“The whole world is not Antarctica, like most penguins think.”
Chiara F Mathews’ son, age 5
(name withheld for privacy)
In Search of
The Authentic Life
“Pater Meus Servat Vineam”
“The whole world is not Antarctica, like most penguins think.”
Chiara F Mathews’ son, age 5
(name withheld for privacy)
Please see our revised prepping worksheet, which is below, but also always on the Home page. We’ve got 15 points that are elaborated on, with space to make your own notes (though you will probably want to use a separate sheet of paper)…and your own personalized preparedness plan…you won’t find this anywhere else! It is Nomen Christi Apostolate’s unique Catholic and holistic approach, encompassing the spiritual, mental, physical and communal aspects of preparedness and a more authentic, self-reliant life. It’s pretty thorough, based on many years of research and experience, and will definitely make you think. We make it very easy to get started, if you don’t know where to start or find the whole idea daunting.
We’ve also got our new “Recommended Resources” page to help you further (which we are continuing to work on). So, print out the 5 pages, take this first step and GET STARTED TODAY! (And share with your friends and family, makes a great Christmas gift:)
BTW, my husband and I are filling this revised version out ourselves, so let’s all do it together!
Excerpt:
#6: Incorporate general preparedness into your life. Am I willing to adopt a lifestyle of preparedness (this includes being very organized)? What are some dangerous scenarios that could happen in my area? Can I start a garden or raise animals? Is there a local fresh water source? Have I addressed my power needs? Could I function without any electricity? Do I have a “go bag”? Are my important documents all together (be able to prove all your assets with hard copies)? Am I on good terms with my neighbors? What about communication and information options in a crisis? Am I always seeking to learn more?
Note: For those who are local to the New York area, I am available to give a talk based on this program. Please contact us above. This message needs to get out!
This will give you quicker and easier access to the best resources we have discovered over the past 18 years. You can still click on “Resources” to the right under “Topics” or “Resources” below the title of a post, such as this one (they won’t give you the same thing, the topics are like a search, the categories give you full posts in date order), but for fast and easy, see our new page.
Starting today, All Saints Day, we have the glorious week of Plenaries! Holy Church makes it so easy to obtain this indulgence for your loved ones among the Holy Souls. It’s one of those joyful things about being a Catholic, that you can turn into a habit each year. It is the perfect time to visit your departed at the cemetery, if you find it difficult to make time for that. This is the time to motivate you, to honor them and to contemplate mortality in general…and to get souls into Heaven, as God’s will determines!
Here’s what you need to know…
From Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary:
An indulgence that can remove all the temporal punishment due to forgiven sin. No one but God knows for certain when a plenary indulgence is actually gained, because only He knows whether a person's dispositions are adequate. One norm for such dispositions is that "all attachment to sin, even venial sin, be absent." If these dispositions are in any way less than complete, the indulgence will only be partial. The same provision applies to the three external conditions necessary to gain a plenary indulgence: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Pope. If these conditions are not satisfied, an otherwise plenary indulgence becomes only partial. These conditions may be satisfied several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work, though preferably Communion should be received and the prayers offered for the Pope on the same day as the indulgenced work. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day.
From the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter’s Holy Cross Chaplaincy:
State of grace…when performing the indulgenced act
Complete detachment from sin, even venial sin
Confession (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)
Communion (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)
Prayers for the Supreme Pontiff (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)
Indulgenced Act: a special good work with…conditions of place and time
From November 1 to 8: visit of a cemetery with mental prayer for the poor souls
On November 2: visit of a church or an oratory with one Our Father and one Creed being recited
Also from Fr. Hardon…
The form of prayer in which the sentiments expressed are one's own and not those of another person and the expression of these sentiments is mainly, if not entirely, interior and not externalized. Mental prayer is accomplished by internal acts of the mind and affections and is either simple meditation or contemplation. As meditation, it is a loving and discursive (reflective) consideration of religious truths or some mystery of faith. As contemplation, it is a loving and intuitive (immediately perceptive) consideration and admiration of the same truths or mysteries of faith. In mental prayer the three powers of the soul are engaged: the memory, which offers the mind material for meditation or contemplation; the intellect, which ponders or directly perceives the meaning of some religious truth and its implications for practice; and the will, which freely expresses its sentiments of faith, trust, and love, and (as needed) makes good resolutions based on what the memory and intellect have made known to the will.
November 2nd is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, or All Souls Day….ending the Triduum of Death which began on All Hallow’s Eve.
Election Day in the United States is the 3rd. Let us pray for America, her leaders and her people, especially the unborn.
Looking ahead, Advent begins the 29!
Let us remember the Holy Souls in Purgatory with particular attention this coming month.
This article is by well-known preparedness expert Mike Adams. The article covers…What Governments Are Preparing For, The 90-Day Signal from Military Bases, The Cyberattack Pretext for a Financial Reset, Grid Down: Cities Empty-Country Under Siege, War-Energy Shock and the Decade of Darkness and Conclusion: Prepare for Scenarios-Not Panic. Here’s an excerpt:
“The Pentagon telling military installations to plan for ninety days without normal civilian infrastructure is a scenario warning.
…Cities are artificial constructs. They do not grow food; they import it from rural areas on trucks that run on fuel that comes through pipelines and refineries that depend on the grid.
…Preparedness is not gadgets. It is assessing real gaps, building local community, and abandoning the fantasy that government will rescue everyone…buying extra supplies when supply chains are visibly cracking is not hoarding mania -- it is strategic self-reliance. The person who waits for the emergency broadcast to tell them what to do will be competing with millions of others for the last case of bottled water.
…Texas, North Dakota, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, and Nebraska have declared fuel emergencies as the war pushes global energy supplies into catastrophic shortage.
…When diesel and fertilizer become scarce, the food system does not gradually adjust; it stops.
…I do not trust the government, the banks, the water utilities, the medical system, or the food delivery networks to function smoothly in a real crisis. That is not cynicism; it is a conclusion drawn from watching institutions fail in plain sight.
…The responsible response is not panic but preparation: assess your gaps, store clean food and water, plan for sanitation and power, and build self-defense and local resilience. Thirty days is not enough. Ninety days is the number the military is planning around, and the honest household should plan for more than the institution does, not less. Whether the trigger is a cyberattack, a currency reset, a grid failure, or a war, the people who prepare now will be the ones who can help themselves and their neighbors.”
…Wrap your arms around the Cross…and hold on tight.
…is every other Sunday. Yesterday I was there on the off week for the Novus Ordo (typically we go to a further church on the off weeks) at the same time. Shocking….much less people! Is the Bishop noticing? Is anyone noticing this? Is this a general trend? And this is the mid-day Mass, which should be well-attended, especially by families.
It was easy to predict the eclipsing of the Novus Ordo by the Vetus Ordo 30 years ago, but you would have been considered completely crazy.
Prophecy says the Church will become smaller, yet holier. Looks like it’s happening. I have to wonder if after Covid, some people never came back. If true, this shows something. Be very careful about disrupting society. Be very careful about opening a Pandora’s Box, because you may never get it closed again. I truly hope the bishops learned something. “Never again.” And yes, there will be a next time.
“Our job is to tell the truth fearlessly and to love one another relentlessly.”
”Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:48
“He answering, said: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbour as thyself.”
Luke 10:27
“Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat.”
Matthew 7:13
Roughly 3 months ago, we issued a serious alert for the first time in almost 18 years. Nothing has changed. Things have in fact, gotten worse globally. It’s game on. Here’s the alert we issued in July, which still applies. Add to this the growing social unrest in Europe and increasing war drums…
Due to the escalation of the wars with Iran and Russia and the resulting affects on energy supply, product supply and the economy….
…One of the most important things right now is to stock up on supplies while they are still available and affordable. See our “15 Points” on the Home page and make your plan now!
Pray to the Holy Ghost for guidance always.
The coming chastisement will be equal to our sins.
We must go into it very strong. Spiritually, mentally, physically and logistically.
It’s time to get very serious about authentic Catholic community.
© 2015-2026 Chiara F. Mathews Content may be reproduced or shared on the condition that this source is indicated.