ELEISON COMMENTS DCCCLIII (Nov. 18, 2023) : CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
In recent years many souls have been squirrelling away food and water in anticipation of severe shortages deliberately designed to starve us all into submission. It is a reasonable concern, and anybody who has not yet acted in this direction might be well advised to do so. Yet how much more important is the soul than the body – what about laying in provisions for the mind and soul ? Let us reflect for a moment.
Alas, the Third World War seems to be coming closer and closer, even nuclear war. It is not a pleasant thought, but it is no use hiding our heads in the sand. The electricity in our houses could easily be cut off and the satellites carrying the Internet could easily be knocked out of the sky. It is difficult today to tell exactly what form the chaos will take, but at a given moment there may be little or nothing left of the many luxuries we have enjoyed on a long and steady rise ever since since World War II. God gave to the world peace in 1945, and men responded for about five years, but then they turned away from God and only mocked Him the more, which led directly to the brink of Armageddon on which we live today. But God is not outwitted by men. There is a huge bill to pay for our sins. It will be paid.
Then what can I do to prepare for some dark days at home in the near future ? Steady family prayer is certainly the most important, with the father of the family leading the prayer, but next after prayer might come reading. Books depend neither on electricity nor on satellites, they are always there, they are always the same. They are much better for the mind than electronic media, because the mind is obliged to do that much more work on its own. Unlike the couch potato, the reader cannot just let programs wash over him, with a book he has to engage himself. So there will even be some advantages to the foreseeable chaos.
What to read ? There is a Catholic Resistance bookseller, based in Florida, who has a valuable list of books for sale which should help to strengthen the faith of many a soul in the darkest of days. None of us can tell for how much longer parcel post will be functioning across the Atlantic Ocean, but while there is what looks like being a real opportunity to read, order for yourself, to give to somebody else in the family for Christmas, any one of the volumes listed below. The bookseller’s name is Hugh Akins. His email address is : hughakins@comcast.net; website: http://www.ca-rc.com; Postal address: CARC P.O. Box 678047, Orlando FL. 32867, USA. The following postage-paid costs include media mail anywhere in the USA. For the cost on foreign orders, email the list of books and quantity desired along with the full shipping address. You will hear back from us promptly. We accept checks, Postal money orders or Paypal. All orders ship within 24 hours.
The Voice of the Trumpet – Dr David Allen White’s 2019 biography of Bishop Williamson, the last-standing of the original Society of St Pius X bishops to hold fast in the fight for the Faith in the uncompromising spirit of the Society’s founder, Archbishop Lefebvre. $26.95
The Rector’s Letters – four volumes of monthly letters written between 1983 and 2003 by Bishop Williamson when he was Rector of Ridgefield and Winona Seminaries. Hugh Akins calls the Letters “a goldmine of timeless information, inspiration, insightful commentaries and invaluable exhortations to
seminarians, clergy and laity alike”. $99 for the complete set, available separately from the website.
Eleison Comments – Three volumes by Bishop Williamson of weekly letters written between 2005 and 2019. Hugh Akins again: “A treasury invaluable to all who would help restore Catholic traditions to the Church, and Catholic sanity to both Church and world.” $89.95 for the set, but also available separately.
Conclusion: today’s world is so far from God that it makes less sense than ever. The grave temptation is to bend the Catholic religion right out of shape to fit the modern world. That is to abandon God and all hope of salvation. The “Letters” and “Comments” present a true synthesis, to keep the true faith.
Kyrie eleison.
“Letters” and “Comments” present one Catholic Truth
In all its life and balance, hope and youth.