A Happy & Holy Christmas Everyone!
Wishing bloggers, readers and visitors to this site, all the blessings of the holy season of Christmas. Hopefully you will enjoy the above video presentation, paying homage to the new-born, long awaited Messiah.
As an additional treat, our blogger Elizabeth, real name Christine Fletcher, emailed this link to her radio programme of Classical Christmas music, broadcast on Swansbrook Radio – it’s absolutely beautiful, so enjoy!
As ever you are welcome to exchange Christmas greetings, share favourite carols, prayers etc, as well as stories and jokes in the “good clean fun category.” Happy Christmas everyone!
Comments (71)
Welcome back everyone! Hope you enjoyed a peaceful Advent, and that Christmas brings us all many graces and blessings.
I can’t resist posting this short newspaper report, in the Christmas spirit of “good clean fun” – it made me smile, hope it has the same effect on you!
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/24/cb/62/24cb62913d178771b840f1874c435b27.jpg
Hilarious!
Petrus,
Or, put another way… typical!
Happy Christmas!
Christ is Born!
Dear Madame Editor,
It’s good to have you back!
This is from Great Compline with Litiya on the Eve of the Nativity:
Let heaven and earth as the prophets foretold now rejoice,
let angels and men exult in spirit.
For God has revealed Himself in the flesh to those who were in darkness and dwelt in shadows.
He is born of a Virgin; a cave and a manger receive Him.
Shepherds proclaim the news of the wonder; wise men from the East bring gifts to Bethlehem, and we with unworthy lips offer Him angelic praise.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.
The Hope of the nations is come, to set us free from the yoke of the enemy!
Nativity of Our Lord, Great Compline with Litiya, Tone 1, Bulgarian
Wishing you and the entire CT family a blessed Nativity and a Happy, Holy and Healthy New Year.
Yours in the Infant King,
Margaret 🇺🇸
Thank you, Margaret USA,
Nice to have YOU back, as well!
A very happy Christmas to you and yours.
I haven’t seen any posts by Athanasius in a while. Please give him my best wishes for Christmas. Thank you!
Margaret USA,
Athanasius is one of those bloggers who comes and goes, as I’ve noticed myself. I think his work takes him away for long periods, so I dare say he’ll be back when it suits.
Margaret USA
I wish you, Editor and all the bloggers a very Blessed Christmas.
Fidelis is right, by the way, I am busier at work now than in years past. Truth is I spend most of my days stressed out driving up and down Scotland’s roads and am usually brain dead by the time I get home.
I clock up around 3000-4000 miles per month on the roads these days, every mile a trial. I used to enjoy driving but not now, not with all those lorries on the motorways.
For those who remember the comedy “One foot in the Grave”, it has turned me into Victor Meldrew. You’ll find him on youtube.
Anyway, by the time I get home I’m just too shattered to contribute anything worthwhile to the blog, though I always follow the comments.
Athanasius,
Glad I caught your comment just before heading for the pubs and clubs…
Sounds like you need to take a great deal of care not to damage your health. That is a lot of driving, by any yardstick. And driving these days is ever more hazardous, as I’ve found myself saying over and over recently. Every nut in Scotland seems to come onto the road when I head for the local supermarket, and I don’t like the way they keep waving at me. I know they’re probably only trying to be friendly but it’s very distracting…
I must take this opportunity, too, to say, “thank you” for your beautiful Christmas card – and thanks, too, to others who have sent lovely Christmas cards; I have been very disorganised this year, won’t bore you with the details, but I must apologise to you and to others, for not sending cards this year. Long story, won’t make excuses but hope to be back to my ultra-efficient self next year, assuming God spares me and the Post Office doesn’t go on strike 😀
In the meantime, I suggest you pray to St Joseph for another job. Where they give you a driver-less car 😀
PS – it goes without saying that none of us expects you to blog when you must be utterly exhausted most of the time, so don’t give that a second thought.
Editor,
Every nut in Scotland seems to come onto the road when I head for the local supermarket, and I don’t like the way they keep waving at me.
They might be trying to signal you that you’re driving on the wrong side of the road…no wonder, then, that the UK has become “leftist”!
RCA Victor,
I did wonder about that!
All the same it seems to be worse in your part of the world…
http://my1970z28.com/pics/etc/etc/old_people_jokes/drive-thru.JPG
Athanasius,
That equates to one heck of a daily average mileage, especially when one considers that you are probably not working every day.
Be careful! A young friend of mine recently wrote off his car because of a moment’s drowsiness behind the wheel. He is by necessity a commuter, something from which I will forever thank the Good Lord for having spared me. My friend’s foremost thought this Christmas was gratitude to God for having preserved him together with a resolve to develop his faith in his guardian angel.
I have always rather admired commuters. I think of them somehow as the daily Mass goers of the secular world, which is a bit silly since the two are hardly mutually exclusive (being a commuter and a daily mass goer, that is). I used to have a friend who for a couple of years commuted between Dundee and Aberdeen where he had a teaching post. But that was by train, although It still meant him having to get up at about four o’clock in the morning! Some people do not have their sorrows to seek and yet bear them heroically.
A happy Christmas to one and all, seeing that we are still in the Octave. I see that the blog is scheduled to close before mid-2019. I, like others here, will miss it. My contributions over the years have been sporadic (dictated mainly, but not exclusively, by a mixture of work and health considerations), but I have always had the greatest respect for its esteemed Editor, never doubting, even when I disagreed with her, that she was inspired by high and noble principles. Living, as we are called to live, our faith in these strange times (to put it mildly) is challenging enough, but to chart and comment intelligently on its sad trajectory in a public and systematic way for a decade and a half takes a stamina (spiritual as well as physical) that is by any standard out of the ordinary.
I know that other like minded blogs exist, but while I may chance upon them from time to time, I feel that my blogging days are behind me. It is not—God forbid!—that I am resigned to the triumph of liberalism in the Church; far from it. It is just that after more than three decades in the fray in one way or another, I have in recent years felt the need to retreat to higher ground and to fight the battle on a more spiritual plane.
In the mid-1980s I became aware of the crisis in the Church. At that time, I was inclined to think of it in terms of discrete phenomena which could somehow be ‘dealt with’. As the eighties gave way to the nineties, I did not radically change my view, buoyed up, as I was, by what I saw as the positive aspects of the pontificate of John Paul II.
With the new century, however, it slowly dawned upon me—not least through my reflecting upon the post-Vatican II liturgical changes—that this crisis is one of epic proportions which cannot be ‘dealt with’ unless by the deepest personal conversion. Catholics have bought into the world at so many levels, and, consequently, the world is increasingly finding its way in the Church, to the point where it seems that the Church is seeking an accommodation on the world’s terms. But truth will out! If there is a positive aspect to Francis’ pontificate, it is surely that the true state of things has been laid bare. As painful as it is to behold, this is the necessary condition for a resolution of the crisis.
Prognosticum,
“…It is just that after more than three decades in the fray in one way or another, I have in recent years felt the need to retreat to higher ground and to fight the battle on a more spiritual plane.”
With much respect, this is something I’ve heard many times. I completely understand the temptation, but, in truth I do not believe that we can ever take the “either/or” approach to the work of the lay apostolate. We don’t care for our spiritual life by placing the active apostolic life in the past. Indeed, there can be no meaningful apostolic life if we are not, first, attending to our religious and spiritual life. Conversely, a truly spiritual life should feed our Confirmation duty to live and work as Soldiers of Christ,
Anyway, yet again I’m in danger of giving a lecture, so I’ll end this short response to your latest comment on a point of agreement: that “the true state of things had been laid bare [due to] Francis’ pontificate.”
More and more people are I believe, waking up to that “true state” and once it is pointed out to them that Francis did not appear out of nowhere but is the logical conclusion, so to speak, of his immediate (liberal) predecessors, light dawns.
I was speaking from my own very personal standpoint. I see mine not as a retreat, but rather as a move up to the very front line of the battle.
I feel that at this time in my life I know as much as I will ever need to know about the phenomenon often referred to as the crisis in the Church: origins, development and concrete manifestations thereof. The vast majority of traditionalist/conservative blogs/publications are concerned, almost exclusively, with these aspects of the crisis.
It has slowly dawned on me, however, that my energies are better directed at trying to perfect—as far as it is humanly possible—my own personal discipleship. The risk with blogging in this particular sphere, in my humble opinion, is that one can all too easily forget that we are all of us called to be great saints; not only, but that personal holiness for a Catholic is not an option, but rather a supernatural necessity which will shape the life to come.
Another very real risk is that we come to view the crisis as a political problem and treat it as such, invoking ‘political’ solutions in ecclesial guise, but which forget that each one of us is part of the crisis, in as much as we are baptized Catholics, and that any solution must involve our own personal conversion.
I have to say that I disagree with most of what you say.
First off, you know everything you need to know about the crisis? Wow! I’ve never met anyone who claimed that. Fr Gruner, John Vennari (may they rest in peace) etc never once said anything like this. So, I would say, if that is true, you have been given a very special grace. A word of warning: if you have been given such a grace, then the truly apostolic thing to do would be to share that knowledge with others!
I also disagree that blogging can cause us to forget that we are called to be great saints. Editor makes it very clear that our personal holiness will result in apostolic action. I don’t think there’s a conflict between the two. In fact, I’ve noticed that when my prayer life is healthy, I’m more likely to engage in action. I also believe that the great saints would have used blogs if they had been around in their times.
Of course, blogging isn’t the only method of Catholic Action and the editor has never claimed otherwise. Quite recently I advocated th use of social media over blogging. I think social media can be useful, but only in as such as you can share articles that are already written on a an existing website, or blog. So, by all means we should use these platforms for apostolic action if we have them, but I was wrong to think they could be as effective as a blog.
Prognosticum,
I know what you mean. Among the reactions to the announcement of the blog closure was a perfectly legitimate remark that the discussions have become “repetitive” – and of course that is because the crisis is ongoing and the scandals are nearly all in the same shocking category of sexual abuse / infidelity. It really is the “same old, same old” – although worsening by the nano-second. So, I do understand what you mean.
In any case, both Petrus and yourself have inspired the latest thread, which is a reflection On the Value of Time, as preached by St Alphonsus Liguori – hopefully, we’ll all find it helpful. Click here to reach it
Editor
Thank you for your kind words and advice. I’ve been making up for the tiredness these past days by doing absolutely nothing, a treat you’ve just put the kybosh on with the new thread on time wasting!!
Strange thing is St. Joseph got me this job, and I mean quite miraculously at a time when jobs were scarce, so it must be providential. I have to say, though, that apart from the long hours on the roads the job is actually good. Sadly, Scotland’s geography is such that there’s always too much work for one and not quite enough for two in the work-from-home IT business. They have similar issues in the north east of England.
Funny you should mention those waves you get when you’re out in the car, I give and receive a few of those myself. I won’t go into detail!!
Don’t worry about the Christmas cards thing, just give me the cash in hand!
Athanasius,
It’s always a cheque she gives me, alongside the box of Milk Tray!
Christ is Born!
Dear Athanasius,
You are very much missed. Madame Editor posted earlier that she is closing down the CT blog sometime mid-2019. I was going to suggest that she put the CT blog into your capable hands. However, after reading your reply, that won’t work.
Finally, please see my reply to Madame Editor after the lengthy Royal Doors post. Thank you!
Wishing you a belated Blessed Nativity and New Year.
Yours in Christ the King,
Margaret 🇺🇸
Margaret USA,
We have given a great deal of thought to the closure of the blog – it wasn’t a decision that was taken overnight or without due consideration. So, while I appreciate your kindness in trying to come up with a means of keeping it open, it’s going to close! Of course anyone may start their own blog – that would be great, but we are unable to simply hand over the Catholic Truth blog to someone outside the Team, no matter how capable. There’s been no shortage of ideas and pleas – the best plea being that the closure of this blog will leave a void; there just isn’t anything like it in Scotland. That is true. As I say, however, anyone may start their own blog and perhaps fill that void. I, for one, would follow its progress with much interest.
In any event, there are other traditional blogs out there albeit, I think I’m correct in saying, they are all moderated sites, so I recommend submitting only short comments, in case they don’t pass the moderator.
For now, there will be, hopefully, useful discussions in the months to come before we close, probably end of June/beginning of July.
Maragaret USA
You’re very kind but I couldn’t fill Editor’s shoes as Editor of the CT blog, even if I had the time. Besides, high heels don’t look right with a suit!
Christ is Born!
Dear Athanasius,
Thanks – I needed a good laugh! 😀
Wishing you and your family a Blessed New Year.
Yours in the Infant King,
Margaret 🇺🇸
Editor,
Love it!
loved it. Thank you. Merry Christmas!
Mary Anne,
I did laugh when I read it, so pleased that you enjoyed it too.
Merry Christmas to you!
Happy Christmas everyone. I look forward to listening to Elizabeth’s radio show!
Catherine,
Do listen to Elizabeth’s radio show – it’s truly beautiful.
A happy and holy Christmas to everyone. God bless us, every one (not so Tiny Therese….)
Therese,
Your avatar and username were not on show because you did not log in using the “smith” email. I’ve done the needful, so worry not!
Happy Christmas!
Editor,
How come diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but a dog is man’s best friend?
RCA Victor,
Here’s one clue…
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YI5WTVvQRqY/WVucQvN4YWI/AAAAAAAACd4/RZVUb1e6i7YwK1zfJehLox2dLJhx3b5LACLcBGAs/s1600/dog-is-man-best-friend.jpg
Happy Christmas!
Editor,
I knew I could count on you to provide the answer to one of life’s most persistent questions!
Merry Christmas!
Happy Christmas to all CT bloggers.
I listened to the Swansbrook Radio show and Elizabeth’s programme of Classical Christmas music is just fantastic! I loved it! I hadn’t realised we had such famous show-biz personalities on the blog!
I’ve listened to Elizabeth’s show and the classical Christmas music is just wonderful. That was a real treat so thank you Elizabeth.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for that excellent radio show, and Merry Christmas to all! Or, as you say on the other side of the pond, Happy Christmas!
RCA Victor,
You’ve got it all wrong – we are “Bi” over here – we’re both “merry” AND “happy” Christmas! And just to prove it…
A very happy, merry Christmas to you and yours!
Dear Madame Editor,
LifeSite News posted this:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/after-centuries-of-suppression-christmas-in-edinburgh-is-finally-back
I saw this and immediately thought of you and CT.
Yours in the Infant King,
Margaret 🇺🇸
Merry Christmas to all of you! LD
Thank you, Lionel.
Hope your yellow vest is enjoying a good rest at Christmas!
Ça va mal, Editor!
Happy Christmas whatsoever, may the Baby Jesus bring you and to all your loved ones all what you desire and need during the year 2019!
Sorry everyone, I posted this earlier but for some reason my phone didn’t process it.
Happy Christmas to all the bloggers.
As I have been with my family on Christmas Day I have still to listen to both the Swanbrook Radio show and Elizabeth’s programme of classical music. We meantime had a lovely meal and then played a board game called Monopoly. As the game played on and on and time passed by and the game unfinished, we called a halt to it.
In the meantime, I wish everyone and Happy and Holy Christmas.
Did you acquire Boardwalk & Park Place? 😉
This is a small portion of what the London based monopoly game looks like.
https://londonist.com/2016/07/the-geographic-monopoly-board
I gained four of the famous place names like Kent Road and as it is a game of chance managed to put a house on two of sites. The last time I through the dice I ended up ‘in jail’, it was getting late so we called a halt to the game. It would take another three throws of the dice get out ‘jail’.
It was the first time in many years I have played that game.
In the U.S. version, Boardwalk and Park Place are the most expensive properties.
Merry Christmas to one and all!
The priest-blogger-convert Fr. Longenecker has written a book containing a theory about the identities of the Magi. Unfortunately, while he allegedly is attempting to defend Scripture, he undermines it. Challenge to our bloggers: can you identify, based solely on Scripture, at least 3 reasons why his theory is ridiculous (reasons which should have occurred to him before he published his book)?
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2017/12/24/new-research-suggests-christmas-story-of-visit-by-wise-men-was-historically-true/
RCA Victor,
I identify this sentence as being problematic:
““As Herod was old and ailing, it makes perfect sense that the Nabataean wise men travelled to Jerusalem on behalf of their king to pay homage to Herod’s heir,” Longenecker suggests.”
If Christ was thought by the wise men to be Herod’s heir, Fr Longenecker needs to explain why Herod would be wanting to kill him.
I can’t see another two, but will maybe read it again later on.
Happy Christmas everyone!
Happy Christmas everyone!
RCA Victor
I’ve read your link and can only agree with Josephine – if Herod’s heir was thought to be Jesus, why would Herod be searching for him to kill him. I also think that Jesus would have been born in Herod’s palace, not a stable in Bethlehem, LOL!
Apart from that I can’t see anything else so please tell us!
Oops, sorry, Fidelis, I didn’t notice at first that you already got #3! I’ll have Editor add some extra zeroes to your paycheck…..
RCA Victor / Fidelis,
Done!
Josephine and Fidelis,
OK, I give – You got the first one right off! Here are my other two:
#2: If the Child was Herod’s heir, why didn’t he know anything about the fact that He had been born – until the Magi arrived in Jerusalem to tell him?
#3: If the Child was Herod’s heir, why was He born in a stable rather than in Herod’s palace…or some similar royal setting?
Apparently Fr. Longenecker needs to do some more Bible study before he tries to make money selling a ridiculous theory – a theory that, to boot, undermines Scripture . Here’s Psalm 71:10, which, one would suspect, provides an important clue as to the identity of the Magi:
“The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts:”
(This doesn’t preclude the first part of Longenecker’s theory, which is that the Magi were diplomats from the Nabatean kingdom – but the Psalm verse clearly suggests that the Magi came from several different ancient kingdoms, not just one.)
Happy Christmas everyone. So glad that those of you who listened to Classical Swansbrook enjoyed it.
Dear Madame Editor,
This is from Royal Doors, a Canadian Ukrainian Catholic blog:
Christ is Born!
Today we celebrate the Feast of Synaxis – which is to say, our coming together to glorify – the Most Holy Mother of God. First day after the Nativity of our Lord is set aside to honour the one who gave birth supernaturally to the Son and Word Of God, and thus became the instrument of the salvation of mankind.
St. Ephraim the Syrian, the great eulogist and venerator of the Theotokos, in his Nativity hymns, very beautifully sings the praises of the mystery of the Incarnation, the Virginity, and Divine Motherhood of Mary. He writes,
“No one knows what to call your Mother O Lord! She is called a Virgin, though she has a child; she is called a Bride, though she knew no man! If one cannot comprehend Your mother, how then can they understand You!”
“Your Mother, She is a wonder! The Lord, entering her becomes a servant. The Almighty through a word enters her, and becomes mute. The Ruler of thunder entered and His voice became silent. The Supreme Shepherd enters and in her becomes a lamb which saw the light of day amid crying.” (Hymn XI, 6)
Let us today with the whole Church praise the Mother of God: “Come, let us extol the Mother of the Savior,” we sing at the Stichera of the Praises in Matins, “who, even after giving birth, remained a Virgin. Rejoice, O living garden of the King and God, in which Christ dwelt, and accomplished our salvation. With Gabriel let us offer praise and with the shepherds let us give glory, saying: ‘O Mother of God, pray to Him who became incarnate of you for our salvation.'”
Scripture quotations from the Old Testament are taken from the St. Athanasius Academy Septuagint, Copyright © 2008 by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations from the New Testament are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible—Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition), copyright © 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The RSV Second Catholic Edition Bible is available on the Ignatius Press Website.
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Someone should remind him that the intention for the second First Saturday is blasphemies against Her Perpetual Virginity.
Sorry for the long post but I had to quote it entirely.
Yours in the Infant King,
Margaret 🇺🇸
Thank you Margaret USA, for posting that lovely meditation.
The heretical Portuguese Bishop has denied an article of the Faith, which he presumably “prays” (Apostles Creed) in bad faith day in and day out…
I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary…
Imagine! And this isn’t any old bishop. This is a bishop of a diocese in the very land where Our Lady appeared to the three Fatima seers to forewarn of the diabolical disorientation, the crisis, to come in the Church and the world.
It never ceases to amaze me that any man would accept an office, especially episcopal office, within the Church, when he must know that he does not believe basic tenets of the Faith. Such blatant lack of integrity both mystifies and enrages me – and not necessarily in that order!
Ah, you’re back! I really missed the bloggers when, at night when the children were tucked up, I usually go on the blog. I felt bereft 🙁
Merry Christmas to one and all!
Helen,
Nice that you missed us but sorry you felt bereft – just consider this 4 week Advent closure a very good preparation for when we close the blog permanently in the summer!
I found the news of the death of Sister Wendy Beckett interesting, partly because I met her some years ago, when I visited Quidenham Carmel.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46687275
Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her; may she rest in peace…
Thank you, Helen. I felt the same way when the blog closed down.
Margaret. 🇺🇸
Dear Madame Editor,
I’m glad you liked it. 2019 (it’s coming!) will be the 80th anniversary of the Trinitarian Theophany on June 13th (N.B. Athanasius, you missed my birthday this year! 😢) and 1,370 years since the Lateran Council in 649 infallibly defined the Perpetual Virginity of the Most Holy Mother of God – AND attached an anathema to those who publicly denied Her Perpetual Virginity.
Our Lord is Infinite Charity but He is also Infinitely Just, and He particularly hates it when people blaspheme His Ever-Virgin Mother. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, it was on Dec. 26th (I forget the year) when the tsunami hit in SE Asia, killing hundreds of people and washing away those blasphemous posters against Our Lord and Our Lady. (Our pastor mentioned the tsunami in his Christmas homily.)
Moral of the story: No more blasphemy!
In the Infant King,
Margaret
La revenue! Happy holy time to everyone! I really missed the blog and in advance of closure, like St. Peter, I say ( well sort of) : “To whom do we go …?” Sniff, sniff……………..
Crofterlady,
I paid a visit to The Remnant site to see if I could recommend that blog, although, again, it is a moderated site so not all comments may be published
The articles are very good and Christopher Ferrara’s biting commentary always appeals to me. However, I dislike his constant references to “Bergoglio”, and the (entirely understandable) contempt for this pope which comes across in articles, is all too often reflected in the blog comments where the old chestnut “he’s not a validly elected pope”/he’s an anti-pope” raises its ugly head. And it’s all too easy to forget that it is not for any of us to decide any of that.
As long as you are clear in your mind that these are weaknesses, not strengths, I think it would be a possible resting place for your keyboard, after we disappear in summer. Don’t abandon our website though – we’ll still be strutting our stuff for the duration!
For your interest, here is a recent Remnant article for you to test my assertions herein…
https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/fetzen-fliegen/item/4277-the-pope-who-made-a-joke-of-the-papacy
Editor,
Yes, the lack of filial piety is everywhere in Catholic cyberspace, including among The Remnant writers, and just as bad, if not worse, is the lack of admission/humble realization that this crisis is (a) our chastisement, i.e. the worst possible form of Divine punishment (corrupt clergy and revolutionary men) and (b) a preview of the time of the antichrist, since this is the “minor” chastisement.
In other words, we should not only be resisting the errors of the post-Conciliar clergy (they are not just Francis’ errors: his errors have all been prepared), but also passing on the themes and methods of their corrupt agenda to our descendants, who will no doubt live to see, in the time of the antichrist, this same agenda taken to even more perverse and depraved depths, enforced with much greater power, and cloaked by the same faux-benevolent, faux-compassionate, faux-enlightened mask..
I believe, then, that this awful nightmare is really a gift in disguise, if we but had the humility to realize it.
We’re not exactly inundated with comments since the blog re-opened, are we? No wonder you are going to shut it down. Most people are asleep or just not apostolic enough to git up and go. Sad but true. If all those who claim to “follow” the blog, commented, imagine what a difference that would make. But, is it a case of “I’m alright Jack” or ” someone else can fire the bullets yippee!”? A dereliction of our Confirmation promises as Soldiers of Christ!
Crofterlady,
It is probably due to the time of year.
Whistleblower,
I’m afraid, sad to say, Crofterlady has hit a very big nail on the head. Whatever the time of the year, the comments have been slow to arrive for a very long time now. There’s not much risk of us being named the “Most Lively Blog of the Year” in any award ceremony soon – even if such an award existed 😀
To underline Crofterlady’s point, I received a rather peremptory email enquiry from an unknown (to me) gentleman during Advent, asking why the blog was being closed permanently, since he visited us from time to time and even commented “some”. The theme of his email seemed to be cheek of us!
My reply, from memory, was to inform him that our site stats reveal visitors from every country on the map, day in and day out, and that if even half of them commented “some”, we’d not dream of closing.
So, yes, Crofterlady is right and she provides me with an opportunity to correct the general assumption that the blog is closing because it’s too much work for me, too time-consuming, etc. Not so.
It really isn’t terribly time-consuming – I’m “into” time-management; but it’s time I’d rather not waste: we’ve seen a reduction in contributors for some time now, and we’re not sufficiently highly ranked in the search engines to draw newcomers (plus the other Catholic blogs do not advertise us – I’ve just visited Mundabor and he has sedevacantist sites on his links, but not CT – and the other well-known “traditional” blogs have ignored us from the get-go) so there’s really no point in flogging an unmistakeably dead horse.
Since we are unique in Scotland, however, let’s make the most of this forum in the months to come; it is sad to close, but I really don’t feel that I can justify funding the renewal again this coming July, when there really isn’t the commitment from contributors.
Unless, therefore, the Patron Saint of Blogging produces an influx of seriously committed newcomers in plenty of time before our scheduled closure, we will be saying “goodbye” and “God bless” – which is really, as all linguists will know, the same thing! – in the summer of 2019. It’ll be upon us in no time, so make the most of it because when the CT blog closes, we’re all at the mercy of the moderators elsewhere. And my posts seldom make it through. So, make the most of this blog for now, since summer is only a few months away and time DOES fly… as the lady said when her husband threw the alarm clock at her!
https://learn.toonboom.com/modules/take-animation/Resources/Images/EDU/TBS/015_Lesson_15/AngryClock_282x250.jpg
Editor,
Yes, I see your point clearly.
Crofterlady,
I’ve really answered you above, in my response to Whistleblower, but I should add that you seem to be one of the few people on the planet who connects blogging with our Confirmation duty to be Soldiers of Christ. Unless folk are visiting the sick or raising funds for a Charity it seems they do not think they are taking part in Catholic Action. And that despite Our Lord’s statement: “The poor you will always have with you…” (Matthew 26:11).
So, well said – you are spot on in making that connection…
https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/armagh-cathedral-arrest-follows-pro-15605426…………Could not put on IRISH thread but this story isreally horrific
Wendy,
Thank you for posting that newspaper report, which horrified me. I’ve just sent the following email to the priest concerned:
Fr Peter McAnenly,
Having felt compelled, in recent years, to write to both Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster DUP, after their respective appearances on BBC Question Time, to congratulate them on their wholly correct stance on both abortion and homosexuality, and to underline the fact that the Catholic politicians on the panel alongside them are about as Catholic as the nearest Imam, I was utterly appalled to read a Belfast newspaper report about the 57 year old man due to appear in court, as a result of you telephoning the police. What must these Protestant pro-life politicians and their Protestant pro-life people think? Incredible.
Your argument about insurance is nothing short of ridiculous. I say this, of course, with all due respect because we mustn’t – above all – get hot under the collar and speak forcefully about any of these important moral issues, not even about the murder of these very least of Christ’s brethren. May I suggest, then, with all due respect, that if you were worried about leaving the pro-lifers unattended, if you really thought they were going to pray themselves to death, why not join in the prayer vigil? Perhaps an offer to pray for half-an-hour with the group would have defused the situation – in all fairness to you, certainly, if you were closing the cathedral at its usual time and not to put an end to their vigil, they should have co-operated. To call the police, however, seems to those of us already looking on in disbelief at the dismantling of Catholic Faith and the natural moral law by priests and prelates alike, to be outrageous.
An English, non-Catholic pro-lifer posted the link to the Belfast newspaper report on our “Christmas” blog, because she is absolutely horrified that any Catholic priest would call the police to remove pro-lifers from a Catholic cathedral.
The full horror of abortion is being lost as a result of its legalisation (and as a result of the crisis in the Church where, as prophesied at Fatima, everything is diabolically disoriented; we now even see disoriented priests defending the “pro-choice” women) but, as Pope John Paul II said, “now more than ever we must call things by their proper name; abortion is murder.” In the light of that fact, the protesters are to be commended, not condemned for their attempt to defend innocent human life, and if they were needlessly uncooperative about the closing of the cathedral, that is a pity but not, surely a justification for calling the police. Goodness, when I think if the clergy child-abusers whose colleagues and superiors covered up their sins and crimes, this just takes the biscuit. Thus, I sincerely hope that no similar action will be taken tomorrow morning, when, if they keep their word, the pro-lifers return. End.
His email address is pmcanenly21@gmail.com
Parish team http://armaghparish.net/parish-team/
Dear Holy Priest FR P Mc Anenly
I am e -mailing you in semi disbelief and semi disgust …no disrespect BUT surely what you did by calling The Police on a peaceful pro life person praying is horrific ?
Here we are with Ireland ready to fall into the abyss of evil by aborting its precious new generations because it has been deemed trendy by the demon filled people ..and Politicians .,Mans laws are not Gods Laws
They are NOT pro choice because there is no choice for the poor baby[s] only a horrific death ..then of course the suffering of family members who will mourn these cruel untimely slaughters or deaths for the rest of their lives
You as a man of God must feel very saddened by this …and indeed you state you have a healthy pro life group in your magnificent Cathedral..you cannot though be a man to all men …especially evil ones
I am not a Catholic but I have been fighting the vile so called contraceptive and murderous abortion horrors for 48 years …..here in The UK
The blood of pre born babies saturate our land and yet still they clamour for more infant bloodlust these harbingers of death never stop
I would ask you humbly Dear Fr to drop those charges on the brave pro life Gentleman and do encourage pro life people to Pray in your Cathedral which is Gods dwelling of course not satans
In time to come when Christenings drop and Holy Communions beautifully joyous occasions plummet because like the pied piper your babies will have been spirited away by abortion and the abortionists who do the wicked deeds with such delight
You will see more and more people sorely wounded by abortion whose grief and guilt and possible mental and physical health has been damaged forever in your Confession box ….May God give you strength to be able to offer comfort and Peace for them
Yours so sadly
BUt Respectfully always
Please ask OUR BLESSED LADY OF GUADALUPE TO HELP YOU
Wendy Walker Mrs
God Bless and be strong against the evil you so face
https://www.americaneedsfatima.org/Our-Blessed-Mother/protectress-of-the-unborn-our-lady-of-guadalupe.html
Protectress of the Unborn – Our Lady of Guadalupe | Our Blessed Mother | ANF Articles – Welcome to America Needs Fatima | ANF Site Articles
One wintry Christmas Eve, a silver-haired woman sitting by her fire hearth reading her Bible, trying to make sense of why Our Lord became Man, was taught a great lesson by a flock of geese.
http://www.americaneedsfatima.org
Dear All here is my offering to FR MCAnenly Pray his heart changes over The pro Life prayerful man
Indeed welcome back and a very Happy New Year to all on here but without these blogs it will not be the same dreadfully sad
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