Pinturicchio, my new favourite thing. To go with three of my favourite liturgical bits all in one day… Buona Domenica! Collect, by Henry Purcell. Responsory verse. And because the Third Sunday was also the 17th, O Sapientia! Gaudete Sunday is the liturgical 15th anniversary of my Confirmation.   ~

Some time ago our friend Edward Pentin gave a little talk in the US about his experiences in Rome reporting on all the interesting doings surrounding Bergoglio’s pontificate, the Synods, Amoris Laetitia and their ultimate trajectory. The talk was produced by Mike Matt and co. as you can see, and it is well worth listening to in full. There was one point Ed brought up that I wanted to pay particular attention to, that I think could be a kind of key to understanding what is going on.

Yes, they should be. But it’s not likely they will. “Across Spain there are almost 3000 abandoned villages.” Italy is the same. As soon as you are out of the three major conurbations of Milan, Rome and Naples, you find a completely different story. Originally a center along ancient trade routes, Civita di Bagnoregio was prosperous from Roman times through the late Middle Ages. But after a devastating earthquake in 1695, most residents fled for lower ground, and so began the city’s long decline.

Our progressive secular elites think this is where we’re going. If only we can be convinced to give up our nostalgic clinging to outmoded ways of thought and social organisation. We just have to get rid of archaic Judeo-Christian thought processes and we’re home free! This would be fine as a goal (if you like the idea of the whole world being turned into the set for Logan’s Run) except that it’s not coming.

The cathedra of Detroit Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament   It just reminded me of something… It was just on the tip of my brain… Couldn’t quite… Oh yeah! NuChurch! Where it’s forever 1968… ~

They really are just obsessed with this whole “New Adult Faith” thing they’ve got going. First Things A Cool Cardinal Blase Cupich wants Catholics to grow up. Cardinal archbishop of a city famous for the husky, brawling laughter of youth, he preaches the virtues of “mature, well-integrated adult spirituality.” Witness to a man who said “Let the little children come unto me,” he endeavors “to renew the life of the Church by getting people to act like adults.

The (non-Catholic) British blogger who goes by the nom-de-plume Archbishop Cranmer gives us this little gem to demonstrate just how far things are already gone in some sections of the former Christendom, and of course how much further they could go. Advent-cum-Mawlid: church holds joint birthday celebration for Mohammed and Jesus December 4, 2017 Mawlid (or Milad) is the Islamic festival commemorating the birthday of Mohammed. The only thing it has in common with Christmas is that it isn’t actually the day the celebrated baby was born.

Not making it up.   Wonderful to see our beautiful Icon cards being distributed in the Diocese of Ferns this weekend. #advent #wmof2018 Find out about our family icon on our website https://t.co/gg911UnLYH pic.twitter.com/hK5xlyb28W — WMOF2018 (@WMOF2018) December 2, 2017 The sides are definitively lining up.

Immoderate religion   It was the conflict, the contradiction, that the FFIs tried to avoid, but that was finally forced on them: a choice between the New Catholic Paradigm so energetically promoted by Pope Francis and co., or the Faith of our fathers, and all its goals. In the 70s this incompatibility was perhaps not so clear. But it’s pretty clear now. I’m just revisiting briefly the terrible, awful but extremely informative tale of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.

What he says doesn’t matter. The one thing we’ve learned is that reality doesn’t interest him in the least. _“‘The presence of God today is called Rohingya,’ the Pope said after speaking to an interfaith audience in Bangladesh. “He did not use the term in public earlier in the week in Myanmar, to the dismay of campaigners for the Rohingya, whose stories of escaping violence in the country have provoked international condemnation.