The Church has abandoned us. Jesus help us.

Mass has been cancelled throughout the country. The Sacraments have been taken away from the faithful. The clergy is holed up in their rectories and monasteries and episcopal palaces...for fear of the flu. At most, we get to watch a private Mass on Youtube, but the clergy dare not come into physical contact with the laity. Has anything SO COWARDLY ever been seen in our lifetimes? Has the Church ever done anything so cowardly, even during WWII, the Mongol invasions or the Black Death???

We grew up marinated in tales of priestly heroism, from ancient times to the modern day, telling of priests who risked all to bring the Word and the Sacraments to the Faithful. Tales of these martyrs strengthened us and inspired us, since what besides a supernatural Faith could make these men do what they did?

After all, to be a priest is a form of sacrifice, giving up family and friends for Christ, explicitly offering one's life for Him, no matter the cost.

Yet today our priests have fled to the hills in fear of the flu, taking the Sacraments with them. The demoralizing effect of this can hardly be imagined. In the aftermath of this crisis, it might perhaps be quantified in the number of people who have left the Church after it abandoned them in the hour of need. Indeed, the Pope's own secretary said the same thing.

Why?? The larger issue, which I've been pondering ever since the disgraceful silence of the clergy during the St. Patrick's Day parade debacle, is what kind of men are becoming priests these days? I don't think these men are made of the same stuff as an St. Edmund Campion for instance. We'll leave that for another day. What I want to explore now are those historical examples of Catholic priests who risked their lives to say the Mass and bring the Sacraments to the flock despite the presence of disease and plague. A martyrology of priests who showed courage in the face of persecution and certain death is one thing. After all, we Staten Islanders have the example of Father Vincent Capodanno to inspire us. But in this time of fear and disease, let us look to the past to learn how we should act.

I will follow up this post with examinations of historical examples.

Hierarchy voids the Third Commandment

It's amazing what you can do when you have no respect for God or His Church. From the Pope down to his minions like Cardinal Dolan, Masses across the world have been either cancelled altogether or Catholics have been relieved of fulfilling their Sunday obligation. In other words, mere men have voided one of the Commandments. Is it any wonder that modern man feels himself empowered to do the same, if mere mortals can so casually declare that a Divine Commandment need not be obeyed.

Staten Island, the Center Ring of Clown World

If the West has officially become Clown World, then Staten Island has got to be the center ring of the whole honking sh*tshow. After the spineless traitor Cardinal Dolan marched as the Grand Marshall

of the 2015 Manhattan St. Patrick's Day Parade, along with an openly gay organization, the attention of the rainbow-tinted forces of Hate turned to our little island's own Paddy's Day march.

At first, the Democratic politicians predictably led the way in risk-free virtue signaling, and boycotted the parade. Then, last year, our "Conservative Republican" Borough President, the reprobate Jim Oddo, made news by announcing a boycott of the parade until the organizers allowed the Staten Island Pride Center to march. The floodgates opened this year, with oafish Republican Councilman Matteo; Brendan Lantry, the incoherent millennial Chairman of the Republican Party; Miss Richmond County Gabrielle Ryan; and Miss Staten Island Teen Angelica Mroczek (the daughter of Advance columnist Gracelyn Santos) all announcing that they wouldn't march either until sodomy was proclaimed mandatory for every man, woman and child and enshrined in the Constitution as the highest of all virtues. The Janus-like Assemblywoman and Congressional candidate Nicole Malliotakis, the apotheosis of political hacks, announced that she would march but proclaimed her support for the inclusion of the Pride Center. Republican Councilman Joe Borelli said the same. To top off the circus, Miss Staten Island 2020 Madison L’Insalata announced she was bisexual the night before the parade and vowed to be

driven down the parade route wearing rainbow paraphernalia. The Advance joined the pile-on as well. And it need not be said, that pretty much every person involved in promoting degeneracy is a product of local Catholic schools and rationalized their position by referencing "Pope" Francis and hippie Jesus.

It also need not be said that the local Church provided zero leadership as ravenous wolves ravaged their flock. These senile milquetoasts smiled and said nothing as aggressive homosexuals and their useful idiots recruited our God in their campaign to corrupt souls and groom our children. I attended Mass at Blessed Sacrament before the parade and listened to its pastor give an asinine sermon about some idiotic irrelevancy, while a full blown gay pride march was taking place on the lawn of his church. Staten Island's priests have covered themselves with disgrace during this episode. If they can't even say a damned word when these people are coming for our kids, what the hell good are these so-called shepherds?

With the betrayal of the so-called "family-values party", the hometown newspaper and the institutional church, a hero arose in the form of parade chairman Larry Cummings, who summarily banned Miss Staten Island, Councilman Borelli, the marching bands of Tottenville and Port Richmond High Schools, and everyone who showed up intending to flaunt the rules of the parade and wear the symbol of men who eat semen and masturbate in each other's anuses. Oh, did those words offend you? Then why aren't you offended by the acts themselves and the people who want to promote that lifestyle to our children?

Nevertheless, it is obvious that the parade's days are numbered. The agitation will continue and the pressure increased until the citadel of normal standards is stormed and overthrown. The playbook of social engineering has been tried and proven effective over and over again since the victorious Allies tested it out on the conquered Germans after WWII. And it will definitely work on low-IQ, media-addicted, poorly catechized Staten Islanders of the 21st century. Just look at the heterosexual couples_with children_who were out in force yesterday doing what their masters want them to do, which is waving rainbow flags and advocating for semen-eating and anal sex. We won't win this battle by doing what we've been doing up until now. The resistance will be long and hard. Traditional allies will desert us. Casualties will be many. But victory is the only option.

Goodbye Priests for Life

Even Priests for Life can't afford to be in overpriced Staten Island any more. Well, God bless you and your holy work in your new Florida headquarters, Father Pavone.

Judas: the first Catholic to leave Mass early...

It's a historical (or perhaps psychological) mystery how American Catholics went from devout to depraved in two generations, but a visit to Mass in most any area of the country will bear out our fellow-Catholics' utter trashiness and lack of any sort of spiritual feeling. One universal example of this is the mad dash to flee the church immediately after receiving Communion. I had thought to make up a poster to be displayed in the backs of churches that said "Judas was the first Catholic to leave Mass early" but a quick Google search showed that many other people had thought to do the same thing.

Aisle People

This letter, which appeared in the 9/15/16 edition of Catholic New York, should be printed out and posted on the doors or bulletin boards of every Catholic church. The epidemic of lazy, inconsiderate "Aisle People" is painful to see. If you have an overactive bladder, or are on active duty in the emergency services, or are the parents of rambunctious young children, then you have every right to plant yourselves near the aisle so as not to have to climb over others when you inevitably have to step out of Mass. If you're just a paranoid neurotic who has a psychological barrier against having people sitting on both sides of you, then please get over it and slide towards the middle of the pew.

Aisle People

Because of my peripatetic lifestyle, I’ve attended Mass at many parishes. For the past 20 years, I’ve probably worshipped at 30 different Catholic churches across America each year for a total of about 600. One thing that each of these houses of worship have in common is the Aisle People (AP.)

The AP covet the seats at the end of the pew regardless of the emptiness within. I always arrive at Mass early and sit toward the rear, so I present my empirical data on the AP from a disinterested distance. The AP make up approximately 30 percent of attendees, and I am not sure they realize the angst they cause in other parishioners. 

Everyone who attends Mass weekly has no doubt noticed that late arrivals will “probe the line” looking for a charitable aisle person to allow them to enter the pew. It disgusts me to see how many AP stare straight ahead, ignoring the petitioner’s tacit plea to access the vacancies within. After being ignored, the late-comers must then clear their throat, which will compel the AP to take heed. This distracts other congregants.

Only once in all my years have I heard a priest remonstrate from the pulpit regarding this opportunistic practice of “aisle seat covetousness” (at Mass in Arkansas). He was instructing while I am lamenting. 

Hopefully, the AP act as they do unconscious of the aggravation they cause other attendees because if they are aware of the inconvenience and distraction they cause and still park their corpus segnes at the end of the pew week after week, well, I find that almost unforgivable.  

There are a few occasions when AP are justified in maintaining their spot: if the AP is manning the collection basket or, like my sister, is with a disabled child or is part of the altar crew or has urgent bladder problems.  

The irony of this situation is glaring: every Sunday the priest urges us to be charitable, loving, considerate, humble and Christ-like. When the AP hear the priest speak thusly, does it not register that their action (or inaction) exemplifies the antitheses of these elements of our faith?

George Ganssle

Nanuet

Catholic Church shopping Part XVI: mother church

Since we worship a God who literally rose from the dead, our "God of surprises" has the wonderful quality of regularly surprising us with the miracle of breathing life into things that were dead. And I was pleasantly surprised to recently see that a parish I had heretofore avoided as a moribund place now has a fresh spirit blowing through it. The feeling was palpable as soon as I walked into our island's mother church of St. Peter's (now officially part of the parish cluster of "The Catholic

Community of St. Peter-Assumption-St.Paul").

There didn't seem to be much going on in the bulletin but there was a pretty rousing flyer calling for men to join the Holy Name Society of the parish, describing their mission as being to make themselves better men, supporting one another's spiritual needs, and doing good works. There was a racially diverse congregation with a few young families sprinkled throughout. Honestly, there didn't seem to be too many more people there than attended when Monsignor Dorney was alive, but there was something new and ineffably encouraging about the church now. The choir was talented and seemed genuinely animated by a holy joy in their task. The priest was, I believe, Filipino and spoke rapidly with an accent with precluded me from understanding more than about 70% of what he said. And even though I couldn't really grasp the main point of his message, what I could understand of his passionate sermon was filled with one holy sentiment after another which, surprisingly, satisfied my soul. In addition, the church- which had been allowed to crumble away for years on end, now seemed like it had enjoyed some repairs and regular cleaning.

After Mass, a group of men hosted a social gathering in a room adjacent to the foyer, which had once been a chapel I think. They provided coffee and juice and a lavish spread of delicious pastries. The fellowship was warm and welcoming. I came away from my time there with an optimistic mood and uplifted spirit. I don't live close enough to attend regularly, but would definitely consider joining the parish if I did.