Readers in Chicago already know, amirite? Like a thunderstorm, it’s the fact that it’s in the distance that makes it oddly soothing.

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Christ at the Pool of Bethesda, ARSH 1780. See the Archangel Raphael swooping in above to agitate the pool as a messenger of Our Lord’s mercy? Fun fact: “Angel” means “messenger.”

Today is the feast of the Archangel Raphael, who is known as the “angelical physician”, not only for his healing works in the Book of Tobias, but also for his deeds as recounted in John chapter 5, one of the most moving narratives in scripture.  It was St. Raphael the Archangel who would agitate the waters once per year at the Pool of Bethesda which would then heal the first person to touch the waters.  Fun fact: “Bethesda” means “House of Mercy.”

In John 5, even though St. John is sparse in his prose, one can immediately hear the anguish of the man who tells Our Lord that he has tried every year for thirty-eight years to be healed of his infirmity, but because he has no one to help him, he never makes it to the pool in time.  And yet, this man has kept the faith and persevered.

Our Blessed Lord in His Mercy healed the man, and afterward, finding the man at the Temple, Jesus told him, “Behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee.”

Mercy is inextricably tied to renunciation of sin. The “worse thing” that would come from presuming upon God’s Mercy and NOT ceasing the sinful activity (or at least having a firm, immediate purpose of amendment) is ETERNAL DAMNATION.  Thirty-eight years with a horrific physical infirmity is NOTHING compared to all of eternity in hell in unceasing torment, never, ever to see God, and knowing how being damned was 100% one’s own free choice, and thus completely unnecessary.

None of us have to wait for St. Raphael to swoop in as depicted above (wheeeee!), and then win a foot race.  All we have to do is enter The Church and GO TO CONFESSION, wherein the waters of Baptism are perpetually and inexhaustibly available, and the Blood of Christ removes every stain of sin.

Then, we must do what Our Lord commanded the cripple that He healed:

1.  STAND UP – Stop committing the sin.  Do not, after being healed, think you can lie there and continue to wallow in your sin.
2. PICK UP YOUR MAT – Confess and do penance and make satisfaction for your sins.
3. WALK – Advance in the good, always moving towards greater sanctity.

St. Raphael, pray for us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

“Love is the most necessary of all virtues. Love in the person who preaches the word of God is like fire in a musket. If a person were to throw a bullet with his hands, he would hardly make a dent in anything; but if the person takes the same bullet and ignites some gunpowder behind it, it can kill. It is much the same with the word of God. If it is spoken by someone who is filled with the fire of charity- the fire of love of God and neighbor- it will work wonders.”
–St. Anthony Mary Claret

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dVvEPTYrcXA&t=31s

Q: Isn’t it true that if Pope Benedict did only resign “the active ministry for the governance of the Church”, that legally means that he resigned the whole Office?

A: Absolutely not: resignation from only “participation in governance” is NOT considered resignation of office, and we have a clear legal precedent on this that is shockingly similar that we have discussed previously in this space: Blessed Emperor Charles I of Austria, whose feast it is today, 21 October.

In ARSH 1918 at the tail end of the forgotten Freemasonic war which we call World War I, the Freemasons were in the final push to eliminate ALL monarchies from Europe, as the necessary antecedent to the true goal of Freemasonry – the destruction of the Catholic Church by the striking and elimination of the earthly Monarch of Monarchs – the Pope.  The “Last Man Standing” in Europe was Blessed Emperor Charles I (Karl) of Austria, a saintly man devoted to his people and to Holy Mother Church.

What Blessed Emperor Charles did in the face of the Freemasonic overthrow of his country and his government was to proffer a statement of RENUNCIATION OF PARTICIPATION IN STATE AFFAIRS, while NOT abdicating, and thus retaining the Office of Emperor.

“In November 1918, the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was unstoppable. Following the recommendation of government, Emperor Karl I decided to give up his reign. He signed a declaration to this effect on 11 November 1918.

In this waiver Karl I stressed that he would not stand in the way of national development and thus relinquished his participation in its administration. Consequently, he released members of the Austrian government from their offices.

Since Karl I had not formally abdicated the throne, he had to leave Austria. On 12 November 1918 German-Austria was proclaimed as a republic.”

Note well how both the Freemasonic government of the newly-formed Germany-Austria republic AND HISTORY has judged this act: Blessed Emperor Charles DID NOT ABDICATE and thus was forced into exile by the Freemasons – because they all knew damn good and well that Blessed Charles WAS STILL THE EMPEROR AND HAD NOT ABDICATED.

Remember the difference here folks: The Emperor of Austria is NOT the Vicar of Christ on Earth, he is NOT the VISIBLE PRINCIPAL OF UNITY of Holy Mother Church on earth, and he DOES NOT enjoy either the grace of state or the negative supernatural protection that the Successor of St. Peter does.  

If you fail or refuse to consider the Papacy AND current events in light of the SUPERNATURAL dynamic that the Papacy has, that is to say in light of FAITH, you will miss what is right in front of your nose, and probably start spewing without shame jaw-droppingly blasphemous and internally contradictory Freemasonic talking points like:

-the Pope can totally be a type of Antichrist

-that the entire Church for 2000 years has been built upon IDOLATRY of the Papacy – “Papolatry”, and only now do we have the true, deep, enlightened knowledge and have “figured this out”

-Only now do we understand that the Papacy is a meaningless figurehead position, and that we must PICK AND CHOOSE what we believe from what a Pope teaches, because the REAL “POPE” lives inside each of our heads

-That schism not only isn’t a sin, it is a virtue, and we all need to, as a very prominent Trad theologian/liturgist/composer declared at a conference in Rome, steps from the Vatican, “get used to the idea of being in schism.” And Luther burning in hell let out a squeal of satisfaction.

You guys realize this is basically the entire core premise of Freemasonry, right? The deification of the human intellect?  And you see that this is EXACTLY what Trad Inc. is now pushing, declaring people who do not subscribe to this Freemasonic philosophy of being in mortal sin and – in gobsmackingly glaring violation of the Law of Non-contradiction – in schism?  Yes, that’s right. These people are so intellectually tied in knots that they’re bellowing that one must simultaneously hold Jorge Bergoglio to be the Principal of Unity and Standard of Schism AND be in schism from him. You have to be simultaneously with him and against him – an obvious violation of the Law of Non-contradiction. All so these people can keep a middling paycheck and/or career track. It is GLARINGLY obvious what is going on here.  Satan is playing people like cheap fiddles.

All of the VISIBLE proof sets that we have today with regards to Pope Benedict’s exclusive retention of the Petrine Office, whether he liked it or not, are the workings of the Divine Providence.  God is SO GOOD, and SO POWERFUL.

November ARSH 2022. The Holy Father looks quite good in this picture, one of the last taken of him before he died a few weeks later.

Here is the English translation of Blessed Charles’ letter of “renunciation of participation in state affairs”.

Since I came to the throne I have ceaselessly strived to lead my people out of the horrors of war, for whose outbreak I bear no blame.
I have not hesitated to rebuild the constitutional life and have opened the way for the people to develop their own national identity.

Now as before filled with unwavering love for all my people, I do not wish to be a barrier to the freedom of their development.

I acknowledge in advance the decision that Germany-Austria is making about its future system of government.

The people have through their representatives taken over the government. I hereby renounce any part in state affairs.

At the same time I relieve my Austrian government of its office.

May the people of Germany-Austria create and consolidate the reorganisation in the spirit of harmony and forgiveness. The happiness of my people was my most cherished goal from the beginning.

Only inner peace can heal the wounds of this war.

So, here we have clear historical proof that partial resignation or WAIVER from only participation in “state affairs” or “the active governance” IS NOT A RENUNCIATION OF OFFICE.

“A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege.”

-Do we not see that the players here are EXACTLY the same, that this is all a continuation and coming-to-fruition of the Freemasonic project – taking over and replacing the Catholic Church by striking the Papacy, as explicitly laid out by no less than Pope Leo XIII himself in a full Encyclical exclusively on the topic of the agenda, threat and war against the Church by Freemasonry??

-It is acknowledged at the highest levels of the Church that Pope Benedict CLEARLY believed himself to still be holding the Petrine Office (which he was), with his repeated giving of “MY APOSTOLIC BLESSING” in writing to actually be considered the most glaring and legally compelling proof of this, above and beyond even the retention of the Papal white, the title, and the Papal style (His Holiness), with his “confirming the brethren” in various letters and books also considered very strong evidence.  

Pope Benedict’s denials are the fruit of a SUBSTANTIALLY ERRONEOUS belief in his ability to“fundamentally transform” the Papacy into a “demythologized, collegial, synodal ministry” (FULL TEXT HERE), or some level of coercion, or, most likely, a combination of both.

HERE IS THE LINK TO BLESSED EMPEROR CHARLES’ DECLARATION.

If you would like to read more on this, here is my original piece which links back to Maike Hickson’s reportage on this back in ARSH 2017.

What Pope Benedict XVI proffered in February of ARSH 2013 in legal terms WAS A PARTIAL WAIVER, NOT A RESIGNATION.

I hope this helps.

Blessed Emperor Charles and Servant of God Zita, pray for us.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and on your Holy Church, outside of which there is no salvation.

I’ve always been a person who liked light background noise at night. From my first clock-radio, bought at a garage sale, I slept with the radio, and later the black-and-white TeeVee with an antenna, on. The problem with sleeping with the TeeVee on was the overnight sign-off to static at 02:00am. Yes, younglings, broadcast TeeVee stations used to play the national anthem and then broadcast static for three hours overnight. This is how I discovered at age 14 the subsidized radio station out of the University of Kansas, FM 91.5, which played amazing jazz off of vinyl until 1:30am, then the militant black Nation of islam retards had their public access show, which made me realize that I really, REALLY needed to drop out of Leavenworth High School for my own wellbeing and safety. In retrospect, I owe those odious people a roundabout debt of gratitude. Dropping out of high school was one of the top-three decisions I’ve ever made. Converting to the One True Faith and Church is obviously numero uno. The other will be in the memoirs.

Then, I would wake up to NPR Morning Edition, which in those ancient days was just super-soothing benign long-form pieces and interviews – not intolerable communist agitprop. SNL did a send-up of “NPR voice” decades ago. Search “SNL Delicious Dish” on YouTube if you don’t mind double entendres.

Now, I have discovered that many people have had exactly the same idea as I have had: find on YouTube local radio/TeeVee broadcasts of MLB baseball games, including the advertisements, from one’s early childhood. For me, the voices of Fred White and Denny Matthews, and then Denny Trease calling Royals games on the radio and TV are peak audio nostalgia.

Next would be old Superstation WGN broadcasts of Cubs games with Harry Caray. My grandparents were very early cable tv subscribers, and from my earliest childhood, afternoons were filled with the sound of Cubs (and Braves on TBS) games (Wrigley Field didn’t install lights until ARSH 1988) on the TeeVee.

I find these make excellent background for very casual parties as well. Preferably where beer is served. Harry Caray would want to you have a taaaalll, coooooool Budweiser, but we’ve all moved on.

Look up your local teams. It doesn’t have to be the Royals or the Cubs, but I do recommend baseball. Basketball and football are too harsh to be relaxing background.

If you’re not maxed-out on nostalgia, here’s the 1980s TWIB theme:

Dear Ann,

A simple footnote on today…
243 years ago today the Fyfe and Drum Corps of His Majesty’s foot regiment played the tune “World Turned Upside Down” as British and Hessian troops marched out to surrender. Little did they know on that October day in the year of Our Lord 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia, in the presence of General George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau of how that song would predict the future events.

Prayers continue for you and your work.
P

Gosh, I close my eyes and that narrator’s voice, gently warped as projector films always were, takes me right back to First, Second and Third Grade. I can see Mrs. Wilson, and Mrs. Kaeding wheeling in the projector (Oh! The sweet anticipation!), pulling down the screen, and then fighting with the damn thing to get it properly fed and running – and they ALWAYS did get it running. And then turning off the lights, and… sweet ASMR relaxation-education. I was in that sweet spot wherein the same day I could watch a film produced in the 1950s, and then play language and math games on an Apple IIe. That’s pretty remarkable, if you think about it.  

This is at once peak nostalgia, and at the same time absolutely brutal, cutting satire. What more can one ask for?

I'm throwin rocks tonight pic.twitter.com/25b8zVchB9

— Magnetic Norse (@MagneticNorse) October 17, 2024

“There aren’t enough words in the English language for ‘I don’t care’ to describe how much I don’t care about Benedict’s statement…”

“This is boring. I don’t have any more f’s to give…”

“There’s nothing we can do….”

“It is how it is, and it’s never going to get better, only worse, so just accept it….”

“When it comes right down to it, and if we are being perfectly honest, we aren’t very confident that “prayer” is worth anything, at least anything outside our own personal lives.…”

Acedia is a terrible but largely unknown vice. Most people today have never heard the word. The most succinct definition is when you don’t care, and you don’t care that you don’t care.

I was told by a wise priest once, within the Sacrament of Confession no less, that the greatest demonic spirit of oppression over Rome and the Institutional Church was ACEDIA. People go to Rome, and the grace is sucked out of them by ACEDIA and soon they are completely unwilling to do ANYTHING, including pray, and then, like cancer, this spirit of Acedia metastasizes and spreads itself throughout the world. And guess how the resulting time vacuum in the lives of those in Acedia gets filled in this day and age? Social media, video games, TeeVee/movies… and then things which aren’t discussed in polite company.

Not only that, but they eventually become, ironically, MILITANT in their Acedia, demanding that others ratify and join in their indifference, inaction, impotence and despair. These sad souls then begin to declare their acedia to be a virtue; proof of their moral and intellectual sophistication and superiority over others.

To wit:

And the rightfully indignant, manful response to the prideful wallowing in the sinful effeminacy of Acedia with regards to Antipope Bergoglio and the Bergoglian Antipapacy displayed above:

Hear, hear!

Finally, it reaches a level so dire that the person wallowing in Acedia lashes out and attacks those who will not join in their cult of despair, trying, like the demons, to drag as many others down with them as they can. Anyone who shows any flame of charity – because remember, the polar opposite of love/charity is indifference, not hate – is attacked and painted as “mentally ill”. Gaslighting of the highest order: love itself (or should I say, HIMSELF) depicted as mental illness.

In these dark days, one and all would do well to be on the lookout for the terrible vice of Acedia, first in oneself, and then in others, and flee from it with all haste, because it is highly, highly contagious.

The Rosary, as always, combats Acedia, most directly in the Second Joyful Mystery, the Visitation, the Fruit of which is Fraternal Charity/Love of Neighbor, and in the Third Glorious Mystery, the Descent of the Holy Ghost Upon the Apostles and Mary. The Fruit of this Mystery is: Love of God, and ZEAL.

I hope this helps.

If you aren’t checking in at NurseClaireSays.com on the regular, you should be.

Prep, stockpile, hoard. No one is coming to save you physically when the proverbial bell tolls for thee.

Might I take this opportunity to once again recommend the Katadyn Pocket silver-impregnated ceramic water filter. This little guy can fully purify water from bacteria and protozoans in one pass, with a filter life equal to the volume of a home swimming pool (13,000 gallons).

Katadyn Pocket Water Filter for Backpacking, Group Camping & Emergency Preparedness: https://amzn.to/4eIF2jr