Author: Father Fitz

Categories
Religion

Aggressive Secularism Has Gone Too Far. Time to Turn Back the Clock.

We are surrounded by the “I” generation.  All this new pluralist, secular liberalism has robbed society of its traditional Christian values and — I say it without fear of contradiction — we are the poorer for it.

At one time, obedience was everything.  We knew our place and we stayed there — none of this thinking nonsense, and no need for it either.  Why should there be, when people had their betters to do the thinking for them?

In a time not long past, there was no crime in Ireland, and what crime we had was legal.  No video nasties in 1948.  No joyriders in high-powered BMWs. No computer fraud.  No LSD.  No students!

But not any more.  No indeed, my friends.  Now we have self awareness.  Now there is assertiveness training.   Now we have men doing the ironing and it is ruining — say it loud, it is ROTTING the moral fibre of this ever-proud land.

What would our forefathers have said, those patriots who gave their lives for a better Ireland?  What use had Patrick Pearse for Wash ‘n’ Go shampoo?  Would Connolly rise from his wheelchair for deeper-acting fabric conditioner?  Was it for the Kenwood range that Collins bled his last at Béal na mBláth?

Now, let me tell you something and let it be said plainly lest anyone misunderstand.  A new Ireland beckons, an Ireland where men of the cloth will once more be respected as moral guardians of our Irish  Faith.  When that time comes, there will be no counsellling classes, no personal assistants, no chief operations officers and no improved double-acting formulas to cleanse and soften.

We have had enough aggressive secularism in this historic land.

There will be a return to old values.  Children will once again know the joy of sleeping under their fathers’ overcoats.   River walks will once more echo to the voice of Mícheál Ó hEithir commentating on the All-Ireland.  Women in flowery dresses will cycle to the seaside  and the glorious aroma of boiled cabbage will once again grace the snooze of our menfolk after Mass.

This I promise you!

Categories
Religion Sexuality

Father Fitz on Same-Sex Marriage

It is many years since I was a young seminarian and an even longer time since I was a little boy, but I will never forget the happy times I spent with Father Pat Farce and Father Maurice Crumb.  (I have changed their names to protect the innocent ha ha).

Father Pat and his curate Father Maurice shared the parochial house, and they got by very well thank you without the help of a housekeeper, for both were excellent cooks and very tidy about the place.

I do not know if I ever mentioned this, but I was born in unfortunate circumstances, and in those days the priests were in charge of deciding what became of such children.  Sadly, that is no longer the case, but back then they sent many a lucky infant to a happy new home in America or Australia and they always found a job for the fallen young women, working in the laundry under the kindly eye of the holy sisters.

For some reason, Father Pat and Father Maurice chose to take me under their wing.  They brought me away from the hospital the day I was born, and took me to live with them in the priest’s house, where I grew up in a happy and prayerful atmosphere.  I could say, in many ways, that I had two Fathers (though of course I also had Our Blessed Mother in Heaven).  You might even say that I became a Father myself under the influence of my two Fathers, though of course none of us was really a father, if you see what I mean ha ha ha.

What is my reason for bringing this up?

Well, you see I was listening to the wireless this morning and I happened to hear that excellent public representative from Galway.  Roman Mullet, I think is his name.  A fine strong Catholic.

It was about that silly proposal to let two men be married and raise children.  He correctly pointed out that two men cannot possibly raise a child because it is against the natural way of things.  He also said that if we allow men to marry, they will deprive children of their natural parents, which is also true and not something I could ever condone.  Besides, they would be drunk all the time.

There is no suggestion of allowing women to marry so I could not follow what he was saying about that, but I am not so sure I agree with him about two women raising children.  Women are natural cleaners and would keep a house nice and tidy for a baby to grow up in.  I remember many of my school friends growing up with their grandmothers and their aunts and it did not seem to do them any harm, so I will have to differ with Mr Mullet on that point, I hope he will forgive me ha ha ha.  Besides, women would never wish to marry each other, since they could never be married in the fullest sense, if you’ll forgive my indelicacy.  Being women.

All in all, I am glad that Father Pat and Father Maurice are no longer alive to see what Ireland has come to.  They would be very shocked at the idea of men living together and taking children away from their mother and father.

Categories
Politics Religion Sexuality

Father Fitz Watches The Saturday Night Show

I was accosted the other day by a severe-looking lady in a tweed suit.

Father, she said, where do you stand on gay marriage?

It is an excellent idea, I assured her. Too many marriages are frosty and full of gloom.

No no no, the lady persisted. What position do you take on homosexuals?

Such questions are for the confessional, I replied.

Father, said the lady, I simply wish to know what you think of same-sex marriage.

Sadly, I confided, from what I have heard, it seems that all marriages end up that way in the long run.

A small umbrella can cause a surprisingly painful bruise on the top of one’s head.  There is no respect left these days for a man of the cloth.

Later, as my housekeeper Mrs McGarrity applied mercurochrome to the graze on my forehead and poured me a small drop of Crested Ten to settle my nerves, I began to ponder the tweedy lady’s problem.

Mrs McGarrity, I said.  How long have we been together now?

Twenty-four years, she said.  Ever since Mr McGarrity passed away and I had to seek employment.

A long time, I mused.  May I please ask you a rather delicate question?

Mrs McGarrity blushed and smiled.  Oh, Father!  

Please! I protested.  I did not mean to suggest anything untoward.

Really, Father? she replied, narrowing her eyes.  Is that a fact?

Following Mrs McGarrity’s unexpected resignation, I have taken to watching the television in order to pass the time, and therefore, perhaps it was the good Lord himself who brought about these circumstance, though I do not understand why Mrs McGarrity became so irate, nor do I understand how all the crockery in the kitchen came to be broken.

But be that as it may, I sat down last night to watch the TV and there was a new programme where Gay Byrne used to be, a programme called Saturday, I think.

Its main item concerned that nice fellow who chuckles on Winning Streak, the man with the moustache – I can never remember his name but you know him, I’m certain.  Murty something.  He reminds me of a chap who worked in the drapery section of Clerys years ago.  If he ever gives up his work on Winning Streak, I am quite sure he would make an excellent shop assistant with little or no training.

He was talking about his hair transplant, and his hair doctor was with him on the show to explain how reasonable his prices are.  I thought it was very decent of him to take time out of his busy schedule.  He is a sort of emergency hair doctor and he runs a hair A&E department although to be perfectly honest with you, I did not think his own hair was any great shakes.  Physician heal thyself, I thought.  The cobbler’s children are worst shod.

The presenter gave Murty a very good amount of time, which is only right and proper since Murty is an employee of RTE and if you cannot look after your own, who can you do a turn for?  Am I right?  Of course I am.

Next there was a very strange interview with two Russian trollops calling themselves Pussy Riot Act.  They did not know one word of English and yet there they sat, as brazen as you like, using their pimp as an interpreter.  They did not even have the courtesy to laugh when the presenter, Bernard Connors, told them one hilarious joke after another, but what would you expect?  These are people who disrespected the Eastern church in a most vile manner.  Say what you like about Mr Putin, but he is a strong determined leader who will “stand for no nonsense” and he promptly threw them in jail for mocking his beliefs.  It is sad that the authorities in Ireland no longer come down so hard on those who sneer at the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic church.

I must say, I am very impressed by this fellow Bernard Connors who took over from Gay Byrne.  He was right to ask the Riot Act girls about nail polish and boyfriends instead of all this depressing talk of politics and Russian prisons.  Brendan has just the right touch and he does not like to bore the viewers with facts, unlike some I could mention.

I was completely baffled by the last part of the show, unfortunately.  I think it was a sort of guessing game.  Apparently there was a fellow on the show last week who wears women’s clothes.  I cannot understand men wishing to wear dresses, but that is beside the point, I suppose.  In any case, this fellow made a disparaging remark about Ireland’s greatest writer and a group called, I think,  the Onanist Society, concerning a thing called “homophobia”.  I am not familiar with the word but I was “no slouch” at my ancient Greek lessons in the seminary, and it clearly means a fear of sameness.

Oddly, although the programme was about this word, nobody was permitted to utter it, and nobody was allowed to mention the Onanist Society either.

This is why I am sure it was a game, like “Charades”.

I am cold, it is late and nobody has made me toast.  I wish Mrs McGarrity would come back, and I still do not know why the lady in tweeds was so concerned about marriage being gay.  Life is not a barrel of laughs, you know.

Categories
Religion Sexuality

Former President McAleese Criticises Church For Homosexual Position

Many years ago, when I was a young seminarian, I warned my confrères about the dangers of creeping modernity and now we see where it has all led.

It has been quite a while since I requested space here on Bock’s web-site, principally because I was undergoing some “treatment” but you have all been in my prayers.  However, I could not stay my hand after hearing of former “President” McAleese’s unwarranted criticism of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic church on the subject of sodomy, although I must confess that I was at first unable to believe that the reports were indeed true.  I had believed that even though the Irish people elected two women in a row, at least they had learned their lesson after the first and appointed a strong Catholic following the disastrous, atheistic Communist regime under Mary Bourke.  Not a bit of it, apparently, for now we see that so-called “Professor” Mary McAleese has the temerity to speak out, in Scotland, of all places, about our Church’s position on homosexuals.  I can scarcely believe that a woman would feel entitled to express a view on these matters, much less actually speak to ordained men in such a way.  Equally baffling is the thought that these men gave a woman the opportunity to speak so crudely.

mary mcaleese edinburgh homosexuality

Our last Holy Father understood the dangers well, and warned us not to cling to individualism, but here we see the results of ignoring such warnings.

This is the “I” generation.  All this new pluralist secular liberalism has robbed society of its traditional Christian values and — I say it without fear of contradiction — we are the poorer for it.  At one time, obedience was everything.  We knew our place and we stayed there.  We had respect for the Garda and the family doctor, the bank manager and the county council official, educated men every one of them.  In my day, there was no disrespect for authority and no need for it either.  Why should there be?

In a time not too long gone, there was no crime in Ireland, and what little crime we had was legal.  There was no internets “porn” in 1948, no joyriders in high-powered hot-rods, no LSD, no computer fraud, no beat groups and certainly no homosexuals.  I would venture to suggest that the first homosexuals arrived in Ireland after the Vatican Council, perhaps sent here by an international atheist communist conspiracy.  It was a very good time in our history, when there was no poverty, no crime and when the Church, in its infinite wisdom, decided what was best for its flock.

Alas!  not any more.  Now we have self-awareness.  Now there is assertiveness training.  These days, men are ironing clothes and it is ruining — nay, say it loud, it is ROTTING the moral fibre of this once-proud land.  What would our forefathers have said, those patriots who gave their lives for a better Ireland, an Ireland free of the British yoke, free of godless error?  What use had Patrick Pearse for Wash ‘n’ Go shampoo?  Would Connolly rise from his wheelchair for a deeper-acting fabric conditioner?  Was it for the Kenwood range that certain men went out to die?

Now, let me tell you something, and let it be said plainly lest anyone misunderstand it.  In the new rejuvenated motherland that will surely spring from the wreckage of this current dissolute mess, there will be no counselling classes, no personal assistants, no chief operating officers and no improved double-acting formulas to cleanse and soften!

There will be no minty freshness in the new Ireland, but instead a return to the old values.  Children will once again know the joy of sleeping under their fathers’ overcoats with a small chain at the collar for hanging them up.  River walks will once again echo to the voice of Micheál Ó hEithir from Croke Park.  Women in flowery dresses with long noses will cycle to Ballybunion and back, and the glorious smell of cabbage on the boil will once again grace the snooze of our menfolk following Mass and three pints at a half-crown each.

This I promise you!

Categories
Religion

Consecration of Ireland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

I do not know why the proprietor if this “web site” permits me access to his pages.  Perhaps it is because privately he is aware that his own blasphemous attacks on the One True Church are as false as his atheism.  Nevertheless, I remain both baffled and grateful.

Here is a wonderful new initiative, called National Consecration of Ireland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The idea is very simple.  They are holding a national rosary rally (and we all know the power of the Rosary!)

I am sure they will not mind me reproducing their main page here, if by doing so I help their cause.  Here are some things they say.  It is a truly wonderful initiative and I remain convinced that devotion to Our Holy Mother will yet save this country from itself.

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Thank you for supporting our National Rosary Rally to keep Ireland Catholic.

We got the 13.5 million Rosaries!

National Rosary Rally for the Consecration of Ireland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

From the earliest times Ireland’s Christian heritage has included a great love and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And her heavenly apparition at Knock showed us Mary’s love for Ireland. She has brought this land through times of persecution, famine and distress by her love and prayers. Help us to turn to her aid for our future as a nation and people.

“There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot solve by the prayer of the Rosary”

Sr. Lucy, Visionary of Fatima

Recently a Steering Committee for the National Consecration of Ireland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (SCNCI) has been formed in Knock, the spiritual capital of Ireland. One of our main functions is to launch a national Rosary rally to obtain pledges from the public to pray for the intention of the Consecration of Ireland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in their daily Rosary for one year.

“The Rosary is THE weapon for these times”

St. Padre Pio

Our target is for 13 million Rosaries to be prayed which breaks down to 35,616 individuals praying for this intention in their daily Rosary for a year. That’s only 0.8% of the Irish population doing what Our Blessed Mother asked for at Fatima, Portugal in 1917. Once we have enough people praying the Rosary for this intention these pledges will be formally presented by the SCNCI to the Irish Bishops Conference to request that they consecrate the country to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart

“The Holy Rosary is a powerful weapon.  Use it with confidence and you will be amazed at the results”

St. Josemaria Escriva

Already 35,616 are including this intention in their daily rosary as you can see from our Rosary-meter on the right of this page and we aim to gather more support in the coming months so that millions of rosaries are being recited throughout the country and beyond to preserve Ireland’s Christian Heritage

“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world!”

Blessed Pope Pius IX

Just as Ireland rescued a dying Roman civilisation from the sword of barbarism in the 5th century, so she is destined to recover her spiritual roots and re-evangelise a morally decaying modern Europe. Ireland’s own St. Malachy prophesied in the 12th Century that there would come a time when Ireland would persevere in the faith during seven centuries of foreign occupation, regain her missionary spirit and even bring the English back to the faith! More recently Blessed Pope John Paul II prophesied during his visit to Clonmacois the ancient 6th century missionary centre of in Ireland in 1979 that “These ruins are still charged with a great mission”. The pope’s silent prayer that followed we can only presume included the future faith of this land….

‘A family that prays together, stays together’

Fr. Peyton, Rosary Priest

 

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Categories
Religion

Magdalene Lingerie

I do not understand all this talk about Magdalene laundries.

As  a young priest, part of my duties involved visiting the Good Shepherd laundry, and it is not by accident that the establishment is so named.  Jesus has always been the kindly shepherd, guiding his flock, even when they strayed, and the sisters have carried on his work, making sure that nobody wanders from the True Path.  I was always struck by the obedient and respectful demeanour of the women working there, both young and old.   Without exception, they all called me Father, and as you can imagine, for a 23-year-old that was sincere confirmation that I had followed the correct path in life.  Well do I remember placing my hands on the head of an 82-year-old penitent and offering her the gift of eternal salvation.

Thank you, Father, whispered Bridget, and I was in no doubt that she meant it. What a wonderful feeling, to know that I had given peace to an old sinner!

I was very taken by the modest night-wear adopted by these women.  It struck me as most appropriate and I would commend its use to young women everywhere, for fear their display of femininity might inflame young men with lamentable results.  Upon their own heads be the consequences.  It is hard to blame a young man so provoked.

But let us return to the Good Shepherd laundry.  I truly felt as if I were the father of these women who had taken a wrong path in life, and I freely offered them forgiveness for having forsaken the one true way. It is not right to blame them.  I do not believe it is right to judge such women even though they might have erred.  This is wrong.  In my opinion,, if a woman has fallen away from the true path, yet sincerely and genuinely repents, then she should be forgiven after chastisement.  It is the Christian Way.

Good Shepherd

My memories of the Good Shepherd convent are so happy that I can scarcely conceive of the stories I am hearing on the news today.  All I can remember, as the years have passed, is the delicious apple pie with custard in the refectory, served by well-turned-out penitents, happy in their duties and more than willing to atone for their sins.

I have never witnessed any maltreatment, nor do I believe it occurred, save in the fevered imaginations of the Press.

The Good Shepherd girls went on to enrich our nation, whether by choosing to continue supporting the laundry or by entering service as domestics in our religious hospitals.  It is all in the Name of the Lord, and I celebrate the wonderful contribution his Servants have given to our great nation.

I shall offer a private Mass for these selfless nuns this evening.

 

Categories
Religion

The Russians Are Right to Protect the Church By Jailing Pussy Riot

Men of my generation will remember with fondness our schooldays, but most especially the morning prayers that started our young scholarly day with a strong dose of God’s grace.  (If we were in the Olympics, it would probably be illegal ha ha).  I remember with great vividness the prayer for the Conversion of Russia.

Ah, I can still see Brother McCormack’s face reddening with spiritual fervour as he came to his favourite part.

That wicked dragon pours out. as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.  These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on Her most sacred possessions.  In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck the sheep may be scattered.  Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory.

And so it came to pass in the fullness of time that the evils of Communism were defeated and righteous men once more ascended to power in Russia.  And so it came to be that the Patriarch of the Eastern Church took his own office in the mighty Kremlin so that once more, temporal and spiritual came to be united in the great Empire and the world rejoiced.

Mr Putin is a strong leader, with a firm hand as any man must be if he is to guide such a huge nation onto the right path.  I know in my heart of hearts that cares for one thing only: the spiritual wellbeing of his beloved Mother Russia, and as every parent knows, one must be cruel to be kind.  All children benefit from the occasional light beating: it made me the man I am today and I am grateful to those kind priests who set me on the path of goodness.  Likewise the Russian people must now and then be chastised for failing to show respect, and it is not with any sense of satisfaction that I look on those young lassies from the beat group “Pussy Riot” as they languish in prison.

Yet, they must be punished.  They have after all committed a crime worse than any murder, by mocking both the Eastern Church and the Russian State.  It seems to me, therefore, that they got off with a light sentence.  In mocking the Church, they have made fun of Our Saviour Himself, and in some respects, Mr Putin also stands in loco Jesi.  I will not go so far as to suggest that they deserved execution, but some people are of that view and I can understand why they should feel that way.

I am quite certain that Mr Putin is heartbroken at the thought of young lassies in jail when they should be at home raising their children, but he must stand by the law, and therefore it is unreasonable to ask him to interfere in the due process of the independent  courts.

I shall pray for “Pussy Riot” and I shall also pray for Mr Putin that God will continue to grant him wisdom and fortitude as he steers his country on its difficult path to universal faith and salvation.  Deo Volente.

Categories
Religion

President Higgins Snubs Eucharistic Congress For Football Match in Poland

Did we ever think we would see the day when a soccer match is more important to our First Citizen than the salvation of his eternal soul?  It would not have happened in 1932, let me tell you, when the politicians of our newly-fledged Free State knew how to show proper respect.

 

Even though the country was on its knees, the Irish politicians of 1932 had the vision and foresight to set up a high-powered radio station in Athlone so that none of the Faithful would miss the live Papal Broadcast, and every home would ring to the dulcet tones of Count John McCormack singing at the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park.  All available resources were marshalled by the State, and quite properly so.

How we have fallen.

As a young seminarian, I dreamed that it would be given unto me to attend a glorious Eucharistic Congress in Ireland, and yet, now that the day is upon us, I can feel only dismay in my heart.  The president of our land is at a soccer match in Russia or some such Godless place.  The government has donated not a single red cent to support this magnificent event, and I am told that there will even be some sort of a protest by so-called survivors of abuse outside the RDS today.  If that had happened in 1932, the Gardaí would have beaten them off the streets, arrested them all and charged them with insulting the hierarchy.

Back then, the streets of our capital city were shut so that the Faithful might gather in force, proclaiming to the world that our small nation was at the very heart of the great Catholic spiritual empire.

And what of today, you ask?

I am ashamed to confess that today, we priests and bishops will hide away in another football field, shielded from the general public’s view instead of proclaiming our power and authority to all who may listen.

Truly, our once-great Catholic nation has sunk to unplumbed depths.

 

 

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Posts on the Eucharistic Congress

 

Categories
Religion

Women Priests

It was with considerable amusement that I and my fellow priests watched a news item the other evening on the subject of women priests.

There were many young “trendy” and “with-it” people protesting about the refusal of the Holy See to permit ordination of female persons and they were also protesting about the gift of priestly celibacy.  I personally have never had any difficulty with the celibacy rule as I do not believe I am the “marrying kind”!  Nevertheless there is great confusion surrounding the matter.  People do not understand that, although the celibacy rule is simply a church regulation which can be changed should the  Holy Father decide to do so, the same is not true for the ordination of women.

Women are not suitable for the priesthood.  Scripture is very clear on this.

You only have to look at  1 Timothy 2:11-14

11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 
14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

Nothing could be clearer.  Women should remain quiet and submissive.  Women should not preach to men, nor should they have authority over men.  Eve brought Sin to the world.  For all these reasons, although women may provide a useful role cleaning and tidying the churches, they may never assume the priestly role laid down by Our Divine Lord for men.

I remember once, when I was home from the seminary for a few days, my grandfather taught me a rhyme as we cut the turf, and I still remember it to this day —

A woman, a dog and a walnut tree

The more you beat them the better they be.

While I do not advocate excessive beatings, I believe a firm hand is needed when dealing with the fair sex, and I have always advised young couples preparing for the sacrament of matrimony to ponder carefully who will be the head of the house, for there can only be one leader, and a woman is not temperamentally suited to the role.  A woman is likely to be distracted by fripperies and also to be a slave to her own emotions.  In times of difficulty, we do not need a hysterical person making the hard decisions and that is why there will never be a woman priest.

People who call for a change in such laws are little better than Protestants, in my considered view.

I have asked the Bishop’s permission to publish a short item on the subject but he has not yet come back to me with an answer.  I will take his silence as permission to go ahead.

Categories
Religion

Priest-Cam

A parishioner suggested to me the other day that I should take advantage of the recent technological advances on the “internet” by setting up a “Priest-Cam”.

I think this is a very good idea indeed.

It is a way of putting a priest’s activities live on the “internet”, showing what he is up to from one minute to another.  The camera could be strapped to his forehead or his upper arm, as he goes about his priestly business and therefore could provide a point of view, or POV as those in the film business are inclined to say, report of his activities from one moment to the next.

This seems like a splendid idea.

No matter what the priest is at, the camera can capture it in graphic detail, for his colleagues to enjoy later.  I can see many a joke-laden night in the parish house as the priests gather round to savour what their fellow lads have been up to.  Can you just imagine the crack as they zoom in on the latest antics of some priest, all the time uploading to Priestbook or Facetube?

It sounds like a very good idea and I can hardly wait to see the graphic images it produces.  Indeed, I cannot wait at all.  I want to see it now.  Immediately.