On This Day

In 1774, St Elizabeth Ann Seton, convert from Anglicanism, Foundress of the Sisters of Charity, Emmitsburg, MD and first American born Saint, was born in New York.

In 1947, Manolete, the greatest bull fighter who ever lived was killed by the bull Islero in Linares, Spain. R+I+P

The Daily Prayer of the Order of Malta

From the files of Catholicmedieeevalism at Yahoo! Groups.

The Daily Prayer of the Order of Malta

“Lord Jesus, thou has seen fit to enlist me in Thy service in the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. I humbly entreat Thee through the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin of Philermos, of Saint John the Baptist, of Blessed Fra Gerard and all the Saints, to keep me faithful to the traditions of our Order.

Be it mine to practice and defend the Catholic, the Apostolic, the Roman Faith against the enemies of religion. Be it mine to practice charity toward my neighbors, especially the poor and the sick.

Give me the strength I need to carry out this my resolve, forgetful of myself, learning ever from Thy Holy Gospel a spirit of deep and generous Christian devotion, striving ever to promote God’s glory, the world’s peace, and all that may benefit the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. Amen”.

and in French:

Seigneur Jésus, Qui avez daigné m'appeler dans les rangs de la Milice des Chevaliers de St-Jean de Jérusalem, Je vous supplie humblement, Par l'intercession de la Très Sainte Vierge de Philerme, de St-Jean Baptiste et de tous les Saints, De m'aider à rester fidèle aux traditions de notre Ordre.

En pratiquant et en défendant la religion catholique, apostolique et romaine contre l'impiété. Et en exerçant la charité envers le prochain, avant tout envers les pauvres et les malades.


Donnez-moi les forces nécessaires pour pouvoir mettre en exécution ces désirs, Selon les enseignements de l'Evangile, avec un esprit désintéressé et profondément chrétien, Pour la gloire de Dieu, la paix du monde et le bien de l'Ordre de St-jean de Jérusalem.
Ainsi-soit-il

The Catholic New Martyrs of Russia

I just discovered this in a post on Fisheaters. It is good to know that the Russian Catholic Church has not forgotten those who died under the Red butchers! Our Lady of Kazan, pray for Russia! St Andrew, pray for Russia!

Catholic New Martyrs of Russia

The Myth of Hitler's Pope: Pope Pius XII and His Secret War Against Nazi Germany

A Conservative Rabbi, David G. Dalin, has written a book defending H.H. Pius XII's role in the Second World War. An excellent review can be found at The American Spectator and an article on the same subject by Rabbi Dalin can be found at The Righteous Pope.

Plan B--Let me get this straight

If a woman just wants to contracept on a daily basis, she can take a small dose of levonorgestrel, but only after a physical exam, under the close supervision of her physician and only with a prescription. On the other hand, if she wants to be sure thats she's not inconvenienced by an unwanted child, she can abort the child by taking a massive overdose of the same drug, purchased over the counter, with no physical, no physician and no prescription? Thanks, "pro-Life" Pesident Bush!

And, oh yes, if she's under eighteen, she needs a prescription, but the culture of death crowd is tring to get that overturned!

The Testament of St Louis IX

A day late, here is a beautiful post from Canterbury Tales, with a wonderful illustration of the Holy King's dying moments.

Happy Feast Day!

May all my readers have a happy and blessed Feast of St Louis and may Monseigneur have a blessed Nameday!

Feast of St Louis IX, Nameday of the King

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St Louis IX, King of France & Confessor and the Patronal Feast Day of my liege lord, Monseigneur le prince Louis, le duc d'Anjou, by God's Grace de jure King of France and Navarre.



The Prayers of the Feast from the Roman Missal:

Collect:

Deus, qui beatum Ludovicum Confessorem tuum de terreno regno ad cœlestis regni gloriam transtulisti: ejus, quæsumus, meritis et intercessione; Regis regum Jesu Christi Filii tui facias nos esse consortes: Qui tecum.

Oh God, Who didst take Thy Confessor, Louis, from an earthly throne to the glory of the heavenly kingdom, by his merits and intercession we beseech Thee that Thou make us to be associates of the King of kings, Jesus Christ Thy Son. Who with Thee.




Secret:

Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, sicut beatus Ludovicus Confessor tuus, spretis mundi oblactamentis, soli Regi Christo placere studuit; ita ejus oratio nos tibi reddat acceptos. Per eumdem Dominum.

Grant, we bessech Thee, O almighty God, that as blessed Louis, Thy confessor, spurning the delights of the world, strove only to please Christ, his King, so his prayer may render us acceptable to Thee. Through our Lord.



Postcommunion:

Deus, qui beatum Confessorem tuum Ludovicum mirificasti in terris, et gloriosum in cœlis fecisti: eumdem quæsumus, Ecclesiæ tuæ constitue defensorem. Per Dominum.

O God, Who didst make Thy Confessor, Louis, wonderful on earth and glorious in heaven, constitute him, we beseech Thee, the defender of Thy Church. Through our Lord.



His biography from The Catholic Encyclopædia.



The article on him from Wikipedia.



A letter from Guy, a knight, concerning the capture of Damietta on the sixth Crusade with a speech delivered by Saint Louis to his men. The Mediæval Sourcebook.

Comments from Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira on St Louis. Tradition in Action

Etext full version of the Memoirs of le Sieur de Joinville, a biography of Saint Louis written by one of his knights. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library.

Here's food for thought!

The signature file of a participant at the Fisheaters forum:

John XXIII has been arguing with St. Peter at the pearly gates.
"What do you mean I'm not on the list?" he asks.
"I'm sorry, my hands are tied," replied St. Peter, "You'll have to talk to the Holy Ghost."
"This is outrageous! I am Pope John XXIII! I called the Second Vatican Council!"
"The Second Vatican Council?" cried the Holy Ghost in astonishment, "You know, I was supposed to go to that!"

His Excellency, The Bishop of Rockford on "adherents of one political party"

And no one can accuse His Excellency of partisan politics, snce he never names the party! Way to go, Excellency!

Rather than copying the article, I'm linking to our good friend, the Wolftracker at Kansas City Catholic.

Vivat! His Excellency the Archbishop of Denver!

His Excellency Charles Joseph Chaput, Archbishop of Denver is one of the few hierarchs with the intestinal fortitude to speak the truth on many subjects. Read what he has to say on Christian-Muslim relations. He has two other great things going for him, too! He's French-(Canadian) and a Kansan! What more could you ask! A tip of the red beret to Xavier at Buscarons for this!

Denver Catholic Register

Blair's 'frenzied law making' has created a new offence for every day spent in office

Red Tony at work! One new offence, further restricting the freedoms of Britons, has been introduced on the average for every day he has been in office as HM's PM since 1998! Let us pray for the United Kingdom, that it may yet see again the days when God made the laws, the Crown enforced them and the PM advised. Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for thy Dowry!

The Independent

Maori Queen dies, aged 75

Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Queen of the Maori people of New Zealand, is dead at 75.

Her obituary from The Times and a biographical article about her from Wikipedia.

Oath

I have been asked in the combox for a copy of the Oath I took. Here it is. (And Supporter, please email me since I accidentally deleted your email address!)

"I, Jovan-Marya of the Immaculate Conception Weismiller, T.O.Carm., with the entire Court of Heaven as my witness, promise on my faith that I will in the future be faithful to Monseigneur le prince Louis, duc d'Anjou, de jure His Most Christian Majesty, Louis XX, by God's grace, King of France and Navarre and to his heirs under the fundamental laws of France, never cause him harm and will observe my homage to him completely against all persons in good faith and without deceit and I will do all in my power, by all legitimate means to restore him to the Throne of his forefathers. So help me God and the Saints and Martyrs of France."

An Afterthought

The link I gave in the previous post to Walsh's book is part of a much larger site hosted by the University of Notre Dame called Aristotle et al. It contains links to online editions of Jacques Maritain's works (Yes, I know he went modernist later in life, but he still had a great deal of good to say!) as well as a veritable library of online editions of pre-Vatican II works on Thomistic philosophy, including works by His Eminence, Désiré, Cardinal Mercier and Papal Encyclicals on the Thomistic revival. It's well worth checking out for any serious Catholic.

Aristotle et al.

If We Were As Free As 1253

From our fellow EvilTrad, W, at Traditio in Radice a wonderful post comparing the freedoms of today with those of the XIIIth Century. It's a great read!

If We Were As Free As 1253

And for those who would like to learn more about the XIIIth Century, the high point of our Græco-Roman Catholic Civilisation and Culture, James J Walsh's book, The Thirteenth, the Greatest of Centuries is available to read online at:

The Jacques Maritain Centre

Follow up to "Gunter Grass was an SS Trooper"

Following Grass's admission that he was a member of Hitler's national socialist Waffen SS, the murderers of millions of Catholics and Orthodox as well as Jews, Lech Walesa, Catholic, Nobel Laureate and former President of Poland has called upon the former "beefsteak" (brown on the outside and red on the inside), to be stripped of his honourary citizenship of Gdansk, his birthplace when it was the Free City of Danzig (Lech also holds such honourary citizenship).

Walesa points out that if Grass's membership in the Waffen SS had been known, the honour would never have been presented.

BBC

Lord Kilbracken is dead.

John Raymond Godley, third Lord Kilbracken, is dead. He was not a Catholic, but he deserves our prayers.

"As the Troubles erupted in Northern Ireland, he found his loyalties coming under strain. He had long been opposed to partition, and, though not himself a Catholic, felt strongly about the discrimination endured by the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland.

"In the wave of hysteria that followed the Bloody Sunday shootings in January 1972, Kilbracken announced that he was returning his six war medals in protest, that he was renouncing British citizenship and had become a citizen of the Irish Republic.

"His announcement did not compromise his right to sit as a member of the upper House, of which he became an increasingly active member. Wildly bearded and vigorous, Kilbracken continued to appear, campaigning for, among other things, the rights of Kurds in Iraq and an end to partition in Ireland."

Besides, the man was an absolute hoot!

Read his obituary in The Telegraph.

The Telegraph

I have often linked to stories from The Telegraph and recommended it as one of the few voices of sanity left in the UK. I am now adding a caveat to my endorsement, since the paper has joined the culture of death in calling for a "revision" on Church doctrine regarding condom use in a leader published in Monday morning's issue..

The Telgraph

An Evil Trad, Yes, But A French Legitimist????

When I posted on my journey to Traditionalsm, (You can read the posts here: Part One and Part Two) I promissed that I might post on how I became a French Legitimist. Here it is!

How does a reasonably sane man, born in the mid-twentith century in the United States of America, end up as a supporter of the Legitimate claimant to the Throne of France?

I suppose the journey really began at birth! My mother was born a subject of His Brittanic Majesty, King George V. Her mother had been born in the reign of Queen Victoria and had actually been kissed by Her Majesty as a baby. My great-grandfather, Henry Brown, was a shipbuilder in the Royal Dockyards, Portsmouth and HM had come to launch a ship. It was a great fete, with the families of the workers in attendance and the Queen kissed many of the babies!

On the other side, my father's mother was born a subject of Karl XV, King of the Swedes, the Goths and the Wends, so that I came of loyal monarchist stock on both sides. In fact, I often say that I was 9 or 10 before I figured out that Elizabeth II did not rule the US!

I spent the rest of my formative years nursing a sentimental attachment to the British Throne, always tempered by Jacobitism. In fact as a young man, I wrote to Albrecht v. Bayern, the Heir in the Legitimate line to the British Throne, only to be told that he had no desire to disturb his cousin Elizabeth in her claims to that Throne. However, my tendency towards Legitimism was already showing!

As I grew older my interest in history intensified and I read more and more English, Scottish and European history.

As my monarchist opinions solidified, I was in contact with HIRH Otto v. Habsburg u. Lothringen on matters dealing with European Unification. In fact in 1985 when my youngest daughter, Dominique Maureen Anne Elizabeth, was born, he and his gracious consort, HIRH Regina, did me the honour of standing Godparents (by proxy) for my newborn child. After a great deal of thought, I offered him my oath of allegiance only to be told to "renew my committment" to an unified Europe.

Stymied, I looked around for an alternative. Still enamoured of the Empire, I settled on Liechtenstein, the only surviving Princely State of the Empire. I wrote to His Serene Highness, Franz-Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein, explaining my problem. He replied, saying that as long as I understood that such an oath gave me no right to Liechtensteiner nationality, he would be happy to receive it and accept me as a subject. From then until 1989, when he died, I was fortunate enogh to be the subject of Franz Joseph Maria Aloys Alfred Karl Johannes Heinrich Michael Georg Ignaz Benediktus Gerhardus Majella, Fürst von und zu Liechtenstein, Duke von Troppau und Jägerndorf, Count zu Rietberg.

When he died, I wrote immediately to his successor, HSH Hans-Adam to renew my allegiance. He replied that he was not interested, so once again, I was "princeless". In the meantime, my deepening Traditionalism had brought me closer and closer to a full Counter Revolutionary position in politics and with this I began reading the History of France, the homeland of the Revolution. I became more and more convinced that to defeat the Revolution worldwide, it must first be defeated in its homeland. Obviously, that defeat would entail the Restoration of Christ's Lieutenant, the King of France.

Convinced of this, it became necessary to decide who is the King of France. As in many countries, this is a disputed question. At the time of my researches there were four "Royalist" groups in France, plus the Bonapartist followers of the "Imperial Revolutionary". They were the Legitimists, followers of the Senior Heir of the House of France, Mons. le prince Louis, le duc d'Anjou, the Orleanists, supporters of le comte de Paris, Henri d'Orleans, the "Naundorffists", who claimed that the Dauphin, son of the martyred King, survived and had issue, and the Providentialists who say, "Yes, France is a Kingdom and God will show us who is King."

I dismissed the Providentialists out of hand. God will show the rightful King by descent, not by some miracle! The Naundorffists based their claims on patently false history. The Dauphin died in the Temple Prison as a boy. All historians agree on this and only a deranged person would support the claims of the imposters of the Naundorff line. More recently, DNA evidence has totally exploded their claim, though certain insane people still support them.

This left a choice between the Legitimists and the Orleanists. My natural inclination was to the Legitimists, even before I researched it and actually thought about it. Why? Because the House of Orleans' claims to the Throne came through the Freemasonic Lodge, the Revolution and usurpation. See my post More on de Gaulle which discusses the background of the House of Orleans at some length.

However, I did a great deal of research and came to a conclusion. For those who might be interested in following my research, here are some links:

First, an overview of the problem, by Guy Stair-Sainty, The French Legitimist Case.

And second, also by Stair-Sainty, two articles going into much deeper detail regarding the legal reasons why the House of Orleans has no legitimate claim to the Throne: The French Succession: The Renunciations of 1712, the Treaties of Utrecht and their aftermath in international affairs, Part One and The French Succession: The Renunciations of 1712, the Treaties of Utrecht and their aftermath in international affairs, Part Two.

As a result of this research and a great deal of thought and prayer, I came to the absolute belief that Monseigneur le prince Louis-Alfonse, le duc d'Anjou, is the Legitimate King of France and Navarre and that his Restoration to the Throne of his forefathers is essential to the defeat of the Revolution. Given that, on 16 July 1992, I went before a notary and swore an oath of allegiance to Monseigneur. So from a sentimentally monarchist young boy to the sworn liegeman of His Most Christian Majesty, the King of France and Navarre in just under 40 years!

The Oath Against Modernism

I am posting this and the Tridentine Profession of Faith (immediately below this post) for two reasons. A) To state clearly where I stand and B) For any of my readers who may not have seen these extremely important documents of our Faith

THE OATH AGAINST MODERNISM
Given by His Holiness St. Pius X September 1, 1910.

I, Jovan-Maryaya of the Immaculate Conception Weismiller, T.O.Carm., firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day. And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:90), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated: Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time. Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time. Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely. Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our creator and lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion. I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful. Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm. Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact-one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history-the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles. I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God. . .

Tridentine Profession of Faith

I, Jovan-Marya of the Immaculate Conception Weismiller, T.O.Carm., with a firm faith believe and profess each and everything which is contained in the Creed which the Holy Roman Church maketh use of. To wit:
I believe in one God, The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father. By whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. He was also crucified for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, and who spoke through the prophets. And one holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
I most steadfastly admit and embrace Apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the Church.
I also admit the Holy Scripture according to that sense which our holy mother the Church hath held, and doth hold, to whom it belongeth to judge of the true sense and interpretations of the Scriptures. Neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
I also profess that there are truly and properly Seven Sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all for every one; to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; and that they confer grace; and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders cannot be reiterated without sacrilege.
I also receive and admit the received and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church in the solemn administration of the aforesaid sacraments.
I embrace and receive all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent concerning original sin and justification.
I profess, likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the Body and Blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I also confess that under either kind alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament.
I constantly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise, that the saints, reigning together with Christ, are to be honored and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be venerated.
I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever virgin, and also of other Saints, ought to be had and retained, and that due honor and veneration is to be given them.
I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people.
I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church as the mother and mistress of all churches; and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.
I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons, and general Councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent, and by the ecumenical Council of the Vatican, particularly concerning the primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his infallible teaching. I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies which the Church hath condemned, rejected, and anathematized.
This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, which I now freely profess and to which I truly adhere, inviolate and with firm constancy until the last breath of life, I do so profess and swear to maintain with the help of God. And I shall strive, as far as possible, that this same faith shall be held, taught, and professed by all those over whom I have charge. I, Jovan-Marya of the Immaculate Conception Weismiller, T.O.Carm., do so pledge, promise, and swear, so help me God and these Holy Gospels.

Face up to your problem, Muslims told

John, Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, late Commissioner of HM's Metropolitan Police (London) has come out swinging. ""When will the Muslim community in this country accept an absolute, undeniable, total truth: that Islamic terrorism is their problem?", he writes in an opinion piece published today.

He addresses "racial profiling" as well, "Of course, there'll be instant squealings that this is racism. It's not," Lord Stevens insisted.

"It's exactly the same as recognising that, during the Northern Ireland troubles that left thousands dead, the IRA were totally based in the Catholic community and the UVF in the Protestant."

Read the entire article!

Sydney Morning Herald

New Blogs in Blogroll

I have added Orthometer, "Othometer n. A device for determining orthodoxy. (Isn't this a bit arrogant? Yes, and your point is?)", by a Priest of the Diocese of Salt Lake City and The Roving Medievalist, "A Spirited Defense Of A Noble Catholic Culture And Its Lingering Spirit," to my blogroll. Check them out!

A tip of the red beret to Tom at Recta Ratio, who found them.

Gunter Grass was an SS Trooper!

Grass, the "moral voice" of left-wing, anti-life, anti-Christian Germany has revealed that he was an SS man. Ever since the war, he has made a career out of attacking Germans who co-operated with Hitler's National Socialists. His confession simply shows that socialism will out, whether it is red, international socialism or brown, national socialism. It is also yet another proof that leftists have no morals!

The Telegraph

JibJab on Walmart

A wonderful video on "Big BoxMart" (read Walmart) and how it undermines our society! Check it out.

JibJab

The Culture of Death Marches On

This an addendum to my last post. These three articles are all from today's LifeSiteNews. Yes, I know it's a site dedicated to publicising the attacks of the Culture of death, but it's still frightening that three stories like this could all appear on the same day!

Doctors Dehydrated My Husband To Death: U.K. Widow

More Hospitals/Governments Push For Organ Transplants 5 Minutes or Less After Heart Stops

Women Paid to Carry Baby to 12 Weeks before “Harvesting” for Beauty Treatments

And an article from the Daily Mail on this last topic(with a tip of the red beret to Steve at e-skojec.com):

A barbaric kind of beauty

This is Truly Frightening!

Patient loses right-to-food fight

A man with an incurable brain condition has lost his final legal appeal to insist that doctors give him food and drink in the final stages of his life.

BBC

Ten Reasons Why I Never Wash

Forwarded to my by a protestant friend.

Ten Reasons Why I Never Wash

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A parish priest in Dublin, Ireland, got tired of listening to the same old excuses from people who don’t attend church. So he wrote the following and printed it in the Sunday bulletin:

Ten Reasons Why I Never Wash

1) I was forced to wash as a child.

2) People who wash are hypocrites. They think they are cleaner than everyone else.

3) There are so many different kinds of soap, I could never decide which one was right.

4) I used to wash, but it got boring so I stopped.

5) I wash only on special occasions, like Easter and Christmas.

6) None of my friends wash.

7) I’m still young. When I’m older and have gotten a bit dirtier, I might start washing.

8) I really don’t have time to wash.

9) The bathroom is never warm enough in the winter or cool enough in the summer.

10) People who make soap are only after your money.

Exact Origin Unknown Additional excuses:

I get along very well without washing.

I work hard all week and am too tired to take a bath on the weekend.

The first bar of soap I ever used gave me a rash, so I haven't gone near soap since!

One of Castro's Own Goes to Hell to Prepare the Welcome!

One of Castro's minions, Eduardo Bernabé Ordáz Ducungé, a "doctor" who ran a psychiatric "hospital" where dissidents were tortured, has preceded his master in death. Let us ask Sto Antonio Maria Claret for his prayers for his poor Cuban people, that they may soon be free of the Red butchers!

The Telegraph

The Meaning of Life

A truly great post from our fellow EvilTrad, Anthony. He's a young man with his head firmly on his shoulders. I highly recommend his blog!

Hard Sayings

A Professor Speaks Out!

With a tip of the red beret to Hilary at The Devout Life!

Hooray for Michigan State University (The Spartans) and Professor
Wichman!

Well, what do we have here. Looks like a small case of some people being able to dish it out, but not take it. Let's start at the top. The story begins at Michigan State University with a mechanical engineering professor named Indrek Wichman.

Wichman sent an e-mail to the Muslim Student's Association. The e-mail was in response to the students' protest of the Danish cartoons that portrayed the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist. The group had complained the cartoons were "hate speech." Enter Professor Wichman. In his e-mail, he said the following:

Dear Moslem Association: As a professor of Mechanical Engineering here at MSU I intend to protest your protest. I am offended not by cartoons, but by more mundane things like beheadings of civilians, cowardly attacks on public buildings, suicide murders, murders of Catholic priests (the latest in Turkey!), burnings of Christian
churches, the continued persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt, the imposition
of Sharia law on non-Muslims, the rapes of Scandinavian girls and women (called "whores" in your culture), the murder of film directors in Holland, and the
rioting and looting in Paris France.

This is what offends me, a soft-spoken person and academic, and many, many, many of my colleagues. I counsel you dissatisfied, aggressive, brutal, and uncivilized slave-trading Moslems to be very aware of this as you proceed with your infantile "protests."

If you do not like the values of the West -- see the 1st Amendment -- you are free to leave. I hope for God's sake that most of you choose that option. Please return to your ancestral homelands and build them up yourselves instead of troubling Americans.

Cordially, I. S. Wichman
Professor of Mechanical
Engineering

As you can imagine, the Muslim group at the university didn't like this too well. They're demanding that Wichman be reprimanded and mandatory diversity training for faculty and a seminar on hate and discrimination for freshman.

Now the Michigan chapter of CAIR has jumped into the fray. CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, apparently doesn't believe that the good professor had the right to express his opinion.

For its part, the university is standing its ground. They say the e-mail was private, and they don't intend to publicly condemn his remarks. That will probably change. Wichman says he never intended the e-mail to be made public, and wouldn't have used the same strong language if he'd known it was going to get out.

How's the left going to handle this one? If you're in favor of the freedom of speech, as in the case of Ward Churchill, will the same protections be demanded for Indrek Wichman? I doubt it.

Hey folks, send this to your friends, and ask them to do the same. Tell them to keep passing it around until the whole country gets it. We are in a war. This political correctness crap is getting old!

Book Meme

Since I read this on both the Lair of the Catholic Caveman and dymphna's road, I suppose I've been tagged. (BTW, will somebody please tell me what "meme" means!)

1. One book that changed your life: "A pamphlet called Catholics and Orthodox, Can They Unite", probably from the late '50's or early '60's. Read about how it changed my life at: My Conversion

2. One book that you have read more than once: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by Catholic Traditionalist and Monarchist, J.R.R. Tolkien

3. One book you'd want on a desert island: If I had to have just one, it would be the Roman Breviary in Latin and English.

4. One book that made you laugh: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

5. One book that made you cry: The Lord of the World, by Mons. Robert Hugh Benson.

6. One book you wish would have been written: The History of the Return of Tradition in the Catholic Church.

7. One book you wish had never been written: It's a tossup between Das Kapital by Marx and The Origin of Species by Darwin.

8. One book you are currently reading: The Saracen Blade, by Frank Yerby. It's somewhat anti-Catholic in that it praises Frederick II, Roman Emperor and apostate, but it brings the XIIIth Century to life.

9. One book you have been meaning to read: Treatise on the Love of God by St Francois de Sales.

10. Tag some others: Anyone reading this.

Happy Birthday WWW.

On this day, in Anno Domini 1991, the web went online. Fifteen short years, and here I am blogging. I remember those days. We had "freenets" set up by unis and community action groups, we had email with addresses like a085@cfn.net ( I think that was mine at the Cleveland Freenet!) and we had bulletin boards that you had to dial into (no broadband in those days and no ISP's! You dialed into each BBS individually!). I was blessed because I had access to the mainframe at the University of Kansas and my favourite BBS in Kansas City had established a local calling number in Lawrence. I rember being boggled by the speed, even then. I had a correspondent in Vladivostok. I emailed him one morning and it took 1.5 seconds for the message to be received! In those primitive days, I knew the route the message took: from the KU mainframe to Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS, to a mainframe in Albany, NY, to Copenhagen, Danemark, to the Kremlin in Moscow and out to Vladivostok, where the mainframe delivered it to him.

To use the words of Alexander Graham Bell, "What hath God wrought!" Let us use this technology for His glory and the Triumph of the Social Reign of the Sacred Heart of Christ the King and the Immaculate Heart of His most holy Mother, Mary, our Queen!

BBC Technology

Did St Anthony Mary Claret predict the butcher Castro's death?

Check this out!

WorldNetDaily

Requiescant in pace

Today would be the 130th birthday of my grandmother, Pitronella Frederika Peterson and the 86th birthday of my step-father, Marion Edward Spiller. Of your charity, please pray for their souls.

From The Remnant on Mel Gibson

BEARING THE CROSS
An Open Letter to Mel Gibson

Mark Alessio
REMNANT COLUMNIST, New York

PROLOGUE

The Remnant, posted Aug 5:

It started out as a fairly routine news story. Actor and director Mel Gibson was arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol (DUI) in the early morning hours of July 28, 2006.

Forty-eight hours later, the episode had morphed into a tale of Homeric
proportions after it was revealed that, during his arrest, Gibson launched into
an anti-Jewish tirade, during which he accused the Jews of being
"responsible for all the war in the world." Suddenly, a run-of-the-mill
newsflash became a full-blown tragedy, a woeful tale of a mighty hero fallen.

It was The Fall of Hector for the modern age. But, instead of the fallen
warrior's slain body being dragged around the city of Troy behind Achilles'
chariot, Mel, the "Hector" of our story, was carted away in an ordinary police
vehicle. One could almost hear the Blind Bard himself, paraphrasing his own
Odyssey, uttering these words as the squad car drove off into the early
morning horizon:

"Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and
again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Hollywood."

The unsavory details of Gibson's alleged tirade were uncovered by TMZ.com,
an entertainment internet news site owned by media giant Time Warner. TMZ
posted excerpts from Officer James Mee's official arrest report, taken from a
supposedly "leaked" copy of the report.

According to Tabloid Baby, an internet news/commentary/satire site, TMZ.com
managing editor, Harvey Levin, a one-time lawyer and legal analyst, has a
thing for inciting and filming celebrities as "entertainment."

While we could wish that the entire incident was just another of Levin's
celebrity hassles, the fact remains that Mel Gibson admits that he said and did
things during his arrest of which he was truly ashamed. In a July 30th
statement, he admitted that "I drove a car when I should not have," that "I
acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said
things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable." He
apologized to anyone he had offended, especially the deputies involved, who
"probably saved me from myself." He concluded with:

I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry.
I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and
profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior
unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary
steps to ensure my return to health.

It is at this point, after a writer has calmly and dispassionately stated the facts,
that he is supposed to launch into "analysis" mode, perhaps interview a
couple of shrinks on the earth-shattering topic of "do people really mean what
they say when drunk?"

My own approach, however, would get me kicked out of the Associated Press
faster than you can say "Tawana Brawley." For I contend that Mel Gibson's
statements on the morning of his arrest are utterly inconsequential, except if
brought up by him in the confessional. I say this for the simple reason that I
was raised on the streets of Queens, New York, and not by the banks of the
root-beer-float rivers of Candyland.

There are ways in which I can identify with Mel Gibson. We are both the same
age. We both returned to the Traditional Catholic Faith of our forefathers after
many years far, far away from her embrace. We both returned to the Church
as adults and under rather dramatic circumstances. And we both carry with us
to this day far too much baggage left over from those old days, when there
was no sacramental dimension to our lives with which to combat our demons.

Remember how the nation of France got on America's bad side at the
beginning of the current Iraq War? All we heard at the time were crude
generalizations about "the French." "The French" were cowards. "The French"
were surrender monkeys. I even heard a pioneer Traditionalist priest engage
in this nonsense. Yes, generalizations often come easy, even to "good"
people.

Am I, a middle-aged man who has been around the block more times than I
care to remember, supposed to succumb to a case of the vapours because a
Catholic brother of mine should fall, get himself intoxicated and make an utter
fool of himself? Am I to conveniently forget that this man had been the subject
of a year-long, merciless slander campaign on the part of Jewish activists
(and their apostate Catholic cronies), during which no personal insult was
deemed too vile to launch against him, his father or the Church he loved? And
all because he desired to honor Jesus Christ? Is it not possible that a man
who has been through all of that will, under stress, fear, anxiety and the
influence of booze, lash out in generalizations? You know, the kind that many
of our neighbors were directing against "the French" a few years back?

Rabbi Daniel Lapin of Toward Tradition, in an August 1st statement entitled
"Mel Gibson & Me," wrote:

We most definitely can and must insist on lawful behavior and we must
demand respectful interaction. However we must stop pretending we can
police people's thoughts. I know of nobody who would be willing to be
hooked up to a machine that would disclose his innermost thoughts to the
world.

If Mr. Gibson really does hate Jews as his drunken diatribe might indicate, his
behavior towards the many Jews he knows has always been nothing but
cordial and respectful. He has never supported (as have too many Jews)
Palestinian causes and other organizations that encourage the murder of
Jews. Amazingly Mel Gibson has utterly resisted the natural human
temptation to snap back at the so called "Jewish Establishment" for its vicious
assaults on The Passion.

Rabbi Lapin described the Jewish response to Gibson's apology as "beyond
ungracious." And this response is worthy of scrutiny. The omniscient Abraham
Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith (ADL), all too eager to
judge and judge harshly at that, posted a statement on July 30th, in which he
said:

Mel Gibson's apology is unremorseful and insufficient. It's not a proper
apology because it does not go to the essence of his bigotry and his anti-
Semitism. His tirade finally reveals his true self and shows that his
protestations during the debate over his film The Passion of the Christ, that he
is such a tolerant, loving person, were a sham.

In having his apology rejected by the "great and powerful Foxman," Mel
Gibson joins the company of Pope Benedict XVI. Back in May, Foxman was
"deeply troubled" over Pope Benedict's address at Auschwitz, because it had
failed to pin the blame on "centuries of Christian anti-Judaism which became
political anti-Semitism."

Gospel-hater and media darling, Rabbi Schmuley Boteach, writing for
BeliefNet.com (July 31, 2006), feels Gibson's apology should be accepted, if
he backs it up by reissuing the Passion "with an important disclaimer at the
very beginning of the film detailing the undisputed historical fact that the
Romans killed Jesus, and that any of the Jewish leadership, like Caiaphas
the High Priest, who called for Jesus' death were all in the employ of Rome,
and indeed served as the Roman police enforcers in Judea." He also wants
all those who defended the Passion "to do some real soul-searching." Yes,
this from the man who thought his buddy, Michael Jackson, was treated too
roughly by the press during his child-molestation trial!

Even the part-Jewish atheist, Christopher Hitchens, columnist for Vanity Fair,
in the midst of an outpouring of hysteria matched only by that of TMZ's Harvey
Levin, wrote of Mel's arrest (Slate.com, July 31st) that, "Those who endorsed
his previous obscene blockbuster are obliged to say something now or be
ignored ever after." Both Hitchens and Foxman expressed the desire that
Hollywood simply treat Gibson as a leper from here on out.

Interesting, isn't it? Where Mel Gibson is concerned, it always boils down to
the Passion in the end. Even now, when Gibson has humiliated himself and
sunk about as low as a man can sink, the bottom-feeders are obsessed with
punishing him specifically for the Passion. And we wonder why his rage has
chosen the particular form it has.

In 1977, director Roman Polanski drugged and raped a thirteen-year-old girl
and fled the country to avoid prosecution. In 2002, Polanski won the Palme
d'Or (Golden Palm) award at the Cannes Film Festival for The Pianist, for
which he also later won the 2002 Academy Award for Directing.

In 1988, Victor Salva was convicted of having sexual relations with and
videotaping a twelve-year-old boy. Salva went on to direct the popular films,
Powder (1995), produced by Francis Ford Coppola, and Jeepers Creepers
(2001).

Yet the bottom-feeders want the director of The Passion exiled from
Hollywood forever. For what? For creating what may well be the single most
important work of Catholic Art of the last century? Come on! They want him
simply because he is Mel Gibson. And Mel played right into their greedy little
hands. That is the biggest tragedy of all.

Mel Gibson's public apology is a sincere one. The public penances of the
Middle Ages were a means by which the sinner, through humiliation, could
mortify himself, thus annihilating pride. How many of us would care to go
through that? Perhaps Mel has an understanding now of such humiliation. If
so, this entire awful incident is worth its weight in gold to his soul.

It is only the Catholic analyst who can recognize correctly the spiritual
dimension of this Mel Gibson fiasco. In his first papal encyclical, St. Peter
wrote: "Be sober and watch, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring
lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." This advice - chronicling, as
it does, the spiritual dimension of temptation - has been mocked and
ridiculed in modern, secularized society by the childish cry, "the devil made
me do it!" But the sad and sobering fact remains that St. Peter's words are for
all of us, and anyone reading these words can fall - and fall hard - tomorrow.

When Mel Gibson made the Passion, he stuck his head right into the lion's
cage. God alone can know what infernal assaults have been launched
against him during and since that time. Mel has proved himself no friend to
Christ' enemies, both human and supernatural. And for that, they will make
him pay.

To a rational, adult individual, the entire Gibson arrest incident is just another
tempest in a teapot. We all know what it is like to say things, even to our
dearest loved ones, which we regret as soon as we say them. We know what
it is like to stumble. We know temptation. We know irrational anger, and the
stomach knots of anxiety. We do not feign horror at human frailty.

And we know the blessed silence of the confessional as we wait for that little
wooden door to slide open and the opportunity to unburden our hearts and
souls. Mel Gibson and his family deserve our prayers. Those who have
rejoiced in his misfortune and are using it to further their own misguided
agendas deserve no more than our pity.

AN APPEAL

Dear Mr. Gibson:

On August 1, 2006, you issued a public statement to "everyone in the Jewish
community for the vitriolic and harmful words" you spoke on the morning of
your arrest. It was a genuine and humble admission on your part, as you
rightfully assumed personal responsibility for your behavior.

However, you made statements in your public apology which must be
addressed by a Catholic brother, statements which, although spoken in a
spirit of contrition and amendment, are unworthy of a soul redeemed by the
Precious Blood of that loving Redeemer Whose Supreme Sacrifice you have
honored in your art.

You spoke of meeting with leaders of the Jewish community for a "one-on-one
discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing." You asked the Jewish
community to help you on your "journey through recovery."

The events surrounding your arrest, ugly as they may be, have two
dimensions. On the one hand, you have offended your fellow man, and for
that you have apologized, honestly and sufficiently. But, in the end, the more
important dimension is the spiritual one. The secular media uses the term "fall
from grace," without having an inkling of the true depths of this phrase. As
sinners, we do "fall from grace," but far from being a mere melodramatic
device, we know that a loss of sanctifying grace through our own deliberate
separation from the Blessed Trinity is the real "tragedy" of sin. This separation
is true loneliness, and can lead to despondency and despair.

And that is why Our Lord, in a mercy that is as loving as it is infinite, has given
us the means to return to Him, time and time again. Repentance, Confession,
Penance - these are the dynamics of a redeemed world.

Mr. Gibson, you speak of turning to Jewish leaders to help facilitate your
"healing." I remind you of these simple facts. For one to practice Judaism
today, one must deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, His Miracles, His
Resurrection. In short, one must deny the very Source of all Hope,
Forgiveness and Grace. In order to adhere to Judaism today, one must view
the Immaculate Virgin Mary as either an adulteress or worse, since Jesus
would not then be the Only-Begotten Son of God. To practice Judaism today,
one must deny the Living God present in the Blessed Sacrament, deny the
power of the confessional, deny all claims that the Roman Catholic Church is
the Bride of Christ.

Mr. Gibson, Jewish leaders and groups have nothing to give you that can
compare with your taking refuge in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the
Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is THERE, and only there, that you will find
healing, comfort and strength. It is there, and only there, that you will find the
embrace of the Living God and the waiting arms of the glorious Queen of
Heaven and Mother of the Church.

Jesus and Mary harbor a special love for the prodigals and they employ weak
human vessels, for one simple reason: "We have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellency may be of the power of God, and not of us." Can
you imagine for one moment the unfathomable love that Our Blessed Mother
holds for you in allowing you to chronicle the Passion of her Divine Son?
Never doubt the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, even for a second.

Can you honor these Hearts by turning, in your hour of need, to those who
have nothing but contempt for Them? Would it not be a far better thing, and
would it not give greater glory to God, if you instead seek out the counsel of
good priests, spend afternoons before the Blessed Sacrament, do spiritual
reading and exercises, and make yourself an offering to Our Lord?
Remember the Miserere:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the
multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. Wash me yet more from
my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is
always before me.

Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash
me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. To my hearing thou shalt give joy
and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.

A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise.

Upon the release of your apology, Abraham Foxman of the ADL, after
haughtily sitting in judgment upon you, announced, "We're ready to help
when he's ready. We'll be there for him." Yes, groups like the pro-abortion
(including "partial-birth" abortion), pro-homosexual, pro-pornography ADL are
ready to help "heal" you! Would you dare breathe the same air as these
vipers, let alone place your soul in their hands?

Mr. Gibson, you have Catholics all over the world praying for you and your
family. Let your road to recovery be one of Catholic repentance and renewal.
You have already apologized to the people you have offended. Do not
compound your errors by giving scandal to fellow Catholics who genuinely
care about you. If you do so, you will deservedly lose both the respect and the
support of these people. Our Lord and His Mother will move heaven and earth
for you. Of that, you can rest assured.

"What concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath the faithful with the
unbeliever?" Good questions asked by St. Paul. What can those who deny,
indeed despise, Jesus and Mary possibly have to offer you to aid in your
healing?

In His mercy, Mr. Gibson, Our Lord has placed the choicest treasures of
creation - Himself, His Mother, His Church, His healing Sacraments - at your
feet. Look no further. The Pearl of Great Price is already yours.

Thank you for your labors on behalf of Jesus and Mary, and rest assured of
our continued prayers on behalf of you and your family.

Pray for Life

With thanks to the Wolf Tracker at Kansas City Catholic:

Passing It Along
From the Respect Life Office of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Dear Faithful Bloggers:

Below is an email sent out from our office, the Respect Life Office at the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I respectfully ask you to consider blogging about our efforts to affirm one of the most consistent pro-life bills to pass a legislature in the last 30 years. At the very least, please encourage your readers to pray for our state as we work to educate our citizens on the tragedy of abortion and our call as Christians to try to defeat the culture of death that permeates our nation. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office. Thank you in advance for any consideration you can give.

__________________________

Dear Friends:

Pope John Paul II once said: "[W]e are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the “culture of death” and the “culture of life”. We find ourselves not only “faced with” but necessarily “in the midst of” this conflict: we are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life.” (Evangelium Vitae, "The Gospel of Life", 28).

This past legislative session, the South Dakota legislature passed the Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act (HB 1215). Pro-abortion individuals and groups, including Planned Parenthood and the inappropriately named "South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families", have collected enough signatures to place this bill on the November 7, 2006, ballot for a vote of the people. The bill will be entitled "Referred Law 6", and a "Yes" vote will affirm the bill, while a "No" vote will kill it.

South Dakota is "in the midst of" a great spiritual battle against the culture of death, as HB 1215 has brought the issue of abortion to the forefront in our state. The Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls has created several prayer and educational aids:

Letter to the Faithful from Apostolic Administrator Bishop Samuel J. Aquila
An educational booklet entitled "Response of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls to the Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act (HB 1215 - Referred Law 6)"
Prayer Card - "Prayer to Affirm HB 1215 - Referred Law 6"
Prayer Guide - that includes a Prayer Service for the specific intent of a successful "Yes" vote on HB 1215 - Referred Law 6
All four of these, which many of you will also be receiving in hard copy through the mail, are available in printable formats on the Campaign to Affirm HB 1215 page of the Catholic Advocate Network (CAN) website at: www.sfcatholic.org/can. Please review these documents and pass them on through your networks to help in the education and prayer campaign in support of HB 1215.

In addition, citizens from across South Dakota, from different faiths, and all walks of life (including farmers, pastors, doctors, teachers, lawyers, counselors, and many others) have formed a citizen led group called “Vote Yes For Life” that is leading the campaign to educate South Dakotans on the importance of this bill, and to counter the pro-abortion forces in our state. Part of their educational campaign is a powerful DVD with testimonies from South Dakota women. Please visit their website at: www.voteyesforlife.com.

Let us join in daily prayer across our diocese and beyond, that hearts and minds will be open to the truth about abortion and that others will choose to be "unconditionally pro-life" so that we can prevail over the culture of death. If you have any questions about this campaign, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

In Christ's Love for Life,

Kelly J. Benson, Esq. Co-Director, Respect Life Office Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls 523 North Duluth Avenue Sioux Falls SD 57104-2714 605-988-3756