Thought for the Octave of Christmas

VIDEOS: A day to remember men who died for doing what was right

The world somehow got through "Juneteenth" (the new Kwanzaa, i.e. a totally bogus "thing" made up by the left) without any major disturbances (as far as we know here in the backwater), so let us turn our attention to a Holy Day worth celebrating -- the feast day of Saint Thomas More, Saint John Fisher, and other English martyrs who lost their heads -- literally -- for the One True Faith.

For those who don't know the story of how St. Thomas stood up to King Henry VIII when the king defied the Roman Catholic Church and declared himself head of the schismatic Church of England, in order to obtain a divorce and remarry, I recommend A Man For All Seasons, the award-winning 1966 film directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Paul Scofied and Leo McKern. Here's the trailer.



The screenplay and the play on which it is based were written by Robert Bolt. Here is a quote which should be borne in mind by all those who are jumping on the present-day anti-everything bandwagon, in both the Church and the State, because "everone else is doing it."

Duke of Norfolk: Damn it, Thomas, look at those names.... You know those men! Can't you do what I did, and come with us, for fellowship?
More: And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for doing according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?

But wait, there's more... Thanks to a tip from one of our agents, whose patron is St. Thomas More, we have this excellent commentary on the film by Father Victor Feltes, who provides some insight into the connection between St. Thomas and St. John Fisher, along with other interesting takeaways from the film. Just under 6 minutes; check it out.

Saint Thomas More, in all seasons, pray for us!

All Saints Day - All Souls Day

Today is All Saints Day, when Catholic believers ask their name saints and all the saints to intercede for them with Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, with whom they are in Heaven.

Tomorrow is All Souls Day, known in countries such as Mexico and the Philippines, where Catholic tradition is still strong, as "The Day of the Dead". On this day we pray for the faithful departed, particularly our families and friends, also for the millions of souls of babies, murdered before or after birth, and for the poor souls in Purgatory who have no-one to pray for them.

At one time All Saints Day was a Holy Day of Obligation in the Church, and Catholics who strive to keep the Faith of our fathers should still hear Mass and pray for the souls of the faithful departed, RIP+.

Happy Easter to our readers

Christ is risen

Truly He is risen

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Walt [and Ed.]

wish all our readers

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HAPPY AND HOLY EASTER

Walt's greeting to all who celebrate Hallowe'en

One picture is worth 1000 words, they say. So I don't need to spell this out, do I? Walt dislikes Hallowe'en intensely.

I speak of "modern Hallowe'en", as it is celebrated in English-speaking North America in the year of Our Lord [and don't you forget it! Ed.] 2013. In some parts of our land, more money is spent on decorations and costumes and parties for Hallowe'en than is spent on celebrating Christmas. Just another sign of our sick society's abandonment of Christian values and adoption of paganism. Because that's what Hallowe'en is -- a pagan festival!

In medieval times ignorant people believed strongly in the devil and all his works -- witchcraft, vampires and zombies, ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night. As so beautifully illustrated in the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence in Disney's Fantasia, they thought that on the eve of All Hallows Day (= All Saints Day), the poor sould suffering for their sins in Purgatory rose from their graves for a night of revelry, after which they would return to the netherworld for another year. That is the origin of our modern Hallowe'en and the idea of dressing up as ghosties, etc etc.

But aren't we carrying it a bit far, these days? Why the sudden fascination with zombies, the "living dead", who tonight will be seen in their numbers stumbling along our streets? Zombies are the flavour of the month -- or year. Last year vampires, this year zombies. Go figure.

But vampires and zombies are not creatures to be admired or envied. They are the undead! In olden times, it was considered wise to drive a stake through the heart of a vampire or other evil creature, to prevent them from rising on Hallowe'en or any other night. Today we have "zombie runs" through the streets of our cities. Go figure.

Walt notes that the make-believe monsters infesting our public places are mostly teens and "young adults". Only a generation ago, Hallowe'en was for children, not juvenile delinquents. And the kids dresed up as fairies (the Tinkerbell kind), ladybugs and cute cartoon characters. All that has changed. Now it's a competition to see who can be the bloodiest and scariest. Some fun, eh, kids?

And we don't seem to have as many children calling at our cabin in the woods, because little kids are no longer allowed to be out after dark without parental supervision and "security". (That's one reason why Daylight Savings Time now ends on the first weekend of November.)

When Walt was a kid [before the earth's crust cooled. Ed.] we used to go out, by ourselves, in groups of three or four, and we roamed all over town -- OK, it was a small town -- in quest of tooth-rotting Hallowe'en kisses and other sugary goodies. Now our society is so sick that people feel the need to accompany their children, lest some pervert lure them into his lair or put something harmful -- like a razor blade concealed in an apple -- into their Gucci loot bags. And of course they only call on the houses of close neighbours, because the children must learn never to talk to strangers.

One last thought. Tomorrow is All Saints Day, and November 2nd is All Souls Day. (In countries such as Mexico and the Philippines, where Catholic tradition is still strong, All Souls Day is known as "The Day of the Dead".) At one time these were Holy Days of Obligation in the Church, and Catholics who strive to keep the Faith of our fathers should still hear Mass and pray for the souls of the faithful departed, RIP+.

Right on point (and on cue!): "Hallowe'en: when did it become so gory?", on the CBC News website.