HOLLYWOOD DEFECATES A NEW OFFERING AT US

Movies made by degenerates, for degenerates

 The FOX channel, owned by the devout Jew Rupert Murdoch, is about to fling at the public yet another product emerging from its troubled intestines, a television offering entitled "An American Horror Story: Asylum".  This rubbish, made by degenerates for degenerates, is the usual pornographic assault on the Catholic Church and is totally unworthy of any serious discussion, save this:  it is further proof that the dripping jaws of the jackals are coming closer to the Church, aided and abetted by the usual suspects and the sleeping US Episcopate which raises few if any words of protest.

Firstly, does anybody watch this garbage?

One cannot imagine a normal family, or even a hard-working adult coming home from their daily labors and sitting down to watch such things.  Who actually could sit through it?  The ads say that you should only watch it if you are an adult; I would say you should only watch it if you are daft.  What adult would subject himself to it?  Perhaps I am living in the Stone Age of television watching, where the average viewer was gifted with sophistication, some culture and innate good taste - the type of viewer that would appreciate thoughtful television programs.  Are there really now creatures lurking about who would sit through this crap without throwing up?

As for the "talents" who make such things...well, I don't think that even the combined skills of the nitwits, pederasts and Christ Despisers who create today's tv offerings would make anyone with enough sense to tie their own shoes want to sully themselves by looking at it.  The only people I could imagine wanting to watch this would be the same kind who enjoy bear-baiting.

Here is a good project for His Eminence, the Cardinal-Archbishop of New York, the jolly Timothy Dolan.  Your Eminence: remove that wonderful smile from your face and replace it with a look of grim determination.  Hop into a cab and go to the FOX headquarters in New York.  Don't ask for an appointment; don't talk with them on the phone beforehand.  Just go over there, walk right up to the office of the CEO and give him a taste of Hell.  Don't be patient; don't be nice.  Give the bastard hell.  Don't reason with him; one doesn't reason with soulless money grubbers.  Don't dine with him.  Don't laugh with him.  Just give him hell.

If he offers you a generous contribution for your favorite Catholic charity to placate you, throw the money back in his face.

Afterwards, start writing about this in your diocesan paper, on your website, anywhere you like.  Again, Your Eminence, the time for niceties is over.  The Bride of Christ has been mocked, sullied, pornofied and belittled.  When you face God one day, He is not going to ask you if you were pleasant to the CEO of Fox News or to his boss, the devout Jew Rupert Murdoch; He is going to ask you what you did to defend the Bride of His Son.

Your Eminence, the ball is now in your court.

HOW A CATHOLIC CAN UNDERSTAND GAZA

Well, by starting to realize that many Palestinians in Gaza are Christian, for one thing.

This rarely mentioned fact is perhaps the major reason why most Catholics (and most non-Catholics for that matter) are unwilling to look any deeper into the troubles over there and rely only on the propaganda put out by the major media and governmental outlets.  There is more to this story than meets the eye.

One of the founding editors of The American Conservative, Mr Scott McConnell, has written a fine piece on how perception of the Holy Land conflict is radically different from the reality.  A false perception has been created by almost the entirety of the US government establishment, the near-entirety of the national print and visual media, and the occupation authorities in Palestine, these three almost always working in tandem.  Here is a timely article that deserves reading, especially by those Catholics who have not taken the trouble to understand the dynamics of a horror story that has been ongoing since at least 1947.

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-official-line-palestine-7769?page=show

As we prepare ourselves for the coming of a great Feast next month, let us remember our fellow Christians in that sacred land who are enduring real everyday suffering at the hands of one of history's most brutal regimes.

TYRANNY UPDATE

I am continually grateful for the writings of Mr Glenn Greenwald, a liberal Democrat, who, unlike his fellow liberal Democrats is not afraid to point out the cynicism, lust for power and  murderous intentions of those in his Party.  He is an equal opportunity enemy of tyrants, be they Republican or Democrat.

He shows us that we as a nation have something to be concerned about, a budding tyranny that has been budding for decades under all presidencies.  We ignore his warnings at our peril.

Here is a particularly brilliant article from Mr Greenwald.  He is of the Left, and therefore no friend of many of the ideas shared by Catholics.  But on this issue he is with us and we should read him:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/26/obama-drones-kill-list-framework

Pass it on.

FIRST, PREPARE FOR ADVENT

When Advent arrives this year, in a very few days from now, we do the world and ourselves a disservice by letting it pass virtually unnoticed.  In the United States this is always the danger, unsurprising in a country that once many years ago banned the celebration of the great feast that immediately follows Advent (and a case where history just might be beginning to repeat itself with a terrible vengeance) and only eventually relented on the grounds that the nation's economy would benefit.  In a country that thrives on the crassest of commercialism there is a continual din in our ears telling us to buy and buy and buy.  The sad spectacle need not be catalogued here.  It is ubiquitous.  This poisoning has even spread to many other countries.

But we need not let Advent go unnoticed.  We can, indeed must, ignore the malls, the radio stations playing their horrible holiday ditties, the whole sorry lot.  Advent is a time for preparation for Christmastide.  But with all that is being flung at us now (and has been flinging at us since September) we must prepare not yet for Christmas but instead for Advent first.

We speak of New Year's resolutions.  Let us suggest that what we should write down now is Advent resolutions.  We at The Eye Witness wish to offer several possible resolutions we all might make to our spiritual profit.

The Church once wisely taught us that Advent is a time for fast and abstinence.  Much shorter than the 40 days of Lent - this year Advent is only about three weeks long - surely we can begin our joyous expectations of the coming of the Christ Child by a little penance during this holy time.  Our souls need this.  Fasting, paradoxically, is true nourishment.  It must be first on our list.

And there is more.

Surely we can strongly re-think our gift giving, can we not?  Dear parents of growing little ones, give them less, not more.  Prevent them if at all possible from seeing the tv adverts.  They really do not need the latest Chinese-made garbage that will last only a few weeks before being thrown out.  Those of you who are financially secure must try the hardest to slim down the gift lists.  Those who are the working poor, and the non-working poor can find it easier to limit the presents under the tree.  But the financially well-off should take pains to lower spending.  And for the love of God and the health of their minds eschew completely any electronic gadgets.  Think of how many wasted hours are spent staring at computer screens, cell phones and tvs.  (Think, too, about the honeybee population which is dwindling at a terrifying rate, some of which can be directly attributed to the use of cell phones.  Talking uselessly on a cell phone wont compensate for the collapse of food production should this bee problem grow any worse.)  Is it too late to try to interest them in literature - not "Harry Potter" but genuine literature?  At least introduce them to someone like Conan Doyle, for in the writings of this man their minds will be fascinated by his story-telling expertise.  Does that young lad of yours like dinosaurs?  Give him "The Lost World" by Doyle, and you will be giving him the best time of his reading life.  Does that wide-eyed daughter of yours love stories?  Giver her "Kristin Lavrensdatter" or "Little Women".  She will always thank you for that.  Of course give them some kind of amusing gift if needs must, but make it something of quality.  Believe it or not it is still possible to find simple, hand-crafted items made in Europe (even, astoundingly, in the US) if you seek them out.  Use your imagination to select fun items for them that will stimulate their imaginations and their creative impulses.

Give wine and food instead of the latest superfluous junk.  Think of permanence, not in passing fancies.  Don't ever look at the coming Christmas Season as an economic stimulator, a tawdry exercise in mere money grubbing.  We are talking about something loftier than that.

Seek out a quiet Church and spend a few moments with the Blessed Sacrament.  Find a good, solid Confessor and go to him to receive the Sacrament of Penance.

Yes, we all love Bing Crosby and his famous Christmas songs.  They can be listened to in moderation.  Yet it is far better to introduce yourselves to the music of our Christian ancestors.  Many classical radio stations have gone now so it will be necessary for you to buy recordings of this music of the Ages of Faith.  Let your mind and heart sing with the medieval musicians and get recordings of these works.  This music is haunting and beautiful and it cements our connections with our Catholic past.  (Not all modern music is to be disparaged, of course.  If something written relatively recently has quality by all means let it fill you with the joy of the Season.  Indeed one of the most beautiful modern Christmas-related  tunes we have ever heard was written by, of all people, Harpo Marx!  Lyrics are here: http://www.harpbycathy.com/guardianangels.htm)

It is good to be done with the cheap and the shoddy, whether it be with what we buy or what we read and hear or the hours we spend.  Find times of quiet during the day or evening.  Find a few moments for the Joyful Mysteries.

Select your Advent wreath and introduce into your home the old custom of Advent wreath prayers before meals, where the youngest, the oldest, the mother and lastly the father have their special duties during each week of the holy time.

Wait until we are far along in the preparatory cycle before we purchase our Christmas trees.  Let us put them up closer to Christmas, and keep them up during the entire Holy Nativity Season if possible.  In some areas we have to duck as we walk by houses on December 26th to protect ourselves from being injured by trees being flung out the front door.  Such people understand nothing of what this time of year means.

Let us then use Advent to cleanse our sensibilities so that our thoughts and efforts are directed at preparing the straw that will make comfortable the manger which will hold the Word made flesh, the Lamb of God.  Do not allow the money-changers to keep your mind misdirected away from the great preparatory days of Advent.  Advent should not be wasted.  Let us live this Advent as if it were our last

If we make a good Advent, we keep a good Christmas.



From the great Robert Shaw:   http://youtu.be/VZkcimYymBA

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!




L to R: Republican nonentity,  noted standup comic,  grinning psychopath

Dear Assorted sociopaths, assassins, pederasts, war criminals, frothing-at-the-mouth abortionists, wardheelers, bums, idiots and poofs,

Your hero has won again!  But in your jubilation please do not forget to express your deep thanks to the Archdiocese of New York for their help in keeping the White House free of any taint of simple human decency.  You can write them here:

Joseph Zwilling
Director
Office of Communications
1011 First Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 212.371.1011 Ext. 2990


Cordially,
Aged Parent
The Eye Witness

FRIDAY ABSTINENCE: THE HEALING BALM

Noise is being made by certain dignitaries in the Catholic Church in America about the possibility of bringing back the Friday fast, or "meatless Fridays" as it had come to be known.  If it actually happens, and is not merely  a type of finger-in-the-wind move by media-terrified Bishops, then it would be a long overdue return to some semblance of sanity in Catholic practice.  The removing of the Friday fast rules by the aging hippies of the 1960s Vatican was a disaster of the first magnitude.

I have no doubt, either, that it is disaster that was intended.  At least by some of them.

There was an old man this writer once knew and worked with back in the mid-1970s.  He was a cheerful bloke, always managing to keep affable in his humble job as a janitor in a factory.  But there was something constantly troubling him which he would never talk about.  He was a Catholic, but his conversations about the Church whenever the subject came up were always tinged with a distinct touch of sarcasm.  One day the cause of this sarcasm was blurted out when we were engaging in a serious discussion about the Church's sole guardianship of the truth.

"I'll tell you what I think of the Church and the truth," he said with some anger in his voice.  "All the years I was growing up I was told that it was essential to not eat meant on Friday under pain of sin, and now the Church says I don't have to do that anymore.  There's your 'one, true Church' for you.  They make it up as they go along."

Here was an old man on the brink of losing his Faith, and the trigger for that attitude was the colossally stupid Vatican move to eliminate the Friday fast.  I don't know if the man stayed in the Church until his death, but if he didn't then the Church and the leaders thereof would be culpable for the loss of this man's soul.

It is not necessary to go into a long explanation as to the exactitude of this man's views on the Friday fast.  He was clearly badly instructed from youth.  But the nail in the coffin, the action that helped shatter his confidence in the Divine origin of the Catholic Church was the Pope Paul VI-approved elimination of Friday abstinence.

It is utterly without point, too, to bother explaining that the Church in removing this requirement stated that another form of penance could be practiced.  It is without point because nobody listened to that.  All they heard was that they could now enjoy red meat on Fridays.  They forgot (and were rarely if ever reminded of) the reason for Friday abstinence: giving yourself a weekly reminded of the sufferings of Christ on the cross who died on a Friday.  That was always the reason but in America at least, even before the Second Vatican Catastrophe Fridays had been ritualized into a visit to the restaurant with drinks and a lovely fish dinner.  While these pre-conciliar Catholics refrained from meat they weren't exactly being penitential by eating lobster,shrimp, scallops or fish.  They were keeping to the letter of the law but not necessarily to the spirit, and this writer is as guilty as the next in that regard.

Be that as it may a return to Friday penance - as long as the Bishops clearly instruct the faithful that the reason for the penance is to atone a bit for the sufferings of Jesus Christ - can only be a good thing.  There are rumblings in England about a return to the Friday abstinence.  This can only do good for a Church and a world on the brink of total and complete breakdown.

But what will happen if the Bishops reimpose this penance?  Therein lies the problem, though dire as the problem is it should not scare off the Bishops from going ahead with the project.  The problem, simply stated, is this: will Catholics who have been contracepting and NFPing themselves out of existence, and utterly ignoring the Church on vital issues, and whose Mass they attend is a supreme banality that would insult the intelligence of a seven-year-old, bother to obey the fasting rule?  They see priests, nuns, Bishops and Cardinals running around defying dogma and tradition without ever being disciplined by Rome.  They attend the 1970 "ordinary form" Mass (and goodness, ordinary it certainly is) with its dreadful music, words, vestments, preaching, prancing, dancing.  They view the utter hypocrisy of a hierarchy on the one hand condemning the buggering of adolescent boys by homosexually-disturbed priests (while never, of course, ever mentioning the word "homosexual", an indication of cowardice if ever there was one), and on the other hand they watch a Cardinal Wuerl chastising and publicly humiliating a good priest for refusing Communion to an insolent lesbian.  In the face of this will Catholics obey it?

That would depend on the Bishops.  Talk is one thing; action is another.  If it is not enforced it will not be obeyed.  We have the example of Humanae Vitae to reveal what happens when good talk is not backed up by decisive action.  It is not necessary here to review the sad history of that affair.  Priests, Bishops and Cardinals ignored it and refused point blank to implement it.  And the Popes did next to nothing to discipline them for that.  So our Lordships are going to have to commit themselves to enforcing the Friday rules should they decide to reintroduce them.

If it is presented properly, as a small sacrifice once a week to commiserate with Our Lord during His sufferings on the cross, it will do some good no matter how many or how few practice it.  It cannot but bring graces down upon us.  It will be a strong step back to the sane and the holy.  It will be a slap in the face of Satan.  It will change hearts and minds.

It may also contribute, one sincerely hopes, to the quick death of liturgical chaos and tampering.  It may hasten the day when the second-rate Novus Ordo "ordinary form" will enter the dustbin of history, and it may help save the Church.  For if Catholics are still being faced with these atrocious liturgies every Sunday it will be very hard to stop the rot.  And if the Friday abstinence rules come back the graces therefrom surely will ultimately help end the liturgical nightmare we are now faced with.

We are with you, dear Bishops, should you decide to take this vital step.

The Editors, The Eye Witness

post scriptum:
Your Lordships next move, it would seem to us, would be to eliminate the Saturday night anticipatory Mass.  It is Sunday, after all, that is the Lord's Day, not shopping day.
 

THE BALFOUR DECLARATION, 65 YEARS LATER

Always our thoughts on the tragedy being played out in the land where Christ once walked center on the never-ending injustice that drenches the area.  On the historical facts behind this tragedy little is known by the average reader.  Therefore it is necessary for sensible discussion that these facts are known.

Daily we hear about Muslim fanaticism, some of which reporting is rubbish while some of it, alas, is true.  Rarely do we ever hear the causes of this fanaticism and when some pundit attempts to find a cause he chooses the route of the unthinking.  To these people the only explanation for the mess is Arab intransigence, recklessness and ignorance (or, more laughably, "because they hate our freedoms").  To these the Arabs are unworthy of their thoughts or their compassion.  They are like ants and nothing more.  Repugnant websites like "JihadWatch" peddle this attitude with grand insouciance, never bothering to do the investigative work necessary to find the real causes of the fanaticism they decry.

The real cause dates back twenty centuries, before there were any such things as Moslems.  But the immediate cause of the current troubles dates from the mad dreams of Theodore Herzl, dreams which came to fruition a little over sixty short years ago, in 1947, the year in which the ethnic cleansing of the Holy Land began.

The following article offers the relevant facts and offers a challenge, too.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/9645925/Britain-must-atone-for-its-sins-in-Palestine.html

Of further interest, this apparently little-known assassination - little know in the USA that is - continues to throw light on the whole terrible situation.  The victim was Catholic Arab Alex Odeh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Odeh 

This is but the proverbial tip of the iceberg.  But these things must become better known, for the sake of all people who live in the world.

LAWRENCE STICH AND LEE ERICKSON: THE ART OF CATHOLIC MUSIC

                                            St Stanislaus Church, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Whenever one attends a Catholic Mass in the ancient rite of the Church one's reaction is generally awe, an awe brought upon by the majesty and quiet reverence of that Rite which in all its essentials dates from the time of Christ.  Sometimes, however, that sense of awe and beauty is broken by something discordant.  The usual culprit is the music, often ill-chosen or badly played, which keeps one's attention away from the central point of the Holy Sacrifice.  There was not, however, a single discordant note at the Wedding Mass of Mr Andrew Thompson and Miss Maria Guenzel held at St Stanislaus Church in Milwaukee on October 27th which this writer was privileged to attend.  At that Mass the music melded perfectly with the solemn actions performed at the altar.  It was an integral part of the Mass.  It was Catholic music.  It was music that didn't take away from the Mass.  On the contrary the work of this choir at that celebration actually enhanced the Mass and permitted the believers to be totally enveloped in the mysteries.

Interior of St Stanislaus

That minor miracle was accomplished by master choir director Lawrence Stich whose good taste, sense of balance and thorough knowledge of Church music mark him as one of the most accomplished kapelmeisters of his generation.  His Palestrina Choir forces were brilliantly led and equally brilliantly accompanied by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's Lee Erickson, who provided sensitive organ playing, majestic when required and delicately hushed when the moment demanded it.  It is well known that not only is Erickson the highly (and justly) acclaimed choral director for the MSO but that he is also an exceptionally gifted organist.  The combination of Stich and Erickson, therefore, was sure to provide top-notch results. 

And it did.

                                                                                Lawrence Stich

                                                           Lee Erickson



The Mass chosen was Rene Quignard's Short Mass in Honor of St John the Baptist and its melodies haunted the lovely 19th Century church on Milwaukee's South side.  The composition was written in the mid-20th century but its ties to the early Christian centuries are evident.  That continuity is what makes the listener believe that such sounds could have been heard at the time of Christ.  Though modern it is, paradoxically, ancient.  The listener is drawn into the entire history of his Faith.  It is the music not only of the 20th century but of the 13th and the 3rd.  And the 21st.  With music such as this one is connected with his Christian ancestors in every time and in every place.  For sheer beauty, for that odd combination of desolate sadness combined with inner exaltation it would be hard to better the Quignard Mass, and it would be harder still to better the performance given here.  Every moment of the music expresses perfectly where you are at the Mass.

Conductor Stich drew out every nuance of this work.  The composer quite clearly meant his music to meet not only aesthetic but spiritual needs. The Kyrie opens the Mass with a heart-breaking and simple statement: Quignard is asking us in his music to beg Our Lord's mercy, and maestro Stich helps us to implore it.  The actions at the altar combined with this sad Kyrie humble the faithful and offer time for reflection.  But then the mood changes to joy and gladness with the towering Quignard Gloria.  Here the Palestrina Choir shone.  Their voices had that rare quality - yes, let us call it a spiritual quality - which enabled them to give glory to God in true fashion.  [One almost hesitates to say this but there were not a few handkerchiefs taken out of pockets during this moment.]

Maestros Stich and Erickson discussing the score

  The Canon of the Mass is introduced with a gorgeous Sanctus, again brilliantly conducted, sung and played.  It must be stated that the final "Hosannah" prior to the Consecration was one of those unforgettable moments when the Mass and the music which adorns it act as one.  Lee Erickson's organ playing perfectly matched the singers throughout the Mass but especially at this moment.  The church now plunged into silence awaits the sacred moments of the Consecration.  After the unbloody sacrifice is accomplished, Stich's singers and Erickson's playing rise slowly in unison to bring these solemn moments to their conclusion.  Their efforts help the priest bring us right to the foot of the Cross.  And then afterwards there is the Angus Dei before Holy Communion, beautiful solos by soprano Mary Brown and the conclusion of a wedding Mass that would not have disgraced the marriage of a Monarch.

Stich with soloist Mary Brown

This writer has personally heard this Mass performed on other occasions in other venues but has rarely heard it done so well.  Stich's skill in filling the church with sound using only a rather small grouping, as here, was never more vividly on display.  It is a testament to an artist who knows the importance of balance and knows how to coax great singing out of his choir.  He demands a lot of his Palestrina Choir and whether it is by sheer talent or sheer talent combined with a determination to show him they can not be defeated the Choir delivers with tremendous power.  Yes, acoustics play their part.  But there must be something filling that acoustical space.  The Palestrina Choir filled it with the song of Angels.

Memorable too was Lee Erickson's opening processional for the entrance of the bride, appropriately setting the stage for the proceedings.  It thundered so as to highlight the great beginning moments, then gave way to the quiet, haunting Propers sung by the men's schola under maestro Stich.  I would not hesitate to say that in its small way this combination of Stich and Erickson at a Solemn High Wedding Mass echoes the more feted collaborations of renowned classical artists.   

                                                           Rev. Father Benoit Jayr

Though more of a music review we cannot neglect to mention that the lucky Milwaukee couple, Andrew Thompson and his new bride Maria, were equally well-served by a gorgeous and reverently arranged Mass in the historical Gregorian Rite performed by Rev. Father Benoit Jayr, a French priest assigned to the parish.  It is the Rite that nourished the Church for untold centuries and it is the Rite that will nourish the Church once again thanks to certain courageous actions taken by the present Pope.

But a Mass, after all, is about the unbloody sacrifice of Christ on the cross and it is the main focus of the wedding day.  It is the Sacrament that is being administered.  How appropriate therefore that this majestic yet mystical ceremony should be adorned with equally mystical music in another kind of perfect wedding, the wedding between a Solemn High Mass in the historic rite of the Church and the glorious music offered by a talented Choir under the direction of a fine artist.  True Church musicians can enrich the rubrics at Solemn High Mass where the beauty of the sounds they bring can stir the very soul.

And as for the wedding Mass at St Stanislaus on October 27th last,  soul-stirring it most certainly was.

L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO: FOUNTAINHEAD OF IDIOCY

While Catholics stagger and stumble from one outrage after another coming from certain quarters in the Church the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano once again jumps right in with another exercise in cultural cluelessness.  Now it is extolling the virtues of the newest James Bond film, with special emphasis on those lovely Bond girls!

RT reports:  http://rt.com/art-and-culture/news/vatican-newspaper-skyfall-bond-644/

Can someone please find me a sick bag?

With thousands of beautiful, touching, well-made films to talk about (all of them made prior to 1970 of course), films which could be the subject of intelligent and meaningful discussion, the Vatican newspaper instead chooses to write about such mind-numbing rubbish as the Bond films...and those hot Bond girls (who have not been so hot lately anyway).

Bond girls.  Seriously discussed in the Pope's newspaper.

Just go ahead and keep on making the Church a laughingstock, you erstwhile editors of the Vatican newspaper.  Keep extolling the virtues of rock music (an oxymoron if ever there was one), childish literature, bad music, poor architecture and stupid motion pictures.  "We must engage the culture", say these liberal churchmen.  Yes, we agree.  But engage in it to uplift it.  Instead of praising such things as the latest mindless Bond movies and all those sexy gals adorning it how about praising some films that will uplift as well as entertain, films made by people with brains and original ideas, films made by artists?

Perhaps that is asking too much.