Oops, Forgot to Talk About the Ember Days!

The Ember Days of Lent (or Spring) are celebrated the week after Ash Wednesday this year. That is, Wednesday the 21st, Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th. Traditionally, meat is eaten at only one meal (obviously, you will not be eating meat on Friday). These are days of prayer and penance for the coming season. The Ember Days are particularly fun to celebrate with children because you can take the opportunity to come up with crafts having to do with the seasons and working in a spiritual message. If you have a trad-minded parish or group of friends, why not get the children together to learn about the Ember Days…or…

How About Planting on the Ember Days?

Seedlings my son and I planted a few years ago with a seed starting kit.

In Nomen Christi Apostolate style, let’s see how we might combine the Ember Days, the season of Spring, Lent and preparedness! On Long Island, where I am, indoor seedlings are started in February, for transplanting outdoors when temperature permits and when the plants are strong enough to handle rain and other stresses. Some common foods one might start indoors, would be Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Broccoli and Kale. A number of herbs can also be started at this time. The Ember Days this year would be perfect days for planting these seeds indoors. Again, I’m talking about my area. If you can sow directly in the ground, think about that (or plant in pots if you’re not quite set up to garden yet) or if it’s too cold in your area, you can still do an indoor plant, perhaps even winter bulbs or cooking herbs.

What about the prayerful quality of the Ember Days and Lent? You could bless the seeds with holy water and pray for a good harvest, you could thank God for your abundance and pray for the poor…or pray to the saints invoked for gardening and nature, such as Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Isidore the Farmer, Saint Kateri and Saint Fiacre. To see the planting calendar for your own area: Old Farmers Almanac

In addition, the readings for the Ember Days are quite beautiful. This can be incorporated into your daily prayertime. Blessings to all on these wonderful traditional feasts!

"It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times..."

The first paragraph in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, words of genius, and it sounds a bit familiar:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,

It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,

It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,

It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,

It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,

We had everything before us, we had nothing before us,

We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

Reading these words is like looking into a prism, a many-faceted crystal, or playing with a Rubik’s Cube. So much is here to meditate upon regarding our own times. Light and Dark are rapidly separating. This could be a Lenten exercise, if paired with self-examination. Where am I in this story?

How about this one?…

From William Butler Yeats’ poem, “The Second Coming:”

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre,
The falcon cannot hear the falconer,
Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold,
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed,
And everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned,
The best lack all conviction,
While the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

February is the Month of the Passion of Our Lord

As of Septuagesima Sunday (this past Sunday), the traditional Liturgical Calendar moves from the Cycle of Christmas to the Cycle of Easter.  We remain in this second part for the rest of the year.  We have been meditating upon the Mystery of the Incarnation and now we contemplate the Mystery of the Redemption.  The Cycle of Christmas contained Advent, Christmastide and Time after Epiphany.  The Cycle of Easter contains Septuagesima, Lent, Passiontide, Easter Time and Time after Pentecost. 

As we begin our journey into the Redemption of our souls, we consider how to best conduct our approaching Lent.  This is the purpose of Septuagesima, to arrive at Lent fully prepared and ready to roll.  Otherwise, you wake up on Ash Wednesday and say, “Oh no, it’s Ash Wednesday already.  What am I giving up?  I just made coffee.  Should I give up coffee?  I don’t want to dump it now, that’s expensive coffee.”  Or…”Why did I buy all those cookies?”  You can laugh, but YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE! 

In terms of which Lenten practices you may wish to do, maybe think a bit creatively this year, instead of the “same old thing.”  As we discussed in our “Total Eclipse” post, the world is engulfed in sin and emerging chaos.  Prayer, fasting, penance and spiritual practices in general, are so needed at this time.  And being that February is a month devoted to the Passion of Our Lord, this may help point our exercises in that direction.  Of course, there are the Sorrowful Mysteries, which some say each day in Lent.  There are the litanies of the Passion and the Holy Cross.  Here also, is a Lenten Novena.

Following are some of the notable feasts of this month (we provide both trad and new feasts)…

2nd-Presentation of Our Lord (also known as Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary or Candlemas, when traditionally, candles are blessed)

3rd-St. Blaise (Blessing of Throats)

4th-Sexagesima Sunday

11th-Quinquagesima Sunday, Our Lady of Lourdes

13th-Shrove Tuesday (Holy Face of Jesus traditionally celebrated)

14th-Ash Wednesday (fast & abstinence), St. Valentine (wonderful day to offer up for the intention of chastity)

21st-Ember Wednesday of Lent/Spring

23rd-Ember Friday of Lent/Spring

24th-Ember Saturday of Lent/Spring, St. Matthias

Traditional Calendar for February

"Pilgrimage of Mercy" ~ X Marks the Spot Total Eclipse of the Sun ~ North America

National Solar Observatory

This eclipse will take place on April 8th, and will begin in Mexico, going straight across to Maine and Canada. Apparently, the best viewing is in Mexico and Texas due to likely best weather conditions.

The eclipse, when seen with the total eclipse of 2017, makes an X across the US, a 9,000 square mile area, over Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois. Some think this is a prophetic sign. The last total eclipse across the US (before 2017) was in 1918, the close of WWI. I might add that “the Lady clothed with the Sun and the Moon at her feet” was seen in the sky also in 2017. This image is notably written about by Saint John in Apocalypse. In addition, during the 7-year time period between eclipses, we have all crossed the “Covid Threshold” and we are facing numerous other polycrises. The world has changed between those 2 eclipses, that together create an “X.”

How about a pilgrimage to beseech god’s mercy upon the usa?

Since the US is getting the “X,” it sounds like a good idea to step up prayer for this country. And in this time of Septuagesima, maybe we can make a Lenten plan to that effect. Jesus said that some demons require prayer and fasting to remove. Demons are clearly running free across the world at this time, like never before. I don’t think I need to give examples. So…prayer and fasting this Lent.

An idea I came up with is to perform a…

“Pilgrimage of Mercy”

the week of the eclipse, April 7-13

My family is traveling to the eclipse and we will be doing this pilgrimage. We will be visiting 6 holy sites during the week and praying the Rosary. We will provide supplemental prayers, which will be posted here in PDF form. If you don’t want to miss this, please get on our email list. (See button above.)

Think about some shrines, churches, etc., that you can visit during that week with your family, to beg for God’s mercy and lift up prayer to Him. Or…organize something with your church or ministry! If you’re not in the US, then do this for your own country, as the whole world is engulfed now in sin and Judgement is upon us.

God bless you all and your families! Chiara F Mathews:)

please spread the word about this pilgrimage ~ thank you!

…and let us know if you participate

New York Gov Issues Snow Travel BAN (Climate Lockdown)

I’m in NY and didn’t even know about this till a few days ago. This occurred Jan 13th in Erie County. This article from “Signs of the Times” is written by the attorney who is handling the case against Gov Hochul regarding “Isolation and Quarantine Procedures, Rule 2.13,” the infamous decision to allow the NYS Dept of Health unprecedented bodily control over citizens…

Conspiracy Theorists Were Right About Climate Lockdowns

"The Wonders of the Holy Name" Booklet: Act Now!

In this month of the Holy Name of Jesus (in case you haven’t noticed, this ministry is dedicated to the Holy Name), TAN Books has a great sale on the booklet mentioned above. It normally sells for $4.95 each, but if you act by January 31st, you get 5 for $10.00! It is not a prayer book, but it contains many historical anecdotes, such as Pope Gregory X’s devotion, a plague in Lisbon, glorious martyrdoms and the faith of many saints in the Holy Name.

TAN also has a monthly $10.00 “leatherette” book. They have quite a selection now of these beautiful, well-made spiritual classics and Bibles. The prices range widely, so taking advantage of the monthly offering is a good idea. As a Catholic prepper, having good quality classic books is a must. If you still need to develop your spiritual library, TAN provides a great way to move forward. They also have sets of books you might want to look at.

One warning: unless you like lots of spam, don’t sign up for their email list. Just make a point to visit the site once a month and take advantage of the leatherette, for sure.

Praise the Holy Name of Jesus now and forever!

Let us defend it valiantly!

Holy Name of Jesus Tridentine Mass

We had the privilege of attending this Mass recently at a church on Long Island which occasionally offers the Latin Mass on feastdays. In this month of the Holy Name of Jesus, it was wonderful to attend this Mass for the first time. Here is the Introit and a link to the full Propers, which you may wish to pray with your family during the remainder of January:

In the name of Jesus let every knee

bow of those that are in heaven, on

earth, and under the earth; and let

every tongue confess that the Lord

Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the

Father. O Lord, our Lord,

how wonderful is Thy Name in the

whole earth.

Glory be to the Father

and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now and

ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.

mass proper: holy name of jesus

(Propers on extraordinaryform.org are PDFs and may easily be printed!)

Thought for the Day

Life is a vast wood in which only a few paths may be explored.

Reflections on This Week's Rosary Campaign

My husband Don and I just prayed Monday’s Joyful Mysteries for the WEF conference. What continually came to me, with each Mystery, was the glory of the Light of Christ and how it completely overshadows darkness…to the point where darkness seems utterly irrelevant, anathema. Each event happened in a very particular time and place for the benefit of humanity…

“For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.”

John 3:16

In light of the Good News, how can any earthly cabal of evildoers, no matter how powerful, at all disturb us? Christ’s Light fills the whole world. These pockets of evil are like fires which burn themselves out. They always come to naught. They always end in miserable failure.

So let our hearts not be troubled, but let us also be realistic, understanding these times and how we must address them. Especially if there are vulnerable ones in our care, we cannot be willfully blind, which is a sin. We have a duty to them, to know what is happening around us and the implications of it…

“Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season. Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing.”

Matthew 24:45

So, in the grand scheme of things, the machinations of evil are like a drop in the ocean of God’s love and the wondrous world in which we live. However, in earthly time and space, these are the challenges we must rise to, to win our Heavenly reward.

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Tuesday’s Sorrowful Mysteries showed me something I never thought about before. Each Mystery of Our Lord’s Passion involves the shedding of His Precious Blood. The ground of this earth was soaked with His Blood, sanctified and redeemed by it. Evil can hold no sway over us now. It has lost all its power completely. We must only enter into this Mystery, the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church. How obscene for evil to think it can override or overwrite the Blood of Christ. We already have the victory!

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Wednesday’s Glorious Mysteries illumined something similar to the Joyful Mysteries. Evil cannot stand the Light. Heaven is so enthralling as to make evil and any earthly suffering insignificant. This is how the martyrs go to their deaths. Each Glorious Mystery involves an event of spectacular wonder and importance. The demons cannot look at such things. They recoil, run away, hide…in the darkness, under rocks, under the ground. St. Patrick, when returning to Ireland triumphant, drove all the snakes away. This of course, is a metaphor for driving away sin.

The World Economic Forum and their ilk must persecute the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church because they cannot coexist with her. The two are diametrically opposed, traveling in opposite directions, eternally. No common ground. Which is why all of society’s systems are becoming inversions of what they should be: the medical system is no longer about health, the academic system is no longer about learning, the political system no longer serves the people. The sane folk left must engage in fight or flight at this point. There are no other options when the human condition has reached its boundaries.

“And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:5

Deo Gratias!

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The Luminous Mysteries take us on the journey of Jesus’ ministry, the telling of the Good News, ending in the Last Supper, immediately prior to the Passion. 3 of the Mysteries involve Sacraments, one is Our Lord’s teaching and the other, the revelation of His glory. The dark forces of this world, which have acquired so much power due to the sins of mankind, have no use for any of this. In fact, they actively work against Christ, His teachings of love and peace and His Holy Church.

The World Economic Forum stated 8 years ago, that by 2030 “Western values will have been tested to the breaking point.” This prediction is coming true right before our very eyes. They mean what they say and a strategy is being systematically implemented. Western values of morality and human rights came from Christendom. We are arguably living in a post-Christian society, or even worse, a degraded form of “Christianity.” A world redeemed by Christ’s Blood and in rejection of it, must suffer the consequences.

The images presented here are from the Rebel News video:

Who’s All Here at the World Economic Forum?  Touring the Davos Promenade.

This is a 25-minute video, in which Ezra Levant of Rebel News and his team, walk through the outdoor Promenade of this year’s World Economic Forum.  Every year, this lovely skiing village in the Swiss Alps, is transformed into a mall of globalist propaganda as the world’s powerful people meet to decide the future.  This look into the belly of the beast is quite eye-opening.  It shines a light upon darkness, if you have the eyes to see the truth behind the lies. 

In this footage, they discuss child trafficking, along with clips of Klaus Schwab suggesting an end to free elections and Yuval Harari referring to “useless people” with a look of disgust on his face.  Levant describes the WEF as “a parallel crypto-government…this is a bad ideas laboratory that is being pumped into the arteries of the world, into every country.”   

Apparently, the WEF Promenade also has its own laws in place during this annual week.  Distributing Christian literature is illegal, while a Shamanic ritual is performed at the actual conference.  Christians were removed from the Promenade by police and told to go elsewhere in the city.  Rebel News speaks to these peaceful people:

World Economic Forum EXPELS Christians

Here’s an article by Catholic News Agency describing the Brazilian pagan ritual:

Shamanic Ritual at World Economic Forum:  What Spirit Rules in Davos?

For a group of people who are known for their dislike of tradition, it is ironic that this presentation invoked respect for “the wishes of our ancestors.”  I guess they’re selective.  This Shamanic rite included the participation of those in attendance at the Forum.  None of this is surprising if you’ve done the research on these cabals of influential leaders…the road leads straight to Hell and it gets extremely dark.  They are showing their true colors and still your neighbor down the road has no idea and doesn’t want to hear it…and won’t even realize there’s a problem until it’s too late.  The poor ignorant tribal people will not have the opportunity for conversion at Davos, unless they manage to run into the Christians by accident.

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Friday…the Sorrowful Mysteries once again, on the final day of the WEF conference.  “Deciding Your Tomorrow.”  This sign on the walkway, whatever its specific meaning, crystallizes their whole mission…and the injustice of it.  Who were the decision-makers involved in Our Lord’s Passion?

Jesus, in His Agony, contemplated the suffering He would endure the next day.  In a bloody sweat, He wished for this “cup” to be taken from Him, but acquiesced, “Thy will be done.”  These small men, Jews and Romans, would make the decisions which would ultimately turn upon them.  Satan always works against himself.  We know how the story ends.  This is our story as well…”the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”  The Jewish leaders made decisions, Judas made a decision, those who yelled for the release of Barabbas, Pilate, Our Lord’s tormentors…they all made decisions.  All were guilty to varying degrees.  But in God’s great plan, these decisions wrought our salvation.

It is hard to understand how, surrounded by the beautiful Swiss Alps, anyone could fail to recognize and praise God’s creation.  How can one look at an unborn baby, so helpless and innocent…and feel nothing?  How can one look at a baby in his mother’s arms and think nothing of releasing bombs upon their heads?  How could all those who participated in the torture and death of Our Blessed Lord, look upon His Holy Face and fail to become enthralled with love?  It’s not our job to understand, just to make sure we are nothing at all like them.

In the month of the Holy Name of Jesus, the World Economic Forum denies this Name.  The workers of evil are so terrified by His Name, they cannot stand to even be near those who speak it.  There is no room for Christ in their hearts because His teachings of love are opposed to their methods of control.  Decisions are constantly being made that affect all of our lives, by those who actively work against Christ and His Church…and in fact all that is good, it seems.  So we must make decisions as well.  Go along with it?  Fight?  Flee?  It is a time for decisions.  And many of these will not be easy.

Just as those plans made long ago by those who thought they could defeat Christ, failed…so too will those made by todays evildoers fail…and the meek will inherit the earth and build a new world, close to God and nature, the Authentic Life…and the Bride of Christ will be restored to her pristine beauty!  

One Rosary for Each WEF Conference Day!

[Edited since posting.]

Yes, it’s here again. January 15-19 in Davos-Klosters, Swizterland. Last year all the presentations were available online, so probably will be again. For those with blogs and other media, please review the presentations and get the info out. They are not hiding anything!

From the WEF website:

“The 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will provide a crucial space to focus on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency and accountability. This Annual Meeting will welcome over 100 governments, all major international organizations, 1000 Forum’s Partners, as well as civil society leaders, experts, youth representatives, social entrepreneurs, and news outlets.”

We have a “WEF Series” button to the right>>> There will be another post or 2 on this in the coming days.

Let us pray one Holy Rosary each day this week as these wicked people meet to plan the enslavement of all humanity and the persecution of the Church!

Do not believe their deceptions.

Think about it. What weaponry do you think these “elites” fear the most? Free speech? Free elections? Scientific data? Guns? Bombs? None of these. It is the Holy Rosary, the cord which binds Satan, they fear more than almost anything. Our Lady was given to us by Our Blessed Lord Himself from the Holy Cross. And she has given us the Rosary, particularly in these days of chastisement, as a weapon against evil, an antidote to our times. Our Lady of Fatima requested it be said daily. Not only because of its spiritual power when it is well-said by one in a State of Grace, but the peace that floods the soul with its recitation. And not only peace, but joy. Upon the recitation of the Holy Rosary our Mediatrix also gives us the graces we so much need to navigate this ever-devolving world, a world already unrecognizable to those who were born only a few decades ago.

In so many Catholic churches throughout the world, every day, there are several elderly women praying the Rosary. Are these humble, easily overlooked ladies the most powerful people in the world? Possibly. It was deeply saddening during the Covid lockdowns, when these unending prayers within the Holy of Holies suddenly ceased. You could almost feel this massive force for good being withdrawn from the earth and evil taking on more power. Are such days coming again? If the WEF has its say, you can bet on it.

The last day of the WEF conference is also the day of the March for Life in Washington DC. So many reasons to pray this great devotion, this meditation upon the Gospels! This Friday, the perpetrators of the shedding of innocent blood will be making their plans, as those defending the innocent will be marching by the tens of thousands. Our Lord and Our Lady look down upon it all. Which side do you wish to be counted among?