Protest Against Satanic "Exorcism" in Oklahoma

Written by Francis Slobodnik

On Thursday, October 21st a public satanic ritual was performed at the Civic Center in Oklahoma City, OK. The ritual was billed as a mockery of the Catholic rite of exorcism rather than what it really was – a satanic ceremony performed in public. Around 35 dedicated Catholic souls stood with TFP and America Needs Fatima to offer a public rally of reparation for this sacrilegious and blasphemous event. A ritual like this would have been horrendous no matter where it took place, however for it to have occurred and been accepted in a place such as Oklahoma, says a lot about the direction our nation is heading. Sadly lacking, was the kind of public outrage and indignation this event deserved. Those present at the rally were certainly willing to make an effort to have their voices heard. One gentleman by the name of Juan took time off from work and traveled all the way from Fort Worth, Texas to participate in the rally. He brought with him a sign containing the entire prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. Another couple traveled from McKinney, Texas, almost as far. There were protesters from Arkansas, as well as from Topeka and Wichita, Kans. There were also the local faithful who participated in the rally. Some protesters were on their knees throughout the entire rally and some held signs such as, “Honk If You Reject Satan,” “Who is Like Unto God?” and “How can ‘One Nation Under God’ allow this?” Protesters strongly oppose public satanic ritual. Some of those who came to protest told us they were afraid to attend the rally, however, we must have the certainty that Our Lady is infinitely more powerful than the devil. This is truly an unfair battle. Those fighting for Our Lady have little to fear. Our Lady and Her legions of angels watch over and protect us. The only weapons needed were the rosary, holy water and holy medals. In customary form, the Satanists were led into the event through a side door instead of facing the peaceful, yet fervent protesters at the main entrance. Evil always acts cowardly when confronted by good. Appropriately, the satanic event began with a heavy metal band attempting to feed the frenzy. Why didn’t they play Classical music or Gregorian chant? According to The Oklahoman, the organizer of the event, Mr. James Hale, “told the audience that they would witness a ritual ‘blasphemy’ taken from the Roman Catholic rite of exorcism.” Hale claimed to have sent out some 70 tickets for the event. Only half of those alleged to have tickets actually showed up. He then claimed that some of the ticket holders didn’t show up because of the crowd outside of the building. How did they know about the crowd if they didn’t show up, perhaps the rosaries scared them off. Who says that protests are not effective? Imagine if that square had been filled with protesters, probably no one would have had the courage to attend even by way of the back door. Every age group was represented by those who oppose rights for evil. Evil advances only when the good fails to stand up to it. The square should have been filled with outraged Catholics. Actually, hundreds of thousands of Catholic should have expressed their outrage at the announcement of a public satanic ceremony. If that had happened it is plausible that the event would have been cancelled. As often happens the victories of the Church are left to the few who love Our Lord and Our Lady more than anything. Such describes the faithful who participated in the rally of reparation. Blessed be the happy few who stood with Her that night, because in reality, Our Lady defeated Satan and his minions long ago. We pray for the final victory and triumph of the Immaculate Heart when the Catholic multitudes will indeed stand up en masse for the rights of God. A cackle, laced with hatred and lacking in conviction, was muttered upon departure. As some of the protesters were leaving, three satanists walked by and shouted, “long live Satan.” A protester loudly proclaimed, “Ipsa Conteret” from the book of Genesis, which means, “She shall crush.” The satanists attempted to repeat their cry, and each time the protestor repeated the same. Finally, one of the satanists asked what does Ipsa Conteret mean. When she was told, they all became silent and continued walking down the street. When confronted with truth, the evil has nothing to say.

Scenes from Florissant Rosary Rally

Some scenes from the Public Square Rosary Rally at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Parish in Florissant at the intersection of Dunn Rd. and West Florissant.

Congratulate Archbishop Burke!

On Tuesday, October 19, Pope Benedict XVI named Raymond Burke, archbishop emeritus of St. Louis and current Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, as one of 24 archbishops who will be made a cardinal of the Catholic Church during the consistory in November.

All faithful Catholics and pro-life and pro-family individuals around the world have joyfully greeted the news of this great honor. Archbishop Burke deserves enthusiastic congratulations for this honor and needs our encouragement to continue to be a shining example of how a faithful bishop can boldly speak out and effectively lead in today’s world. You can do this by going to the website CongratulateBurke.com

Archbishop Burke is an unrelenting champion of the rights of the unborn, the natural family, and orthodox Catholicism. He is viewed as a personal hero and the staunchest of allies by those who are active in promoting authentic Catholic education, as well as those within the pro-life and pro-family movements.

Americans send 8,000 roses to Our Lady in Fatima!

by James Bascom

As we made our way to the main square in front of the Basilica of Fatima on October 13, we couldn’t help but reflect upon the gravity and symbolism of our mission: to deliver nearly 6,000 red roses and 2,000 white roses, each representing a Rosary Rally Captain and Rally Sponsor respectively. All the prayers and hard work of participants in America Needs Fatima”s Public Square Rosary Rally campaign were to be presented symbolically to Our Lady where she appeared and performed the Miracle of the Sun 93 years ago.

In the midst of such a worldwide rejection of the Faith, the Ten Commandments, the breakup of the family, and so many other evils, 5963 faithful Catholics organized rallies of devotees to Our Lady who are willing to say “YES!” to Our Lady’s requests of prayer and penance at Fatima.

A group of young Portuguese graciously agreed to help us arrange the 8,000 roses on three large wooden grates. With this group of about a dozen, plus the four of us, it took a half an hour to arrange everything in front of the shrine.

After taking a group picture, we took the roses and left them at the Chapel of Apparitions in front of the main Basilica, the exact spot where Our Lady appeared. We then went up to the Basilica, where Blessed Francisco and Jacinta are buried, and prayed a rosary for all the Rosary Rally Captains and for the preparations for next year’s rallies.

Reflections Upon a Public Square Rosary Rally

By John Horvat

On October 16, over 150,000 Catholics gathered in 5,963 public places all over the country to hold Public Square Rosary Rallies to pray for our nation in this time of uncertainty and moral decadence.

These events invite reflection, for the experience is truly unique. This display of faith is not just the praying of a rosary but the affirmation of common cause in the public square. We sense we are not alone. All across the nation, there are 5,963 places that are experiencing the same thing. Each person is doing his part. All have a certain anxiety of appearing in public.

Statue of Our Lady of Fatima accompanied by TFP members in TFP ceremonial habit before Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City during the 2010 Public Square Rosary Crusade.

Although we do not know one another, we are one. We are part of the same effort, the same crusade.

What unites us? It is not just a pious practice or the spiritual consolation of prayer together. What makes us so boldly venture outside the church doors and into the public square is a concern for our nation. We see the triumph of sin, the decay of morals, and the destruction of the family. We feel we have to do something since human solutions are not working. Thus, we call upon God and His Blessed Mother. We go out into the streets to make public our petitions. We want others to see our affliction and join us all over our great country.

Participants of the 2010 Public Square Rosary Rally on 5th Avenue in New York City in front of Rockefeller Center.

Moreover, this public act asks of us the great sacrifice of overcoming our human respect. We are asked to bear the great possible witness by choosing the most conspicuous place around: the public square. It is all well and good to pray hidden at home or church. It is quite another thing to do so in public in front of people who we do not know yet could ridicule us. It is even harder to be out in public in front of family, friends and acquaintances who might also ridicule us. But we make the effort to overcome our fears and proudly join ranks.

However, what makes this easier to accomplish is the fact that we are doing this with 5,963 other groups around the country. We know some will be praying in the rain and wind. Others will enjoy perfect weather. Some will be massive rallies with hundreds in attendance. Most will be medium-sized rallies of 20-100 faithful. Perhaps even more touching are those difficult rallies with only two or three brave souls…or even one lone person. All are united in prayer and concern.

Over 400 people participated in the Public Square Rosary Rally in Leesburg, Virginia.	115 participants gathered for their Public Square Rosary in Tamarac, Florida. Not far away in Miami dozens of other Rallies were likewise taking place.

During these rallies, we become the central point of attention in the public square. People stop and read our banners. They see us praying and even kneeling on the pavement. They hear hymns to Our Lady echo down the streets. They ask what is going on. All activity is suspended in function of the rally. We so to speak occupy the public square for an hour and the sweet perfume of the event lingers on for some time afterward. In the minds of countless observers, a seed of Faith is planted.

One of 31 Rosary Rallies held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here participants gather in front of Red Rock Casino to pray for the conversion of America and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.	Scores gathered at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, California to pray for America catching the attention of the public as they passed by and read the banner, heard the Rosary being prayed and hymns to Our Lady sung.

We are also united with others who have prayed before us. It fortifies us to think of those who have publicly prayed the rosary in history and unite ourselves to them as well. How many valiant souls have paraded in public in times of national afflictions? How many Catholic soldiers in modern times of persecution have walked into battle rosary in hand in France, Spain and Mexico? We need only think of the massive public rosary crusade in 1946 in Austria which drove the mighty Soviet Army from Austrian soil. We are a continuation of these heroes who likewise prayed for their countries. We likewise hope for our Blessed Mother’s maternal aid.

Above all, we are part of the solution proposed by Our Lady at Fatima. She appeared publicly to ask men to amend their lives and pray the rosary. Indeed, the idea first surfaced in 2007 as a special project of the America Needs Fatima campaign to commemorate the 90^th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima with 2,000 rallies.

Whether one or one thousand, we are never alone when praying the Rosary. But are united with the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the valiant souls who through the ages have beseeched God’s intercession. And as Our Lady promised at Fatima: “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

By appearing in public against all obstacles, we are like those 100,000 faithful Portuguese who did the same in 1917 and who witnessed that great miracle of the sun.

In 2010, there are 5,963 rallies that are like votive candles that light up the map of America. One can only reflect how magnificent it is to be with Our Lady in the public square! How honored we are to be part of this great crusade!

Rosary Rally at Saint Frances de Sales

From Rally Captain Anne Zivunska

Our Rosary Crusade Day was held near Saint Francis de Sales Church in Saint Louis. It was sparkly weatherwise, as if Our Lady was smiling on us!

There were 30 loyal souls who participated in over an hour of prayer and
singing. At the end Canon Wiener gave us all his blessing.

5,963 ROSARY RALLIES SPREAD FATIMA MESSAGE NATIONWIDE!

Like the mustard seed of scriptural fame, the seed of 2,000 rallies in 2007 now has grown in size and bore bigger fruits.

Or perhaps better yet, the spark lit back then has now spread like wildfire! Not content with praying inside churches or their respective homes, a rejuvenated band of Catholics are proclaiming their Catholic Faith in the streets and public venues throughout America.

Today, October 16, 2010, America Needs Fatima’s (ANF) successfully carried out 5,963 Rosary rallies all over America including far-off Alaska, Hawaii and Guam, and in some other countries.

Thanks to the zealous efforts of rosary captains around the nation, thousands of faithful Catholics armed with their rosaries and banners trooped to the public square to pray for America’s conversion and heed the message of Our Lady of Fatima.

The response to ANF’s 2010 campaign is nothing short of outstanding!

Not only did ANF successfully reach this year’s goal of 5,000 rallies, it far exceeded expectations and almost hit the 6000 mark (5,963 to be exact) topping last year’s 4, 337 rallies. Once again, throngs of Catholic faithful proudly displayed their Faith on their chest as they publicly recited the Rosary for all to see.

Like virtue, it’s now a habit

In some areas in 2010, rosary rallies are becoming a common sight. Not content with holding the October gatherings yearly, rosary captains carry out these events monthly.

ANF certainly hopes that this initiative will gain a groundswell of support among other rosary captains so that more acts of public reparation and prayer could be offered to God in face of an ever increasing sinful and pagan culture corroding today’s society.

It is to heed and console Our Lady who told Sister Lucia at Fatima on the apparition of October 13, 1917 that, “'Let them offend Our Lord no more, for He is already much offended.”

Spurring and inspiring others to act

In an increasingly secularized atmosphere that pushes religious expression out of the public square, one could only imagine effects these rosary rallies have on the average passerby or onlooker and even the participants themselves. More importantly, one can never underestimate the inner workings of grace engendered by these acts.

A moving example is that of one woman (Kathy Worboys of Honeoye Falls, NY) who chanced upon a magazine article in her parish church regarding public rosary rallies, a subject that’s quite new to her.

Looking more closely at the article the following week, she noticed a picture of a banner accompanying the article that said, "As human efforts fail to solve America’s key problems, we turn to God, through His Holy Mother, asking His urgent help.” Those words captivated and inspired her. She resolved to become a rosary captain and organize a rosary rally herself.

A case of a collapsed disc caused by a speed bump didn’t slow down one ANF volunteer (Mary Ellen Piel of Kansas). She successfully recruited a friend to become a rosary captain while talking to her over the phone in her hospital bed!

A daughter’s due date (which would be on October 16, 2010) of one new rosary captain didn’t faze his resolve to proceed with the rally. He plans to hold the rally at the hospital instead should that happen.

Support for the rallies

Since their inception, these rallies have found support from both bishops and clergy alike.

This year, Guam’s archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, added his stamp of approval as he addressed his pastors and rectors in a letter of Wednesday, October 6,

“In solidarity with AMERICA NEEDS FATIMA, I request that on Saturday, October 16, 2010 … the Rosary be prayed at 12 noon in your parish.” Archbishop Anthony explained that AMERICA NEEDS FATIMA’s goal is to “win the heart and soul of America for Mary by spreading Our Lady’s Fatima message and promoting devotion to Her Immaculate Heart.”

The Rosary is the great weapon of the Twenty-First Century, as in centuries past

There are many benefits that could be gained by praying the Rosary and these are amply covered and expounded in many pious books.

But much closer to home, Sister Lucy had this to say in a 1957 interview she gave to Father Augustín Fuentes, postulator of the cause of beatification for the seers of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta at that time. She said, “The last means that God will give to the world for its salvation are the Holy Rosary and My Immaculate Heart… Father, with the new efficacy Our Lady has given to the Rosary, there is no problem in the life of anyone which cannot be solved by frequently praying the Rosary.”[1]

---

[1]Fr. Fuentes Conference (on Sr. Lucy's message entrusted to him on Dec. 26, 1957 A.D.) was originally published in "HACIA LOS ALTARES" in October, 1958 A.D., with the Ecclesiastical approbation of Don Manuel Anselmo Sanchez, Vicar General of Vera Cruz containing all the facts stated in the Conference in even fuller detail. The English translation of Fr. Fuentes May, 22nd, 1958 historic Conference was published in a newspaper called Fatima Findings (Vol. XIV, No. 2) in June of 1959 A.D., under the titled, A Recent Interview of Sister Lucy of Fatima.

Watch a Catholic Priest Take on the Homosexual Agenda!

Father Rodriguez of El Paso, Texas defends the Church's position on homosexuality and same-sex "marriage" with courage and resolution. This debate is really extraordinary. It is every refreshing to see a Catholic priest in full cassock tell it like it is!

Click here to see this video.

The Miracle of the Sun

Will You Come Pray in the Public Square?

On October 16, tens of thousands of Catholics will take to the public square in 5,894 locations nationwide to pray for the nation in these troubled times.

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and its America Needs Fatima campaign are inviting the public to join these Public Square Rosary rallies as a way of spiritually countering same-sex “marriage,” abortion and other immoral customs that are threatening the nation.

The campaign believes human efforts to solve America’s problems are failing. We must turn to God for real solutions.

During the Public Square Rosary in New York City participants kneel on sidewalk of 5th Avenue to pray the Consecration to Our Lady.

The movement has grown from its initial showing of over 2,000 rallies in 2007.

This year, there will be 5,894 Rosary Rallies in the Public Square that will be happening at noon on October 16.

We invite you to click here to locate the rally closest to you!

Please consider joining these peaceful gatherings of people in local communities who will pray the rosary publicly and proudly.

This year more than 5,894 Public Square Rosary Rallies will take place throughout the United States, asking God for real solutions to the moral crisis threatening our nation.

To find out more about the Public Square Rosary campaign, please call toll-free: 1-866-584-6012 or visit: http://www.americaneedsfatima.org/rosary-rally-central.html

Please join this rosary crusade!

An American Knight Review

Ideals To Aspire To

Reviewed by: R.Adm. William A. Heine, USNR (ret) and Colonel Michael D. Wyly USMC (Ret.) Both men were classmates of Colonel John Ripley, Class of 1962, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis.

A lone U.S. Marine hand-walked, gripping the girders underneath the bridge over the Cua Viet River in the midst of a fire fight, on Easter Sunday, 1972. South of the bridge, a beleaguered battalion of fewer than 700 South Vietnamese Marines was the last ditch defense of the town of Dong Ha. North of the bridge, a column of 200 Soviet-built tanks and 30,000 North Vietnamese soldiers moved south. The bridge was their destination and their means of rapidly reinforcing the communist forces already in the Republic of Vietnam. As advisor to the South Vietnamese battalion, Captain John W. Ripley, received the order to destroy the bridge. He did so, singlehandedly. It would take him three hours hand-walking out with the explosives and back again for more. At one point he passed out from fatigue on a girder, only to be awakened when a round from the main gun of an enemy tank slammed into the bridge and jolted him awake. ” ‘The idea that I would be able to even finish the job before the enemy got me was ludicrous,” ‘Captain Ripley is quoted. ‘When you know you’re not going to make it, a wonderful thing happens: You stop being cluttered by the feeling that you’re going to survive.’”

The captain would retire from the Corps as a full colonel in 1992. The writers of this review have known him since we were all 18-year-old plebes reporting to the U.S. Naval Academy in the Class of 1962. “Rip” as we called him died of an apparent heart attack in October 2008 and we each had conversation with him within a week of his death, knew him in the course of our own military careers, knew he was the hero who singlehandedly destroyed the bridge, but did not know how much a hero, had never heard Rip’s words quoted above, until we read Norman Fulkerson’s An American Knight. If you understand the title, you do not need to read the book. But read it anyway. It is an uplifting story.

John W. Ripley with his wife Moline, after receiving the Navy Cross during the evening Parade at the Marine Corps Barracks in Washington D.C.

From Fulkerson we also learn that when asked to sign a contract for a possible movie about his actions, Rip imposed two conditions. Whoever portrayed him would not use profanity and would not be unfaithful to his wife. When it came to being an officer of Marines, Rip epitomized what this means in a way Hollywood might never understand. Simply put, Rip was a gentleman. Hollywood images of tough guys swearing and womanizing may attract throngs of ticket-buyers seeking an evening’s entertainment, but they fail to capture what service to one’s country and courage under fire really are. John captured them both, true to life.

Fulkerson’s writing style is without pretense. One editor described the book as “an easy read.” It follows the chronology of Colonel Ripley’s life in sequence. No flashbacks or fast forwards. We meet his parents and the small town Radford, Virginia, where he grew up. We meet his bride to be and learn of his courtship and marriage. But without the author having to tell us, we sense where the story is taking us, that when Rip is called upon, he will do his duty, no matter the odds.

And so it was with we who knew him. When we were all teenage midshipman Rip’s future had an inevitability about it. That he would be a Marine officer was a certainty. On this, he was thoroughly focused. Likewise, that he would stay in uniform for a full 30 years. That his specialty would be infantry. Our images of military life were formed in World War II. “Marine” meant hitting the beach in a landing craft with a drop-ramp bow and charging on foot against the enemy. That we would one day go to war to fight for our freedom seemed equally certain. Rip wanted to do that because he believed in what the country stood for. Add all this together and you knew Rip would be called upon to do his duty, to exercise immense courage under fire, and that he would rise to the occasion, never flinching. And with that ever-present broad smile on his face.

1967 Vietnam photo of then Captain John Ripley studying a map with his trademark smile.

Rip had two tours of duty in Vietnam, the first as an infantry company commander. Here we read of his forbidding his Marines to shoot a pig because “it belongs to a farmer who needs to sustain a family.” And the same humanitarian thread continues as the bridge at Dong Ha finally blows into “massive chunks of concrete and steel spiraling through the air” while Rip holds in his arms a Vietnamese child whom he rescued from the impact area just in time.

Rip’s story does not end when the bridge blows up. As a colonel he is assigned back to his Alma Mater at Annapolis. There, he sets an example to the young midshipmen in his charge, guides and mentors them, earning respect and love above and beyond anything we remember witnessing or hearing about in our own careers. His calm manner, his inner toughness, and his ready smile –all life-long traits– made it a morale boost just to be in the same room with him.

Norman Fulkerson first met Colonel Ripley in 1993 when the Colonel delivered a speech for the launching of the book Nobility and Analagous Traditional Elites in the Allocutions of Pius XII at The Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C. In the ensuing years he kept in touch, personally, and read articles and books recounting the Colonel’s actions at Dong Ha, Vietnam, in 1972. He met Marines who had served with Colonel Ripley. The more the author learned of “Colonel Ripley the man,” the more he found himself thinking what a model citizen and model officer the colonel was. Finally, in 2007, a year before Colonel Ripley died unexpectedly, Mr. Fulkerson began to conceptualize a book about the Colonel’s life. The material in An American Knight is drawn from a combination of conversations with Colonel Ripley; meetings and interviews with Marines and family members: several books and articles that have documented the Colonel’s courage in Vietnam, and the content of Colonel Ripley’s speeches that the author had attended over the years.

An American Knight is more than sound military history. It is the story of a life led without pretense or affectation, an example of doing one’s duty selflessly, and, in this way is a story the youth of our country are starved for. Adults should read it for inspiration of how to rear their children and our children should read it to learn that great things can be done by people who come from the simplest beginnings, that bravado is not a requirement, that honor is sacred, and that modesty and courtesy are the keys to respectability. We should hope our grandchildren will put the book down and reflect, “Maybe I could do that” and know, when they too are called upon to act in some unforeseeable situation, “there was one who went before me and rose to the occasion. I can too.”

R. Adm. William A. Heine, USNR (ret.) As Operations Officer of a Naval Construction Battalion, he built the Dong Ha bridge over the Cua Vet River in 1968 that fellow Naval Academy graduate John Ripley would destroy in 1972.

Colonel Michael D. Wyly, USMC (ret.) served two tours and distinguished himself as an outstanding Marine infantry officer in Vietnam. His early life and military career is chronicled in Robert Coram's book "Boyd".

A Society Without Elites is a Socialist Society

Written by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo

We are witnessing a surge of popular outrage and even revulsion against an onslaught of ideologically liberal changes affecting the lives of millions of Americans. This outrage is fueled, among other things, by the following: • decisions of activist judges favoring homosexualist or private property-denying socialist agendas and showing complete disregard for public opinion; • junk science academics whose unwarranted and twisted findings are celebrated in the liberal media and establishment and are subsequently used to justify society-changing legislation and regulation; • out-of-touch, liberal politicians using legislation or the raw power of government to intervene more and more inappropriately in the lives of Americans, creating in the process a leviathan Socialist State; • ideologically-motivated media run amok, showering notoriety on leftist and opportunistic intellectuals, politicians, and entertainment celebrities willing to trumpet the “politically correct” line on a spectrum of controverted issues. Do Not Confuse “Liberal Establishment” with True Elites Undoubtedly, the individuals targeted by this furor can somehow be considered as elites. However, they do not represent true elites. Rather, they represent the latter’s corruption. They act contrary to the mission of all true elites which is based on service to the common good and the positive influencing of others, so as to foster goodness and virtue. There is therefore a danger of conflating the “liberal establishment” with true elites and, while attacking the evils of liberalism, to play inadvertently the game of the left by favoring social egalitarianism. In sum, if we do not make the necessary distinction, we will “throw the baby out with the bath water.” Thus, it is imperative to have a clear notion of what a true elite is so as not to confuse it with distortions or caricatures. Since society cannot live without a ruling class, the destruction of natural elites will cause them to be replaced with a new class of bureaucrats forming a nomenklatura, as happened in socialist countries. Elites, Excellence and Altruism The French word élite was incorporated into the English language in 1823 but has its remote origins in the Latin term eligere, “to choose.” It is employed to designate individuals or groups who stand out in a special way in a certain social setting or activity. Thus, elite is used to designate “a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence;” and thus we speak of “the elite of the entertainment world” or “members of the ruling elite;” and “the intellectual elites of the country.”1 The philosophical Encyclopedie de L’Agora defines elite as “the best of the best.” Littré2 cites fleur [flower] as the first synonym of elite. “The elite of an army is the flower of the army. In the words of Tocqueville, an intellectual elite Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. is distinguished by a disinterested love of truth; and in the sphere of action, an elite is distinguished by courage, as Plutarch teaches us in his Lives of Illustrious Men.”3 Distinguishing Between True and Decadent Elites According to Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, “countries which have an elite that is conscious of its responsibility are countries that rise in the firmament of history and brilliantly accomplish their mission. On the contrary, however, nations whose elites are unaware of their responsibility and mission are nations that inevitably fail and plunge into the great catastrophes of history.” The reason for this, the illustrious Brazilian thinker explains, is that if the “elite has the privileges it has” it must not live to enjoy these privileges but rather “to serve society entirely,” which supposes “that the elite be disposed to make the necessary sacrifices to accomplish its mission.” And, he continues, “The main responsibility or mission of an elite individual—whatever may be the area of his excellence—is to dedicate himself to the common good. This donation of self to the common good consists in having a clear concept of what the elite must do.” And that is why “if the elite renounces its responsibility to be the social class that sets the tone in society—a moralizing and Christian tone rather than a de-Christianizing and paganizing one—it ceases to be a true elite.”4 Combat Socialism, Not True Elites Given the confused state of notions in many minds today, we need to insist that a nation cannot exist, or at least it cannot develop normally, without true elites; because a nation progresses only with the impulse of the best, the most skilled, and the most virtuous. Outrage against the liberal establishment has sparked increased talk about America's Founding Fathers. Yet few remember to note, how they were members of the social, cultural, and political elite of their time. Because of socialism’s egalitarian essence, it loathes the natural elites that rise thanks to the development and use of talents, free enterprise and the hereditary perpetuation of family values and merits. What outraged Americans ought to do when corrupted elites favor socialism is not to condemn all elites indiscriminately but to combat the former. In other words, they should target the specific elites that allowed themselves to become corrupted. Without this special care to distinguish between false and true elites, one ends up by inadvertently playing into the hands of the enemy we are trying to defeat: socialism. Outrage against the liberal establishment has sparked increased talk about America’s Founding Fathers. However, few remember to note, much less ponder on how they were members of the social, cultural, and political elite of their time. We live in dangerous times that require great clarity of vision and strength in action. Let us eschew all muddled, anti-elitist thinking and rhetoric and remain faithful to America’s principled and battle-seasoned anti-communist and anti-socialist past. Should we do this, the troubles we are going through may well become America’s “finest hour.” Footnotes 1. Merriam-Webster.com, s.v. “Elite,” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elite; cf. Online Etymology Dictionary, s.v. “Elite,” http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=elite&searchmode=none. [back] 2. Émile Maximilien Paul Littré (1801–1881) was a French lexicographer and philosopher, best known for his Dictionnaire de la langue française, commonly called “The Littré.” [back] 3. S.v. “Elite,” in Encyclopedie de L’Agora, at http://agora.qc.ca/mot.nsf/Dossiers/Elite [our translation]. [back] 4. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, “O importante papel das elites a serviço da sociedade,” [The Important Role of Elites at the Service of Society] May 6, 1968 speech in Buenos Aires, http://www.pliniocorreadeoliveira.info/DIS_680506_importanciadaselites.htm; Cf. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites, http://www.tfp.org/tfp-home/books/nobility-and-analogous-traditional-elites.html. [back]

Our Lady’s Fool

In 17th century France, there was a young man who rejected the world and gave everything to the Blessed Mother. He was considered a fool by the worldly minded.

He was persecuted, maligned and physically attacked by heretics, hoodlums and libertines.

The worst persecution, however, came from lukewarm Catholics. Most tragically, he was often silenced by the Church hierarchy and clergy. Eventually, he was banned from every diocese in France, except two.

Finally, he was poisoned. He died in 1716, at the age of 43.

His name is Saint Louis de Montfort.

The Rosary was his favorite prayer, which he preached with special vigor and great fruit.

For example, around the turn of the eighteenth century in Rennes, France, a family named D’Orvilles presented him a problem.

Mr. D’Orvilles complained that his house adjoined the city square where much sin and immorality took place. He said young people would come there at odd hours, sin and make so much noise that they would distract those in his household during the Rosary.

He asked the saint, “What could be done about this?”

“Make a niche in the façade of the wall that overlooks the square,” replied Saint Louis de Montfort. “Put a statue of Our Lady there, and pray the Rosary in front of her.”

“In the public square?” replied Mr. D’Orvilles.

“In the public square right in front of the image of Our Lady,” instructed the saint.

The day following the completion of the niche, Mr. D’Orvilles, his family and all the servants from his household, prayed the Rosary in the public square. His wife lead the mysteries while he stood guard with a whip to keep the aggressions of young hoodlums at bay.

While praying, many carriages went through the public square, and some friends even called out to him inviting him and his wife to party. At first he was tempted to hide his Rosary beads in his hand, but he conquered himself and held the Rosary high so that all could see that he was at prayer.

A strange thing happened. After saying the Rosary daily for some time, the public square Rosary became a curious attraction.

“People came in crowds to pray, as if some great church ceremony were taking place, and soon, the disorders in the square ceased.”*

Much of what happened in Rennes, France, is happening in America today.

The response to the Public Square Rosary Rally has been excellent.

On October 16th, 5,800 Rosaries will be prayed in public because every city in the United States and in the world is in need of conversion.

Our Lady revealed at Fatima that God wishes to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as the solution for the world’s sins and impurity.

America Needs Fatima is inviting every Catholic to give public testimony to our divine faith by joining the Public Square Rosary on October 16th.

That’s the way to be part of the “Divine solution” that Our Lady gave us at Fatima.

This story of the D’Orvilles family is one of many examples where the power of the Rosary helped to transform public opinion.

America Needs Fatima is trying to use the power of the Rosary as Saint Louis recommended on a national scale. In every city and town in America.

On our Web site, you’ll find more details on the Public Square Rosary Rally on October 16, 2010.

Our Lady asked for prayer, penance and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners. The Rosary is the prayer. Standing in a public place is the penance and sacrifice.

Together we can repeat history for the sake of America and help accelerate “The Triumph of My Immaculate Heart!” for the greater glory of Our Lady.

Let’s be Our Lady’s fools too.

Thank you, and may God bless you!

---

* Adapted from Eddie Doherty, Wisdom’s Fool (Bay Shore, N.Y., Montfort Publications, 1993), 214.

STOP Planned Parenthood at Boston College: Sign the Protest

Boston College Law School – a Catholic Jesuit institution – currently lists the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts on its web site under "pro bono organizations." Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, Boston College has 14,623 students.

TFP Student Action is doing something about it! To protest, sign the petition below.



For the full story, click here.

When Saints Formed Children

"God make me to know, love, and serve Him in this world in order lo be happy with Him in the next." Thus does the child correctly answer the catechism question of why God made him.

In consonance with this basic notion, Catholic education has traditionally meant fashioning the child's whole personality for the practice of virtue. It thus produced children with consciences, in marked contrast to the troubled and problem children so prevalent today.

Modern schools have, for the most part, lost sight of - or utterly ignore - the true finality of education. Let us look back, then, to a time when saints formed children, leading them along the path of virtue.

Following are some selected passages from the educational guidelines laid down by Saint John Bosco last century. These forgotten truths are every bit as timely now as then.

On music: "Any educational center without music is a body without a soul. Music educates, soothes, and elevates; it is a most efficacious means for instilling discipline and contributing to morality."

On love for beauty: "The teacher must also help his charges perfect their sentiments for beauty. This is a natural sentiment, but it must be developed and perfected. A11 children have a capacity to appreciate the beauties of nature, art, and religion.

Our Lord teaching children.

"I recall that when I was a boy my mother taught mc to look up and gaze at the sky and to observe the marvels of the countryside. During the serene and starlit nights, she look me outside and showed me the heavens and said to me, 'It is God Who created the world and put so many beautiful stars above. If the firmament is so beautiful, how will paradise be?' And when spring came around, with its wealth of flowers across the countryside, she would exclaim: 'How many beautiful things the Lord has made for us!' And when the clouds gathered, and the skies darkened and the thunder roared: 'How powerful the Lord is! Who can resist Him? Therefore, let us not commit sins.' And in winter, when all was covered with snow and ice, and we would gather together around the fire, she, even amidst our poverty, would say: 'How grateful we should be to the Lord Who has provided us with all that is necessary! God is truly our Father: Our Father, Who art in heaven...'"

On intellectual formation: "To cultivate only the intellect, abandoning all the other human faculties, is to deform man.

"Intellectual education encompasses a series of norms, of practical measures and appropriate resources to provide the juvenile intelligence with the knowledge of letters and sciences indispensable and helpful for life. But the school should not presume to take the place of the family, and much less the Church. School must teach in relation to life."

On moral formation: "All, or nearly all, educators sec the development of the intellect as their principal responsibility to the child.

However, this displays a lack of prudence, for they do not understand—or else easily lose sight of—human nature and the reciprocal dependency of our faculties. They direct all their efforts to the development of the cognitive faculties and sentiments, which they erroneously and tragically confound with the faculty of love. In so doing, they completely disregard the sovereign faculty, the will, which is the only source of true and pure love, and of which the sensibility is but a type of outward appearance.

"What is the obligation of the Christian teacher? According to the spirit of Jesus Christ and the practice of His moral law, the mother, the father or the teacher, must avoid giving a vitiated education to the children Providence has entrusted to them; their immediate end must be to direct the child along the path of sanctity, whose guideposts are renunciation and generosity. To communicate the spirit of sacrifice, the teacher must direct his charges, above all, to cultivate their reason and will without neglecting any of the other faculties."

On social formation: "Games are also social elements that should not be belittled. For this reason, we give them much importance. Games leach the child to control himself and not to injure or bother his companions; to develop social sensibility; to increase habits of courtesy, affability, and manners; to stimulate the exercise of justice and loyalty, indispensable conditions not only for games but for all forms of social activity."

On religious education: "Education must develop in youth a passion for good and a hatred of evil. The teacher is duty-bound lo understand that this is an effect of correspondence or lack of conformity to the will of God.

"One of the defects or vices of modern pedagogy is the reduction of religion to pure sentiment. For this reason, it does not want to speak to children about, or even name, the eternal truths: death, judgment, and, much less, hell."

From Biografia y Escritos de San Juan Bosco, Madrid: B.A.C., 1955.

Polish Bishops' Conference Refuses to Consecrate Poland to Christ the King

Warsaw (kath.net/KAP) Poland's bishops are against the campaign of a popular movement that wants to consecrate Poland to Christ the King. Their motto is: Christ, King of Poland. This plan should be given up, said the president of the Polish Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Jozef Michalik, this Wednesday at the close of the autumn meeting of bishops in Warsaw. The Kingdom of Christ is "not of this world."

In the concluding explanation the Bishops warn against the idea that the enthronement of Christ as the King of Poland, "will solve all problems." In place of this they propose, the deepening faith in Christ as the "King of the Universe." Michalik recognized the good intentions of the movement.

More than 1,000 people recently demonstrated in Warsaw for a proclamation of Christ the King of Poland. They came with National flags and pictures of the Crowned Christ.