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“History is a set of lies agreed upon,” said Napoleon. “More lies have been aimed at destroying the good name and holy work of our Roman Catholic Church than any other institution in the world. “Even most Catholics believe the lies they were taught in high school or have seen on T.V. and social media. “Do you know—and are you able to defend—the true history of the Catholic Church? “Here's a test. “Is this really how Cortés and the other Catholic Spaniards treated the Aztecs?”  Storming of the Teocalli by Cortez and His Troops (1848) by Emanuel Leutze (1816–1868) Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in the public domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leutze,_Emanuel_%E2%80%94_Storming_of_the_Teocalli_by_Cortez_and_His_Troops_%E2%80%94_1848.jpg “Many books have been written about the history of the Catholic Church, but few history books have been written from a Catholic perspective. That is, until now.”  History book can be purchased from catholiccompany.com... 256 pages, $18.95.
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What Is It that makes the Latin Language so pure & beautiful? “With minor exceptions, Latin pronunciation is as straightforward as is possible. There are precisely five key vowels and predictable consonant sounds that once learned can be replicated across the near entirety of the language. “English, for example, is not like this at all; we are rife with different rules and applications of those rules, because of our strange but endearing development as a language, which was a complicated process of mixing over the centuries. … “But it’s a good starting point for consideration that, in the providence of God’s overarching, mysterious sovereignty and His absolute knowing of beauty’s value for the souls He created, He saw fit to allow such a pure language to develop in precisely the right moment for the birth of the Church.” https://cassiaandmyrrh.com/on-the-beautiful-purity-of-the-latin-language/ The omnipresence of letters m and n, the humming letters, and qu, the beautiful kw sound, make the language most melodious. In the 12/29/2023 entry, Thomas Becket, find the marvel quemadmodum, accent on ad, translated as as! Incubus Ante Natalem The Nightmare Before Christmas This is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical directed by Henry Selick and produced/conceived by Tim Burton. Is the film a Halloween story or a Christmas story? I think it is a rare-for-Hollywood allegory—Resurrection. Creator and Chief, Scorpio Martianus, aka Luke Amadeus Ranieri, classical Latin and Greek whizbang, funny and poetic.
I’d rather live by poetry read, Or bawdy conversation with a friend and be fed, Or in a booth next to Mass, And ask needs be met by my manservant outclass, Thereunder the watchful eye of Jeeves To drift away in the eves. The Crucifixion, tempera on wood, by Paolo Veneziano, c. 1340/45; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 31 cm × 38 cm Is light attracted by gravity? Answered on Quora by Kip Ingram, PhD in Electrical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Cockrell School of Engineering (1992) Newton’s theory of gravity would have said “no,” and since Newton’s theory is the most people are generally exposed to in “early physics education” a lot of people walk around thinking that zero mass [light] implies no gravitational activity. This turns out to be incorrect, though for practical day-to-day calculations it’s perfectly good. Einstein gave us an improved theory of gravity in the early 1900’s, and under his theory any form of energy whatsoever both creates gravitational effects and responds to gravitational effects created by other things. Yes, light follows a curved path through a gravitational field that can be calculated using Einstein’s theory. Observation of this light curvature was the first “big confirmation” of Einstein’s new theory and was done using a solar eclipse to allow us to see starlight that passed close to the sun on its way to us. Those stars showed up in the “wrong positions,” but precisely where Einstein’s theory told us to expect to see them. Today, Friday, 12/29/2023, we commemorate Thomas Becket, b. London 1118, d. Canterbury 1170, murdered in his own cathedral. He was educated at Merton Priory and the University of Paris (Sorbonne).  Who is Melchisedech? A prototype of Jesus. The silence of Scripture about the facts of Melchisedech’s birth and death was part of the divine plan to make him prefigure more strikingly the mysteries of Christ’s generation, the eternity of His priesthood. This is the church Father Goodwin, FSSP, referred to (see 12/27/2023), streamed live 14 hours ago.  SSPX French-Accented Latin
The Holy Innocents died in Christ’s stead so that He could die in ours. The Mass commemorates the children slaughtered by King Herod, whose goal was to kill the Christ Child and preserve his own power. Unlike other places, traditional Catholic churches are open all day long, unless there is grave danger in the immediate vicinity, and do not close during an epidemic, except by authoritarian force. This reality is inesse et historicus. Anyone can walk in and out. If you wish to verify, check out Catholic films before Vatican II. Start with Diary of a Country Priest. Put your illusions aside. I am not a Christian, nor are you, without a priest. God’s mercy is all we would have.  Society of Jesus founded 1540 (numbers rounded) 1950 29,000 1960 35,000 1970 34,000 1980 27,000 1990 26,000 2000 21,000 2010 18,000 2020 15,000 https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dqsj0.html 
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter founded 1988 1991 103 1995 112 2011 370 2012 384 2013 387 2014 402 2017 418 2020 468 https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dqfsp.html  So, you think Pope Francis is a good guy. Did you know he did the following? “Following on the ‘celebration’ of the Protestant Reformation by Pope Francis last October in his visit to Sweden [October 31, 2016], the Vatican postage stamp honoring Martin Luther, and the statement from the Vatican that Luther was a ‘witness to the Gospel,’ Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has added something even more unsettling.
“The cardinal, in an interview published in the Osservatore Romano, the official newspaper of the Vatican, stated that doctrinal condemnations expressed by the Council of Trent against the Protestants ‘have no more value today.’ “Thus we have a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church publicly stating that a dogmatic Ecumenical Council of the Church no longer has value—and this statement is published in the official Vatican newspaper.” https://angeluspress.org/blogs/tradition/more-nonsense-regarding-martin-luther The Lutheran Lectionary is basically the same as the Novus Ordo Lectionary. The Lectionary is the book on the altar at Mass. Surprise! This is old news, but it slipped by me, and I bet most Catholics missed it, too. When one is working many hours every week, there is little time for news. drawing courtesy of se.dreamstime.com  The Virgin and the Child and The Birth of Jesus by Chen Yuandu (1902-1967)
Also known as Luke Chen, he was fine art professor at Fu Jen Catholic University and a pioneer of the brush-ink techniques taken from traditional Chinese paintings to produce biblical scenes. https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1011968 Here is a talk from April 2012. The pre-Francis talk is most relevant today and has 60,000 views. “In 1974, Father Goodwin entered the Society of Jesus. [He was 26.] “During his formation years, he spent four years at Cheverus High School in Portland, ME, where he taught Latin and Greek. Fr. Goodwin was ordained a priest on June 9, 1979 and returned to Cheverus to teach the classics for 20 years. A gifted teacher, he was loved by his students and greatly admired by his colleagues. “In 1999, moved by his great love for the Traditional Latin Mass, Fr. Goodwin applied to the Fraternity of St. Peter. From August 1999 to June 2000 he was Assistant Chaplain at our apostolate in Pequannock, NJ. Then from 2000 to 2013 he taught at the seminary of the Fraternity in Denton, NE. “He was definitively incorporated into the FSSP on October 18, 2004.” Fr. Calvin Goodwin FSSP 1948-2021 Add Daniel Fernando Cardinal Sturla Berhouet, SDB, of Uruguay, 64, to the list of conservative bishops. He and I had good theater seats for The Mid-Century Destruction of Catholic Culture. If you missed it, here is an example of good entertainment before modernism. This is a radio version of the 1951 murder mystery, Thunder on the Hill, and was broadcast on 9/21/1968. Sister Mary Bonaventure, played by Flora Robson, matron in charge of a convent hospital ward in Norfolk County, England, must act quickly. Good climax. Dame Flora McKenzie Robson was in the 1939 American film, Wuthering Heights. She never married and lived with her two sisters. All three died inside of one year.
 Betcha didn’t know. The origin of doctor is the Latin word for teacher, itself from the verb, docēre, meaning “to teach.” In English, it originally referred to a small group of theologians who had approval from the Church to speak on religious matters, later expanding to include academic (PhD) and medical professionals (MD). Rod of Asclepius. He was son of Apollo, physician, and a deity associated with the healing and medicinal arts in Greek mythology.
 Mass in a Connemara Cabin by Aloysius O’Kelly, 1883, b. Dublin 1852, d. Poughkeepsie 1936. He studied at École des Beaux-Arts. Notice the disguise: top hat and coat. A print of Home Mass is available at Etsy. This is not a rewind of the past. My intention is to highlight current turmoil we face.
 Lamentation of Christ by Willem Key, Flemish Renaissance painter, Antwerp 1516-1568
His flesh is not gray. One person is walking away, there are no crowds, digging dirt is uninterrupted, the life of the countryside and walled village goes on, and a mother and her Son are barely noticed. All is not peaceful here. Look at her face, again. The term Gnosticism derives from the use of the Greek adjective gnostikos (Greek γνωστικός, meaning “learned, intellectual”).
It was defined by St. Irenaeus (c. AD 185) to describe the school of Valentinus as, “‘legomene gnostike haeresis,’ the heresy called Learned (gnostic).” These people thought that they possessed some special knowledge. Modern Heresies Mormons (1830) Seventh Day Adventists (1863) Christian Science (1879) Jehovah’s Witnesses (1870) I am obliged to point out that Gnosticism is false, God is both spirit and body, and there are Three Persons in One God. In Heaven, Our Lord is both spirit and body. At the Last Judgment (Resurrection of the Dead), we will be reunited to our bodies. When we say things in three’s, some think it repetitious. Wrong. For example, when the priest says, “Domine, non sum dignus… Lord, I am not worthy…”, three times as he looks upon the body of Jesus, he is looking at the Three Persons, because They are always present to One Another. They are the origin of familial love. I don’t need to cite the Bible or the Catechism. These are, and have been, basic beliefs for 2,000 years. Reread your Nicene Creed. The Apostles Creed is the earlier of the two, most likely a baptismal statement, and has been around since at least the 2nd century (100s). Though not lifted out of the Bible, it is certainly biblical. The Nicene Creed comes from the Council of Nicea in AD 325. Heresies down through the years have forced the Catholic Church to issue doctrinal decrees for what was always believed and upheld from the beginning.   Description: Photographed on the deck of his ship, circa 1939. Captain Kidd has inscribed the original print: To my able gunnery officer and friend Commander Abercrombie. Sincerely, Isaac Campbell Kidd. Lieutenant Commander Laurence A. Abercrombie was assigned to Arizona during the latter part of Kidd's tour as her Commanding Officer. Donation of Richard C. Beggarly, Jr., June 2000. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph USS Arizona: Rear Admiral Kidd died Dec 7, 1941, the Pearl Harbor sucker punch to him/his men. Jolly Roger 17th century pirate: Captain Kidd. USS Kidd: It is the only ship to fly the Jolly Roger. "Surrender or die." You know that the motto of the Marines is "Semper Fidelis—Always Faithful", but did you know that the motto of Space Force is "Semper Supra—Always Above"? United States Air Force Senior Airman Daniel Sanchez proposed "Semper Supra" both because of ease of pronunciation and alliteration of the Latin phrase and English translation. This all ready is the pulse of young Catholic men in 2024, not that descending party ball in NYC. Taking the pulse tells me we need some based Catholic art, story, and animation in 2024.
St. Stephen Catholic Church, Sacramento, CA, side chapel with crib and our only side altar with altar cards on top. The boys set up the three cards on the main altar before Mass begins. The cards contain prayers with beautifully decorated script and artwork, but their only purpose is as a memory aid for the priest saying the prayers during Mass.    The crib is empty before a candlelight Midnight Mass. The baby Jesus is carried in by an altar boy. In a Latin Mass (three priests for a High Mass, such as Midnight), the priest and congregants all face the same direction, and the priest is like a general leading the troops. However, seldom does he say “I”. He must increase; I must decrease.
my last recital at 15, sixth of six to play C.P.E. attended St. Thomas in Leipzig, founded by the Augustinians in 1212, one of the oldest schools in the world and still serving. I attended St. Ignatius in San Francisco, founded by the Jesuits in 1855.  photo taken by Josef Ketzer, Nativity Scene, yesterday,
St. Stephan's Cathedral, Vienna, the Baby Jesus still covered strong action verbs; just enough adjectives; no wasted words; false clues; taut plot; surprise Here is the Latin Mass from Melbourne, if you can't attend locally. Father Dillon is a courageous parish priest facing ad orientem and massive opposition to the Mass of the Ages. Only the wicked man thinks the TLM was abolished. Please hit like on YT. “In Melbourne in his fine church of St. Philip’s, Blackburn North, I met a Kiwi refugee, Fr Nicholas Dillon, who told me our late lamented Fr Brian Buenger is merely the tip of a clerical iceberg of orthodox seminarians and priests frozen out of their homeland [New Zealand] by what we agreed is, in essence, a lack of Eucharistic faith.
“Fr Dillon is young, intelligent, a celebrated organist—and orthodox, like at least ten others he could name who have fled overseas to the FSSP (Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter), Opus Dei, and the Legion of Christ.” https://juliadufresne.blogspot.com/2019/07/to-comment-please-open-your-gmail_31.html Domine, non sum dignus... Lord, I am not worthy... The University of California system plans to eliminate the SAT and ACT as requirements for applying to its 10 schools, but who benefits from these changes?
Answered by Quora contributor Ty Doyle, Lawyer, April 30, 2023, upvoted by Holger Müller, Physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley. [The SAT and ACT were eliminated for the 2023-2024 school year. The UC system has not figured out what it will do for 2024-2025.] “These changes - and UC is far from unique in this - are all about race-based affirmative action, specifically the expectation that the Supreme Court will disallow its use in university admissions later this year [which happened]. “Right now, for example, Proposition 209 prevents the consideration of race in California public education. As a result, UC Berkeley’s current composition is nearly 2/5 Asian, although the state’s eligible students are only 1/5 Asian. Why? Because many Asian students do well on standardized tests like the SAT. “College administrators want diverse incoming classes that reflect local/regional populations. To use Berkeley again, right now the Latino student population is only about half of what would be expected based on eligible in-state population (less than 20% versus 40%). “These administrators know that if they cannot discriminate based on race, and standardized testing still plays a major role in the admissions process, then all top schools will look like Berkeley, i.e., with ‘too many’ Asian and/or white students. “You’re therefore seeing many universities go to more of a ‘black box’ model where the specific inputs required to gain the desired outputs are obscured. “Who benefits from these changes? Well, obviously, people who don’t do well on standardized tests. But really, this is about admissions offices wanting the freedom to do as they please and not have to explain themselves to students, parents, rankings services, etc.” [answer very slightly edited with no effect to content] My take:
 “The book is a biography, but not only a biography. It reconstructs the almost unknown life of Francis Morgan (1857–1935), a Catholic priest of Anglo-Spanish origin, who was involved in the sherry trade and was guardian and ‘second father’ of author J.R.R. Tolkien. “There is one aspect of Tolkien’s biography that has been barely investigated so far: his early years and the lasting relationship of Tolkien (who was orphaned as a child) with his guardian, Father Francis Morgan.” He became legal guardian of the Tolkien brothers after the death of their mother, Mabel Tolkien, in 1904. Written by Michael Flowers for the Tolkien Society website on April 4, 2018, Luna Press Publishing, Edinburgh. Father Morgan was a priest of the Birmingham Oratory, run by religious Cardinal Saint John Henry Newman founded. From the National Catholic Register-
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