8 out of 10.

 I'll be 69 in April, and I'm slowly (or quickly!) coming to grips with the fact that I really may have to have something more done than just taking Advil or Tylenol or Turmeric. Shoulders, knees, hips and back are cooked. Tomorrow I'm going to pain management to have my hip looked at. I've been diagnosed with adult hip dysplasia and the pain, at times is unbelievable. I've spent most of my late adult life living with pain, but this is tough. Even with the good thought of giving this pain to Our Lord, for Him to do with what He will with it, I guess when I actually cannot walk, then it's time to seek relief. I'll try the shot first, and if that doesn't give me long term relief (which it won't) I'll have to consider an operation.   

End of January

 End of January,

but winter has been scarce

here in New Hampshire.

One cold stretch 

yet double digits held sway

and today the 40's reign.

Retired, yes, but still 

one waits for rest

that never comes,

the days are full.

Age and death 

watch over me, as I do them, 

as we count the days

'till planting time.

Thanksgiving Eve.

 Thanksgiving Eve, and New Hampshire gets three inches of snow overnight but since we're retired, we don't get up at 4:00 am to snow blow the driveway before it turns to rain. No sir, we go out at 8:00 am, and snow blow the slush, which the EGO did very well, with H at the controls, much better than the Ariens. After that we went our separate ways until we rendezvoused at 2:00 back home for lunch. H called me (I was home) and we were able to pray our Franciscan Office with her in the car and me home. Unfortunately, this does happen, but we always get the Office in, every day. 

Many things to occupy the mind today, but with our son coming up for the holiday, well, that's something special. Off to our daughter and our son-in-law's for Turkey-Time tomorrow. H is making special cookies for the kids since they probably won't touch the pecan or squash pie. (Ages 4,2 and 1...)

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

St. Cecilia, pray for us.

Road Beyond Sixty.

 Argh, I haven't posted in a very, very long time, for reasons vague and unclear, but probably mostly out of laziness. That and the fact that I feel inadequate when writing anything! My strong point is reading out loud, which I love to do and, I've been told, I'm good at. It doesn't mean anything, no money is made from it, I just enjoy it. Especially reading to my wife or the grandkids. 

I was thinking of changing the name of this blog to Road Beyond Sixty, because that's where I find myself now. We all change with age, and I find myself a slightly different man now than back when this whole blogging thing started. Spiritually, mentally I think I've held my ground, but physically, yikes, age can most certainly extract its toll. I like to say I'm good from the neck up (I stole that line).  I try not to whine about my aches and pains (like I am now) but I do have them, some are border-line debilitating, and some are just a nuisance. I just try to keep going on. 

I'm not going to keep yakking for no reason today, I'm just trying to see if posting on a more regular basis is something I'll enjoy doing. I don't know what the subject matter will be, I'm leaving that up to the Holy Spirit; if He says write something about Nascar, I will, the Synod of Sin, I'll try, my Franciscan life I'll give it a shot. Expect anything at no certain time. 

Ah, that's enough for one day...

Just a mini-rant, or felling sorry for myself, or both.

 Let's face it, it IS hard to find anything to smile much about in this secular world lately, actually it's down right terrifying to even just get up and go forward to one's job every day. At times I would just rather have blinders on so as not to see or hear the madness that's in our face. Between the scandal of the election and the constant drumbeat to get tested, tested, tested there's almost no where to hide. Here in CT where liberalism is king and the Guv is out to get us all, it's basically keep your head down and stick with your own kind, and by that I mean Traditional Catholics. The world becomes much clearer and much anxiety is lifted when one spends time speaking of Our Mother, or Our Lord Jesus Christ or the Saint of the Day, etc. with like-minded people. The rest of the time, well, the challenge is real, and for me the challenge is not to lose my cool when discussing the usual daily conversational tidbits, namely wuhan, masks, President Trump and rigged elections, executive orders, etc. I know I'm not right most times when it comes to some topics, but dang, can't most people I come in contact with see clearly? Almost everyone I work with has only a vague idea of the absolute strength and primacy of God, and some not at all. Some are Muslims, some Hindus, a lot of lapsed Catholics but most of them are under the wuhan/mask sway and take the uptick in number of positive cases registered as actual sick people. This clouds their thinking, I know it does. Every day I say that I will not discuss these topics any more, I'm just going to tell them to do your own homework, don't take what I say for the truth, but I fail every day. I'm over 65, and don't need this extra stress I put on myself. 

So what to do? Thank God for God, Family, Duty, that's for sure!

But, then again I can't tell you what to do, but I've already started listening to my Advent station on Pandora, for one. I guess I can since being a Third Order Franciscan our Advent Fast has already started. So very soothing, especially at work. But seriously, I've got to ask our Lord for the virtue of (more) Patience, to not let all of these issues weigh on me and try to eat me up. I wish I could go to Mass every morning before work, but even people who are be able to go to Mass aren't able to most days, the times being what they are. And unfortunately the Latin Mass is not everywhere. But thank you for letting me write this and vent, I feel better than I did an hour ago. It's Friday, the feast of St. Felix of Valois, a great Saint (aren't they all?) who died a very beautiful natural death (check it out). 

Tomorrow being Saturday, I will be at Holy Mass.

   

The Coming Storm

                                                                                                                                

  Be aware, my friends, and this is no secret, but be aware that the liberal news media, all Democratic politicians (and unfortunately many Republicans) basically anyone who is opposed to President Trump will try to blame him for EVERTHING that is wrong or has gone wrong in the last four years. The most outlandish lies will be perpetrated against him and he will SEEM to have been abandoned by everyone. Don't fall for it. Do your homework and know your facts: This is the attempted destruction of the United States (and the world) as we know it. Be ready for complete chaos unless President Trump wins in an utter landslide, and even then the Democrats will not go down without a fight, and I mean an ugly street brawl. 

What can we do...

For starters, anyone with their head in the sand, get it out! Do your homework and keep your eyes and ears open. Reject the scams of BLM, Antifa, etc. completely.

Fast, do mortifications and pray that Rosary, adding the intention for our Country and our President. Pray for the enlightenment of all Americans to the peril of liberalism and modernism, and that the party of death will only bring us death. Everyone has faults, we all know that, and Christ's Rule over this land will not take place with Donald Trump, but he is our best bet to holding the vicious wolves at bay (I hope) for the next four years. 

Get out and vote, and vote Red. Your life may depend on it.  

Trying to find a happy thought.

The more the world slips closer to insanity and imbecillism (my word), the more completely obvious it is that salvation of souls and of the secular world also,will only come with hearts and minds turning towards God fully and completely, all the time, not just when it is convenient for each individual. The stupidness of hanging your hat or backing any anti-Christian form of thought, individual or group is so easily understood through the use of right reason that for us who do understand it has become very very painful to watch. This seems to be a hard onslaught by satan who never misses an opportunity to send souls to hell. If God wishes to He could instantly turn this around, but probably would like (A) for us to turn it around ourselves or (B) to punish us. A, we must do, and pray for his forgiveness and to give us strength. 

 

Pride, Greed, Wrath...

How many more days must go by before the authorities of this world wake up. The continuous destruction by radical leftest groups in the name of 'justice', 'equal rights' and whatever other words of mumbo jumbo you want to use to justify their actions is unprecedented in this country. Where are the police when mobs are tearing down the statues? Where are the leaders of this country, the Bernie Sanders ilk, Republicans, Democrats whoever, the Black leaders of the great country, where are they now? No unified cry to stop the destruction and the violence. No Church leaders, from the top down saying anything more than a whimper. Rioting cowards dressed in black, hiding themselves while they spew their nonsense and destroy public and private property. (Ranting now.) Not too hard to figure out. The Wuhan Cold to soften us up and scare us into cowardice, then bring on the destruction in the name of a man killed by bad police actions. Peaceful marches mixed with violent acts, so the world can't tell them apart anymore, the good from the bad. Modernism and liberalism coming to its grandest fruition. The falling away of the world from our Lord and His Kingship, no, not even that, that's too grand for these poor people, just forgetting basic Catholic teaching, which has been lost on this world for the last 100+ years, this is one of the real reasons society is crashing and literally, going to he--. As one Catholic commentator said, the leftists and the ungodly are bold and smart, and we Catholics, in our trying to be good, are dumb. And the shutting down of our Chapels and Churches have taken away our armor and our weapons. Father's Day has passed, and as Fathers and Catholic men we will be called upon to do even more, to make even more sacrifices. But the one weapon they could not take away from us is our Rosary Beads. Let us continue to pray to our Blessed Mother, who will triumph over the devil who is wielding much power right now. Let us all do our part by praying constantly and living good clean Catholic lives to show the world that there is only one road to heaven, and that is through the Kingship of Christ. 

The evil designs of men.

A husband dies alone, in a nursing home, from the Wuhan Virus, as his wife of 62 years watches through a nursing home window. This really bothers me. I'm sorry, but this is not right. 'What God joins together, no man shall put apart...' 

Our goal.

I can only credit this post to the fact that I'm getting older (65 in April) and not to any type of insight of mine. I'm home here, on my own for a few days, my wife off helping my daughter and son-in-law pack and get ready to move into their first home that they own. Exciting times!  So like I said I'm home alone, me and the cat and the woodstove. (I like both; me, usually not so much.) When I'm home alone it's mostly silent here. For awhile I'll put Pandora on, play some tunes that I like while supper is heating up (Helen takes good care of me before she leaves in the food dept.) but then it goes off. Silence is golden. I'll sit, have a cold beer, check social media (yes, I do...) and dang, end up not liking at least 3/4 of anything I see. I check out the sites I have on my side bar, good Catholic sites, but I'm mostly disheartened by what I see. This blogosphere is not all cracked up as they say it is. To me, it's become a wasteland off biting thoughts, men and women competing for what I really don't know. An audience? Money? Both? With Lent coming up I'm seriously thinking of giving up social media, at least for Lent. Forever, I don't know, I'm weak, but everything from religion to politics to the environment is just getting to be too much. I can see how single young men and women (and older of both) would want to leave this world behind and enter the monastic religious life although I'll admit I don't know of many who do. I'm very happily married, thank you Lord to a woman who has the same spiritual goals as I have, and our job is to get each other to heaven, and if possible our children and their families too. But for some of these young people it must be very, very hard to stay focused on Jesus Christ and the Final Goal. At 64+ I can be pulled in different directions, and thank God for my spouse who helps to keep me on the narrow path, even if she doesn't know it. 
This is the time we were given by God to live in, and very difficult times they are. The most difficult? I don't know about that, but we are given a chance, here and now to work out our salvation in glorious terms. If we do well, God will reward us; if we fail, well, we know the consequences. There is no choice. The darkness and evil of this world at this time is almost overwhelming, but we must not ever give in to it. I believe the devil hates a smile, hates joy, hates to see us overcoming the obstacles that he has put ion our path. Right, now, the world is in our way, this is what we must overcome, the same as always. Those of us who are married, our paths are set, the way is true, our goal, heaven, for our spouses and our family. For the single men and women listen to your heart, consult your priests and if possible, enter the religious life. We need you. The world needs you. Let us not let Rome bring us to despair, for we know what has to be done. 

(This past Sunday) Feast of the Holy Family.

To all fathers of families, Joseph is verily the best model of paternal vigilance and care. In the most holy Virgin Mother of God, mothers may find an excellent example of love, modesty, resignation of spirit, and the perfecting of faith. And in Jesus, who was subject to his parents, the children of the family have a divine pattern of obedience which they can admire, reverence, and imitate. Those who are of noble birth may learn, from this Family of royal blood, how to live simply in times of prosperity, and how to retain their dignity in times of distress. The rich may learn that moral worth is to be more highly esteemed than wealth. Artisans, and all such as are bitterly grieved by the narrow and slender means of their families, if they would but consider the sublime holiness of the members of this domestic fellowship, cannot fail to find some cause for rejoicing in their lot, rather than for being merely dissatisfied with it. In common with the Holy Family, they have to work, and to provide for the daily wants of life. Joseph had to engage in trade, in order to live; even the divine hands laboured at an artisan's calling. It is not to be wondered at, that the wealthiest men, if truly wise, have been willing to cast away their riches, and to embrace a life of poverty with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. - From the Apostolic Letters of Pope Leo XIII, Breve « Neminem fugit » 14 junii 1892

Vigil of the Nativity.

When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost. And so on...

Why was the Lord conceived of an espoused virgin rather than of a free? First, for the sake of the genealogy of Mary, which we have obtained by that of Joseph. Secondly, because she was thus saved from being stoned by the Jews as an adulteress. Thirdly, that Himself and His mother might have a guardian on their journey into Egypt. To these, Ignatius, the martyr of Antioch, has added a fourth reason namely, that the birth might take place unknown to the devil, who would naturally suppose that Mary had conceived by Joseph.

Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. She was found, that is, by Joseph, but by no one else. He had already almost an husband's privilege to know all that concerned her. Before they came together. This doth not imply that they ever did come together the Scripture merely showeth the absolute fact that up to this time they had not done so.

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. If any man be joined to a fornicatress they become one body; and according to the law they that are privy to a crime are thereby guilty. How then can it be that Joseph is described as a just man, at the very time he was compounding the criminality of his espoused? It must have been that he knew her to be pure, and yet understood not the mystery of her pregnancy, but, while he wondered at that which had happened, was willing to hold his peace. - 

Homily by St. Jerome, Priest at Bethlehem.

Advent

Posts have been few and far between, for various reasons, non more than, by the time night falls, so am I. Any thoughts or ideas I had at 9:00 am or 2:00 pm are long gone, so another evening slips by. I've tried and have been quite frankly fairly successful in letting my anger go (most of the time) concerning Rome, our so-called Pope, Bishops, Cardinals and the like. Liberals and modernists are useless to me. The media I try to ignore as much as possible. In the end, all of the mentioned above, in any order you like, are all distractions that just take away my inner eye that should be focused on God and my salvation. And when I say 'my salvation' I don't me just me in a selfish sort of way; no, I'm taking about the big pictures: wife, children, family and friends. The souls in purgatory. The Pope, priests. The list can go on and on, and some days it does. One great consolation is this beautiful time of year, as we wait in holy expectation for our Lord. Advent. Joy that comes from deep inside, almost like we are ourselves are giving birth to Him who can only come from the Blessed Virgin. Even on the coldest of December nights the thought of the Manger or the trip by donkey to Bethlehem, or the shepherds in the field will always bring a warmth respite from the darkness of these days. 

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Immaculate heart of Mary, pray for us.

St. Joseph, watch over us.

Gone!

Sorry about that blog, Vox Popoli. I took it down, I lost interest and I decided it didn't fit my idea of what I should share with my friends.

Thursday evening musings...

I'm home here, alone (except for Gertie the cat) and in the silence of this big house my mind will tend to wander, thankfully usually about spiritual things, but often lately concerning my relationship with my family. Now when I say 'Family' I don't mean my wife or son or daughter, or even my son-in-law. We are all pretty much on the same page (more or less, room for improvement.) What I mean is my mother, brother, sister and all of their family members. This relationship is on rocky ground at all times. I consider myself a Catholic, a Roman Catholic. Perhaps I could add that I only go to the Latin Mass, but I really don't like the words 'Trad Rad' or Traditional Catholic, or any of those other monikers that people use. I'm Catholic, period. Now in my opinion, most people who go to the Novus Order Mass are not Catholic 100% anymore. Unless they go to a parish that has a very 'spiritual' and tradition-minded priest, they are mostly protestant in their thinking, never mind the modernist and liberal mindset. This is everywhere, we all know it, and I'm not going to go any further with this. What brought me to write this post is that in finishing up my Divine Office, which is used by the Franciscans, for today, Vespers, the intention was 'For the necessity of Relatives' and for Compline it was 'For necessity of Friends'. To me, so very apropos for todays' world. We so very much need both of these people, relatives and friends, in our lives. It is so very unfortunate that all of our relatives can't be on the same page concerning our religious beliefs. I pray earnestly every day for the conversion of my brother, sister and mother and all of their family members to the true interpretation of the Church, but really don't think it will happen. This is Gods chastisement to both them and me. I'm 64 now. How many more weddings will we have to say no to, on account of the ceremony taking place in a barn, or a field or a (shudder) protestant church? It is a sad time when family is fading, in a way into the background and like-minded friends are the only ones outside of the immediate family that one can speak and pray with. Are the end times coming? It sure seems that way. The way the 98% of the world thinks is truly frightening, and we, as, lets say, working Catholics, are left in sadness and complete disarray.
I'll end with asking, not to pray for this or that, but to pray that our prayers, our sincere prayers, may be answered.

Post Mortum

Well, thank you all for your prayers. My brother and I sat down for our chit chat, in his very cozy family room, him on his new chair that helps him get up into a standing position. My poor brother, please try to remember him every once in a while (I know it's hard!) in your prayers. He is a very sick man and the many doctors he has still can't pin down what is wrong with him. They are getting closer to finding out, they are pretty sure it's neurological (not good). He is a wonderful man, hardworking, a good provider, but unfortunately, no longer a Catholic. He would say he is, but to me, he is Catholic in name (and that barely) but protestant through and through. Our discussion about why his daughter is getting married in the protestant church down the street got off on the wrong foot and went absolutely no where. The gap between a novus ordo/protestant Catholic and a Catholic who goes only to the Latin Rite Mass is too great. The arguments would have escalated into shouting matches. I am no Catholic apologetic. When it comes to Holy Mother Church my passions run too deep and they

get a hold of me. He has forgotten or never knew even the basic concepts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and doesn't want to know them. To say I was stunned was an understatement. And I guess I'm still in a state of shock. I very rarely talk about the Church with anyone outside of Tradition, unless they are asking me for an answer. What they think is almost incomprehensible to me, and thus I was put behind the eight ball right from the beginning. And to hear this coming from a family member, my beloved brother, made it just too hard. I believe my evangelizing days within my family are over. I will pray for them all, as I always do, but will stay clear of anything other than discussing sports.

Prayers, please.

Will be dealing first hand later today with an issue that no Catholic man wants to deal with: A family member (niece) marrying outside of the Church (protestant church). We heard about this on Christmas Eve, overhearing this conversation from across the table. Since then until now I've been hoping for a small miracle, that certain people will come to their senses and rectify the problem but no, liberals and modernists apparently only think one way, and that is "As long as they are happy..." I need not explain the logic of that thinking here, but this afternoon when I have a sit-down with my brother I pray (as I have been praying for days) that the Holy Ghost provides me with the words and actions to, if not outright change my brother's thinking, to at least plant a seed to have him begin to think about the error that is occurring here. No one outside of my immediate family, that I know of thinks anything is wrong. I ask you all, anyone who reads this, to just say a prayer, any prayer, for me, my neice and her boyfriend and my brother and his wife, to be open to the Truth as Jesus Christ has proclaimed it and as Holy Mother Church has passed it down and protected it through the ages. 

Thank you all and God Bless you!

Work and pray, pray and work.

This hay-wire world is doing it's best to push us to our limits.Even the weather, from mid-summer on, has not co-operated; rain, clouds, then more rain. 

Rome is darkness, as the fish rots from the head down, but there is much grace in this, for those who see.

For me, right now, all I want to do is stack wood. Allow me, Lord, the time for good manual labor, for I am a Franciscan who cannot do without. 

Work and pray, pray and work. 

St. Francis and the Stigmata.

Francis being indeed a faithful servant and minister of Christ, about the space of two years before he gave back his spirit to heaven, withdrew himself into an high mountain apart, even that mountain which is called Mount Alverno, and began to fast for forty days to the honour of the Archangel Michael. To think of the things above gave him sweeter comfort than beforetime he was wont, and the hot longing for heaven was kindled in him, so that he began to feel that the gifts from above were poured forth upon him in such fulness as he had never felt before. The burning of his desire made his heart rise towards God like the heart of a seraph, and his tender answering love yearned to be changed into the likeness of Him Who hath so loved us that He was content to bear the Cross. And it was so that one morning early, about the time of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, he was praying upon the side of the mountain, and there appeared unto him as it had been one of the Seraphim, having six wings, glorious and fiery, flying to him from heaven. It came therefore very swiftly, and stood in the air, hard by the man of God. He beheld then the appearance thereof that it was not winged only, but crucified also. His hands and feet were stretched forth and nailed to a Cross. Twain of his wings were lifted up and joined one to the other over his head, and twain were stretched forth to fly withal, and with twain he wrapped around his body. When Francis saw it, he was sore amazed, and his soul was.filled with sorrow and gladness, for the eyes of him that appeared were full of strange love and tenderness, so that he conceived great rejoicing thereat, but the nailing to the Cross was so exceedingly dreadful, that as he saw it, a sword of sorrow pierced his soul.

Then He Whom he beheld with his bodily eyes, began to speak silently unto him in his heart, and he understood that albeit the deathless Seraphim cannot suffer or faint, this vision was nevertheless therefore set before him, that he might know that as a friend of Christ he was to be all changed into the likeness of Christ Jesus crucified, not by the martyrdom of the body, but by the fervour of the soul. Then they held together some sweet converse, as of a man with his friend, and the vision passed from him, but his heart was kindled inwardly with the fire of the Seraphim, and his body was outwardly changed into the likeness of Him Who was crucified, even as wax is softened by the fire and taketh the impression of the seal. From thenceforth there were in his hands and feet the marks of the nails. The heads of the nails were seen in the palms of his hands and on the insteps of his feet, and the points came out on the backs of his hands and the soles of his feet. In his right side also was a long raw wound, as though he had been pierced with a spear, from which wound his holy blood oftentimes ran and stained his shirt and breeches.

Thereafter Francis was a new creature, famous for a new and awful sign. The holy marks of the Lord Jesus, whereon living man for twelve centuries had not been allowed to look, were his adornment. He came down from the mount bearing in himself the form of Jesus Crucified, not portrayed upon tables of stone or wood by the hand of any earthly craftsman, but drawn upon his flesh by the finger of the living God. The dying Seraph knew well that it is good to keep close the secret of a king, Tobit xii. 7, and knowing the secret of his King, he strove as far as in him lay to keep the sacred marks hidden from men. Nevertheless, forasmuch as it is the will of the Lord God for His Own glory to make manifest the greatness of His Own works, He openly showed forth divers wonders through these wounds which He had Himself made in secret, so that the hidden and wondrous power of the marks might become known by the fame of the miracles. The foregoing marvellous but thoroughly witnessed facts, which were already spoken of in Papal documents with especial praise and joy, were made, by the pleasure of Pope Benedict XI, the subject of a yearly memorial, which was afterwards extended by Paul V. to the whole Church, in the hope of fanning in the hearts of the faithful the love of Christ Crucified.
  (from) From the Readings upon the Life of St. Francis, composed by St. Buona- Ventura, Cardinal Bishop of Albano.

Pax et Bonum!

I haven't posted much lately, I think the reason being is that I'm just really at a loss for words. Rome is trying it's hardest to tear down the walls of our Church, (even knowing that that can never happen) they are still trying, making a mockery of Catholicism in the eyes of the world. But... like our Pastor, Father Pieroni said so emphatically at Holy Mass yesterday "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!"

And so I'll try not to.

In the meantime, Happy Feast Day to all you third order Franciscans and Cord Bearers on this (commemoration) of The Imprinting of the Stigmata on the Body of St. Francis of Assisi.

Pax et Bonum!