I just realized, my friends, that frequent commenter Joe Six Pack is a member (albeit an absent one) of the Latin Mass Community of St. Rose Philippine Duschene. I'm dense, yes. Anyways, Joe and Mrs. Six Pack tell us of the sorry state of affairs in Ankara. With Christian clerics of the sort he describes in his post on the Cornell Catholic Circle blog, who needs the Turks, eh?
Pray for his safe return to our fold!
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Fr. Brian Klingele
A rule that I instituted on my very substantive first post on August 7, 2005 was that parish-level names are verbotten in the Cave. That very first post told the story of our attendance at the novus ordo Mass of a young priest who had--a week or two before--taken over as pastor of a rural parish in disarray (after the previous pastor had been derelict at his post and eventually left it, and the active priesthood in scandal). The new young priest was at the beginning of a long process of restoring a sense of the sacred and proper instruction in faith and morals at his rural parish, and reports from all quarters over the last year are that he's succeeding, step by step.
My little rule about names, however, is now moot with regards to that first post. The National Catholic Register has introduced him to the world, and he's in the public domain. The Register article isn't online at the moment, but my friend Orville at Kansas City Catholic, who subscribes to the print edition, has posted on the Register coverage to give you a feel for it, and for the young priest.
The priest is Fr. Brian Klingele. My original post is HERE, and Orville's report on the Register coverage is HERE. I'd encourage y'all to read both. Fr. Klingele is a diocesan priest--not quite a traddie like most of us--but he's perhaps even more valuable to the cause of restoration as an ally. If Fr. Klingele is formed in the new mold of young diocesan priests coming to both dioeceses of Kansas City, there IS clearly hope for Holy Mother Church in our lifetimes. Pray for him, but also pray that we get so many men like Fr. Klingele that he ceases to be newsworthy.
Krusty
PS, I'm told my observation, that his "homily was a little light" was not reflective of Fr. Klingele's usual preaching. The person that corrected me suggested perhaps that Father was "easing his parish in" on the week I attended (and I admit that I was comparing his homily to my own chaplain's sermons, which are much heavier than most). Fr. Klingele's homilies are anything but "light."
My little rule about names, however, is now moot with regards to that first post. The National Catholic Register has introduced him to the world, and he's in the public domain. The Register article isn't online at the moment, but my friend Orville at Kansas City Catholic, who subscribes to the print edition, has posted on the Register coverage to give you a feel for it, and for the young priest.
The priest is Fr. Brian Klingele. My original post is HERE, and Orville's report on the Register coverage is HERE. I'd encourage y'all to read both. Fr. Klingele is a diocesan priest--not quite a traddie like most of us--but he's perhaps even more valuable to the cause of restoration as an ally. If Fr. Klingele is formed in the new mold of young diocesan priests coming to both dioeceses of Kansas City, there IS clearly hope for Holy Mother Church in our lifetimes. Pray for him, but also pray that we get so many men like Fr. Klingele that he ceases to be newsworthy.
Krusty
PS, I'm told my observation, that his "homily was a little light" was not reflective of Fr. Klingele's usual preaching. The person that corrected me suggested perhaps that Father was "easing his parish in" on the week I attended (and I admit that I was comparing his homily to my own chaplain's sermons, which are much heavier than most). Fr. Klingele's homilies are anything but "light."
Sunday, August 27, 2006
By the Numbers: Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph
Orville's post over at Kansas City Catholic, Before You Break Out That Champagne, on the contemptible little 50th Anniversary magazine put out by the Catholic Key, is a good one. There's so much to say about the last 50 years of the Missouri diocese, and about the mag, that we're going to work together on it, and I'm going to start by adding a little bit to Orville's initial numerical observations, which are based in on data published in the magazine itself.
Now, numbers aren't everything of course. We're constantly reminded by those who would argue for the necessity of Vatican II and everything that followed from it that it's the qualitative measures that matter--people are living their faith much more fully that before. We'll consider that proposition in our future posts on the actual content of the publication. But for now, let's just look at some charts I made in Excel yesterday afternoon. Some of these may be posted by Orville at as well:
First, the Catholic population:
Hmm. A pretty slow increase. How does this compare to the total population of the Diocese? That information is necessary to tell whether there is a real increase or a real decrease in the number of people who bother to register at a parish, won't it? As for the decline from 2001 to 2005 (over 30,000 people), I have to ask what happened? Did Bp. Finn really drive off 30,000 souls in less than a year as our ordinary? Somehow I doubt it, don't you? Maybe certain pastors in larger parishes were sandbagging before, so the numbers wouldn't look bad in Bp. Boland's days, but are trying to make Finn look bad now? Maybe Bp. Finn has insisted on a more accurate count? Maybe Finn is adjusting the numbers down so as to lower the money he has to send to Skylstad and Wuerl and the corrupt, vile USCCB?
Now for the decline in priests:
Theres a decline from 393 priests in 1971 to 213 in 2005. Hmm. Anyone notice that there was a bump in priests during the second Vatican Council? What happened? As to the increase, one hypothesis to this may be that lots of young men were entering the priesthood, without real vocations or uncommitted to celibacy, but lured by the progressive forces in the diocese into thinking that the priesthood is about to become something totally different and oh-so-much-cooler-than-it-used-to-be? How did that little spurt pan out? Note that the beginning decline in priests coincides almost exactly with the introduction of Bugnini's novus ordo Mass. Surely a coincidence, eh?
Now for the decline in religious sisters and brothers:
Their degeneration started earlier than the priests' decline, from a peak of almost 1200 in 1961 to less than 300 now. Of course, the aggiornamento started among religious communities well before we got the introduction of the novus ordo, didn't it?
Just to drive home the point, let's look at the trend in total religious vocations (priests, nuns, brothers):
We've seen a drop from one religious vocation for every 74 Catholics in 1956 to one religious vocation for every 249 Catholics in 2005 (granted, it's up from one in 308 Catholics in 2001, with the relative improvement in the ratio actually due to a decrease in the Catholic population which outpaced the decrease in vocations. What an improvement!).
Now for education. One would expect a growth in schools in response to Vatican II's call for a New Evangelization, right?
Um, yeah. The drop from 65 elementary schools and 15 secondary schools in 1956 to 33 elementary schools and 7 secondary schools in 2005 is a sure sign of the New Springtime!
On that note, what I'd like to know is the number of children (and the percentage of children) in Catholic schools, and also how much of an increase there was (in constant dollars) in Catholic school tuition (a factor very much related into the religious vocations data above).
Finally (for now), let's look at a statistic I derived from the raw data given to us by the Key: child baptisms per Catholic:
There were almost 0.040 child baptisms per Catholic in 1956 (that's one new bambino for every 25 Catholics), but only 0.016 child baptisms per Catholic in 2005 (one for every 62 Catholics). Granted, we're up from a low point of 0.013 baptisms in 2001 (one for every 79 Catholics, due both to a smaller base of Catholics and to more breeding among those that remained). But what were we saying about how postconciliar Catholics are living their faith much more fully than before? How does this square with Humanae Vitae?
We're skipping over "adult baptisms" for now, because they adulterated the data set in the contemptible little mag by adding in conversions from the heretical sects beginning in 1986. That data set isn't useful unless we add conversions prior to 1986 or pull out conversions from 1986 forward. In either case, it seems that the flat line we would see for new adult Catholics would become a downward slope. And, of course, that's not to speak to the quality of instruction those adults have received or how many subsequently left the Church when they found out--long after RCIA--that Catholic faith didn't comport with their protestant lifestyle.
There's more to come, folks, and we'll update this if and when we get good total population data (and while we're at it, if we get additional data on other things--declarations of marital nullity, for instance). But that's enough to digest in one sitting, now, isn't it?
Now, numbers aren't everything of course. We're constantly reminded by those who would argue for the necessity of Vatican II and everything that followed from it that it's the qualitative measures that matter--people are living their faith much more fully that before. We'll consider that proposition in our future posts on the actual content of the publication. But for now, let's just look at some charts I made in Excel yesterday afternoon. Some of these may be posted by Orville at as well:
First, the Catholic population:
Hmm. A pretty slow increase. How does this compare to the total population of the Diocese? That information is necessary to tell whether there is a real increase or a real decrease in the number of people who bother to register at a parish, won't it? As for the decline from 2001 to 2005 (over 30,000 people), I have to ask what happened? Did Bp. Finn really drive off 30,000 souls in less than a year as our ordinary? Somehow I doubt it, don't you? Maybe certain pastors in larger parishes were sandbagging before, so the numbers wouldn't look bad in Bp. Boland's days, but are trying to make Finn look bad now? Maybe Bp. Finn has insisted on a more accurate count? Maybe Finn is adjusting the numbers down so as to lower the money he has to send to Skylstad and Wuerl and the corrupt, vile USCCB?
Now for the decline in priests:
Theres a decline from 393 priests in 1971 to 213 in 2005. Hmm. Anyone notice that there was a bump in priests during the second Vatican Council? What happened? As to the increase, one hypothesis to this may be that lots of young men were entering the priesthood, without real vocations or uncommitted to celibacy, but lured by the progressive forces in the diocese into thinking that the priesthood is about to become something totally different and oh-so-much-cooler-than-it-used-to-be? How did that little spurt pan out? Note that the beginning decline in priests coincides almost exactly with the introduction of Bugnini's novus ordo Mass. Surely a coincidence, eh?
Now for the decline in religious sisters and brothers:
Their degeneration started earlier than the priests' decline, from a peak of almost 1200 in 1961 to less than 300 now. Of course, the aggiornamento started among religious communities well before we got the introduction of the novus ordo, didn't it?
Just to drive home the point, let's look at the trend in total religious vocations (priests, nuns, brothers):
We've seen a drop from one religious vocation for every 74 Catholics in 1956 to one religious vocation for every 249 Catholics in 2005 (granted, it's up from one in 308 Catholics in 2001, with the relative improvement in the ratio actually due to a decrease in the Catholic population which outpaced the decrease in vocations. What an improvement!).
Now for education. One would expect a growth in schools in response to Vatican II's call for a New Evangelization, right?
Um, yeah. The drop from 65 elementary schools and 15 secondary schools in 1956 to 33 elementary schools and 7 secondary schools in 2005 is a sure sign of the New Springtime!
On that note, what I'd like to know is the number of children (and the percentage of children) in Catholic schools, and also how much of an increase there was (in constant dollars) in Catholic school tuition (a factor very much related into the religious vocations data above).
Finally (for now), let's look at a statistic I derived from the raw data given to us by the Key: child baptisms per Catholic:
There were almost 0.040 child baptisms per Catholic in 1956 (that's one new bambino for every 25 Catholics), but only 0.016 child baptisms per Catholic in 2005 (one for every 62 Catholics). Granted, we're up from a low point of 0.013 baptisms in 2001 (one for every 79 Catholics, due both to a smaller base of Catholics and to more breeding among those that remained). But what were we saying about how postconciliar Catholics are living their faith much more fully than before? How does this square with Humanae Vitae?
We're skipping over "adult baptisms" for now, because they adulterated the data set in the contemptible little mag by adding in conversions from the heretical sects beginning in 1986. That data set isn't useful unless we add conversions prior to 1986 or pull out conversions from 1986 forward. In either case, it seems that the flat line we would see for new adult Catholics would become a downward slope. And, of course, that's not to speak to the quality of instruction those adults have received or how many subsequently left the Church when they found out--long after RCIA--that Catholic faith didn't comport with their protestant lifestyle.
There's more to come, folks, and we'll update this if and when we get good total population data (and while we're at it, if we get additional data on other things--declarations of marital nullity, for instance). But that's enough to digest in one sitting, now, isn't it?
Friday, August 25, 2006
Two quick things
First, Orville over at Kansas City Catholic has had a great start to his article on the contemptible little mag put out by the Catholic Key to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation Diocese of Kansas City/St. Joe. Kudos to him. I need to contribute to his effort.
Second Mr. Culbreath, my new friend in northern California, has suggested that someone found a new political party. Not a bad idea, but he could look a little harder for a leader.
More to follow sometime this weekend.
Second Mr. Culbreath, my new friend in northern California, has suggested that someone found a new political party. Not a bad idea, but he could look a little harder for a leader.
More to follow sometime this weekend.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The Culture War is a Demographic War (part 2 or 3, I forget)
A Wall Street Journal opinion piece linked for us by CWNews.com, brings us this little gem from two leftists:
Of course, I'm not part of the "neoconservative, homogenous right." I'm not a Republican. I'm a crazy, seditious reactionary Jacobite. But the leftists who wrote this aren't clever enough to know the difference. They would likely lump me in with the Bushies, so I presume they're talking about me.
The Jolie Justus crowd ought to do what damage they can now, because if we persist in even the charade of democracy we now have, there's little hope that they'll be able to do it in another 10 years. If I were a political consultant to the party of "abortion, buggery, contraception, divorce, euthanasia, feminism of the radical type, and genetic experimentation and mutilation," I'd suggest that perhaps they can extend their power in this little pocket of Missouri a few years more by keeping the schools in Kansas City, Missouri as lousy as they are, so that those conservative and reactionary families who don't homeschool tend to leave the city for places with schools that have a better reputation (however undeserved).
"Maybe the scales are tipping to the neoconservative, homogenous right in our culture simply because they tend not to give much of a damn for the ramifications of wanton breeding and environmental destruction and pious sanctimony, whereas those on the left actually seem to give a whit for the health of the planet and the dire effects of overpopulation." It would appear liberals have been quite successful controlling overpopulation--in the Democratic Party.
Of course, I'm not part of the "neoconservative, homogenous right." I'm not a Republican. I'm a crazy, seditious reactionary Jacobite. But the leftists who wrote this aren't clever enough to know the difference. They would likely lump me in with the Bushies, so I presume they're talking about me.
The Jolie Justus crowd ought to do what damage they can now, because if we persist in even the charade of democracy we now have, there's little hope that they'll be able to do it in another 10 years. If I were a political consultant to the party of "abortion, buggery, contraception, divorce, euthanasia, feminism of the radical type, and genetic experimentation and mutilation," I'd suggest that perhaps they can extend their power in this little pocket of Missouri a few years more by keeping the schools in Kansas City, Missouri as lousy as they are, so that those conservative and reactionary families who don't homeschool tend to leave the city for places with schools that have a better reputation (however undeserved).
Monday, August 21, 2006
Making Progress at Old St. Patrick's
A couple of nice articles on the restoration of Kansas City's Old St. Patrick Oratory have appeared over the last couple of weeks (from the Kansas City Star, no less!). With the support of a good Bishop, they're continuing to gain momentum.
The current article by Elaine Garrison is HERE. The previous article, by Helen Gray, HERE, is not quite as good, but still much better than the tripe one usually sees in the Star.
Perhaps somebody should send a copy of this article to the Archbishop across the state line in Kansas? The ironic thing is that the Old St. Paddy's community is somewhere between one-third and one-half the size of the Kansas congregation at the St. Rose Philippine Duschene Community at Blessed Sacrament, and until recently the Missourians suffered under greater restrictions and interference than did the Kansas folks. But suddenly, while Apb. Naumann is presiding over a great retreat in Wyandotte County, and the Latin folks in Kansas are getting kicked around again (they were just forced to move their Mass times again, to odd hours, the second change in a year), Bp. Finn's star is rising, his flock is getting focused, and the Missouri traditionalists are on their way to acheiving something great: a real parish home, and the restoration of an historic church in a reawakening part of the city to boot! Abp. Naumann needs to see, first hand, what can be done when Latin Massers are freed from the machinations and limitations of chancery officials.
And while we're at it, maybe Ms. Garrison should be running the religion page at the Star? Under Tammeus's guidance, it dropped from regular coverage and a once-a-week section of irrelevancies and nonsense to a once-a-week page of irrelevancies and nonsense with a midweek interfaith column by some guy who seems to believe in everything (which of course, is the same as believing in nothing). Fact filled, positive, and well-crafted writing like Garrison's might actually get people to read the religion page, and might get religious news readership and advertising up to the point a full section would once again be justified.
The current article by Elaine Garrison is HERE. The previous article, by Helen Gray, HERE, is not quite as good, but still much better than the tripe one usually sees in the Star.
Perhaps somebody should send a copy of this article to the Archbishop across the state line in Kansas? The ironic thing is that the Old St. Paddy's community is somewhere between one-third and one-half the size of the Kansas congregation at the St. Rose Philippine Duschene Community at Blessed Sacrament, and until recently the Missourians suffered under greater restrictions and interference than did the Kansas folks. But suddenly, while Apb. Naumann is presiding over a great retreat in Wyandotte County, and the Latin folks in Kansas are getting kicked around again (they were just forced to move their Mass times again, to odd hours, the second change in a year), Bp. Finn's star is rising, his flock is getting focused, and the Missouri traditionalists are on their way to acheiving something great: a real parish home, and the restoration of an historic church in a reawakening part of the city to boot! Abp. Naumann needs to see, first hand, what can be done when Latin Massers are freed from the machinations and limitations of chancery officials.
And while we're at it, maybe Ms. Garrison should be running the religion page at the Star? Under Tammeus's guidance, it dropped from regular coverage and a once-a-week section of irrelevancies and nonsense to a once-a-week page of irrelevancies and nonsense with a midweek interfaith column by some guy who seems to believe in everything (which of course, is the same as believing in nothing). Fact filled, positive, and well-crafted writing like Garrison's might actually get people to read the religion page, and might get religious news readership and advertising up to the point a full section would once again be justified.
Yes, I got it.
Yes, I received the Catholic Key's hideous 50thAnniversary magazine this weekend. On Friday, to be precise.
And yes, I'll have something to say about it. But I have to let it digest a little first.
In the meantime, do go back and read my initial thoughts about "celebrating" the 50 years of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
Shudder.
And yes, I'll have something to say about it. But I have to let it digest a little first.
In the meantime, do go back and read my initial thoughts about "celebrating" the 50 years of the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
Shudder.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Thanks for clearing it up, Bp. Doran!
I always felt a little self-conscious using the word "buggery" to describe certain activities between individuals of the same sex. Seemed a little British and a little coarse. (Not that it stopped me, but it did make me think...)
But hey, if it can go to print under the byline of the good Bishop of Rockford, it can freely be used on my little blog:
Thanks for clearing my conscience, Bishop Doran.
I can't find that particular Rockford Catholic Observer column online anymore, but Wolftracker has significant excerpts posted.
But hey, if it can go to print under the byline of the good Bishop of Rockford, it can freely be used on my little blog:
The seven "sacraments" of their secular culture are abortion, buggery, contraception, divorce, euthanasia, feminism of the radical type, and genetic experimentation and mutilation. These things they unabashedly espouse, profess and promote. Their continuance in public office is a clear and present danger to our survival as a nation.
Thanks for clearing my conscience, Bishop Doran.
I can't find that particular Rockford Catholic Observer column online anymore, but Wolftracker has significant excerpts posted.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Missouri anti-cloning action.
Well, in my absence last week, I guess the bumper sticker below started circulating among homeschooling, traditional, and other orthodox circles in Kansas City:
I miss all the fun stuff, eh? I made some inquiries and learned this isn't official, just some guys that came up with an idea, pooled their resources, and ordered it. I understand that it simultaneously circulated in St. Louis among the St. Francis de Sales crowd last weekend as well.
I don't know how many more of these are available, but if you live in Missouri and you don't have one, (especially if you live outside of Kansas City or St. Louis and don't have one), please do email them at cloningsticker@yahoo.com or else email Wolftracker at Kansas City Catholic and we'll see if the folks who did this can't remedy the situation. You can email me, too, but I'm only good at complaining about things, not actually taking action, so I'll just forward it to the guys who are involved in this.
Added Sunday:
And then, on the other hand, you have this:
If that isn't a case against Amendment 2, I dunno what is.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Another online acquaintance becomes a real-life one.
Not only did I have the great pleasure of meeting Jeff of Hallowed Ground last Sunday after Mass in Sacramento, I also had lunch at Oklahoma Joe's with Stephen of True Restoration last week. A very nice fellow, Stephen was, and a pleasure to put a face with a name (for me, of course, but not for him: I made him address me as Mr. Curmudgeon through lunch, and although it was somewhat difficult (and conspicuous) eating my barbeque sandwich with a paper bag over my head, I did what I needed to do).
I only recently realized I hadn't blogrolled Stephen, and will add him the next time I update my template.
I only recently realized I hadn't blogrolled Stephen, and will add him the next time I update my template.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Cantaloupe Jam?
Jeff Culbreath at Hallowed Ground reports good results from an experiment in making cantaloupe jam.
Cantaloupe jam?
Yes. Cantaloupe jam.
And I'm fortunate enough to have received a quart of it when I met the Culbreaths after Mass this morning. I'm quite eager to get home and try some; as well as to make a report on the latest traditionalist apostolate I've visited, the parish of St. Stephen First Martyr in Sacramento. Hopefully the pictures I took on my phone of their beautiful renovation of an old Lutheran facility will turn out (not that even my pictures at their best turn out). I was warned that St. Stephens wasn't in the best part of town. Really it wasn't that bad. I was also told it was rather plain--just an old protestant church that they acquired. Again, someone was simply being modest. The church itself was beautiful. The high altar and reredos, and the communion rail, looked like they'd always been there. There wasn't room for side altars, but whomever they used to redesign the church did a wonderful job of working in the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph into niches in the main (only) sanctuary, and also side shrines for Our Lady of Fatima and the Sacred Heart image towards the back. The windows were ingeniously done--small windows with blue glass and beautiful little medallions in them. The statuary was something else, too. They had new statues in the mission style (very well done) of St. Stephen, flanked by Ss. Peter and Paul (as well as the BVM and St. Joseph, mentioned above). The Stations of the Cross were in the same style, and again were very well done.
The parish (and they ARE a real canonical parish BTW--a personal parish) had a number of classrooms (plenty of room for a school, although I gather its opening has been postponed at least a year), a well-stocked shop with homeschooling materials, Catholic books and gifts, a nice hall, and best of all, a shaded courtyard where parishioners could gather and visit after Mass. How nice that was! Some of the folks that were driving long distances even ate a picnic lunch there as they visited. Oh, to have a parish home of ones' own!!! Of course, the one problem with St. Stephens was the size of the church itself. Built for a protestant community for which Sunday observance was optional, and for which contraception was all the rage, it was grossly undersized, compared to the school buildings and the hall. It must have only seated about 200 people. It wasn't terribly crowded for a the summer low Mass (one of three Sunday Masses), but I'm sure it must be packed in the fall and winter during high Mass, and almost impossible to get into on major feastdays. I would fear that they'll outgrow their beautiful home quite soon.
As for the Culbreaths, and everyone else I met after the 10:30am Mass...they were delightful. Interesting how the collection of traddies in any city has so many similarities to the collection of traddies at home. In Phoenix and in Rockford and even (although to a lesser degree) in Washington, I've seen and met so many of the same sorts of folk as in the two "regular" traditional communities in Kansas City. They've got so much in common with each other, and so little in common with the people one typically meets on the street or in a nightclub or an insurance salesmen's convention or in a typical suburban Catholic church. Meeting such similar people, so far away from home, makes me dream again of a great American traditional Catholic migration, wherein we all head to the same place and push the modernists and protties and infidels out. Waa haahaaahaaahaaahaa! (If we could only all agree on where that would be and figure out how we'd make a living once we got there!)
Anyways, wish me luck getting the jam home on the plane, by the way. Hopefully the airport security goons won't confiscate it and blow it up on the tarmac because they think it's a bomb. IT'S JUST JAM, YOU STUPID GOVERNMENT MORONS!!!! Now go back to taking water away from little girls!!!
Cantaloupe jam?
Yes. Cantaloupe jam.
And I'm fortunate enough to have received a quart of it when I met the Culbreaths after Mass this morning. I'm quite eager to get home and try some; as well as to make a report on the latest traditionalist apostolate I've visited, the parish of St. Stephen First Martyr in Sacramento. Hopefully the pictures I took on my phone of their beautiful renovation of an old Lutheran facility will turn out (not that even my pictures at their best turn out). I was warned that St. Stephens wasn't in the best part of town. Really it wasn't that bad. I was also told it was rather plain--just an old protestant church that they acquired. Again, someone was simply being modest. The church itself was beautiful. The high altar and reredos, and the communion rail, looked like they'd always been there. There wasn't room for side altars, but whomever they used to redesign the church did a wonderful job of working in the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph into niches in the main (only) sanctuary, and also side shrines for Our Lady of Fatima and the Sacred Heart image towards the back. The windows were ingeniously done--small windows with blue glass and beautiful little medallions in them. The statuary was something else, too. They had new statues in the mission style (very well done) of St. Stephen, flanked by Ss. Peter and Paul (as well as the BVM and St. Joseph, mentioned above). The Stations of the Cross were in the same style, and again were very well done.
The parish (and they ARE a real canonical parish BTW--a personal parish) had a number of classrooms (plenty of room for a school, although I gather its opening has been postponed at least a year), a well-stocked shop with homeschooling materials, Catholic books and gifts, a nice hall, and best of all, a shaded courtyard where parishioners could gather and visit after Mass. How nice that was! Some of the folks that were driving long distances even ate a picnic lunch there as they visited. Oh, to have a parish home of ones' own!!! Of course, the one problem with St. Stephens was the size of the church itself. Built for a protestant community for which Sunday observance was optional, and for which contraception was all the rage, it was grossly undersized, compared to the school buildings and the hall. It must have only seated about 200 people. It wasn't terribly crowded for a the summer low Mass (one of three Sunday Masses), but I'm sure it must be packed in the fall and winter during high Mass, and almost impossible to get into on major feastdays. I would fear that they'll outgrow their beautiful home quite soon.
As for the Culbreaths, and everyone else I met after the 10:30am Mass...they were delightful. Interesting how the collection of traddies in any city has so many similarities to the collection of traddies at home. In Phoenix and in Rockford and even (although to a lesser degree) in Washington, I've seen and met so many of the same sorts of folk as in the two "regular" traditional communities in Kansas City. They've got so much in common with each other, and so little in common with the people one typically meets on the street or in a nightclub or an insurance salesmen's convention or in a typical suburban Catholic church. Meeting such similar people, so far away from home, makes me dream again of a great American traditional Catholic migration, wherein we all head to the same place and push the modernists and protties and infidels out. Waa haahaaahaaahaaahaa! (If we could only all agree on where that would be and figure out how we'd make a living once we got there!)
Anyways, wish me luck getting the jam home on the plane, by the way. Hopefully the airport security goons won't confiscate it and blow it up on the tarmac because they think it's a bomb. IT'S JUST JAM, YOU STUPID GOVERNMENT MORONS!!!! Now go back to taking water away from little girls!!!
Friday, August 11, 2006
Short Hiatus
I think maybe I'll read another printed book.
And maybe I'll go see the ocean or something.
Yeah, it's time for a few days off the blog.
See y'all again sometime next week.
And maybe I'll go see the ocean or something.
Yeah, it's time for a few days off the blog.
See y'all again sometime next week.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
A complete coincidence...
Remember folks, that all the stuff that went on today at Heathrow is wholly unrelated to American and British interventions in the middle east since 1948. It's a complete coincidence. Really!
There are nuns, and there are nun.
My buddy Orville, at Kansas City Catholic, has a good extract of recent comments from newfangled sisters in dying orders, which he's pulled out of the Legionaires' National Catholic Register and some ridiculous book that's been published (not by the Legionaires). Really, no comment from him or me is needed; the quotations he's pulled out say it all.
My question, that Wolfie didn't ask on his post, is "what is the deal with the book cover?" The nuns this woman is writing about probably haven't seen a veil or a wimple since 1973. Shouldn't the dustjacket picture be of a short-haired graying woman in a polyester, powder blue liesure suit jacket with a label pin? I mean, a dustjacket is supposed to be eye-catching, and a woman who looks like she's a nun sells better than a woman who looks like she's a 1975 Sears senior women's wear model. But where's the truth in advertising? (N.B., Hilary points out below that the woman on the dustjacket is wearing a costume that isn't the habit of any real order).
He also notes the doings in Atchison and elsewhere, where the Benedictines (having sold off most of their movable patrimony last summer) want to tear down an historic school building so they can put in a "prayer garden." Maybe it will have a labyrinth? That'd be so much better than a big stone reminder of the days in which they prospered in their Catholicity.
On the other hand, he points to the new website of the newer group of traditional Benedictines who recently moved to the KCMO diocese from Pennsylvania. God bless them.
My question, that Wolfie didn't ask on his post, is "what is the deal with the book cover?" The nuns this woman is writing about probably haven't seen a veil or a wimple since 1973. Shouldn't the dustjacket picture be of a short-haired graying woman in a polyester, powder blue liesure suit jacket with a label pin? I mean, a dustjacket is supposed to be eye-catching, and a woman who looks like she's a nun sells better than a woman who looks like she's a 1975 Sears senior women's wear model. But where's the truth in advertising? (N.B., Hilary points out below that the woman on the dustjacket is wearing a costume that isn't the habit of any real order).
He also notes the doings in Atchison and elsewhere, where the Benedictines (having sold off most of their movable patrimony last summer) want to tear down an historic school building so they can put in a "prayer garden." Maybe it will have a labyrinth? That'd be so much better than a big stone reminder of the days in which they prospered in their Catholicity.
On the other hand, he points to the new website of the newer group of traditional Benedictines who recently moved to the KCMO diocese from Pennsylvania. God bless them.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
A lousy day all around
Peter Miller, who's done great work for five years at Seattle Catholic, has announced he's suspending his efforts. Seattle Catholic was an every-lunch-hour checkin for me for the last three years. While I understand there has to be an end and a limit to the mostly-unremunerated effort that goes into producing a quality site like, I'm still heartbroken.
And then to find out that Waid's diner at Roanoke and Southwest Boulevard is no more!
I should have stayed in bed today. Really.
And then to find out that Waid's diner at Roanoke and Southwest Boulevard is no more!
I should have stayed in bed today. Really.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Not at the Latin Mass: at a "more spiritual place"
Tom, our friend in Santa Fe, brings us this news item: his Archbishop, Michael Sheehan, successor to the great Abp. Lamy, tells us that a "marriage should be in a more spiritual place" than the one tiny church where he has granted what he considers to be "wide and generous" use of the traditional Mass:
You see, a wedding in the traditional rite, like a wedding at a lake or a wedding at the hotel which was once the Loretto hospital/orphanage complex until it abandoned by sisters when they went off to worship the Earth Spirit...such a wedding isn't likely to start "a marriage that will last with God's help throughout their lives."
You see, in the old days, Catholics got divorced frequently--at about the same rate as prots and non-Christians, but today, with the novus ordo wedding rite celebrated at places like that ugly church way out on St. Francis Drive (I forget the name, as it's been a while since I've been in Santa Fe), that's all solved. Few (if any) of the Catholic couples married since 1970 or so, in the new rite, have had failed marriages, and civil divorce and church annulments are uncommon.
Things are bad in Kansas City, but we can be thankful, at least, that they're not so bad as they are elsewhere. Our Archbishop (unlike Abp. Sheehan) hasn't shown himself (so far) to be personally at war with 1900 years of Christian Tradition or to be hopelessly under modernist influences. And even if he were, we can easily cross the border into Bp Finn's territory. We should remember to pray for the people of Santa Fe, like the people of Orange, and so many others around the country, that don't even get the little toleration that we do here.
And if ever the SSPX does have a good argument for "supplied jurisdiction," it would have to be in someplace like Santa Fe.
You see, a wedding in the traditional rite, like a wedding at a lake or a wedding at the hotel which was once the Loretto hospital/orphanage complex until it abandoned by sisters when they went off to worship the Earth Spirit...such a wedding isn't likely to start "a marriage that will last with God's help throughout their lives."You see, in the old days, Catholics got divorced frequently--at about the same rate as prots and non-Christians, but today, with the novus ordo wedding rite celebrated at places like that ugly church way out on St. Francis Drive (I forget the name, as it's been a while since I've been in Santa Fe), that's all solved. Few (if any) of the Catholic couples married since 1970 or so, in the new rite, have had failed marriages, and civil divorce and church annulments are uncommon.
Things are bad in Kansas City, but we can be thankful, at least, that they're not so bad as they are elsewhere. Our Archbishop (unlike Abp. Sheehan) hasn't shown himself (so far) to be personally at war with 1900 years of Christian Tradition or to be hopelessly under modernist influences. And even if he were, we can easily cross the border into Bp Finn's territory. We should remember to pray for the people of Santa Fe, like the people of Orange, and so many others around the country, that don't even get the little toleration that we do here.
And if ever the SSPX does have a good argument for "supplied jurisdiction," it would have to be in someplace like Santa Fe.
Missouri primary day
Today's the Missouri primary elections, and since we're not (yet) blessed with a benevolent Catholic monarch, and we're still subject to mob rule, I guess should vote. And since there's no Carlist, French legitimist, or Jacobite slate, and since I live in an area completely dominated by the corrupt Democratic machine (as opposed to JoCo, which is completely dominated by the corrupt liberal, brie-eating Republican machine), I'm going to vote in the Democratic primary.
Of course, I'm only going to do so to vote against the evil, pro-death, pro-buggery, pro-tyranny Jolie Justus (who's sent us 2 more slick, union-printed flyers since I last commented). Don't know, and don't care, who the other candidates are. Should have gotten online and checked out the rest of the ballot so I could make sure my vote didn't go to other pro-death, pro-buggery, pro-tyranny candidates (or at least any such candidates that have a snowball's chance of winning).
(Not that it will do any good. With new touch-screen voting, it's going to be so much easier and cheaper for the political machine to rig the election in favor of the bad guys than it was before. They only have to buy off one computer geek now. So much easier than registering cemetary residents under the federal voter registration fraud promotion act).
And while I'm there, I'll pray to the good king, St. Louis, that he'll intercede for us and end this insane, masonic experiment in so-called "representative democracy" before it gets really ugly.
Viva Cristo Rey! (and in the meantime, go Mike Flaherty!)
--Curmudgeon
BTW, insofar as we have to suffer under universal sufferage, I would suggest that we make it a little MORE universal. Everyone should have a vote; however, that vote is cast by a parent or guardian in the case of a citizen who is under 18 years of age or otherwise dependent (except in the case of wards of the state; we can't give bureaucrats the right to vote more than once; they shouldn't have the right to vote at all). That would give our big Catholic families a voice, eh?
Of course, I'm only going to do so to vote against the evil, pro-death, pro-buggery, pro-tyranny Jolie Justus (who's sent us 2 more slick, union-printed flyers since I last commented). Don't know, and don't care, who the other candidates are. Should have gotten online and checked out the rest of the ballot so I could make sure my vote didn't go to other pro-death, pro-buggery, pro-tyranny candidates (or at least any such candidates that have a snowball's chance of winning).
(Not that it will do any good. With new touch-screen voting, it's going to be so much easier and cheaper for the political machine to rig the election in favor of the bad guys than it was before. They only have to buy off one computer geek now. So much easier than registering cemetary residents under the federal voter registration fraud promotion act).
And while I'm there, I'll pray to the good king, St. Louis, that he'll intercede for us and end this insane, masonic experiment in so-called "representative democracy" before it gets really ugly.
Viva Cristo Rey! (and in the meantime, go Mike Flaherty!)
--Curmudgeon
BTW, insofar as we have to suffer under universal sufferage, I would suggest that we make it a little MORE universal. Everyone should have a vote; however, that vote is cast by a parent or guardian in the case of a citizen who is under 18 years of age or otherwise dependent (except in the case of wards of the state; we can't give bureaucrats the right to vote more than once; they shouldn't have the right to vote at all). That would give our big Catholic families a voice, eh?
Monday, August 07, 2006
Local Priest takes Tobit Off-Broadway
Local priest composes ‘The Musical of Tobit’
The biblical production will be performed this month.
By LYDIA GENSHEIMER, The Kansas City Star
Around 700 B.C., a young man set off on a journey through Israel accompanied by an angel and destined to battle a demon. The story seems more biblical than Broadway, but the Rev. Kent O’Connor has figured out a way to make it both.
The whole story is HERE for another few days. Tacky. One could say more (and some of my correspondents have said more, believe me), but I don't know the priest, so I won't. I'll just say it's tacky. Isn't that charitable of me?
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Today Is My Blog's First Birthday
As I noted earlier in the week, today is my blog's first birthday. I try generally to avoid being too self-aware on this blog (not that this sloppy mess is anything to be too vain about anyways), but I'll indulge myself a little on this occasion..
...but just a little: I haven't had time to really look back much over the 360 posts and 440 pages I've written over the last year. Or at least I haven't had the inclination to do so. But, I do recall some posts that I was happier with than others over the past year, and I do have some other thoughts.
To begin with, I want to thank the two people who commented just last evening on my ancient Guardian Angels posts, and wished me well, one saying "May God improve your research skills and forgive your snottiness," and the other, "This site contains serious factal errors and smacks of bigotry against the poor. You do a grave disservice to buldling up the kingdom of God with your condescention." It's nice to know I'm out there making a difference, eh?
Also, I'll mention the thing I'm most disappointed with: sometime last winter, I switched comment applications and I lost a bunch of (actually all of) my early comments, including some responses to my attacks on the clergy abuse plaintiffs bar that were pretty outrageous. I wish I still had those. I'll also mention something I'm rather pleased with: in a year, I have only nine instances of coarse language (and it's directed at people who deserve it). I wish I was doing that well in real life.
OK, now for my retrospective (which I may edit later today)
First, my first substantive post:
Second, a few pieces of general mockery and mischief, lighthearted or not:
...but just a little: I haven't had time to really look back much over the 360 posts and 440 pages I've written over the last year. Or at least I haven't had the inclination to do so. But, I do recall some posts that I was happier with than others over the past year, and I do have some other thoughts.
To begin with, I want to thank the two people who commented just last evening on my ancient Guardian Angels posts, and wished me well, one saying "May God improve your research skills and forgive your snottiness," and the other, "This site contains serious factal errors and smacks of bigotry against the poor. You do a grave disservice to buldling up the kingdom of God with your condescention." It's nice to know I'm out there making a difference, eh?
Also, I'll mention the thing I'm most disappointed with: sometime last winter, I switched comment applications and I lost a bunch of (actually all of) my early comments, including some responses to my attacks on the clergy abuse plaintiffs bar that were pretty outrageous. I wish I still had those. I'll also mention something I'm rather pleased with: in a year, I have only nine instances of coarse language (and it's directed at people who deserve it). I wish I was doing that well in real life.
OK, now for my retrospective (which I may edit later today)
First, my first substantive post:
Second, a few pieces of general mockery and mischief, lighthearted or not:
- Felt Banner Museum (Orville's favorite)
- The Sanger Society
- The Curmudgeons as "Easter People"
- New Age Graffiti
- War is [not] the answer
- Jacobite Rising
- Lottery Winner
- Massachusetts Interdict
Fourth, a little righteous anger at the shepherds:
- Bp (soon to be Abp) Wuerl on silencing the few courageous Bishops.
- Refusal to reach out to potential converts during the Anglican disintigration (part 1, part 2 and part 3)
- On what the Neo-Catholics are doing to keep the SSPX away (also here)
- On what the SSPX is doing to keep Rome away (part 1 and part 2)
- On what Rome is doing to keep the SSPX away (part 1 and part 2)
- On the marginalization of canonically regular traditionalists at St. Rose Philipine Duschene, Kansas City, Kansas (part 1 and part 2).
- On obedience, Part 1 and Part 2
- Catholic participation in gay adoption
- On prejudice.
- On Vatican II, and the local anticipation of it.
- John Paul "the Great"
- Against the clergy abuse lawsuit industry (part 1, part 2, part3, and part 4)
And finally, a couple of lighthearted things:
- Stuffed Animal Wedding, Part 1 and Part 2
- I was a Soul Train Dancer
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Mrs. Curmudgeon's contribution...
Mrs. Curmudgeon brought up ANOTHER slick 4-page, union-printed flyer from the Jolie Justus campaign, which we received earlier in the week. Momma C. was really struck with the irony of one page showing Justus holding a black kid and advocating "a woman's right to choose."
She felt it was incomplete, and so we finished it out for the Justus campaign:
She felt it was incomplete, and so we finished it out for the Justus campaign:
Margaret Saaaaaaaaaaaaanger?????
One comforting thing about all this is that we've gotten two copies each of these two flyers, and even though we've lived here for years, they're all addressed to previous residents. At least we can take comfort that she's blowing a lot of that culture-of-death money on bad addresses!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Missouri Primary Commentary
Avoiding partisan politics is one thing I do try to do; after all, it's all for naught. Counter-revolutionaries don't do partisan politics. But the Missouri 10th District Senate race is worthy of mention.
Below is a page from a 4-page flyer I just received from the Jolie Justus campaign. Justus is the pro-embryonic cloning & killing, pro-ACLU, pro-homosexual, pro-abort, pro-nanny state candidate. As you can see, she's running the "I'm the only true liberal" campaign.
Now, I actually have a Democrat's sign in my yard at the moment: Mike Flaherty's. He's the breeders' candidate. Or so I thought. Now, I do tend to avoid signs or bumper stickers or anything like that; it's just not the reactionary thing to do, is it? Admittedly, I had an Alan Keyes 2000 sticker on my car for a while (back in 2000), and I tried to get hold of a Peroutka yard sign (without success) last fall. But I figured I'd make an exception this year, and I think I'll actually vote in the Democratic primary, for the first time ever, this year. In Kansas City, Missouri, there's no point in voting in the Republican primary, and there isn't a Jacobite or Carlist slate here. With a few exceptions, all our races are decided in August, in the Democratic primary.
Below is a page from a 4-page flyer I just received from the Jolie Justus campaign. Justus is the pro-embryonic cloning & killing, pro-ACLU, pro-homosexual, pro-abort, pro-nanny state candidate. As you can see, she's running the "I'm the only true liberal" campaign.
Now, I actually have a Democrat's sign in my yard at the moment: Mike Flaherty's. He's the breeders' candidate. Or so I thought. Now, I do tend to avoid signs or bumper stickers or anything like that; it's just not the reactionary thing to do, is it? Admittedly, I had an Alan Keyes 2000 sticker on my car for a while (back in 2000), and I tried to get hold of a Peroutka yard sign (without success) last fall. But I figured I'd make an exception this year, and I think I'll actually vote in the Democratic primary, for the first time ever, this year. In Kansas City, Missouri, there's no point in voting in the Republican primary, and there isn't a Jacobite or Carlist slate here. With a few exceptions, all our races are decided in August, in the Democratic primary.
So I'm going to vote in the Democratic primary. And I was going to vote for the breeders' candidate, Mike Flaherty. But then Jolie's making it hard for me. Her little flyer IS compelling, for Jason Klumb. I didn't know, for instance, about Jason Klumb's support for concealed carry of firearms. I thought he was just some Democratic schmuck. But if he's a pro-gun Democratic schmuck, as Jolie and her friends say, then, hey! Can I be assured that my pro-life guy is also pro-gun? After all, you should see the scary people where I pick up my dry cleaning. I'd feel a lot better if I knew my pro-life state senator would keep it legal for me to pack heat in places like that.
Anyways. I guess I'll pull the lever (or, as we do here, punch the chad) for Mike Flaherty all the same. After all, Flaherty owns a bar. Does Klumb own a bar?
BTW, where's this Jolie Justus getting all her money for these slick, union-printed 4-page flyers? Oh yeah, her demographic has a lot more disposable income than breeders' households.
Blog Birthday Approaching
On Saturday, August 5, this blog will be one year old.
A year ago, I was just screwing around, and I decided to record a few thoughts on a Mass I had attended in rural Kansas. I had no idea, and no intention, of making 357 posts (an average of almost one a day?), or of filling 434 printed pages with mindless rant over the course of the year. But that's what I've done.
Four hundred thirty-four printed pages? Can you imagine? That doesn't even include comment box chatter! What could I have accomplished if I'd channelled that energy into something meaningful? I'm not saying that I could have written the next Philothea or something like Dawson's The Making of Europe, but c'mon, Curmudgie, what are you doing with your life?
And while I'm at it, for the last few months, over a hundred people a day have been visiting this blog. Why? To count my typos? I have to ask, "What are YOU doing with YOUR life?"
Nothing personal, of course. Anyways, I thought I'd share an interesting error message which I received, as I was pasting my latest blog entries into an MS Word document, which I keep as a separate archive (I'm not sure why; I just do) The message was as follows:
How appropriate, huh?
Well, I'm this far along, so I probably owe myself a little one year retrospective--you know, a clipshow. But I'm too close to the blog (and too lazy) to do it myself. Does anybody have any suggestions for the "Best Post"; the "Worst Post"; the "Best Church Tour"; the "Post with the Most Egregious Typographical Errors?"
Any nominations?
A year ago, I was just screwing around, and I decided to record a few thoughts on a Mass I had attended in rural Kansas. I had no idea, and no intention, of making 357 posts (an average of almost one a day?), or of filling 434 printed pages with mindless rant over the course of the year. But that's what I've done.
Four hundred thirty-four printed pages? Can you imagine? That doesn't even include comment box chatter! What could I have accomplished if I'd channelled that energy into something meaningful? I'm not saying that I could have written the next Philothea or something like Dawson's The Making of Europe, but c'mon, Curmudgie, what are you doing with your life?
And while I'm at it, for the last few months, over a hundred people a day have been visiting this blog. Why? To count my typos? I have to ask, "What are YOU doing with YOUR life?"
Nothing personal, of course. Anyways, I thought I'd share an interesting error message which I received, as I was pasting my latest blog entries into an MS Word document, which I keep as a separate archive (I'm not sure why; I just do) The message was as follows:
There are too many typographical and grammatical errors in Blog Archive.doc to continue displaying them. Too see these errors, select Tools, Spelling and Grammar.
How appropriate, huh?
Well, I'm this far along, so I probably owe myself a little one year retrospective--you know, a clipshow. But I'm too close to the blog (and too lazy) to do it myself. Does anybody have any suggestions for the "Best Post"; the "Worst Post"; the "Best Church Tour"; the "Post with the Most Egregious Typographical Errors?"
Any nominations?
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Lost Spain
Time to go arm ourselves and crusade against nihilist commie Spanish bastards in defense of the Generalissimo. Viva Franco!
Hat tip to Frere Ignatius.
Hat tip to Frere Ignatius.
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