Reclaiming Halloween

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The word Halloween comes from an abbreviation of the phrase 'All Hallows Eve.' The word 'hallow' is the old English version of 'holy' or 'saint'. All Hallows Eve (or Halloween) is the eve before a high feast day in the Catholic Church (November 1st) called 'All Hallows Day' or more commonly known as 'All Saints Day.' It is the day on which the Church commemorates all the Saints of heaven, both canonised and uncanonised by the Church. The Catholic Church has special feast days for various individual Saints who stand out for various reasons. All Hallows (or All Saints) is the day when we remember them all -- millions of them!

It is particularly in the United States, where the commercialisation of all Christian holy days has been perfected to an exact science, the Halloween celebration has taken on a particularly non-religious and macabre character, where in the occult is more glorified than the faith of Christians. Perhaps we should not be surprised by this, for it is in America where Christmas has become more a celebration of the mythical Santa Clause than the birth of Jesus Christ. America has almost nearly succeeded in turning the celebration of Christ's resurrection, Easter, into the glorification of a rabbit who hides coloured eggs. It's an eye-opener really, as the United States seems to lead the way in the de-christianising of Christian holy days. Nowhere is this more evident than in the observance of Halloween. I find it odd really, that Americans would revel in the gross perversion of a Catholic holy day -- a holy day not shared by most of America's Protestant majority.

Americans are not alone however. The macabre Americanised version of Halloween is now being picked up in other countries around the world, as the United States exports a celebration of death and the occult on the eve of a day that is supposed to honour the holiness of those who's bodies may sleep, but who's souls are fully alive in Jesus Christ.

So what do we do now? Do we take the Protestant Fundamentalist solution, and lock ourselves in our houses on Halloween, cursing the darkness and hiding from children in costumes? Do we follow the Evangelical example of handing out gospel tracts, instead of candy, to those poor lost souls shouting 'Trick or Treat' all night? Or do we, as Catholics, TAKE BACK what is rightfully ours to begin with!?! I vote for the last option. Will you join me?

The nice thing about reclaiming Halloween is it doesn't take anymore than a family effort. There is no community organising to do, no propaganda to spread (unless of course you want to share this article), and no convincing that needs to happen. Just follow these five simple steps....

1. Decorate your home (both interior and exterior) with the theme of the Autumn season, celebrating life and abundance.  Scarecrows are fun, and even Jack-O-Lanterns, provided they are not macabre in nature.  There should be no macabre decor whatsoever.
2. Dress your kids up in the theme of the holy day.  It's ALL SAINTS DAY!  So think of angels, Saints and Bible characters.  (Please no Jesus costumes.)  The Blessed Virgin Mary might even be appropriate in some circumstances, but please be careful to be tasteful.  The theme of All Saints, is to recognize those who usually don't get much recognition, such as Old Testament and Medieval saints.  But it doesn't have to be recognised saints per se.'  It could be general Bible characters, such as shepherds and soldiers.  It could even be holy men and women from the Church as well, brothers and sisters, fathers and bishops.  Of course, dress up in harmless characters of a non-religious sort would be acceptable too, so long as it celebrates life (all life) in some way.  The possibilities are endless.  Just avoid the occult and macabre.
3. Go ahead and give out candy to the kids instead of literature.  There is no need to turn the day into an opportunity to spread propaganda.  Keep in mind, that many parents will simply throw literature away when they go through their bag, that is, if the kids haven't thrown it away already.
4. Avoid 'haunted houses' and scary attractions, attending church bizarres and festivities instead. In a comment below, reader Jonathan Prester shared a tradition in his parish wherein Catholic liturgy and prayers are given by his priest in a local cemetery on Halloween night, complete with torches (lanterns), incense and vestments. Perhaps something like this could be organised in your parish to reclaim the true meaning of All Hallows Eve.
5. Finally, stop calling it Halloween.  Start using the more proper (and ancient) term "All Hallows Eve" or just "All Hallows" for short.

Now, it all starts simple enough with just your family.  In time, that will grow to dozens of families, then hundreds, thousands to tens and hundreds of thousands.  Eventually, we will be driving the market for Halloween, and sooner or latter, the Halloween market will have to start catering to us.  I know some of you reading this may think it's all a rather dreamy 'pie-in-the-sky' ideal that will likely never work, but honestly, can you think of something better?  Enough said.

TEA Parties verses OWS Protests -- What the Establishment Doesn't Want Us to Know

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The TEA Parties and OWS Protests signify something much bigger than the sum of their parts. They signify the complete functional breakdown of the traditional American two-party system. As both the Democrats and Republicans try to capture each movement, both establishment parties are learning the hard way that these movements are becoming unruly and unpredictable. TEA Party organizers are now preparing to politically target establishment Republicans, while OWS will soon begin targeting establishment Democrats. The Democrats will soon learn the same lesson as the Republicans. Embracing these protesters will do little to help their political careers. I've been saying this all along. Both TEA and OWS are two very completely different groups of people attacking the EXACT SAME PROBLEM from two very different perspectives.

It's like watching two dogs bark at up the same tree, one on the east side and the other on the west, occasionally barking at each other in the process. What's important to remember is this.  There is nothing the raccoon in the tree would like more than to see the two dogs attack each other and leave him alone. What is the raccoon? It's the Washington-Wall Street establishment. They've been robbing us blind for decades. TEA partiers and OWS protesters would do well to heed this pearl of wisdom. Don't take the bait and attack each other. There is nothing the establishment would like more.

The South Is Rising Again

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:  Hate crimes go both ways.  People can be persecuted for their race, ethnicity, religion, national ancestry or even political beliefs.  This case involves the last two classifications right here in my home state of Missouri.

On October 11, 2011 a Civil War monument in Cape Girardeau, honouring Missouri's confederate veterans, was vandalised in an unusual way.  Typically, anti-Confederate vandalism usually includes references to racial issues, citing the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazis, displaying the perpetrator's ignorance of history.  In this case however, the perpetrator's vandalism referenced pro-Union and anti-Confederate slurs.  This is highly unusual, as it demonstrates at least a modest level of historical knowledge, and a clear pro-Union political agenda. 

In response, Clint Lacy, a Dixie patriot, decided to protest this act of vandalism with a confederate naval jack in one hand, and a home made sign that read "Stop the Hate" in the other.  He drew some considerable attention, not just locally, but nationally, and even internationally.  Good job Clint!  With just three words and a flag, you encapsulated the entire message of the modern Dixie independence movement.  All across the Southland of Dixie, there are millions of Southerners who love the symbols of our Confederate heritage and the political message of independence they convey.  Yet at the same time there is not a racist bone in their body.  A considerable number are even black.  Granted, in border states like Missouri, this is seldom realised.

What I find striking about this whole affair is the nature of the protests against Southern heritage.  While protesting next to the monument that was vandalised with pro-Union slogans, Clint Lacy reported that many people drove by, including many blacks, and he had no trouble from them at all.  The only negative response he got was from what he reported to be wealthy looking white men in a Cadillac, who yelled obscenities at him and shouted pro-Union anti-Confederate slogans.  This is all very interesting.

This recent episode in Missouri is just the tip of the iceberg.  All across the Southland of Dixie, and even as far north as Gettysburg Pennsylvania (deep in Union country), Confederate war monuments are being vandalised, Confederate cemeteries are being desecrated, and the symbols (particularly flags) of the Confederacy are being attacked.  Now this is nothing new in particular.  This sort of thing has been going on for the last thirty years or so.  However, in the last five years (since about 2007) is has increased in intensity and frequency.  What is even more interesting is that it is taking on a distinctively pro-Union and anti-Confederate tone that is atypical of the usual ignorant race slurs.  Something different is happening here, and it is something significant.

Why all of a sudden, since about 2007, have the frequency and intensity of these 'hate crimes' ramped up?  What changed in 2007 to make this happen?    This may sound strange, but I believe it is economic in nature, and when I say that I am referring to the economic collapse of the United States of America (the Union).  The housing bubble began to burst in 2007, marking the beginning of the end for Empire America.  This was the pop that brought the United States to its knees (economically) in late 2008 to early 2009.  The current Market rebound is artificially inflated by government stimulus bailout money and everyone knows it.  A double-dip recession is lurking in the shadows.  It's generally agreed that it will strike, but nobody seems to know when.  Through all of this the United States national debt has ballooned to levels unprecedented in American history, currently at $14.9 trillion, surpassing our national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  No empire in history has ever survived this trend.  Empire America is in decline, her days are numbered, and everywhere people have a palpable sense of this reality.

Meanwhile, the only region in the United States that appears to be experiencing somewhat of a cultural and quasi-political revival is the Old South -- Dixieland.  While the rest of America rots away, Dixie is hanging on to life, and some of her patriots are actually talking about rebuilding a new independent South once the American Empire finally and inevitably collapses.  Does this explain the sudden rise in pro-Union anti-Confederate 'hate speech,' threats of violence and acts of vandalism?  Perhaps it does.  Perhaps the reason why this has all increased with such intensity is because some 'pro-Empire America' people are beginning to realise that the South is indeed rising again, and they view this revival as a threat.  In other words, Southern patriots are having an impact, and in these tough days of decline for the Empire, many pro-Union sympathizers are understandably discouraged, frustrated and angry.  It's not so much a sign of our persecution as patriotic Southerners, but rather a sign of our success in getting the message out.  We are having an impact.  It is positive.  It is gaining popularity.  Some people don't like that.  So showing their true colours as the hate-filled bigots they are, with no respect for the rule of law or Christian decency, they vandalise our monuments, desecrate our cemeteries, while they steal, burn and slander the symbols of our nation and our people.  Their rage gives them away.  Paraphrasing Shakespeare "Thou dost protest too much!"  They've unwittingly revealed their own weakness.  We (the South) are beginning to win this propaganda war (with the truth!), and that is starting to make them very uncomfortable.

Vatican Calls For World Bank?

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: In what is sure to anger Laissez-Faire Capitalists, irritate international Socialists, and drive American Evangelicals hysterical; a small and obscure Vatican commission today released a non-binding and non-doctrinal proposal calling for the creation of a new global financial order, that would help to regulate and control the excesses and inequalities of the current world monetary system....

(CNS) -- A Vatican document called for the gradual creation of a world political authority with broad powers to regulate financial markets and rein in the "inequalities and distortions of capitalist development."

The document said the current global financial crisis has revealed "selfishness, collective greed and the hoarding of goods on a great scale." A supranational authority, it said, is needed to place the common good at the center of international economic activity.

The 41-page text was titled, "Toward Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority." Prepared by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, it was released Oct. 24 in several languages, including a provisional translation in English.

The document cited the teachings of popes over the last 40 years on the need for a universal public authority that would transcend national interests. The current economic crisis, which has seen growing inequality between the rich and poor of the world, underlines the necessity to take concrete steps toward creating such an authority, it said.

One major step, it said, should be reform of the international monetary system in a way that involves developing countries. The document foresaw creation of a "central world bank" that would regulate the flow of monetary exchanges; it said the International Monetary Fund had lost the ability to control the amount of credit risk taken on by the system...

read full story here

The document itself is likely to be ignored by leaders in the international community, especially in Europe and America, where large corporations and banks are content to leave things exactly the way they are. Not that it really matters, since the document itself is a single commission proposal, which is not part of the magisterial teaching of the Church.  It is simply a "note" from one office within the Vatican.  It carries no ecclesiastical 'weight' and is designed to be absorbed into a larger, more comprehensive, document later on.  The wording may be changed, and some portions may end up being deleted all together.  In other words, this 'note' is just a small flexible part of a much larger work in progress.

The contentious point of the document, receiving so much media fanfare, but so few direct quotes as to what it actually says is as follows...

A supranational Authority of this kind should have a realistic structure and be set up gradually. It should be favourable to the existence of efficient and effective monetary and financial systems; that is, free and stable markets overseen by a suitable legal framework, well-functioning in support of sustainable development and social progress of all, and inspired by the values of charity and truth. It is a matter of an Authority with a global reach that cannot be imposed by force, coercion or violence, but should be the outcome of a free and shared agreement and a reflection of the permanent and historic needs of the world common good.

This comes following the most honest assessment ever seen on the causes of the international financial/economic crisis that rocked the world in 2008 and continues with us today. The Vatican is attempting to lead other nations to own up to the fact that the current financial order is corrupt, and that current regulatory methods are not fixing the problem. If anything they are making them worse, and because of this, another financial catastrophe (far worse than 2008) awaits us in the near future.

The document released today emphasizes the need to follow the Catholic principle of subsidiarity. This means that problems should be dealt with from the bottom up, not the top down. It is consistent with the papal encyclicals of the last century, and in no way called for an authoritarian 'New World Order' as some have suggested. Quite to the contrary, the document calls for the voluntary creation of better financial/economic regulating authorities, which implies such things do not currently exist. That by definition excludes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is criticised directly, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations. Clearly what the document calls for is something new and different, that is not based on the corrupted status quo. It gives no specific details beyond this.

The document IS NOT a call to a 'New World Order' or a 'Centralised Banking System.'   It is a call to a new way of regulating international commerce, but it is NOT a call to creating a 'One World Global Government.'  Sorry, conspiracy theorists, but you're hyperventilating over nothing.   If anything, the Vatican is trying to move the world AWAY from a centralised world tyranny.

Like Rerum Novarum in 1891, and all the papal social encyclicals since then, this is likely to be ignored by the leaders in Europe and America, to the detriment of the third-world and even middle to low income people in Europe and America themselves. (Right now it seems the only people hyperventilating about this are some conservative Catholics, Evangelicals and a few secular conspiracy theorists.)

Because our leaders have ignored papal teaching on social justice (or perverted it to suite their own template), the world will continue to languish in economic depravity, oscillating between the 'gods' of capitalism and socialism, until finally the whole thing implodes into a worldwide economic catastrophe. Only then, after the world has been left in financial ruin, will some wise European monarch take up the banner of the Church and actually begin to implement this stuff she has been preaching about for the last 120 years!

To understand this document, it must be put into the full context of a century of papal teaching. To interpret the document in a vacuum, as the news media often does, is to distort what it means. So what does it mean? Well you can read the document and decide for yourself. I've provided a link below to the full text. Before you do however, you need a primer on Catholic Social Justice. So here is the short-version gist of it...

Catholics cannot be Socialists. This is clearly taught by the Church. By the same token however, and perhaps in a more profound way, Catholics cannot be Capitalists either! (When I say 'Capitalists' here I mean the Austrian School of Economics embraced by Neoconservatives and Libertarians.) No honest reading of the Gospels, or the Church's social encyclicals, can produce a Socialist or Capitalist outlook. Both philosophies must be rejected by the Christian mind, or else bow to the altars of man we will, instead of the one true altar of Christ.

The Church has made her social teachings clear in both the Catechism and papal encyclicals. Great Catholic thinkers, such as G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, gave us the philosophical framework for how to apply these encyclicals to modern economics. They called this new way of thinking DISTRIBUTISM, which was an outright rejection of Capitalism and Socialism. For if Capitalism is a wound on the proper economic social order, than Socialism is just a band-aid, and not a very good one at that. The economic social order must be reconstructed in the image of the Gospel, and while that will most certainly not produce a perfect world, it will most certainly make things better than they are. You can read more about Distributism at The Distributist Review.

Until then however, I do hope you will join me in thanking Pope Benedict XVI for his wise instruction through the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and join me in storing the document in safe keeping until that day when a great monarch will one day implement it. We should do this while we prepare for the onslaught of mockery we will soon get from the Capitalist elite, the frustration we will hear from the international Socialists who will say it doesn't go far enough, and the hysterical "end of the world" rantings of American Evangelicals who will soon tell us the pope is the Antichrist. I have already read the ramblings of some bloggers and comments made on Internet forums. This document will certainly result in a whole new round of Anti-Catholicism in the Western world, particularly in the United States.

You can read the FULL TEXT of the Vatican document HERE.

Pro-Life, Pro-Family, Pro-Religion DEMOCRATS !?!

The above campaign ad, is merely an EXAMPLE. It is not an endorsement.
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:  You know, it's occurred to me that there is nothing stopping me from running for office in my congressional district as a DEMOCRAT!  Not that I will run for office at all, as I've got far too many responsibilities as a husband, father, breadwinner and leader in my local parish, not to mention blogging.  Nevertheless, if I did have the time and resources, I most certainly could run for political office, and there is nothing stopping me from running in either party.  In fact, if I were going to run, I would most likely run as a Democrat.  Why?  Well because my area is staunchly conservative.  Southwest Missouri is one of the most conservative areas on the map, and frequently goes Republican in election cycles.  Unfortunately, some of the Republicans we elect here are less than ideal, very party-line, and just as Neoconservative as you can get  (which is not necessarily a good thing).  The people of Southwest Missouri would best be served by having a choice between TWO pro-life, pro-family, pro-religion candidates.  Now that's a novel idea!  Think about it for a moment.  Suppose you could go into the polling station, and choose between two candidates (Democrat and Republican) who both agree with your moral virtues.  Both oppose abortion in all circumstances.  Both oppose gay-marriage and civil-unions.  Both support school vouchers.  Both believe religion should be given a more prominent role in society and should be respected by our civil institutions.  Can you imagine!?!  It would leave you with nothing left to choose between other than economics and policy matters.  I wonder if people would even know what to do in such a situation.

Well, The Catholic Knight is not going to run for political office.  I should, but I won't because I am needed elsewhere.  But if I were going to run, I would likely run as a Democrat.  So if any of my regular readers out there are thinking of running for office, and are staunchly pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religion, than I would like to encourage you to consider running as a Democrat.  Let's give the voters a REAL CHOICE on election day in November of 2012.

More Liberal Hate and Intolerance

Actress Susan Sarandon
Former Catholic &
Current Anti-Catholic

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:  Here we have just one more example of Liberal Modernist hatred toward Catholics in general and the pope in particular. Thanks to comment moderation, you my readers are spared from the constant onslaught of nasty anti-Catholicism that frequently hits this blog. I would say this blog gets about 20 to 30 nasty hate-filled comments a week, most of which attack Catholicism, all of which never see the light of day here, because yours truly gleefully hits the delete button. I especially like the extra long comments, knowing that such person took a great deal of time composing them, watching them evaporate into cyberspace in less than a second. They can't say they weren't warned. I placed the disclaimer on the comment form prominently. So they are without excuse.

I put this link up today to bring attention to the new anti-Catholicism that is sweeping America. Unlike the old anti-Catholicism which was based on Protestant sectarianism, this new anti-Catholicism is based on militant Secularism and moral relativism.  Catholics and former Catholics who oppose the Church's teachings are treated as the little darlings of the political and entertainment establishment in the United States, while Catholics who are faithful to the pope, and the teachings of the Church, are considered 'dangerous' to American life.  So in the eyes of the national media/political culture, the only good Catholic is a bad Catholic!

This may help explain the 'Nazi' comments of Susan Sarandon toward Pope Benedict XVI.  Now she may actually believe this, or she may just be trying to score brownie points from her entertainment friends.  Either way, she has fallen into the self-loathing 'recovering Catholic' culture that has become so common in America today.  When anti-Catholic statements like this are made, we should call out those who made them.  It is anti-Catholic, and it is hate-filled, and it is intolerant.  Just because the person who made them may have been a former Catholic, or a self-loathing 'Catholic' who continues to attend mass for some strange reason, doesn't give them the right to make such degrading statements toward practising Catholics or their spiritual leaders.  Suppose we replace the word 'Catholic' with 'Jew' and replace the word 'pope' with 'chief rabbi.'  Let's see how that sounds.  Anti-Semitic comments are never tolerated any more and they shouldn't be.  Regardless of the intent of the person who makes them, they are degrading toward the Jewish people and their spiritual leaders.  Now it's one thing to have a point of disagreement with a religion, its adherents and its leaders.  It's quite another thing to start name-calling and comparing people to heinous figures in history.  The former is just a disagreement, while the latter is intolerance and hatred -- not to mention just plain immature and tasteless.

Political Traditionalism

Click Image To See Page

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:  A loyal reader sent me a link to a new page on Facebook called Political Traditionalism. While The Catholic Knight does not have a Facebook account, I was sent the information on this page, and it sounded like a fairly viable school of political thought.  Political Traditionalism -- also known simply as 'Traditionalism' and its followers as 'Traditionalists' -- is a form of Conservatism based more on religion, morality and historic Western culture than political ideology. 

I believe Patrick Buchanan coined the term 'Paleoconservatism' to contrast his more Traditionalist Conservative beliefs with the emerging 'Neoconservatism' movement that has come to define the Republican Party, and is now threatening to completely take over the TEA Party Movement unless Traditionalists act.  While Buchanan's term 'Paleoconservative' is highly descriptive in a technical sense, it leaves the average population scratching their heads.  I think the term 'Traditionalism' and 'Traditionalist' makes a lot more sense when plugged into a political context.  Anyway, please check out the page and let me know what you think.  I think it's time we all start thinking outside the box in a political sense, and when it comes to politics in the United States, the two mainstream parties have pretty much lost their relevance.  People are beginning to define themselves in a more ideological or cultural sense now, rather than by party, and in the end, I suspect that is probably a good thing.  For better or worse, it shows that the general population is starting to wake up and think!

PROPHECY ALERT: Occupy Movement Goes Viral

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: At this time, I do not know how much, if any, prophetical significance this Occupy Wall Street movement has. I can say this however. WATCH EUROPE! Watch France, Italy and England in particular. Right now the frustrated masses of unemployed people are simply protesting, but it is obvious that their movement is quickly being taken over by radical anarchist (read 'Marxist') rioters. Now this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened, so don't read too much into that. What we need to be watching for is the Muslim population in Europe. If the Muslims join in with the demonstrations, we may have the beginnings of the pan-European Muslim/Marxist alliance prophesied by Catholic mystics and saints. Thus this COULD POSSIBLY be a precursor to the riots that will eventually drive the pope from Rome, or else be a dress rehearsal for that riot sometime in the future.

The group to watch are the European Muslims. If they join in the demonstrations, and those demonstrations increasingly become more violent, we will likely be treading into some prophetic territory.

U.S. Supreme Court To Decide Womenpriests For Catholic Church

Dissident Vested Laywomen Lobby Vatican To Do What It Cannot

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: I know this title sounds crazy, but that is exactly what is going on in the United States Supreme Court right now. The Obama administration has sued in a case charging that the federal government's anti-discrimination laws apply to churches and religious organizations. Thus, if the Obama administration gets what its asking for, than the United States Federal Government will be able to legally ORDER the U.S. Catholic Church to ordain women to the priesthood, apply quotas, and prosecute dioceses for failing to comply. This of course wouldn't just apply to the Catholic Church, but to every single denomination and Christian affiliation in the United States. However, we shouldn't expect the federal government to apply such rules fairly, as certain denominations (the U.S. Catholic Church in particular) would certainly be targeted for enforcement over and above others that already allow female clergy....

(CNA/EWTN News) - A Lutheran teacher's lawsuit led to a provocative question being asked in the Supreme Court on Oct. 5: could government efforts to end job discrimination jeopardize the all-male Catholic priesthood?

The case pitting the commission against Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School does not directly concern the issue of women and the priesthood. But justices were quick to connect the matter at hand – involving the Lutheran group's right to hire and fire ministers at their discretion – with the issue of Catholics' and other groups' right to determine who will exercise ministries....

read full story here

The Supreme Court justices picked up on the implications of this immediately, and repeatedly described the Obama administration's stand as 'extraordinary.' I believe it is highly unlikely the U.S. Supreme Court will side with the Obama administration on this issue. If it does however, we Catholics here in the United States will be faced with a very big problem

Let's assume the U.S. Supreme Court sides with the Obama administration, and allows the federal government to begin enforcing gender quotas among clergy in religious institutions. As my very astute and well-educated readers may already know, in 1994 Pope John Paul II infallibly affirmed that the Catholic Church does not have the authority to ordain women. Therefore, any women 'ordained' by civil mandate would automatically be null and void. The woman 'priestess' would in reality be nothing more than a vested laywoman. Whenever said 'priestess' confects the Eucharist, that confection would be invalid and non-existent. Thus the bread and the wine would remain just that -- bread and wine. While the bishop who 'ordained' her might be able to be forgiven with confession, because he was legally forced to do it against his will, parishioners would have to abstain from any mass offered by such a 'priestess' or risk committing both idolatry and blasphemy by adoring a 'host' that has not been consecrated, and is thus not really an Eucharistic 'host.'

So the end result would be this. Mass at St. Anyone's Church would be offered at 8 AM and 10 AM. St. Anyone's has two priests, a male and a female. Mass at the male priest time would be packed wall to wall, while mass at the female priestess time might only have one or two pews filled at most (these are the dissident 'spirit of Vatican II' Catholics). But to make matters worse, suppose the male priest at St. Anyone's Church is transferred somewhere else. Than the parishioners at St. Anyone's have no place to go for mass in their town. Some will drive an hour to find another parish, most will not. Thus faithful Catholics will be deprived of the sacraments, while dissident Catholics will be free to blaspheme and commit idolatry at will in Catholic parishes across the United States.

Theoretically, we should have first amendment protection, and the Supreme Court justices will likely toss this case out and give the Obama administration a blistering opinion that will shame Obama beyond imagination. However, in this republic there are no guarantees. Anything can happen, and we are talking about the same branch of government that gave us Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade. So based on historical precedence -- anything goes!

The Lincoln Myth

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: I started reading books about Abraham Lincoln back in 2003, and it wasn't long before I realised that something didn't seem right. So I dug deeper, and in time I came to the conclusion that Lincoln not only ran the Union side of the Civil War very poorly, but that he was actually the CAUSE of the Civil War, and that our over sized federal government today, for all its big spending and heavy taxation, is the direct product of Lincoln's actions and the things that happened following his death. I came to the conclusion that Abraham Lincoln represented the direct antithesis of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, and that Lincoln's War was everything the Founding Fathers of America opposed in 1776. In other words, I discovered that Lincoln was every bit the tyrant as old King George III, if not worse! I came to despise Lincoln and everything he represented. It amazes me that Americans continue to put his image on our money, and that his enormous statue occupies one of the largest monuments in Washington DC. He was a monster of a president. It is nice to hear my opinions validated by two very astute historians. One of them, Dr. Thomas E. Woods, is a devout Catholic.

I cannot stress this enough.  Are children are being lied to.  You were lied to!  They lied to me too.  Of course, I don't blame my elementary school teachers, they were lied to as well.  Who is responsible for this?  I'm sure the Department of Education plays some role, but I've seen Hollywood and party establishment people on both sides (Democrat/Republican) push the Lincoln myth.

The truth is our whole modern republic is built on what Lincoln established in 1861 - 1865.  We live in a political system where we are told that it is 'okay' for the government to suspend the rights of certain people for various reasons.  We are told that it is 'okay' for the federal government to make war on its own people if those people should ever dare talk about repeating the actions called for in America's Declaration of Independence (1776).  We are told that it is 'okay' for the government to suspend the civil rights of all Americans when it suspects that drugs, guns, terrorism or abnormal religious practices might be involved.  We are told it is 'okay' for our government to send our military to the ends of the earth, picking fights with whomever we choose, to 'make the world safe for democracy.'  This is Lincoln's America -- and what a glorious empire it is!  Ancient Rome pales in comparison.

I must also point out here that the Lincoln myth is deeply connected to anti-Catholicism and Know-Nothingism here in the United States. Shortly after Lincoln's assassination in 1865, the remnants of the old Know-Nothing Party immediately went to work blaming the pope (and Catholics in general) for the assassination. Their conspiracy theories amounted to little, as there were about a dozen conspiracy theories circulating at the time, implicating everyone from Vice President Andrew Johnson, to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, to Union bankers. The anti-Catholic theories were not given much credence until 1884 when a disaffected Canadian Catholic priest named Charles Chiniquy became a Presbyterian minister and started circulating all sorts of bizarre stories about the Catholic Church, including an alleged plot by the Jesuits to assassinate Lincoln. Chiniquy offered no tangible proof for his grand conspiracy, as disaffected anti-Catholics rarely do, but his writings lit a firestorm in America's Protestant churches, particularly in the Northern states.

This mythology continues today among extreme Fundamentalist groups and hard-core Leftist groups, both virulently anti-Catholic and eager to connect the papacy to the Lincoln assassination. This is where Americanism enters, for those who initially pushed the Lincoln assassination myth, along with the Lincoln legacy myth, were hard-core Americanists, who believed the United States stood above religion and that religion itself was subject to American government and ideals. The heirs of this anti-Catholic Americanism are still with us today, and continue to push the Lincoln legacy and assassination myths on the Internet.

US Episcopalians Now Forced To Choose

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Absolute chaos is erupting in The Episcopal Church USA, as simultaneously Cardinal Donald Wuerl just announced last week that the creation of a US Ordinariate structure for Anglicans within the Catholic Chirch is imminent and should be complete before the end of the year.

The Episcopal Church USA has followed a course that has led it into a complete internal civil war. Besides ignoring historic tradition of Christian sexual morality, and twisting (or dismissing) Sacred Scripture to justify it, the national leadership of The Episcopal Church is now engaging in obvious abuse of its own laws to selectively punish bishops and priests who do not measure up to the national politically correct 'orthodoxy'. In short, The Episcopal Church leadership is now demonstrating that no orthodox Anglo-Catholic is safe anymore. National intervention into local diocesan affairs is just a matter of time, no matter how 'conservative' one thinks their bishop might be.

Anglo-Catholic Episcopalians are left with just two options to avoid certain persecution from their own national leadership....

Option #1: Leave The Episcopal Church for one of the continuing Anglican splinter groups, which may consist of several thousand members and questionable communion with Canterbury.

Option #2: Leave The Episcopal Church for the emerging Ordinariate for Anglicans within the 1.2 billion member Catholic Church, thus fulfilling the ecumenical vision of the Oxford Movement.

There it is. The choices are simple now. For staying within The Episcopal Church, closing one's eyes and hoping for the best, has proved to be a perfectly suicidal recipe.

New Danger Detected In Occupy Movement

There is more at stake here than you think.

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT has detected a new danger in the "Occupy" movement as I've observed emerging patterns over the last week. The Occupy Movement is not designed to last days or weeks, but literally months, and it is not designed to end peacefully. The students and young people in these protests are not the real danger. They are the pawns, and they are designed to be martyrs. Their lives have been designated as "expendable" by those organizing the movement. A significant stock market crash is likely to occur within weeks to months, and when that happens, the United States will be thrown into the depths of a severe double-dip recession. As this occurs, simultaneously, the Occupy Movement will still be protesting on Wall Street, and throughout cities across the United States. This movement will swell in numbers, as more and more Americans find themselves on the wrong end of America's Servile State. Eventually, violence will likely erupt by some of these newcomers, and the current Occupy protesters will be labeled as violent radicals right along with them. Thus, the appearance will be created that average mainstream America is now surrounded by radicals calling for a "revolution" in the middle of a severely depressed economy. The hope of those who have organized the Occupy Movement is that average Americans will eventually call out to the government for help, to put these radicals down, and restore order to America's streets. That's when the government steps in with the Patriot Act and gives average Americans exactly what they asked for, but what none of them expected -- a police state.

The final product of this police state is unknown at this time. Will it be run by the government or the corporations? Will it be run by both? Or are the government and corporations one in the same? I suspect what we will end up with will be something even more deeply associated with the Servile State we already have. Americans will ultimately be forced by law to work for various corporations, and these corporations will be forced by law to take care of them, providing healthcare benefits, education, retirement, etc. On the surface it sounds like the solution to a lot of problems, but in practical reality, what it amounts to is modernized slavery. Failure to work for a corporation will mean the loss of healthcare and other benefits. It may even become illegal.

For this reason, The Catholic Knight, stresses that we must get intimately involved in this process now, before it spirals out of control. I don't know if the American Northeast or West Coast can be helped. After viewing video clips and pictures from the demonstrations, it would appear these 'useful idiots' of the Left cannot be reasoned with. Their fate will ultimately be sealed by riot police. (God have mercy on them.) It is the smaller, and more pliable, "Occupy" demonstrations in the Southeast and Midwest that might be more salvageable. We need to infiltrate their ranks and influence their message. This shouldn't be too hard because many of them cannot articulate their message anyway. Furthermore, much of what they say they want is contradictory, and this is because like most Americans, they don't understand that there are more than two ways to look at economics.

Americans have been trained from early childhood to look at the economy in only two ways -- Capitalist and Socialist. If one is not a Capitalist, so Americans are told, than one must be a Socialist, and vice versa. This is hogwash and pure poppycock! Capitalism is just as an unnatural and contrived system of economics as Socialism, and both will result in tyranny if given free reign. Nor does the answer lie in some artificially contrived hybrid of the two -- ergo The Servile State. No, the current system of economics is the direct result of man's abandonment of the Catholic Christian faith established by Jesus Christ and his apostles, and manifested most clearly in the reign of chivalry during the era of Christendom's medieval period. The Free Market, as it once existed under the reign of Catholic Christianity, was tightly regulated by kings and queens to insure that big business never got too big, and the rights of laborers were protected, most especially the right to acquire their own land and property for the purpose of building their own small business. Thus the system of economics given to us by medieval Christendom was a true "ownership society" wherein property was much more evenly distributed among the common people, thus giving them the means to more effectively control their own destiny. It wasn't a perfect system by far, but it did work, and it was a hell of a lot better than what previously existed under Pagan Rome, and what currently exists in both Capitalist and Socialist nations today.  This system of true free market economics is now called Distributism.

We are living in possibly the most perilous time in American history since the Civil War. I suspect it is even more perilous. If we don't try to change the message of some of these Occupy protesters, they will be led to their own demise, and in the process drag the United States down even deeper into The Servile State.

Please, if you live anywhere in or near a city under protest by the Occupy Movement, (especially a Southern or Midwestern city), than organise with other like-minded people and get hundreds of these flyers to the protesters. It would even be better if you could pose as a protester, hand these flyers out to them, and then distribute them to onlookers and those passing by, as if you were a protester yourself. Bring some homemade cardboard signs with you, just to make it look good. We have to change the thinking of these people now, because if we are unsuccessful, the Occupy Movement will eventually turn violent and force our nation into a police state. The United States must be allowed to implode naturally, under the colossal weight of our own federal government, national debt and trade deficit. Allowing a demonstration stunt like the "Occupy" Movement to turn America into a police state during the interim period is unacceptable, and the lives of these naive youths are worth more than the canon fodder of riot police. Helping them helps us, and it's not too late to do that. Please, organise and infiltrate, showing a true spirit of brotherly love and compassion. The flyer you need is here... DOWNLOAD PDF HERE

The Occupy Movement has not reached my area yet, but you can rest assured that when it does, 'The Catholic Knight' will be quietly among them, posing as one of them, and getting this valuable life-saving information to them one way or another. Likewise, I will organise as many people as I can to work with me on this project (just half a dozen should be more than enough). Please, in the name of all that is holy, join me in this most worthy crusade!

Many Catholics Now Driving Modern Dixie Independence Movement

LEAGUE OF THE SOUTH
SOUTHERN NATIONAL CONGRESS
SOUTHERN NATIONALIST NETWORK
Southern Heritage 411
Confederate Catholics
Glenmary Catholic Missions in Dixie

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The emerging Dixie Independence Movement is now growing rapidly, and appears to be increasingly populated by Catholics, many of whom are taking leadership roles in the movement across the Southland. While it is impossible to calculate actual numbers at this time, reports are coming in to The Catholic Knight about many traditionalist Catholic groups, such as the FSSP and the SSPX, having a large crossover in membership with the League of the South and the Southern National Congress, especially in states that were part of the Old Confederacy (1860 - 1865). This of course is not limited to traditionalist Catholics, as many practical Catholics of all stripes are becoming partial to the movement.

Contrary to popular misconception, the modern Dixie Independence Movement does not seek to return to the past. While historical symbols, such as Confederate flags, enjoy wide popularity in this movement, the thought of slavery, segregation and racism is repugnant to these new secessionists. Recently, the League of the South, which promotes Southern independence, released a guiding statement for the organisation condemning all forms of racism and ethnic hatred, encouraging all their members to follow a spirit of Christian charity and fraternity (read the statement here).

Over the last twenty years the Dixie Independence Movement had gone through significant changes. While the original emphasis was on modern secession, through peaceful and honorable means, the goal is now refocusing on rebuilding Dixie after the inevitable and eminent fall of the United States of America. It is a fall that every American now knows will come, as they can feel it coming deep within their bones. It is a fall that is now unavoidable. The United States of America will soon be crushed by the colossal weight of its own federal government, national debt, and international trade deficit. When this happens, the federal government will likely turn to a police state as a short-term solution, but this will not last long. In the end, the federal government will lose control of the states, and when that happens, the states will be forced to take up the roll of complete governance themselves. It is at that time a realignment will likely occur, in which states will ally with other states they have the most in common with, culturally and economically, creating new nations from the former United States of America. In this sense, the fall of the United States will likely mimic the fall of ancient Rome more so than the Soviet Union. All together, the continental United States is a political/economic union consisting of approximately nine to ten cultural nations. Once the fall is complete, those nine to ten cultural nations will likely become new political/economic realities, just as Europe did after the fall of ancient Rome. Dixie will likely be one of the largest new unions as it already has a real historical, cultural, religious and economic identity. It will be a union based on state sovereignty, Christian culture and real religious freedom. For example; Catholic priests (along with all Christian pastors) will be able to preach freely from the pulpit, on any political candidate or issue, without fear of tax retribution from the I.R.S.. No longer will children be told they can't pray in schools, and religious symbols may be displayed again on public property. Each state can run its own school voucher program as it sees fit, without the worry of centralised intervention from the national government. To get there however, we must first endure the fall of the United States, and that will require much prayer and preparation on the part of the people of Dixie.

Please watch the above video fully, then pass this blog post on to others using the "share" icons below. Also, please visit the above links, and consider helping any way you can, as your conscience allows and the Spirit guides. Most especially, please consider helping Glenmary bring the Catholic faith to more Southerners who are desperately in need of the Full Gospel of Jesus Christ.

ACTION ALERT: Call Up The TEA Party !!!

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:  It is now crunch time.  This is it.  As I have warned on this blog for three years now, the whole world is about to be plunged into an economic/financial crisis unlike anything the world has ever seen. (read more here)  The fate of the United States of America is sealed.  There is nothing we can do to save our country any more.  The Federal Government WILL collapse, but don't expect this to happen overnight.

So now at this critical time, I'm going to ask my readers to spread the word on a shocking strategy that may (just may) help to preserve Western civilization and perhaps (just maybe) give us a shot at a new beginning.  Right now, the "Occupy Wall Street" movement is spreading across America and picking up momentum.  There are lots of theories as to the origins of this movement and their intentions.  As it stands right now, I don't think the participants even know.  This actually works to our advantage.  I'm going to propose a strategy so shocking, so opposite of what the "Occupy" organizers expect, that it will likely turn the whole thing on its head.

Are you ready?

Are you sitting down?

Here it is!

I propose we JOIN them!!!!  

Now before your head falls off, just hear me out.  I am proposing that the TEA Party movement organize to join the "Occupy Wall Street" movement with a simple message -- SUBSIDIARITY.

I am also proposing that these flyers be handed out to the protesters, media and bystanders....

Download PDF Version HERE

Go ahead and join them in their mindless slogans against corporate greed, and throw in a few anti-government slogans as well.  Together we might be able to steer some of these kids down the right path, and for those we can't, well they will just be drown out by our voices.

Please pass this on to all TEA Party organizers.  Get the word out !!!

Communiqué from the General House of the Society of St. Pius X

October 6, 2010

During this month of the Rosary and, in particular, on the occasion of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, on October 7th when the superiors of the Society of St. Pius X will meet to study the recent proposals from Rome, Bishop Bernard Fellay asks all priests and faithful to intensify their generous participation in the Rosary Crusade that began on Easter of 2011 and ends on Pentecost of 2012.

On September 29th, in an interview given in Stuttgart, Germany, Fr. Niklaus Pfluger, First Assistant of the Society, recalled, “We are not that concerned about any advantage of our own. We want to make the treasure that Archbishop Lefebvre entrusted to our safekeeping available again for the whole Church.. . . We are concerned [instead] about the Catholic Church. Together with the Archbishop we too would like to say [the words of St. Paul; cf. I Corinthians 11:23], “Tradidi quod et accepi”―We hand on what we ourselves have received.”

During the conference he gave on October 1st at Villepreux, France, Bishop Fellay stated, “Sr. Lucy confided to Fr. Fuentes that the Blessed Virgin has put in this prayer [the Rosary] a particular efficacy, such that it is able to solve all problems. Sr. Lucy said it at Fatima—all problems. Listen well: All! You must believe it. . . .”

“Our Lord said : ‘if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove (Matt. 17:19).’ Ask for this faith, the faith of a grain of mustard seed.”

“In addition, we are counting on you to escalate this Rosary Crusade. There should be absolutely no doubt that the prayer of any part of the Church that comes together to ask for great graces, is pleasing to the Good Lord, honors Him and honors the Blessed Virgin.”

“So, let us go forth ! Let us carry on this Crusade with faith and confidence in the Good Lord.”

Menzingen, October 6, 2011

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Let us join our Catholic brethren in the SSPX in this Rosary crusade on Friday, October 7th, by praying all 15 decades of the Rosary. Feel free to throw in the extra 5 Luminous decades of Blessed John Paul II if you are so inclined, for a grand total of 20 decades. It is vitally important that relations between the Vatican and the SSPX be normalised, and that the SSPX be given a proper canonical structure within the Church, lest we end up with another schism comparable to that of AD 1054.

Syrian Christians Fear American Sponsored Uprisings

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Look, I don't like these Middle Eastern dictators either, but we have to give credit where credit is due. As bad as these monsters can be sometimes, they have kept radical Islam in check within their nations (for the most part), and have also kept Christians reasonably safe within their nations.

The United States Federal Government is principally behind this "Arab Spring" in the Middle East. The CIA, and other intelligence agencies, have been working in Arab nations all across the Middle East and Northern Africa since 2002. The goal of the G.W. Bush administration (continued in the Obama administration) was to topple Arab dictators and replace them with Arab democracies, both through military intervention (Iraq & Afghanistan) and through covert operations designed to whip up revolutions. The United States has been working with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and radical Muslim extremists in Libya. Now we are stirring up trouble in Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Conspiracy theories abound as to why. Many of them are credible. Which one is right? Take your pick. Your guess is as good as mine. The end result is the same however. The Middle East will be further radicalised, Israel will remain in a constant state of warfare (which benefits the United States), and the whole region will eventually be "cleansed" of all Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Could somebody explain to me again how America is a friend to Christians? Oh that's right! silly me. That only counts for Evangelicals and Liberal Protestants.

Return of The Knight

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Well my leave of absence was short lived, thanks to the relentless march of history. So The Catholic Knight is back, but on a limited basis. You'll notice that my blog entries will be shorter for the time being, and probably minus the wonderful graphics and formatting. I just won't have time for that. But I can make short posts here and there, even from my iPhone. Also, please don't take it personally if I don't keep up on the comment moderation as well as I used to. If your comment doesn't get posted for a while, it's simply because I haven't had time to get to it. I'm afraid it just has to be this way for a while.

In His Majesty's Service,

The Catholic Knight

ACTION ALERT: Fourth Southern National Congress Announced

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Dear readers, it seems my leave of absence has been rudely interrupted by the march of history. Again I return from my hiatus to inform you of yet another important event affecting our people and our nation.

The Fourth Southern National Congress has been announced. Here in this forum, Southerners from across the old confederate states will have the opportunity to address various concerns and difficulties affecting Southerners in this tumultuous time in the American Empire's history. As I've pointed out in previous articles, traditional Catholics are playing a huge role in this revived movement of Dixie Nationalism, and the majority of its leaders are both Paleoconservatives and Distributists.

I want to encourage every Catholic reader of this blog, living within the original 13 Confederate States, to actively participate in this Congress. Please sign up to support, monitor the progress, and please actually attend if you are at all physically able to do so. We need to make sure our Southern Catholic voices are heard.

The Fourth Southern National Congress will convene Friday and Saturday, November 18-19, 2011 at Montgomery Bell State Park, near Dickson, TN, about 30-40 minutes southwest of Nashville, TN. CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

ACTION ALERT: Occupy the Fed !!!

Federal Reserve Branch - Houston Texas

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The 'Occupy Wall Street' movement going on nationwide right now is deliberately designed to turn attention away from the Federal Reserve System which is planning the greatest robbery of the U.S. taxpayers in American history. Don't let them do it!!!

The Federal Reserve System is the greatest single evil ever unleashed on the American people. The Catholic Knight is returning from absence briefly to make this special announcment. I am carrying the signal to Catholic readers of this blog and I'm asking you to pass this message on to everyone possible.

There will be three protests of the Federal Reserve in Texas this coming weekend -- Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

• FRIDAY - 6pm at the Federal Reserve Building in Dallas Texas
• SATURDAY - 12pm at the Federal Reserve Building in Houston Texas
• SUNDAY - 10am at the Federal Reserve Building in San Antonio Texas

The 'Occupy Wall Street" movement is designed to divert attention away from the Federal Reserve while they set into motion a plan unlike anything ever seen. If you want to save our culture and society, we need to put attention back on the Federal Reserve. If you live in, or near, these three cities, please consider showing up (peacefully) with your TEA Party flags, rosaries and 'SUBSIDIARITY' signs this weekend. OCCUPY THE FED !!!