This Is Why: Update

"Film industry luminaries," including Woody Allen (no surprise there), Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and Terry Gilliam are petitioning for the release of Roman Polanski, who is finally about to face the music for plying a 13-year-old girl with champagne and quaaludes, then raping and sodomizing her in 1977.

The "luminaries" are in especially high dudgeon over the fact that the authorities nabbed Polanski while he was on his way to be honored at the Zurich Film Festival. The Guardian quotes this huffy line from the petition (which I haven't been able to access): "It seems inadmissible to them [the "film industry luminaries"] that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary film-makers, is used by police to apprehend him." Producer Harvey Weinstein, fantasizing about the omnipotence of the film industry, said he was "calling on every film-maker we can to help fix this terrible situation." Meanwhile, "luminaries" from other countries are attacking the arrest of the 76-year-old fugitive child rapist as an "assault on freedom of expression" worldwide. Too stupid for comment.

I think my favorite line comes from German producer Henning Molfenter, a member of the Zurich film festival jury who now plans to boycott the festival:

There is no way I'd go to Switzerland now. You can't watch films knowing Roman Polanski is sitting in a cell 5 km away.

With Roman Polanski sitting in the hoosegow, I can watch films AND eat a jumbo tub of popcorn (extra butter), washed down with a 44-ounce diet Coke, and then top the whole thing off with a brownie batter Blizzard from Dairy Queen.

(And with the quality of filmmakers these days, the junk food would be the only worthwhile part of the whole venture.)

This Is Why

Some people don't seem to get why Roman Polanski should, at the age of 76, be arrested for raping a 13-year-old back in 1977, and why we should go to all the trouble of extraditing him after all these years.

I'd like to help them with that.

(Warning: not for delicate sensibilities.)

Quote of the Post-Vatican II Era

"Latin is not reserved for experts! Every bum and prostitute in ancient Rome spoke Latin!"

Fr. Reginald Foster, O.C.D., the Church's premier Latinist

For more on this remarkable Carmelite priest, click here. Pray for his continued recovery from grave illness.

Prayer of St. Jerome, Latin Master and Doctor of the Church

O Lord, show your mercy to me and gladden my heart. I am like the man on the way to Jericho who was overtaken by robbers, wounded and left for dead. O Good Samaritan, come to my aid, I am like the sheep that went astray. O Good Shepherd, seek me out and bring me home in accord with your will. Let me dwell in your house all the days of my life and praise you for ever and ever with those who are there.

The Medal of St. Benedict

This is the jubilee medal of St. Benedict of Nursia, first struck in 1880 to commemorate the 1,400th anniversary of the saint's birth. In the never-ending battle against the world, the flesh and the devil, this medal is powerful both as a sword and as a shield.

From Catholic Encyclopedia, an explanation of the images and inscriptions on the medal:

One side of the medal bears an image of St. Benedict, holding a cross in the right hand and the Holy Rule in the left. On the one side of the image is a cup, on the other a raven, and above the cup and the raven are inscribed the words: "Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti" (Cross of the Holy Father Benedict). Round the margin of the medal stands the legend "Ejus in obitu nro praesentia muniamus" (May we at our death be fortified by his presence). The reverse of the medal bears a cross with the initial letters of the words: "Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux" (The Holy Cross be my light), written downward on the perpendicular bar; the initial letters of the words, "Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux" (Let not the dragon be my guide), on the horizontal bar; and the initial letters of "Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti" in the angles of the cross. Round the margin stand the initial letters of the distich: "Vade Retro Satana, Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana — Sunt Mala Quae Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas" (Begone, Satan, do not suggest to me thy vanities — evil are the things thou profferest, drink thou thy own poison). At the top of the cross usually stands the word Pax (peace) or the monogram I H S (Jesus).

The medal of St. Benedict is not a good luck charm, or a fetish, or an amulet. It has no magical powers. It is blessed by a priest who, praying on behalf of the Church, consecrates it to God and asks God to bestow His blessings on the person who uses the medal in a spirit of devotion. When used consciously and devoutly, it is a constant prayer to God for His aid and protection. As a blessed object, as a commemoration of St. Benedict, whom demons feared during his lifetime, and in virtue of the image of the Cross and the inscribed prayer of exorcism, this medal is particularly powerful to drive away the devil and dispel his influence.

The St. Benedict medal may be worn, carried, or placed in a location where God's protection is especially desired, such as in the home, car or office, or in the foundation of a building. Because St. Benedict was always ready to assist those in need and was powerful against the forces of hell even during his life on earth, he is especially invoked by those who face misfortune. His medal is commonly used by those who seek protection against temptation, especially temptations against chastity; protection against demonic activity; the grace of conversion for sinners; bodily healing and protection against contagious disease; protection against poison; protection during natural disasters, especially storms; the safe delivery of babies; and assistance in the hour of death. Fr. Paul of Moll, a Flemish Benedictine wonder worker of the 19th century, gave away large quantities of St. Benedict medals to the people who came to him for advice or relief from misfortune, and attributed all the miracles he worked to the intercession of St. Benedict.

We live in evil, dangerous times. While international threats loom on the horizon, our own nation -- which has become a safe haven for abortion, euthanasia, vice and pornography -- has fallen under the rule of her enemies. Now is the time to take up and not neglect the powerful weapons we have been given.

For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

St. Benedict, pray for us!

One of My Hidden Talents

Just in case you thought beads were the sole province of hippies and nature-lovers...

...here is a small sample of my work.

There are some right-wing, flag-waving, big-government-protesting bead junkies out there, too!

And a few of them are listed on ebay.

Red State, Blue Capital

Right after over a thousand people march in protest of government spending and Obamacare, the Boise City Council -- with Mayor Dave Bieter providing the tie-breaking vote -- passes a resolution in favor of "health care reform." For the resolution: David Eberle, Maryanne Jordan, and Elaine Clegg. Against: Jim Tibbs, Alan Shealy, Vern Bisterfeldt.

About 30 Boiseans voiced their disapproval of the resolution, and even the idea of the city government wasting their time on such a thing. The local media hastens to explain that the resolution is non-binding and is purely a symbolic gesture.

One guy at the Tea Party on Saturday carried a sign with the word NO all over it, and a big, bold legend in the middle: CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? I guess at Boise City Hall, the answer is -- NO.

I Like This Flag

This was the flag of the Texas Revolution against Mexico (1835). It was a banner of defiance against the Mexican forces who tried to take the cannon away from the town of Gonzalez, Texas.

I like it.

Right-Wing Extremists Unite: The Boise Tea Party

The organizers of today's Tea Party estimated over a thousand in attendance, including your humble correspondent, her aunt and her cousin. A pretty sizable mob of right-wing rabble, headed by a bunch of flag-waving bikers, marched from the Boise Depot, down Capitol Boulevard and gathered at Capitol Park to listen to music and speakers. It wasn't as big a crowd as the one that gathered in Washington, D.C., but attendance far outpaced anything liberal protest organizers have ever been able to drum up in Boise since I've lived here. Nevertheless, although there was some press coverage, I didn't see any news crews at Capitol Park.

Unfortunately, the Statehouse is under renovations, and fenced off, so there weren't any really good vantage points to take pictures from; but I did get lots of good shots. The hardest part was to choose from among them.

Some dangerous extremists.

Veterans in the crowd.


Davy Crockett and Benjamin Franklin pose for the cameras.

From across the centuries, Patrick Henry addresses the rally: his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech before the Second Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775.

Patriotic pooch.

Protesters sign the Declaration of Independence. See a familiar signature at top left of the signature sheet, big enough for the Messiah to see without corrective lenses?

Here it is again, just in case you can't.


Next installment: dangerous right-wing extremists exercise their First Amendment rights.

Boise Tea Party: Right-Wing Extremists Exercise their First Amendment Rights

Every protest rally has its cranks, and the Boise Tea Party was no different. But, as Zombietime out of the Bay area documents, a liberal rally is almost all cranks. The vast majority of the protest signs at their shindigs are either pre-printed and mass-produced by liberal/anarchist attack groups, or homemade by illiterates, full of obscenities, incoherent phrases and copious spelling errors. By contrast, nearly all the signs I saw at the Tea Party -- most of which were homemade -- were pretty good, and some were quite clever. I saw a couple of rambling and hard-to-read signs (not including those of two counterprotesters that I saw) but no obscenities, and nothing that looked like it was executed by a kindergartner on crack.

Some samples:

This guy must have a pretty high tolerance level if his first time being ashamed of his President wasn't the Clinton era -- making Obama REALLY bad.

Violating the separation of Church and state on public property by citing to the Bible. Incidentally, the rally opened with a prayer in which -- horror of horrors -- Jesus Christ was invoked in a public park!!!

One of many signs calling for term limits:

The "Don't Tread on Me" symbol -- the one the Obama administration thinks is a banner of domestic terrorism -- was everywhere.

Almost all the bikers -- all of whose bikes, incidentally, were all shined up and in excellent condition -- had "Don't Tread on Me" flags.

There were quite a few signs calling for no government funding of abortion. Here was one of the best:


The Obama logo was widely lampooned:

ACORN was also targeted. The sign on the right below: "The Liberty Tree Did Not Grow from an ACORN."

Next to the "ACORNS ARE NUTS" sign: "HONK If I'm Paying Your MORTGAGE!"

The mainstream Obamabot media, weighed down with its many offenses against republicanism (with a small "r") did not escape notice:

Three of my personal favorites:

Liberals -- especially those with power and influence -- are always saying that "speaking truth to power" is an act of virtue, and that dissent is the highest form of patriotism and the greatest act of love for one's country. On this occasion at least, they have a point.

Encore Presentation: What Would Jesus Say?

I don't re-post very many things. But what with the indignation over Rep. Joe Wilson's heckling of President Obama the other night, and the fact that so many people are more bothered by that than by the fact that the President LIED HIS ASS OFF in front of a joint session of Congress -- plus allegations that it's "not Christian" to call somebody a liar -- I am going to make an exception in this case. Repeatedly, if necessary.

Every time an orthodox Catholic calls Bravo Sierra on some liberal scheme -- as here -- or even mildly criticizes some heterodox inanity, up goes the sniveling cry: is this how Jesus would want you to talk? Would Jesus want you to spread such hatred? What would Jesus say?

Seems to me these questions are easily answered by taking a good look at some of the things Jesus actually did say.

1. Jesus Calls His Enemies Children of the Devil

John 8:43-45: "Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

2. Jesus Calls His Enemies Liars

John 8:54-55: Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of Whom you say that He is your God. But you have not known Him; I know Him. If I said, I do not know Him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know Him and I keep His word.

3. Jesus Calls His Enemies Hypocrites (Just a Couple Examples out of Many)

Matthew 15:7-9: You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'"

Matthew 22:15-18: Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how to entangle Him in His talk. And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Hero'di-ans, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God truthfully, and care for no man; for You do not regard the position of men. Tell us, then, what You think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put Me to the test, you hypocrites?..."

4. More Choice Names Jesus Had for His Enemies

Matthew 23:15: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves."

Matthew 23:16-17: "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?"

Matthew 23:27-28: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs [whited sepulchres], which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

Matthew 23:33: "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?"

So what is my point here? Is it to condone gratuitous nastiness? Absolutely not: Jesus never engaged in nastiness, and neither said nor did anything without a point.

My point is that Jesus is no hippie. My point is that the image liberals seem to have of a granola-chewing, birkenstock-wearing, recycling Jesus, tolerant to the point of being blind to everything that is sick and wrong, is a huge lie. My point is that the little pleasantries that make liberals squeal like little girls and dissolve into puddles of tears are nothing compared with the words of Jesus recorded in Scripture.

Christianity is not soft, squishy, mushy nor gushy. And neither is her Founder.

Screw "Civility": Obama Is a Lying Bastard

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) speaks truth to power. Now the speak-truth-to-power crowd, true to hypocritical form, has its britches in a twist.

Here are two things we need to do:

1. Re-elect this man.

2. Dump all the Republicans who (a) made him apologize to Obama, and (b) continue to attack him for being "rude."

I'm getting really tired of being told I need to be civil, all while having socialism, runaway spending, tyranny, abortion, euthanasia and the destruction of my country crammed down my throat by the President and his army of czars.

Have You Screwed Up?

Then this psalm's for you.

Psalm 107

O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures for ever!
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
whom He has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress;
He led them by a straight way,
till they reached a city to dwell in.
Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast love,
for His wonderful works to the sons of men!
For He satisfies him who is thirsty,
and the hungry He fills with good things.
Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor;
they fell down, with none to help.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress;
He brought them out of darkness and gloom,
and broke their bonds asunder.
Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast love,
for His wonderful works to the sons of men!
For He shatters the doors of bronze,
and cuts in two the bars of iron.
Some were sick through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress;
He sent forth his word, and healed them,
and delivered them from destruction.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for His wonderful works to the sons of men!
And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and tell of His deeds in songs of joy!
Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
they saw the deeds of the LORD,
His wondrous works in the deep.
For He commanded, and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
they reeled and staggered like drunken men,
and were at their wits' end.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress;
He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad because they had quiet,
and He brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast love,
for His wonderful works to the sons of men!
Let them extol Him in the congregation of the people,
and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.
He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
And there He lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields, and plant vineyards,
and get a fruitful yield.
By His blessing they multiply greatly;
and He does not let their cattle decrease.
When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
He pours contempt upon princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
but He raises up the needy out of affliction,
and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad;
and all wickedness stops its mouth.
Whoever is wise, let him give heed to these things;
let men consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

Ave Rosa sine Spinis

Ave Rosa sine Spinis
Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

AVE rosa sine spinis,
Te quam Pater in divinis
Majestate sublimavit,
Et ab omni vae servavit.
MARIA stella dicta maris,
Tu a Nato illustraris
Luce clara deitatis,
Qua praefulges cunctis datis.
GRATIA PLENA: te perfecit
Spiritus Sanctus dum te fecit
Vas divinae bonitatis
Et totius pietatis.
DOMINUS TECUM: miro pacto
Verbo in te carne facto
Opere trini conditoris:
o quam dulce vas amoris.
BENEDICTA IN MULIERIBUS:
Hoc testatur omnis tribus;
Coeli dicunt te beatam
Et super omnes exaltatam.
ET BENEDICTUS FRUCTUS VENTRIS TUI,
Quo nos semper dona frui
Per praegustum hic aeternum
Et post mortem in aeternum: Amen.

HAIL, rose without thorns,
You whom the heavenly Father
elevated in majesty
and preserved from all suffering.
MARY, known as the star of the sea,
Thanks to your Son, you shine forth
with a clear, godly light
which falls on all creatures.
The Holy Spirit made you FULL OF GRACE
when He transformed you
into a vessel of divine goodness
and boundless mercy.
THE LORD BE WITH YOU: the word became flesh
in you through a wondrous pact
by the action of the Creator who is three in one.
O, how sweet is the vessel of love.
BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN:
all peoples bear witness to this.
The heavens call you blessed
and high above all others.
AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB
through whom we ever enjoy gifts
as a foretaste here
and after death, eternally. Amen.

Maybe He Has a Point

Capitalism is evil. This is the Deep Thought from Capitalism: A Love Story, the latest film by Michael Moore, who doesn't appear to have missed many meals due to capitalistic oppression.

Then again...maybe capitalism is evil, to the extent it brings prosperity and influence to fat, moonbat slobs like Michael Moore.

Ring out the Bells!

It was nearly three years ago that some pusillanimous, black-hearted, soulless, mincing local politicians with microscopic sex organs muzzled a Catholic church's bells in Reston, Virginia on the pretext that they violated the county's idiotic noise ordinance. The atheists are pulling that stunt in other localities as well, even while okaying things like Muslim prayer calls over loudspeakers.

I haven't been able to find out any more about the Reston, Virginia affair. However, I am pleased to report that somebody is beating back the atheistic noise ordinance assault. In a spirit of true ecumenism, St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish, First Christian Church, and Christ the King Liturgical Charismatic Church, represented by attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund, are suing the city of Phoenix, Arizona for criminalizing the ringing of church bells via an inane noise ordinance banning noises greater than 60 decibels. The complaint (which can be read here) alleges, among other things, that the city noise ordinance that is being used to silence the church bells is unconstitutional on its face; is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad; allows for subjective and/or arbitrary enforcement; is a content-based restriction on free speech; is not a neutral law of general applicability; and serves no compelling government interest.

The plaintiffs in this case were all sought to be silenced by the anti-bell Mafia. Whining from somebody living a block and a half away from St. Mark's led to a meeting between the parish priest, a parish employee and a lawyer for the diocese on one side, and representatives from the city prosecutor and city police. During the course of this meeting, the city prosecutors admitted to the vagueness of the noise ordinance under which the complaint was lodged. First Christian Church has held off repairing and bringing its carillon back into commission for fear of being prosecuted under the same noise ordinance.

And the city of Phoenix has given them good reason to fear. All this follows in the wake of the criminal prosecution of Bishop Rick Painter of Christ the King Church, who was actually brought up on charges for ringing his church bells. After being tried and found guilty of violating the noise ordinance, Bishop Painter was given a suspended ten-day jail sentence and three years' probation for ringing his church bells. By contrast, my average first-time DUI client is only on the probation hook for one year. Even more outrageous: the court took it upon itself to order the bishop not to ring his bells except on Sundays and a court-selected list of religious holidays. Where are the ACLU's First Amendment rampart-watchers on this?

Fortunately, we don't have to wait around for the ACLU to pull its head out of its collective nether region. Says ADF senior legal counsel Erik Stanley: “Churches shouldn’t be punished for exercising their faith publicly. The law is unconstitutionally vague and has been abused to silence a form of worship that has peacefully sounded through the streets of our nation since its founding. No one should be sentenced to jail and probation for doing what churches have traditionally done throughout history, especially when the sound of the church’s bells does not exceed the noise level that the law allows for ice cream trucks.” Amen to that.

Fr. Z heads his commentary on this story up with the following:

The late Msgr. Richard Schuler loved church bells. The lofty bell tower of St. Agnes Church in St. Paul with its four bells, would ring the hours and half hours 24/7, as well as the Angelus at noon and 6 pm, summons bells before masses, a somber toll on 3 pm every Friday, as well as ringing for the Resurrection on Saturday evenings. The great bell, "Richard", would toll at the consecration on Sunday Masses, for funerals and all the bells would peal at the end of funerals and for weddings.

These bells functioned to remind the people of the neighborhood what day it was, when to go to church for Mass, what was going on in church, when to to to pray during the day … the echo of an era when the once heavily Catholic immigrant neighbors could walk to church. A reminder to us today that religion should be woven into all our daily activities. Our Catholic identity is 24/7.

If perhaps someone would call the rectory to complain about the bells… usually someone with a snoot full or simply bilious by nature… Msgr. Schuler would make the observation that, after decades of studying the question, he had come to the conclusion that if someone didn’t like church bells, it was because they had a bad conscience about something.

All you people out there who hate church bells and other reminders of Christianity: instead of trying to drag the rest of society down into your private hell, why don't you start paying attention to the message the God Who hasn't yet given up on you is trying to send you?

New English Translation of the Roman Missal

I haven't been hearing much about it, but it looks like the advent of the new English translation of the Roman Missal is just around the corner. The link I provided to the revised text about a year ago doesn't work anymore, but the USCCB website has samples of the changes, with handy side-by-side comparisons.

Overall, these changes look to me to be a huge improvement. The texts we have gotten used to are pretty rinky-dink, pedestrian in style, shorn of many Scriptural allusions, and seem calculated to help keep us firmly rooted in our drab earthly existence. The changes will take some getting used to, but I for one look forward to them.

I hope one of these days they also get around to renovating the English translation of the Liturgy of the Hours. That would be a massive undertaking, so I won't be holding my breath; but it really needs to be done.

Betcha Didn't Know Bl. John XXIII Said THIS!

The lefties and dissenters in the Church absolutely adore Bl. John XXIII. He it was who convened the Second Vatican Council, inaugurating the Summer of Love in the Catholic Church. He was Jimi Hendrix with the Fisherman's Ring, belting out the Te Deum on the electric guitar, putting to flight the stiff, stuffy, suffocating traditions that bound authentic Christianity like the coils of a boa constrictor. To the heterodox, Bl. John XXIII is the great herald, prophet and patron saint of the Age of Aquarius.

But in fact, just as the heterodox prefer their own fantasy of Vatican II as the Woodstock of Catholicism to the actual teachings of Vatican II, so it is not really John XXIII they love, but rather their own fevered hippy imaginings projected onto John XXIII. The actual teachings of John XXIII (pictured here in that most politically incorrect piece of headgear, the Triregnum) would throw Sr. Joan Chittister into a foaming, purple rage. Case in point: Veterum Sapientia, his 1962 Apostolic Constitution on the importance of Latin as the language of the Church.

Bl. John begins by outlining the reasons why Latin is the language of the Church, and why it is most fitting as the language of the Church: it is a vital link to the past; it feeds no nationalistic prejudices; it is universal and immutable, and therefore fitting for the preservation of doctrine; it is noble and beautiful in its structure. Then comes the resolve (emphasis added):

And We also, impelled by the weightiest of reasons -- the same as those which prompted Our Predecessors and provincial synods 13 -- are fully determined to restore this language to its position of honor, and to do all We can to promote its study and use. The employment of Latin has recently been contested in many quarters, and many are asking what the mind of the Apostolic See is in this matter. We have therefore decided to issue the timely directives contained in this document, so as to ensure that the ancient and uninterrupted use of Latin be maintained and, where necessary, restored.

We believe that We made Our own views on this subject sufficiently clear when We said to a number of eminent Latin scholars:

"It is a matter of regret that so many people, unaccountably dazzled by the marvelous progress of science, are taking it upon themselves to oust or restrict the study of Latin and other kindred subjects.... Yet, in spite of the urgent need for science, Our own view is that the very contrary policy should be followed. The greatest impression is made on the mind by those things which correspond more closely to man's nature and dignity. And therefore the greatest zeal should be shown in the acquisition of whatever educates and ennobles the mind. Otherwise poor mortal creatures may well become like the machines they build -- cold, hard, and devoid of love."

After the resolve come the decrees:

-- Latin is to be a prerequisite to ecclesiastical studies for all Church students, including those who are called to the priesthood in later life and whose classical education was deficient.

-- The traditional Latin curriculum is to be restored.

-- The sacred sciences are to be taught in Latin.

-- There is to be a Latin Academy.

-- Seminarians must also be taught Greek.

-- A syllabus for teaching Latin is to be prepared and faithfully observed.

Bottom line: those who have a problem with Latin have a problem with Bl. John XXIII. Tribunus at Roman Christendom, whom I thank for reminding me of this scrupulously ignored document, has the whole text.

Bl. John XXIII may have been cuddly and adorable and humorous, but he is not the fool of the heterodox. By disregarding and disobeying his teachings, the heterodox prove that their love for John XXIII is a sham.

Prophetic Hope

Thanx to my buddy the Caveman for reminding me of this:

September 3, 1939: The Conflagration Spreads

The failure of appeasement continues its course. Here is Neville Chamberlain's broadcast announcing Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany on September 3, 1939. This video does not contain the entire broadcast, but the complete text follows.

I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10, Downing Street. This morning, the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.

You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed.

Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different that I could have done and that would have been more successful. Up to the very last, it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honorable settlement between Germany and Poland.

But Hitler would not have it. He had evidently made up his mind to attack Poland whatever happened; and although he now says he put forward reasonable proposals which were rejected by the Poles, that is not a true statement. The proposals were never shown to the Poles nor to us; and though they were announced in the German broadcast on Thursday night, Hitler did not wait to hear comments on them, but ordered his troops to cross the Polish frontier next morning.

His action shows convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man will ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force; and we and France are today, in fulfillment of our obligations, going to the aid of Poland, who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack upon her people.

We have a clear conscience. We have done all that any country could do to establish peace, but a situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted and no people or country could feel themselves safe had become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will all play your part with calmness and courage.

This is the remaining part of the speech, not heard on this video.

At such a moment as this, the assurances of support that we have received from the Empire are a source of profound encouragement to us.

When I have finished speaking, certain detailed announcements will be made on behalf of the Government. Give them your close attention. The Government have made plans under which it will be possible to carry on the work of the nation in the days of stress and strain that may be ahead. But these plans need your help.

You may be taking part in the Fighting Services or as a Volunteer in one of the branches of Civil Defense. If so, you will report for duty in accordance with the instructions you receive. You may be engaged in work essential to the prosecution of war or to the maintenance of life of the people—in factories, in transport, in public utility concerns or in the supply of other necessaries of life. If so, it is of vital importance that you should carry on with your jobs.

Now may God bless you all and may He defend the right. For it is evil things that we shall be fighting against, brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution.

And against them I am certain that the right will prevail.

And in the end, the world would be rid of the Nazi menace. But Poland would only exchange one brutal conqueror for another.

September 1, 1939: Outrage against Poland

Seventy years ago today, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. World War II was on.

Here, in three parts, is a 1943 War Department film about the Blitzkrieg in Poland, using captured Nazi footage of the invasion. (H/T Lightning and Ashes)

And the Polish struggle: