“As the endless late-stage, untethered fiat banking printing spree draws closer to its mathematical date with infinity, the social rungs get clobbered one by one.”
Chris Martenson, Peak Prosperity
August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart / Marian Triad of the Months Begins
August is a very Marian month! Let us see why…
We begin on the 2nd, the first Saturday, with an opportunity to offer reparation to the Immaculate Heart we celebrate this month. If you can’t do 5 Saturdays in a row, according to the Communion of Reparation devotion, that’s okay. Go whenever you can at a parish near you that offers this important act of love for Our Lady, an antidote to these crazy times. See Fr. Edward Broom’s short video below for an explanation of this devotion. He holds up a picture of Our Lady with her Immaculate Heart and also mentions Saint Augustine, who we honor on the 28th…
DEVOTION OF THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS
On the 15th, we remember the glorious Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation (with a vigil). It is on a Friday, but since it is a solemnity, no penance is required. On the 5th, we celebrate Our Lady of the Snows, which refers to a miracle in Italy. On the 22nd, we have a beautiful double Marian feast, with the Queenship in the post-con and the Immaculate Heart in the trad.
And we’re not done yet, as there are several saints associated with Our Lady, who we honor in August. Saint Dominic of the Holy Rosary’s feast is on the 4th and the 8th. Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who received a vision of the Mother of God as a child, is celebrated on the 14th. Her illustrious father, Saint Joachim, is the 16th.
The Transfiguration of Our Lord, the 4th Luminous Mystery, is the 6th.
As for the theme of the Immaculate Heart, here is a well-written, comprehensive page at Covenant Catholic. Following are some edited excerpts:
[From] Preparation for Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart, according to Saint Maximillian M. Kolbe, by Fr. Matthias M. Sasko. A day-by-day guide for 33 days of preparation for Consecration.
1. Consecrate yourself and your home to The Immaculate Heart of Mary and pray The Shorter Act of Daily Consecration each day.
2. Keep an image of the Immaculate Heart in your home.
3. Pray daily the Litany of the Immaculate Heart or the Prayer to the Immaculate Heart.
4. Contemplate what Mary pondered in her heart as you pray the Mysteries of the Rosary and meditate on the events of her life and the life of Jesus.
5. Memorize or meditate on Scripture verses and places in the Catechism that highlight the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (Luke 2:19, 2:51)
6. Begin this August to go to Confession and Mass on the Five First Saturdays of the month, keeping the request of Our Lady of Fatima.
7. Learn and sing the “Salve Regina” [Hail, Holy Queen] with your family or friends.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, ordered his entire ministry to the praise and glory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In response to the ever more militant Luciferian force of the Freemasons against the Church, he established a spiritual army called the Militia of the Immaculata to win souls for the Queen of Heaven. St. Maximilian consecrated all its activity to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart and worked to spread devotion to Her Miraculous Medal. He carried a pocketful of them at all times and called them his spiritual “bullets.” St. Maximilian believed and taught, “If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother.”
Something we do here at Nomen Christi Apostolate, is the Marian Triad of the Months and the Christological Triad of the Months. There are 3 consecutive months which Holy Church dedicates to Our Lady: August of the Immaculate Heart, September of Our Lady of Sorrows and October, Our Lady of the Rosary. The purpose of this exercise is to meditate on these 3 aspects of the Mother of God and to see how they might interrelate, during this 3-month time of the Church year…with the guidance of the Holy Ghost. You may share any insights you receive and we may post them.
Other notable feasts this month, in both the trad and post-con calendars:
1st-Saint Peter in Chains
11th-Saint Clare (Chiara, Clara) of Assisi, Foundress of the Poor Clares, Companion of Saint Francis
12th-Saint Clare (trad)
23rd-Saint Rose (Rosa) of Lima, Patroness of Gardeners
24th-Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
27th-Saint Monica, Mother of Saint Augustine
28th-Saint Augustine of Hippo, Bishop & Doctor of the Church
29th-Passion of Saint John the Baptist
30th-Saint Rose (trad)
Homeschooling Activities for August
1) Draw a picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
2) Write an essay on the life and death of Saint Maximillian Kolbe. 5 paragraphs: Introduction, childhood, ministry, death, conclusion.
3) Read the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration and compare them: Matthew 17:1, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:28.
Talking to Young People / Being the Tabernacle, the Presence of Christ
I met 2 young men in a cafe yesterday, who I was sitting next to. It was impossible for me not to hear what they were saying. One was giving the other advice about what he might do with his future. His friend was expressing indecision and confusion about how to proceed with his goals. As a mother of a 20-something son, I felt for these young men and wanted to engage them, but did not know how. I prayed to Saint Joseph as I was eating my crepe and suddenly the words just came to me. They were very polite and receptive. I told them the world is changing in radical ways and they need to consider this when planning a future. I acknowledged it is a very hard time now to be a young person. (As we in a great interregnum, a turning, at the end of a very long cycle and the beginning of a new one, late-stage empire.) Not only were they quite interested, they even seemed to agree.
I told the confused young man, an aspiring architect, about earthships. He had never heard of them and said he would investigate. Earthships, there are many different kinds, are sustainable, off-grid homes, often using recycled materials. Many are constructed in pleasing organic shapes and rather spectacular.
This is the way we must talk to our youth. Be honest about the state of the world and don’t allow them to live with the delusions of the culture. It is doing them no service.
The song below came on my Pandora channel this morning and reminded me of those dear young men. It’s a great song, sounds a lot like Simon & Garfunkel. It’s about realizing one’s predicament of living in this inauthentic culture, where your future is planned by “men who move only in dimly-lit halls.” This is an insightful young person who sees the truth. He then dreams of an agrarian life, the “Authentic Life,” which we concern ourselves with here…and which we seek. He intuitively knows this is the better direction, but seems to conclude on a cynical note. Have a listen…
Fleet Foxes ~ “Helplessness Blues”
I was raised up believing
I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes
Unique in each way you can see
And now after some thinking
I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery
Serving something beyond me
But I don't, I don't know what that will be
I'll get back to you someday soon, you will see
What's my name, what's my station?
Oh, just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night
That would do such injustice to you
Or bow down and be grateful
And say, "Sure, take all that you see"
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls
And determine my future for me
And I don't, I don't know who to believe
I'll get back to you someday soon, you will see
If I know only one thing
It's that everything that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable
Often I barely can speak
Yeah I'm tongue tied and dizzy
And I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues?
Why should I wait for anyone else?
And I know, I know you will keep me on the shelf
I'll come back to you someday soon myself
If I had an orchard I'd work 'til I'm raw
If I had an orchard I'd work 'til I'm sore
And you would wait tables and soon run the store
Gold hair in the sunlight, my light in the dawn
If I had an orchard I'd work 'til I'm sore
If I had an orchard I'd work 'til I'm sore
Someday I'll be like the man on the screen
(Robin Pecknold)
I often reflect on the extraordinary implications of Holy Communion. In the cafe, I had literally just come from Holy Mass, just having received Our Blessed Lord. When we receive Him, we become the Tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, meant to go out into the world and bring Christ to others. It was in this disposition, that I was given the inclination to speak to these boys, and the words. In Holy Communion, we merge our hearts with that Heart so burning and overflowing with love! And believe me, others can sense this. Some will react with fear and abuse, while others will react positively, not even knowing Who they are encountering, but knowing, somewhere deep inside themselves, this person is different. As the martyr Father Alred Delp said,
“...the person who has seen God, is so totally different, so totally other-because our God is totally Other, with a fullness and order different from what the world sees at first glance. Further, someone who observes the otherness of the believer will be changed by it...
...he is master of the situation and of all things, because of being truly in contact with the center of reality..."
Thought for the Day
We are now immersed in an omni-front attack vector world. This is war. Just getting through the day is now a military-grade evasion operation. If you don’t understand this, you have not been paying attention and you need to get up to speed really fast.
And if you don’t believe the world is that dark, just take a look at Our Blessed Lord upon the cross once again.
Mid-July Check-In
Just checkin in with my peeps! As always, I have several things on the burners and unfinished projects from years ago. Old work from my youth that really should be published. Work on old blogs that should be re-published. I once had a YouTube channel but we don’t need to talk about that. Don’t look for it, it’s been deleted, by myself, a long time ago. There is only so much time and as Chris Martenson keeps saying, we have already entered “The Quickening.” Who knows how much longer we will even have the internet as accessible as it is, or in the same form?
Let us pray for the Texas flood victims and for peace in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Peace in the womb. Peace in the Church. For His Holiness Pope Leo XIV!
This past week we celebrated the feast of Saint Kateri on the 14th, who is invoked for the environment and ecology, issues which most concern us in the Catholic preparedness community. Yesterday we honored Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who instituted the habit of the Brown Scapular through Saint Simon Stock. We had a special investiture and high solemn traditional Mass on Long Island last night. Afterwards, the church had a light reception. So, my dinner was mystery hors d'oeuvres, fruit and cake that looked like Boston Cream cake, but with no Boston Cream:( (I do hope the church cooks are not reading this.) I was still hungry and got a Wendy’s large fries on the way home. Lo and behold, my stomach started hurting in the middle of the night and I went rummaging for expired Pepto Bismol tablets. Guess I need more Pepto.
Anyway, it was all more than worth it for a wonderful evening with friends and of course, a beautiful Mass. We have something very special and amazing that has recently been emerging in the traditional Catholic community on Long Island. Various special feast TLM’s are being celebrated at different churches by different priests, often with several priests. We are a nomadic bunch, as we have always been since the 80’s. We are used to it and we have learned adaptability. The group travels around to all these Masses and it is truly joyful! Let me tell you, the turnouts are incredible, with a high percentage of Latinos. I suspect the persecution of the trads in the last several years has only served to pique people’s interest (there’s no such thing as bad publicity, our enemies forgot that). I feel very blessed to be experiencing this time and place in Church history. I know it is special and rare and will not continue forever. Things will change once again, for sure. But this is where we are now, and it is wonderful.
Again, it is the month of the Precious Blood of Jesus. Let us pour ourselves out to Him, Who pours Himself out for us!
Judge Napolitano with Colonel Macgregor
The current State of the World…
COL. Douglas Macgregor: How Close is World War III?
Video-30:09
“Douglas Macgregor is a decorated combat veteran, an author of five books, a PhD, and a defense and foreign policy consultant.” (From his website. He also has a YouTube channel.)
Judge Andrew Napolitano, who should need no introduction, interviews Colonel Douglas Macgregor on geopolitics today. Macgregor has recently caught my attention as a sophisticated, objective and experienced voice on geopolitics. He spells out the predicament that currently faces the USA. Will we change course or face the consequences of stubbornness?
A Consoling Meditation with the Beatitudes
I’m going to be just a tad presumptuous, and consider what may have gone on in the Mind of God just before creating Adam and Eve…before placing them in the Garden for their great test…
God hesitated. He knew once He rolled this ball down the aisle, there would be no stopping it. No turning back. He knew He must let the Serpent into the beautiful, pristine Garden. He knew Eve would fail. He knew Adam would be seduced too. In His omniscience, He saw all of human history laid bare before Him. “Should I do it?”
He saw Adam and Eve’s grievous regret at what they had done. He saw Cain kill his brother Abel. He knew it would go so terribly wrong, He would have to send a great flood to destroy it all and start over…with Noah and his small family.
He saw the enslavement of His chosen people. He saw how often they would sin against Him. He saw every war against them and every war until the end of time…the sticks and stones, the arrows, the swords, the muskets, cannons, bombs from planes, bombs of mass destruction, machine guns, tanks, drones, bioweapons, propaganda and endless spiritual attacks upon the mind, the heart, the ears and the eyes.
He saw every abortion, from chemically induced to the horror of partial birth. He saw every unspeakable atrocity. Every death camp. Every martyr. Every injustice. Every child kidnapped and abused. Every sobbing mother. Every occult sacrifice. Every deception. Every unnatural offense against His perfect creation. All the tremendous suffering. Every moment of despair. Every suicide. Every laboring mother…the aged and all manner of infirmity. Every senseless accident. Every fatherless child. Every tempest, earthquake and tsunami.
And finally, He saw His only-begotten beloved Son upon the Cross. And His wailing daughter at its foot.
God saw all of this. And He said, “I will do it.” Because He knew that in the end, it would all be worth it. The good would go on to their eternal bliss with Him. And it would not be a joke of a universe. It would mean something. It would be worth it all.
And He would send His Son to tell us this. In these immortal words of the Sermon on the Mount…
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.”
Matthew 5:3
Catholic July
Here are the most notable feasts of this month, in both the trad and the post-con…
1st-Most Precious Blood of Jesus
2nd-Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
3rd-Saint Thomas, Apostle
16th-Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Brown Scapular
22nd-Saint Mary Magdalene
25th-Saint James, Apostle
26th-Saints Joachim & Anne, Parents of the Blessed Mother
29th-Saints Martha, Mary & Lazarus
Homeschooling Activities for July
1) Draw a picture of the Chalice with the Precious Blood.
2) Find a prayer honoring the Precious Blood and say it with your family.
3) Write an essay on Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Saint Simon Stock and the Brown Scapular. What miracles have been attributed to the Scapular? 4 paragraphs.
July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood
This month, we honor the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, contained within that Heart we celebrated in June. July begins, on the 1st, with the feast of the Precious Blood in the trad calendar, followed on the 2nd, by the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Let us consider how we may offer reparation and adoration to the Blood of Christ, particularly present to us at each Holy Mass.
Pray for the United States of America, to our Patroness the Immaculate Conception, as we celebrate Independence Day this week. Pray for all the unborn babies, still not free or respected in this country.
More commentary on the month of July, to follow.
"When they shall say peace and security..."
1st Epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, Chapter 5
“…For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord shall so come, as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, peace and security; then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as the pains upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. For all you are the children of light, and children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do; but let us watch, and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunk, are drunk in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, having on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but unto the purchasing of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us; that, whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with him.
For which cause comfort one another; and edify one another, as you also do.
…Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all. Extinguish not the spirit. Despise not prophecies.
…The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”
Beef up your preps.