As promised, I am hereby making a copy of the prayers for the Chair of Unity Octave that were distributed by Father Francis Miller, O.F.M., several days ago. Father Francis was kind enough to send me the prayers in a Word document, which permits me to post them so that those who access this website.
Also, I received word via a third party that one of the finest Catholic gentlemen I have ever known, Mr. Howard J. Walsh, died at the age of eighty-three of complications from Stage IV colon cancer yesterday morning, Thursday, January 19, 2023, the Feast of Saints Marius, Martha, Abucham, and Audifax, and the Commemorations of Saint Canute, King of Denmark, and of Saint Wulstan.
I knew Mr. Walsh for nearly thirty years and was always impressed with his genuine spirit of Catholic charity for one and all, using the proceeds from the sale of a screw manufacturing company (which he ran according to the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, including the living wage and the standards of natural justice and supernatural charity), to promote a love for Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, His Most Blessed Mother, especially under the title of Our Lady, Help of Christians, and by means of he Most Holy Rosay, Saint Joseph, and the Holy Catholic Faith.
Mr. Walsh’s Keep the Faith organization made lectures given by Catholic priests and scholars available to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and he was tireless in promoting devotion to the Immemorial Mass of Tradition, which he purchased Latin Mass magazine and renamed it: The Latin Mass; A Journal of Catholic Culture in 2000. (Mr. Walsh asked me to be the editor of the magazine shortly after he purchased it, but I told him that I am and will forever remain a horrific administrator, and he was thankful for my candor.)
More recently, Keep the Faith published Father Kenneth Baker’s translations of the works of Saint Robert Bellarmine and placed books in audio form on compact discs, including a seven-hour reading of a detailed book about the North American Martyrs.
Blessed with an abiding humility (an example of which was provided in my tribute to his—and my own—friend, the late John W. Blewett, who died on February 8, 2013—see With A Heart Of Pure Catholic Gold) and a terrifically self-effacing sense of humor, which was augmented by his wonderful wife of nearly fifty-seven years, Eleanor McNamara Walsh, Howard Walsh always brought Catholic joy wherever he went, a joy that extended even when visiting with those, such as us, with whom he disagreed about the state of the Church in this time of apostasy and betrayal whenever we had the opportunity to visit with him in the past few years. He was a friend to those in need, and always had some “loose change” to give to people on the streets of Manhattan who were begging for assistance.
Please join me in praying for the repose of the soul of a giant of a Catholic gentleman, Howard J. Walsh, as well as for the consolation of his wife, his five children, nearly forty grandchildren (and their families), and the many thousands of people who profited from having known and enjoyed his friendship and company during the eighty-three years he spent as a member of the Church Militant here on the face of the earth.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
Pope Saint Fabian, pray for us.
Saint Sebastian, pray fo