And Now For Something Completely Different

Down on the Farm at Hunny-Bunny Farm

Why Scots don’t keep bees…

Since a picture is worth a thousand words and video speaks volumes, in addition to my usual update of Hunny-Bunny Farm happenings I’ve got some video footage courtesy of Mic-or- Mac Productions on the installation of my queens on Easter 2012, and a subsequent attempt to breed queens using my Queen Castle and Queen Rearing Kit.

Here is the installation video:

Here is the queen capturing sequence of events for loading the Queen Castle:

The readership can now put a face, albeit veiled, with the name of Richard of Danbury.

Richard of Danbury, D.S.G.

What Families Can Do

Come Holy Ghost…

 

Family Rosary

In the previous posting I pointed out what is true and what is false obedience. These were not just my words, but the words of our good Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, of happy memory. Here was a great Catholic prelate who was not only steeped in orthodox Catholic Faith in schools and seminaries, but also from virtual birth within the bosom of a thoroughly Catholic family. It was here that he received his foundation, in not just the teachings of the Faith, but of living the Catholic Faith. From his earliest infancy his family life revolved around Catholic Sacraments, rituals, feasts, and culture. Therefore, he can speak with authority, not only as an Archbishop, but as a child of God from a strong Catholic family. Hear his words, which I reprint in entirety from his book, entitled: Open Letter to Confused Catholics, Chapter XXII; What Families Can Do:

It is high time to react.  When Gaudium et Spes speaks of the movement of history “becoming so rapid that everybody finds it hard to follow,” we can take this as meaning the headlong rush of liberal society into disaggregation and chaos.  We must take care not to follow!

 One cannot understand how the leaders can claim to be of the Christian religion whilst destroying all authority within the State. On the contrary, it is important to re-establish this authority which is prescribed by Providence in the two natural societies of divine right, the family and civil society, whose influence here below is fundamental. In recent times it is the family that has suffered the hardest blows. The changeover to Socialism in countries like France and Spain has only speeded up the process.

The ensuing legal measures demonstrate a great cohesion in their determination to ruin the institution of the family; the reducing of parental authority, easy divorce, the disappearance of responsibility in the procreative act, the legal recognition of irregular unions and even of homosexual couples, juvenile cohabitation, trial marriage, the reduction of financial and social assistance to large families, etc… The State itself in its own interests is beginning to see the effects of this in the declining birth rate, and wonders how in the near future the rising generations will be able to maintain the pensions of those who are no longer economically active. But the effects are considerably more serious in the spiritual field.

Catholics must not follow, but as citizens they must bring all their weight to bear to put right what is needed. This is why they may not remain aloof from politics. However, their endeavors will be most effective in the upbringing they give their children.

On the subject, authority is contested at its very source by those who declare, “Parents are not the owners of their children,” by which they mean that their education reverts to the State with its schools, its day nurseries and its kindergarten schools. They reproach parents with failing to respect the “freedom of conscience” of their children when they bring them up in accordance with their own religious convictions.

These ideas can be traced back to the seventeenth-century English philosophers who maintained that men are separate individuals, independent from birth, all equal and free from all authority. We know that to be false. The child receives everything from his father and his mother, all nourishment–bodily, intellectual, educational, moral and social. Parents are aided in this by teachers, who in the children’s minds share their authority, but whether it be from either or both of them, almost all the learning they obtain during their youth will be received and accepted, rather than gathered by observation and personal experience. A considerable part of knowledge comes from the authority who passes it on. The pupil has confidence in his parents, in his teachers and in his books and thereby his knowledge grows.

This is even more true of religious knowledge, of religious practice, of moral training in conformity with the faith, with tradition, and customs. Men generally live by following family traditions, as can be observed throughout the whole world. Conversion to another religion from that received during childhood presents serious difficulties.

This extraordinary influence of the family and background was intended by God. He willed that His blessings should first of all be passed on by the family. This is the reason why He gives to the father of a family such great authority and power over his family, his wife and his children. A child is born in such extreme weakness that we can appreciate the absolute need for the stability and indissolubility of the home.

To want to exalt a child’s personality and consciousness to the detriment of parental authority is ruinous for him, driving him to revolt and to despise his parents, whereas long life is promised to those who honor their parents. Saint Paul, in reminding us of this, makes it a duty for fathers not to exasperate their sons, but to bring them up in the discipline and fear of the Lord.

If we had to there would be very few Christians today. We believe the truths of religion because its witnesses wait to receive an understanding of religious truth before believing and conversion, are worthy of belief by their holiness, their unselfishness and their charity. As Saint Augustine says, faith gives understanding. 

The role of parents has become very difficult.  As we have seen, the majority of Catholic schools have in effect become secular.  The true religion is no longer taught in them, nor even the natural sciences in the light of the faith. The catechisms spread Modernism.  The hectic style of modern living leaves no spare time and professional obligations separate parents and children from the grandfathers and grandmothers who before used to help with their upbringing. Catholics are now not only confused but also defenseless.

Not to such an extent, however, that they cannot provide the essentials, the grace of God making up what lacks. What must be done? Truly Catholic schools do exist, though few in number. Send your children to them even if it is a financial burden. Open new schools, as others have already done. If you are only able to use schools where the teaching has been distorted, then you must complain and demonstrate against it; do not allow the teachers to cause your children to lose their faith.

Read and re-read as a family the Catechism of Trent, the finest, the soundest and the most complete. Organize “parallel catechism classes” under the spiritual direction of good priests, do not be afraid of being called, like us “rebel.” Moreover, there are already numerous groups operating who would welcome your children.

Throw out the books that carry Modernist poison. Seek advice.  There are courageous publishers printing excellent works and re-printing those destroyed by the Modernists. Do not buy just any Bible; every Catholic family ought to have a faithful translation of the Vulgate, the Latin version made by Saint Jerome in the fourth century and canonized by the Church.

Hold on to the true interpretation of the Scriptures, keep to the true Mass and the Sacraments such as were formerly administered everywhere. At the present time the devil is assailing the Church: that is the fact of the matter. We are witnessing perhaps one of his last battles, an all-out battle. He is attacking on all fronts; and if Our Lady of Fatima said that one day he would penetrate to the highest positions of the Church, we must believe that could happen. Personally, I am alleging nothing, yet there are signs which could make us think that in the highest administrative bodies in Rome there are men who have lost their faith. 

Urgent spiritual remedies must be applied. We must pray and do penance, as the Blessed Virgin has requested, and say the Rosary together in the family. As we have seen during each war, people begin to pray together when the bombs begin to fall. In exactly the same way, they are falling at this moment; we are on the brink of losing faith. Do you realize that that would surpass in seriousness every catastrophe feared by man, such as world economic crisis or atomic warfare? 

Renewal is absolutely necessary; but you must not assume that you cannot count on the young for that. The whole of youth is not corrupted, as some try to convince us. Many of them hold an ideal; for many others it would be enough to offer them one. There are boundless examples of movements that have successfully appealed to their generosity; those monasteries faithful to Tradition are drawing them, and there is no lack of vocations from young seminarians or novices wanting to be accepted. There is a magnificent undertaking to be accomplished in conformity with the instructions given by the Apostles, “Tenete traditiones. Permanete in iis quae didicistis.” “Keep the traditions. Stand fast in those things which you have learned” (II Thessalonions 2:14).

The old world called upon to disappear is the world advocating abortion. Families who are faithful to Tradition are also large families and their very faith ensures their posterity. “Increase and multiply!” By keeping to what the Church has always taught you will ensure the future.

 What more can be said, other than to read and re-read the two books of His Grace Archbishop Lefebvre: Open letter to Confused Catholics, and They Have Uncrowned Him. Make these the touchstone to reconnect with the traditional Catholic Faith in all her beauty. Pray the Rosary for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; she is our last best hope.

Richard of Danbury, D.S.G.

True and False Obedience

Come Holy Ghost…

The Society of St. Pius X and Bishop Castro de Meyer

Of late those of us who adhere to the orthodox Catholic Faith through the auspices of the SSPX have been barraged by the refrain of …Obedience! …Obedience! …Obedience! …and also, trust in your superiors from the pulpits of our chapels and in various house publications of the Society. Such chants echo the mantra of the reformers of Vatican Council II and, as they say…, the rest is history.  While obedience is a most important virtue it was certainly used in the wake of VCII to foist innovations and deviations from the correct practice of the Catholic Faith; novelties, I might add, that have not fully run their course. However, obedience without reason subject to Faith is a false premise. Through the ages the Church has always taught that intellect subject to Faith is the basis of the Catholic religion. Never, has Holy Mother Church called for blind obedience!

Additionally, we must remember that our prime directive is to save our soul (and those in our charge) and obtain the eternal bliss of the Beatific Vision of God, i.e. Salvation. In point of fact, we cannot stand before the Judgment Seat of God and point the finger and say, “I was obedient to this priest or that bishop”. Ultimately, the determination of our Eternal Salvation lies with us through a rightly formed Catholic conscience and no amount of rationalization to the contrary will stand before that Awesome Judge, Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Even in ordinary human discourse we cannot be relieved of this responsibility. I was only following orders did not stand up for the commanding officers of the German and Japanese military after their defeat in World War II; so how much more will this defense wither before an All-knowing God?

To be sure, we, none of us, from our bishops and priests, to the laity knows even the least of the final details of any rapprochement with Rome, we do know, however, some pertinent facts, which taken at face value should give us pause. These were discussed in my last posting. Reason, of course, would dictate that we must reserve complete judgment pending a complete revelation of what terms and conditions Rome would offer and restrictions it might impose. However, with the history of the past treatment of the Novus Ordo Church not only in regard to the SSPX, but also the subsequent final disposal of other traditional orthodox Catholic orders who trusted in their hierarchies, and subsequently in Rome we have an overwhelming basis for some apprehension.

So in order to keep the concept of obedience in perspective, I would offer the following quotes of our good Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the Society of St. Pius X, from his Open Letter to Confused Catholics, which is eminently applicable to the situation that orthodox Catholicism finds itself in today:    (all emphasis mine, RFMcC)

…Obedience is a serious matter; to remain united to the Church’s Magisterium and particularly to the Supreme Pontiff is one of the conditions of salvation. We are deeply aware of this and nobody is more attached to the present reigning successor of Peter, or has been more attached to his predecessors, than we are. I am speaking here of myself and of the many faithful driven out of the churches, and also of the priests who are obliged to celebrate Mass in barns as in the French Revolution, and to organize alternative catechism classes in town and country.

We are attached to the Pope for as long as he echoes the apostolic traditions and the teachings of all his predecessors. It is the very definition of the successor of Peter that he is the keeper of this deposit. Pius IX teaches us in Pastor Aeternus: “The Holy Ghost has not in fact been promised to the successors of Peter to permit them to proclaim new doctrine according to His revelations, but to keep strictly and to expound faithfully, with His help, the revelations transmitted by the Apostles, in other words the Deposit of Faith.”

The authority delegated by Our Lord to the Pope, the Bishops and the priesthood in general is for the service of faith. To make use of law, institutions and authority to annihilate the Catholic Faith and no longer to transmit life, is to practice spiritual abortion or contraception.

This is why we are submissive and ready to accept everything that is in conformity with our Catholic Faith, as it has been taught for two thousand years, but we reject everything that is opposed to it. Open Letter to Confused Catholics; Chapter XVIII; pp. 129-130

…In the Church there is no law or jurisdiction which can impose on a Christian a diminution of his faith. All the faithful can and should resist whatever interferes with their faith, supported by the catechism of their childhood. If they are faced with an order putting their faith in danger of corruption, there is an overriding duty to disobey.

It is because we judge that our faith is endangered by the post-conciliar reforms and tendencies that we have the duty to disobey and keep the Tradition. Let us add this, which the greatest service we can render to the Church and to the successor of Peter is to reject the reformed and liberal Church. Jesus Christ, Son of God made man, is neither liberal nor reformable. On two occasions I have heard emissaries of the Holy See say to me: “The social Kingdom of Our Lord is no longer possible in our times and we must ultimately accept the plurality of religions.” This is exactly what they have said to me. Open Letter to Confused Catholics; Chapter XVIII; p. 131

…When I was a child, the Church had the same faith everywhere, the same sacraments and the same Sacrifice of the Mass. If anyone had told me then that it would be changed, I would not have believed him.  Throughout the breadth of Christendom we prayed to God in the same way.  The new liberal and modernist religion has sown division.

Christians are divided within the same family because of this confusion which has established itself; they no longer go to the same Mass and they no longer read the same books. Priests no longer know what to do; either they obey blindly what their superiors impose on them, and lose to some degree the faith of their childhood and youth, renouncing the promises they made when they took the Anti-Modernist Oath at the moment of their ordination; or on the other hand they resist, but with the feeling of separating themselves from the Pope, who is our father and the Vicar of Christ.  In both cases, what a heartbreak! Many priests have died of sorrow before their time. Open Letter to Confused Catholics; Chapter XVIII; pp. 131-132

…What is suggested to us, what we are expressly invited to do, what we are persecuted for not doing, is to choose an appearance of obedience. But even the Holy Father cannot ask us to abandon our faith.

We therefore choose to keep it and we cannot be mistaken in clinging to what the Church has taught for two thousand years.  The crisis is profound, cleverly organized and directed, and by this token one can truly believe that the master mind is not a man but Satan himself.  For it is a master-stroke of Satan to get Catholics to disobey the whole of Tradition in the name of obedience.  A typical example is furnished by the “aggiornamento” of the religious societies. By obedience, monks and nuns are made to disobey the laws and constitutions of their founders, which they swore to observe when they made their profession. Obedience in this case should have been a categorical refusal. Even legitimate authority cannot command a reprehensible and evil act. Nobody can oblige anyone to change his monastic vows into simple promises, just as nobody can make us become Protestants or modernists. St. Thomas Aquinas, to whom we must always refer, goes so far in the Summa Theologica as to ask whether the “fraternal correction” prescribed by Our Lord can be exercised towards our superiors. After having made all the appropriate distinctions he replies: “One can exercise fraternal correction towards superiors when it is a matter of faith.”

If we were more resolute on this subject, we would avoid coming to the point of gradually absorbing heresies.  At the beginning of the sixteenth century the English underwent an experience of the kind we are living through, but with the difference that it began with a schism. In all other respects the similarities are astonishing and should give us cause to ponder.  The new religion which was to take the name “Anglicanism” started with an attack on the Mass, personal confession and priestly celibacy. Henry VIII, although he had taken the enormous responsibility of separating his people from Rome, rejected the suggestions that were put to him, but a year after his death a statute authorized the use of English for the celebration of the Mass.  Processions were forbidden and a new order of service was imposed, the “Communion Service” in which there was no longer an Offertory.  To reassure Christians another statute forbade all sorts of changes, whereas a third allowed priests to get rid of the statues of the saints and of the Blessed Virgin in the churches. Venerable works of art were sold to traders, just as today they go to antique dealers and flea markets. Open Letter to Confused Catholics; Chapter XVIII; pp. 133-134

…What will tomorrow’s religion be if we do not resist?

You will be tempted to say: “But what can we do about it? It is a bishop who says this or that. Look, this document comes from the Catechetical Commission or some other official commission.”

That way there is nothing left for you but to lose your faith. But you do not have the right to react in that way.  St. Paul has warned us: “Even if an angel from Heaven came to tell you anything other than what I have taught you, do not listen to him.”

Such is the secret of true obedience. Open Letter to Confused Catholics; Chapter XVIII; pp. 136

I urge the readership of Catholic Rural Solutions (http://richardofdanbury.wordpress.com/) to read not only the above excerpted book but also: They Have Uncrowned Him. These two books will form a basis from which to judge any further talks of rapprochement that might be of consideration both now and in the future.

In my next posting I will have excerpts from: Open Letter to Confused Catholics; Chapter XXII; What Families Can Do.

Continue the Rosary for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as more and more this would seem to be the only recourse we have to avert disaster. Meantime, don’t rely exclusively on prayer alone. We, by our Confirmation, are called to be soldiers of Christ. This is a proactive mission imposed on ALL Catholics who have received this Sacrament. At the very least, should we feel inadequate to do any more, distribute this email far and wide as your Faith would move you to do.

Richard of Danbury, D.S.G.

The Virtue of Discernment in Our Times

But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. Joshua24:15

Depending on the context, the Virtue of Discernment can have many meanings. To a Catholic it can involve discerning one’s vocation in life, i.e. married state, single state, or religious or consecrated state. It involves deep and generally long introspection to determine God’s Will for His best use of us as His instrument in life.

Another meaning is the Discernment of Spirits, which many have heard of yet few Catholics fully understand. Discernment of Spirits is accomplished in one of two ways. Supernaturally speaking and most often exceptionally, some individuals can have a divinely given gift or charism of spiritual intuition. That is, they are, through God’s touching their spirit, able to see things that under normal circumstances cannot be known through inherent natural reasoning. The best known example of this is Christ, Our Lord’s response to Peter when he asked Peter …but ye, who do ye say I am?  Peter, as most know, answered; Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Upon which Jesus further responded; …Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens. (Mt.15:15-17) Our Lord, thus stating, that this was such a supernatural discernment freely given Peter by God the Father.

More commonly, discernment of spirits is achieved through reflection, observation, and Theological study. This method is an acquired human knowledge. That said, this ordinary inherent reasoning and knowledge is acquired through the assistance of grace, by assiduous reading and study of not only Sacred Scripture, but also works of Theology and asceticism, the lives of the saints and various hagiographies, and correspondence of distinguished and truly Catholic individuals, ascetics, and clergy. To this should be added the vigilance of watching and praying.

A large part of watching is to pay attention to what is occurring in the world and within the structure of the Church itself. In order to make rational intelligent determinations of both our supernatural and natural lives it is crucial that we keep our intellects informed of the Magisterial Teaching of the Church as well as more mundane matters that impact this Magisterial Teaching. This is most especially true for fathers and heads of families because we are uniquely responsible for the souls under our care. To do any less is to shirk the responsibilities of our state in life. We will, as the stewards of the various biblical parables, be called to account for our care of these precious souls be they minor or grown children, or our wives.

While it is true we must in turn listen, trust, and obey lawful orders from our spiritual leaders, be they our priests/pastors or bishops, we must always use our intellects and natural rational powers to help discern error. Recall that the beauty of our Catholic Faith is that it does not rely on blind unreasoning faith but on reason and the well-formed Catholic rational intellect submitted to Faith.

The Recent Crisis of the Traditional Faith

Regarding the headlines of late, concerning the rapprochement of the SSPX and Rome we must separate all the hyperbole from what is actually essential to the matter at hand. To begin with we must in any case be willing to talk to the Vatican, most especially when they approach us; this is our duty as Faithful Catholics who acknowledge that the reigning Pope, in this case Benedict XVI, is truly the Pope, the successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ on Earth. As St. Ambrose Bishop of Milan in the 4th century AD said: Where there is Peter, there is the Church; furthering the declaration of St. Ignatius Bishop of Antioch circa 105 A.D.: Where the Catholic Church is, there is Jesus Christ.  Despite the belief of contemporary Sede Vacantist who contend otherwise, to say that there is no Pope is to essentially say there is no longer a Catholic Church, which by implication states the Jesus Christ, Our Lord is a liar when He stated His promise to be with His Church until the end of time. Further implications are that since he lied he cannot be God, thus blasphemy leads to further blasphemies, and so on until an endless chain of error continues ad infinitum; certainly this is a marvelous seduction of the devil.

With the above in mind, we can easily separate facts from pure speculation. Fact 1: we know of the letter of the three bishops of the SSPX to the Superior General, H. E. Bishop Bernard Fellay. This in not in dispute and has been acknowledged by all parties concerned. Fact 2: we also know of Bishop Fellay’s response letter, which also is acknowledged by all concerned. Fact 3: we know of Bishop de Garaletta’s warning, (he was involved in the initial discussions with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). He stated early on that we could not proceed, at this time, with any agreement with Rome as to our reconciliation. From the “revealed” letters we know that two of the other SSPX bishops concurred. Fact 4a: We know of Bishop Fellay’s stand from his interview with the Catholic News Service and subsequent interviews; in which he in essence states that we must reconcile with Rome at this time because we may never have the chance to do so again. However, in analyzing this statement we are forced to ask, is it the mission of the SSPX to reconcile with the Modernist tendencies of Rome or is it the mission of the SSPX to preserve the priesthood and thereby the true traditional Catholic Faith and follow the Truth? Fact 4b: We also know that Bishop Fellay believes that Rome and the SSPX are closer on matters of Religious Liberty and Ecumenism than previously thought. Again, if we analyze this we can infer that the good Archbishop Lefebvre, founder of the SSPX, of happy memory, was wrong all those years ago, when he stood against these very same key principles of VCII. Does this mean that these many decades of sacrifice, ostracizing, and even persecution of we who have adhered to the traditional Catholic Faith were in vain? Fact 4c: From Bishop Fellay’s subsequent interviews and those of his subordinates, we are assured that with any agreement with Rome there will be no immediate changes to the Society or the orthodoxy of tradition. Careful scrutiny will reveal that key to this phrase is the word “immediate”; this does not just imply some changes later but anticipates them. Aside from this many changes have occurred already, nearly imperceptibly, to the operations of the SSPX. First we no longer hear sermons or conferences on the Social Reign or Christ the King, a concept that was abandoned by the Novus Ordo at Vatican Council II and which was stressed over the decades by the priests and religious of the SSPX until very recently.

There is also no mention of the dangers of Freemasonry or Naturalism which was very prevalent in past sermons and conferences. These subjects, as well as, the writings of Fr. Denis Fahey, C.S.sP., Vicomte Léon de Poncins, Chesterton, Belloc, and other Distributionist, Solenge Hertz, Henry Ford, Fr. Charles E. Coughlin and many others are no longer found within our bookstores. Even articles within the now slick publication of the SSPX, The Angelus persistently avoid these topics and authors.  In fact, no longer is the very motto of Pope St. Pius X, with all the implications of Christ’s Kingship, heard in the chapels of the Society, that is, To Restore All Things in Christ. Thus, we can see that “immediate” change has already taken place and we can anticipate further changes down the road as we are increasingly contained by the machinery of the Vatican, as has been the case with other well meaning, but naïve traditional group who fell for Rome’s seductions.

The Measured Response

…No greater love!

As Faithful and even as religious of the SSPX we must stand firmly with the traditional Catholic Faith. We must stand with, for, and on the Truth and the true Magisterium of the Catholic Church. For forty odd years we’ve been in our own “ghetto” so to speak, where we have gotten comfortable with our situation. We have settled into a co-existence mode of operation in regard to the greater Catholic Church, that is, our diabolically disoriented brothers in the Novus Ordo. We, in fact, have lost the taste for the good fight. We’ve become complacent and lost vigilance.  The result is the situation the SSPX now finds itself in and to which Bishop Fellay cavalierly states it was all just a misunderstanding. In other words, we’ve come to terms with our lukewarmness! In a manner of speaking, we should look on this situation as a blessing and a wake-up call from God, that we must once and for always take up the banner and sword and be ever vigilant to our Confirmational mandate to be Soldiers of Christ.

Prudence! Prudence! Prudence!

Our response must be guided not only by the Holy Ghost but also with the Virtue of Prudence and a large measure of discernment. We mustn’t lose our way and enter into long diatribes and rants about the vagaries of the Jews or Freemasonry, be they true or not. This only serves to dissipate our energies and provide distractions. On the contrary, we must focus all our concentration on the matter at hand, the potential betrayal of Faith and the possibility of splitting of the SSPX. Secret organization and groups that solicit money and funds with no named fiduciary responsibility are the result of gut instinct and motivation rather than clear and decisive planning and action. Keep in mind all things that are done in the Catholic Church have always been what is theologically known as “open and notorious”. That is open for all to see. No matter how well-meaning secretive, groups and movements only hurt our cause and provide fodder for our enemies.

As the days pass and conditions rapidly coalesce, circumstances will dictate the formal actions to be taken, most especially by the Faithful, under the guidance of those priests and bishops who remain true to the Faith and the Sacred Magisterium. For the moment, we should not jump the gun acting on emotion, running off willy-nilly on tangents that do little more than tire and separate us. We must use Prudence and discern the movements of the devil from that of God. One way is to recognize that is if a solution strokes or enhances our egos, it is not from God. Similarly, if one is left feeling emotionally upset over a movement within our spirit, or if it is contrary to what has gone before, such as secretive association, than it is not of God. On the other hand, if an inner movement and subsequent action based on it leaves you at peace and is consistent with all that has gone before it is likely of God. Should you have trouble discerning this seek the spiritual direction of a competent, loyal, and holy priest.

Meantime, at this time we must keep each other informed of factual information, forming a loose network of like-minded people who can act as support for priests and religious should the time come. WE must stand as the SSPX has always stood, until this time, as an immovable monolith, relying on the Scriptural admonition which states: as to me and my household we will serve the Lord (Joshua24:15).

For all those of good will who hesitate under the notion of false obedience to disoriented authority I invite you to reread the good Archbishop Lefebvre’s own words in, I Accuse the Council. In addition, I would suggest a rereading of the SSPX’s, The Problem of the Liturgical Reform. A reprise and re-study of these two excellent books will help to put everything into perspective. In addition, I would encourage you to listen to the two following sermons from Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2012, (last Sunday) from Frs. Chazal and Pfeiffer, (Joseph). These are very powerful sermons and address the issue head-on.

Fr. Chazal’s Pentecost Sermon: (video)

http://op54rosary.ning.com/forum/topics/sermon-father-chazal-of-the-sspx-the-fornicating-new-rome-the-adu

Fr. Pfeiffer’s Pentecost Sermon: (audio)

http://retreat.bluetechmarketing.com/FrJPfeifferRomeSSPXSermon.mp3

 

In conclusion, we all must use the virtue of discernment along with obedience to those priests and bishops who uphold the Catholic Faith of two millennia; we must also watch and pray. We must be ready to act when and if the time should come. Most of all, we must keep in mind like the Catholic Faith itself, the Traditional Catholic Movement started in a kind of catacombs of rented hotel rooms, home basements and garages and if so led by the Holy Ghost we can easily, happily, and with peace of soul return to this. In fact, this may be what will once again stimulate our spirit to fight for the one, true, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith of Christ.

Though the official Rosary Crusade has ended keep up your personal and family rosaries for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We need this more than ever and it is our last, best recourse.

Richard of Danbury, D.S.G.

 

 

 

Blood, Sweat, and Tears …But Mostly Blood

As most of the readership who have followed the modest smallholding trials and tribulations of Hunny-Bunny Farm know, much blood, sweat, and tears have gone into improving the cost-effective production here at the Ol’ Homestead. The tears are in the disappointing production of the year of the Late Blight 0f 2010, which affected everything even beyond the potatoes and other nightshade plants. The sweat mostly in the literal form of breaking the sod for the original garden and putting up fences and other structures, but also in sweating out the prospect of the bees making it through the critical period of February-March just before the spring honey flows begin. Finally, there is the blood, which generally comes in the form of minor cuts, bruises, and scrapes of normal physical activity.

This triple formula is normally in happy balance but here at Hunny-Bunny Farm I, yesterday, managed to tip the scales decidedly in the blood aspect of this ratio. It happened that I had completed laying on a cover of salt hay mulch and I began to tidy my garden tools, and as I’m accustomed to do I stepped on the blade of the shovel in anticipation of catching the long handle and WHAM! …the unanticipated excessive force of my step caused the handle to force through my waiting fingers and directly impact my nose. Yes, really…, just like in the Tom and Jerry cartoons, I did perform the old stepping on the rake pratfall, the ultimate slapstick comic gag!

Ouch! #*@%!

The immediate effect of course, was pain on impact, which surprisingly didn’t last longer than a second or two. The second immediate effect, on opening my eyes was an explosion of blood ala the old comic books, (sorry, now called graphic novels to be politically correct), this was followed reflexively by a string of expletives, like #,*,%, @. The final effect was the instinctive reaching for my face and finding not only the bridge of my nose altered but a stream of bright red gore flowing down my face. Intuitively I straightened my now misaligned shnozzola and began the long walk from the garden up to the basement slop sink leaving a trail of crimson much like Hansel’s breadcrumbs all the way. Amazingly, all this occurred in less than 5 seconds.

On reaching the sink I plunged my face under a stream of cold running water to remove and retard blood flow and reduce already apparent swelling. This allowed me to see the damage up close and personal in my reflection in the mirror. With no pain, blood flow staunched, and the “break” already put in place, and considering the amount of work still to be done today I patched up the wound with iodine, (which also uncharacteristically did not hurt), protected it with a Band-Aid and continued with my routine chores. In fact, in looking at the wound later that day I would say that I technically did not break the nose but separated the cartilage from the nasal bone proper. So overall, beside supplementing the garden with additional nitrogen and some slight lingering swelling it’s, as the young people say today, all good. In future, however, I will certainly bend over for the shovel no matter how tired I am. So when you see me next, please no jokes about getting my nose all out of joint!

Meantime, in the apiary…

I checked the Queen Castle to see how the queen rearing process was going. The nurse bees were gathered around two cups still containing eggs, which should be hatching in the next 24 hours, if all was successful. The second chore was to transplant, so to speak, the bees and queen started ten days ago from the nuc box to their permanent hives. This was done successfully and it appears that this is a strong hive of about 3 lbs. of bees. So I now have 4 hives in total and anticipate 2 more if the queen rearing is successful. At this time, I’ve also added my honey supers so we should be getting some surplus honey for our domestic use. It’s interesting that this is the first time I’ve been able to get honey from new hives in the spring honey flow. Generally, the hives are still too fragile to take any honey at this time. Spring flows are also the best and strongest honey flows and I believe that we will have abundant honey this season. I believe that the early onset of spring with the warm March weather accounts for this unusual circumstance.

In the Garden…

The vegetable garden, aside from the excitement described earlier, is

…So what’s eatin’ you?

proceeding apace; one problem is my eggplant is being skeletonized by some predator, possibly slugs though I’ve not  yet seen any. It seems with the onset of warm weather in March of this year, the garden, and the landscape in general is prematurely luxuriant, lush, and ahead of schedule. Even the bugs are about their damaging business earlier this year. The mulch I laid down should thwart some if not all the devastation of the slugs, or whatever is raiding my garden. There is also the gardening theory that believes it is best to leave some weeds to distract some of the attacking predator insects. This argument has some merit but weeds can quickly get out of hand if not strenuously monitored. To this effect, I left some of the weeds in close proximity to the eggplant that were also suffering some devastation, notably pigweed, which BTW, is a potherb and good in salads if used judiciously. These two precautions should significantly curtail further destruction.

In the rabbitry,

The kits are fully furred out and will be opening their eyes within the next couple of days. Mama is doing well, but is ravenously hungry. She is, of course, getting extra food and greens to help in retaining the strength to continue to raise those kits. Since we now have a foundation of the Mac line of Florida White rabbits, I must now plan my breeding schedule and cull the remaining rabbits from the herd.

Remember, the Rosary Crusade for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary ends May 27^th, be sure to tally up your rosaries and submit them to your local SSPX chapel or Mass center. Keep in mind that you don’t have to be an attendee of an SSPX Mass center to pray for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but for the sake of the mass rosaries please make a submission anyway of all the rosaries you and your family have said over the past year. More and more the events of our days indicate that this is not only our best recourse, but also our last recourse to counter the troubles we are witnessing.

Richard of Danbury, D.S.G.

 

So its Not Just Me After All

Did’ja notice lately that much of the stuff we use daily just doesn’t work the way it used to and the way it should. We had a clothes washer that lasted for over 26 years and moved with us from our former residence in New Jersey to Connecticut. Sure it needed repairs from time to time as things wore but it was possible to do so at reasonable expense. In addition, we had for many years an extended warrantee that we took full advantage of. Finally, about two years ago the ol’ clunker gave up the ghost; and Mrs. McC. still grieves.  Parts were no longer available by marketing design of the manufacturer; this is known as Planned Obsolescence. We did considerable research and finally settled on a name brand mainly because it had a stainless steel tub as opposed to the plastic tubs in most of today’s washers.  Beyond this most of the gears are some type of plastic and we can anticipate quick and frequent ware. The real bugaboo is that the clothes simply don’t clean nearly as well as our original washer. Lint seems to build up on the clothes despite frequent emptying of the lint filter; and most of the clothes have spots that often make them look like polka-dots. These dots suspiciously resemble the holes in the wash tub itself. We’ve talked to the manufacturer who says it is either the detergent we are using, (I make our detergent just as our Grannies did using borax and Fel’s naphtha soap), or we are simply doing something wrong.  Yikes and gadzooks! The tub leaves the telltale imprint of their tub and we are to blame?

Other things, as well, have changed before our eyes and just don’t function as they should. For instance, toilet paper; while the rolls may appear full the manufacturers, in order to save money and maintain the bottom line, have made the rolls shorter. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at your old toilet paper holder; remember when a roll spanned from arm to arm of the holder. Now they are about 25% shorter than just a couple or three years ago …and so it goes, on and on.

Simpler Times!

Considering all the above nuisances my pet peeve are the so-called safety spouts on the 1 and 5 gallon gasoline containers. For the past three years I thought it was just me who had a hard time with these spouts. Since I’ve been forced to buy these new containers with the safety spouts I’ve spilled and wasted more fuel than in my entire lifetime up to mandated introduction of these spouts by the government EPA. In the end, I in order to save the increasingly dear gasoline I’ve resorted to taking off the spouts entirely and just pouring it into my few remaining pre-mandate jerry cans; from here I can easily just pour the fuel into my various machines using the old spouts. Needless, to say these older spouts, which are as rare as hen’s teeth, have become a precious and protected commodity here at Hunny-Bunny Farm. So now you can see my excitement at finding that I’m not the only one who shares this pet peeve. Web citation below:

http://lfb.org/today/how-government-wrecked-the-gas-can/

In an enjoyable and light-hearted way the author does make the point that the quality of our lives has deteriorated thanks to unnecessary government intervention and regulation, among other things. It is worth the small time to read. Meantime, I will continue to double handle my fuel until I find a way to hack these new-fangled containers. Ah! YouTube! I’m sure someone there has already done it.

Eureka!

Yes, YouTube is better than Felix the Cat’s magic bag of tricks. There was a video on hacking…um …modifying a new-fangled gas container.

Here is the web citation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lcnwdIYEfI&feature=related

Hope you find this useful.

Richard of Danbury, D.S.G.

 

In His Own Words

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, SSPX

In 1974 the good Archbishop Lefebvre, of happy memory, spoke out against the innovations that flooded the Church of Christ, …the one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith, that sprang directly from the Pastoral Council, (not Dogmatic Council) of Vatican Council II, (1962-1965). This council effectively ended the Social Reign of Christ the King within the Church and the world; causing a crisis of authority which exists to this very day.

Recently, we’ve read and heard much about the rapprochement of the SSPX and Rome. We’ve been told that much has changed since the good Archbishop Lefebvre made his courageous stand for the enduring Faith of Christ and for Eternal Rome. In this dangerous time of confusion and doubt it is appropriate that we take time out to reread with Faith and understanding the Archbishop’s own words and ask ourselves do we still heed what he has said or have we become lukewarm, and lost the zeal …that fire in the belly so to speak, to stand and do battle against the forces of Modernism which are rampant within the Church. Take time to consider this the good Archbishop Lefebvre in his own words. Remember also that by our Confirmations we receive the Holy Ghost and become Soldiers of Christ pledged to do battle against all enemies of the Church, both without and within.

THE 1974 DECLARATION OF ARCHBISHOP LEFEBVRE
Econe, Switzerland on November 21, 1974

We hold fast, with all our heart and with all our soul, to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic faith and of the traditions necessary to preserve this faith, to Eternal Rome, Mistress of wisdom and truth.

We refuse, on the other hand, and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it.

All these reforms, indeed, have contributed and are still contributing to the destruction of the Church, to the ruin of the priesthood, to the abolition of the Sacrifice of the Mass and of the sacraments, to the disappearance of religious life, to a naturalist and Teilhardian teaching in universities, seminaries and catechectics; a teaching derived from Liberalism and Protestantism, many times condemned by the solemn Magisterium of the Church.

No authority, not even the highest in the hierarchy, can force us to abandon or diminish our Catholic faith, so clearly expressed and professed by the Church’s Magisterium for nineteen centuries.
“But though we,” says St. Paul, “or an angel from heaven preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema” (Gal. 1:8).

Is it not this that the Holy Father is repeating to us today? And if we can discern a certain contradiction in his words and deeds, as well as in those of the dicasteries, well we choose what was always taught and we turn a deaf ear to the novelties destroying the Church.

It is impossible to modify profoundly the lex orandi without modifying the lex credendi. To the Novus Ordo Missae correspond a new catechism, a new priesthood, new seminaries, a charismatic Pentecostal Church —all things opposed to orthodoxy and the perennial teaching of the Church.

This Reformation, born of Liberalism and Modernism, is poisoned through and through; it derives from heresy and ends in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical. It is therefore impossible for any conscientious and faithful Catholic to espouse this Reformation or to submit to it in any way whatsoever.

The only attitude of faithfulness to the Church and Catholic doctrine, in view of our salvation, is a categorical refusal to accept this Reformation.

That is why, without any spirit of rebellion, bitterness or resentment, we pursue our work of forming priests, with the timeless Magisterium as our guide. We are persuaded that we can render no greater service to the Holy Catholic Church, to the Sovereign Pontiff and to posterity.

That is why we hold fast to all that has been believed and practiced in the faith, morals, liturgy, teaching of the catechism, formation of the priest and institution of the Church, by the Church of all time; to all these things as codified in those books which saw day before the Modernist influence of the Council. This we shall do until such time that the true light of Tradition dissipates the darkness obscuring the sky of Eternal Rome.

By doing this, with the grace of God and the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and that of St. Joseph and St. Pius X, we are assured of remaining faithful to the Roman Catholic Church and to all the successors of Peter, and of being the fideles dispensatores mysteriorum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi in Spiritu Sancto. Amen.

Pray for our bishops and priests, that they remain one, as Christ and the Father are one. Stay informed, regarding the admonition of Christ Himself: Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak. Matt.26:41

Please broadcast this posting far and wide as you see fit.

Richard of Danbury, D.S.G.