Who was Maximilian Kolbe?

St. Maximilian Kolbe

St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894–1941) was born in Poland to a devout Christian family. As a boy he had a vision of the Virgin Mary. She showed him two crowns, one white for virginity and one red for martyrdom, and asked him which he would be willing to accept. He replied that he would accept both. This began his lifelong mission of promoting devotion to the Virgin Mary and the Miraculous Medal. He eventually joined the Franciscans.

While studying for the priesthood in Rome, he gathered a group of fellow friars and founded the Militia of the Immaculata which became a crusade of Marian consecration. From it came the Knights of the Immaculate magazine, which reached a circulation of 750,000, and a radio show, both of which became a source of strengthened faith all over Poland. He established a monastery in Poland which grew to 800, the largest in the world at that time.

In 1930 he traveled to the Far East and founded a monastery in Nagasaki, Japan.

He returned to Poland in 1936. During World War II, St. Maximilian Kolbe housed over 3,000 Polish refugees at his monastery. 

He was eventually imprisoned because of his fight for truth through his magazine, and was sent to Auschwitz in 1941. He endured special cruelty because he was a Catholic priest. St. Maximilian ministered to the people in the camp and offered his life in place of a man to be killed by firing squad. After being starved for two weeks and still found alive, he was killed by lethal injection on August 14, 1941.

St. Maximilian Kolbe is the patron of families, drug addicts, prisoners, journalists, and the pro-life movement. 

His feast day is August 14th.

Requiem Mass by Mozart

Requiem Mass by Mozart - Introit & Kyrie:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxAOHez4meA

English Translation of Mozart's Requiem Mass

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I. Introit: Requiem
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis care veniet. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.	Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them. You are praised, God, in Zion, and homage will be paid to You in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer, to You all flesh will come. Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them.
II. Kyrie
Kyrie, eleison. Christe, eleison. Kyrie, eleison.	Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

A Teacher Who Got The Point From His Students

St. Cassian of Imola

St. Cassian of Imola (4th c.) was the Bishop of Brescia near Milan, Italy. When a wave of persecution erupted during the rule of either the Emperor Julian the Apostate or Diocletian, he fled to Imola, Italy, where he found work as a schoolmaster teaching children how to read and write. He was a disciplined and effective teacher, teaching his students the faith as well as how to write in a form of shorthand that allowed them to write as fast as they could speak.

When a city official discovered Cassian's identity as a Christian, he denounced him to the authorities. When Cassian refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods, the local judge ordered that he be stripped, bound, and tied to a stake. He was then turned over to his pagan students, numbering about 200, to be tortured to death. His students used their iron styli (writing instruments) to carve into his skin and stab him to death. St. Cassian died from the many wounds all over his body.

St. Cassian of Imola is the patron saint of students, school teachers, shorthand writers, court reporters, stenographers, and parish clerks.

His feast day is August 13th.

Drinks & Dinner

To celebrate St. Lawrence’s Feast Day today and recall his martyrdom of being cooked alive on a grill, here are your drink and dinner suggestions.

Dinner

Host a BBQ or serve a roast.

Wine

            Saint Laurent Reserve red wine from Germany

            Sori San Lorenzo red wine from Italy

Spirits

            Canadian Whiskey because the St. Lawrence Seaway was discovered on this date in 1525, and because St. Lawrence is the patron saint of Canada.

            Scotch from the island of Islay because it has peaty overtones to evoke St. Lawrence’s smoky end (remember black humor)

If you find this morbid, remember St. Lawrence’s own black humor when he said to his killers, “Turn me over.  I’m done on this side.”

FYI, legend says that as the deacon of Rome, St. Lawrence had custody of the Holy Grail used by Our Lord at the Last Supper, and that he gave it to his parents for safe keeping before his execution.  Legend also says his parents escaped with the Holy Grail to Spain.   Could it still be there?

From:   Drinking With The Saints by Michael P. Foley

Why you should drink Dominican Rum today

I like the Dominican vs Jesuit joke at the end . . .

Did you know that:

St. Dominic was born in Spain in 1170.

He tried to sell himself into slavery to liberate Christians held by infidel Muslims.

He formed the Order of Preachers to preach against the heresy of Albigensian which was very popular in the south of France.

Legend says the Blessed Virgin gave him the rosary.

Unlike the followers of St. Benedict who performed manual labor and lived cloistered in monasteries, the Dominicans pursued intellectual labor and preaching as their mission.

The nickname for the Dominicans is “Domini Canes” which is Latin for “House of the Lord,’ and that St. Dominic is the “Master of the Hounds.”

In England, the Dominicans were knows as the “Black Friars” after the black cape they wear over their white habits, and that Blackfriars Distillery makes a gin called Plymouth Gin which claims to be England’s oldest working gin distillery.  

The city of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, was named after St. Dominic in 1498, and the entire country was named for the Dominicans?

The Dominican Republic has three rum producers: Ron Barcelo, Bermudez, and Brugal. 

You should toast St. Dominic today by drinking rum and say, “To St. Dominic: May he help us to praise, to bless, and to preach always, sometimes using words.”

After a few shots of rum, you may want to shout out this toast, “To the Hounds of the Lord!” and then let out a dramatic howl.

You should tell this old joke today:

            A young man wondered if he should join the Dominicans or the Jesuits.  

A Dominican told him that the Dominicans were founded by St. Dominic in the 13^th Century to fight the Albigensian heresy, and that the Jesuits were founded by St. Ignatius in the 16^th Century to fight the Protestant heresy.  

The young man wanted to know which order was better. 

The Dominican replied by saying, “Well, when was the last time you met an Albigensian?”

From Drinking With The Saints

Got the plague? Call on the 14 Holy Helpers!

August 8:  Feast of the 14 Holy Helpers (no longer officially observed now that we have no plague)

The Fourteen Holy Helpers are invoked as a group because of the Black Plague which devastated Europe from 1346 to 1349. Among its symptoms were the black tongue, a parched throat, violent headache, fever, and boils on the abdomen. The victims were attacked without warning, robbing them of their reason, and killed within a few hours; many died without the last Sacraments. No one was immune, and the disease wreaked havoc in villages and family circles. The epidemic appeared incurable. The pious turned to Heaven, begging the intervention of the saints, praying to be spared or cured. Each of these fourteen saints had been efficacious in interceding in some aspect for the stricken during the Black Plague. The dates are the traditional feast days; not all the saints are on the General Roman Calendar.

1. St. George (April 23rd), soldier-martyr. Invoked for protection for domestic animals and against herpetic diseases. Also patron of soldiers, England, Portugal, Germany, Aragon, Genoa and Venice.
2. St. Blaise (also Blase and Blasius) (February 3rd), bishop and martyr. He is invoked against diseases of the throat. Blessing of the throats takes place on his feast day.
3. St. Erasmus (also St. Elmo) (June 2nd), bishop and martyr. He is invoked against diseases of the stomach and intestine, protection for domestic animals and patron of sailors.
4. St. Pantaleon (July 27th), bishop and martyr. Invoked against consumption, protection for domestic animals and patron of physicians and midwives.
5. St. Vitus (also St. Guy) (June 15th), martyr. Invoked in epilepsy, chorea ("St. Vitus' dance"), lethargy, and the bites of poisonous or mad animals and against storms. Also protection for domestic animals. Patron of dancer and actors.
6. St. Christopher (also Christophorus) (July 25th), martyr. Invoked against the plague and sudden death. He is the patron of travelers, especially motorists, and is also invoked in storms.
7. St. Denis (also Dionysius) (October 9th), bishop and martyr. Invoked against diabolical possession and headaches.
8. St. Cyriacus (also Cyriac) (August 8th), deacon and martyr. Invoked against diseases of the eye and diabolical possession. Also interceded for those in temptation, especially at the time of death.
9. St. Acathius (also Acacius) (May 8th), martyr. Invoked against headaches and at the time of death's agony.
10. St. Eustace (also Eustachius, Eustathius) (September 20th), martyr. Invoked against fire — temporal and eternal. Patron of hunters. Patron in all kinds of difficulties, and invoked in family troubles.
11. St. Giles (also Aegidius) (September 1st), hermit and abbot. Invoked against the plague, panic, epilepsy, madness, and nightmares and for a good confession. Patron of cripples, beggars, and breastfeeding mothers.
12. St. Margaret of Antioch (July 20th), virgin and martyr. Invoked against backache. Patron for women in childbirth.
13. St. Catherine of Alexandria (November 25th), virgin and martyr. Invoked against diseases of the tongue, protection against a sudden and unprovided death. Patroness of Christian philosophers, of maidens, preachers, wheelwrights and mechanics. She is also invoked by students, orators, and barristers as "the wise counselor."
14. St. Barbara (December 4th), virgin and martyr. Invoked against fever and sudden death. Patron of builders, artillerymen and miners. Also invoked against lightning, fire and sudden death.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-08-08

Barack and Michelle Obama's 6-year Reign

The below summary of Barack and Michelle Obama's 6-  year reign in the White House is by far the best I've ever read as it squarely hits the nail on the head.

And it took a black female reporter writing it to make it as effective as it is.       

A white man's account would be instantly criticized by the liberal media as pure racism. But, how can anyone scream Racist when an exacting description of the Obamas is penned by a well- known journalist of color?

  BEST SUMMATION OF BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA EVER!(Mychal Massie is a respected writer and talk show host in Los Angeles ..)

   The other evening on my twitter, a person asked me why I didn't like the Obamas. Specifically I was asked: "I have to ask, why do you hate the Obamas? It seems personal, not policy related. You even dissed (disrespect) their Christmas family picture."

   The truth is I do not like the Obamas, what they represent, their ideology, and I certainly do not like his policies and legislation. I've made no secret of my contempt for the Obamas. As I responded to the person who asked me the aforementioned question, I don't like them because they are committed to the fundamental change of my/our country into what can only be regarded as a Communist state.

   I don't hate them per definition, but I condemn them because they are the worst kind of racialists, they are elitist Leninists with contempt for traditional America . They display disrespect for the sanctity of the office he holds, and for those who are willing to admit same, Michelle Obama's raw contempt for white America is transpicuous. I don't like them because they comport themselves as emperor and empress. I expect, no I demand respect, for the Office of President, and a love of our country and her citizens, from the leader entrusted with the governance of same.

President and Mrs. Reagan displayed an unparalleled love for the country and her people. The Reagans made Americans feel good about themselves and about what we could accomplish.

Obama's  arrogance by appointing 32 leftist czars and constantly bypassing Congress is impeachable. Eric Holder is probably the MOST incompetent and arrogant DOJ head to ever hold the job. Could you envision President Reagan instructing his Justice Department to act like jack-booted thugs?

Presidents are politicians, and all politicians are known and pretty much expected to manipulate the truth, if not outright lie.   But even using that low standard, the Obamas have taken lies, dishonesty, deceit, mendacity, subterfuge and obfuscation to new depths. They are verbally abusive to the citizenry, and they display an animus for civility.

I do not like them because they both display bigotry overtly, as in the case of Harvard Professor Louis Gates when he accused the Cambridge Police of acting stupidly, and her code speak pursuant to now being able to be proud of America.  I view that statement and that mind set as an insult to those who died to provide a country where a Kenyan, his illegal alien relatives, and his alleged progeny could come and not only live freely, but rise to the highest, most powerful, position in the world.

Michelle Obama is free to hate and disparage whites because Americans of every description paid with their blood to ensure her right to do that. I have a saying, that "the only reason a person hides things is because they have something to hide." No President in history has spent over a million dollars to keep his records and his past sealed. (AND THE 'SILENT MAJORITY' REMAIN SILENT!)

And what the two of them have shared has been proven to be lies. He lied about when and how they met, he lied about his mother's death and problems with insurance, Michelle lied to a crowd pursuant to nearly $500,000 bank stocks they inherited from his family.  He has lied about his father's military service, about the civil rights movement, and nausea.  He lied to the world about the Supreme Court in a State of the Union address.

He berated and publicly insulted a sitting Congressman. He has surrounded himself with the most rabidly, radical, socialist academicians today. (DON'T FORGET THE 'DEVOTED MUSLIMS' HE'S PLACED IN GOV'T) He opposed rulings that protected women and children that even Planned Parenthood did not seek to support.  He is openly hostile to business and aggressively hostile to Israel.

His wife treats being the First Lady as her personal American Express Black Card (arguably the most prestigious credit card in the world).  I condemn them because, as people are suffering, losing their homes, their jobs, their retirements, he and his family are arrogantly showing off their life of entitlement - as he goes about creating and fomenting class warfare.

I don't like them, and I neither apologize nor retreat from my public condemnation of them and of his policies. We should condemn them for the disrespect they show our people, for his willful and unconstitutional actions pursuant to obeying the Constitutional parameters he is bound by, and his willful disregard for Congressional authority.

Dislike for them has nothing to do with the color of their skin; it has everything to do with their behavior, attitudes, and policies. And I have open scorn for their constantly playing the race card.

I could go on, but let me conclude with this. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the media for refusing to investigate them, as they did President Bush and President Clinton, and for refusing to label them for what they truly are. There is no scenario known to man, whereby a white President and his wife could ignore laws, flaunt their position, and lord over the people, as these two are permitted out of fear for their color.

As I wrote in a syndicated column titled, "Nero In The White House" - "Never in my life, inside or outside of politics, have I witnessed such dishonesty in a political leader.  He is the most mendacious political figure I have ever witnessed. Even by the low standards of his Presidential predecessors, his narcissistic, contumacious arrogance is unequaled.  Using Obama as the bar, Nero would have to be elevated to sainthood.

Many in America wanted to be proud when the first person of color was elected President, but instead, they have been witness to a congenital liar, a First Lady who has been ashamed of America her entire life, failed policies, intimidation, and a commonality hitherto not witnessed in political leaders.  He and his wife view their life at our expense as an entitlement - while America 's people go homeless, hungry and unemployed. 

Please resend to all your address book. America has to wake up before it is too late!