Welcome Tony!

Looks like Tony Blair has made the jump - wonderful news, to be sure, but I don't think he'll have any trouble finding a seat...

Check out Rich Leonardi's blog for a link to the story ---> http://richleonardi.blogspot.com/

Is your parish liberal?

There are clues a-plenty to determine whether your parish is liberal. As a public service, the CCB provides the first in an occasional series:

December 13 - Feast of St. Lucy

I glanced at the calendar and my imagination went off the tracks a bit. But somehow, would something like this really surprise you?

Pope looks to get rid of 60's "happy music"

It's been awhile, but I've had a chance to pop my head up and see what's going on in the Catholic world around me, and what do I read, but the Pope is looking to get back to some traditional Catholic music! Good for him, and good for all of us! Too bad for all those 1960's radicals, though, as their grip slips again!

Read more about it over at the Cafeteria : http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2007/11/changing-tune.html

Christmas!

Just wanted to post an explanation for the sparseness of cartoons lately. For me, it's Christmas Card season. I own Trade Greetings, Inc., (http://www.tradegreetings.com/) through which I design and sell Christmas Cards for companies (mostly contractors). Most designs, like the one here, allows for the company to put their logo on the vehicle, making for quite a unique Christmas Card. And yes, all of my cards are referred to as "Christmas Cards", although many people refer to them as "Holiday Cards".

So I'll try to throw in a new cartoon here and there, but this endeavor keeps me working like mad up through early December.

And if the company you work for needs some Christmas Cards, let me know. I'll throw in a discount just for us Catholics...

Roadblocks in Cinncinnati

Wouldn't you know it - The Pope can come out and state that 1+1=2, and you can always be sure there will be some in the hierarchy who just HAVE to put conditions on it. Archbishop Pilarczyk has come out with his own set of regulations for any poor priest who gets the idea that he wants to celebrate a Latin Mass. Get a load of it, along with expert analysis, from Father Z's blog:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2007/09/norms-for-older-mass-issued-by-archbp-of-cincinnati-committee-to-examine-priests/#comments

Lourdes water a no-no?

Gotta love that attention to detail. Strain at gnats and swallow camels. Read all about the French not allowing pilgrims to take their Lourdes water on a plane: http://www.cathnews.com/news/708/176.php

Priestly Deniers

For the past few months, and especially since Pope Benedict issued his Motu Proprio freeing up the Latin Mass, those who hate the Traditional Faith have been doing the linguistic cartwheels about how nobody will attend, nobody wants it, and how the Novus Ordo is so much better.

My most recent New Oxford Review (www.newoxfordreview.org) has an article in the New Oxford Notes titled "The New Mass Just Can't Be Fixed". In it, the NOR points to the Publisher of Our Sunday Visitor, one Greg Erlandson, who did the usual ragging job on the Latin Mass, and states that "many of the problems we face - lower Mass attendance, declining awareness of the teaching of the Real Presence, even the reluctance to invite others to share our faith - can be linked to a lack of appreciation for the [New] Mass itself" (emphasis mine)

The New Oxford Review states that all of these indicators that have been on the decline are "part and parcel of the New Mass, which in the end, just can't be fixed."

To which I'd say "Right on, brother."

If liberals hate it, it must be good.

All of the recent public spewing of bile over the Motu Proprio shows the desperation of the 1960's has-beens. They're taking a page from the Democratic Handbook - Denigrate, Denigrate, Denigrate and hope nobody sees through it.

Check out the Cafeteria for some of the latest crying jags: http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2007/08/cns-column-update.html

Faith of our Fathers - for Heaven's sake.

Back from vacation - and still getting caught up with work ( having a job soooo gets in the way of important things!!). At mass this past Sunday, we sang "Faith of our Fathers" - with the *new* and *improved* 3rd verse that begins "Our mothers too...". Oh, please. Naturally, I didn't sing that one, since it's such a crass political insert. Maybe I'll live long enough to see all the liberal "inclusive" verses removed, but somehow I doubt it.

But I guess it could be worse, it could be a "hymnal" from OCP, and I'd have to put up with this kind of stuff weekly instead of occasionally...

At the beach

I haven't done anything for a week, as I've been getting ready to leave Friday for a week in Ocean City, MD. Naturally, the kids and I will be at Holy Savior on 17th street for Mass on Sunday, the same place my father took us waaaaay back in the early 70's when we'd go on vacation. It's set up in cruciform style, with a raised altar & baldacchino. It's the only place I've been where behind the altar is another seating area at least 20 rows deep. Plenty of candles and a few statues. Everything a modernist would recoil at... hehehe

Roger and the Summorum Pontificum

hehehe

Christmas In July!

Matthew over at Play the Dad?/Be the Dad! has a nice little parody on the Night Before Christmas to go along with this cartoon : http://playthedad.blogspot.com/2007/07/motu-what.html

Satan calls Bugnini on the carpet

The faint "whirring" sound you hear is Bugnini spinning in his grave...

Motu Fallout

I'm sure the Suicide Hotlines are buzzing with distraught liberal "catholics" everywhere...

Could it be true?

The Motu is right around the corner?

Check out Kath.net for the details: http://www.kath.net/detail.php?id=17154

10 Commandments for Drivers??

The Vatican has issued it's 10 Commandments for Drivers.

Unfortunately, this is not a joke.

Go on over to Kat's site for a few laughs about it:

http://thecrescat.blogspot.com/2007/06/like-being-good-catholic-isnt-hard.html

A life raft is nice, but...

I personally don't think the Motu Proprio will be the "Magic Bullet" that many others seem to think it will be.

Like my man in the raft, don't get me wrong, it's more than welcome. But there are still so many sharks out there. I wonder how long before they'd chew this raft up. (Assuming of course, the raft is ever thrown out there)

Father Z has an excellent piece on how to conduct ourselves like gentlemen when and if the MP comes: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2007/06/fr-zs-5-rules-of-engagement-for-when-and-if-the-motu-proprio-comes/

Fr. Z finds himself in serious violation

Father Z over at WDTPRS finds a rather obscure reference to the types of shoes that are supposed to be worn while offering/assisting at Mass. From his blog:

=========================

Some time ago I reported the publication of the reissue of Ludovico Trimeboni’s Compendio di Liturgia Pratica (Milano: Marietti 1829, 2007). If you want to know how to do something traddy, look in this book.I said that I would from time to time share interesting points, as I did here.I have just found out that I am in grave violation of a seriously important point when celebrating the "Tridentine Mass". This is so huge… folks, well… what to say… I think… I just don’t know if I can go on….

In the section on "Ceremonies of Mass, ch. I, "The Read Mass", I. "The Celebrant" §1 – Ordinary Ceremonies – 421 – "In the sacristy" ([. 397) I have just now read (my translation):

Use the footware that clerics of the place are used to wearing publicly and wear the cassock.

Well… this part isn’t so hard, though I am not sure I can find either matching flip flops or golf shoes for my cassock. Maybe a different color cassock… hmmm… but I digress. What follows is what upset me so much, and, of course, it is in a footnote: the good stuff always is:

D. 3268, 3. [Cf. Naifa, Costume of the Prelates of the Catholic Church, Balitmore, 1925:

"According to the Roman ceremonial, all clerics and those who serve in church, as cantors, sacristans, etc., ought to wear shoes with buckles (It. fibbie). The buckle is of shiny steel for members of the inferior clergy and servers, in silver for priests, monks and prelates belonging to religious orders. Gold and guilded silver are reserved for secular prelates."

All this time…. do you hear??? .... all this time I have been out of bounds, perhaps my immortal sole… er… soul in danger.I am caught in a real aporia here. On the one hand, how to deal with wearing shoes like clergy wear around here. I mean, how to you clip buckles on flipflops, anyway? I guess you can work more easy with golf shoes. But where to get silver buckles these days?

==============================

Read all about it at his blog : http://wdtprs.com/blog/2007/06/buckle-up/

Typical liberal whining

CTSA boo-hoos about losing influence and worries about giving a "false impression to outsiders" regarding their long-standing dissent and endorsement of the usual liberal idiocy.

The truth of the matter is that they're whining about the fact that people see right through them.

Pick up a steaming hot plate of the details over at Gerald's Cafeteria: http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2007/06/ctsa-feeling-heat.html

President Bush meets Pope Benedict XVI

President Bush will meet with Pope Benedict at the Vatican this weekend. Should be an interesting conversation, although I doubt the Pope will engage in too much "I told ya so" kind of stuff...

Read all about it at Catholic World News: http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=51553

Mater Dei Television

An old pal of mine, Chuck, from waaaay back in the Catholic Discussion Group days, has been tirelessly working on the launch of Mater Dei Television. The feed isn't up yet, but the blog associated with it is. It will feature tons and tons of old Catholic programs like the old "Catholic Hour", along with a bunch of old footage of and programs on the Popes. He sent me a preview disc and it was incredible! I highly recommend this effort! It's a great way to actually see some of our Catholic Heritage which has been so carelessly discarded by the Modernists!

Visit the Blog - http://www.materdeitelevision.blogspot.com/ !

So glad we have smart people..

...so that we can understand just how "stoopid" we, the unenlightened laity, really are.

Bishop Trautman again pontificates from on high about how we ignorant sheep can't possibly grasp what words mean unless they're under two syllables long and certainly no more than 5 or six letters long.

Here's what Trautman says regarding new translations from the Vatican:

"All liturgy is pastoral. If translated texts are to be the authentic prayer of the people, they must be owned by the people and expressed in the contemporary language of their culture. To what extent are the new prayers of the Missal truly pastoral? Do these new texts communicate in the living language of the worshiping assembly? How will John and Mary Catholic relate to the new words of the Creed: "consubstantial to the Father" and "incarnate of the Virgin Mary"? Will they understand these words from the various new Collects: "sullied," "unfeigned," "ineffable," "gibbet," "wrought," "thwart"?"

Gerald, who's serving it up hot and fresh over at the Cafeteria, has more:

http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2007/05/me-no-speaky-english.html

Gee - just think how easy Math class would be if he was your teacher!

Hey, let's form a committee!

Members of the "Gang of 18" don't like being held accountable to the Faith they supposedly hold. Some Catholic members of Congress were highly critical of the Pope's remarks regarding Catholic politicians putting themselves at risk for excommunication based on their activities in office (most notably enabling and promoting abortion).

For two responses to this little temper tantrum:

First we have Father Euteneuer, of Human Life International, basically telling them to get with the program or hit the road : http://www.hli.org/press_releases_gang_of_18_leave_church.html .

Then you have the Gang of Bureaucrats at the USCCB, who couldn't get out of the way of a speeding train without forming a committee, offering a "statement" :

http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2007/07-088.shtml

While we should throw a parade for them not taking 2 years to put the statement out, it stills shows that "committee-speak" is never a good substitute for being clear and unambiguous. Guess they didn't want to offend all their "friends".

Manga Madness

The Office of Vocations (UK) has a site (www.calledtoday.com) that seeks to use Manga-style cartoons to entice people to join the religious life. Aside from the "What??" factor, if you visit their site, you'll notice how the priest is (purposely?) shoved to the back of the crowd. Maybe they giving out a subliminal message on what they think of the priesthood, as opposed to other states of religious life.

If this idea comes to America, I doubt they'll tap ME as their cartoonist...

Fun with Movie Posters

"For 40 years the forces of darkness ran rampant all over the Traditional Faith. Those who loved the Faith huddled in darkness until, little by little, the stranglehold of the Faithless began to weaken. Like flowers springing from rocks, the Traditional Faith began to rise again. First in the laity, then in the clergy, until their numbers became formidable enough to mount a counter attack. This is their story..."

Maybe one day they'll make a movie of our stand against Satan's tyrants...

How the Grinches Stopped the Motu Proprio

Riding around cutting an acre and a half of grass on a 48" tractor can lead one's mind to ponder all sorts of things. And since I ponder in a comical sense, it struck me that all of these "leaders" we have out there who just HATE the Traditional Faith have got to be having late night strategy sessions to find a way - any way - to cut this Motu Proprio off at the pass. It just made me think of the Grinch and how he obsessed with the happiness that the Who's got from Christmas. I'm sure the Grinches of the Church feel the same resentment towards those of us who experience JOY in the Traditional practices of the Faith.

Feeling the Maytag Man's pain...

I'm sure that since the St. Michael prayer was dropped at the end of the Mass in the 60's, the number of entreaties to Heaven for his protection have dropped too. Oh, I know some have kept it, but it's use is pretty scarce compared to the old days.

Liturgical epilepsy (dancing)

Considering how the liberals love to interpret the meaning of "celebrating the Mass" to suit their own agenda, I thought I'd offer two viewpoints on the issue:

This link is to an article by a pro-dance Fr. Robert VerEecke (although I'll bet a dozen hot, fresh Krispy Kreme donuts that he goes by "Fr. Bob"). His article is typical of the liberals who advocate this idiocy : http://www.americamagazine.org/gettext.cfm?textID=1653&articleTypeID=1&issueID=366

And of course, it's in America Magazine. And he's a Jesuit. As if you couldn't have guessed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the good Cardinal Arinze's take, slide north across the border to the Golden Girl's blog:

http://paramedicgoldengirl.blogspot.com/2007/04/cardinal-arinze-on-liturgical-dance.html

Cardinals in Las Vegas

I just caught wind of this one, and I just can't help myself. The Cardinals are gathering for a big dinner in - of all places - Las Vegas. Now, I place no bad motives on anyone, or anything like that, I just find it funny that someone thought "Hey, Sin City - that sounds like a great place to have a big shindig!". Anyway, here's my take. You can read more about it over at the American Papist : http://americanpapist.com/blog.html

T-Shirts tell alot about you...

I'll admit to being puzzled about what possesses (no pun intended) these guys who are in the very embrace of the Church yet work so tirelessly against Her. As I was working on the new designs for my little shirt company, I veered off into imagining what type of t-shirt the enemies would wear:

Maybe they should visit www.betterinlatin.com and see the new designs I've added to the collection. This one is a Coat of Arms for Christ. I've also added a Coat of Arms for Mary. Maybe wearing one of these would help them to remember Whom they're supposed to be working for. Feel free to visit the site.

Adamec reveals his true colors

Matt Abbott has an article on Bishop Adamec's hatred for the Mass of All Ages. The Devil has workers in his vineyard, too. Read about it here: http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/070416

Shameless plug

Here's a rendering of the old Sacred Heart Church in Glyndon, MD. I drew this, along with the new one, for note cards that the Church and school will use. It's a great way to raise funds for your parish . I did this for my own parish; they ordered 1000, and sold them in lots of 10. They sold out quickly. Feel free to contact me if you'd be interested.

Hockey is the perfect Catholic sport

Taking a break to celebrate the beauty of the NHL Playoffs, I present to you the following:

---------------------------------------------------

Why Hockey is the perfect Catholic Sport:
- The penalty box is called the "Sin Bin"
- If you do something really bad, it's a given that some serious

temporal punishment is coming your way.
- The gravity of your offense determines your time in the penalty box.
- They have a penalty called cross-checking.
- A Zamboni is like a "confession-mobile"; it cleans theice of all

imperfections between periods.
- Blood is shed regularly.
And the #1 reason that Hockey is the perfect Catholic sport is:
- When you win it all, you get the "CUP".

--------------------------------------------------

Log onto www.NHL.com and revel in the knuckle-bustin' fun!

I have to wonder...

...what world these guys live in. To take up the case of those who drain us is beyond me. Maybe my tower doesn't contain enough ivory to understand them...

Read more about our immigrant-loving Bishops at the Crescat's joint:

http://thecrescat.blogspot.com/2007/04/scapegoats-or-criminals-leeches-of.html

Motu Proprio (again)

Assuming that some day this Motu Proprio is released, I wonder if the priests who want to say the Latin Mass will have to get some sort of approval or clearance from their bishop. If so, I can just picture the above happening. (click on it to see it larger)

And yes, the resemblance to a certain Cardinal is intentional. :oD

Baptism

In their recent document called "Ministry to Persons with Homosexual Inclination..." the USCCB state the following regarding the baptism of children:

"The document also reaffirms the Church's forbiddance of homosexual couples adopting children. However, it does say that the baptism of such children is a matter of pastoral concern and can only happen if there is a "well-founded hope" that the children will be raised Catholic. "

But baptism is NOT allowed in the following situation:

Legitimately married straight couple.

More than one child.

One spouse takes the children to mass every week. Prays with them every night. Teaches them the Faith as best as they can.

The other spouse was raised protestant and anti-Catholic. Not a church-goer. Decent person otherwise, but hates the Church, and refuses to consent to a Catholic baptism.

So in a situation where a true effort is made, no baptism. But two queers who "claim" that a child will be raised Catholic, oh, they're ushered right in.

What's wrong with that picture?

Holy Week Hiatus

I'll not be posting anything this week, for obvious reasons, and I wish all of you a Happy and Joyful Easter.

Latin Mass at Mahony's "Cathedral"?

Rumblings abound on the Motu Proprio regarding the release of the Latin Mass. Ok, great. I'm all for it - except something bugs me. Many of us consider the "surroundings" important when we go to Mass. Considering all the parishes out there that aren't even remotely Catholic, what do you think they'd do if they got their hands on a Latin Mass. Can you imagine one at St. Sabina's in Chicago? Or anywhere in Orange County (Home of the Barney Mass)? Or how about St. Bernadette's in Severn, MD, which bills itself as "gay friendly"? I shudder to think of what they'd do to it.

What possesses some people...

...to write a novel about Judas?? What possesses them to try to "rehabilitate" his image? It's like a twisted version of "Extreme Makeover" only this time it's the "Maggot Edition".

Feel free to read about the priest who's written this novel...

http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2007/03/priest-co-authors-gospel-of-judas.html

Pope Benedict Caricature

Pope Benedict stopped by my office recently, since he'd heard about this awful conservative Catholic who was doing all these awful cartoons. So we chatted a bit about nothing in particular, although he had nothing but good things to say about The Crescat (www.thecrescat.blogspot.com).

Anyway, he struck a pose and said, "Hey, draw me like so." So I figured, hey, what the heck. I didn't even charge him for it.

[Of course, all of the preceding is a huge load of malarkey; but feel free to check out my latest efforts - doing military caricatures for the Best of the Best : www.pnichols.com/caricatures.html]

St. Patrick - on call again

They're at it again in Los Angeles. Get a load of what that snake in the grass Richard Rohr is doing to the "mass" out there: http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2007/03/fr-rohrs-approximation-of-mass-at-re.html

Time for a new approach?

I went to see the movie "300" over the weekend. Putting aside a couple of inappropriate scenes, I heartily endorse the modus operandi (kill 'em all) with regards to enemies. Of course, that's somewhat tongue in cheek, and shouldn't be seen as an endorsement of violence to solve problems - at least not all the time. :oD

I wonder if Bill Donohue has seen this movie? Drop him a line and ask www.catholicleague.org.

Fr. Euteneuer - A true Defender of the Faith

I'm sure many have heard about the verbal sparring between Fr. Euteneuer and Sean Hannity that took place last Friday night. I was lucky enough to have happened to tune in (I was surfing - the Roman Collar stopped me). Sean Hannity, as many might know is a strong advocate of artificial birth control, yet at the same time calls himself a devout Catholic. Well, Fr. Euteneuer called him to task on it. And naturally, a Fr. Morris, apparently a contributor or advisor to Fox News on religious issues, whined about it.

So Fr. Euteneuer published an open letter to Fr. Morris, which included this gem:

"As a seminary rector, I would sincerely hope that you are not teaching by word or example the young men in your charge to be politically correct sissies who are afraid to roll up their sleeves and defend the Church in private and in public. "

God bless him. We need more like him.

For more:

http://www.hli.org/article_open_letter_to_fr_morris.html

R.E. Congress

Cardinal Mahony's Dissent-Fest is ongoing in Los Angeles. Of course, all the presenters there have to meet certain, ahem, criteria. They don't just let ANYBODY in there...

Check out some what's presented over at the Roman Catholic Blog : http://romancatholicblog.typepad.com/roman_catholic_blog/2007/03/california_cath.html

The Meat Police!

Read about Fr. Jay's exploits at his site: http://youngfogeys.blogspot.com/2007/03/meat-police.html

From the "Uh, yeah, sure" department...

How we're expected to believe such nonsense just confounds me. Jesus Himself said that whoever rejects Him, also rejects the Father. Go here for more : http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/3543/worship.htm

Somewhere in Los Angeles...

Here's a link to a good article about the paradox of having a Tridentine Mass while at the same time allowing liturgical dancing and all it's attached garbage : http://athanasiuscm.blogspot.com/2007/03/problem-of-communion.html

Not aired on Sunday night, but....

As bad as the Oscars was, in it's celebration of sodomy and filth, here's one of those awards that they didn't broadcast!