Peace, Parties, Gas, Fiction and more...

Good news here about my bishop taking a stand (via Mark Shea). (I wish the diocese would be this courageous now and dump the "VIRTUS/Protecting God's Children" program.

Proposal from the Synod (via Amy Welborn): Proposition 23 suggests moving the Sign of Peace in the Mass to immediately after the Prayers of the Faithful, hence before the Eucharistic Prayer, and also affirms existing rules that the priest is not to leave the sanctuary during the Sign of Peace.” [If we must have it (sign of peace) at all, by all means get it out of the Eucharistic Prayer.]

Jeff at Hallowed Ground cites this proposal from Steve Kellmeyer (Bridegroom Press) as a possible starting point to form a Christian Liberty Party and asks your thoughts.

I have a question: In my (many) years of experience I have seen gas prices fluctuate quite a bit. But rarely have I seen $0.20 jumps and declines overnight. Further, I never have seen gas prices within a local area (sometimes within a block or two) differ by $0.20-0.25 per gallon week after week. What is going on?

At People of the Book there is a discussion on why Catholic publishers shy away from "Catholic fiction". I made an intial comment, at least partially agreeing with the blog-host, (fiction takes different editing skills than non-fiction for one. I disagreed that publishers, at least myself, view fiction as simply entertainment. I realize fiction can have a great impact on one's spiritual life and search for God.), but I have more comments if I can find the time. I think part of the problem has to do with the specific mission of various Catholic publishers and how that relates to the specific fiction presented. Some Catholic publishers market more to Catholics who want to deepen their spiritual lives and knowledge. Some Catholic publishers do more of the apologetic type books-reaching out to fallen-away Catholics or non-Catholics. Fiction coming from these two different types of publishers would have a different look.

Finally, it is the feast of the North American Martyrs. As detailed last year, this is a more favored/celebrated feast of ours at Bethany. While we did not get to go to the Shrine in Auriesville this year, it turns out daughter Krystle did go with the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate earlier this month.

Sts. Isaac Jogues and John de Brebeuf and Companions - ora pro nobis!

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune... Oremus pro invicem!

A few notes...

I finally got around to putting a hit counter on Bethune Catholic. Before I got to see the totals for the first week, I happened along to visit this post at Hallowed Ground. When I looked at my numbers, they paled very considerably.... But I've only been at this a year. (Tomorrow is the birthday of Bethune Catholic.) And the good thing is, I don't have enough hits to have that pride problem....

We inherited 3 cats (they were really just kittens when we got here) with Bethany. The two males ran away. The remaining cat, hangs around and we do feed her. About 5 months ago she had a litter of 2 cats, (I was concerned, but figured we had some time). Well these kittens weren't even weaned when she had another litter of 6 kittens, this was about 5 weeks ago, but they are still tiny. We have "FREE KITTENS" sign out front-maybe if we charged money they would go faster. This morning one of the young kittens lay dead very near the nest. It was cold last night, so may be that was it. There were no other injuries. I am getting used to burying dead animals....

We have been posting pretty regularly at Catholic Laity. Check it out when you have time.

Finally, we have a birthday party here tomorrow (not for Bethune Catholic) for our youngest daughter, who turns 4. I am going to put a few hours of work in, but probably won't blog here.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune.... Oremus pro invicem!

Sunday...

We assisted at Mass in Columbia yesterday at Good Shepard Catholic Church. This is an Anglican-use parish (and the parish where the monthly Traditionaly Latin Mass takes place). Fr. Ladkou played football at Michigan years ago. He is one of the best homilests in the diocese. Yesterday he spoke of our being made in the image of God and how we are God's and are obliged to give our whole selves to Him. (He also made not so veiled references about the travesty of programs like "VIRTUS/Protecting God's Children" which I posted about here and here ).

After Mass we visited (for breakfast and lunch) our dear friends the Nyikos family. Their two older girls are close to our daughter Krystle. (One of the Nyikos girls did the artwork for Requiem Press' "Witnesses to the Holy Mass"). We missed Krystle as she and the older girls always got us singing around the piano. But we still had a wonderful time. We said the rosary together between lunch and desert. We have been blessed to know several families over the years with whom we occassionally or regularly have said the rosary with on Sundays. It is a wonderful and powerful event-both because the power of the family rosary as a prayer itself and the witness to the children of both families. Catholic community and culture are truly formed by such gatherings.

Saturday I finally separated the oldest doe from the two younger does. (So I still have one more separation to achieve.) In this case, I simply partitioned in the largest cage. We (oldest boys and myself) also made the cage suspension more permanent and robust. We took the coat hangers down and used some chain to suspend the cages. We also tied the four bottem corners of the cages to the corner posts of the shelter.

Before Saturday, the rabbit shelter simply consisted of four corner posts with a simple frame at the top of the posts. The cages were suspended from one beam. A tarp covered the top of the shelter and gave paritial covering to the sides. We added some structure to the sides and and an overhang in front of the shelter (still using only the tarp for the roof. We haven't finished, but we can simply add a few slates now to the side and the rabbits should have decent winter protection as well as providing some protection to the lucky boy feeding the rabbits. (I think a picture is called for to explain this - but don't hold your breath.)

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune... Oremus pro invicem!

Reminiscing...

As the first anniversary of Bethune Catholic approaches, Mrs. Curley and I were up last night (later than we should have been) reading some of the old posts. We both agree some of the early posts were better than what I generally put out now. Perhaps I had more time then....

Mrs. Curley and I had some good laughs too. This excerpt from February especially showed how much we had (and still have) to learn about this grand experiment:

"We got our first eggs today....In hindsight, we now know why the roosters have been grabbing the hens by the neck and jumping on them."

And this line from December:

"We were all wondering when the roosters would start cock-a-doodle-do-ing. I was of the school of thought that they had to be taught - and thus would give them some examples every time I passed by the coop. They are at about 9 weeks old and they have started fledgling efforts. I don't know if my efforts helped get them started, but ........"

(Come to think of it our new batch is over 9 weeks and they are not crowing. We either have all hens or I better get out there teaching them again... )

Here is another post which had us in stitches when we read it last night.

Of course there were also thoughtful posts on economics, martyrs, purgatory, agrarian life, etc.

I know most people don't go searching through the archives when they come across a new blog-(who has the time?)-but in looking back, I can see by the quality of these older posts that I spent more time composing articles for Bethune Catholic than I do now. Sometimes I find myself just trying to post a few things to keep it active instead of really preparing and thinking about my posts. Perhaps this is why you see many bloggers (and some of the best at that) taking short sabbaticals from their blog periodically.

But not to fear now. I have no hiatus in mind. Just some blog thinking going on here at Bethany.

From our small holding...

Oremus pro invicem!

Thursday Night

As I sit here contemplating which of the many things I should post about, my mind wanders to the cup of Instant Postum Mrs. Curley and I shared after dinner tonight. She was telling me how she spent the afternoon with rabbit manure squeezing between her fingers as she prepared the manure for rabbit manure tea (surely a rare delicacy-but not fit for human consumption.)

Which brings me to the Instant Postum. Sometime in my youth there was a coffee "shortage" and my Dad (may his soul rest in peace) refused to buy coffee at inflated prices. He saw on the grocery shelf this "Instant Postum" which he drank as a child. It is an instant coffee-like drink made from grains, but contains no caffeine. He never really went back to coffee. Some weeks ago I saw some Instant Postum in the store and bought it. It is a trifle expensive, so I don't drink it often, but it is the best coffee substitute I have ever had, and it makes you regular.

A couple notes of interest: Mr. Culbreath at Hallowed Ground is quitting the Republican Party and is looking for a true conservative alternative. His comment box seems to concur with him. And The Deliberate Agrarian is back from his short hiatus.

Oh yes, we had planted spinach in the fall garden but none have shown up. The radishes, while long delayed are finally coming up. We also have some cantaloupe or squash coming up and flourishing where we planted spinach!!!! We are wondering if these came from un-broken-down seeds from the compost we put in. We shall see... We also still have tomatoes, egg plant and green peppers coming off a few plants. We are fortunate for these late crops to continue.

Finally, over at that other 'fabulous' blog: Catholic Laity there are some excerpts from the latest session of the Synod of Bishops where some of the auditors, (some of whom are laity), made interventions. Some interesting reading...

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Origins...

Last night at CCD I was told by a student that he had learned from a Msgr. X (at a youth "retreat") that the creation story in Genesis was really a story the Israelites learned during the Babylon Captivity from their captors, and that they taught this story to their children with only one change: they inserted the name of their God in place of the Babylonian god.

How do I work against this? I would not doubt that it is possible the Babylonians had a similar creation account (after all we all descended from Adam and Eve and oral tradition was very much alive). In fact a similar creation account would tend to reinforce the veracity of the Genesis account .

As noted below somewhere, I have been in discussion in a couple places about creation and Genesis. (In fact I mean to get back to the discussion of old earth/new earth real soon, either at Hallowed Ground where it originated or here.)

But here is a situation where I am put in the position of having to contradict Msgr. X. This has got to be confusing and frustrating for the student. In the present case I tried to explain long-standing Church teaching and was able to cite passages from both Providentissimus Deus and Humani Generis (especially 38-39) (This is a great resource for papal documents.) Even so, I will have to go back to class next week with a handout explaining it all again with the quotes from the papal documents etc. to reinforce Church teaching.

These kids are very quick to pick up on disagreements and inconsistencies between teachers of the Faith.

A New Blog...

Not that I have enough time as it is for Bethune Catholic... but you may have noticed a new link right under the RequiemPress link on the sidebar. This: Catholic Laity, is my new blog - although technically it is a "Requiem Press" blog and not my personal one.

I will be posting here at Bethune Catholic just as often as I do now, but I will also be posting on the new blog, hopefully just as often. I am hoping that I can persuade some guest bloggers to help fill out the content of Catholic Laity. While the new blog is (truthfully) at least initially a way to publicize Russell Shaw's soon to be released (November 1st) title for Requiem Press (Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church)- I am hoping that it will grow to something more important, that is an outlet to discuss lay apostolates, ways to sanctify our daily lives and to evangelize the culture.

Bethune Catholic will continue to document our life on the small holding (and how we survive-or don't), as well discuss anything else which comes to mind.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune... Oremus pro invicem!

A friend sent me the following ..... I could not wait until November to post:

"The souls in Purgatory suffer intensely and are dependent upon us forhelp. We on earth can help them with our prayers, sacrifices and especiallyHoly Mass. And they will not forget us." - Francis Cardinal Arinze

Columbus and Scripture

Today is Columbus Day observed. So is it really Columbus day or not? One problem with moving holidays is that their cultural meaning is lost. Sure a long weekend is more covenient for family trips, but it also means that local celebrations are less attended and soon die. I like my Holy Days of Obligation celebrated on the Holy Day and my holidays not to be moved around for commericial gain.

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Both Jimmy Akin (here) and Amy Welborn (here) comment briefly on comments on "The Gift of Scripture" (a document from the bishops from England and Wales). I haven't read the document, but saw comments on it by at Traditio et Radice. I weighed in-not because I want to defend, or agree, or disagree with what is written in "The Gift of Scripture" (recall I haven't read it), but because from the context presented, I couldn't understand the criticism.

I have friends who accuse me of always playing the devil's advocate-no matter what the topic. I am not sure that is true, but I do like a good discussion if only to flush out the truth. At the same time, I want an honest discussion; in other words, I want the argument to follow legitimate and rational lines and not get sidetracked by preconceptions or agendas, or personal attacks.

I am afraid I got sarcastic in my remarks here this morning. (Sarcasm does have its definite place - but you must careful with it - especially when you can't call it back.) In any case - it will be interesting to see where the discussion leads.

A similar discussion on the essence of Sacred Scripture has been spawned by Jeff's posting of the Traditionalist FAQ, see discussion here and here.

One question I have-which maybe I should ask over at Jeff's-would be: What is considered to be old earth theory and what is considered to be young earth theory (6000 years?)? As someone who has studied (as a physicist) these areas in the past I do have an interest and opinions on this.

Finally, (off subject) I shut off my office window unit (air conditioner) for the first time since early spring today. Maybe fall is really here!

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Update: "Protecting God's Children"...

Received this link via email yesterday from a friend. Maybe some other discerning and courageous bishops will read this and follow suit? I don't know who else may have already posted it, but here it is:.

http://www.sentinel.org/articles/2005-40/14234.html

To Make Sure We Really Protect Children, We Need Answers
By Bishop Robert Vasa

The next topic is one that I bring up only with great reluctance for I do not want to give any appearance whatsoever of being soft on my desire to assure the complete safety and protection of children. The Charter for the Protection of Children has been interpreted to include mandatory "safe-environment training" for all children of or connected with the Church. In the diocese, we have indicated that such training must be made available to all children under our supervision in our Catholic schools but have not taken on the nearly impossible task of assuming responsibility for every child in the diocese.

As a result of this discrepancy between a new interpretation of the charter and our diocesan policy, the annual charter audit will undoubtedly find the Diocese of Baker, and me as bishop, "Not in Compliance" and will issue a "Required Action," which I am prepared, at this point, to ignore. I say this not because I resist efforts to protect children, but rather precisely the opposite. There are a series of questions that I believe need to be answered before I could mandate such a diocesan-wide program of "safe-environment training."

A few such questions follow: Are such programs effective? Do such programs impose an unduly burdensome responsibility on very young children to protect themselves rather than insisting that parents take such training and take on the primary responsibility for protecting their children? Where do these programs come from? Is it true that Planned Parenthood has a hand or at least huge influence on many of them? Is it true that other groups, actively promoting early sexual activity for children, promote these programs in association with their own perverse agendas? Do such programs involve, even tangentially, the sexualization of children, which is precisely a part of the societal evil we are striving to combat? Does such a program invade the Church-guaranteed-right of parents over the education of their children in sexual matters? Do I have the right to mandate such programs and demand that parents sign a document proving that they choose to exercise their right not to have their child involved? Do such programs introduce children to sex-related issues at age-inappropriate times? Would such programs generate a fruitful spiritual harvest? Would unsatisfactory answers to any of the questions above give sufficient reason to resist such programs?

There are many concerned parents who have indicated to me that the answers to all of these questions are unsatisfactory. If this is true, do these multiple problematic answers provide sufficient reason to resist the charter interpretation? At very least, even the possible unsatisfactory answers to any of the questions above leaves me unwilling and possibly even unable to expose the children of the diocese to harm under the guise of trying to protect them from harm. I pray that, in this, I am neither wrong-headed nor wrong.

For holding to this conviction I and the diocese may be declared negligent, weighed and found wanting.

Heard at Mass this morning....

"God asks us to live in the present. We shouldn't dwell on the past, nor worry about the future. God's mercy will cover the past and God's providence will cover the future. Live in God's presence today."

And...

"Most people go to God with lists of needs and of prayers. They are saying, 'Hear Lord, your servant is speaking...'"

Happy Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. (I wanted to post about this feast and Lepanto, but you might as well just go here to learn about it).

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Thursday Morning - Feast of St. Bruno

Will be very busy until next week, so I don't expect to post much. Although I have noticed that everytime I say that, something comes up I just can't keep silent about.

Referring to yesterday's lament, now I read in several places: here and here for example that Bush's "Trust me" message is that Miers is an Evangelical thus will be a conservative on the court. We shall see-but it still doesn't address the leadership issue. Bush should not have to resort to code words and stealth candidates to tell his base and whole country what he believes. We can win the abortion debate in this country (and therefore openly nominate qualified pro-life judges) if we had a leader as president who would use his bully pulpit to articulate the cause.

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Have you ever had lentils? Mrs. Curley has been making lentil soup occasionally for several years now. I usually avoided it when possible, not because I don't like lentils, but just because I never like to try new things to eat. This has been changing of late. With the exception of last week when my in-laws were in town we have been eating lentil everything! I have found them (to my surprise) quite tasty, and Mrs. Curley says they are a great substitute for meat. We have had lentil soup, lentil cassarole (rice, corn, lentils and ...) lentil etc. This week it has been lentils with barley and carrots - cooked once and served up in a variety of forms. The last bit of this Mrs. Curley very imaginatively formed into lentil burgers with melted mozzarilla cheese on top, which we had yesterday. Again, very good, but I would not mind having meat occasionally. (The new chickens won't be eating-size for another month or two, and we won't have rabbits to eat until February or so.)

What is my point with all this lentil talk? Here is where you can help: Please come visit us at Bethany because Mrs. Curley will make sure we have meat on the table, come hell or high water, when guests are here... in the alternative you can simply buy some books from Requiem Press! Recall our plea where you can take advantage of discounts on large quantities of prayer books for the holy souls in Purgatory. Of course you can buy any book we offer. (The meat lovers here will thank you!)

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune....

Oremus pro invicem!

The longer you pretend something is real....

I remember being upset (outraged is more accurate) when Mr. Bush wouldn't allow Alan Keyes to speak at the Republican convention before the 2000 election. My Catholic Republican friends assured me that "Bush was a true believer-that he needed to make sure that he wasn't percieved as some anti-abortion extremist. But after he was elected-then I'd see his true colors."

Well we have seen his true colors over and over, and they are as I predicted. He throws a few bones, but when going gets tough he does not come down on our side. He is not a true-believer. He is a politician and a Republican before anything else. Hopefully my Catholic Republican friends are Catholic first....

My view of the latest Bush nomination for Supreme Court are better expressed by others: here and here (hat tip to Southern Appeal); and the posts at Southern Appeal on October 3rd expressing thoughts like these I lifted:

Even if Miers turns out to be the second coming of Scalia, which I doubt very much, the reasons and the process by which she was chosen will still have a negative impact on the legal side of the conservative movement. From here on out, judicial conservatives and academics will always be mindful that participation in the Federalist Society or the expression of strong opinions may very well be an automatic disqualifier for the federal bench. Better to keep quiet and avoid associating with those who have made their feelings known if you hope to go very far.

Such a development is not only bad for the conservative movement but for the health of the Republic as well. The process and reasons by which people in our Republic reach high office should be such that the people have a better than average chance of knowing what they are getting. We need to know where these nominees stand and what philosophy, if any, guides them. However, if the only people nominated to the highest court in the land are those who throughout their careers have successfully managed to hide their true beliefs and avoid associating with those who don’t then we will end up with a court of cowards and opportunists. I am not implying that Miers is a coward or an opportunist (I certainly hope she isn’t); only that a system that elevates stealth candidates favors such people and arms them with the advantage of anonymity, an advantage unavailable to those who are willing to take a stand for their convictions.

Our Republic deserved better.

Where do we go from here?

I would be remiss if I neglected to mention St. Francis of Assisi on his feast day-especially as my daughter has taken St. Francis' spirituality as her own (here). Personally, I was never much a fan of St. Francis-maybe because his image has been so often co-opted by leftists. But having recently read the biography of St. Francis by Chesterton and having read Augustine's Confessions (you may wonder at the connection-maybe later I will expound...), I think I am beginning to appreciate St. Francis all the more. He was not some nature-loving powder puff. His rule was so strict that the Vatican was very slow to approve it. (Few Franciscan monasteries and convents practice the strict rule of St. Francis' today!) St. Francis was a man who certainly loved all the good things in life and one day responded to the grace to seek out the Author of those things - and to give everything in praise and homage to this Author, the King of creation.

When my daughter was discerning her vocation and seeking out orders-she told me that the first thing she looked for were signs of the evangelic vow of poverty. Poverty is something most of us are afraid of. Most of us are used to certain levels of comfort and especially security, which we are afraid to give up. Living poverty by choice is an exercise in trust in God (or better put - a leap of faith).

St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us!

Tuesday morning ....

Yesterday we transplanted (from a pot) a Rose of Sharon given to us. We actually were given three of these. The other two go in today. We had one already just outside the kitchen window. These plants attract hummingbirds - which are truly fascinating to watch up-close.

We continue to move the chicken tractor, but we are slack about moving it each day. We average every other day or so. Unfortunately, the converted dog-pen-to-chicken tractor is really not up to all this moving. Invariably some part of the structure needs repair after each move.

Of course the chores keep piling up. We want to finish putting our fall crop in (spinach and radishes are already in) but there are other pressing needs also. I still have to build another two rabbit cages before the does start to get after each other (they are very territorial); a new chicken house is in the works; tree removal (see story below); house preparation for winter (we need to tighten up places, replace broken panes - especially with fuel costs rising), etc. We are also still getting green peppers and a few tomatoes off our summer crop.

The biggest lesson we have learned in gardening is probably that more manure is better. This past spring we had to buy all our manure from the local farm and garden center-which is not an efficient use of money. We had no compost to speak of. This year we have compost, we will have rabbit manure and rabbit manure tea, our chicken tractor, and if we keep our eyes open, will be able to find some free or virtually free cow or horse manure. So I think our garden should yield more abundantly this coming year.

I have been so busy, I have had little time to read others' blogs, but I thank all who have spread the word about our plea. We are not out of the woods yet ...

I promised last week to unveil the final version of the cover you all so graciously voted on. Here it is below:

....

I am hoping to have some more news on related to this new title from Requiem Press later in the week....

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

As we start a new week, just a reminder that All Souls Day is now exactly one month away. Spread devotion to praying for the holy souls in Purgatory by taking advantage of the discounts being offered on the prayer book pictured below: "Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering", (order here).

Trees and Rabbits

In my last post I mentioned that my father-in-law and I were taking down some trees. Grampy (as we call him) has taken down many, many trees at the house he and Nanny are having built in western Massachusetts. We have a few dead pines in our old goat pen (now the dog pen). One in particular was right next to our feed/garden shed at the edge of the pen and close to the rabbit cages. This pine was one of those 'double' trees (for want of a better or correct name). It has one large trunk, but splits into trunks about 4 feet off the ground. One of those trunks splits again into two trunks some 5 feet further up. The tree was only about 30-40 feet tall. Grampy had brought his chain saw and went to work. He decided to take each of the two main trunks down separately. It was harder work than we expected, partially because the tree had not been dead a long time. So while it was hard work, Grampy laid that first trunk down right where he wanted. The second trunk proved more difficult....

Grampy decided he would place the second trunk right on top of the first. For whatever reason-maybe the notch wasn't deep enough; maybe the cut on the backside wasn't high enough-the tree started coming down 180 degrees opposite of the intended fall. It pinched Grampy's saw and leaned, but didn't fall. The pinched saw was holding it up.

Up to this point, I had just been an observer, fetching gas when needed, or ice water, or yelling timber. Grampy wanted to save his saw (it was the best of the four he owns - unfortunately it was also the only one he brought). Of course he also didn't want to leave with the tree still standing. They had planned to leave that night for home. Now, it being mid-afternoon, these plans started to fade.

We tried numerous things, but lacked proper equipment. Our chains weren't long enough and our ropes not sturdy enough. Finally we decided to take a section of fence down and start in with the axe and a hammer and chisel. We worked for a couple hours at it with seemingly no progress. Finally we decided to replace the fence section (so the dogs could return to the pen) and retire to our cookout for the night.

Friday morning I sharpened my axe on the belt sander, and we went to work. (Now we were aiming to let the tree fall the direction it wanted to go.) We alternated with the axe and chisel for an hour or so til it finally came down. The sharpened axe had made a world of difference. Now it got interesting....

In the previous day's effort we had sunk an old telephone pole which was laying around our property into the ground near the rabbit cages. We had hooked rope and chain around the tree and to Grampy's truck; the pole acted as leverage point or 90 degree angle point for rope and chain before being hooked to Grampy's truck. This effort failed, but we left the pole in the ground. When tree came down, one of the limbs hit the top of the pole and snapped. Small sections hit the rabbit (doe) cage. The latch released and a doe got out. She hopped under the feed house after a narrow escape from one of our dogs. So instead of a triumphant tree-felling and high fives, now we were on our bellies trying to lure a rabbit out. After about 30-40 minutes the doe emerged and scampered right by Mrs. Curley who was holding a fishnet on a pole. I grabbed the net from her and we raceded around the property in hot pursuit. Finally, I lunged and got the net around the doe. (The doe squeaked and squealed - I never knew rabbits made any sound.)

While Grampy took a nap for his long drive home, I spent much of the rest of the day cutting the trunks with the (saved) chain saw. It is funny that the best part of the Nanny and Grampy's visit, for me, was probably that last day when they weren't even supposed to be here. I had never really worked with Grampy on any project like this. And while nothing we tried seemed to work out (due to lack of equipment - not lack of skill or imagination), in the end the job got done. It was fun-but my axe swinging body is suffering this morning.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

P.S. Don't forget our special on these books.

Father-in-law and I are cutting down some large pine trees today.

And, Requiem Press has officially changed our address to a Bethune P.O. Box. We were maintaining a Columbia P.O. Box as I often had to go into town for supplies anyway. Columbia is some 60 miles from here and with gas so high and the ability to order almost anything on the internet, the rational is gone. The P.O. Box here is 1/2 the price of a Columbia on and is 2 miles down the road. The website has been updated with the new P.O. Box in Bethune.

Please remember the discounted Holy Souls prayer books , and spread the word.... The Holy Souls could use the prayers, and frankly, the Curleys could use the cash.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

"Protecting God's Children"????

Since I am teaching CCD at the parish this year I had to attend our diocese's "safe environment" program. The one we are using is called "VIRTUS - Protecting God's Children". The three-hour session I attended yesterday was largely a waste of time in my opinion. There are two videos shown where they interview a few victims of sexual abuse and two convicted pedophiles. My general impressions of the program were these:

1. They assume we are dummies who never talk to our kids, have no idea who they play with, whose house they are at, etc. etc. (maybe this is true in many quarters?????);

2. There was no mention of God in the program except in the title (in fact they state that we need to tell our kids that the reason we cover our body is for "health and safety" reasons. There is no mention of chastity, being made in the image and likeness of God, being a temple of the Holy Spirit, etc. etc.) - only temporal things seem to matter;

3. They imply that the scandal in Catholic Church for these past two years has everything to do with pedophilia - which we know is false;

4. They present common sense things as revolutionary ideas.... (for example: a. talk to your kids and find out who they are playing with and whose house they slept over last night.... or b. if you see someone, even if its a close friend, fondling your child, you should stop it....) Okay, an exaggeration-but not much;

5. They assume it is inevitable that a victim will have life-long, devastating scars (I dispute this one the grounds that: a. it is well-known that children tend to be more resilient and recover more quickly from terrible things than adults do; b. that a child who has a proper understanding of themselves and God and sin and forgiveness will cope better; and c. if the parent doesn't sweep it under the rug for fear of embarrassment as was done by the parents and the bishops in all these cases, but deals with the abuse and the child properly, the child will cope better also.) ; and

6. Suspicion is the order of the day. Trust no one.....especially anyone who wants to teach kids.....

Number 5 is important, because if VIRTUS is the model they are going to teach - they are correct. A victim will never recover. However, supposedly the Catholic Church proposes something better.........

Of course the origin of the VIRTUS program is dubious at best - I have not done the research myself, but I have a folder of emails from friends that claim to link VIRTUS to various evil organizations.

There is also a 3-session VIRTUS for children (starting in kintergarten). To our diocese's very partial credit, the last of the 3 sessions was scrapped as being too explicit, and the first two sessions are parental opt-in or opt-out sessions, depending on your parish.

I won't teach VIRTUS to my students - it is against my religion.

The 'facilitator' at the course my wife attended admitted that VIRTUS was being implemented because otherwise the insurance company threatened to cease coverage.

That's a great headline: "Insurance companies meet to discuss Catholic Church doctrine - US bishops provide rubber stamp!"

I have read the curriculum for the students - again God is largely absent! Temporal health and safety (and insurance premiums) are the concern of curriculum. Even if this curriculum were not taught in a public, co-ed setting, it is still problematic.

It is a longstanding Church teaching that parents have the priority and obligation of teaching - especially in sexual matters. The Church has always recommended that these teachings not occur in public settings, but in the home. If bishops and pastors don't believe the parents under their spiritual guidance have the ability to teach the Truth and the Faith - especially with respect to these matters in their homes, then the bishops and the pastors should assist the parents - NOT by taking on the parents responsibility, but by teaching the parents how to carry out their God-given responsibility....

Oh yes. I forget. This isn't about "Protecting God's Children" - it is about money, and placating an unplacatable media.....

I am sorry I am so cynical this morning, but this whole thing has me been upsetting to me.

Notes from the weekend...

Here we go again. Just lost a long post of the same title. I will see if I can reconstruct, at least an abbreviated version.

We spent most of Saturday cleaning because my in-laws will be visiting Bethany this week. But first, we finally sent Requiem Press' next book off to the printer! (See the 'cover contest' here ) I will unveil the final version of the cover later this week....

Sunday morning we awoke to the cry, "A rabbit is loose!". Sure enough, after I raced downstairs and out, I saw our buck was hopping around under the rabbit cages. Now chickens are one thing. You know that you will eventually either catch them or be able to lure them back to the coop. I have limited experience with rabbits, but I figured that if that buck wanted to run away, I had little chance to catch him. Fortunately, we slowly surrounded him and I grabbed him. Apparantly, the last person (who shall remain nameless) to water the rabbits did not completely latch the cage door. The concern is not yet over. I was told when we bought the rabbits not feed them grass - that any diet change before they were old enough could kill them. Losing a doe would be one thing (we have three), but if we lose the buck, there will be no meat. So far he is looking okay.

We went to the 11:30 Mass at St. Catherine's. When we got home the younger kids played cowboys, the older boys played their instruments and later ran the dogs. Mrs. Curley and I played rummy. Sunday afternoons have turned into a waiting period. You see, on Sunday evenings we get to call Krystle and talk for a half an hour or so. We give the children 2-3 minutes each with her every other week. The time goes quickly. She is doing well. Her mishaps at the convent remind us of Maria von Trapp in "The Sound of Music". She will leave for Italy in another month or so, where she will stay for the next 2 years. Then phone calls will not be so frequent.

We have instituted a new "office" at Bethany. One of reasons I have given (when asked) for choosing the life we are attempting to lead came off the cover of a book, (Flee to the Fields, IHS press), 'when noon-time is Angelus time again'. Yet we still often miss the Angelus most days - there is no Church bells in Bethune to ring it. So Mrs. Curley and I decided to institute the "office" of bell-ringer. We have a small cast iron bell on our side porch. (Very useful for rounding up everyone at meal time). The bell-ringer is responsible for ringing the bell at 11:59 and 2:59. When we hear the bell at 11:59 we are to drop everything and find Mrs. Curley (usually in the kitchen at this time) to say the Angelus. (At 3:00 we gather and say our daily prayer for the holy souls in Purgatory.) We will rotate the bell-ringer duties among the children. The bell-ringer will be selected each week as an honor rewarded to one child for some heroic or other sacrificial act done for the family the previous week. The bell-ringer this week Matthew for helping Mrs. Curley scrub and oil the wood floors in the bedroom and for getting up by himself on his own initiative in the wee hours of the morning to scrub and oil the living and dining room floors.

Finally, please remember that Requiem Press continues to offer (from now until Nov. 1st) great discounts on large quantity purchases of "Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering". Shipping for the 500 quantity is free - so you get the books pretty close to cost and you have a great tool to promote prayers for these suffering souls. Of course we get some much needed cash flow. You can order here . Thanks to those who have ordered some of the books.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Printers and Rabbits...

Unexpected, but fruitful trip into the city (Columbia) today. The "official" image of Millet's "Sower" for the our next book (due out in late October) had come in- but in a form which I could not deal with on my equipment. I called a printer, RL Bryan (who in fact printed our Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering - Don't forget our important PLEA- here) and they said they would would take a look. Well they were able to get me a fantastic scan of the image. More vibrant color than I had expected - which of course may change again some of the planned color scheme.

I had gone to this college with the RL Bryan sales rep many years ago - we didn't know each other at that time, but had mutual friends. Anyway, when they printed the "Daily Prayers" book he took care of me. He did so again today. It turns out he loooves rabbit and gave me a tutorial on how to skin them ("its similar to doing a squirrel"). So I promised him the first two rabbits off my doe when they are ready sometime around February.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune....

Oremus pro invicem!

Prepping for 3rd CCD class tonight - (its going well so far...)

Doing the final touches on "Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church" - which is by the way an new title from Russell Shaw (not a reprint).

Don't forget my plea below!

Here's a short one: My daughter, on entering the convent asked me:

"Dad, did you know that when you give a child to the Church in religious life, it is a long-standing tradition that you are exempt from the tithe for 5 years! ... Whoa, Mom did you see the look of joy on Dad's face? Sorry Dad, only kidding! "

From Bethany, the small holding inBethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Finally updated/added some links on the sidebar ....

Paying the bills .....

I plug Requiem Press here occasionally, but I seldom beg anyone to buy books and never have begged for donations (notice, no PayPal button). However, we need $$$ to keep going here.

Coincidentally, we sell holy soul prayer booklets, and November is just around the corner: one of our missions is to promote devotion to praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. So here is the deal:

We are offering deep discounts on quantity purchases of "Daily Prayers for the Church Suffering - a daily commitment to praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory" at our website from now until November 2nd - or while supplies last.

The purpose of printing this book was to get it into many hands-so many prayers would be offered for the holy souls. We have sold over 1,000 copies and have distributed for free about 1,000 more. However we need to get more out there. It just so happens we are desperate for cash too ......

Please consider purchasing and distributing these books as an apostolate which will help the holy souls and, incidentally, Requiem Press. (Or you could direct your pastor to Requiem Press to buy some for the parish...)

More on the book....

The prayer booklet has a prayer for everyday of the week, directed to help a specific suffering soul, (i.e. the one most destitute of aid, the one you are most bound to pray for, etc.) followed by the Psalm 'De Profundis'. The introduction to the prayer book explains the Church teaching on purgatory and the tradition of praying for holy souls. Below is a sample page:

Booklet is 3.5" x 5.5" and has glossy pages. The print is fairly large, so all ages can easily use it. (We do the prayers everyday as a family and we know others who do also.)

Please spread the word. Both the Holy Souls and the Curley's will be thankful.

Gratefully, from Bethany, the small holding in Bethune....

Oremus pro invicem!

The Chicken Tractor

Saturday morning the boys and I converted an old dog kennel (6' x 6') we had inherited with the property into a chicken tractor. The hardest part was moving it from underneath one of our cedar trees over to the garden area. The old dog house attached to the kennel had at least 7 black widow spiders attached. I think we dispatched them all.

Two sides of the tractor are covered with plywood. (This will give the chickens a shaded area. Two sides are covered with chicken wire or other fencing wire. The top has fencing wire. We have put a small shelter inside the tractor - however, we plan to get them a retractable roof (tarp) for bad/cold weather and put in a perch. We took 6 male (we believe) chickens (about 12 weeks old) and put them in the tractor. The tractor is in part of the garden in which Mrs. Curley won't plant in until spring.

The idea is that you let the chickens manure and till your garden by rotating the tractor over the garden. Chickens naturally lay their manure and scratch. Why waste it all in one place? So we move the tractor every couple days. Further if (as is true for us) we want to prepare total new ground for planting in the spring, the chickens will take care of the hard work for us. The grass they eat will also cut the feed bill (a little).

Now the tractor is not on wheels, so we will see how well it moves later today. I do believe it will generally be more than a one-man job. You have to make sure you don't run over the chickens while moving it. I will post pictures when available (probably in a couple months based on my track record.)

If this works out, I will probably make a second one - but specifically designed for the purpose.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Film developed ......

Here are a couple of pictures which go with this post from July. The kids formed a band so Mrs. Curley and I could dance to the sounds of Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, etc. like we used to do every Thursday night at the local hotel when we lived in the city. (I should really co-ordinate my film developing with my posting...) Krystle (clarinet) and Nicholas (trumpet) are very good at their respective instruments. As I recall it was very hot that night. Mrs. Curley and I danced directly in front of a big box fan we had brought out. (The band members had no relief.)

Below, a couple of the 'band-members' take a break and cut a rug while enjoying the music of the others....

In the top picture you can see the neighbor's cornfield in the background, but the muscadine vines are ours.

Next week sometime, I will post a few pictures from our trek and "vacation" in Massachusetts before we dropped Krystle off here.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

The saddest thing....

We live in a very small parish. Today's daily Mass was also the funeral Mass for a elderly parishioner. His wife had passed away a few years ago and was also buried from our parish. It seemed that most of his family came to the funeral from out of town. (None are parishioners that I know of.)

At Communion time, of the 40 or so family members present, only one family member received Holy Communion.

Upon leaving Mass I told my sons (who had served the Mass) that I didn't want to see that at my funeral. I expected my children to remain practicing Catholics and to be able to receive our Lord at my funeral Mass - and the same with my grandchildren and great-grandchildren (as the case may be)....

Rabbits

As reported earlier, we purchased 4 New Zealand Whites: 3 Does and 1 Buck. They each come from a different litter and range from 2 months to 3 months old, the buck being the oldest. I have built 2 cages, but will need to have 2 more built soon as the does will want their own space as they get older.

The cages are fairly simple to build - and in fact if we end up selling some of the offspring, I may offer cages (at a price) to the purchasers. The cages are 36" x 30" (and 36" tall). The cages are all wire with the openings in the wire on the bottom being approximately 1/2" x 1" and the side and top being ~ 1" x 2". I used J-clips to put the cage together. The sides, front and back are one continuous length of cage fence, joined at one corner with the J-clips. One cage has a hinged door (J-clips for hinges) on the top. (This is inconvenient for shorter people who are feeding the rabbits as the cages are hung.) I put the door to the buck's cage in front. This (while recommended by most books) can be problematic as the buck seems to be getting bolder and bolder when I open the door; someday I am afraid he will get by me (or one of the boys) and never be heard from again.

I have started building an outdoor shelter for the cages. Basically, they need some protection from sun in the summer and some shelter from cold wind/rain. So far the shelter isn't complete, I am using a tarp to protect from rain and sun now, but a permanent roof and some side shelter will appear before winter.

Our plans with the rabbits, of course, is to breed them for meat. When (at about 5 months) the does are ready to get pregnant, we bring the buck to the doe's cage. The doe will give birth in about 31 days. At 5-6 weeks old, you remove the small rabbits from their mother and sell or slaughter them. (The doe should be already pregnant again before you remove the young ones.) The idea is that you only buy feed for your buck and does and not for the meat target. The rabbits will dress up to about 2.5 pounds of meat - but is considered more dense than chicken, so you may not need quite as much meeat as equivalent to a chicken. (You can let them get bigger; NZ Whites get to 10 lbs, but then you must buy feed for them and have more cages, etc. etc.) I figure right now we will probably need two rabbits for a meal, possibly 3 as the younger ones get older.

The other alternative is to sell the rabbits (the rate in SC is about $5/rabbit). If you figure it out, selling the rabbits may be more cost effective than eating them - especially if you sell value added products like cages. (I can put together a cage in about 1/2 hour - after only doing 2).

I figure that we will do a combination (eating and selling) unless we find there is a tremendous demand for rabbits in Kershaw County!

Jeff at Hallowed Ground says of his chicken butchering experience: "Butchering chickens is the most brutal thing I have ever done. It wasn't fun, it stinks, and the first one even made me a little queasy. I may never do it again, but I'm glad we did it this once."

I have now butchered some 10-12 chickens. I don't like it but am getting better/quicker at it. I dread doing the rabbits even more than I dreaded the chickens.... but unless a Requiem Press book becomes a true bestseller - I figure I will be butchering chickens and rabbits for some years whether I like it or not.....

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Monday morning...

Some of the kids have been fighting a minor bug the last few days, so Sunday morning I decided I would let them sleep in a bit (Mass is at 11:30) and do their 'animal' chores: feed and water the dogs, chickens, rabbits, and gather eggs. I very seldom if ever do any of these chores. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

A flock of geese circled over our house and the neighboring cornfield several times before landing next to the cornfield. A hen escaped the coop while I was feeding them and I chased her down. I carefully picked through eggs, (the hens are setting on some eggs which we marked, but the others keep laying in the same bin), for the unmarked eggs.

All in all, it was a peaceful and relaxing 30-40 minutes. I enjoy this work - yet I hardly ever do it. I sit in my office and see Mrs. Curley and kids working our garden, raising the animals - and it was I who wanted to be the farmer. Ah .............

Saturday morning wasn't so peaceful. I woke up with the alarm that only 1 of our dogs (of 4) was in the pen-(a goat pen we inherited with the property keeps the dogs). The back gate was wide open and the dogs gone. Who knows how long they had been missing. My greatest concern was that Challenger (see here) would get himself shot by one of the neighbors who keep poultry. Mrs. Curley was convinced they were gone forever. They older boys were walking around sorrowfully - sometimes you could catch one on his knees praying for canine return. Myself - I was confident (unless shot) that they would return. But, as much as I like our dogs, I also realize that 4 dogs are 2 or 3 too many. Unfortunately my favorites had taken off. Well... they did return; wet, exhausted and (it looked) penitent. But half of Saturday had been shot looking for them and trying to determine how they had opened the back gate.

We heard from our oldest daughter, who, as you know, is here . She is doing well - when not burning brownies in the convent kitchen or getting the schedule mixed up. It was good to hear her voice and know she is happy.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

I won't blog again until I get 10 comments on this post.....

UPDATE: Thanks to all who voted. The clear winner is of course, Millet's 'Sower'. (I myself had wondered if anyone would see the 70's in Cover A - apparently so.) I agree that both the type-face and the placement of the title, etc. on the cover needs some improvement. In fact before the first comments were in, we had already done some work improving these things. Again, thanks for all the votes and comments. I do appreciate it.

I actually stumbled upon the 'Sower' accidently, and then had a hard time finding where it resides, (Clark Art Institute in MA), especially since he did another 'Sower' some 15 years earlier which is much more famous. I had seen his "Angelus", prints are available from several Catholic sources, but never knew heard of the Millet before. In researching this picture, I came across much more of his work and absolutely love it. My oldest son made the comment (when looking over my shoulder at some Millet's work on French peasant/farm life we found on the internet) the he appreciates it much more now than he would have when we lived in the city a year ago.

Finally, looking at some of posts this past month or so, I realize that I have written, "I will post more about this later...", numerous times, but failed every time in keeping my promise. I am going to try to come through on those promises this week.

Again, thanks for taking the time in giving me your valuable input.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

______________________________________________________

I need your help. I have 2 competing cover concepts for our next book. We need to make a decision. Perhaps a Friday is not the best day to be making this plea with the weekend coming, but....

Taking a nod from this post at People of the Book blog I have decided to test run my covers here at BethuneCatholic.

The drawing on Cover A is a draft. The illustration of Cover B is Jean-Francois Millet's 'Sower' [He did three, this is perhaps the last (c. 1860s) of them. His best known work in today's Catholic circles would be "The Angelus". Much of his work was concerned with the life of French peasants.]

A B

Even if you don't like either, please let me know. My threat is good - No more blogging til I get 10 comments on these cover.

Vote away..... (And thanks)

Happy Birthday Blessed Mother!

Update: What a birthday present for Our Lady.... Jeff at Hallowed Ground is back from his blogfast.

We went to Mass as a family this morning to celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After our mid-day meal we will celebrate with a cake; tonight we will pray the Litany of Loreto after the family rosary....

I have neglected to mention this timely post from the pew lady which reminds us of the most important (but most forgotten) donation we can make for the victims of Katrina....

Requiem Press' is sending our next book to the printer soon. Stay tuned for more news on this...

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Fall?

The days have been a bit cooler of late, but this morning was very cool. Of course this means all those chores I was putting off for cooler weather are now in forefront.

Our van is running again also. (I was correct, it was a starter problem - but thankfully it didn't need replacement). This means we can start attending daily Mass once again.

Finally, a prayer request: Mrs. Curley and I are teaching CCD to the high school group at the parish starting tonight. We'd appreciate any extra prayers available.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Labor Day

I don't recall the origins of Labor Day from American History - although I am sure it is quite accessible. But I would speculate that Labor Day was in some sense a guarantee that the new class of worker, heretofore virtually unknown-the employee of a large corporation-was guaranteed a holiday in 'appreciation' of their labor. The craftsman, artisan, farmer, and shop owner may have benefited (although it is doubtful that the farmer took the day off) from Labor Day, but these "self-employed" were not the target beneficiaries for the new holiday.

Many years later now, who gets Labor Day off as a holiday? Most factory workers (declining in number as they are), most professionals, and most small businesses get the day off. But service workers, and retail workers, these who are least paid in our society and fastest growing in number, work on Labor Day.

Of course Requiem Press was doing business on Labor Day. We are still recovering from a month with the computer system essentially non-functional, (and our short family "vacation").

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Dependence

Read this at Catholic Exchange.

Not to take away from the main thesis of the article, but this particular excerpt caught my eye:

A news commentator mentioned it Thursday. We weren’t the way we used to be, he noted, back when people knew how to fend for themselves, how to hunt and start fires, how to grow things and make things. Now we are all dependent; we need electricity and grocery stores and a complex web of communication and transportation, just to survive. We are, he said, “fragile” and he might have added, “broken.”

We don't know how to take care of ourselves anymore. We are too dependent on infrastructure. At Bethany, we are making an effort to understand how to fend for ourselves, but we have a long way to go. (I have a dead car in the driveway which probably needs only a new solonoid or starter, yet I am not sure how to make sure and then how to fix it.)

But as I contemplate these things, I realize that the ideal of "independence", while certainly American, it is not necessarily a good thing in all aspects. It really depends on what you mean. Interdependence of peoples is good. It makes for peace in a community, in a country.... It is the hallmark of early Christian communities.

The fracturing of the family-first the extended family by our mobile and relocating society and then the fracturing of the immediate family through divorce, contraception, abortion, etc.-have devastated our ability to depend on each other. We don't know our neighbors in many communities - so we don't even try to depend on them. We can't depend on our families because they are either fractured or thousands of miles away. So we depend on government, utility companies, and the like.

In fact, we depend on infrastructure now and not on each other - and not on God!

During these disasters, people are once again forced to depend on each other-unfortunately we see sometimes, as in the reports of rape and mayhem in New Orleans, that some of the people can not be depended on when others are in need.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Just added a picture to the "Delivered!" post below. Have some more pictures which I will add as time permits.

Have not posted at all about New Orleans - others have done a much better job. But do remember to pray for those suffering. -- Oremus pro invicem!

Rabbits

We picked up our New Zealand Whites yesterday (1 buck, 3 does). While I will post more on this later, I do have one piece of advice for all you future rabbit-raisers, (learned from experience): Have your cages made and ready before you bring said rabbits home......More later.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Computer system is finally back up and running. There are a few bugs - sound card isn't working, etc. and I'm sure I'll find more. But for now at least I can get back to work in earnest. Thus, I may be scarce the next few days as I catch up on some things. I will leave you with the 'Publisher's Preface' from "Witnesses to the Holy Mass and other sermons" - available, of course from Requiem Press ($8.95 + shipping).

“And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matt. 10: 28


It is often spoken of: fifty years ago in America the Catholic Church was strong, orthodox, and faithful. Yet within a few decades we have become a Catholic population ignorant of the doctrines of the Holy Catholic Faith; we have (some) shepherds who fail to teach or uphold the Truth and scandalize the faithful with their passive allowance of abuse and disregard Christ’s Vicar; we hear that less than 50% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence; we hear of many other things inconceivable just 50 years ago. How did this happen in so few years?

“Who would have guessed that a period of peace and sunshine was so suddenly to be changed into one of tempest and gloom? And yet we now see clearly enough that there were ominous signs of the coming change, had men only looked for them, long before the storm finally broke. The land seemed full of beautiful fruits and flowers, but there was a blight in the air, a canker in the heart of it all. And this blight, this canker, was the prevailing worldliness of the time. All this material pros­perity had had a corrupting effect on those to whose pastoral care the flock of Christhad been committed; … the bishops were in many cases rather statesmen and politicians than minis­ters of Christ.” - Dom Bede Camm -

In early 16th century England, the Catholic Church was the pride of all Europe. The Protestant Revolt had not yet approached Britain’s shores. The King was “Defender of the Church”. Yet, in just a few years there commenced a century of martyrdom and persecution of Catholic faithful. Many, many fell away from the Faith of their fathers – among them, many bishops and priests. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was outlawed and obedience to Christ’s vicar and the doctrines of the Church dismissed. The persecution was fearsome and violent.

Dom Bede Camm’s words quoted above refer to 16th century England before the storm broke; they could equally refer to the mid-20th century in America. But there is a difference.

We have no gallows from which to hang in the present age. No one is being drawn towards the butcher’s block. Our faithfulness is not proven in blood. Our fate is worse than those of days of old. Our bodies are intact, but our souls and the souls of our children are being taken and destroyed. And this is Christ’s concern for us in the words at the head of this preface.

Six sermons preached 100 years ago across the ocean; sermons commemorating martyrs of the Holy Catholic Church whose blood was shed across the oceans and across the centuries; six sermons preached by a convert to the Faith, a Benedictine monk, whose purpose was to inspire and to pray for the (re)conversion of England to the Faith of her fathers. But this prayer for England should also be a prayer for the conversion of our own country. The martyrs’ tales herein do not just belong to England, but to the whole Church.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Altar is not outlawed in America, but is profaned by the lukewarmness of the souls in the congregation. We need to renew our devotion to the Holy Eucharist. We need to pray for the conversion of souls. We need to mortify and persecute our own bodies for the sake of the conversion of the souls of our brethren and of our children. If the Destroyer is not persecuting our bodies – he is certainly pursuing our souls with the temptations of worldliness and lukewarmness.

This is why Requiem Press has determined to reprint this volume. The sermons which follow will help us see the priority that our fathers placed on the Faith and the sacraments - a priority that is often absent in our hearts today. These will inspire us to greater devotion to the Holy Mass; greater love for the doctrines of the Church (“on His law he shall meditate day and night” Ps. 1:2) taught by Christ’s vicar.

By the reading of these tales of martyrs and the contemplation of their sacrifices, may we be inspired anew and our flames of love be rekindled so that we may fervently pray that God raise up saints among us once more!

Oremus pro invicem! – Let us pray for each other!

We arrived home late yesterday. The dogs and chickens were in good health and spirits (Thanks Atkinson's!). One chicken was roaming the yard as we drove up - which had dog Challenger's attention. Today will be busy with the finishing of the unpacking, getting back to the computer system wars, and preparing for the rabbits coming this week. I will post more about what we did here later in the week. One other note, The Deliberate Agrarian is taking a sabbatical also.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune... Oremus pro invicem!

Delivered!

We left for Massachusetts on Tuesday, August 23rd. Just outside of Charlotte, Mrs. Curley and oldest daughter started being alarmed at 'smoke' coming from around my (the driver's) seat. Mrs. Curley begged me to pull over, but I saw nothing. Suddenly oldest daughter sighed. The hairspray was spraying because someone had put a book or something on it. The first crisis avoided.

We drove 12 hours and 700 miles on Tuesday. Someone outside the Comfort Inn somewhere in Northeast, PA gave us 1/2 price coupons for rooms as he heard me negotiating rates at the front desk.

Wednesday at about 2:00 PM we arrived at a cottage in Rowe, MA in the Berkshires. There we spent a day and a half relaxing, singing, picnicing and praying by the Deerfield River. The spring supplying water to the house ran dry at 5:00 PM Thursday. A neighbor brought by big milk cans filled with water so we could wash dishes and 'flush'.

Friday morning the 26th of August, we drove the 3 hours to Fairhaven, MA. We arrived at the convent of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate at 11:o1 AM.

We first visited our Lord in adoration at the convent Church. Then we visited with Mother Superior for a little while. The children sang 'Our Lady of Knock' and the 'Seven Joys of Mary' (unofficial feast was the 26th). Then we said goodbye to our daughter. I gave her what could be my final blessing as her father. We hugged and kissed and left her to God.

We then proceeded the 1.5 hours to my Mother's house in Norwood, MA. We had planned to leave this morning for SC. But upon arriving at Mom's, my energy to drive back disappeared. So here we are. We will leave for SC after Mass in the morning.

Much more tell about this wonderful trip - possibly to be reported in future posts.

From Bethany on the road...Oremus pro invicem!

This morning I decided to look at some of those posts I had started to write, but never finished. One was started right before the November elections and was asking whether things are getting better (spiritually/morally) or worse in this country.

Another was in January and was the beginning of a commentary on friendship; prompted by the imminent relocation of a one-third of our "Novena and Beer" group (if you can call 3 men a group).

The next was the my story of Bethany which I didn't post because it appeared here .

Finally, I found a post which starts like this:

[Communism or Capitalism?] "reduced man to a force of production. ...It reduced gifted and talented people to nuts and bolts of some monstrously huge, noisy and stinking machine...."

This quote is from Vaclave Havel, former president on the Czech Republic on the Communist regime. It struck me that while Mr. Havel was referring to Communism; Capitalism/Industrialism as we know it today could easily fit the quote also. I can not remember exactly where I was going with this post, but surely I was going to point out how Capitalism in America is very utilitarian.

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I note in Jeff's 'Blogfast' announcement he details the progress they have made in Orland in the 9 months they have been there. Having just completed our first year - albeit on a much smaller holding, I can also say Deo Gratias. However, there is much work to be done here. We will have rabbits within 2 weeks (1 buck and 3 does - NZ whites from separate litters are being held for us as I write). I still have not started the rabbit houses nor the new house for those young chicks who are not so young any more. Much work to be done....

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Oh where have I been?

It has been a looooooooooong week here. I have spent the greater part of three days on the phone trying to get the company that warranteed my computer to get moving and to try to get a little satisfaction for all the mistakes they have made. Someday I will be calm enough to tell the story. For now, the system is still down - but I have more important fish to fry this week. My oldest daughter is due to head off to here in a few days. It is time to forget about computers and business and have some fun with the family.

(Here is one of my favorite pictures of myself and oldest daughter - and dog of the chicken slaughter fame)

With that said, I will leave you all with this from the March/April 2005 The Catholic Answer:

"Dom Bede Camm was a Benedictine monk, an English convert from Anglicanism who labored and prayed for the reconversion of his nation to the Catholic faith. Many of his works are historical in nature and focus on the lives and faith of the English martyrs.

"These (Witnesses to the Holy Mass and other sermons) particular sermons were preached in the Convent Chapel at Tyburn on the feast of the English Martyrs in May 1904. They recall the sacrifices of those who died during the reigns of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. The gripping stories recounted will inspire not only a devotion to these saints, but also a renewed passion for the holy Mass that these holy men and women shed their blood to preserve."

Of course y'all know this book is available from Requiem Press !

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

We went to the ocean Thursday. We thought it would be less crowded as SC schools started last week. However, the vacationers from the North must wait for this very time to come down because the beach was most crowded we had seen all summer long. This of course is unfortunate as we do try to set down at the most isolated spot possible - thus avoiding(at least somewhat) the scandalous immodesty displayed on our beaches.

Computer system is still down. It looks like it will be at least another few days. Turns out that the company who made the computer is out of business (thus being difficult to find parts) and that the warranty stipulates that the contractor servicing the warranty doesn't have do anything for 48 hours after a contact. For instance if they promise to call you back with information, they are not obligated (and thus will not) call you back for 48 hours. Frustrating it has been.

Hallowed Ground is going on a Blog-fast. I have noticed of late some others that I try to read somewhat regularly have temporarily or permanently decided to do the same in one form or another. For myself, while in some sense I would rather just blog and not spend time reading the blogs of others - there just are some blogs which I just enjoy reading for either the news provided or the philosophy discussed. It is often the reading of other blogs which takes so much time.

I started writing this post last Friday - I hope to have something to say about the Feast of the Assumption later today or tomorrow. Til then you will have to be satisfied with the following:

After reading various efforts in recent months of blog-poetry, I debut with my own poem - written at least 25 years ago. My 10th grade English teacher thought it had more depth than I had. I had scribbled to complete an assignment as the teacher walked in the room. It is a Haiku (sp?) Here goes:

The balancing branch
It may fall when I pass by
Think I'll take my chanc's

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Signs of the times..... Monday I was told the parts for the computer (see below) had been ordered and that I should call back on Tuesday to confirm the delivery date. Tuesday I could not get through. I was hold once for more than an hour. Most other times I gave up long before the 60-minute mark. This morning I finally get through. They tell me that the parts were ordered on Tuesday (and to call back tomorrow to confirm delivery date). She explained the parts manager had gotten backed-up. I told her that I wasn't so concerned about the back-up, but that I had been lied to. I had made it a point to determine that the parts had already been ordered on Monday. She replied that I wasn't lied to, but was just given false information - and that she definitely wasn't giving me false information now. What a comfort!

Random Thoughts....

Sunday we went up to the creek where we usually go fishing - but this time the kids went rock-sliding down some shallow falls. There were a couple of scrapes and one son got 7 fire-ant bites. This is not trivial with us, as one of the boys was hospitalized overnight a few years ago due to his allergic reaction to a single fire ant bite. Fortunately this time there is a swollen foot, but no breathing problems.

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On my drive to Philiadelphia last week I caught two installments of Dr. Dobson discussing (with guests) intelligent design. It is funny that this is treated as something 'new'. I remarked to my brother-in-law (Christendom graduate and teacher of high school Theology) that Thomas Aquinas used 'intelligent design' as one of the proofs of the existence of God. He one-upped me with reference to St. Paul in Romans 2: 19-20. On the way home I heard Dr. Michael Bethe (sp?) briefly debate an 'anti-intelligent design' scientist on some radio station (it may have been NPR). Dr. Bethe was given a fair shot to discuss his views. It is interesting how things tie together sometimes. I have been reading Newman's 'Idea of a University' - where the point is made that if any of the fields of science are eliminated from education then another field(s) will fill the gap - but by overstepping its bounds. (Prime example: when religion steps into science to say that the sun must revolve around the earth, not based on scientific observation, but on the philosophical principle that since we are God's highest creation we must therefore be the center of the universe). Since the science of the Theology (and much philosophy for that matter) has been eliminated from our public schools - the cause of true education there is already lost; a new religion is taught based on secular humanism. Unfortunately many Catholic schools treat the fields of science as if they have no relation to each other - and again, the cause of true education is lost.

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We had a chaplain for our Men's Prayer Group who used to say, "Your life isn't about you - it is about God." I bring this up only because I see this very thought mentioned at Destination Order, (scroll down to 7 August). It is worth contemplating.

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Going on two weeks, my computer system is still down. I have a back-up which allows me to blog (I know you all thank your lucky stars for that) and to check email and to do some rudimentary word processing. But the back-up doesn't have MSOffice installed and probably can't handle my layout programs like Pagemaker. It is slow as it is, so I don't want to burden it with more software. One problem with living so far into the country - but relying so much on city techonology to earn a living - is that a system breakdown like we are experiencing takes on more complicated proportions. It is crucial I get this thing running properly as soon as possible. They are shipping a new motherboard (2nd time), cpu, and cpu fan sometime this week. A technician will follow. (I can't touch the unit without voiding the warranty.).

This down time should allow me to accomplish some other chores: maybe I'll get started on the long overdue new chicken house. Our new chickens are quickly outgrowing their current digs. And I should get started on rabbit houses as we should be getting a call on those any day now. Another fishing expedition seems warranted also. This week could be quite fun...

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune on this feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, (Mrs. Curley's name-saint)...

Oremus pro invicem!

From a long absence...

I'm back!

I was at the CMN (Catholic Marketing Network) show/conference in Philiadelphia last week to try to sell books. Thought I saw Amy Welborn going into an elevator, and sure enough she mentions she was there. I heard Fr. Fessio of Ignatius Press (and Ave Maria University) speak a little about Pope Benedict XVI's vision for the Liturgy. And I had several long and interesting discussions with Chris from Loreto publications. They have some great books. In fact my wife has not been able to put down "The Valiant Woman" by Monseigneur Landriot Archbishop of Rheims which Chris had given to me at CMN.

I stayed with my sister (Agnes Penny - "Your Labor of Love" - TAN books) who lives in the area. It was great to see my charming neices and nephew once again.

But it is even greater to be back at Bethany! Our one-year anniversary of moving to Bethune, SC was yesterday. The kids put on a talent show where at least half the numbers were humorous take-offs of "If I Were a Rich Man" (The Fiddler on the Roof). Why - You may ask? It is a long story, but it has to do with my performance of that number some time ago....

I have much to catch up on. The computer system is not yet fixed, (somehow problems don't go away just because you are...).

From the small holding in Bethune.....

Oremus pro invicem!

A few days ago I posted a picture of Fr. John O'Holohan on the day of his ordination, 50 years ago today. Today I post a picture of him taken this past December with two first communicants - (yes, these are ours). Again, thanks Fr. John for responding to God's call.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

P.S. Please don't forget my request below!

Blogging may be sparse the next few days - I woke up this morning and the computer was completely dead! I have temporarily hooked up an older computer we had hanging around, but ....

However, here is an important request:

We are planning a little trip in the coming month to deliver my oldest daughter here and want to make the trip one of pilgrimage on the way up the east coast from SC to MA. We will in all likelihood go to the Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, NY which is a family favorite. We have some other favorites, like the Franciscan Monastery in DC, (my mother grew up around the corner from the monastery and used to play in the 'catacombs' in the basement), but we will probably avoid sites in cities as we want very cheap accomodations (camping or cheap motels) along the way. The pilgrimage site can be a shrine or simply the most beautiful little chapel you have ever seen. We would appreciate all suggestions over the next week or so.

I may not post much in meantime - but keep the suggestions coming.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Thank you Fr. John!

Fr. John O'Holohan SJ gives his first blessing after ordination to his parents Patrick and Winnie O'Holohan on 28 July 1955.

This post is a couple days early - but events can be unpredictable around here, so I thought I better get this up today.

Fr. John spent 22 years as missionary in Zambia. He has spent the last 17 years or so as a missionary in Florida and South Carolina. He is the pastor at my parish, St. Catherine of Sienna in Lancaster, SC and also in two other parishes. He is 82 years old and an inspiration to my children, my family, and my parish, and many others. He is also responsible for naming our small holding, Bethany, (read the story here).

Requiem Press has published a booklet by him - about his missionary years, "Tales of a Missionary in Zambia". (We also carry the 11th edition of a prayerbook he originally wrote some 20 years ago.)

Fr. John is visiting family in Ireland this month. But we wish him congratualtions on his 50 years as a priest and thanks for answering God's call - continuing to work so faithfully in God's vineyard.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

I'm a little late on this one - only about a year

Until a couple of months ago, I had never heard of Touchstone Magazine. Now that I had heard of it, I had never seen a copy until recently when a friend gave us a bunch of stuff and amongst it all, was the October 2004 issue of Touchstone. Inside there was quite a gem, "Choice, the Lovely Dragon" by Anthony Esolen. Here's an excerpt:

"Choice is the dragon of our day. It smuggles into its charcoal-smelling barrow not goblets and gilt pommels but human souls, one after another after another, entic­ing them there with "choices," all of them more or less trivial, while it sits upon the hoard and snores away in its inhuman sleep.

We like that dragon. We eat the fruit of the land in season, out of season. We surf the speckled Internet for spiky games and delights, or for the sheer satiation of ennui, only a click away. We shop for schools, we demand "electives." We shop for churches (alas that we should have to shop for churches), even shop for creeds. We will give the dragon our gold for the privilege of wider choice in how we may put our brain waves to sleep for a couple of hours a day, irritable and unaccountable as those brain waves are.

We find arranged marriages abominable. What, no choice? And after we marry, we retain a fail-safe, lest mar­ried life prove to be married life and not the predictable scripts of our own writing. We are the first people in the world who expect that our children will live far away from us and from each other. Why should anyone be subject to the geographical accident of having been raised in Bag-End, near a certain hill or beside a certain brook?

We even believe in the "freedom to choose," a lizardly slogan that darts past the silent object of the infinitive: as if we feared that the children of our own wombs would be reptiles themselves, now come to prey upon our precious choice. We like that dragon. We like our choice.

I used to believe, when I was young and dumber than Percival, that the "freedom to choose" was a legiti­mate freedom so long as the object of the infinitive was legitimate. If it is legitimate to live in New Jersey, then it is legitimate for me to choose to live in New Jersey. But now I pray rather that God will give me the faith to reject "choice" as the standard whereby I measure my freedom even in the licit disposition of worldly things.

I am not merely saying that there is a freedom higher and more blissful than the freedom to choose how one spends one's money or where one buys a house or whom one marries. I assert that even regarding questions of money or dwelling or spouse or any earthly thing, there is a freedom that slays the freedom to choose. Call it the wisdom of tossing the choice away. Call it the hope not in choosing but in being chosen."

I could quote more, no doubt, but there is much to contemplate even here.

From Bethany, the small holding in Bethune...

Oremus pro invicem!

Feast of St. Mary Magdalene - After my Dad died five years ago, (may his soul rest in peace), we found this well-worn holy card of Mary Magdalene in his sport coat vest pocket. Obviously because of the condition, it had been there for years and had probably been moved from coat to coat. We were not particularly aware (at least I wasn't) of a special devotion to her. I have taken the holy card and laminated it to prevent further damage. It sits on my desk at Requiem Press.