George Ault: Bright Light at Russell’s Corners

The apt pairing above is not this blogger’s creation, rather a good friend of his, who posted it on his Facebook page, whence I cribbed it (with permission). Little needs to be said of the two individual masterpieces, save perhaps their greatness permits a synergistic relationship that creates a third work of stunning appropriateness.

E. E. Cumming’s minimalistic, yet intense devotion to Christ, nonetheless deeply moves this traditionalist Catholic. George Ault’s paintings may appear only representational at first (or “precisionist,” as a critic might say with a hint of derision), yet becomes fuller, richer and rewarding the longer one peers at it and others by the artist. Ault, in this blogger’s eyes, is one of the greats who only now, after his death, is getting the attention he deserves.

I congratulate the creator of the third work of art.

Thanks to James Uebbing

The following was originally in an email from Fr George Rutler, and is posted below in its entirety.

The mutilation of the crucifix with a sledgehammer has elicited apologies, replacement, and punishment of the offenders by the Israeli government. The selective outrage over this by armchair critics of Israel, has no equal in the virtual silence of so many who ignore the thousands of actual beheadings of Christians and destruction of cathedrals and churches by Muslims. At the same time that  the plaster crucifix was desecrated, 54  living Christians were beheaded or mutilated in Nigeria, there was virtually  no response matching the heavy breathing of virtue signalers in the Western media who published photos of the broken crucifix.  Yet this iconoclasm by an offensive Israeli soldier who already is in jail along with an accomplice, is being exploited by commentators for whom the beheading of the 22 Libyan martyrs and countless consequent martyrs, are inconvenient contradictions of the narrative which translates Islam as Peace. When our Lord spoke of the pearl of great price, he did not mean pearl clutching.

Thanks to William Tighe

Yesterday, 19 April, was the Feast of St. Expeditus – patron saint of procrastinators.  I put off posting about him till now.

He was a Roman soldier and is so depicted, also holding aloft a sign or cross with the word “HODIE” on it (“TODAY”) and stepping on crow, which makes a noise that sounds like Latin “cras… tomorrow”.

Who wrote this?

(Note: it has been.)

The Times reports the Israeli military confirms a photo (above) of an Israeli soldier smashing a crucifix is real.

The headline above was posted upon first reading the accounts of this dreadful incident and meant we should be mindful of how Israel’s leaders and military handle it. To be honest, I expected the worst. Also, to be honest, I was wrong,

PM Netanyahu and the Israeli Defense Force were immediately on top of the matter and confirmed it, condemning the wrong doer in no uncertain terms and promising he would be severely punished. The IDF later announced it had identified the culprit and were in pursuit of him. Presumably, he will be, again, as promised, severely punished.

In short, the response, so far, to the smashing of the Christ statue has been as the headline urged.

h/t James Uebbing

This volume originally belonged to the late John Harlborg, a good friend whom I miss, and a Catholic convert like I.

In the New York Post, read the horrifying account of a young father who was beaten to death early in the early morning by a band of thugs on the mean streets of Chicago.

According to the Post, Chicago police “seek to question four persons of interest who have eluded capture in the crime-ridden city for two weeks.” There is no doubt, in time, the Chicago police will catch up with these killers, but the question is, what will happen to them when they’re caught. The answer is, nothing much, for a long, long, time. Their cases may eventually find their way to a courtroom, where their court-appointed lawyers will plead not guilty for their clients, however much evidence there may be against their clients. They then will use every available legal trick to prolong their cases as long as possible, seeking  postponement after postponement. In time, this will result in a plea bargained, comically light, sentence of a few years imprisonment, then it’s back on the streets for the perps to continue their criminal pursuits.

Mind you, that is a best-case scenario. Charges could be dropped for some technicality or other, or the perps might simply jump bail and disappear.

This is not justice. It is the complete breakdown of our criminal justice system, and it is plaguing not only Chicago, but most big cities in America. A century ago in our country, capital murder cases were resolved far quicker in the courts, from a few days to a month or two at the most. After conviction, the prisoner would sit in a jail cell for a year or two, then it was off to the electric chair. The switch was thrown and justice was dispensed.

In contrast, while the State of Illinois only recently banned capital punishment in 2011, the last time it put to death a murderer was in 1962. Similarly, most other states have banned capital punishment, decades after it was last applied.

What the problem boils down to is, most state governments no longer take crime seriously, regardless of what their politicos might say on the campaign trail about being “tough on crime.” If this lax attitude toward brutal crime, like the one described above continues, most Americans will become fed up with their governments and take matters into their own hands, returning to the 19th-century, Old West methods of justice. It will be ugly, but no doubt effective.

Time to dust off Old Sparky?

A friend writes:

Vatican II – The Second Spring of the Church: at start of the Council there were approximately 1300 Sisters of Charity of New York. Today there are 127, average age 87.

Included in the note was a link to a sensitively written story in The New York Times (subscription required) on the end days of the Sisters of Charity. This venerable order was doing well until a disruption occurred which has led to the eventual end of the Sisters of Charity and many other orders. That disruption was the Second Vatican Council, beginning in 1962 and ending in 1965, with its goal being, ironically, a “new spring” that would modernize and revitalize the Catholic Church.

The Times, in telling the experience of one nun, Sister Michael Maureen, tells of the pivotal event that has led to the decline of her order and others.

Then the world cracked open. Vatican II upended the old rigidities. She exchanged the habit for secular clothes — the order’s call was to be among the people, not above them — reclaimed her own name, moved into an East Village walk-up surrounded by the counterculture.

Which strikes this blogger as turning these devoted women, who up till then had lived their lives for God and and Holy Church by displaying their devotion to God by helping to ease the lives of the unfortunates of this world, into secular activists, taking a role in the social upheavals and protests of the 1960s. Though I am sure these venerable women would deny up and down this transformation of their places in Christ’s Holy Church, it certainly gave the appearance of it and made their lives less appealing to girls and young women who might have been considering a life of devotion to our Lord.

While not taking anything away from social workers, the Sisters of Charity and other orders are unique in their quiet and total devotion to our eternal God, not just to the temporal evils of our time on earth. The loss of these devoted servants will be a great loss to Catholic Church.

Pay attention, there will be a short quiz later on His Holiness’s statement.

‘Sport must keep the
human person at its
center…Sport, when it is lived authentically, does not remain merely a performance,’ he said. ‘It is a form of language, a story made of gestures, effort, waiting, falls, and new beginnings.

*As The New Yorker magazine of old might have headed the above.

Posted byAnthony Chase FountainApril 8, 2026Posted inUncategorized

A great scandal broke many years ago when it was revealed some of the largest and most  well known charities in this country were anything but charitable, spending most of their receipts on salaries, administration costs, and, ironically, fundraising.

One large, well known charity, the Catholic Church’s Mother Cabrini Health Foundation (MCHF), has escaped such charges as it is a well run institution where most of its donations go to the intended recipients. That is not to say however, that MCHF is free from scandal, but it has so far not received the attention it should.

There is for instance the salary paid to MCHF’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Mustachiuoluo. 

Based on available tax filings for the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, where Msgr. Greg Mustaciuolo serves as Chief Executive Officer, his reported compensation has been: [1] $839,030 in reportable compensation, plus $86,340 in other compensation (2024 data). $713,802 in reportable compensation, plus $84,724 in other compensation (2023 data). [1] Background Before leading the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, Msgr. Mustaciuolo served as the Vicar General and Chancellor of the Archdiocese of New York, overseeing day-to-day operations and a team responsible for managing combined revenues of over $415 million. [1, 2, 3]

To be honest, the enormous compensation paid to MCHF’s CEO is similar to CEOs at other top charities. What should raise eyebrows though is the full name and title of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation’s CEO: Monsignor Greg Mustachiuoluo. This  Catholic priest is currently paid $839,030, plus an additional $86,340, for a grand total of $925,370 for running a large, albeit respected charity.

If Holy Church would only pay all her priests similarly, recruitment difficulties to the priesthood would become a thing of the past.

Addendum

For those wishing to know more about Msgr Greg  Mustaciuolo and MCHF, a recent announcement from Cardinal Dolan will provide far greater detail concerning both.

A ridiculous anti-Catholic scandal is bigger than we thought.June 5, 2025

Another billion dollar scandal, perpetrated by a slob.November 16, 2022Liked by 1 person

High treason and piracy in DCJuly 25, 2025Liked by 1 person

Posted byAnthony Chase FountainApril 8, 2026Posted inUncategorized

Published by Anthony Chase Fountain

The Tatler of 1709 was founded by Jonathan Swift, aka Isaac Bickerstaff. The Taos Tatler was founded by ex-New Yorker Anthony Fountain in 2018, in the same spirit, he hopes, as the original. Please send mail to taostatler@gmail.com. View more posts

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