[An original article, Ratzinger Persists in His World of Contradiction and Paradox to the Very End, was published abot eight hours ago and revised slightly before this revised reflection was published. Oh, I suppose that there is some interest out there about the latest dog and pony show that has come to the nation's capital. This is to assure the few readers of this site that there will be a commentary on the newest sideshow in a few days.]

Today is the Feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist.

Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ called Levi from his duties as a collector of tribute for Caesar to follow Him. Levi quit his position as a tax collector to become a collector of souls for God and His true Church. Saint Matthew wrote His Gospel to convince his fellow Jews to accept Our Lord as the Divine Redeemer and to convert to the true Faith, Catholicism.

This is quite a contrast with the work of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who esteems Talmudic Judaism as an instrument of "justice" although it denies the Sacred Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ and wages warfare upon those who seek to restore the Social Reign of Christ the King, to say nothing of the fact that many of its rabbis,including his pal Abraham Skorka, support abortion and perversity under cover of the civil law. Quite a difference. It's the difference between fidelity and apostasy, between Catholicism and conciliarism.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Matthew the Apostle, pray for us.

Antipope Emeritus Benedict XVI is in the news again, which means that work on the commentary that I have been writing for the past six days has been halted until later today, the Feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist.

A revised reflection on today’s feast will be published after about nine hours after the posting of this new article.

Thank you.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, pray for us.

[Update on September 19, 2018, the Feast of Saint Januarius and Companions and the one hundred-seventy-third apparition of Our Lady of La Salette: Completion of the next article has been delayed by the press of events, including Bergoglio's almost daily "doubling down" as a reaction to the Fathe Carlo Maria Vignano testimony by appoining through-going, unapologetic, undisguised moral relativists from within the ranks of his "hierachy" to serve at the upcoming "youth synod" next month. I hope to complete the commentary in time for posting on Friday, the Feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle and Evangelst.]

The title of this commentary is pretty self-explanatory.

A reflection on the feast of the Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be found by scrolling below.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

Saint Nicomedes, pray for us.

oday is the Feast of the Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary in September.

We are called to meditate on the Seven Dolors of Our Lady every day of our lives. While there are many good meditations on the sufferings of Our Lady, including those provided by the revelations of Anne Katherine Emmerich and the Venerable Mary of Agreda, the late Father Frederick Faber has given us much food for inspirational meditation in his The Foot of the Cross, published originally as The Dolors of Mary in 1857. Consider this brief excerpt from Father Faber's reflections:

"But let us make the world stand still, and see how it looks. If our common love for God, which is so poor, is irritated by the sight, what must Mary have suffered? For what is irritation to our weakness to her would be the most deep and transcending sorrow. God comes to His creation. It does not stir. It cannot. It lies in the hollow beneath Him, and has no escape. He comes in the beauty of a mercy, which is almost incredible, because it is so beautiful. But seemingly it does not attract the world. He draws nigh. Creation must do something now. It freezes itself up before His eye. He may have other worlds, more fertile, more accessible to Him, than this. In the spiritual tropics, where the angels dwell, He may perhaps be welcome. But not here. This is the North Pole of His universe. He shed His life's blood upon it, and it would not thaw. It is unmanageable, unnavigable, uninhabitable for Him. He can do nothing at all with it, but let His sun make resplendent colored lights in the icebergs, or bid the moon shine with a wanner loveliness than elsewhere, or fill the long-night sky with the streamers of the Aurora, which even the Esquimaux, burrowing in his hut, will not go out to see. The only difference is that the material pole understands its business. which is to make ice in all imaginable shapes; whereas we men are so used to our own coldness, that we do not know how cold we are, and imagine ourselves to be the temperate zone of God's creation." Our sins helped to thrust those Seven Swords of Sorrow through and through Our Lady's Immaculate Heart at various points during her life, including during her Divine Son's Passion and Death. We must resolve never to grieve her Immaculate Heart again as consider our joy and our privilege to live penitentially as the consecrated slaves to her Divine Son, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through the same Immaculate Heart. (Father Frederick Faber, The Foot of the Cross, the Dolors of Mary.)

We can help to make reparation for our sins that have grieved the Immaculate Heart of Mary if we pray more and more Rosaries each day, if we help to propagate devotion to her Seven Dolors. Indeed, Our Lady promises us the following graces if we promote devotion to her Seven Dolors:

1) I will grant peace to their families

2) They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.

3) I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.

4) I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.

5) I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.

6) I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the face of their Mother.

7. I have obtained (This Grace) from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.

As a terrible sinner, I am counting on my own promoting of devotion to the Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary to help me just a little bit at the moment of my Particular Judgment.

What about you?

The next original article to be posted on this site is almost done. Indeed, it has been formatted for posting. However, although there is not much work to do on it, there is just enough to delay until late this afternoon. Another, briefer commentary should appear on Sunday. Thank you,

Finally, please remember the soul of the late Father John Joseph Sullivan, who was my seminary professor at Holy Apostles Seminary in the 1983-1984 academic year, on this day, which would have been his one hundred second birthday had he not died in May of 2000.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all of the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

A blessed Feast of the Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary to you all.

Our Lady of Dolors, pray for us.

Saint Nicomedes, pray for us.

The Saviour of the world hung on the wood of the Holy Cross:

Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundit pependit (Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Saviour of the world. (Adoration of the Cross, Good Friday Liturgy.)

The Cross of the Divine Redeemer was displayed prominently on street corners and in the nooks and crannies of every village in Europe during the era of Christendom. There is no "expiration date" on the Cross of the Divine Redeemer's relevance to the life of any man or of any nation.

We must lift high the Cross in our own daily lives and we must plant it firmly in the soil of our nation without any apology whatsoever as Catholicism is the one and only foundation of personal and social order.

We must also remember that Our Lady stands at the foot of her Divine Son's Most Holy Cross in every true offering of Holy Mass just as she stood at the foot of the Holy Cross on Good Friday. She stands with us as we bear our own crosses in our daily lives. We must, therefore, seek the assistance of the Mother of God in lifting high her Divine Son's Holy Cross in our daily lives, praying as many Rosaries each day as our states-in-life permit.

The cross is ever present in each of our lives, and for this we must say with Saint Francis of Assisi, Deo gratias!

Penance is the path to Heaven.

We do our penances by carrying our crosses with gratitude.

Isn't it great to be a Catholic?

Hail, O Holy Cross! Hail!

A blessed Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross to each of you.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

Work on the next article continues.

Today is the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, commemorating the victory won by King Jan Sobieski of Poland over the Mohammedans at the Gates of Vienna on September 12, 1683.

The troops under the command of Jan Sobieski exclaimed "Jesus, Mary, Sobieski!" as they prayed their Rosaries and routed the Turkish forces.

Each of us does battle every day with the Turks, that is, with the forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We must call upon the Holy Name of Mary, something we do at least one hundred fifty-three times every day if we pray all fifteen mysteries of Our Lady's Most Holy Rosary.

This sweet name of the Mother of God must ever be on our lips, and it must be exclaimed by public officials as she is honored as the Queen of Heaven and on earth, yes, of each and every nation on earth, including the United States of America. No one should be ashamed at any time to proclaim the Holy Name of Mary publicly. 

Indeed, we must do so with joy and confidence. Saint Louis de Montfort taught us in True Devotion to Mary that those who are the consecrated slaves of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary should address others with a Marian salutation.

How felicitous it is, therefore, to greet others with Ave Maria! or a Salve Regina!

How glorious it is to make invocations such as "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we love you, save souls!" or "Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation" or "Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and the hour of our death."

May Our Lady, she who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, help us to grow in this virtue, especially in this time of apostasy and betrayal.

A blessed Feast of the Holy Name of Mary to you all!

Sweet Name of Mary, be our salvation. Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

The next original article should appear by tomorrow morning. Thank you.

The nonagenarian "new theologian" from Bavaria is still trying to "search for truth" by means of the Hegelian dialectical principles that he learned from the master of contradiction, paradox and confusion the late Father Hans Urs von Balthasar. Although I did not expect to revisit Antipope Emeritus Ratzinger/Benedict's lifelong war against the nature of dogmatic truth--indeed, the nature of all truth as he is a relativist and a rationalist, his recent work has given me this opportunity to do so.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, pray for us.

This is a tribute to Saint Peter Claver, S.J, whose true missionary zeal for the conversion and sanctification and salvation of souls stands in vast contrast to the blase and practically indifferent attitude of the conciliar "popes," including Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

Saint Peter Claver, S.J., personally baptized over 300,000 people in Colombia who were destined for chattel slavery in the Americas, thus freeing those souls from enslavement to the devil by means of Original Sin, equipping them to offer up the injustices of chattel slavery as disciples of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and as the devoted clients of His Most Blessed Mother. Saint Peter Claver's example does indeed stand in stark contrast to that of the revolutionaries of the counterfeit church of conciliarism. 

The next original article on this site should appear tomorrow, September 10, 2018, the Feast of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, as I attempt to work through yet another concussion, which was incurred on Friday, September 7, 2018, First Friday of the month of September and the Feast of Saint Cloud (although not on the universal calendar of the Catholic Church), after I hit my head THREE times on the hatch lid of our minivan. That's right, THREE times. Penance is better than ever in 2018! All to thee, Blessed Mother. All to thy Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we love you! Save Souls!

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Peter Claver, S.J., pray for us.

Saint Gorgonius, pray for us.

Today is the great feast day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she who is the fairest flower of our race.

The angels rejoiced around the crib where Good Saint Anne placed her all-holy daughter, who had been conceived without any stain of Original Sin nine months before, that is, on December 8. The New Eve, whose act of perfect obedience to the will of God the Father at the moment that Saint Gabriel the Archangel announced to her that she would be the very Mother of God untied the knot of the first Eve's prideful disobedience in the Garden of Eden, shone at her Nativity with exterior beauty and brightness that reflected the interior beauty and brightness of her immortal soul, filled with grace at the very moment of Immaculate Conception.

The favor of God rested upon Our Lady from all eternity. How can words capture our gratitude and joy to God for giving us Our Lady to be our own Heavenly Mother and Queen?

They can't.

Words can only approximate our gratitude and joy this day--and every day of our lives--over the fact that the Singular Vessel of Devotion in whose Virginal and Immaculate Womb would be conceived Our Divine Redeemer was born this day.

We would not have any chance of getting to Heaven if Our Lady had not been conceived and born.

We have no chance of getting to Heaven without Our Lady's help, which is why we, as the consecrated slaves of her Divine Son, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ through her own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, must cling to her at all times, especially by means of wearing--and the fulfilling the terms of our enrollment in--her Brown Scapular and by praying as many Rosaries each day as our states-in-life permit.

Perhaps the best birthday gift that we can give to Our Lady, apart from our worthy reception of her Divine Son in Holy Communion at a true offering of Holy Mass at the hands of a true bishop or a true priest if this is possible where one lives in this time of apostasy and betrayal, is to resolve now to do live more penitentially in reparation for our sins and those of the world world. By living more penitentially and by praying more Rosaries each day, you see, our souls might--emphasis on might--begin to be filled with more fervor and tenderness for Our Most Blessed Mother, she who made possible our salvation and who is the Mediatrix of All Graces.

The next original article on this site should appear on Monday, September 10, 2018, the Feast of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino.

A blessed Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary to you all.

Maria Bambia! We salute thee as the fairest flower of our race. Pray for us!

Saint Hadrian, pray for us.

Although this has taken longer that I had planned, herewith presented for your reading and reflection is the concluding part of my current series.

This commentary includes a very long appendix that has been set aside as such to avoid making its original text to be longer than it turned out to be. However, as one who does not write for the short term and who desires to provide readers with an understanding of at least some of the root causes of the apostasy that envelops at this time, I trust that there will a few readers who will take the time to plow through the main text and, understanding the distastefulness of the discussion of sodomy as found in Chapter 3 of Mrs. Randy Engel’s The Rite of Sodomy, which makes up most of the appendix, is not necessary for all those who access this site to read. However, the information is there for those who desire to read it as the mess that we are now did not happen only in the past fifty or sixty years.

Speaking of messes, it appears as though the president of the United States of America, Donald John Trump, has some of them at this time as well. In particular, the entirely unsurprising revelation that there is a cabal working inside of his administration to thwart the agenda on which he campaigned is yet another reminder that the president was ill-prepared to govern and had not chosen subordinates carefully.

Neither the president nor those who advised him during the campaign ever took the time to familiarize themselves with the details of presidential staffing and the necessity of compiling names to fill each position. This is something that the former Governor of California, Ronald Wilson Reagan, instructed his senior aides to compile before he announced a third run for the Republican Party presidential nomination in the Fall of 1979, and he was thus ready to “hit the ground” running on January 20, 1981, acknowledging that he had his own “fifth column” to deal with, namely, that led by Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush.

I will have a commentary in a few days on the sideshows of naturalism. However, I will spend most of this month trying to put out two anthologies of my articles, starting with the spiritual reflections that have been written over the years.

Thank you for your patience, and anyone desiring to make a non-tax-deductible financial gift is more than welcome to do so.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.

Saint John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.  

Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, pray for us.