From Vatican News

Pope Leo XIV presides at Mass on Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, and reflects on Jesus as the King of Peace who rejects war and refuses to listen to the prayers of those who wage war . . .

‘Jesus is the King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” said the Pope. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.’

I have always had a fair regard for Pope Leo, especially when compared with his predecessor, and simply because he is an American. Regrettably, that regard for him has deteriorated some after his ill-thought statement about “those who wage war.” Does that include the Americans who led our efforts against murderous dictators of the past? Or those who practiced slavery? Or those who fought against Britain in this nation’s efforts to gain independence?

Father Rutler, who alerted this blogger to Leo’s unfortunate statement, points out those who held a different opinion from his, then asks a rhetorical question.

Pope St Pius V and the chaps at Lepanto were of a different opinion.

Does this mean that the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is canceled?

Father then quotes in full a long prayer by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on D-Day, when this nation was in the thick of the Second World War.

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home – fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas – whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them – help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too – strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Let us pray our Pope Leo retracts  his misguided statement, or at least modifies it.

From EWTN

Belgian bishop plans to
ordain married men by
2028, violating Church
canon law

Bishop Johan Bonny of Belgium expressed his plan to ordain married men into the priesthood by 2028 in a move that has not received approval from the Vatican and would violate the current Code of Canon Law.

In these anything-goes times, ordaining married men for the priesthood seems a relatively benign error, but celibacy for men was codified in the Church over 900 years ago. Its beginnings go back to the 4th century, when the Church in Spain made it a requirement for bishops, priests, and deacons ca. 305-306. If they were already married, they were required to abstain.

There were valid reasons for celibacy, then and now. Married priests cannot devote 100 percent of their time and attention to the Church and ministering to their flocks.

It’s a puzzle then why some clergy, who know the rules of canon law, feel they ca ignore them, or announce their intention to do so, as Bishop Bonny has. Should the bishop follow through on his intentions, he will certainly have to face the consequences of his actions, and his ordinations will be voided. His actions will be all for nought, so why engage in them?

As an aside, there is an exception for the celibacy requirement and that is for married Anglican  priests, who may be ordained into the Catholic Church. Presumably, that only male priests.

Bishop Bonny–breathed in too much incense?

In 1968, the late organist, E. Power Biggs, proposed to his producer at Columbia Masterworks, John McClure, an extravagant idea that McClure received with great doubts, a recording of liturgical music by Giovanni Gabrieli in the venue for which it was composed, the Basilica de San Marco in Venice, so to take full advantage of the composer’s antiphonal choruses.

The musical forces Biggs wanted were the Gregg Smith Singers, the Texas Boy Choir, and the Edward Tarr Brass Ensemble, with Biggs of course playing the organ, In addition to the performers would be the recording crew and their equipment. Getting all to Venice would require dealing with, as McClure had dubbed them, the “macaroni curtain,” Italian customs, he having previously produced recordings in Italy.

McClure, unsurprisingly, balked at first Biggs’s proposal, owing to its certain great expense, but eventually gave in, for two reasons: it would be a first of its kind recording, and it  would be a show of gratitude to Biggs, who had been a loyal Columbia artist for his long career. The result was the recording you see above, which turned out to be à greàt success, never to leave the Masterworks catalog.

I listened to the recording recently and it’s as stupendous now as it was when I first listened to it, not long after its release. Contemporary critics would likely take issue with the “historically incorrect” instruments and interpretations, but this listener easily shrugged off those criticisms. The recording is available on CDs and online. It is highly recommended.

Much as I enjoyed listening to the recording however, it saddened me in a way,  because it brought to mind the horrendous state of music in the vast majority of Catholic churches these days. As a relative newcomer to Holy Church, I’ve wondered how we reached the present, dreadful state of liturgical music.  I have a notion the explanation may lie in the reforms of Vatican 2, that when removing the formalities of the old Mass, and substituting the casual versions of it in the vernacular, liturgical music became as casual as the texts of the new Mass.

Still, it ought not be impossible to celebrate the Vatican 2 Mass with decent music, and this blogger is working with others to that end in our parish church. If we can manage to eliminate such unfortunate occurrences, like the Lord’s Prayer in a dreadful arrangement, used as the recessional hymn, we’ll be making progress.

From Glenn Reynolds, the veteran and reliable publisher of the Instapundit,

Professor Reynolds heads the image above with, “Making sure which side is which in Iran.”

A little research (Wikipedia) reports that in Islamic law, sex with animals is generally not approved.

The Quran and the hadiths allow Muslim men to have sexual intercourse only with Muslim women in marriage (nikāḥ) and “what the right hand owns”.[12] his historically permitted Muslim men to have extramarital sex with concubines and sex slaves. Contraceptive use is permitted for birth control. Acts of homosexual intercourse are prohibited, although Muhammad—the main prophet of Islam-neved forbade non-sexual relationships. [13]

The late Ayatollah, apparently owing to his high rank, decided that rules on sexual intercourse could be stretched a bit to allow sex with animals, presumably because of animals being godless creatures, oblivious to the Koran.

– – – Blogger’s note: Further research indicates reports that Ayatollah Khomeini allowed sex with animals are too good to be true.The posting above however shall remain. The man was such a beastly character, a report he permitted beastiality, even if apocryphal, doesn’t seem out of place. So sue me.

Blogger’s note: Further research indicates reports that Ayatollah Khomeini allowed sex with animals are too good to be true.The posting above however shall remain. The man was such a beastly character, a report he permitted beastiality, even if apocryphal, doesn’t seem out of place. So sue me.

Take a break from the horrors of the world as commented on in this blog, and enjoy this little video, made known to me by my cousin Henry, of two greats meeting one another, Walt Disney and Serge Prokofiev. The composer plays snatches from his piece for children, an accompaniment to the Russian folk tale, Peter and the Wolf. Disney later created an animation of the work.

Click on the YouTube image to take you to the video.

Kudos to YouTube poster yensidun

Douglas Murray, of the New York Post, in his latest column, gives us a good account of the latest so-called conservative to turn against Donald Trump, the wretched Tucker Carlson. In these eyes, there is no loss as I have always regarded Carlson as, to use an  underused word, a larrykin of the first rank. Other possibilities, using better known words, might be fatuous blabbermouth or, horse’s ass. Take your pick.

The mystery is why so many seemingly conservative Republicans, e.g., Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Todd Young, Venezuela. Key figures include Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Josh Hawley,  Todd Young and a plethora of others, have not only disassociated themselves from the president, but have denounced him so vehemently that this blogger cannot help wonder if there is more to their dislike of him than his war policies.

Perhaps there is. This ex-New Yorker has known about, and been a fan of, Donald Trump since he first became known to the public in a loud feud with then-Mayor Ed Koch over a botched City project in Central Park that had dragged on for years. Trump’s office overlooked the mess and he grew tired of looking at it. He was a loudmouth then, as now, and the mayor was nearly his equal, which assured the feud got plenty of public attention. Trump eventually won the dispute, and he and his loud, disputatious ways have been before the public for over 40 years. He has also been the object of loathing by many for 40 years.

For some, Donald Trump’s manner is intolerable, or lately has become so. Lately, it seems to have triggered many who formerly supported him, to not only disavow the man and his policies but, for some of them, to embrace appallingly disparate points of views and those responsible for them. An extreme example of this is, unsurprisingly, Tucker the halfwit’s enthusiasm for the loathsome Oswald Mosley, of England, and his British Union of Fascists, a description of which is hardly necessary.

The pox on them all.

h/t Fr Rutler

Addendum: from the same source as above, with thanks, come this gruesome item. Some of the Trump turncoats, astonishingly insist we should at least leave the Iranian dictators alone, and some, like idiot written about above, believe we should support them. Trump Derangement Syndrome continues in full flower

Not just any actor, either. Rather, the estimable, outrageously comic John Cleese, who has a warning for England.

With Mr Cleese’s warning, let us hope more people in the UK, US, and everywhere else in the civilized world, who up to now have been ambivalent, dismissive, or even ignorant of the evils of Islam, will heed the urgent message of John Cleese.

Thanks to Fr Rutler

From the New York Post

Iranian police commander pleads with Israeli agent ‘please come help us’ in dramatic leaked call

A senior Iranian police commander recently told an agent of Israel’s renowned Mossad intelligence service “I swear on the Koran I’m not your enemy” and begged the Jewish state to “please come help us” overthrow the Islamic Republic, according to the contents of a leaked phone call.

The Iranian police commander’s action may be better understood when considering the following.

The call, reported by the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, was one of several placed by Israeli intelligence threatening Iranian security officials and their families by name if they did not stand aside in the event of a popular uprising to overthrow the mullahs.

Still and all, if there’s even a trace of  sincerity hiding in the expediancy of the police commander’s plea, it shows the efficacy of President Trump’s order to take out high players in the Iranian government. Not long ago, no  Iranian official would have dared the following on the telephone,

1. Speaking with anyone at all in Israel.

2. Speaking with an official of Masad in Israel.

3. Conceding that Masad and Israel  had him and his colleagues, if you’ll  pardon the vulgarity, by the balls, and please help.

The brutal regime in Iran appears to be losing its grip. While the evidence above is hardly sufficient to confirm it, consider the following; not long ago, any Iranian official, indeed, any Iranian at all, thanks to brutal internal intelligence, would certainly have faced hideous penalties, including death or disfigurement, should he have been caught doing what the police commander did.

One of the small tragedies of war is the friendships that may suffer from it.

An old and dear friend of many years, one whose encouragement of my blogging is a major reason why the Taos Tatler is still around, have pretty much seen eye to eye on matters religious and political. Recently, however, we have come to disagree sharply on a political issue, President Trump and the war in the Middle East.

My friend believes this war, instituted by the president, to be immoral and that this country has no business being in that part of the world. I believe the opposite, that Iran, et al., are the immoral ones, hideously so; that Khomeini and all Muslim extremists are a danger to the US and other parts of the world, only held back by their lack of means. That will certainly change in time. It would be folly were this country not to take severe preemptive action to neutralize these enemies. Donald Trump is the only high ranking politician who has shown no reticence to do it. I support him fully.

As should be plain by now, my friend and I are poles apart on this matter. I pray our friendship will survive the disagreement.

*****

The last conflict as controversial as the present one was the Viet Nam war, which this blogger well remembers. Other than superficial similarities between the two wars, study reveals their great differences, the foremost being the Viet Nam war as fought was unwinnable.

Meet Yuja Wang, whom people I respect say is a superb concert pianist. Likely so, but I will have to listen to her play myself. Noteworthy in this reel however, is not her playing, but how this concert artist dresses for a performance. It speaks for itself.

What a pity; old-school concert dress, white tie for men, evening gowns for women, survived well after other public events dropped it. Ms Wang, though, bowdlerizes concert dress to that of a strip bar. Brava diva!

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