What we have here is failure to communicate

by Nate Beeler

Getting truth from a liar.

by Eric Allie

The truth will be the exact opposite.

Videos: More than half million at Beck's Restore Honor Rally

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, broadcaster Glenn Beck has told a crowd of tens of thousands of people gathering on the National Mall that their country has "wandered in darkness" for too long. (Aug. 28)
If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/videos-more-than-half-million-at-becks.html

Video: Pope scrapped plan to build convent in Auswitch. Questions about mosque.

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-pope-scrapped-plan-to-build.html
A group would like to build a mosque near Ground Zero. Andrew has a few reasonable questions for our muslim friends. He hopes he can get them answered before some jihadi psycopath murders us all.

Sheik razed his palatial home to sympathize with parent of drowning victim.

An Arab sheik, Prince Nasir, razed his patatial home out of respect for the sensibilities of an American consultant whose son drowned in the pool during a party.  The consultant was Matt Damon and that incident was a scene from the movie Syriana.  It would be nice for the supporters of the Ground Zero to see that then maybe, just maybe then will understand how to sympathize or empathize.  Then again, I don't think they give a flying rat's ass as the mosque is meant to symbolize the creeping domination of Islam.  It could not be otherwise because if they put themselves for 2 seconds in a victim's shoes, they would see how heinous and ignominious marking the field of blood with the symbol of the murderers is.

Video: Why our congresspersons went AWOL this Summer. Funny.

The American people deserve the chance to hear from and talk to their elected officials directly. It's appalling that Members of Congress won't meet with their constituents. Citizens need to hold Congress accountable. It's time to tell Congress to show up at home.

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-why-our-congresspersons-went-awol.html

Islams 9-11 trophy in Shanksville, Pennsylvania for the victims of Flight 93

Remember that other 9-11 crash site in PA?  Here's their trophy mark there.  (h/t to Creative Minority Report)


Read more at http://michellemalkin.com/2005/09/10/flight-93-memorial-seeing-is-believing/

/09/10/flight-93-memorial-seei

ng-is-believing/

 The way this cow dung is framed to qualify as freedom of religion is more twisted than a pretzel. They urinate on our feet then tell us that it is raining and have the media report it as such. And we let them. I guess we have no choice because they have their gangsters in the highest offices of our land who protect them and make laws in the same way i.e. piss then call it rain. It is just one bad ars mistake America. And Democrats side with the Muslims who are the victims in all this. This is FUBAR! I am not for persecuting them but neither am I for letting them erect their trophies and carve out their symbols in the fields of the victims blood. Perhaps we need more frothing in the mouth because without emotion, there is no action.

Winning the struggle against impurity

Every year, my wife takes the kids away for 2 weeks to her sister’s camp. And every year, I face the same demon named porn who tempts me to masturbation.  I met "this guy" back in high-school and I almost went blind. But when I entered the seminary in college, I was able to control it – even when I came home for break.  So, I recalled my regimen then and followed it. And, it has been 10 days and I am still the king of my castle. I am sharing this because I’ve seen pleas from those who are being oppressed by porn addiction and I hope it will help.

Supernatural ways:
First, there’s grace. I attend the 7 am Mass and receive Communion - daily. During the weekend, I go to Confession. When I drive, I pray the Rosary and listen to inspirational tapes. The last set was from Fr. Groeshel.  Because without spiritual nourishment, how can one fight a spiritual disease?

Natural ways:
By that I mean, things under my control. It’s hard to pray oneself out of a temptation; it’s easier to stay away from it. It’s like, it is more difficult to think oneself into a new way of acting than to act oneself into a new way of thinking.

Work:
Rather than surf the web during the weekend and pray, I got up and shopped at IKEA. An easel for $14 and a bookcase for $30 will keep my hands occupied. St. John Bosco taught that idleness is the workshop of the devil. So, I stay busy. I didn’t have to make up work because the past rainy days gave me a lot. The basement got flooded, there’s a pile of unfinished laundry and the grass grew. It was also opportune to explode roach foggers so, I have to empty cabinets and move stuff out of the way and back.

Temperance:
Back in the seminary, we didn’t have much to eat and we can’t eat anytime. In the same way, if you deprive the body of food, then it will crave for food first before all other carnal pleasures. Besides, I need to go on a diet anyway. So, I ate when I am hungry and limited my portions. I got cherries from Sam’s club because, those filled you up fast. I’m down to 186 from 200 lbs.

Relate:
Impure actions can also be a defense mechanism for an unmet need. If one is lonely, one compensates by stroking oneself – figuratively and literally. So, I’ve set up meetings after work. I visited my brothers. I’ve had Home Depot come over to fix the windows that they installed. I dropped off donations to a thrift shop. I conference the FIOS tech support to get my internet access back. I dropped off and picked up my laundry. I still have to get my bumpers painted at Maaco; they’re having a $149 special.

Have fun:
Again, if you’re sad, there’s a tendency to fill that pain. So I have fun. Fun is what you did that made you miss meals as a kid. I remember riding my trolley far away and feeling the wind as I rolled downhill. It’s just like driving, so I enjoyed the ride as drove to the Asian market where I bought those plum preserves that I liked so much as a boy. I also had lunch at the Filipino restaurant to have those dishes that took the whole morning to prepare and watch some shows while being surrounded by people. If you’re having a good time, the devil can’t really distract you. That is why the teenager saint, St. Dominic Savio, told the newbies in the youth center, “Here we make holiness consist in being cheerful always.”

Bottom line, if you struggle then God will help you succeed. Before all this started last week, I came across that video about a runner who tore a muscle but wanted to finish the race. His dad came down the bleachers and took him by the arm to run the course with him. I posted it below. It may have been just a coincidence. Then again, it may be God’s way to assuring anyone who struggles that He will be there to help him limp across the finish line.

41 stories re: Christian martyrs of Cordoba. ( That's the NY mosque name; so it is like "Auschwitz" for Nazi firing range. )

1.)  St. Perfectus
The first martyr of this age was the aptly-named priest Perfectus, who served at the basilica of St Acisclus, just outside the city walls of Cordoba. One day on his way to market he was stopped by a group of Muslims. Seeing that he was a priest, they asked him to explain his faith and to share with them his opinions about Christ and Muhammad. Fearing that he would only provoke his audience, Fr Perfectus declined. But when the Muslims swore to protect him, he proceeded, in Arabic, to denounce Muhammad as one of the false prophets foretold by Christ and as a moral reprobate who had seduced the wife of his kinsman.

Though angered, the Muslims respected their oaths and let Fr Perfectus go on his way. But a few days later the priest ran into some of the same group, who no longer felt constrained by their earlier promise. Seizing him, they took him before the magistrate and testified that he had disparaged Muhammad. As they led him to prison to wait out Ramadan, he realized that his fate was sealed and he repeat his denunciation of Islam. On Easter Sunday, 18 April 850, Fr Perfectus was beheaded before the crowds that had gathered to celebrate the end of their fast.

2.)  St. Isaac
The next, and probably most politically prominent, of the martyrs of Cordoba was Isaac. His noble birth and training in Arabic contributed to his rise within the local government to one of the highest positions to which a non-Muslim could aspire: that of secretary to the emir, or, as St Eulogius called him, exceptor republicae. Sometime later, he gave up his post and retired to the monastery at Tabanos, located in the mountains some seven miles north of Cordoba.

Isaac remained at Tabanos for three years. Then one day he left his retreat and returned to Cordoba. Approaching the emir’s palace where he had once been employed, he asked the Muslim magistrate for some instruction in the fine points of Islam. No sooner had the official begun to elaborate on the life of Muhammad when the monk stated that its ‘prophet’ was languishing in hell for misleading the Arabs.

The magistrate was dumbfounded. His first reaction was to hit Isaac, but he restrained himself when his counsellors reminded him that Islamic law protected the accused from physical harm prior to sentencing. At the suggestion that he must either be drunk or mad to disparage Islam in the presence of a magistrate, Isaac assured him that the ‘zeal of righteousness’ compelled him to speak out against Islam and that he was prepared to face martyrdom for his indiscretion. After arresting Isaac and reporting the case to the emir, Abderrahman II, the magistrate sentenced the monk. On 3 June 851, and aged only twenty-seven, Isaac was beheaded and suspended upside down for public viewing on the opposite bank of the river Guadalquivir. His body was then cremated and its ashes cast into the river.

3.)  St. Sanctius
Just two days after the monk’s death, a young Christian soldier, named Sanctius, was beheaded for the same crime. Born in Albi in southern France, Sanctius had been captured as a boy and raised to serve in the Cordoban army, perhaps in the palace guard established by the emir’s father.

4.)  Sts. Peter, Walabonsus, Sabinian, Wistremund, Habentius and Jeremiah
More explicit are the connections between Isaac and six Orthodox who were martyred forty-eight hours later. Peter, a priest from Ecija, thirty miles south-west of Cordoba, and the deacon Walabonsus from Elche on the south-east coast of Spain, had come to Cordoba to study. At the time of their deaths, they were serving in a convent dedicated to the Mother of God just west of Cordoba in the village of Cuteclara. Sabinian from Fronianus, a small mountain village twelve miles northwest of the city, and Wistremund, another native of Ecija, had recently entered the monastery of St. Zoilus, some thirty miles north of Cordoba. Joining these four were Habentius, a native Cordoban from St. Christopher’s monastery just down river from Cordoba, and Jeremiah, an elderly kinsman of Isaac and a founder of the monastery at Tabanos.

All six presented themselves together before the authorities and made their intentions and inspiration very clear: ‘We abide by the same confession, O magistrate, that our most holy brothers Isaac and Sanctius professed. Now hand down the sentence, multiply your cruelty, be kindled with complete fury in vengeance for your prophet. We profess Christ to be truly God and your prophet to be a precursor of Antichrist and an author of profane doctrine’. Their martyrdoms brought the total number to eight in less than a week.

As a result, the emir swiftly ordered the arrest and detention of all the clerical leadership of the local community, among them the priest Eulogius, the future chronicler of the heroic martyrdoms of the Cordoban Orthodox. It was in prison indeed that he managed to finish the first part of his three-part chronicle of the martyrs Memoriale sanctorum and that he composed his Documentum martyriale. The purpose of this latter work was to encourage the resolve of those who faced martyrdom.

5.)  St. Sisenandus
A month after the clergy had been imprisoned, three more Christians set out on the increasingly well-worn path to martyrdom. The deacon Sisenandus had, like Peter and Walabonsus, come to Cordoba to study, in his case from Beja, in the southwest corner of the peninsula. Inspired by their example and by a vision in which the two martyrs beckoned him to join them, he was martyred on 16 July. Sisenandus’ example in turn prompted a deacon named Paul, from the church of St. Zoilus, to sacrifice himself a few days later. Within a week a monk from Carmona, named Theodemir, added his name to the growing list of martyrs.

6.)  Sts. Flora and Mary
After the death of Theodemir, the martyrdoms subsided for three months. The next victims were Flora and Mary, the first of nine females whose names appear in St Eulogius’ martyrology.

Mary’s father, a Christian landowner, had married a Muslim woman whom he had subsequently converted to the Orthodox Faith. Forced, as a consequence of her marriage and apostasy, to leave their family lands in Elche, the couple came with their two children to live in the village of Fronianus. Shortly afterwards, Mary’s mother passed on and her father decided to live in penitence. So he arranged for his son, Walabonsus, to study at the local monastery of St. Felix and his daughter to go to the convent in Cuteclara. The two siblings were later reunited when Walabonsus was appointed to serve as one of the convent’s priests.

The martyrdom of her brother in June had had a profound effect on Maria. This, combined with the fact that her Abbess, Artemia, had witnessed the execution of two of her sons, John and Adulf, thirty years before, no doubt contributed to her decision to follow in her brother’s footsteps. While praying for guidance at the church of St Acisclus, Mary met Flora. Flora was also the product of a religiously mixed marriage. Her mother, a Christian from the village of Ausianos just west of Cordoba, had married a Sevillan Muslim who had passed away while Flora was still quite young. Deprived of this paternal influence, the girl grew up as a Christian. Well aware that children of mixed marriages legally had no choice but to be Muslim, the mother and daughter worked together to keep Flora’s faith a secret from her older Muslim brother.

Ultimately the tension forced her to run away from home in the company of a sympathetic sister. Her hopes of practising her faith in peace were spoiled, however, when her brother, apparently an influential figure in Cordoba, began to put pressure on. the Orthodox, forcing Flora to return. When neither threats nor promises had any effect on her resolve to remain Christian, he turned her over to the authorities. Despite Flora’s defence that she had been a Christian from birth and was therefore innocent of the charge of apostasy, Flora was severely flogged and placed on probation in her brother’s custody. No sooner had her wounds healed, however, than she fled again, this time taking refuge in an Orthodox household before leaving town with her sister. Ultimately, however, she decided to return and suffer the consequences.

Although Flora and Maria had approached the Muslim magistrate and denounced Islam together, they were, in fact, guilty of two distinct crimes. Flora, as the daughter of a Muslim, was legally an apostate. Unlike her predecessors, she had been a fugitive long before she presented herself before the magistrate. Her subsequent treatment by the authorities reflected the special nature of her offence. In contrast to the ‘blasphemers’, whose fates were sealed from the moment they opened their mouths, she was given ample opportunity in prison to avert her sentence by renouncing Christianity and becoming Muslim.

7.)  St. Gusemindus
Apart from Flora and Maria, only two other Orthodox were martyred in Cordoba between July 851 and July 852. Gusemindus had come from Toledo with his parents, who had dedicated him to the priesthood and arranged for his training at the basilica of St. Faustus, St Januarius and St Martialis. On 13 January 852, he and the monk, Servus Dei, who was associated with the same church, delivered their confessions before the authorities and were martyred.

8.)  Sts. Aurelius, Sabigotho, Felix, Liliosa, and George
The six-month lull that followed the executions of Gusemindus and Servus Dei ended in July with the deaths of five more Orthodox: Aurelius, Sabigotho, Felix, Liliosa, and George. Aurelius’ father was, like Flora’s, a Muslim who had married a Christian. Apparently orphaned at an early age, the boy had been raised by a paternal aunt, who had directed his studies toward Arabic literature. But again like Flora, Aurelius harboured a secret longing for Christianity and began to seek out priests for his instruction. When he had come of age, his relatives selected what they thought to be a suitable spouse, not knowing that the young woman, Sabigotho, was also a secret Christian. In her case, both of her parents had been Muslims, but when her widowed mother remarried, she happened to pick a clandestine Orthodox who had succeeded in converting his new wife. At the time of Sabigotho’s marriage to Aurelius, she had long since embraced the faith of her stepfather.

Aurelius had a relative named Felix who, to make things even more complicated, had been born of Orthodox parents and converted to Islam, only to decide that he had made a mistake. In Muslim eyes, this also constituted apostasy, so he too had to practise his Christianity in private. But he managed to find sympathy in his spouse Liliosa, who, like Sabigotho, was also a secret Orthodox.

The two couples concealed their faith for some years, and perhaps would have continued to do so, had not Aurelius witnessed the flogging and humiliation of a Christian merchant, John, who had indiscreetly sworn by the name of Muhammad. Struck either by the injustice of the punishment or the fortitude of the victim, Aurelius decided that it was time to make public his faith regardless of the consequences. Together with Sabigotho, he adopted a regime of penitence in preparation for martyrdom. For one thing they transformed their marital relationship into a fraternal one so as to generate ‘spiritual offspring’ to match the two children they had produced in their previous life.

They also began frequenting the Cordoban prison where they visited not only the merchant John, but also sought advice from the imprisoned priest Eulogius, who was to become their biographer. More significantly, Sabigotho met Flora and Maria. In fact, she ‘frequently visited their cell...and stayed at night as if she herself were shackled, not only to console the two soldiers, but to confide in them her own intention to die’. Her devotion to the confessors paid off. During the vigil that Sabigotho kept after the execution of Flora and Maria, the two virgins appeared to her in all their newly-won martyrs’ glory, and promised that she would ultimately join them. Sabigotho’s time, they said, would be at hand, when a foreign monk arrived to share her fate.

With renewed vigour, Sabigotho and Aurelius readied themselves for what they now felt certain was their destiny. They sold all their worldly possessions and spent their last days at Tabanos, where they not only prepared for their deaths but arranged for the care of their children. Finally the promised sign appeared, in the form of a monk from Palestine named Fr George.

Born in Bethlehem, Fr George was a monk in the large and famous monastery of St Sabbas just south of Jerusalem. From there he knew not only Greek, Latin and Arabic but had engaged in ascetic sacrifices, which would win for him the unbounded admiration of, among others, Eulogius. The chain of events leading up to his arrival in Cordoba began when his Abbot had sent him on a mission to solicit donations from monasteries in North Africa. There George had found the church so ‘oppressed by the incursion of tyrants’ that he decided to turn to Spain. Again he had been surprised by the affliction he found. Leaving the city of Cordoba, he had proceeded north to Tabanos, where the Abbess Elizabeth, apparently recognizing him as a portent, referred him to Sabigotho. A dream had thus identified him as the one for whom she had been waiting, and henceforth the monk and the couple sought martyrdom together. Soon Felix and Liliosa, having sold all of their property, joined them as well.

When the day of their public profession arrived, the women entered a church with unveiled faces and were immediately detected and arrested as apostate Muslims. Meanwhile Aurelius, after making the final arrangements for his children, waited at home with Felix in anticipation of his own arrest. The soldiers came shortly afterwards and marched them all to the magistrate. At first, the guards ignored George. Their task had been to arrest the husbands of the apostates. But Fr George’s views on Islam sufficed to bind his fate with that of the others.

As in the case of Flora, the newly discovered apostates were granted every opportunity to change their minds, but remained unmoved: ‘Any cult which denies the divinity of Christ, does not profess the essence of the Holy Trinity, refutes baptism, defames Christians and denigrates the priesthood, we consider to be damned’. After a four day imprisonment, the captives still refused to relent. The authorities, who had not heard Fr George’s earlier views, gave him permission to leave. The monk responded with a new denunciation of Islam and on 27 July 852 five more Orthodox were martyred.

9.)  Sts. Christopher and Leovigild
During that same summer, six more joined the ranks of martyrs. Fr Christopher was a Cordoban-born monk of the monastery of St Martin at Rojana in the mountains above the city. Learning of the other martyrs, he came forward to offer his confession and was immediately imprisoned pending execution. There he met Fr Leovigild, a monk from Granada who lived in the mountain monastery of St Justus and St Pastor, some fifteen miles north of Cordoba. He too denounced Islam and on 19 August was martyred along with Christopher.

10.)  Sts. Emila and Jeremiah
The week before the death of the emir Abderrahman, on 22 September 852, brought with it four more cases of denunciation of Islam. Emila and Jeremiah, childhood companions who had been educated together at the church of St Cyprian, delivered an especially forceful denunciation of Islam in Arabic, one which served only to multiply the frustration of the dying emir.

11.)  Sts. Rogelius and  Servus Dei
As if to add insult to injury, a monk Fr Rogelius, from a village near Granada, together with a Syrian pilgrim, whose name in Latin is Servus Dei, entered the mosque in Cordoba. To the horror of the Muslim worshippers present, they preached the truth of the Gospel and the falsehood of Islam. Saved by the authorities from death at the hands of the irate crowd, the two were sentenced to a grisly punishment: their hands and feet were cut off before they were beheaded and their bodies were then cremated.

One of the first official actions of the new emir, Abderrahman’s son, Muhammad I, was to purge the Cordoban bureaucracy of Christians. He must have been pleased with the apparent effect of this change in policy: the next nine months passed without incident. But again, as the following summer approached, a new parade of martyrs stepped forth.

12.)  St. Fandila
Fandila, from the town of Guadixitist, east of Granada, had, like so many of the other martyrs, come to Cordoba to study. Living first at Tabanos under Abbot Martinus, Fandila became a priest, serving the needs of the monks of the nearby monastery at Pinna Mellaria. It was Fandila’s confession which, according to Eulogius, pushed the emir to the point of considering drastic measures for silencing the Cordoban Christians. He settled, however, for Fandila’s head on 13 June 853.

13.)  Sts. Anastasius, Felix and Digna
The very next day, three more Orthodox were martyred. The priest Anastasius, who had been trained at the church of St Acisclus, turned to the monastic life before finally ‘descending to the forum’ to offer his confession. He was joined by the monk Felix, a native of Alcalá de Henares, fifty miles northeast of Toledo. Though of Numidian Muslim parentage, Felix was exposed to Christianity in Asturias, and later converted. The nun Digna from Tabanos, inspired by a vision of St Agatha and by the news of the double execution, added her own name to the martyrology before the sun had set. The following day, an aged laywoman, named Benildus, so moved by the martyrdom of St Anastasius, sacrificed her life as well. Her body was burnt and her ashes thrown into the Guadalquivir.

The fact that two of the first five Christians executed under the new emir had been associated with the monastery of Tabanos, which had already produced more than its share of martyrs, must have simplified Muhammad’s decision about where to begin enforcing new restrictions on church building. But the legacy of Tabanos as a seedbed for confessors outlived the monastery, which was levelled in the summer of 853.

14.)  St. Columba
Columba, the sixth Orthodox to be martyred under Muhammad I, was the sister of Elizabeth and Martin, two of the co-founders of Tabanos. Having evaded her mother’s plan to give her away in marriage, Columba followed her siblings into their monastery. When the Muslims arrived to close Tabanos, she took up residence at the basilica of St. Cyprian, where she prepared herself penitentially for a martyr’s death. On 17 September that year she was beheaded.

15.)  St. Pomposa
Columba’s example in turn prompted the nun Pomposa to seek martyrdom. Her parents had founded the monastery of St. Salvador at Pinna Mellaria which had already contributed the martyr Fandila. Now, three months later, Pomposa prepared to follow his example. Despite the efforts of her fellow nuns to dissuade her, she escaped to Cordoba where she was martyred on 19 September 853.

16.)  St. Abundius
After Pomposa’s sacrifice, the executions became more sporadic. Fr Abundius, a parish priest from Ananellos in the Sierra Morena, was beheaded ten months later on 11 July 854, as the result of what Eulogius referred to as the ‘trickery of the gentiles’. His body was thrown to the dogs. Perhaps, like Perfectus, he unwittingly ‘blasphemed’ Muhammad. In any case, another ten months would pass before the next martyrdoms.

17.)  St. Amator
The priest Amator, who had come to Cordoba from a village near Jaén to study, joined forces with the monk Peter from Pomposa’s monastery of Pinna Mellaria, and a layman, Ludovic, a brother of the deacon Paul who had been one of the earliest martyrs in the summer of 851. All three were executed for ‘blasphemy’ on the last day of April 855.

18.)  St. Witesind
At some unspecified point during the same year another Christian was executed for apostasy. This was the layman Witesind from Cabra, thirty miles southeast of Cordoba, ‘who suffered a lapse of the holy faith’ and converted to Islam only to convert back again and thus find the crown of martyrdom.

19.)  Sts. Elias, Paul and Isidore
Fr Elias, an elderly priest from western Spain, and two young monks and spiritual children, named Paul and Isidore, denounced Islam, and were martyred on 17 April 856.

20.)  St. Argimir
Two months later, Argimir, a nobleman from Cabra who had served as Muhammad I’s censor, was martyred for the same crime, but under very different circumstances. Having, like Isaac, ‘retired from the administration of justice to inhabit the peace and quiet of a monastery’, he was accused by Muslims of having degraded the prophet and professed the divinity of Christ. The emir gave him a chance to save his life by embracing Islam, but Argimir refused and was hung up alive on a gibbet before being martyred on 28 June 856.

21.)  St. Aurea
Three weeks later the virgin Aurea was martyred, again under quite unique circumstances. Her father had been a Sevillan Muslim, yet for more than thirty years she had lived with her mother Artemia as a nun in the convent at Cuteclara without the knowledge of her Muslim relatives. During that time she had seen her two brothers John and Adulf executed for apostasy in the early 820s, and witnessed the deaths of Peter, Walabonsus and Mary, who were associated with her convent in the early 850s. When some of her Muslim relatives came from Seville and recognized her, they brought Aurea to a judge for religious rectification. Offered the choice of renouncing her faith or suffering the penalty for apostasy, Aurea opted for the former and was freed. But bothered by her lack of fortitude, she continued to practise her faith, all the time preparing herself for her second encounter with the authorities. Finally discovered by her family to have relapsed, she was imprisoned and executed.

22.)  Sts. Roderick and Solomon

The final two martyrs whose passions Eulogius recorded were Roderick and Solomon. The former was a priest in Cabra whose family life was complicated by the fact that one of his two brothers had converted to Islam. Once, while Fr Roderick was intervening to break up a fight between his brothers, he received a blow which left him unconscious. His Muslim brother then dragged him through the streets claiming that Fr Roderick had decided to embrace Islam. Upon regaining his senses and realizing what had happened, he left town fearing that he might be arrested for apostasy.

He found what appeared to be a safe hideaway in the mountains above Cordoba, but one day he ran into his Muslim brother. Finding himself in front of the local Muslim judge, Fr Roderick denied the charge of apostasy on the grounds that he had never abandoned his Christianity in the first place. But his plea of innocence fell on deaf ears. The magistrate offered him the standard apostate’s choice: accept Islam or die. In prison Fr Roderick met Solomon, an Orthodox layman from some unspecified foreign land, who, like Felix and Witesind, had converted to Islam and then reconverted to Christianity. After three attempts to change their minds, the authorities martyred them on 13 March 857.

23.)  St. Eulogius
Although this is where Eulogius’ accounts, which he had added to and updated continually throughout the decade, end, we know that the martyrdoms did not stop with those of Roderick and Salomon in 857. The layman Paul Alvarus now takes up the chronicle. He informs us that two years later the authorities arrested the virgin Lucretia for apostasy. ‘Born among the dregs of the gentiles’, Lucritia was introduced to the teachings of Christianity by a relative named Litiosa. At first no one had suspected that Lucretia’s frequent visits to Litiosa’s home were anything more than social. Even after her parents discovered the truth and tried to dissuade her, Lucretia refused to relent. But like Flora, Lucretia began to fear the spiritual consequences of practising her religion in secret.

Using messengers, she sought the advice of Fr Eulogius and his sister Anulo, who, like Litiosa, was also a ‘virgin dedicated to God’. Both encouraged her to leave home. So as to be able to depart without arousing suspicion, Lucretia made it appear as if she were attending a wedding. But no sooner was she out of sight than she hastened to meet Fr Eulogius and Anulo. Like Flora’s brother, Lucretia’s parents responded by applying pressure on the Orthodox community in an attempt to determine her whereabouts. But in this case the search efforts were hindered by Fr Eulogius who made certain that the girl never stayed in any one hiding place for very long. Fr Eulogius continued to meet Lucretia to instruct her in the Orthodox Faith. But after one of these sessions, her appointed escort failed to appear to lead her to her latest hiding place. A betrayal led the authorities to the house, where they not only arrested Lucretia for apostasy, but Fr Eulogius for proselytizing. On 11 March 859 Fr Eulogius, though given a chance to avert his execution, was beheaded. Four days later Lucretia met the same fate.

From St Eulogius’ writings:  "Documentum martyriale"  http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/oecordob.htm

Video: The natural godliness in a child

This is most likely what the Lord means when He teaches that we must become like little children.
If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-children-show-how-to-live-life.html

The Christian and other people's private lives.- when addiction hits the family

A relative got addicted to cocaine and got booted out of work.  When we saw him, he told us he'd go to rehab clinic for a week and then get back his work.  It didn't go that way and in the following months, he exhausted his savings and sold off his house, car, boat and anything that can be sold.  We visited him when we he'd let us and talked him out of it.  He said he knew his predicament and that he can stop anytime.  But he didn't until he hit rock bottom.  At that point his girlfriend left him and another friend dropped him off in our place.  We didn't give him money, only food and shelter.  A week later, he decided to hike the Appalachian Trail as some lady challenged him.  That he did for a few months, starting in the Summer and ending as the snow flurries came.  He kicked the habit and started to look for work.  He has been employed for a couple of years now and I haven't heard of any relapse.

The flip side of that coin are the people who were behind him.  In the states, we were his closest relatives but it is not like we can just come and tell him to stop using.  It is not like he comes to us all teared up and begging for our help.  Rather, he was quite arrogant and even manipulative.  So, we felt helpless.  But we just can't leave him to OD or become a criminal to feed his addiction.  Some people have that frame of mind i.e. that we're not responsible for his actions, decisions and life in general.  And maybe that is true.  But we cannot just let it happen.  I've contacted relatives from the old country as I too am beginning to need support as I have my 4 young children to nurture and a wife to partner with.  So, whenever I take time off for the addict, it is time taken away from my wife and kids.  But then, the relatives in the old country are pushing and expecting that I take this person under my wing and straighten him out.  They forgot that this guy is an adult who is well aware of his rights and is as cocky as hell.

At the that point, something had to give.  It was my career.  In short, I got demoted.  But before so, I had to go through a Performance Improvement Program followed by a Progressive Discipline Program.  My manager was a divorced Liberal feminist who gave me hell during our sessions - probably because I am her opposite in all things.  I remember Googling for the words of Lead Kindly Light and praying it often.


"Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home, Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me."


Despite that, I broke down that I had to go to our Employee Assistance Program for counseling.  The counselor was wondering why I am getting upset about this relative's problems and pretty much advised me that I should not feel responsible for his decisions.

But my faith tells me otherwise, so I kept asking prayers from my family and friends.  Our family prayers always included him.  So, to conclude I believe that it is through the power of prayers that this person was healed.

Video: Why men delay marriage

Msgr. Pope points out a reason why men delay marriage these days.  Watch to find out.  However,  there may be pathological cases where the men are scared because their mother dominated their dad or was unfaithful.  If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-why-men-delay-marriage.html

Peace, Reconciliation, Healing, Compromise, Sensitivity, Brotherly Love, Tolerance, Acceptance

by Michael Ramirez
Click image to enlarge.

Words.  Just words.
Update:  Worse, it's taqiyya* (that's not a drink.)
*cfr: http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-3-common-but-wrong-assumptions.html  

Common ground with Muslims

by Gary McCoy

Click image to enlarge.

This guy has poor judgment, no common sense, no class, no taste, no good manners, no sensitivity and no respect.

Just keep moving forward?

by Gary Varvel
Click image to enlarge.

Insanity:  doing the same thing while expecting different results.

Proposed 9-11 Memorial

by Mike Lester

Click image to enlarge.

15 years from now when your kid asks, "What did you do when they were pushing the mosque, what will you say?"

Video: Child developing in womb from day 1. Million + saw it. Beautiful, factual, fair.

The truth shall set you free.  Don't worry, God will provide. 
If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-child-developing-in-womb-1.html

Video montage going viral. Must see. "Those Voices Don't Speak for the Rest of Us"

If video does not show, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-montage-going-viral-must-see.html

This video is going viral - 360,000 in 10 days.  Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) and the Republican Study Committee present to you a new video featuring President Ronald Reagan reminding us that the out-touch voices of the Democrat Party don't speak for all Americans. price.rsc.house.gov

Racist! Bigot! Hater! Homophobe!

by Eric Allie

( Explanation? check out inkblot test at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test )

When the Conservative runner stumbles.

by Mike Shelton

Study shows 70% for abstinence education. Obama admin blocks release of findings.

A taxpayer-funded study that indicates parental and adolescent support of abstinence education is not being released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as it does not support the administration’s objective – or that of vocal “safe sex” activists – of eliminating all abstinence-education funding.  The study shows that: 

• 70 percent of parents agreed with the statement: “It is against your values for your adolescents to have sexual intercourse before marriage.
• 70 percent of parents agreed with the statement: “Having sexual intercourse is something only married people should do.”
• Adolescents had similar responses for the two questions.

For more details, go to http://www.citizenlink.com/2010/08/obama-administration-blocks-release-of-pivotal-hhs-abstinence-study/
The question is why does it oppose abstinence-education.  Here's a disturbing  answer.


If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/70-of-america-supports-abstinence.html

The Filipino secret for coping

The Philippines is like Haiti in the East.  But despite widespread poverty, Filipinos have the lowest suicide rate in Asia.  Japan, the wealthiest, has the highest.  How do Filipinos face their hard lives daily without sinking to despair?  Is it with our faith in the crucified incarnate Son of God?  I think so.

However, I also think that it has something to do with our sense of humor.  Here in the states, you can tell if a group of Asians are Filipinos by laughter.  It seems to be an ethnic trait so, it is hard to teach.  But I did find these suggestions from the Christophers.

• Start the day by smiling at yourself in the mirror.  Beginning with a good, solid chuckle helps set the right mood for the whole day. 
• Sing out loud in the shower.  
• Have contact with children, even if it’s just observing kids in stores, at church or on the playground.  Kids are a guaranteed source of laughter.
• Remember at least once a day something that made you laugh when you were a kid.
• Look for laughter on television comedies or from rental movies.  Don’t forget the oldies – the Marx Brothers’ movies and the Laurel and Hardy shorts show the universality of humor over time and place.
• Look for the opportunities to do fun things.  Just finding fun can bring pleasure.
• Remember: laughter is contagious.  And so is grumpiness.  Be with people who laugh.  It’s possible to forgive someone a great deal if that person makes you laugh. 
• Read a funny book on a bus. Trying not to laugh in front of strangers is guaranteed to get you laughing.
• Recognize the silly in the stressful.  A hint: imagine during a stressful time – like a visit to the doctor’s office – how you will re-tell it to your friends later to get a laugh.     
• Don’t hesitate to fake it.  Whether laughter is forced or spontaneous, the same muscles are used.  Keep smiling and you’ll find that real laughter is not far behind.   
• Never feel guilty about your laughter since it’s the way the body and the spirit help you to cope.
• And most of all, remember the cardinal rule: Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.

Besides the physical and mental benefits of laughter, there are also spiritual benefits such that joy has become part of the Salesian spirituality.  Their Rule states:  "We make our own St. Paul's exhortation "Rejoice in the Lord always."  This is the witness we must give to youth.  "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace..." and this is where our own hope and openness to the Spirit is rooted.  Perhaps, this is also the source of the Filipino humor as it is a Catholic nation.

Video: US Catholicism - faithful, thriving, vibrant and young

Despite the scandals and dissent, the revolts and exodus, internal corruption and external oppositions,  the Catholic Church has been founded on rock and "the gates of hell will not prevail against it" - in the US and anywhere.  Here is an indication of how the Church is thriving.

Rocco Palmo reports: "It never gets anywhere near the coverage it merits, but the Stateside church's largest annual pilgrimage took flight again earlier this month as, for yet another August weekend, the 33rd Marian Days (above) lived up to its legend as roughly 80,000 Vietnamese-American Catholics swelled Carthage, Missouri (usual pop. 15,000) for the latest edition of the festival started in 1978 by a recently-migrated religious community which, having received a former seminary in the Heartland as its new home-base, sought to give thanks for the freedom it found on these shores."

Other source:
Closing Mass:


Procession:


and break dancing?

If videos fail, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-us-catholicism-faithful-thriving.html

Video: Surviving victims of Ground Zero speak. The mosque placement is their prerogative - imho.

I think that it is the victims' prerogative to forgive (or not) the Muslims that ended or broke their lives.  To forgive in their stead is unconscionable.  How dare anyone presume for the dead or bulldoze the survivors into positions.   Why not hear them out and for once be respectful and sensitive to their anguish.  If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-surviving-victims-of-ground-zero.html

Catholic saints with a Muslim father.

Saints Nunilo and Alodia were a pair of 9th c. virgin martyrs in Huesca, Spain.  They were born to a Muslim father and Christian mother.  However, they chose their mother’s Christianity. And so during the Emirate of Abd ar-Rahman II it came to pass that these little girls were first put in a brothel and then were executed as apostates according to Sharia law. Their feast day is 22 October.  Source: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/08/a-counter-proposal-for-the-mosque-at-ground-zero/

Pelosi fears discovery of tax funding for NY mosque?

The Speaker of the House threatened those who are pushing to find the source of  the funds for the proposed mosque at ground Zero.  Speaking on San Francisco's KCBS radio, Pelosi said:  "There is no question there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some. And I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded," she said. "How is this being ginned up that here we are talking about Treasure Island, something we've been working on for decades, something of great interest to our community as we go forward to an election about the future of our country and two of the first three questions are about a zoning issue in New York City."

That sounds like intimidation and harassment.  But more importantly, what is she afraid of?  One might suspect that the source of funds will be even more controversial than building this abomination.  Will it be funded with stimulus tax monies?  That is not a stretch because, there are reports that this is already being done abroad and in the process the administration is engaging in religious preference contrary to the law of the land.  I did a search on "tax dollars mosques" and got 10 pages.  Here are some of the links:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/10/tax-dollars-to-build-mosques/
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2570331/posts
http://liberty.spruz.com/pt/Tax-dollars-to-build-mosques-both-at-home-AND-ABROAD/blog.htm

Miraculous picture of Mother Mary and another of demons?

This is an alleged photograph of the Virgin Mary taken during an apparition in Medjugorje.  The photographer (unknown) snapped a picture of the wall where the alleged apparition was taking place, and discovered this picture when it was developed. Ivan Dragicevic, one of the six visionaries, confirmed that this was indeed a picture of the Blessed Mother.  However, he added that she was much more beautiful in person. 

These are members of the so-called Catholic United group that is promoting support for Democrats and Obamacare.  They're opposing the pro-life tour of the Susan B. Anthony List these days. Catholic United misrepresents the Catholic Church's teaching misleading the faithful to support the Democrats and Obama last election.  I am not sure if there are demons in this photo but, their work is certainly diabolic.  So, I suspect the prince of darkness is somewhere there.  For more info, go to http://www.catholicvoteaction.org/americanpapist/index.php?p=8218

Witnessing to purity and the Messiah at Myrtle Beach this Summer

While vacationing at Myrtle Beach, SC this summer, I got a chance to share my faith a couple of times and I felt that the Lord was pleased that I did not shy away.

I went to this convenience store to get milk and found some porn mags on the rack. I was simply going to ignore it as I headed towards the cashier when I thought, “Why give money to a man who sells porn?” So, I returned the milk and was on my way out then another thought came, “Tell him what you did and why. It might make him stop.” I am by nature shy but I mustered the courage to tell him, “I came here to buy milk but I returned it because I saw the magazines that you’re selling.” He retorted, “What does one have to do with another? Only stupid minds … something, something.” I forgot whatever he said after “stupid minds”. Rather than flaring up, I put my palm up as if to say, “Talk to the hand.” But I replied, “I’m just saying. Maybe others are doing the same.” And the suggestion is that, “You’re losing money.” He didn’t say anything after that.

Another time was when I stopped to get a haircut. I noticed Hebrew characters on a ticket and steered the conversation there. The barber was an Israeli so, we did some small talk about Israel and the current level of American support or lack thereof, the Torah and the loopholes, shaving, kosher kitchen and a lot of Jewish stuff. Because I studied in Maryland, I had a few Jewish friends. I also studied the Hebrew Scriptures for a few years. At the end, he was concluding about “being a good man but not fanatically religious”. I countered saying, “But what if G*d wanted to have a closer relationship with you? Why not read Isaiah to find out.” The Book of Isaiah is one that describes the Messiah as the Suffering Servant and that leads to Jesus. But it was enough to plant that seed and who knows how G*d will use it. Again, I felt great and my conviction seems to have deepened because of that.

Video: Remembering 9/11 (a response to calls to forget & move on)

Some people make the point that America must forget 9/11 to move on.  Move on?  To what?  To tolerate the Muslim trophy for their win right in the field of blood?  To pull out of the wars against terror?  Looks like someone is paving the way to spare the terrorists and give them more chances in the future.

My response is that this is one of the American Holocausts that need to be remembered every year just like the Jewish people remember their Holocaust.  And in memory of the victims of Islamic terrorism, here is a clip of that day of infamy.  Shame on those who invite us to forget.  Despicable, disgusting, pathetic terrorist sympathizers.

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-remembering-911-response-to-calls.html

Video: Fathers show how God is. This will surely enable, encourage and empower you.

Human fathers give quite an insight on how God is because God revealed Himself to be The Father.
In this video, the son was determined to finish the race despite his torn muscle.  See what his father does.
We too have a race to finish - to be faithful to God until the end.  If we struggle against all odds to complete the race, then God Himself will come down from the stands and give us that second wind and even carry us through.

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-fathers-show-how-god-is-this-will.html

Video: Ann Coulter "At a point, Muslim is no longer a profile but a description of the suspect"

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-muslim-is-not-profile-it-is.html

Video: Women killed for Muslim honor

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-muslim-honor-killings.html

Video: Will Dollar bubble & debt Ponzi scheme last?

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-will-dollar-bubble-debt-ponzi.html

Video: 3 fatal assumptions about Islam - must see

About Quran, Sharia Law & Promotion of Islam by all means - including deceit.

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-3-common-but-wrong-assumptions.html

Not a big mystery to know how God feels because, if He is a Father...

If God is the Father, then He must feel awful when His children fight.

And feels great when His kids care for each other.

So, it's not a hard to know how to please God.

Video: Obama's solidarity with the poor (or lack thereof)

In a Socialist state, everyone is equal.  Some, however, are more equal than others.

Description:  Security was tight in Marbella, Spain on Wednesday as Michelle Obama and her 9-year-old daughter Sasha arrived for a summer vacation at one of Spain's glitziest seaside resorts. (Aug. 4)


If video fails, go to  http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-obamas-solidarity-with-poor-or.html

Video: Dems justify killing infants with perverted reasoning

If video fails go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-dems-justify-killing-infants-with.html

Video: A controversial look at government spending

"I Want Your Money trailer...Set against the backdrop of today's headline - 67% of Americans don't approve of Obama's economic policies, the film takes a provocative look at our deeply depressed economy using the words and actions of Presidents Reagan and Obama and shows the marked contrast between Reaganomics and Obamanomics. The film contrasts two views of the role that the federal government should play in our daily lives using the words and actions of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Two versions of the American dream now stand in sharp contrast. One views the money you earned as yours and best allocated by you; the other believes that the elite in Washington know how to best allocate your wealth. One champions the traditional American dream, which has played out millions of times through generations of Americans, of improving one's lot in life and even daring to dream and build big. The other holds that there is no end to the "good" the government can do by taking and spending other peoples' money in an ever-burgeoning list of programs. The documentary film I Want Your Money exposes the high cost in lost freedom and in lost opportunity to support a Leviathan-like bureaucratic state." - video description



If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-controversial-look-at-government.html

H/T http://angelicdoctor.blogspot.com/

Video: Dems flawed economics - the broken window fallacy

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-dems-broken-economic-theory.html

Effective church design for family rooms. St. Luke's, Ocean City, MD

I found this family room at St. Luke's to be effective in minimizing distractions for the congregation. The wall is in a zig zag configuration where the sides facing the people use stained glass, while that facing the altar is clear glass. Those in the room can see the celebration well.