July 30, 2021

Throwing Down the Gauntlet

Brigand and His Wife in Prayer (1824)
Léopold Robert, the Met Fifth Avenue

Meglio na buona morte
ca na mala vita.
1

A good friend recently informed me that I come off as too dour and humorless in my latest editorials, which considering my usually sunny disposition, seemed very out of character to him. While I don’t believe I ever shied away from unpleasant topics before, the dearth of cultural events due to the ongoing lockdowns has afforded me few opportunities to write about less weighty topics. If anything, considering how mind-numbingly stupid society has become, I think I’ve been too restrained with my criticisms. 


It goes without saying, our coverage will broaden as society opens up again. This, of course, doesn’t mean when things “go back to normal,” because after the year we were just subjected to, we are never going back to “normal.” Anyone who believes otherwise is simply deluding themselves. Our current masters have no intention of relinquishing their ill-gotten gains. 


Even if that were an option, the very notion of returning to the pre-Covid status quo of pretending everything is just fine and dandy while our liberties are gradually eroded is just not acceptable. 


Naturally, our more celebratory posts about masses, feasts, et cetera, should not be seen as a form of escapism—quite the opposite. They should be viewed as a blatant affront to our adversaries who would have us live insipid and meaningless lives consumed with material and base pursuits. These religious and cultural celebrations are by their very nature acts of defiance showing that we won’t be easily cowed or betray who we are.


Doubling down on what we’ve written in previous posts, by living well ordered lives, celebrating our culture and practicing our faith, we are actively resisting the specious allure of globalization, newly rebranded as “the Great Reset,” or “Build Back Better.” Something so simple as keeping our identity in the face of such great hostility is a rebellious and heroic path. It is the very antithesis of the cultural leveling and social engineering being imposed on us by power hungry madmen hell bent on world domination. 


Wading through the crumbling debris of our civilization, who in their right mind believes materialist uniformity and virulent secularism is progress? Under the guise of the common good, the rootless and atomized masses slavishly cling to effete, mechanized and sterile lifestyles for paltry baubles, fleeting gratification, and crushing debt. It’s long past time to break the insidious chains of modernity.

 

Considering the amount of drivel being churned out by the news and entertainment apparat, detachment gets easier by the day. Crass and offensive, the bread is stale and the circuses are banal. The fourth estate is a fifth column. Subversive to the core, Hollywood, big tech, and mainstream media march in lockstep. Put down your phones, turn off the monitors and tune out the infernal din.


Not limited to mass communication, the rot has spread to all aspects of our society. Politics, education and finance are all in the toilet. Art, fashion, music, and sports have been utterly debased. Perversion and drugs are ubiquitous. Churlish dolts run amok online while state sanctioned criminals run riot on the streets without consequences. In complete moral decline, we are witnessing the last days of Rome—American style. All that remains is the imminent collapse.


I know I painted a bleak picture, but all is not lost. In these days of confusion and uncertainty, we don’t have to sit quietly or in fear, especially if we unite our hardships with Christ. These evils, in one form or another, have always existed and like it or not they always will exist. Utopia is a pernicious lie fabricated to dupe the weak-minded and cowardly. Pain and suffering are a part of life. The difference is today, with the loss of faith, people are morally unprepared to deal with them. We have succumbed to temptation and lost our way. In order to truly revivify our society, a spiritual life is imperative. Live a life of prayer and reparation, deliverance from evil lies with our Lord and Savior.


It goes without saying, along with faith we need reason and action. At the risk of sounding overly simplistic and a bit repetitive, learn to live modestly and enjoy the simple things. Don’t get bogged down with counterproductive or trivial matters. Whenever possible, withdraw from the rat race, refuse to participate in the perfidy, and form pockets of old-world civilization in our homes, businesses, and churches. Forge bonds with like-minded people and support those willing to fight the good fight. Start families and if possible, homeschool your children, or at the very least deprogram them of all the undesirable nonsense when they get home. In short, build a tight-knit Catholic community, one home at a time. 


I’m throwing down the gauntlet to all God-fearing men, myself included. Be steadfast and chivalrous. Defend the natural and supernatural order against the unrelenting scourge of corruption and decadence. Uphold the time-honored ways of our ancestors and find your raison d'être, a true purpose in life founded on the traditional guiding principles of faith, family and culture. Let’s be better men and look to the hearth, throne and altar once more. Viva Cristo Re!

~ Giovanni di Napoli, July 29th, Feast of Blessed Urban II


1) Better a good death than a bad life. ~ Neapolitan proverb

Lecture on Karl of Austria by Charles A. Coulombe at St. Thomas Apostle Church in Washington DC

July 29, 2021

New Book — Naples: Life, Places, Facts Through Historical Photographs

Forthcoming title that may be of interest to our readers. Available at Amazon.com

• Naples: Life, Places, Facts Through Historical Photographs by Stefano Benedetti


Publisher: Independently published

Publication Date: May 23, 2021

Paperback: $18.99

Language: English

Pages: 171


Read description


Click here to see more books


Listing does not imply endorsement

July 27, 2021

A Look at the 111th Annual Feast of Saint Ann in Hoboken, New Jersey

Sant'Anna, ora pro nobis
The ornate high altar inside Saint Ann's Church
After Mass, the Holy Name Society present St. Ann to the expectant crowd
The color guard leads the procession through the streets of Hoboken
The roisterous John Duke Band play our favorite festival songs
(Above & below) Members of the St. Ann's Guild
A good time was had by all
The procession wends its way through the neighborhood
The Company Kafé offered us refreshing drinks, watermelon & cookies
Failla Memorial Home generously handed out water, cookies & sandwiches
The procession arrives at the Madonna Dei Martiri clubhouse
The Society had plenty of delicious focaccia and cold water for everyone
The procession Arrives at the Monte San Giacomo clubhouse
San Giacomo greets Good Saint Ann
San Giacomo joins the procession
(Above & below) We briefly stopped by St. Francis' Church and venerated several saints, including the Madonna Dei Martiri and San Rocco
Stained glass windows depicting the Mater Dolorosa and Santa Lucia
Shrines to St. Marianne Cope and Our Lady of the Rosary
(Above & below) The procession continues past St. Ann's Church
A highlight of the day, we stopped by the Santa Febronia Chapel
Fr. Salvatori tolls the chapel's bell
The Madonna di Tindari and Santa Febronia
Outdoor shrines to Sant'Anna
After the procession, the statues are returned to the church
Back at St. Ann's Church, the statues are placed before the altar
(L) During Mass, I got to sit beneath two of my favorites patrons.
(R) After Mass, I visited the church's many statues and windows
After confession, I followed the priest's advice and fulfilled my penance beneath the statues of San Michele and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
After the benediction, we returned to the Monte San Giacomo Clubhouse
Revelers were treated to delicious roast beef and pepper sandwiches
Returning to the fairgrounds we met up with some good friends
and enjoyed some homemade wine
John Duke played a few more ditties

Photo of the Week: The Martyrdom of San Pantaleone, Cappella di San Pantaleone, Duomo di Ravello

The Martyrdom of San Pantaleone (1638) by Gerolamo Imperiali,
the Cappella di San Pantaleone, Duomo di Ravello

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

July 26, 2021

Celebrating the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost and the Feasts of San Giacomo il Maggiore and San Cristoforo

Páteant azures misericórdiæ tuæ, Dómine, précibus supplicántium: et ut peténtibus desideráta concédas; fac Eos, quæ tibi sunt plácita, postuláre. Per Dóminum. ~ Collect 1 

Sunday morning members of the Fratelli della Santa Fede (Brothers of the Holy Faith) gathered at the packed Shrine Church of the Holy Innocents (128 West 37th St.) in Manhattan for both the 9:00 am Tridentine Low Mass and the 10:30 am Tridentine High Mass for the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost and the Feasts of San Giacomo il Maggiore and San Cristoforo Martire. Our Pastor Fr. James Miara was the Celebrant at both. 


During the High Mass, Fr. Miara was dutifully assisted by fourteen servers, and cantor and organist Pedro d’Aquino. Following the Gospel, he consecrated a parishioner to the Guardian Angel.

After coffee hour, many of us returned to the church for the final day of the novena and candlelight Eucharistic procession in honor of Sant’Anna, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary and grandmother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We prayed the Most Holy Rosary, Memorare to St. AnneAct of Consecration to St. Anne and Invocations. The novena concluded with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.



1) Let Thy merciful ears. O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy suppliant people: and that Thou mayest grant their desire to those that seek, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee. Through our Lord.

July 19, 2021

Celebrating the Eighth Sunday After Pentecost and the Feast of San Camillo de Lellis

Prayer cards for San Michele, Sant'Anna and San Camillo

O glorious St. Camillus, special patron of the sick, thou who for forty years, with truly heroic charity, didst devote thyself to the relief of their temporal and spiritual necessities, be pleased to assist them now even more generously since thou art blessed in heaven and they have been committed by Holy Church to thy powerful protection. Obtain for them from Almighty God the healing of all their maladies, or, at least, the spirit of Christian patience and resignation that may sanctify them and comfort them in the hour of their passing to eternity; at the same time obtain for us the precious grace of living and dying after thine example in the practice of divine love. Amen.

Following Pope Francis’ draconian motu proprio restrictions on the Latin Mass, I’m making it a point to start writing about our Traditional parish again. To be clear we never stopped attending the Latin Mass, we just felt that those posts were getting a bit formulaic and monotonous, which is an admission of my own limited writing skills and not a reflection on the beauty and grandeur of the Mass or our church devotions. 


* * *

Largire nobis, quǽumas, Dómine, semper spíritum cogitándi quæ recta sunt, propítius et agéndi: ut, qui sine te esse non póssumus, secúndum te vívere valeámus. Per Dóminum. ~ Collect 1

Sunday morning members of the Fratelli della Santa Fede (Brothers of the Holy Faith) gathered at the packed Shrine Church of the Holy Innocents (128 West 37th St.) in Manhattan for both the 9:00 am Tridentine Low Mass and the 10:30 am Tridentine High Mass for the Eighth Sunday After Pentecost and the Feast of San Camillo de Lellis. Our Pastor Fr. James Miara was the Celebrant at both.


At the conclusion of the Low Mass, Fr. Miara enrolled over fifty people in the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and reminded us of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s promise:

“Take this Scapular, it shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger and a pledge of peace. Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” 

Our Lady further says: 

“Wear it devoutly and perseveringly. It is my garment. To be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of me, and I in turn, am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life.”
Arriving early in the morning, we were greeted by
Most Precious Blood's new statue of San Michele

Prior to the High Mass, Father blessed the Church’s newly acquired statue of San Michele Arcangelo from Peru. 


During the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, he was dutifully assisted by ten servers, and cantor and organist Pedro d’Aquino.

(Above & below) A few members of our Holy Innocents family

Catching up with friends outside and at coffee hour, we returned to church for the Rosary and novena devotions with Memorare to St. Anne, Act of Consecration to St. Anne and Invocations. We had the great honor and privilege of carrying the statue during the solemn candlelight Eucharistic procession around the nave. The novena to Sant'Anna concluded with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Temporary shrine to Sant'Anna and processional statue

Candlelight Eucharistic procession with ombrellino around the nave

Getting reacquainted with our Magna Graecian roots, we enjoyed a delicious Greek dinner at Meze restaurant (6601 13th Ave.) in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.

Stuffed grape leaves
Spanakopita (spinach pie)
Ohtapodi (marinated and char-grilled octopus)
Kalamarakia sta karvouna (char-grilled squid)
Loukanika (sausage)
New Zealand lamb chops
Lemon potatoes
Baklava cheese cake
Rizogalo (rice pudding)
We enjoyed Greek beer with dinner and ouzo and espresso for dessert
Afterward, we walked off our meal will a leisurely stroll around the old neighborhood, briefly stopping by the San Pio da Pietrelcina shrine outside the Basilica of Regina Pacis (1230 65th St.).

Outdoor shrine to San Pio outside the Basilica of Regina Pacis

1) Graciously grant to us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful: that we, who cannot exist without Thee, may be enabled to live according to Thy will. Through our Lord.