GK Chesterton, Terry Pratchett & Suicide

I have been told that Terry is a fan of GKC, nothing wrong with that, we all should be. But it is an amazing coincidence (sorry God, just using this term so as not to offend the fools out there) that today ends the 9 days of the Pro-Life prayers to GKC and today State Sponsored TV (BBC) will show Terry watching someone else kill themselves. Tomorrow is the 75 anniversary of the death of GKC, were he still alive I think he would suggest that Terry needs to read a few more of his books!

Just being totally ridiculous for a minute and putting God out of the argument, let us consider a couple of points. Many people who attempt suicide fail and go on and live happy lives, assisted suicide does not fail. Secondly, you and I do not know what the future holds, we do not even KNOW for sure how we will feel tomorrow. Alison Davis, of No Less Human wanted to die for years, but is now very happy that no one helped her!

Just looked on the internet and found this lot here;

Author Terry Pratchett writes that Chesterton "in small doses taken regularly is good for the soul" [Source- Wisdom and Innocence, p. 90].

Pratchet and co-author Neil Gaiman dedicated their novel Good Omens:
"to the memory of GK Chesterton, a man who knew what was going on".

Also a character in the book (Good Omens) states that Chesterton is:
"the only poet in the twentieth century to even come close to the Truth."
[Source- Wisdom and Innocence, p. 90.]

Terry Pratchett also writes:
"It's worth pointing out that in The Man Who was Thursday and The Napoleon of Notting Hill he gave us two of the most emotionally charged plots in the twentieth century..."
[Source- Wisdom and Innocence, p. 90]

As I have a signed copy (that is a funny story, for another post) of Wisdom and Innocence, maybe I should get around to reading it now. You can borrow it when I'm done Terry.

Do also see John Smeaton's blog for how to complain to the BBC and ideas of what to say.

Prayers For SSPX

[Considering the signs], Messa in Latino [joined now by Rorate Caeli and, we hope, by all of you, in your churches, chapels, families, prayer groups] takes the liberty of begging all to join in prayer during the entire Pentecost Octave, invoking Almighty God:

That the Fraternity of Saint Pius X may be granted an official position within the Church.

For this intention, under the advice and with the approval of priests who collaborate with Messa in Latino, from Pentecost Sunday to Trinity Sunday, we ask all to say this prayer:

VENI, Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium, et tui amoris in eis ignem accende.

V. Emitte Spiritum tuum et creabuntur;
R. Et renovabis faciem terrae.
Oremus:
DEUS, qui corda fidelium Sancti Spiritus illustratione docuisti: da nobis in eodem Spiritu recta sapere, et de eius semper consolatione gaudere. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

COME, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray:
O GOD, Who taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that, by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be always truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

And to offer their daily rosary for this intention.

We invite Priests to please add this intention to their personal memento at Holy Mass.

Chesterton Quote Found At Last!

GKC Conference & Pilgrimage and lots of people who can remember things they have read by him, and tell you where they read them! Oh help! While I may be Chesterton's biggest fan, lets go by weight, I've read less than half the books he wrote and remember nothing! I have spent years however telling GKC's story about a gate across a road, but could not remember which book it came from, and sometimes would wonder if it was not Belloc's story instead.

So in absolute fear of meeting anyone who has read a lot of GKC, I turned to my secretary and sent her to London to get me some books! (Sorry in-joke, St Aquinas would get it). So I'm now reading The Thing by GKC, for the first time. Then I find the following at the start of the chapter, The Drift From Domesticity;

IN the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."

This paradox rests on the most elementary common sense. The gate or fence did not grow there. It was not set up by somnambulists who built it in their sleep. It is highly improbable that it was put there by escaped lunatics who were for some reason loose in the street. Some person had some reason for thinking it would be a good thing for somebody. And until we know what the reason was, we really cannot judge whether the reason was reasonable. It is extremely probable that we have overlooked some whole aspect of the question, if something set up by human beings like ourselves seems to be entirely meaningless and mysterious. There are reformers who get over this difficulty by assuming that all their fathers were fools; but if that be so, we can only say that folly appears to be a hereditary disease.

The hard thing about quoting Chesterton for me is that I want to quote the whole book! This quote is great, I have used it to defend many many things, be it Altar Rails, Communion on the tongue, Adoration, The Old Rite Mass or the Old Rite Mass!

Chesterton Conference 2nd July 2011

A one day conference to be held on Saturday July 2, 2011, at the Catholic Chaplaincy, St Aldates, Oxford, at 10 a.m.

For directions, see the Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy website

The speakers will be Lynette Burrows, Dale Ahlquist (of EWTN fame), Father Ian Ker and Dr William Oddie.

Chesterton, wrote his brother Cecil, ‘is primarily . . . the preacher of a definite message to his own time. He is using all the power which his literary capacity gives him to lead the age in a certain direction.’

‘The very sound of his name’, the historian Sir Arthur Bryant put it at the time when he died in 1936, ‘is like a trumpet call.… If any literary name of our age becomes a legend, it will be his…. He was the kind of man of whom Bunyan was thinking when he drew the picture of Mr. Greatheart.’

His premature death was seen as the stilling of a prophetic voice at a time when it was desperately needed: Eliot wrote of his sense of loss at Chesterton's ‘disappearance from a world such as that we live in.’

By the end of the last century, his prophetic voice was being rediscovered. Chesterton’s distaste for state socialism, his suspicion of monopoly capitalism, and his support for the independence from imperial domination of small nations like Poland had once more become understood as being at the centre of Catholic thinking, and they were validated by the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the Soviet bloc.

His anti-modernism was paralleled by Pope John Paul’s counter-revolution against the theological liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s, a liberalism even more powerful (as it had also been during the first decade of the century) within Protestantism; here, too, Chesterton’s transcendentalist arguments against the immanentism of his own day seems almost uncannily prescient.

Chesterton’s ideas on on marriage and the family, on eugenics, above all on the dignity of the human person and the central importance of the defence of free will in a determinist age, all became uncannily relevant to the world of the twenty-first century.

The conference on July 2 will explore this new understanding of Chesterton as a prophet for our own times.

Application Form

Simply print out and post this straightforward form.

This is from the Chesterton Society

Don't forget the Chesterton Pilgrimage 14th June.

Cardinal Burke And All That

So Cardinal Burke is not coming to England (again). Was this the fault of any English Bishop, Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, the Cardinal himself or my four year old son and myself? When I find out, I shall be very cross and make the said culprit come round and explain to my son, why he will not now be meeting the Cardinal!

In the mean while please do start saying the following Litany daily, you can order a printed copy or ten from HLI. And don't forget to sign up to say the Rosary for Cardinal Burke and any other Bishop you like or dislike!

A LITANY ON BEHALF OF BISHOPS
Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us.
Christ hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven and earth, pray for us.
St. Joseph, Protector of Holy Mother Church, pray for us.
St Michael, all Archangels, special servants of Bishops, pray for us.
St John the Baptist, Herald of the Lord, pray for us.
St Peter, pray for us.
St Paul, pray for us.
St Andrew, pray for us.
St John, pray for us.
St Thomas, pray for us.
St James, pray for us.
St Philip, pray for us.
St Bartholomew, pray for us.
St Matthew, pray for us.
St James, pray for us.
St Simon, pray for us.
St Thaddeus, pray for us.
St Barnabas, pray for us.
St Matthias, pray for us.
O Holy Apostles, our first Bishops, we beg your intercession on behalf of your successors;

St Thomas Becket, pray for us.
St Blaise, pray for us.
St Boniface, pray for us.
St Cyprian, pray for us.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, pray for us.
St. Irenaeus, pray for us.
St John Fisher, pray for us.
St. Polycarp, pray for us.
All martyred Bishops; pray for us.

St Athanasius, pray for us.
St Alphosus Liguori, pray for us.
St Ambrose, pray for us.
St Anslem, pray for us.
St Augustine, pray for us.
St Basil and Gregory Nazianzen pray for us
St Bonaventure, pray for us.
St Cyril of Alexandria, pray for us.
St Cyril of Jerusalem, pray for us.
St Francis De Sales, pray for us.
St Hilary, pray for us.
St Isadore of Seville, pray for us.
St Peter Chrsologus, pray for us.
St Peter Damian, pray for us.
St Robert Bellarmine, pray for us.
All Bishops-Doctors of the Church, pray for us.

St Albert the Great, pray for us.
St Ansgar, pray for us.
St Charles Borromeo, pray for us.
St Ildephonsus, pray for us.
St Methodius, pray for us.
St Nicolas, pray for us.
St Norbert, pray for us.
St Patrick, pray for us.
St Richard, pray for us.
Sts. Timothy and Titus, pray for us.
St William, pray for us.
St Wulfran, pray for us.
All Bishops who have spread the light of Christ; pray for us.

St Leo the Great, pray for us.
St Pius V, pray for us.
St Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.
St Pius X, pray for us.
All Saints who have helped further the Faith through teaching, pray for us.

That all bishops will maintain complete obedience to the Holy Father, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will remain faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will defend the Faith and moral teachings of the Church, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will uphold the true teachings of the Ecumenical Councils, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will allow and defend all duly authorised Rites of the Mass, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will staunchly defend the unborn, the elderly, the sick and all defenceless people, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will provide for true and complete education of the Faith for all souls in their care, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will exercise the powers of their office to defend the faithful against heretics, apostates, and false prophets and teachers, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will use their authority and powers to correct errors and falsehoods, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will stand up for the rights of the Church when infringed upon by the State, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will develop a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will be living examples of the virtues, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will look to their saintly predecessors as examples of how they should carry out their vocations, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will encourage true vocations to the priesthood and religious life, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will boldly proclaim the message of Our Lady of Fatima, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will concentrate their energies more on the spiritual than on the material needs of the faithful, we beseech Thee, hear us.
That all bishops will teach and preach the truth of Humanae Vitae and Familiaris Consortio.

O God, look with favour on Thy servants, Thy bishops, whom Thou hast appointed as teachers and defenders of Thy faithful here on earth. Grant that by word and example they may assist those over whom they have been placed, so that shepherds and flocks may together attain everlasting life, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

First Anniversary Of The Death Of The Pill (tablet)

A year ago today The Pill died as a Catholic magazine when it went public with a pro-abortion edition.

GK Chesterton Novena Starts Sunday 5th June

GK Chesterton died on the 14th June 1936, so please say the following prayer, with an Our Father, Hail Mary and a Glory be, each day, starting on Sunday, leading upto this 75th Anniversary. For printable prayercards.

God Our Father, Thou didst fill the life of Thy servant Gilbert Keith Chesterton with a sense of wonder and joy, and gave him a faith which was the foundation of his ceaseless work, a charity towards all men, particularly his opponents, and a hope which sprang from his lifelong gratitude for the gift of human life. May his innocence and his laughter, his constancy in fighting for the Christian faith in a world losing belief, his lifelong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and his love for all men, especially for the poor, bring cheerfulness to those in despair, conviction and warmth to lukewarm believers and the knowledge of God to those without faith. We beg Thee to grant the favours we ask through his intercession, for end of abortion [and especially for ……] so that his holiness may be recognized by all and the Church may
proclaim him Blessed. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
www.Catholicgkchestertonsociety.co.uk

Happy Feast Of The Ascension

The Gospel being read at Mass at Good Counsel today. Father Leworthy FSSP was the Priest, Conor was serving. I took the photo, having finally worked out how to turn the flash off first! For another photo see Maria Stops Abortion.

Chesterton Answers Clifford Longley

Clifford Longley's reaction to our prayercard.

"Thou didst fill the life of Thy servant.." etc

Dost thou really thinkest of God as a 17th century English nobleman? Would GKC think so? This is beyond parody...!

Clifford Longley

Chesterton Answers Clifford Longley

"To the pagan ... the small things are as sweet as the small brooks breaking out of the mountain; but the broad things are as bitter as the sea. When the pagan looks at the very core of the cosmos he is struck cold. Behind the gods, who are merely despotic, sit the fates, who are deadly . . . It is profoundly true that the ancient world was more modern than the Christian. The common bond is in the fact that ancients and moderns have both been miserable about existence, about everything, while mediaevals were happy about that at least. I freely grant that the pagans, like the moderns, were only miserable about everything – they were quite jolly about everything else. I concede that the Christians of the Middle Ages were only at peace about everything – they were at war about everything else."

Deerstalker tip to The Catholic GK Chesterton Society for this post.

Don't forget the Anual GK Chesterton Pilgrimage 14th June.

Annual GK Chesterton Pilgrimage

The Annual GK Chesterton Pilgrimage will take place on Tuesday 14th June. I say 'annual', but I'm not sure there has been one before. I had the idea while reading Dr William Oddie's Introduction to the book, The Holiness of GK Chesterton. "Have we now, seventy-three (now 75) years after Chesterton's death, reached a kind of tipping point in his reputation, of the same kind that Newman's reputation reached, leading to the opening of his cause in 1959, seventy-eight years after his death?" Well, yes I think so. The 75th anniversary of Chesterton's death seems like a good day to start.

On my way to work today I started to doubt if it was a good idea, or even if it was a good idea, should I call it? Then at lunch time Peter a volunteer at Good Counsel gave me his GK Chesterton Society Tie! So on Tuesday 14th June me and my Family will travel to Beaconsfield (Local Parish) to say the Prayer for the Beatification of GK Chesterton and the Rosary at his graveside, have lunch and who knows what else. Final details will be posted here by Friday (10th June) evening (Much later than planned. But we will just do the above, 12noon at the grave. This is in part due to Deanery meetings stopping some Priests attending. Also Paul has gone for a stroll in France, so will not be leading a group from Harrow on bicycles after all. Oh well if a thing is worth doing it is worth doing badly! Next year......). If you are unable to join us please do say the Prayer.

The Pro-Life Talk On Wednesday

Monsignor Philip J Reilly, the founder of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants will be in London on Wednesday. He will be giving a talk at St James' Church, Spanish Place, 22 George Street, London, W1U 3QY, on Wednesday 18th May 2011 at 7.30pm.

The number of babies, as well as Mothers & Fathers saved from the horrors of abortion by God's Grace, through this Priest is amazing. Should we go to the abortuary and pray? What should we do when we are there? Do Bishops and Priests need to go? Will me going really make a dfference? Over years I've heard Monsingor answer all of this and much more besides.

Deerstalker tip to Maria Stops Abortion. Photo is of Bishop Hopes of Westminster praying at an abortuary just last month.

John Smeaton (SPUC) Added To My Blog Roll

I have added John Smeaton's blog to my blog roll (see below) as he does not come ahead of Maria Stops Abortion alphabetically! But also because I so often think to reprint his posts here, and have done so from time to time. While I do not agree with everything he says, I can say that you need to read his posts if you are Pro-Life.

His blog is also, I believe, one of only 4 blogs to support Bishop Hopes going to pray outside the abortuary in Twickenham. We read much criticism of Bishops here in blogland, and rightly so some of the time, but praise where praise is due. (Pray The Rosary for a Bishop)

You can read his Biography on his blog, but just to add to it, the photo of him here (on the right), is of him praying outside marie stopes abortuary in Central London, with Good Counsel as part of the daily vigil.

Eight Former Anglicans Ordained To Diaconate

At the request of Monsignor Keith Newton, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and in his presence, Bishop John Hine, Auxillary Bishop of Southwark, Ordained eight former Anglicans to the Diaconate on Saturday 7 May 2011. The Ordinations took place during a Mass in the Relic Chapel at The Friars, Aylesford.

The new Deacons Ordained for the Ordinariate are: Reverends Ivan Aquilina, Stephen Bould, Simon Heans, Nicholas Leviseur, Christopher Lindlar, Christopher Pearson and Edward Tomlinson who hope to be ordained to the Priesthood by Archbishop Peter Smith in Southwark Cathedral on Saturday, 4 June 2011, and James Bradley, who will minister as a Deacon for a year.

Further Ordinations to the Diaconate have taken place across the country. Further information can be found at the Ordinariate website here and the blog here.

Non Catholics reading this should also see How Old Is Your Church?

'Welsh' Catholic Perspective On Darwinism And Creation

Family Life International workshop on Creation vs. Darwinism. This will be held in the
Hinsley Rooms Near Westminster Cathedral, Morpeth Terrace London SW1P. Saturday 14th May 1.30-5.30pm.

The presenters will include Hugh Owen (his Father was born in Pontypool, South Wales) and Dr. Thomas. H. Seile from the Kolbe Centre.

The workshop team will be considering the topic from a Scriptural point of view, What the Early Fathers of the Church believed and from a scientific point of view.

This event will be of Special interest to RE and Science Teachers as well as Students, however all are invited, but places are limited.

There will be a large amount of resource available for those who have a serious interest in the subject.

If you are interested in attending please register as soon as possible to confirm your place or call us on 02088579950, conference@flionline.org, www.flionline.org.

Additional information

The idea of evolution suggests that all natural species have one common ancestor, or a few of them, and that over very many generations a continuous gradual change produced the diversity of all biological species observed today. It suggests a development from simple life forms to more complex ones, introducing a multitude of new organs and functional structures which did not exist in the beginning. According to this concept, purely natural processes, mainly mutation and natural selection, are the driving forces that bring about a gradual evolution towards more complex life.

However, the results of scientific examinations in different research areas delivered no proof for the theory of evolution. On the other hand, the most basic natural law, the absence of evolving organs and logical considerations deliver proof of the contrary and lead to the conclusion that evolution did not happen and can never happen. Natural species are not connected by common descent. Within the framework of their natural variability they have always been the same since their origin - an origin which cannot be attributed to any observable or reproducible natural process

Old Rite Mass This Friday For Good Counsel

There will be an Old Rite Mass organised by the Latin Mass Society, on Friday 13th May at 6.30pm at Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane, London. This Mass is offered for the work of the Good Counsel Network.

Six Former Anglicans Ordained To Diaconate

On Friday 6th May 2011 6 former Anglicans were Ordained as Transitional Deacons in the Catholic Church. Gordon Adam, Peter Andrews, Tim Bugby, Antony Homer, James Patrick and Mark Elliott Smith were Ordained by Bishop Hopes (a former Anglican himself) at Our Lady of Victories Church in Kensington.

They will be Ordianed as Priests at Pentecost. Each belongs to a group of clergy and lay people who aim to form personal parishes as part of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. The three groups at the moment are from Hemel Hempstead, North London (Enfield) and Central London.

Further Ordinations to the Diaconate have taken place across the country. Further information can be found at the Ordinariate website here and the blog here.

This comes from here

I May Have To Stop Hitting Some Young Twits Now!

Having jumped joyfully (dragged kicking & screaming) into the 21st century, I must admit, I haven't a clue! Since I have a blog & a mobile phone, some youngsters seem to think that I may know what they are talking about, but for the last year or so I've been knocking out the teeth etc of many a young one who said, "You are a Twit dear!" Only my Wife can talk to me like that!

But it now transpires that they were in fact saying, "Are you on Twitter?", well, all except Declan no doubt. It was one day last week when a youngster asked me if you can get Twitter on my type of phone that it hit me and all started coming back to me. "Yes" I said slowly, "in fact I have it on my phone." I set it up months ago and have never looked at it and never put anything on it! So I've had a look now and I'm following Good Counsel and have now added my Wife & SPUC.

I shall now start using Twitter.......... to overthrow the next government that looks sideways at me or something! Worse than that, while typing this post, I got an email to inform me that, SPUC are now following me! Dash it all, I'll have to tweet or something now!

Please Pray For My Dead Nan

Today is the first anniversary of the death of Sarah Ward, my Grandmother (Nan). She was an Ulster (Northern Ireland) protestant, a methodist in fact. She had quite a hard life, moving a number of times as a small child, as her Father went in search of work.

I remember wondering how to tell her, at Christmas 1996, that I had just been Baptised as a Catholic the week before! I was not expecting it to go down too well, but while sitting in her flat in Cardiff thinking of what to say, she told me the most amazing thing. "I remember the Priest (Catholic) trying to come to our house in Kent when your Great Grandfather, my Dad, died. We told him to get back on his bike or we would throw a bucket of water at him!" I asked her why would the Catholic Priest come? And she told me that, "It was very sad, but Dad became a Catholic six months before he died, but he didn't have the chance to get the rest of us though!" I laughed, as I was so happy with the start of the story, and my Nan 'knew' then. She had spent 29 years telling me that I was just like my Great Grandfather! So I just said, "And me last week!" She replied, "I know, you're just like him".

She had mellowed over the years and was fine about it, to the point that when her Bible was stolen while in hospital, she asked me to get her a new one, knowing beyond doubt that it would be a Catholic Bible, and it was.

One of the last memories I have of my Nan, was arriving at the hospital a week or two before she died when no one else was there. Although she was 'totally out of it' I told her I was going to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for her, she said just two words after me at one point, 'Our Father'. Well I cried and carried on.

It is one of the hard things about being a convert, when someone dies on your side of the Family, very few Masses & prayers will be offered for the repose of their souls.

So do say a prayer for my Nan. Thanks.

"My Dad Ran International Planned Parenthood"

On Saturday 7th May, Hugh Owen the convert son of Sir David Owen, a former Secretary General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation will speak at the HLI Pro-Life Conference in London. Hugh directs the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation which provides a forum for Catholic theologians, philosophers, and natural scientists throughout the world. The Kolbe Center is dedicated to make available to Church leaders and to the laity the evidence for and against the theory of evolution. His talk entitled Evolution and the Culture of Death should be of great interest to us all.

If you are unable to come to Westminster Cathedral Hall on Saturday 7th May, contact HLI for details of how to buy the talks on CD/DVD.

Deerstalker tip to Good Counsel

Blessed John Paul's Prayer For Life

O Mary,
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause of life
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.

Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.

Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Taken from Evangelium Vitae