Chit-Chat

The following is an excerpt from a novel called New Grub Street written in 1891. As you read it, think 'texting' and 'Twitter':

Jasper changed the topic of conversation, and presently Whelpdale was able to talk with more calmness. The young man, since his association with Fleet & Co., had become fertile in suggestions of literary enterprise, and at present he was occupied with a project of special hopefulness.

'I want to find a capitalist,' he said, 'who will get possession of that paper Chat, and transform it according to an idea I have in my head. The thing is doing very indifferently, but I am convinced it might be made splendid property, with a few changes in the way of conducting it.'

'The paper is rubbish,' remarked Jasper, 'and the kind of rubbish—oddly enough—which doesn't attract people.'

'Precisely, but the rubbish is capable of being made a very valuable article, if it were only handled properly. I have talked to the people about it again and again, but I can't get them to believe what I say. Now just listen to my notion. In the first place, I should slightly alter the name; only slightly, but that little alteration would in itself have an enormous effect. Instead of Chat I should call it Chit-Chat!'

Jasper exploded with mirth.

'That's brilliant!' he cried. 'A stroke of genius!'

'Are you serious? Or are you making fun of me? I believe it is a stroke of genius. Chat doesn't attract anyone, but Chit-Chat would sell like hot cakes, as they say in America. I know I am right; laugh as you will.'

'On the same principle,' cried Jasper, 'if The Tatler were changed to Tittle-Tattle, its circulation would be trebled.'

Whelpdale smote his knee in delight.

'An admirable idea! Many a true word uttered in joke, and this is an instance! Tittle-Tattle—a magnificent title; the very thing to catch the multitude.'

Dora was joining in the merriment, and for a minute or two nothing but bursts of laughter could be heard.

'Now do let me go on,' implored the man of projects, when the noise subsided. 'That's only one change, though a most important one. What I next propose is this:—I know you will laugh again, but I will demonstrate to you that I am right. No article in the paper is to measure more than two inches in length, and every inch must be broken into at least two paragraphs.'

'Superb!'

'But you are joking, Mr Whelpdale!' exclaimed Dora.

'No, I am perfectly serious. Let me explain my principle. I would have the paper address itself to the quarter-educated; that is to say, the great new generation that is being turned out by the Board schools, the young men and women who can just read, but are incapable of sustained attention. People of this kind want something to occupy them in trains and on 'buses and trams. As a rule they care for no newspapers except the Sunday ones; what they want is the lightest and frothiest of chit-chatty information—bits of stories, bits of description, bits of scandal, bits of jokes, bits of statistics, bits of foolery. Am I not right? Everything must be very short, two inches at the utmost; their attention can't sustain itself beyond two inches. Even chat is too solid for them: they want chit-chat.'

Jasper had begun to listen seriously.

Saving the Soul of Catholic Family Life

Restoring Catholic Culture begins in every Catholic home. This is a timely presentation given by Mr. Dylan McDonald who runs the Family Cloister Learning Center in Northern New Jersey:

The Double Standard of the "anti-hate" and "tolerance" Crowd

If you have ever had the unfortunate occasion to witness a perversion parade, as I have while on a business trip several years ago, two characteristics stand out: hostility and debased barbarism.


It is interesting to me that when I was growing up in the 1970s and even the early 1980s, homosexuality was still for the most part scorned and ridiculed by the average Joe American in my corner of the world in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Now, through the putrid media outlets and rancid music, the "frog in the boiling water effect" has worked. A good many of Americans, slowly boiled over the years in flashing messages hailing license (as opposed to true liberty), live and let live, self-gratification, sensuality, pornography and pounding rhythms meant to arouse the lower appetites, are at best turning their eyes from this spectacle with disinterested amusement, or at worst outright supporting it as someone's "right" to live as they desire.

The question of rights and where a right comes from (Divine Law/Natural Law) is a critical topic that I am leaving aside here. For this post, I only wish to consider the agenda that is behind the "Gay Rights" movement. It is not, as many wish to deceive themselves, a question of "live and let live", a position in itself that is a swiss cheese of fallacies. The people involved in this movement don't want to be left alone, they want to evangelize and win the hearts and souls of everyone, using Saul Alinsky tactics to vilify, scream down and silence any opposition in their path. For a group that proportedly advocates "tolerance", the vile hate hurled at their opposition is ironic. They practice classic liberal tolerance, that is, tolerance for all who agree with them. For everyone else, there is a convenient and dismissive label like "hater", "homophobe", "right-winger", "bigot, or "fundamentalist" which readily translates to the wired, shallow-thinking culture at large as: "no need to listen to them because they're cracked in the head." Those who receive such labels are not always dismissed, however. Increasingly, they are getting thrown into prison or slapped with fines.

Some of the worst attacks are happening on innocent children in their public schools. Any revolutionary will tell you that to win a war you must capture the hearts of the children. The perversion campaigns targeting the public school systems are relentless and reprehensible. And of course, those in America pushing this corruption are not content to keep it on our soil alone. Hillary Clinton just this month had an occassion to say on the topic of "Gay Rights": “So as we continue to advance LGBT rights in other countries, we also must continually work to make sure we are advancing the agenda here.” Yes indeed, there is an agenda Mrs. Clinton and thank you for being so honest to admit it.

But, per an article that I was reading recently, how well does Mrs. Clinton know her history? Does she realize that every civilization that has reached the point of decadence where homosexuality was accepted has collapsed. Dead and gone. The expansive and invincible Roman Empire, far stronger and grander than our little United States in comparison, is one of the more dramatic examples of just such a collapse.

To end her little speech at the State Department, Secretary of State Clinton went on to say in classic 'Nero fiddling while Rome is burning' fashion: “And I thank you for being part of one of history’s great moments...” Yes, Mrs. Clinton, what can be greater than the federal government supporting a sadomasochistic pervert parading down a public street in a thong whipping effeminates drawing him along in a pink carriage -- all for the little children out for ice cream with their oblivious parents to see. A truly great moment indeed. We should be proud of our accomplishments.

To end, I will briefly summarize an event that happened in Syracuse a couple of weeks ago. The LGBT community marched on the Syracuse capital demanding their "right" to "marry". A local Catholic High School took a small group of boys to peacefully protest. As is typical of the shamefully adorned LGBT crowd (which had children in tow!), they screamed in the faces of the priests and boys, made crude gestures, mocked God and religion, and other insults not fit to mention. Perhaps the most telling statement came from one homosexual man who simply said: "Why are you protesting? Pretty soon you will be one of us!"

America is on the verge of extinction.  Hate the sin and not the sinner, and oppose them at every turn, especially through raising good, holy families.

Restoring Pious Traditions - The Angelus

The Angelus Domini, shortened to "the Angelus," is the ringing of the church bell -- in three groups of three chimes with a pause in between each group, followed by 9 consecutive strokes -- at 6AM, Noon, and 6PM roughly, and its associated prayers, which spring from the monastic practice of praying the tres orationes at Matins, Prime and Compline. While the monastics said their prayers at the sound of the Angelus Bell, the faithful would stop what they were doing and say 3 Hail Marys in honor of the Incarnation. Later, since at least A.D. 1612, verses were added to these Hail Marys such that we get the form of the Angelus we have today (see below). During Paschaltide (the Easter Season), the humbling Angelus prayer below is replaced with the more celebratory, joyous Regina Coeli prayer at the direction of Pope Benedict XIV in 1742.

 

Some of the earliest bells used for this purpose, dating to the 13th and 14th centuries, still survive and are engraved with inscriptions attesting to their purpose. Some of these inscriptions are (from the Catholic Encyclopedia):

 

• Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee)  
• Dulcis instar mellis campana vocor Gabrielis (I am sweet as honey, and am called Gabriel's bell)
• Ecce Gabrielis sonat hæc campana fidelis (Behold this bell of faithful Gabriel sounds)
• Missi de coelis nomen habeo Gabrielis (I bear the name of Gabriel sent from heaven)
• Missus vero pie Gabriel fert læta Mariæ (Gabriel the messenger bears joyous tidings to holy Mary)
• O Rex Gloriæ Veni Cum Pace (O King of Glory, Come with Peace)

 

 

*Source: Fisheaters.com

Feast of St. Aloysius

St. Aloysius Gonzaga @ Yahoo! Video

Happy 17th Birthday, Andrew!

Let us just pass over the consideration that we are old enough to have a seventeen year-old son!

A New Twist

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

A Day at the Lake for Joseph's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Joseph Albert (Peppito Bully Boy)!

Request for Prayers

A request for prayers for Leslie's father who recently had stints applied to remove some blockages in his arteries and is now suffering from a serious aneurysm in his leg, caused by the stint procedure, that is bleeding out. He is in a VA hospital today after being told by his local hospital that he had to drive five hours to the VA to receive the necessary treatment. He is a low income vet and has been treated very negligently by the hospitals. Welcome to socialist healthcare.

The pilgrimage log should be read from bottom up (I never remember to post in the reverse order so that everything is sequenced properly from top to bottom).  My shadow blogger will surely fill in.

We were the talk of Long Lake as our side show with 10 children pulled in for lunch on the way home.

Today, it was Mass at 8:30AM, one final tour of the Shrine grounds where the great martyrs shed their blood to plant the seeds of the faith, and then back on the road for home.

After Mass, it was cleanup back at the motel and off for some supper.

Dinner with friends at Mike's Pizza in Fonda, NY

Mike Geloso (pictured below) and his family, from Napoli, have owned this pizzaria since the 1970's.  By the time we left, we were family as Mike's wife gave us all Italian mama hugs and promised to pray for us until she sees us again next year.  Old world Italian-American Catholic culture at its best.

What would a pilgrimage be without a hefty dose of rain?  Sacrifice and discomfort are synonymous.  The 10 mile walk begins...

Fr. Joseph Pfieffer visiting from the missions in India gives the lunchtime sermon

Viva Cristo Rey!

The Father's vest for the Solemn High Mass

Auriesville Pilgrimage of Tradition 2010

Friday afternoon... load em' up and move em' out!

Pictures from Thomas' Birthday

Happy Birthday, Thomas Campion!

Would you believe our little thomatillo is a one-year-old already? Incredible!

A Little Tuesday Mendelsohn

Have a look at this little Spanish guy making Mendelsohn look like child's play:

Dad did not put Frenchie up to his previous post, FYI ;).

Dad's Love for Us

Dad's love for us is everlasting. All dads should love their children, but our Dad loves us more than any dad ever did, and ever will love their children. Dad, every day, goes and works for hours on end, just to get us food and to go to school. Dad, whenever he has off from work, tries to do something nice for us, just if we clean the living room, but no, we just don't listen. Dad, just to let us go on the pilgrimage, gives up his retreat so that we would have enough money to do it. He just bought three sets of bunk beds so that we would have a bed. With eleven children, its always hard, but he never complains. If I loved him half as much as he loves each one of us, I'd love him very much.

""
This post is about fly fishing. Dad is teaching us how to. I hope you learn!

A week late, but last Sunday's sermon is posted. Consider the following points from the Italian publication Si Si No No describing errors of the liberal French Dominican Fr. Marie-Dominique Chenu who influenced many of the documents of the Second Vatican Council. Draining this poison is the heart of the battle for the restoration of the Church. Thank God for the handful of bishops and priests that are fighting the good fight at the level of doctrine, that is, working tirelessly to clear the smokescreen of error that is masquerading as official Church teaching on matters such as ecumenism, religous liberty and the liturgy.

1 Turning to man, as though it is God that needs to be adapted to modern man, and not modern man to God. But Catholicism strives always to fit man to God, and not the other way around.


2 Submitting divine Revelation to modern ways of thinking, e.g. Descartes, Kant, Hegel. No more is there any absolute, objective Truth. All religious statements become merely relative and subjective.


3 Submitting divine Revelation to the historical method, meaning that every truth arose merely in its historical context, so that just as every historical context was or is changing, so no truth is unchanging or unchangeable.


4 Believing in pantheistic evolution, meaning that God is no longer the Creator essentially distinct from creation. He becomes no different from creatures, which come into being by evolution, and by evolution are constantly changing.


5 Putting feelings first in matters of religion, i.e. putting religious sentimental experience above either supernatural Faith in the mind or supernatural Charity in the will.


6 Denying the difference between good and evil, by claiming that the mere existence of a human act makes it good. Now it is true that every human act that happens has the goodness of being, but it only has moral goodness if it is ordered to its end, which is ultimately God. Human acts not ordered to God are morally evil.

A post to compliment my son's post below (out of the mouths of babes).  In the first clip, one of my favorite Italian tenors, Andrea Bocelli, offers a surprising story about his life.  In the second clip, Mr. Bocelli offers us a stirring rendition of Shubert's Ave Maria.

The Horror of Abortion

I will write this post completely against abortion. Abortion is just another name for murder. By having an abortion is murdering a poor, helpless, little baby. It takes away the child's chance of going to heaven! God,the most merciful, gives them mercy enough to not go to hell, but still, they don't go to heaven! They go to Limbo, where they never ever see God! How would you like to never see God? And our country our country is having the most! 3,500 abortions every day in the US! This is why this world is in chaos. Our Lord is punishing the world because of the many offences committing against Him, and one of the leading ones is abortion. You wonder why Nobis ordo is everywhere. Well, I'm telling you now, abortion is mostly the cause. Have a large family. God sent you those children for a reason. Have a large family, others will follow your example, there will be no more abortions and the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be very happy. And one more thing, pray. Pray with all your heart.

The Great Feast of Corpus Christi

A great solemnity has this day arisen upon our earth:a feast both to God and to men:for it is the feast of Christ the Mediator,who is present in the sacred Host,that God may be given to man,and man to God.Divine union-such is the dignity to which man is permitted to aspire;and to this aspiration God has responded ,even here below,by an invention which is all of heaven.It is today that man celebrates this marvel of God's goodness.

-Christopher Hickman