesus and Mary knew were not consequences of Original Sin as they are for us. For Jesus and Mary they were consequences of but human nature, which, of itself, and like the animal nature in general, is subject to pain and death of the body: it was only because of a special privilege that Adam had been exempt from them in the state of innocence. As for Jesus, He was conceived virginally in passible flesh in order to redeem us by dying, and when the time came He accepted suffering and death, its consummation, freely for love of us. Mary, for her part, accepted suffering and death voluntarily in imitation of Him and to unite herself to Him; she was one with Him in His expiation and in His work of redemption.

There is one wonderful thing, one delight of contemplatives, which we should not overlook. It is that the privilege of the Immaculate Conception and the fullness of grace did not withdraw Mary from pain, but rather made her all the more sensitive to suffer from contact with sin, the greatest of evils. Precisely because she was so pure, precisely because her heart was consumed by the love of God, Mary suffered pains to which our imperfection makes us insensible. We suffer if our self-love is wounded, or our pride, or our susceptibilities. Mary, however, suffered from sin, and that in the measure of her love of God Whom sin offends, and her love of Her Son Whom sin crucifies; she suffered in the measure of her love of us, whom sin wounds and kills. Thus the Immaculate Conception increased Mary's sufferings and disposed her to bear them heroically. Not one of them did she squander. All passed through her hands in union with those of her Son, thus to be offered up for our salvation.

St. Thomas and the Immaculate Conception

As certain commentators have suggested, three periods may be distinguished in St. Thomas's teaching.
In the first-----that of 1253-1254, the beginning of his theological career-----he supports the privilege, probably because of the liturgical tradition which favoured it, as well as because of his pious admiration for the perfect holiness of the Mother of God. It is in this period that he wrote (I Sent., d. 44, q. I, a. 3, ad 3): 'Purity is increased by withdrawing from its opposite: hence there can be a creature than whom no more pure is possible in creation, if it be free from all contagion of sin: and such was the purity of the Blessed Virgin who was immune from Original and actual sin.' This text states therefore that Mary was so pure as to be exempt from all Original and actual sin.

During the second period St. Thomas, seeing better the difficulties in the question-----for the theologians of his time held that Mary was immaculate independently of Christ's merits-----hesitated, and refused to commit himself. He, of course, held that all men without exception are redeemed by one Saviour (Rom. 3: 23; 5: 12, 19; Gal. 3: 22; 2 Cor. 5: 14; 1 Tim. 2: 6). Hence we find him proposing the question thus in IIIa, q. 27, a. 2: Was the Blessed Virgin sanctified in the conception of her body before its animation? For, according to him and many other theologians, the conception of the body was to be distinguished from the animation, or creation of the soul. This latter [called today the consummated passive conception] was thought to be about a month later in time than the initial conception.

The holy doctor mentions certain arguments at the beginning of the article which favour the Immaculate Conception-----even taking conception to be that which precedes animation. He then answers them as follows: 'There are two reasons why the sanctification of the Blessed Virgin cannot have taken place before her animation: 1st-----the sanctification in question is cleansing from Original Sin . . . but the guilt of sin can be removed only by grace [which has as object the soul itself] . . . 2nd-----if the Blessed Virgin had been sanctified before animation she would have have incurred the stain of Original Sin and would therefore never have stood in need of redemption by Christ. . . . But this may not be admitted, since Christ is Head of all men (1 Tim. 2: 6).'

Even had he written after the definition of 1854 St. Thomas could have said that Mary was not sanctified before animation. However, he goes further than that here, for he adds at the end of the article: 'Hence it follows that the sanctification of the Blessed Virgin took place after her animation.' Nor does he distinguish, as he does in many other contexts, between posteriority in nature and posteriority in time. In the answer to the second objection he even states that the Blessed Virgin 'contracted Original Sin'. [38] However, it must be recognized that the whole point of his argument is to show that Mary incurred the debt of Original Sin since she descended from Adam by way of natural generation. Unfortunately he did not distinguish sufficiently the debt from actually incurring the stain.

Regarding the question of the exact moment at which Mary was sanctified in the womb of her mother, St. Thomas does not make any definite pronouncement. He states that it followed close on animation-----cito post are his words in Quodl. VI, a. 7. But he believes that nothing more precise can be said: 'the time of her sanctification is unknown' (IIIa, q. 27, a. 2, ad 3).

St. Thomas does not consider in the Summa if Mary was sanctified in the very instant of animation. St. Bonaventure had put himself that question and had answered it in the negative. It is possible that St. Thomas's silence was inspired by the reserved attitude of the Roman Church which, unlike so many other Churches, did not celebrate the Feast of the Conception (cf. ibid., ad 3). This is the explanation proposed by Fr. N. del Prado, O.P., in Santo Tomas y la lmmaculada, Vergara, 1909, by Fr. Mandonnet, O.P., Dict. Theol. Cath., art. Freres Precheurs, col. 899, and by Fr. Hugon, O.P., Tractatus Dogmatici, t. II, ed. 5, 1927, p. 749. For these authors the thought of the holy doctor in this second period of his professional career was that expressed long afterwards by Gregory XV in his letters of July 4th, 1622: 'Spiritus Sanctus nondum tanti mysterii arcanum Ecclesiae suae patefecit.'

The texts we have considered so far do not therefore imply any contradiction of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. They could even be retained if the idea of preservative redemption were introduced. There is however one text which cannot be so easily explained away. In III Sent., dist. III, q. 1, a. 1, ad 2am qm, we read: 'Nor (did it happen) even in the instant of infusion of the soul, namely, by grace being then given her so as to preserve her from incurring the original fault. Christ alone among men has the privilege of not needing redemption.' Frs. del Prado and Hugon explain this text as follows: The meaning of St. Thomas's words may be that the Blessed Virgin was not preserved from Original Sin in such a way as not to incur its debt, as that would mean not to stand in need of redemption. However, one could have expected to find in the text itself the explicit distinction between the debt and the fact of incurring the stain.

In the final period of his career, when writing the Exposito super salutatione angelica----which is certainly authentic ----in 1272 or 1273, St. Thomas expressed himself thus: 'For she [the Blessed Virgin] was most pure in the matter of fault (quantum ad culpam) and incurred neither Original nor mental nor venial sin.'

Based French Catholics Protect Church From Secular Concert

On the even of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a group of based French Catholics successfully defended their church in Nantes from being used to make money for a secular pop musician.

Echoing the Gospel story of the money changers in the Temple, these brave Catholics successfully orchestrated to sing hymns and show solidarity outside the Notre Dame de bon Port church in the city of Nantes.

The Mayor of Nantes, Bassem Asseh, has had the gall to condemn Catholics for defending their own church, stating that it impinged ‘freedom of expression’.

Une poignée de radicaux intolérants provoque l’annulation d’un concert à N-D du Bon-Port programmé en accord avec l’évêché. Rien n’autorisait l’expression d’une telle censure. Ce n’est pas notre conception d’un projet de société fondé sur le dialogue et l’ouverture culturelle.

— Bassem ASSEH (@3asseh) December 7, 2021

The booking of Swedish singer Anna von Hausswolff to play a Catholic church on the even of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is really quite bizarre, considering her music features such lyrics as:

These pills keep me alive
These pills keep me alive
Oh my love
I'm holding it
Caressing it.
Oh, I'm sick
The heat and cold.
The presence of a dual code.
I'm on the floor constantly, intensivley,
Making love.
I made love
I made love
With the devil
With the devil.
Oh I, I made love with the devil
With the devil.
Oh I, I made love with the devil
With the devil.
Oh I, I made love with the devil
With the devil.
Oh I, I made love with the devil
With the devil.
Devil
With the devil.
Devil.
With the devil.
Devil.
With the devil.

There is no reason to think that the civic authorities could not have arranged a more suitable non religious venue for this concert and had it pass off without trouble. To arrange it in a church on a normal day is offensive, to do so on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is an act of war.

French media outlets, panicked since the rise of politician Eric Zemmour, have condemned the Catholics, with Le Monde calling them ‘fundamentalist Catholics’ and others calling them ‘integralists’.

Mostly however, they were just young men and women who did not want to see their churches desecrated.

Traditional French Catholics have tonight blocked their church in Nantes from being misused to host a secular concert.

💪 pic.twitter.com/6M7tVd4Zzz

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) December 7, 2021

Dublin Puts Christ Back Into Christmas

On the 4th of December near The Spire in Dublin, Irish Society for Christian Civilisation held Christmas Carols and a Rosary near the Crib on O’Connell Street.

If you watch the video below of the event, there is also the explanation of the story behind a famous Christmas song.

It is great to see a public demonstration of faith like this, especially at a time where commercial interests are diluting the Catholic faith from the Christmas season.

Seville Hosts STUNNING Procession

One of the most stunning jewels in the crown of European Catholicism is the majestic series of processions which occur each year in Spain.

On the 75th anniversary of its official recognition by the Holy See, Spanish in the city of Seville honoured the patronage of the Virgen de los Reyes.

There are a number of stories regarding the origin of the icon, including a donation to King Ferdinand III of Castile by King Louis IX of France after a dream, and that it played a part in the Reconquista of Seville in 1248.

In 1946, the Vatican officially recognised the long standing devotion with a ceremony that took place involving Pope Pius XII.

In celebration of that event, thousands took to the streets of Seville today, including marching bands, priests and public officials.

The rich beauty of Spanish Catholicism is something that has been attacked in recent months by members of the White Anglo Saxon Catholic American Blogosphere, with attacks on everyone from Saint Junipero Serra to Christopher Columbus to Queen Isabella to even statues of and stained glasses of the Reconquista. Yet the incredible videos of the Seville processions speak for themselves. Perhaps the ailing European continent can love to learn to herself and feel young once more by reengaging with these treasured traditions and the faith that they venerate.

Irish Group to Host Webinar on Upcoming Synod

Family Solidarity will host a webinar with Sr Nathalie Becquart, under-secretary of the Synod of the Bishop in Rome, and Dr Vincenzo Bassi, president of the European Federation of Catholic Families Organisations (FAFCE).

In October, Pope Francis called the Catholic Church to embark on the synodal journey, asking for a broad participation, particularly at the local level. Sr Nathalie will talk about the role of the family, and of family organisations, in this process of spiritual discernment.

“Synodality is a call for mutual listening between all the members of the Church, and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Encouraged by the opening of the Synod, family associations wish to become protagonists of the synodal movement initiated by Pope Francis. In the same way that family members care for each other and move forward in a common understanding of unity, family associations wish today to work within the Church to create a true path of unity and communion for the common good.”, said Vincenzo Bassi of FAFCE.

He added: “This webinar is a way that FAFCE and Family Solidarity have to raise awareness about the responsibility that Christians and, specifically, our organisations have in this goal in the first instance, by working to create a network of encounters between families and by developing Family Associations. In fact, as Pope Francis said at the opening of the synodal path, “As we initiate this process, we too are called to become experts in the art of encounter. Not so much by organizing events or theorizing about problems, as in taking time to encounter the Lord and one another“.”

The webinar will take place on Thursday 9th December at 7.00 pm (Irish time) and it will be moderated by journalist Jason Osborne (Irish Catholic). Dr Angelo Bottone, chairman of Family Solidarity, will make the closing remarks.

The event will be livestreamed on the FAFCE Youtube and Facebook pages.

For ZOOM registration and more details, see https://familysolidarity.org/synodality/

Pope Compares EU to Communist and Nazi Dictatorships

Pope Francis launched a stunning rebuke of the European Union’s recent discriminatory attitudes towards Christianity.

In a recent communique from the EU, its ‘Commissioner for Equality’ Helena Dalli, had instructed her staff not to wish one another a ‘Happy Christmas’.

This came despite Dalli regularly wishing people a ‘Happy Eid’ in celebration of the Islamic festival.

After a backlash at the bigoted suggestions, Dalli withdrew them, but stopped short of apologising.

Now, in his pre flight press conference on the way back from Greece, Pope Francis has spoken out strongly against the aggressive suggestions from Ms. Dalli and from the European Union.

He compared her initiative to the worst excesses of Communism and other secular leaderships like Nazism and Napoleon.

Pope Francis stated:

You refer to the European Union document on Christmas... this is an anachronism. In history many, many dictatorships have tried to do so. Think of Napoleon: from there... Think of the Nazi dictatorship, the communist one... it is a fashion of a watered-down secularism, distilled water... But this is something that throughout hasn’t worked.

But this makes me think of something, talking about the European Union, which I believe is necessary: the European Union must take in hand the ideals of the founding fathers, which were ideals of unity, of greatness, and be careful not to take the path of ideological colonisation. This could end up dividing the countries and [causing] the European Union to fail. The European Union must respect each country as it is structured within, the variety of countries, and not want to make them uniform. I don't think it will do that, it wasn't its intention, but be careful, because sometimes they come, and they throw projects like this one out there and they don't know what to do; I don't know what comes to mind... No, each country has its own peculiarity, but each country is open to the others. The European Union: its sovereignty, the sovereignty of brothers in a unity that respects the individuality of each country. And be careful not to be vehicles of ideological colonisation. That is why [the issue] of Christmas is an anachronism.

The European Union caused further distress to Catholics this past week when one of its ambassadors mocked Our Lady by dressing up as here with a beard, suggesting that she may well have had one.

The EU is yet to apologise for that offensive gesture either.

Irish Men's Rosary Draws Huge Crowds Again

Although there are many in the Irish church who prefer to mourn the loss of faith among many, there are others who are willing to do far more than merely ‘manage the decline’ of the faith in Ireland.

One prominent example of those unwilling to merely allow the faith to disappear with the next generation has been evident in the successful men’s Rosary Rallies of recent months.

Following on from the successes of similar events in Poland, Irish Catholics have drawn hundred to events in Derry and Newry and now they have brought their biggest one yet with yesterday’s rally in Belfast.

On Facebook, Męski Różaniec Święty w Irlandii (Men’s Holy Rosary Ireland) wrote:

Another Public Male Holy Rosary behind us and what a huge success. We started the day with a Mass in Classic Roman Rhythm (Trydenck) at The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ICKSP. Today we were in the very centre of Belfast, where together with the rest of the Irish we prayed the rosary in the intention of rewarding the Immaculate Heart of Mary

With a repentance :

- For all the ways the Irish nation has turned away from the Gospel and the teaching of the Catholic Church

- for the sins of abortion, birth control and all forms of impurity.

In His mercy we ask:

- the end of covid virus

- The end of the signs of growing tyranny on our nation

- Restoring our nation back to God.

Another Men's Rosary will be held in Armagh, Main Square, Market Street next to the library

January 1, 2022 at 1pm

The next event on New Year’s Day in Armagh is sure to draw large crowds again. It shames the naysayers and prophets of doom to see such a positive event, drawing men onto to the streets to publicly and boldly proclaim their love of the Most Holy Rosary of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

We pray that this idea may be adopted by others in parts of Ireland and play its part in reviving the faith across the island.

The Men's Rosary today in Belfast was an outstanding display of faith. 🙏🏻#PraytoendAbortion #PraytheRosary pic.twitter.com/0ns4wiCfYA

— Babies Lives Matter NI #Prolife (@RockofLifeNI) December 4, 2021

EU Ambassador Says Virgin Mary 'Had Beard'

The increasingly fraught relationship between Christians and the European Union hit new lows in recent weeks.

Firstly, there were calls to remove the term ‘Happy Christmas’ from official documentation, per a request from an EU Minister.

Now, a European Union Ambassador has claimed that Our Lady had a beard, while mocking Catholics with a deliberately offensive photoshoot where he dressed up as Our Lady.

The photoshoot was taken for German magazine Siegessäule, who went out of their way to offend Christians during Advent with the deliberately blasphemous set of pictures.

Earlier this year, Riccardo Simonetti was made an LGBTQ Goodwill Ambassador for the European Parliament. Sharing the images on his social media, he wrote:

If we ignore the fact that Jesus wasn’t white, we could as well believe the Virgin Mary had a beard, why not? 🧔‍♀️

The shocking images and lack of reaction stand as yet another example of the European Union’s soft stance on anti Christian sentiments within its ranks.

There has been strong condemnation of the provocative attacks, with one MEP calling for Simonetti to be removed from his ambassador position.

🚨 El “Embajador del Parlamento Europeo” para el colectivo LGTBI, un tal @RicciSimonetti hace mofa de la Virgen María.

El nivel de idiocia y de falta de escrúpulos de estos profesionales del timo es insoportable. Se cree intocable por esa falsa teoría de la tolerancia. Pero no. pic.twitter.com/7UI3qINtog

— Jorge Buxadé (@Jorgebuxade) December 2, 2021

Exigiremos en @VOX_Europa_ hoy mismo su cese y que pida perdón público a todos los cristianos. No argumento el clásico “con Mahoma no lo haría”.

No hemos de aceptar más esta basura contra la Cristiandad, y menos de quien “representa” una institución. #OtraEuropaEsPosible

— Jorge Buxadé (@Jorgebuxade) December 2, 2021

Jorge Buxadé of the VOX party, has demanded that the EU removes him from his ambassador role.

You can read their open letter to the EU below:

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

A newspaper has the prerogative of promoting an unpopular social or political agenda.

It does not have the right to tell lies to support that cause.

The Sunday Times Ireland, published the editorial: “Assisted dying law in Ireland needs to be done right, but it must be done” on November 28, 2021 and the editors thinks it is “an appropriate time to debate the issue.” Perhaps they didn’t get the memo about the 1400+ submissions to the Justice Committee of the Oireachtas? (Overwhelmingly opposed to the Dying with Dignity Act / An Bille um Bás Dínitiúil, 2020.)

The editors contend:

“We now know the “slippery slope” argument has little credibility. That’s because in states and countries where assisted dying is allowed, there has been no evidence of abuse.” [my emphasis]

The Editorial team referenced Oregon as the paragon of safety in the provision of Assisted Suicide:

“In the American state of Oregon, for example, with a population of 4.2 million people and where the Death with Dignity Act was passed in 1997, there have been about 2,000 assisted deaths, and so far no wrongful ones have been reported or detected.” [my emphasis]

If these 3 key assertions are refuted, their thesis fails.

The Sunday Times may claim innocence because the Oregonian agency collecting data on Assisted Suicide — the Department of Human Services — does not document or investigate cases of alleged abuse. (“…has no authority to investigate individual Death with Dignity cases / The state law authorizing physician-assisted suicide neither requires nor authorizes investigations by DHS.”)

A quick Google search shows there are many cases of abuse even in Oregon but also Washington State, the Netherlands & Belgium. The best evidence of a precipitous “slippery slope” can be seen in Canada.

Their poor investigative skills aside, the editors miss the point: dead people don’t complain…

Oregon

In a letter to the editor of The Oregonian, Dr. Kenneth R. Stevens Jr. noted: “although the prescribing physician is to refer a patient for psychological evaluation if there may be depression or other conditions impairing patient judgment, only 4% of those dying from the drugs received such evaluation (only 0.5% in 2020). Recent changes in Oregon’s law have removed many safeguards from Oregon’s Death with Dignity law.”  In a group of people of whom 100% are trying to kill themselves, it beggars belief that only 4% merited a Psych Eval: Really?  

The seven quoted examples below are only a selection of those mentioned in an article by the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund. The first two are also discussed in the BMJ’s Journal of Medical Ethics.  

• Doctor shopping: “Kate Cheney, 85, died by assisted suicide under Oregon’s law even though she had early dementia. Her physician had declined to provide the lethal prescription. Her managed care provider then found another physician to prescribe the lethal dose. The second physician ordered a psychiatric evaluation, which found that Cheney lacked “the very high level of capacity required to weigh options about assisted suicide.” Cheney’s request was denied, and her daughter “became angry.” Another evaluation took place, this time with a psychologist who insisted on meeting Cheney alone. Disturbingly, the psychologist deemed Cheney competent while still noting that her “choices may be influenced by her family’s wishes and her daughter, Erika, may be somewhat coercive.” Cheney soon took the drugs and died, but only after spending a week in a nursing home.”

• Lack of psychiatric consultation: “Michael Freeland, age 64, had a 43-year medical history of acute depression and suicide attempts. Yet when Freeland saw a doctor about arranging an assisted suicide, the physician said he didn’t think that a psychiatric consultation was “necessary.” …When Freeland chanced to find improved medical and suicide prevention services, he was able to reconcile with his estranged daughter and lived two years post-diagnosis.”   (Freeland did receive a prescription for the fatal medication.)

• Coercion by family or friends: “Thomas Middleton was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, moved into the home of Tami Sawyer in July 2008, and died by assisted suicide later that very month. Middleton had named Sawyer his estate trustee and put his home in her trust. Two days after Thomas Middleton died, Sawyer listed the property for sale and deposited $90,000 into her own account. It took a federal investigation into real estate fraud to expose this abuse. Sawyer was indicted for first-degree criminal mistreatment and first-degree aggravated theft, partly over criminal mistreatment of Thomas Middleton.”

• Administration of the poison by others: “Patrick Matheny received his assisted suicide prescription by Federal Express. He couldn’t take the drugs by himself so his brother-in-law helped. Commenting on the Matheny case, Dr. Hedberg of Oregon Department of Human Services said that “we do not know exactly how he helped this person swallow, whether it was putting a feed tube down or whatever, but he was not prosecuted …”

• Duress from US health-care costs: “Barbara Wagner…a 64-year-old great-grandmother, had recurring lung cancer. Her physician prescribed Tarceva to extend her life. Studies show the drug provides a 30 percent increased survival rate for patients with advanced lung cancer, and patients’ one-year survival rate increased by more than 45 percent. But the Oregon Health Plan sent Wagner a letter saying the Plan would not cover the beneficial chemotherapy treatment “but … it would cover … [among other things,] physician-assisted suicide.”

• Duress from health-care workers: “Kathryn Judson wrote of bringing her seriously ill husband to the doctor in Oregon. “I collapsed in a half-exhausted heap in a chair once I got him into the doctor’s office, relieved that we were going to get badly needed help (or so I thought),” she wrote. “To my surprise and horror, during the exam I overheard the doctor giving my husband a sales pitch for assisted suicide. ‘Think of what it will spare your wife, we need to think of her’ he said, as a clincher.”

• Violation of procedure: “Wendy Melcher died in August 2005 after two Oregon nurses, Rebecca Cain and Diana Corson, gave her overdoses of morphine and phenobarbital. They claimed Melcher had requested an assisted suicide, but they administered the drugs without her doctor’s knowledge, in clear violation of Oregon’s law. No criminal charges have been filed against the two nurses.”

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, euthanasia of children under 1 year of age is still technically illegal, but was “decriminalized” in 2005 for those doctors following The Groningen Protocol.

A tragic case of a Dutch nun was reported in the Psychiatric Times, 2004. She was dying painfully of cancer and her physician felt her religion prevented her from agreeing to euthanasia, so felt “justified and compassionate” in ending her life — without telling her he was doing so.

In 2019, Judge Mariette Renckens ruled that, "all requirements of the euthanasia legislation" had been met in 2016 when an anonymous female doctor decided that the prior directive of an 80-year-old woman should be enacted. First, she attempted to sedate the elderly woman by slipping medication into her coffee. The lady woke up and resisted the doctor’s attempts to kill her and said “NO” repeatedly. The doctor then asked the family to hold the elderly woman down while she administered the fatal medication.

Belgium

The Journal of the Canadian Medical Association reported that the physicians in one area of Belgium, admitted that over 30% of the Voluntary Euthanasia/Assisted-Suicides occurred WITHOUT explicit request…

Canada

Voluntary Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide [VE/AS] were legislated 2016 under the euphemistic term of Medical Assistance in Dying [MAiD]. Related legislation in 2021 immediately removed the requirement for natural death to be “reasonably foreseeable” and allows AS/VE for those suffering from mental illnesses alone by 2023.

In 2018, 42-year-old Roger Foley from Ontario wanted to live despite suffering from a progressive, neuro-degenerative disease. There were issues with home-care services and after being stuck in hospital, he recorded administrative staff offering him Euthanasia as an alternative to forced discharge or being billed $1,800 per day. 

Despite the Supreme Court of Canada specifying: “Nothing in this declaration would compel physicians to provide assistance in dying,” physicians in Ontario are mandated to provide an “effective referral” for MAiD/AS/VE by the provincial government, the medical College, the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeals.

(The courts admitted there was religious discrimination but over-ruled it saying, “The evidence in the record establishes a real risk of a deprivation of equitable access to health care, particularly on the part of the more vulnerable members of our society, in absence of the effective referral requirements of the policy.” Curiously, there is a perfectly effective self-referral system in Alberta which takes one phone call and it deprives nobody!)

Conclusion

Humanist, Dr. Donald Boudreau, McGill University noted: “My personal belief is that healing and euthanizing are simply not miscible.”

The Hippocratic Oath pre-dates Christianity, but again the Sunday Times verbalised their sad anti-religious sentiment while not providing any coherent rationale as to why a modern country like Ireland should introduce Euthanasia / Assisted Suicide. The emotive plea that “death should not be a trial or a trauma” and because ‘other countries are doing it,’ that basically Ireland ‘must do it too’ is a childish response. The platitude “This newspaper feels everyone should have the right to choose how they leave this world” is a trite response to a very difficult life-event — one which we will all face. 

Terms like ‘unbearable suffering’ are often used though physical pain (or even fear of pain) is an infrequent reason for people to request Assisted Suicide in Oregon. In the 2019 report, Oregon showed that the majority of requests arise from an existential crisis: “The most frequently reported end-of-life concerns loss of autonomy (87%), decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable (90%), loss of dignity (72% ) and being a burden to family/caregivers 59%.”

The treatment of physical pain is one of the remarkable advances in modern Palliative Care — never mind the careful attention paid to resolving people’s existential issues. A truly caring society would call for the provision of universal access to Palliative Care, long before any call for Assisted Suicide/Voluntary Euthanasia.

Universal access to Palliative Care will help vastly more people than Assisted Suicide to achieve a truly dignified, peaceful death. 

Dr. Kevin Hay

* “LIES, DAMNED LIES AND STATISTICS” is probably from Leonard H. Courtney, (1832-1918), later Lord Courtney, New York in 1895.

The Empire of Evil Nears Defeat

Let us pray for the salvation of all of those who live in that totalitarian darkness—pray they will discover the joy of knowing God. But until they do, let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the State, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world .... So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.

Ronald Reagan’s famous designation of the USSR as an ‘Evil Empire’ was no doubt an apt description of the Communist Totalitarian regime of the time. So apt, that it was not uncommon to contrast Communism with its opposite, the ‘Free World’.

For Reagan, the USSR embodied everything that impinged upon man’s freedom, it stifled creativity, it threatened violence without limits and posited a doomsday concept of permanent revolution and global control.

Yet Reagan could scarcely have foreseen the depraved moral descent of his United States at the turn of the Twentieth First Century. Illegal wars in the Middle East, as barbaric and unjustifiable as anything that Joseph Stalin committed, coupled with a permanent degeneration of basic morals with a concerted effort to corrupt every other nation in the process, have made the USA anything other than a shining city upon a hill. It is less a beacon of hope and more a bad example not be emulated.

As per Our Lady of Fatima’s warnings, the legalisation of abortion by Communists in Russia in 1917 set in motion events that would eventually lead to the Roe vs Wade ruling by the USA’s Supreme Court in 1973. Russia indeed spread her errors throughout the world in the Twentieth Century, but in the Twenty First, it is the United States that carries the heavy load of continuing the work of against the unborn that was started by Vladimir Lenin. It dangles money in front of poor countries if only they will abandon their family values and murder their own children in the womb. It asks of countries in Africa and South America, and one could say even Ireland, that they join the United States in killing their own babies in the womb. Its means of ‘asking’ are of the kind expected from a pimp or a drug dealer, it is the company sought by the miserable, it is the desire to unite the despondent by means of iniquity.

The USA’s love of abortion has seeped across the world, its prominence in the world has helped to make the violent act a staple of the West’s decline. Take for example the United Kingdom, where 1 in 4 pregnancies now ends in the destruction of the baby by the NHS. In nearby Ireland, the birth rate has completely collapsed with the advent of abortion, to the point now where it is well below replacement levels.

The numbers of abortions in the United States are simply staggering, they stand at almost one million per year. These depraved numbers recall the worst regimes in history, eclipsing even the worst crimes of the Americas under the human sacrifices of the Aztecs, both in volume and violence. That is not to even mention the depths to which some of these abortionists have sunk, such as mass murderer Kermit Gosnell who clipped the spines of babies with a scissors and kept their remains in jars that were found seeping onto the floor of his practice. One would be hard pressed to hear such stories on a guided tour of a concentration camp or a gulag. The excesses of violence that occurs in the abortion industry of the United States are of the sort which were predicted by Archbishop Fulton Sheen as being the logical result from the usage of the atomic bomb in 1945, with it the justification of unlimited evil as a means to an end. This is the evil that led to Abu Ghraib and other recent atrocities.

After almost a half century of genocide against their own unborn children, the first chink of light in trying to undo this great evil occurred in 2016, with the unexpected election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States. Much of the crazed and irrational overreaction and opposition to his term in office was motivated in both temporal and spiritual terms by opposition to his ability to elect Supreme Court Judges willing to put and end to Roe vs. Wade. Think of the many openly demonic forces who declared their opposition to his presidency in no uncertain terms, with many openly declaring their affinity for invoking occult practices in trying to bring about an end to it.

Now, despite the election of pro abortion Joe Biden and the mostly underwhelming contributions of apparent ultra Catholic Supreme Court Judges Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, Roe vs Wade is close to being aborted. Instigated by recent prolife successes in Mississippi and Texas, the Supreme Court judges now appear ready to tell the US abortion industry that they are ready to exercise their choice over them. Abortions could very well be limited to the point of being virtually illegal.

It is safe to say that pro abortion campaigners in the United States are not taking this well, reduced to babbling humourless messes in their efforts to articulate opposition, such as this reprobate low IQ effort from a once popular tv show. Such depraved and unimaginative propaganda will be studied for centuries to come. Sin has stifled the creativity of the United States more than any Communist edict ever could.

After a half century of massacring innocent babies, the United States might finally be ready to grow up and behave like a civilised nation, rather than as an Evil Empire committed to the physical, moral and spiritual destruction of human beings, of the kind that Reagan could scarcely foresee.

Perhaps now, the scales with fall from their collective eyes and they will cherish their children, from womb to natural death. Perhaps now, they will save themselves trillions on blindly annihilating the children of the Middle East. Perhaps now, those who prayed and prayed for an end to this enduring crime will see this evil stopped.

Each of us is loved, willed and necessary from conception until we return to the hands of the same God who created us.

In Luke’s Gospel, it is an unborn baby that is the first to recognise Our Lord’s presence upon the Earth. God can use the weak to shame the strong.

Father Fidelis Moscinski CFR being dragged from praying at an abortion clinic by United States police. pic.twitter.com/juvqt5SA88

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) December 1, 2021

EU Backs Down on Anti Christian Guidelines

In the past number of years, the European Union has become an increasingly menacing and pernicious force for anti Christian bias.

Despite being the product of the vision of many Catholics such as Robert Schuman, the European Union now chooses to try to destroy Catholicism in countries like Poland and Ireland, it chooses to try to help annihilating European children in the womb and it seeks to reduce the continent’s rich cultural heritage into a soulless bureaucracy.

In the past week, they doubled down on their searing hatred for Europe’s Christian heritage, with the ironically titled ‘EU Commissioner for Equality’ Helena Dalli calling for the erasure of Christianity in holiday greetings.

Despite Christian people remaining by far the most persecuted peoples in the world today, and despite attacks on peoples of the Christian faith in the past year such as in Nice and the killing of David Ames, Ms. Dalli chose to compound the persecution of Christians even more with her discriminatory decree that ‘Happy Christmas’ be outlawed in official European Union documentation.

This was particularly hypocritical, as Ms. Dalli has repeatedly used official European Union communications to wish people a Happy Eid Mubarak.

Happy #EidAlAdha to all Muslim people around the world.

May this special day bring love and peace to you. #Tabaski2020 #EidMubarak #UnionOfEquality pic.twitter.com/AHsTAcy0it

— Helena Dalli (@helenadalli) July 31, 2020

Wishing #EidMubarak to all European Muslims and those around the rest of the world. #UnionOfEquality

— Helena Dalli (@helenadalli) May 24, 2020

Dalli refused to apologise for the attack on Christians, instead issuing an impersonal statement claiming that the discriminatory and bigoted suggestions were merely ‘work in progress’.

Concern was raised with regards to some examples provided in the Guidelines on Inclusive Communication, which as is customary with such guidelines, is work in progress. We are looking into these concerns with the view of addressing them in an updated version of the guidelines. pic.twitter.com/90ZK8rpPb2

— Helena Dalli (@helenadalli) November 30, 2021

Left wing Anglo newspaper The Guardian lamented the withdrawal of the discriminatory and bigoted proposals, with a headline stating:

EU advice on inclusive language withdrawn after rightwing outcry

Despite the many great things which can be said about the European Union, it is not worth gaining the whole world to sell one’s soul. It is becoming increasingly clear that there are those within power in the European Union who want to rid the continent of Christianity in order to remake the continent in their bland, cultureless image.

Christians should seriously consider whether such a malignant force is worthy of support or outright opposition.

Alternatively, you can wish Ms. Dalli a Happy and Holy and Joyous Commemoration of the Birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by contacting her office’s email:

cab-dalli-contact@ec.europa.eu

Advent by Patrick Kavanagh

Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh’s reflection on the beauty of Advent and the importance of fasting.

We have tested and tasted too much, lover-
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.
But here in the Advent-darkened room
Where the dry black bread and the sugarless tea
Of penance will charm back the luxury
Of a child's soul, we'll return to Doom
The knowledge we stole but could not use.

And the newness that was in every stale thing
When we looked at it as children: the spirit-shocking
Wonder in a black slanting Ulster hill
Or the prophetic astonishment in the tedious talking
Of an old fool will awake for us and bring
You and me to the yard gate to watch the whins
And the bog-holes, cart-tracks, old stables where Time begins.

O after Christmas we'll have no need to go searching
For the difference that sets an old phrase burning-
We'll hear it in the whispered argument of a churning
Or in the streets where the village boys are lurching.
And we'll hear it among decent men too
Who barrow dung in gardens under trees,
Wherever life pours ordinary plenty.
Won't we be rich, my love and I, and
God we shall not ask for reason's payment,
The why of heart-breaking strangeness in dreeping hedges
Nor analyse God's breath in common statement.
We have thrown into the dust-bin the clay-minted wages
Of pleasure, knowledge and the conscious hour-
And Christ comes with a January flower.

Keeping The Spirit of Christmas by GK Chesterton

The following essay was first published by The Illustrated London News on St. Stephen’s Day in 1925 and it conveys GK Chesterton’s thoughts on commercial efforts at trying to create a Christmas without Christianity.

An article on "Christmas Old and New" appeared recently in a magazine, and said many things that many people are probably saying just now. I do not say they are very lucid things, but they revolve round a reality and something sincerely if vaguely felt.

They raise all the talk about tradition and change; about keeping the spirit but not the letter; about suiting something to modern conditions, and so on. We have heard a good deal about these things; unfortunately, we have not heard much sense about them.

For it has become a convention to say we must disregard conventions; and the demand for something new is already old enough to be in its dotage or (if we had luck) in its coffin. But I notice one rather queer paradox about all this talk of change or reform in customs like Christmas. People talk about sacrificing the letter and keeping the spirit; and then go and do exactly the opposite. They keep a few fragmentary letters (which no longer make a word) and then sacrifice the spirit altogether.

Now the difficulty in all talk about the letter and the spirit is that a man who goes by the spirit must be very sure that he does really understand the spirit. And in my little local experience, the man generally does not. To take a parallel, a sceptic might ask what is the permanent value of the particular forms of good manners that go to make up what is conventionally called a gentleman. He might say he wished to alter the letter of certain little observances, but keep the spirit of the social and historical type. He might say, "Need a gentleman take off his hat to a lady? Need he take it off on entering another man's house?" To which the universal philosopher will reply, "No, of course not. He might take off his boots. The Arabs already do it in the case of the house, when Arabs are so fortunate as to have any houses. And, although it would be tiresome to sit down on the pavement and unlace one's boots while an obliging lady stood still and patiently waited to be saluted, of course that symbol would do as well as any other symbol, if it were socially accepted as symbolising respect." That would be really to alter the letter but keep the spirit. But I do not observe that this is what the more casual or callous youths of the rising generation tend to do.

I do not observe many of them prostrating themselves on the pavement, or standing on their heads in the street (to show how completely the lady's beauty has bowled them over), or in any other fashion experimenting in new modes of expression for the chivalric sentiment. They are not inventing new forms for an old feeling; they are doing just the reverse. They are ignoring the old feeling, but preserving a few limp remains of the old forms.

Now suppose a man, when entering by his friend's front door, were to toss his hat off with a jerk and leave it lying in the middle of the floor. His gesture would not be, like the removal of his boots, a new gesture or antic to express respect. It would simply be the old antic without the respect. It would be going through the old arbitrary action in such a way as to make it mean the opposite of what it was supposed to mean. Suppose a young man were to stroll up to a lady with his hands in his pockets and tell her to take off his hat for him and hold it in the air for a few seconds before replacing it on his head. It would not be a new way of expressing courtesy, but an old way distorted to express discourtesy.

Now I do not say that the unconventional young man of fact and fiction is going quite so far as this; but what amuses me is that, so far as he goes, he is not repudiating the forms of courtesy to keep the soul of chivalry; he is rather repudiating chivalry and keeping a few of the merely mechanical and meaningless gestures of courtesy. Our latest romance of cocktails and rapid dramas is not unconventional; it is only languidly conventional. It is not a school of new manners; it is only old manners modified and softened by bad manners.

Now I notice the same contradiction about Christmas—and, indeed, about Christian traditions generally. It is apparent in the people who tell us, in the papers and elsewhere, that they have emancipated themselves from dogmas, and propose to live by the spirit of Christianity. To which I reply: "All right—go ahead," or words to that effect. But then I always find myself confronted with this extraordinary fact. They start out to live by the spirit of Christianity, and proceed to fling themselves with frenzy into preventing poor people from getting any beer, preventing oppressed nations from defending themselves against tyrants (because it might lead to war), tearing backward children away from their heart-broken parents and locking them up in some sort of materialistic madhouse, and so on. And then they are quite surprised when I tell them that I think they have far less of the spirit of Christianity than they have the letter of it, of the actual words and terminology of its dogmas.

In point of fact, they have kept some of the words and terminology, words like Peace and Righteousness and Love; but they make these words stand for an atmosphere utterly alien to Christendom; they keep the letter and lose the spirit. And as it is with Christendom, so it is with Christmas. If men knew exactly what they meant by Christmas, and then started out to make new symbols, new ceremonies, or new jokes, it might be a very good thing. Something of the sort may yet happen, very probably, in that world of modern men that does know what it means by Christmas. But most of the modern modifications which were discussed in the magazine and elsewhere were quite the reverse of this.

They were really ways in which men may keep the name of Christmas, and a few faded badges of Christmas, while doing something totally different. But what is meant by men like the magazine writer is simply this: that a few sprigs of a particular vegetation called holly and mistletoe should be stuck up in large, over-heated, homeless American hotels, where people shall forget all about Christmas, be bored with the very thought of Christmas, blaspheme the supreme and sacred soul of Christmas with their sophistication and their satiety and their despair. They are too tired to feel the spirit; they are too tired to improve the symbolism; only they are also too tired even to alter the name.

That sort of thing is nothing so creative as reform, just as it is nothing so tenacious as tradition. It is simply drifting, like a halfmelted iceberg which floats into warmer waters, without knowing why it differs from its surroundings, why it is changing, or how much of it is left. None of us should desire to see the noble snow man of the English Christmas melt in the meaningless fashion of that iceberg. It would be better that the snow man should be destroyed like an idol by iconoclasts like the Puritans.

It were better that those who know why they like it should have to defend it against those who know why they dislike it. I have very little fear that in the last resort the latter would ever be the majority. But the former would fight much better if they did know why they liked it, even at the expense of returning to some of the superstitions of their fathers. Anyhow, I know why I like it; and in the case of the Christmas of cocktails and central heating, I know why I dislike it.

I know that the reality is not relativity or progress or the mere passage of the ages. I know Father Christmas when I see him, even when he is in plain clothes. And I am not deceived by Father Time dressed up in holly and mistletoe.