Devotion to Our Lady |
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LONG TERM COMMUNIST GOALS FOR THE USA THAT HAVE MOSTLY BEEN ACHIEVED
(1) U.S. acceptance of coexistence [with Communism] as the only alternative to atomic war.
(2) U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. (3) Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. (4) Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. (5) Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. (6) Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. (7) Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the United Nations. (8) Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Russia’s leader Khrushchev’s promise, in 1955, to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the United Nations. (9) Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. (10) Allow all Soviet satellite States individual representation in the United Nations. (11) Promote the United Nations as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the United Nations as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.) (12) Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. (13) Do away with all loyalty oaths. (14) Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. (15) Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. (16) Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. (17) Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for Socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks. (18) Gain control of all student newspapers. (19) Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. (20) Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policy-making positions. (21) Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. (22) Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.” (23) Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.” (24) Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press. (25) Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. (26) Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.” (27) Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.” (28) Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.” (29) Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. (30) Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.” (31) Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. (32) Support any Socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture–education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. (33) Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. (34) Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. (35) Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. (36) Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. (37) Infiltrate and gain control of big business. (38) Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat]. (39) Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. (40) Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. (41) Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. (42) Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use “united force“ to solve economic, political or social problems. (43) Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. (44) Internationalize the Panama Canal. (45) Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court |
I Told You So!
We have been warned for centuries of what we are currently experiencing. Some are not even aware of what we are experiencing! They are living in a “dream world” that distracts them from reality. In addition, they have been dumbed-down by modern schools and modern media―to the point that they cannot really think to any real depth and, because they know little of history and care little for history, they fail to see that what is going on today is merely the culmination of plans that were laid down a long time ago. Let us delve back into recent history and we will see that history can well say: “I told you so! But you didn’t want to listen!” If you have any common sense, then you realize that nothing in this world is isolated―every child has parents and the child’s parents are themselves children of earlier parents. The philosophers will cause this a chain of cause and effect―every child is an effect caused by its parents, and those parents are in turn effects caused by their parents. The mess and crisis in this world today did not come about by a “Big-Bang” effect, but, like every family, can be traced back through time along the family tree with its multitude of marriages and births. All of the “-isms” have parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts. No “-ism” gave birth to itself―Rationalism, Liberalism, Materialism, Hedonism, Utilitarianism, Secularism, Protestantism, Deism, Skepticism, Agnosticism, Atheism, Scientism, Evolutionism, Immanentism, Modernism, Satanism, Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, Illuminism, and all the other “-isms”, all have a family history and a family tree and all have begotten their own children. They are all related in one way or another―either being direct descendants, or siblings, or cousins. All of these “-isms” are erroneous to a greater or lesser degree―they are riddled with untruths or lies―and, as such, they owe their existence to the “father of lies”―the devil. Satan has given birth to them at different times―but they exist for the purpose of attacking the truths of God and the vehicle of God’s truths―the Church. What Christ said to the Scribes, Pharisees and the Jews, He could just as well say of the “-isms” today: “From God I proceeded and came―for I came not of Myself, but He sent me! Why do you not know My speech? Because you cannot hear my word! You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do! He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own―for he is a liar and the father thereof!” (John 8:42-44). The Communist-Socialist Agitators and Promoters in the USA Saul Alinsky (1909-1972)―Author of Rules For Radicals Saul Alinsky Saul David Alinsky was born in 1909 in Chicago, Illinois, to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, that were strict Orthodox Jews, Saul Alinsky considered himself to be a devout Jew until the age of 12, after which time he began to fear that his parents would force him to become a rabbi. He became an agnostic (= the mind cannot know if God does or does not exist), but when asked his religion, he would always say it was Jewish. Alinsky did not join any political parties. When asked during an interview whether he ever considered becoming a Communist Party member, he replied: “Not at any time. I've never joined any organization—not even the ones I've organized myself. I prize my own independence too much. And philosophically, I could never accept any rigid dogma or ideology, whether it's Christianity or Marxism … The greatest crimes in history have been perpetrated by such religious and political and racial fanatics, from the persecutions of the Inquisition on down to Communist purges and Nazi genocide.” Shortly before his death in 1972, he discussed life after death in Playboy magazine: ALINSKY: ”If there is an afterlife, and I have anything to say about it, I will unreservedly choose to go to Hell.” PLAYBOY: “Why?” ALINSKY: “Hell would be Heaven for me! All my life I've been with the have-nots. Over here, if you're a have-not, you're short of dough. If you're a have-not in Hell, you're short of virtue. Once I get into Hell, I'll start organizing the have-nots over there.” PLAYBOY: “Why them?” ALINSKY: “They're my kind of people.” In 1969, while a political science major at Wellesley College, Hillary Clinton chose to write her senior thesis on Alinsky's work, with Alinsky himself contributing his own time to help her. Clinton described Alinksy as “that rare specimen, the successful radical.” According to Alinsky biographer Sanford Horwitt, U.S. President Barack Obama was influenced by Alinsky and followed in his footsteps as a Chicago-based community organizer. Horwitt asserted that Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign was influenced by Alinsky's teachings. Newt Gingrich repeatedly stated his opinion that Alinsky was a major influence on Obama during his 2012 presidential campaign. A 2016 documentary about Saul Alinsky ―“A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” by Richard and Stephen Payne―shows that Alinsky never admitted to being a Communist, but he never said that he wasn’t a Socialist, in fact he embraced that term, and that derives from Marxist theory. In his early life, he is very much taken with the social sciences, which remove the reality of God to deal with life in a secular way. “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” identifies three major movements of cultural Marxism that seek to infiltrate the film industry, the media, education, and all of the other different chief institutions. The first is the Frankfurt School, which was founded by German Marxists after the Russian Revolution, whose members were the initiators of what we’ve come to know as the sexual revolution. The second was the work of Italian communist Antonio Gramsci, who focused on an attack on religion and belief in God, with the goal of secularizing society. The third is Fabian Socialism, which founded the London School of Economics and was used to bring down our economic system. Some of the key quotes and recommendations from Alinksy’s book, Rules For Radicals, are: “A revolutionary organizer must shake up the prevailing patterns of their lives— agitate, create disenchantment and discontent with the current values” “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” “Keep the pressure on. Never let up. Maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.” “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.”’ “In war the ends justify almost any means.” “Any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition as being unethical.” “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” “You do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments.” The above suggestions have become common-place tactics today. The lack of Christian values is apparent in all of them. Manning Johnson― USA Communist Party District Agitation and Propaganda Director In 1953, the House Committee on Un-American Activities received the testimony of Manning Johnson, who joined the Communist Party in America in 1930, and remained in the party until 1940. Johnson held several positions while a member of the Communist Party, such as District Agitation and Propaganda Director, District Organizer of the Communist Party in Buffalo, N. Y. He was also a member of the Trade Union Commission of the Communist Party, a member of the National Negro Commission of the Communist Party, and ultimately served as a member of the National Committee of the Communist Party itself. Mr. Johnson became disillusioned with Communism and left the Communist Party in 1940. In his own words, he had decided in 1939 that he was through with Communism and that forever after he would conscientiously and vigorously oppose it, vocally and spiritually. In his testimony to the Committee on Un-American Activities, he identified the work of Communism to infiltrate religious institutions. Here are some excerpts from the testimony he gave while under oath: “Once the tactic of infiltrating religious organizations was set by the Kremlin, the actual mechanics of implementing the ‘new line’, was a question of following the general experiences of the living church movement in Russia, where the Communists discovered that the destruction of religion could proceed much faster through infiltration of the church, by Communist agents operating within the church itself. “The Communist leadership in the United States realized that the infiltration tactic in this country would have to adapt itself to American conditions and the religious makeup peculiar to this country. In the earliest stages, it was determined that, with only small forces available, it would be necessary to concentrate Communist agents in the seminaries and divinity schools. The practical conclusion, drawn by the Red leaders, was that these institutions would make it possible for a small Communist minority to influence the ideology of future clergymen, in the paths most conducive to Communist purposes. “In general, the idea was to divert the emphasis of clerical thinking from the spiritual to the material and political—by political, of course, is meant politics based on the Communist doctrine of conquest of power. Instead of emphasis towards the spiritual and matters of the soul, the new and heavy emphasis was to deal with those matters which, in the main, led toward the Communist program of ‘immediate demands.’ “The plan was to make the seminaries the neck of a funnel through which thousands of potential clergymen would issue forth, carrying with them, in varying degrees, an ideology and slant which would aid in neutralizing the anti-Communist character of the church and also to use the clergy to spearhead important Communist projects. “This policy was successful beyond even Communist expectations. The combination of Communist clergymen, clergymen with a pro-Communist ideology, plus thousands of clergymen who were sold the principle of considering Communist causes as progressive, within 20 years, furnished the Soviet apparatus with a machine which was used as a religious cover for the overall Communist operation―ranging from immediate demands to actually furnishing aid in espionage and outright treason. “In the early 1930s the Communists instructed thousands of their members to rejoin their ancestral religious groups, and to operate in cells, designed to take control of churches for Communist purposes. This method was not only propounded, but was executed with great success among large elements of American church life. Communists operating a double-pronged infiltration, both through elements of Communist-controlled clergy and Communist-controlled laymen, managed to pervert and weaken entire stratas of religious life in the United States. “Communists in churches and other religious organizations were instructed to utilize the age-old tradition, of the sanctity of the church, as a cover for their own evil deeds. Through Reds in religion, we have a true living example of the old saying: ‘The Devil doth quote the Scripture.’ The Communists learned that the clergyman, under their control, served as a useful ‘respectable face’ for most of their front activities. In this way the name of religion was used to spearhead the odious plots hatched by the agents of anti-religious Soviet Communism.” The Many Unknown Faces of Subversion KGB (the Russian Secret Police) agent Yuri Bezmenov defected from the Soviet Union and warned America that the subversion of foreign nations was so important to the KGB that most of its resources were allocated to it. “Only about 15% of time, money and manpower is spent on espionage as such,” he explained in an interview with G. Edward Griffin in 1985. “The other 85% is a slow process which we call either ideological subversion or active measures.” This ideological subversion is a long-term process involving four stages: (1) demoralization, (2) destabilization, (3) crisis and (4) normalization. Over the last 70 or 80 years the progressive infiltration of America by Communism, Freemasonry and other world-elite generated organizations has slowly yet relentlessly increased to a point where they, for a long time now, are no longer afraid of being discovered and uncovered. They feel that nothing can stop them now. During that time we have been distracted and put to sleep by a whole variety of toys and trinkets―made all the more easy with rapid modern technological progress. In his book, Love Letter to America, Bezmenov states that the first stage, demoralization, takes about 15 to 20 years for a nation to be demoralized. He writes: “Why that many (or few)? Simple: this is the minimum number of years needed to ‘educate’ one generation of students in a target country (America, for example) and expose them to the ideology of the subverter.” Bezmenov warned that KGB agents, and their Socialistic ‘fellow travelers’ in America, would use abstract art, perverted music, pornographic images, homosexual rights, racist politics, pacifist foreign policy and Socialist economics to demoralize America. In practice, Communism has never been the “grassroots movement” Karl Marx predicted. It has been driven by small groups of intellectuals and elites who seize power. Hence the targeting of the American intelligentsia—present and future. Before World War ii the Communist Party in the United States was making great headway. They began infiltrating the colleges and universities. If they could not ‘convert’ professors, they worked on students who would become teachers later. Thus they were recruiting teachers to teach their doctrine all over the United States. According to a former staff director of a Senate investigations subcommittee, in the years between 1935 and 1953, the Communist Party “enlisted the support of at least 3,500 professors—many of them as dues-paying members, many others as fellow travelers, some as out-and-out espionage agents, some as adherents of the party line in varying degrees, and some as the unwitting dupes of subversion” (J. B. Matthews, “Communism and the Colleges,” American Mercury, May 1953). As for destabilization―if you cannot see that America has been destabilized today, then you are as blind as a bat! You can clearly see that destabilization in the Church and the Faith, you can see it in politics, you can see it in education, you see it in finance and the economy, you can see it in the culture and social life. This is the direction America is going. In the words of Bezmenov, “The American romance with state-run education as encouraged by KGB subverters has already produced generations of graduates who cannot spell, cannot find Nicaragua on a world map, cannot think creatively and independently. I wonder if Albert Einstein would have arrived at his theory of relativity if he had been educated in one of today’s American public schools. Most likely he would have ‘discovered’ marijuana and variant methods of sexual intercourse instead.” |
(1) U.S. acceptance of coexistence [with Communism] as the only alternative to atomic war.
(2) U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. (3) Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. (4) Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. (5) Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. (6) Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. (7) Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the United Nations. (8) Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Russia’s leader Khrushchev’s promise, in 1955, to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the United Nations. (9) Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. (10) Allow all Soviet satellite States individual representation in the United Nations. (11) Promote the United Nations as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the United Nations as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.) (12) Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. (13) Do away with all loyalty oaths. (14) Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. (15) Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. (16) Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. (17) Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for Socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks. (18) Gain control of all student newspapers. (19) Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. (20) Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions. (21) Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. (22) Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.” (23) Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.” (24) Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press. |
(25) Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
(26) Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.” (27) Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.” (28) Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.” (29) Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. (30) Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.” (31) Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. (32) Support any Socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture–education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. (33) Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. (34) Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. (35) Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. (36) Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. (37) Infiltrate and gain control of big business. (38) Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat]. (39) Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. (40) Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. (41) Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. (42) Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use “united force“ to solve economic, political or social problems. (43) Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. (44) Internationalize the Panama Canal. (45) Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court |
The Lamb of God
Holy Scripture calls Our Lord the “lamb of God” and Our Lord Himself speaks of His sheep (not goats): “Amen, amen I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the door. By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall find pastures. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know Mine, and Mine know me. And I lay down My life for my sheep [not goats]. And other sheep I have [not goats], that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd” (John 10:7-16).
The Goat of Satan
The devil, on the other hand, makes the goat his symbol. We see this in the many Satanic drawings, paintings and statues throughout history―even to our own day, witnessed recently by the unveiling of a goat-headed statue of the devil by Satanists in Detroit in 2015. The bronze statue is nearly 9 feet tall and depicts a winged creature known as Baphomet, flanked by two smiling children. It cost over $100,000 to make and hundreds of Satanists turned out to see it unveiled.
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Modern Day Satanic Music
Here is a list, gleaned online, that lists and describes some of the most popular and most influential Satanic music bands in the world today. As a whole, they have anywhere from a large to a huge following. Not being conversant with any of them, the order of ranking that websites have placed them in, the description and assessment given them, is reproduced here as found.
1. BEHEMOTH Hailing from Poland, BEHEMOTH was formed in 1991 and, over the years, have risen from the underground extreme metal circuit in Eastern Europe to become one of the metal world’s biggest bands, touring with bands like SLAYER, DANZIG and CANNIBAL CORPSE, with a blackened, technical death metal sound entirely their own. Until the late 1990s, the band played a traditional black metal style with heathen lyrical content, but soon changed to that of occult and thelemic themes. Merging the mysticism and image of black metal with the force, precision and brutality of death metal, the band kept to its lyrical content which explored ancient anti-Christian themes, as well as other Satanic philosophies. The band’s shows mix ritual and rage, often using incense, tribal chanting and drumming, and other esoteric elements to give their performances an atmosphere of evil and occult menace. In doing so, they've created a soundtrack to Satanism that is definitely not for the faint of heart. Some of their album titles are Satanica (1999), Thelma6 (2000), The Apostasy (2007) and The Satanist (2013). In 2018, the band released the song: “God = Dog”―may God have mercy on their souls! 2. DEICIDE This American death metal band DEICIDE was formed in 1987 in Tampa, Florida, and from the start was a musical homage to Satan, offering up a confrontational, overtly Satanic attack against Christianity with each album and live show. The band's name literally means the killing of God. Founding member, bassist and vocalist Glen Benton's throat is consistently demonic, while his lyrics are blasphemous. The band’s music pushes anti-Christian sentiments and chronicles the deeds of Satan on Earth. It is no shock that the band stirs up controversy among many fundamentalist Christian groups with albums titles like Once Upon the Cross (1995), Serpents of the Light (1997), In Torment In Hell (2001), and To Hell With God (2011) and song titles like “Kill the Christian,” “When Satan Rules His World,” “Bible Basher” and “Homage for Satan.” Early in the band's career, Deicide was hounded by Church protests, animal rights groups who alleged animal torture, and even several lawsuits alleging the music influenced suicide, crime, and even murder. After over 25 years of hellish death metal music, the band is promoting its 11th studio album, entitled In the Minds of Evil. The band DEICIDE is in the top three highest selling death metal bands of all time, (along with CANNIBAL CORPSE and MORBID ANGEL). Those who follow and adhere to this kind of music, regard DEICIDE as the American pinnacle of Satanic-themed metal. 3. BEHEXEN The Finnish black metal band BEHEXEN was formed in 1994. The music is epic and symphonic, but simultaneously brutal and raw. They perform covered in blood and corpse paint and use their music as a conduit to conjure Satan and other demons. The band’s music is blatant and literal in its promotion of Satanism and devil worship. The singer and lyricist, Hoath Torog, is an avowed Satanist and album titles like By the Blessing of Satan and My Soul for His Glory are not meant to be taken metaphorically, but literally. 4. DISSECTION A band from Sweden, DISSECTION are the real deal when it comes to truly Satanic music, with a sound full of scary, monstrous riffs, raspy vocals and blast beats, but also hints of melancholia and a medieval sense of darkness. They produced a sound that was equally maleficent and melodic. Their lead singer and songwriter, Jon Nödtveidt, was not pretending a devotion to Satan; he was a self-professed Luciferian who practiced devil worship and other occult rituals (he also served seven years in prison for murder, from 1997 to 2004). In 2006, he took his own life in an apparent Satanic rite, leaving this life for his Eternal Judgment by way of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and ending DISSECTION’s run as one of the most Satanic bands in existence. 5. WATAIN Hailing from Sweden, WATAIN came into existence just before the turn of the last century with a mission to deliver pain-inducing yet catchy melodic black metal that is spiritually based in Theistic Satanism (which, unlike other forms of Satanism, believes Satan is an actual entity, not just a symbol of a non-Christian belief system). The band’s live performances are literal rituals, in the form of a Black Mass. WATAIN concerts commonly feature incense burning, candles, fire and inverted crosses as well as animal skulls and animal blood. They will infamously be forever known for getting mainstream exposure for a performance in New York City in 2014, involving dead animal heads and ritualistic use of animal blood sprayed on the crowd. 6. DARK FUNERAL Since 1993, this Swedish Satanic black metal band has undergone many lineup changes, but the same fury, flames and relentless music have remained consistent throughout. Their sound has evolved over the years but still retains heavy doses of dark melodies embracing the Devil and death equally. They have been popular in the metal underground for decades, but are now entering the black metal scene internationally and spreading their anti-Christian message to a wider audience through songs like “Nail Them to the Cross,” “666 Voices Inside,” “Open the Gates” and “Enriched by Evil.” 7. ARCHGOAT The black metal band ARCHGOAT from Finland, are overtly Satanic in their lyrical content. Since forming in 1989, they have been hell-bent on spreading their eerie, haunting music to anyone willing to listen. Within two years of forming, ARCHGOAT decided the black metal scene had become too trendy and disbanded. But in 2004 the band resurfaced, intent on bringing their evil, blasphemous black metal music back to life. Since 2004, they have released three albums, the most recent being their 2015 The Apocalyptic Triumphator. 8. GORGOROTH Formed in Norway in the early 1990s alongside such notorious black metal bands as Mayhem and Burzum, GORGOROTH have always been among the genre's most fiercely anti-Christian bands. The band's former lead singer, Gaahl, once said in a Canadian documentary on heavy metal music that Satanism represents “freedom.” He and other members of the band have openly expressed their support for the 1990s Church burnings in Scandinavia that rocked the metal world. With nine full-length albums recorded, GORGOROTH are one of the few Norwegian black metal bands still in existence. The band have stirred controversy over the years for their live performances, which often include impaled sheep’s heads, blood-letting and mock crucifixions. 9. GOATWHORE An American black metal band from Louisiana, GOATWHORE mix elements of thrash, death metal and grind with a swampy, murky brand of caustic black metal approved by Satan himself. This music is fast, Southern sludge, punk-infused at times and just all-around evil and malevolent. The band, always relentless on record or live, features members of other groups including SOILENT GREEN, ACID BATH and CROWBAR. Known as one of the constantly traveling bands in metal, GOATWHORE are always on tour, playing shows opening for bigger bands or headlining their own gigs. With album titles like A Haunting Curse, Carving Out the Eyes of God and Vengeful Ascension, you can tell that unholiness is a recurring theme throughout the band's work. 10. BELPHEGOR The Austrian blackened death metal band, BELPHEGOR, was formed in 1991. In demonology, Belphegor is one of the Seven Princes of Hell, who helps humans sell their souls to the Devil. The band’s music is a furious firestorm of speed and aggression, all focusing on black magic, the occult, and apocalyptic and sexual themes relating to evil. The band has toured the world many times over, spreading their musical darkness with everyone from Amon Amarth to Sepultura. Their music has been banned in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe for violating some countries’ blasphemy laws. The band’s logo is two inverted crossed dripping with blood. |
You can from the photos that the sheep (on the left hand side) have that natural humble, passive and obedient appearance, whereas the goats (on the right) have that mischievous, brash and independent appearance. Too many people have become like inquisitive goats, that break out of the pen and put their noses in everywhere and everything―instead of being like sheep in the sheep-pen, with their noses humbly pointing to the ground, nibbling upon the blades of grass that are the words of God in the pastures of the Bible and other spiritual books.
Because of a goat’s natural curiosity and independence, they can tend to get into more trouble than sheep. Sheep are, yes, sheepish. They have a very strong flocking instinct and become agitated when separated from their flock. However, the sheep of today are much different than sheep as they were created. They have been bred in such a way as to produce fluffier, dumber sheep―and we have become fluffy dumb Catholics. Sheep are, and have always been, defenseless and are dependent on their shepherd and sheep-dogs. Goats, on the other hand, have a reputation for being independent, opinionated and curious at best—or vulgar, dangerous and destructive at worst. Shepherds protect sheep from their environment, whereas goatherds protect the environment from their goats. So for us to be God’s sheep, we must depend on Him to defend us. If we push, take, destroy and bully, or follow our dangerous curiosity and go off on our own, down paths the shepherd or goatherd does not want us go, then we become goats. There are some breeds of sheep and goats that look very similar. One give-away to tell the difference is the tail position. A goat’s tail is frequently held up vertically (proud) while a sheep tail hangs down (humble). Sheep are technically grazers, meaning they prefer munching grass low to the ground. Goats, on the other hand, are known as browsers (internet browsers?), meaning they often choose to select leaves, shrubs, vines, and weeds, often found at the tops of plants, higher off the ground. Goats are reputed to be willing to eat almost anything, including tin cans and cardboard boxes―just as human ‘goats’ will try anything and go anywhere, even where “angels fear to tread”! |
The Technological Cult
Technology has truly become a cult! The American Heritage Dictionary defines “cult” this way: ● A religion or religious sect, generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner, under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. ● A system or community of religious worship and ritual. In its most basic format, a cult is simply a small, unestablished, non-mainstream religious or non-religious group that typically revolves around a single leader. Today, technology is that leader in general, and the internet is the leader in particular, via its lieutenants of the smartphone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch, electronic personal assistant, etc. The cult worshipers never miss a day of worship―from the moment they wake up in the morning to the moment they turn-off the lights at night, they are in communication with their ‘all-knowing’, ‘all-seeing’, ‘all-capable’ god. Who is God? The Internet is God! Where is God? God is at Everyone’s Fingertips! Technology―”science is a god”―has become a veritable or quasi-religion, with a truly fervent, daily and ritual observance. Today, we treat the god of technology (smartphone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch, electronic personal assistant, etc.) like we ought to be treating God Himself. We cannot bear to be separated for long from our ‘religious idol’. We could go to a daily Sacrifice of the Mass, but instead we daily sacrifice masses of time listening to, talking through or gazing at our “tabernacle in the hand” or “tabernacle on the lap”! One kind of screen or another has become our secular tabernacle that sees hundreds of more hours of adoration than the tabernacle in the church. Adults on average are now spending a staggering 9 hours 22 minutes a day looking at a screen, a third of which is spent on our phones. It is not God that guides us, but our smartphone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch, electronic personal assistant, etc. that guides us. We consult those things far more than we consult God. We rely on those things far more than we rely upon God. We seek out those things far more than we seek God. We communicate to others the latest secular news and gossip far more than we communicate to them spiritual and religious thoughts and writings. Yet somehow we persuade ourselves that we are ‘spiritual’―even though spirituality takes up less than 5% of our day! For those who wonder what 5% of a day is―it 72 minutes―which brings to mind Our Lord’s words to His sleeping Apostles during His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane: “What? Could you not watch one hour with Me?” (Matthew 26:40). On an earlier occasion, “Jesus spoke also a parable to them, that we ought always to pray, and not to faint!” (Luke 18:1), on another occasion adding: “Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times” (Luke 21:36)―to which Holy Scripture adds: “Pray without ceasing!” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Instead, we browse with ceasing, text message without ceasing, check and send emails without ceasing! The Technological Religion Yes, the internet and what it offers, has truly become a religion with more followers than the Catholic Church―in fact, most Catholics follow the internet and its teachings, more than they follow the Church and its teachings. Truly technology in general, and the internet in particular, is a cult with billions of ardent, daily, regular, multi-hour, zealous, fervent, enthusiastic worshipers. Holy Scripture speaks of praising God seven times a day―the number seven being symbolic of completeness or perfection: “Seven times a day I have given praise to Thee!” (Psalm 118:164). Yet the cult worshipers of technology give their god far more time and attention―for, on average, American consumers now check their smartphones an average of 52 times each day, according to the U.S. edition of the 2018 Global Mobile Consumer Survey from Deloitte. That's up from 47 times per day on 2018’s study―which means they are become more and more fervent, more and more ‘religious’, more and more dependent upon their god. 69% of adults and 78% of teenagers admit to checking their smartphones hourly. A Divisive Cult Furthermore, cults are known to pull persons away from and separate them from their families. This is exactly what the god or cult of technology does to family members―they live in the same house, but each of them is separated from all others as they intently and religiously worship on their own preferred electronic device― smartphone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch, electronic personal assistant, etc. As you see in the photos alongside. The god or cult of technology leaves no place alone when it comes to worship―at the dinner table, in the lounge, in the restroom or bathroom, in the bedroom, while driving, while talking to others, even in the church. In addition, this false god and cult of technology divides persons from their true family―God, our Father―Christ, our Redeeming Brother―Mary, our Mother―and the Saints, our brothers and sisters. We have no time for them! We have no taste for their company! The false values of the cult of technology are diametrically opposed to the values of our true family in Heaven. We start to dislike those true values and eagerly “buy-into” the false values taught and propagated by our false gods. Our Lord said: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also. The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be lightsome. But if thy eye be evil thy whole body shall be darksome. If then the light that is in thee, be darkness: the darkness itself how great shall it be! No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” (Matthew 6:19-24). An Addictive Cult The U.S. Census Bureau says there are just over 83 million people between the ages of 18 to 34 in the USA. Studies show the average Millennial (= someone who born between the years 1982 and 2002, hence in the 17 to 37 age range) spends 18 hours per day using a variety of digital media. And 90% of young adults use social media, which is up from a mere 12% in 2005, the Pew Research Center reports. With 5-16-year-olds now spending an average of over 6 hours a day looking at a mobile phone or screen, worrying patterns are starting to emerge between children and technology. Many parents have also report increased behavioral issues after their child has spent a long period of time on a smart device, with one dad reporting his son became almost demonic with his tech obsession. Scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health say the human brain continues to mature until age 25. Although research in brain development among Millennials is fairly new, some medical experts say the brains of people in this generation are physically developing differently, because of their almost constant interaction with technology. Technology use can affect the parts of the brain that control the core of a person’s personality, from how they work in a team, down to hand gestures and expressions. The brain develops based on how it’s used. Texting and web surfing use different parts of the brain than reading or speaking. Excessive technology usage, according to leading scientific publications, leads to an atrophy in the frontal lobe, breaking down ties between different parts of the brain. Too much technology use also shrinks the outermost part of the brain, making it more difficult to process information. In some cases, people have become clinically addicted to technology. Kimberly Young, a licensed psychologist and professor at St. Bonaventure University in New York, has studied “Internet Addiction Disorder”, or “IAD”, for the past 20 years. “We’re all a bit too connected, but we socially accept it” said Dr. Young. She has found that an Internet Addiction Disorder is just as dangerous as other drug addictions. Patients have the same poor social skills, poor grades and poor health, because they cannot control the urge to be online. Dr. Young has treated people who have developed blood clots from sitting in front of their computers for hours on end. Many of Dr. Young’s patients have chronic problems, like attention deficit disorder and obesity. They are distressed, disinterested and disengaged. Some have trouble reading traditional, paper books because they are only accustomed to reading off tablet or computer screens. |
What is a Black Hole?
Before we look at Catholics in black holes, let us look at “black holes”, then “hell-holes” and then the “holes in our souls.” So first of all, welcome ye earthlings or worldlings, to the place of no return―a region in space where the gravitational pull is so strong, that not even light can escape it. This is the black hole. As an idiom or figure of speech, the term “black hole” means a place where people, things, or money, disappear without trace. Astronomically speaking, a black hole is a region of space-time exhibiting such strong gravitational effects that nothing—not even particles and electromagnetic radiation such as light—can escape from inside it. A black hole is a hungry beast. It swallows up everything too close, too slow, too small, or too weak to fight its gravitational force. With every planet, gas, star or bit of mass consumed, the black hole grows. The edge of a black hole, like a whirlpool in space instead of water, is the point of no return. At the edge of the black hole, light is drawn in to a black hole, never to escape. And nothing is faster than light―yet it is not fast enough to escape. Spiritual Black Holes Our Lord warns us against being spiritually blind, lest we fall into the pit― “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit” (Matthew 15:14)―well, a pit is hole: “He hath opened a pit and dug it; and he is fallen into the hole he made!” (Psalms 7:16). The very words used in the term “black hole” seem to indicate a place of darkness, and darkness is exactly what Hell and the devil is all about: “He shall drive him out of light into darkness, and shall remove him out of the world! … If I wait Hell, is my house, and I have made my bed in darkness! … A land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth … He shall not depart out of darkness―the flame shall dry up his branches” (Job 18:18; 17:13; 10:22; 15:30). “He goeth to darkness and his name shall be wholly forgotten!” (Ecclesiastes 6:4). “What manner of joy shall be to me, who sit in darkness, and see not the light of Heaven?” (Tobias 5:12). “We are in dark places as dead men!” (Isaias 59:10). In our present day, the Church has fallen into a terrible black hole. “The Christian spirit will rapidly decay, extinguishing the precious light of Faith, until it reaches the point that there will be an almost total and general corruption of morals … as true Faith fades and false light will brighten the people … The true Faith to the Lord having been forgotten … disorder and the love of carnal pleasures will be spread all over the Earth. People will think of nothing but amusement. The wicked will give themselves over to all kinds of sin … The Church will yield to large persecution, a time of darkness and the Church will witness a frightful crisis ... The Church will be in eclipse, the world will be in dismay. How the Church will suffer during this dark night! … Lucifer, together with a large number of demons, will be unloosed from Hell; they will put an end to Faith, little by little, even in those dedicated to God. They will blind them in such a way, that, unless they are blessed with a special grace, these people will take on the spirit of these angels of Hell … The spirits of darkness will spread everywhere a universal slackening of all that concerns the service of God … All the universe will be struck with terror and many will let themselves be led astray, because they have not worshiped the true Christ, Who lives among them. It is time; the sun is darkening; only Faith will survive. Now is the time; the abyss is opening. Here is the king of kings of darkness, here is the Beast with his subjects, calling himself the savior of the world!” We can clearly see the black holes of increasing apostasy and a falling away from the practice of the Faith with every passing day; the black hole that has sucked out of the Church the vocations of the priests and religious more and more with each passing year; the black hole of hypocrisy and corruption among clergy and laity, governments, politicians, media moguls, entertainers and businessmen; the black hole of electronic technology that sucks souls away from God and a spiritual life; the black hole of materialism and fun-seeking that sucks out all notions of sacrifice, mortification and penance; the black hole of social media which replaces communication with Heaven by a vain and banal communication with mere creatures and not the Creator; the black hole of gluttony which destroys the temperance we need to live a truly Christian life; the black hole of alcoholism and drug addiction that weakens the will and leads the mind into an unreal existence; the black hole of sexuality that titillates with flirtation and eventually leads to terrible sins against purity through thoughts, words, glances and actions with self or with others or on the internet; the black hole of curiosity that is fed by the internet’s ability to know almost everything that is happening anywhere in the world. These earthly black holes are just as numerous as the black holes in space and the universe. There are plenty of black holes for all the souls on Earth―all perfectly designed so that nobody feels left out or dissatisfied. There is a black hole tailor-made for you! The Black Hole of Sin Sin can easily become a black hole for us―it can have a gravitational pull that we just cannot resist when we come close to it. We are all creatures of habit―God made us that way―but we should have good, virtuous habits and not bad, sinful habits. Vice is sin that has become a habit. Thus, it could be said that vice (habitual sin) is the black hole of the soul. Each person has a tendency or propensity to one sin or another (a “pet” sin) that they like to commit and feel comfortable committing without having much remorse about it. It could be in thoughts, in glances and looking at things, it could be in talking about this, that or the other, or criticizing this that or the other, or is doing one thing or another, or even not doing something that we should be doing. Sin can become the black hole, or spider’s web, which, when we draw close to it and then indulge in it, can capture us for life and never let us escape. In looking for some potential lyrics on “black holes” and sin, wouldn’t you just know it that it had to be a heavy metal, punk rock band from the Netherlands that had these ‘sinful’ lyrics, or lyrics that typify the black hole aspect of sin and its captivation. The ‘sinful’ song is entitled “Black Hole”―neither the band nor the song is something that is praiseworthy, but it does manifest the notion of sin (or sinful feelings) being a “black hole.” You did it once again You're losing everything in sin In your world alone All you've ever known Your ways have proved you wrong Haven't smiled in so long The things you tried to hide Are killing you inside Try to find out what it means When nothing is what it seems Hope it felt good when you stole Your heart is one black hole It is one black hole or another that has led priests, monks, nuns, brothers and sisters to abandon their vocations in droves since the Second Vatican Council; it is one black hole or another that has led countless souls away from the practice of their Faith; it is one black hole or another that distracts innumerable Catholics from the spiritual life and entangles them in a material and even worldly life. All of this is the black hole of sin. Black Holes Everywhere! There are so many black holes in the universe that counting them is impossible. Nearly every galaxy — our own Milky Way, and the billions or so other galaxies visible from Earth — all shows signs of a supermassive black hole at the center of their galaxy. Moreover the bigger a galaxy is, the more massive is its central black hole. Nobody knows why. The question of how you would die inside a black hole is one of the biggest debates in physics. And so physics is stuck. It does not know the answers! It’s a good job someone knows the answers! God knows! But nobody wants to bring God into science or humbly ask Him questions. Just as the Child Jesus was teaching the doctors in the Temple, so too would He teach the scientists in the laboratory―but nobody wants Him for their teacher! And that is the reason why we are headed for our own spiritual “black hole” and many have already been sucked into its deadly whirlpool negating energy. Black Holes and Tombstones for the Holies Black holes are the tombstones of stars―and the black holes of Hell or hell-holes are the tombstones of the ‘stars’ of this world, who shone brightly with all the glitz and glamour of this world. Black holes are made when the center of a very big star finally explodes and dies―spewing its outer mass out into space and at the same seeing its core collapsing and falling in upon itself. Black holes are extremely dense pockets of matter, objects of such incredible mass and miniscule―to help your imagination feebly grasp the idea, think of packing 60 people into a regular car, or trying to squeeze the Pacific or Atlantic ocean into a thimble. The dramatic transformation starts when a massive star runs out of fuel. As the star begins to collapse, it explodes. The star’s outer layers spew out into space, but the inside implodes, becoming denser and denser, until there is too much matter in too little space. The inner core of the star succumbs to its own gravitational pull and collapses into itself, in extreme cases forming a black hole. Theoretically, if you shrank or crushed any mass down into a smaller amount of space, it could become a black hole. Our planet would be one if you tried to cram Earth into a pea. Yet that is exactly what we are doing, in a certain sense, when we try to cram the maximum possible worldly pleasure and satisfaction into our measly 24 hour day! We are creating a spiritual black hole, whereby our true spiritual life explodes and spews out all our spirituality into space―because we have no time for it―and we fall back into ourselves to selfishly and intensely indulge ourselves on material, non-spiritual things, thus creating that spiritual black hole in our souls, just as the dying star creates a black hole in space. After a black hole has formed, it can continue to grow by absorbing mass from its surroundings. By absorbing other stars and merging with other black holes, super-massive black holes of millions of solar masses may form. Once we have formed a black hole in the soul, we likewise start to absorb all the material things that surround us and titillate us―we become the “hungry beast” mentioned above, we suck in the world all around us. Having cast out the spiritual light, we enter a spiritual darkness―a black hole. We fall into the pit of the devil (the prince of this world), the world itself and all the allurements, seductions and concupiscences that come from the devil and the world. We dig our own spiritual pit or grave! If you fell into a black hole, it’s not clear how you would die―or if you would die. Would gravity rip you apart and crush you into the black hole’s core? Or would a firewall of energy sizzle you into oblivion? Some scientists think It is possible to enter a black hole and not even die―much like entering Hell’s hole or pit and not dying, but living in Satan’s ‘black hole’ eternally. Could some essence of you ever emerge from a black hole? Could anyone come out of Hell’s black hole? |
ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH OF SHAKESPEARE'S DAY
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages. At first the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms. Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school. And then the lover, sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier, full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice, in fair round belly with good capon lin’d, with eyes severe and beard of formal cut, full of wise saws and modern instances; and so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon, with spectacles on nose and pouch on side; his youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide for his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, turning again toward childish treble, pipes and whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion; sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” [“sans” is a French word for “without”] |
MODERN-DAY ENGLISH OF TODAY
“The whole world is a stage, and all the men and women merely actors. They have their exits and their entrances, and in his lifetime a man will play many parts, his life separated into seven acts. In the first act he is an infant, whimpering and puking in his nurse’s arms. Then he’s the whining schoolboy, with a book bag and a bright, young face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school. Then he becomes a lover, huffing and puffing like a furnace as he writes sad poems about his mistress’s eyebrows. In the fourth act, he’s a soldier, full of foreign curses, with a beard like a panther, eager to defend his honor and quick to fight. On the battlefield, he puts himself in front of the cannon’s mouth, risking his life to seek fame that is as fleeting as a soap bubble. In the fifth act, he is a judge, with a nice fat belly from all the bribes he’s taken. His eyes are stern, and he’s given his beard a respectable cut. He’s full of wise sayings and up-to-the-minute anecdotes: that’s the way he plays his part. In the sixth act, the curtain rises on a skinny old man in slippers, glasses on his nose and a money bag at his side. The stockings he wore in his youth hang loosely on his shriveled legs now, and his bellowing voice has shrunk back down to a childish squeak. In the last scene of our play—the end of this strange, eventful history—our hero, full of forgetfulness, enters his second childhood: without teeth, without eyes, without taste, without everything.” |
THE LITURGY BEFORE THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
Blessing and Distribution of Ashes
The Opening Antiphon At the altar, before Mass begins, the Priest, standing with hands joined, says: Hear me, O Lord, for Thy mercy is kind! Look upon me according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, O Lord! (Psalm 68:17). Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul! (Psalm 68:2). Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Hear me, O Lord, for Thy mercy is kind! Look upon me according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, O Lord! (Psalm 68:17). First Prayer Over the Ashes The Priest, standing with hands joined, says: Let us pray: Almighty, everlasting God, spare those who are repentant, be merciful to those who pray to Thee, and graciously send Thy holy angel from Heaven to bless ☩ and sanctify ☩ these ashes, that they may be a wholesome remedy for all who humbly implore Thy Holy Name; who accuse themselves by acknowledging their sins, who weep for their evil deeds in the sight of Thy divine mercy; who humbly and earnestly seek Thy fatherly love. Grant to us who call upon Thy Holy Name, that all who are sprinkled with these ashes for the forgiveness of their sins, may receive health for their bodies and salvation for their souls. Through Christ our Lord. Response: Amen. Second Prayer Over the Ashes Let us pray: O God, Thou Who desirest not the death but the repentance of sinners, look graciously upon the weakness of our human nature, and, in Thy fatherly love, mercifully bless ☩ these ashes which are to be placed upon our heads as a sign of humility and a pledge of Thy forgiveness. We know that we are but ashes, and because of our wickedness must return to dust. May we obtain, from Thee, mercy the pardon of all our sins and the rewards promised to those who repent. Through Christ our Lord. Response: Amen. Third Prayer Over the Ashes Let us pray: O God, Thou Who art moved by our acts of humility and appeased by our works of penance, turn Thy ear lovingly to our prayers, and, by the ashes sprinkled upon the heads of Thy servants, mercifully pour forth upon them the grace of Thy blessing, fill them with the spirit of repentance and truly grant what they ask for in the right way; and may whatever Thou grant, remain fixed and unchanged always. Through Christ our Lord. Response: Amen. Fourth Prayer Over the Ashes Let us pray: Almighty, everlasting God, Who bestowed upon the people of Ninive, who repented in sackcloth and ashes, Thy merciful remedies, graciously grant that we may so imitate their outward behavior as inwardly to obtain Thy forgiveness. Through Christ our Lord. Response: Amen. THE IMPOSITION OF ASHES The priest then sprinkles the ashes three times with Holy Water and then incenses the ashes with the censer (thurible) three times. Then the Priest places ashes on the head of all those present who come to him, and says to each one: Remember man that thou art dust and to dust thou shall return! Antiphons Sung During the Distribution of Ashes ANTIPHON 1 Let us change our garment for ashes and sackcloth! Let us fast and lament before the Lord! For our God is plenteous in mercy to forgive sins! (Joel 2:13). ANTIPHON 2 Between the porch and the altar the priests the Lord’s ministers shall weep, and shall say: "Spare, O Lord, spare Thy people! And shut not the mouths of them that sing to Thee, O Lord!" (Joel 2:17). THE RESPONSORIAL (taken from Esther ch. 13; Joel ch. 2, Psalm 78:9). Responsory: Let us amend for the better in those things in which we have sinned through ignorance: lest suddenly overtaken by the day of death, we seek space for penance, and are not able to find it. Hear O Lord, and have mercy: for we have sinned against Thee! Help us, O God, our Savior! And, for the glory of Thy Name, O Lord, deliver us! And forgive us our sins for Thy Name’s sake! O Lord deliver us! Listen, O Lord!” Versicle: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Listen, O Lord! The Final Prayer Let us pray: Grant us, O Lord, to take up our duty as soldiers of Christ by holy fasting, that we, who are going to struggle with the evil spirits, may be protected by the help of self-restraint! Through Christ our Lord. Response: Amen. |
THE LITURGY AFTER THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
Blessing and Distribution of Ashes
The Opening Address After the Homily, the Priest, standing with hands joined, says: Dear brethren (brothers and sisters), let us humbly ask God our Father that he be pleased to bless with the abundance of his grace these ashes, which we will put on our heads in penitence. Prayer Over the Ashes After a brief prayer in silence, and, with hands extended, he continues: (The following prayer corresponds to the Third Prayer in the pre-Vatican II rite) O God, who are moved by acts of humility and respond with forgiveness to works of penance, lend Your merciful ear to our prayers and in Your kindness pour out the grace of Your blessing on your servants who are marked with these ashes, that, as they follow the Lenten observances, they may be worthy to come with minds made pure to celebrate the Paschal Mystery of Your Son. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Notice that in the above prayer, the rubrics do not indicate a blessing with the sign of the cross ☩ , but merely invokes God to bless) (Later the following SHORTENED prayer replaced the prayer just above) Lord, bless the sinner who asks for Your forgiveness and bless ☩ all those who receive these ashes. May they keep this Lenten season in preparation for the joy of Easter. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Response: Amen. Or: [this being given a choice, either / or, means that ONLY ONE prayer is said. (The following prayer corresponds to the Second Prayer in the pre-Vatican II rite) O God, who desire not the death of sinners, but their conversion, mercifully hear our prayers and in your kindness be pleased to bless ☩ these ashes, which we intend to receive upon our heads, that we, who acknowledge we are but ashes and shall return to dust, may, through a steadfast observance of Lent, gain pardon for sins and newness of life after the likeness of Your Risen Son. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. (Later the following SHORTENED prayer replaced the prayer just above) Lord, bless these ashes ☩ by which we show that we are dust. Pardon our sins and keep us faithful to the discipline of Lent, for you do not want sinners to die but to live with the risen Christ, who reigns with you for ever and ever. Much has been lost by way of instruction, teaching, symbolism and spiritual significance by only saying ONE prayer, and omitting the other THREE prayers from the Pre-Vatican II Ritual of Blessing. THE IMPOSITION OF ASHES The priest then sprinkles the ashes with Holy Water (the rubrics give no mention of how many times) but does not incenses the ashes.Then the Priest places ashes on the head of all those present who come to him, and says to each one: Repent, and believe in the Gospel. (notice this is the first choice) Or: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. (this is in second place) Antiphons Sung During the Distribution of Ashes ANTIPHON 1 Let us change our garments to sackcloth and ashes, let us fast and weep before the Lord, that our God, rich in mercy, might forgive us our sins. ANTIPHON 2 Cf. Joel 2:17; Esther 4:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, stand between the porch and the altar and weep and cry out: "Spare, O Lord, spare Your people; do not close the mouths of those who sing Your praise, O Lord!" ANTIPHON 3 Psalm 51 (50):3 Blot out my transgressions, O Lord. THE RESPONSORIAL Cf. Baruch 3:2; Psalm 79 (78):9 Responsory: Let us correct our faults which we have committed in ignorance, let us not be taken unawares by the day of our death, looking in vain for leisure to repent. Versicle: Help us, O God our Savior; for the sake of Your Name, O Lord, set us free. The references to God by the words "You" and "Your" have been capitalized here, though in the original text, as is sadly the case with the modern Church, in addition to throwing out the more reverential "Thee", "Thou", "Thy", "Thine", their replacement words--"you" and "your"--are not even capitalized in most cases. |
BELOW: A photo of Johnny Hoogerland's barbed-wire lacerated calf. Other parts of his body were just as lacerated.
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The Toughest Race in the World
The race that is being referred to is the Tour de France― which is an annual men’s multiple stage bicycle race, primarily held in France, that lasts 23 days with 21 day-long riding stages over all kinds of terrain―flat stages, hilly stages and several mountain stages with several mountainous peaks with interchanging climbs and descents. The race took place in 1903 and has been held annually except for breaks during the two World Wars. In the early years, the Tour de France had 14 rest days for the 21 stages―because of the much longer distances overall and per day (around 3,500 miles total and an average of 160 miles per day, compared to 2,200 miles total and 100 miles per day these days), the riders would need those 14 rest days for one day’s riding would mean around 12 hours in the saddle and would stretch into the night, so that they would need the next day to recover. Today it is an international event, attracting the fittest professional riders from all over the world, who ride for the now customary 22 or so teams that enter the Tour de France, with each team having eight riders. The Tour de France is probably the hardest endurance event in the world. Exercise scientists have calculated the riders’ TRIMP value (“training impulse,” or training volume multiplied by training intensity) for the 21-day long-haul to be at an astronomical 7,112. For comparison’s sake, the TRIMP for running a marathon is only about 300. In other words, it is even more than the energy output of running 21 marathons in 23 days, which would only total a TRIMPT value of 6,300 compared to the 7,112 of the Tour de France race. For most people, biking 125 miles over rugged mountain passes would be the challenge of a lifetime. But cyclists competing in the Tour de France are tackling such physical feats almost every day for three weeks ― covering more than 2,000 miles and powering through nine mountain stages, including one next week that will finish on a 8,677-foot (2,645-meter) summit. In the early years―the early 1900s―the Tour de France was usually ridden around the entire perimeter (circumference) of France―which always made the race over 3,000 miles long―with riders cycling a minimum of 200 miles daily. Nowadays, the route changes annually is usually anywhere from 2,000 to 2,400 miles long. The longest Tour de France was in 1926, with a total distance of 3,570 miles over 17 stages―which translates to an average of 210 miles a day (stage) and was ridden at an average speed of 15 miles per hour on much, much heavier bikes than professional cyclists have today. The fastest modern day average speed was 25 miles per hour over a distance of 2,115 miles. To give you an idea of what 2,000 miles looks like―Toronto, Canada, to Miami in Florida is merely 1,400 miles by road or 1,200 “as the crow flies” (straight line). The distance from New York City to Denver Colorado is only 1,700 miles by road, or 1,600 miles by air. The distance, coast to coast, from New York City to Los Angeles is only 2,700 miles by road, or 1,600 miles by air―which is still short of the distance covered by the Tour de France cyclists in the early years (varying annually from around 3,000 to 3,500 miles). “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). A Day In The Life of a Tour de France Cyclist Around 195 top-level professional cyclists start the race―only around 130 ever finish the race. That shows how hard it is―even for the elite professional cyclists of the world. Here is an example of one particular year’s schedule. DAY 1: 127 miles, about 9 hours saddle time DAY 2: 94 miles, about 7 hours saddle time with 3 pretty big hills DAY 3: 87 miles, about 7 hours saddle time with 4 pretty big hills DAY 4: quick 15 mile sprint (Team Time Trial) DAY 5: 137 miles, about 10 hours saddle time, 4 small hills DAY 6: 106 miles, about 7 hours of saddle time DAY 7: 123 miles, about 8.5 hours saddle time, 2 pretty big and 1 substantial hill DAY 8: 117 miles, about 9 hours saddle time, 2 mountains, one climbing up 5k feet DAY 9: 101 miles, about 8.5 hours, 5 mountains that'll hurt DAY 10: finally a day off DAY 11: 118 miles, about 9 hours, pretty flat DAY 12: quick 20 mile sprint (individual time trial) DAY 13: 130 miles, about 9 hours, flat DAY 14: 104 miles, about 6.5 hours, flat DAY 15: 114 miles, about 7.5 hours, 7 substantial hills DAY 16: 145 miles, 11+ hours, 4 hills plus 5000 ft of pain straight up Mt. Ventoux DAY 17: another rest day (you'll need it) DAY 18: 101 miles, 7 hours, 3 big hills DAY 19: quick 20 mile sprint (individual time trial) DAY 20: 103 miles, 10 hours, up the mountain Alpe d'Huez (6,102 feet) TWICE!!! Pain! Pain! Pain! DAY 21: 122 miles, 11 hours, 2 big alpine mountains and 3 more big climbs DAY 22: 75 miles, 7 hours, 4 more mountain climbs DAY 23: 80 miles, 6 hours into Paris down the Champs-Elysées “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). No Lukewarm Riders The Tour de France is probably the most physically demanding major sporting event in the world. Over 23 days and 21 stages, riders burn an average of roughly 5,000 calories per day, which is almost twice as much as a professional marathon runner might burn in a single race―but whereas the marathon runner stops running after one race, these cyclists repeat the same gruesome race 21 times over 23 days―and all the while they must maintain a sharp mind, marking their opponents and working with teammates to go fast as efficiently possible before their bodies cave in. Cycling a grand Tour is as much a fight against one’s own body as it is against opponents. Quite literally, cyclist’s bodies begin fighting back after the first week. Riders begin to lose muscle, their immunes systems tank, and they practically have to force feed themselves in order to maintain the baseline system functionality to climb mountain roads, such as the feared Alpe d’Huez which rises to over 6,000 feet. Just as in the spiritual life, lukewarmness means the death of the cyclist. To win the race, it is a case of “all or nothing”―or, as Our Lord says: “the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away!” (Matthew 11:12). The Tour de France cyclist are far from being lukewarm, half-hearted, or half-committed. The amount of energy they expend for the worldly goal puts the layman to shame! If you’re the kind of sensible person who stops riding when you’re sick, or injured, or exhausted, or in extreme glucose debt (a.k.a. hypoglycemia or the “bonk”), you’ll never be a professional cyclist. These guys don’t quit. When the body doesn’t have excess fat to break down for fuel, it breaks down muscle. The Tour de France riders are literally cannibalizing themselves to get through the race. Even so, they don’t quit. They begin the Tour looking like strong, fit and gaunt athletes. Many of them finish looking emaciated. “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Using Phenomenal Amounts of Energy The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that, on average, an adult American woman needs between 1,800 and 2,400 calories each day to support her normal activities. The range for adult men is between 2,400 and 3,000 calories. A professional cyclist riding in the Tour de France, will typically burn about 4,000 calories on an “easy” stage. Average stages require between 4,000 and 6,000 calories to complete the stage. Grueling mountain stages demand calorie burns of 7,000 calories or more. A Tour de France rider will burn enough calories during a six-hour mountain stage to fuel an average person’s activity for two to four days. At first glance it might not look to be much― a little bit more than twice as many calories a day as an average person. However, this fails to see that 2,400 calories is what an average person burns in 24 hours, whereas the professional cyclist burns between 4,000 and 7,000 calories in the 5 to 10 hours while they’re racing. They still have to live and burn calories after the race is over―which means burning calories for another 14 to 19 hours before and after the race―which will use up a few more thousand calories. “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). No Fasting, But Force-Feeding In order to have enough body fuel and energy for a day during the Tour de France, a rider needs an 8,000 calories per day diet, a rider will typically consume about 1,000 calories before the race starts. They will then try to consume approximately 1,500 calories during the race. This leaves roughly 5,500 calories to choke down between the time the race ends in the late afternoon or early evening and the time the usually exhausted rider goes to sleep. Consuming this many calories is not an easy thing to do. Eating on the bike is hard. Riders don’t have time to eat during hard efforts or long mountain descents. Sometimes when they do have the time, the thought of putting food in your mouth is nauseating. Even when the idea of eating doesn’t turn your stomach, the hassle of eating while riding can seem like it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Because of the constant need for glucose to fuel muscle activity, a rider’s calorie intake is overbalanced toward carbohydrates. Too many carbohydrates, in too short a time, leads to nausea and vomiting. Fall a little short and you don’t have the energy you need to compete; overdo it a little bit and you and your stomach are in for an unpleasant ride. Eating off the bike is also hard, because there are so many calories that have to be consumed and so little time to consume them. Eating becomes more difficult as the race wears on over days and weeks. Exhaustion and fatigue accumulate and riders experience appetite loss. Meals become increasingly unpalatable as the rider’s extreme dietary requirements result in eating the same things on the same schedule day after day. The goal may be to consume 6,000 to 8,000 calories a day, but few riders are successful at meeting this goal throughout the course of the Tour. They inevitably fall behind and, once that occurs, it is almost impossible to catch up. When calorie intake falls behind the demands of the stressed body, the body begins to feed on itself to get the energy it needs to finish the stage. “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). No Party-Poopers Here! Spending all those hours in the saddle, without being able to stop for a lunch-break (having to eat from sacks or pouches as you ride), brings about an inevitable and delicate question. Life is life and nature stops for no one! Though not many speak of these things, these things will not go away. As they say: “If ya gotta go, ya gotta go!” This is another example of how far dedicated athletes will go in order to win that “prize”―but there are no prizes for pooping! Nevertheless, the demands of nature will not go away just because of an important race. Since Our Lord spoke of things that “goeth out into the privy” meaning into the toilet bowl (Mark 7:19), a brief word about “the privy” can be said here too! Here is an extract from an article that deals with this delicate issue that besieges every single rider in the Tour de France. Let it be lesson that shows to what degree those dedicated athletes are prepared go to in order to win a prize! Way back in the early days of the Tour de France, when a cyclist had to use the bathroom, the entire race used to stop and wait for him to finish in a proper bathroom/restroom/toilet (call it what you will, according to the country you live in). Of course, this was back when cycling races like the Tour de France were more about being gentlemanly than about vigorously competitive. As races became more competitive, some riders would still stop to use a bathroom/restroom/toilet, but the other riders would not stop with them, but use that to their advantage and push on. Today, there’s time on each stage for a few bathroom. In the Tour and many other big races, the race leader is king. If he has to go, he can call a bathroom break whenever he desires, says Stephen Hall, a professional rider with OTOC-Vault Racing Team and a stage winner at the Tour of Thailand. A former Tour professional rider, Jonathan Vaughters, says: “Generally, the big pee break of the day occurs when the breakaway of the day is finally established, sometimes after five minutes, sometimes after two hours. The yellow jersey (the race leader, who currently holds the fastest time for the Tour, is given the yellow jersey to identify him as the race leader) will roll to the front and make a sign to everyone to see he’s stopping for a pee break. That’s like a truce flag on a battlefield. If that happens, a bathroom break is like an oasis in the desert—you take advantage of it when you see it. The peloton (the main group or pack of riders) will slow up a bit, and you'll pull over to the side of the road. Once your business is finished, you’ll work together to navigate back to pack. Usually there are at least two, sometimes three pee breaks.” Outside of those two or three pee breaks, nobody stops for anything short of the apocalypse and having to pee or poop does not count as apocalyptic. One Tour de France professional says: “Generally speaking, you’re better off peeing down your leg than using too much energy flapping around in the convoy!” Today, elite athletes will just poop in their pants and continue on. These professional cyclists compete to the point that their body is beyond just being stressed ― it feels likes it is dying. The heart rate is going haywire, it’s difficult to breathe, and the muscles are so tired and overworked that they feel as if they are literally screaming to stop torturing them. These riders can be on the verge of unconsciousness, sometimes death, and because their bodily biology doesn’t know that they are doing this for a ‘fun’ race, their body thinks it is in serious danger. A big part of the body’s response to the danger signal is to shut down the digestive system, so that the blood flow can be routed to areas that will keep you alive―the brain, muscles, and lungs. This can result in one of two responses by the digestive system: puking or pooping. Puking is something people expect of athletes, but the pooping part is something people don’t talk about. Some bike shorts have padding that can essentially double as an adult diaper if need be. Alternatively, riders will sprint off in front and get ahead of the peloton (the main group or pack of riders) to take a break. That way, by the time they’re done, the field has caught up and they’re ready to join back in. If there’s no break in sight, racers will gather up some teammates to give them a push while they go from the bike—it’s just about impossible to pedal and pee at the same time. Just one more slap in the face that proves that the “children of darkness” have more dedication than the “children of light”! And they do it for an earthly crown, a worldly prize, a materialistic gain! How much more of a prize is Heaven? Yet we complain about the slightest, most trivial, inconsequential, stupid little things! “The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light!” (Luke 16:8). “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). No Dragging Your Heels (or Wheels) You could say that riding a bike on the Tour de France is similar to carrying your cross in the race for Heaven. The bike is an added weight for the rider―but guess what, you can’t win the Tour de France without a bike―just like you can’t win the race for Heaven without a cross! The average speed over the entire Tour de France race―which includes the flat roads, the mountain ascents or climbs, and the super-fast mountain downhill descents―is around 25 miles per hour. When the riders are all together in the peloton (the main group of cyclists) and nothing exciting is going on, then they will pedal at this speed, sometimes slower if it's a super long, hard stage, with around 10 hours in the saddle, and at times they will move along faster if they have a tailwind, or they want to make sure that isolated breakaway riders don't get too far ahead. Then they will hit speeds of 30 miles per hour or faster. As regards the so-called “Time Trial”, which has individual riders, released at staggered intervals, having to ride a set distance over a variety of terrains―sometimes it may be mainly flat, at other times it will undulating terrain, at other times it will be a continuous mountain climb. They are on their own fighting the clock. The fastest average speed in a time trial at 34.5 miles per hour, which obviously means at times the pedal faster and at times slower. At the end of a day’s racing, having spent many hours in the saddle and suffering from muscle pain and fatigue, the riders who are leading the race find energy to spring for the finishing line. When the leaders go for a sprint finish, they will often hit speeds of over 40 miles per hour (there is that number “forty” again! 40 days of Lent, 40 days of Our Lord in the desert fasting, 40 years wandering in the desert with Moses, etc.). Recorded data from one finishing line spring showed the winning cyclist hitting speeds of 44 miles per hour in order to win. The top mountain climb cyclists ride up the mountains at an average speed of 12 miles per hour―though that depends upon the steepness of the climb and also how many miles they have to climb. Some climbs can stretch out for as many as 15 miles. The record average speed for climbing the towering mountain Alpe d’Huez is around 14 miles per hour over an eight mile climb, taking a total of 38 minutes, over an average gradient of 8% with its steepest part being 12%, while climbing up a total of just over 6,000 feet. When you are working at a high output at altitude, and you’re super fit, your body relies heavily on oxygen, and with a low oxygen availability and partial pressure of oxygen in that environment, the fitter you are, the more you suffer. Your body also uses a lot more carbohydrate and your respiration rate and heart rate are also elevated. Cycling uphill is a pain! But what goes up, must come down! The best part of cycling is, of course, going downhill! Obviously! The Englishman, Chris Froome, stated the obvious during the 2017 Tour de France, when he reached spectacular speeds during his descent on the way to a victory on stage eight of the Tour de France, stating afterwards: “I felt like a kid again, just trying to ride my bike as fast as I could!” What were those speeds? He was clocked at reaching speeds up to 81 miles per hour! Another cyclist reached 79 miles per hour! Another reached 75 miles per hour. This is not on interstate roads (“motorways” for the Brits), but on regular roads! See the photo on the left of this paragraph, showing a typical Tour de France mountain descent. Many people would nervous driving a car at 81 miles per hour on regular roads, but here we have someone on a “push-bike” pushing its limits! One false move and you could be dead! “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Talk About Penance!!! There are few people on Earth who can possibly comprehend what riders go through during the Tour de France. In an interview with Dr. Stacy Sims―an environmental exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, was a pro women’s cyclist who later went on to work with men’s pro cycling teams like Saxo and Dimension Data during the Tour de France―the interviewer, Louis Bien, gleaned the following information (the quotes of Dr. Sims are taken from his article): Dr. Stacy Sims speaks of “three weeks of intensity” where riders put themselves “through the ringer for three weeks.” At the outset, during “the first week, their body can handle the stress. It’s going to be hard, they’re going to have an elevated metabolism and poor sleep because you have the traveling, you have the racing, you have the poor food that goes with it.” Yet as stress begins to invade and bludgeon the mind and the body, “you really see the body start to bottom out. And you see people start to drop out, getting sick, more crashes because there’s less reaction time available, because their bodies enter so much stress.” Dr. Sims then says that the body begins to fight back during the third week, for it faces a “the idea of fight or flight and the famine situation, where the body is all of a sudden like, ‘OK, I have this increased stress, and I have to deal with it because it’s not going away!’” Experienced riders handle this better than newcomers or “less seasoned riders … who don’t have as much training history, will drop out earlier, or fall and be off the back a lot earlier.” Dr. Sims goes on to say that the July heat presents further danger, for “if they’re not acclimatized to the heat, that increases dehydration status and inflammation, poor abilities to recover. And then when they get into the cold and the altitude [on the mountain climbs], they have that compensation they have to worry about, less oxygen available, and the fitter you are, the more you suffer at altitude”―because you need and consume more oxygen due to being extremely fit. The cold, especially at high altitudes, which is more keenly felt due to the “wind chill” that comes from riding in the open air on a bike, can lead to some riders “getting hypothermic and not being able to control the gears because your hands are frozen. These have some consideration into crashing and attenuating your immune response to exercise.” With all this stress, the body starts to creak and get weak. Dr. Sims points out that “for each successive stress day, you have an increase in cortisol, you have increased inflammation, you have your protein breakdown, which is your catabolism. You’re depleting your fuel stores. And your immune system is very reliant on having glutamine available, which is a key amino acid which is also in the gut. Also having some protein available for white blood cell regeneration and stimulation. You also have the need for a reduction in inflammation in order for the immune system to do what it needs to do, because the response to inflammation, again, is an immune response. So if your body is dealing with body and muscle inflammation, it can’t necessarily deal with virus or bacterial infections that come into play. So as you are continuing to put your body under this stress, after about seven days you’re at this tipping point, so that’s usually when the rest day occurs.” Even Tour de France Riders Crave Sugar during their 3-Week “Lent” Isn’t it strange how some people can crave much more vehemently during Lent the things that they have decided to give up. Sugar is sweet―but sugar is not good! Dr. Sims points out a similar situation for the Tour de France riders. “In my experience working with a lot of the pro riders, all they want is sugar — sugar, sugar, sugar — because they’re in such a depleted state, they’re craving carbohydrates. So instead of trying to help repair, they’re just looking for that quick hit of carbohydrate and quick hit of sugar, and the more they have of the sugar aspect, the worse it is on their gut microbiome, which is also tied to the immune system. Because if they’re eating high sugar diet, then it’s going to reduce the growth of the bacteria that protects from fatigue and inflammation, and helps your immune system, and the more it’s going to grow the bacteria that relies on simple sugar and the metabolites of stress. So it’s a multi-tier effect of why they bottom out.” The cycling team’s doctor and dieticians, like unpopular parents, try to force the riders to eat what is best for their recovery and repair, rather than let them give in to their sugar-cravings. They need to address the catabolic state of the riders and the inevitable inflammation and immune-system depletion that comes along with the stress of high level physical effort for hour after hour, almost one day after another―with only 2 rest days being allowed in 23 days. Dr. Sims then speaks of the proverbial “bonk” which she says “comes from poor recovery or inadequate glucose regeneration and glycogen. We technically say it’s «low energy availability»― but what happens is that they’re not taking in enough to put everything back in their muscle and their liver—their body is using more in the immediate rather than storing it. So as you get further and further into the race, and you have less and less storage, they have to eat more and more, and physically they just don’t have the appetite. So it’s more force feeding both on the bike and off the bike. So as you get more and more into this depleted state, it becomes this fine balance of getting riders to take in enough to be able to perform, but also knowing that they have no appetite, and they’re dehydrated and you have this repercussion aspect. They’re going to hit the wall, they’re going to ‘bonk’, and then it’s all over!” Sink or Swim―Ride or Fall―Fight or Fail The race will not go away! Your body will not go away! You either adapt and persevere or you quit and fail. Dr. Sims, in speaking of the stark realization that finishing the race will require some “blood and guts”, then, as she says, “you get to a point and it becomes about survival. So you are getting a little bit fitter as you’re riding, so that extra fitness comes into play as well, and you’ll have less of a stress response because your body has kind of learned that stress response … Your body is starting to attune to that stress and understand what that is, so when you get into that third week, it’s not as strong of a response to that stress. That is what the «bounce back» is, because you don’t have as much cortisone being released, not as much adrenaline being released. The body is more efficient in carbohydrate utilization, more efficient in fat utilization. The inflammation response isn’t as great, so everything has kind been attenuated and habituated to that response.” Accidents Will Happen Cycling is a sport that mixes tragedy and triumph like few others. While there is perhaps no greater joy in the sport than a solo victory, there is no greater pain than that of a high-speed crash. There are numerous, perhaps countless incidents, of Tour de France riders continuing to ride after being involved in a bad crash. There was one incident in the 2018 Tour de France, where a rider lost control of his bike, skidded, hit a wall and was thrown over the wall. He remounted and continued cycling another 35 miles to the finish line, where it was discovered he had a broken his knee [see the photo of his broken knee to the left of this paragraph]. He was rightly recognized for his courage and bravery with an award for the 'most combative rider of the stage' on the podium. Obviously, he had to withdraw from the race. Hinault was the cherished champion of French cycling in the 1980s. In 1985, he was aiming for his fifth Tour de France win. Only two other riders, Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx, had accomplished this feat. His dreams were nearly crushed when he went down in the last kilometer of Stage 14, landing on his head and breaking his nose. Heroically, Hinault got back on his bike. A trail of blood followed him to the finish line, and he went on to win the Tour de France. Cars will always be a cyclist’s biggest enemy. With around 20 miles to go in the ninth stage of the 2011 Tour de France, Johnny Hoogerland was side swiped by a rival’s team car. As bad as that may sound, the collision wasn’t where the damage occurred. Hoogerland and Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha were sent flying into a barbed-wire fence. The blood and gashes on Hoogerland’s legs looked like something out of a WWII movie. Years later, Hoogerland is said to still suffer from back pain, mood swings and insomnia as a result of the horrific incident. A brutal day of heat ruined Joseba Beloki’s chances of up-ending Lance Armstrong in the 2003 Tour de France. Entering the day in second place overall, Beloki hit a patch of road tar that had melted from the blazing temperatures. To ompound the matter, Beloki was in the middle of a high-speed descent. The crash was one of the more horrific in Tour de France history. Beloki ended up with a fractured femur, fractured elbow and fractured wrist, and he wouldn’t return to action again until 2004. In the 1951 Tour de France, a historic crash occurred when leader Wim Van Est, experienced a tyre blow-out and went off the road, smashing himself down 70 yards of a steep, rocky ravine. Of course, in those days, he was not wearing a helmet, but astoundingly the Dutchman walked away from the accident and got back in the race. In the 2009 Tour de France, Jens Voigt suffered an epic disaster descending the Col du Petit Saint Bernard. Voigt was traveling in excess of 60 miles per hour when his front wheel hit a bump in the road, sending him face first over the handlebars. What could have been worse was that a trailing photographer on a motorcycle just missed running him over. TV cameras captured Voigt lying completely still for several minutes—leaving most of the viewing audience holding their breath in horror. In the end, Voigt survived, suffering a fractured cheekbone and a severe concussion. The most tragic crash was that of the Italian Fabio Casartelli crashed coming down the Col de Portet d'Aspet in the 1995 Tour de France. The 24-year-old rider crashed along with several other riders on the 15th stage of that year’s Tour. He hit his head on a roadside barrier, which resulted in a massive stream of blood coming from his head. Casartelli was airlifted to hospital, but slipped into a coma and died later that same day. “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Just one more slap in the face that proves that the “children of darkness” have more dedication than the “children of light”! And they do it for an earthly crown, a worldly prize, a materialistic gain! How much more of a prize is Heaven? Yet we complain about the slightest, most trivial, inconsequential, stupid little things! “The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light!” (Luke 16:8). Madness? Five-time Tour de France winner, Bernard Hinault of France, is on record as saying of the Tour de France: “An amateur should think long and hard before attempting one of these stages. Two would probably necessitate a visit to a doctor, and three would require a psychiatrist ― any more, and you should be checking if that person has written a will.” The Words of Pope St. Gregory the Great Our Lord says in another place of the Gospels: “If any man minister to Me, let him follow Me” (John 12:26). To be worthy of Him, we must follow His steps and examine the way in which He walked. And first we see that He, the Creator of all heavenly and reasonable beings, deigned to descend into the womb of a virgin, there to assume the human nature, which He Himself had created out of nothing. We see that He did not choose to be born of rich parents, when taking our human nature, but chose poor parents, who were not even able to offer for Him in the temple a lamb, but only a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons. Thus our Redeemer did not seek happiness in this world; He endured insults, scorn, and blasphemies; He allowed Himself to be spat upon, to be buffeted, scourged, crowned with thorns, and nailed to a cross. He would give us to understand that the pleasures we derived from corporeal things, robbed us of the eternal happiness, of which we can again take possession only by drinking the bitter chalice of suffering. Yet, since God suffered so much for man, what suffering will the sinful man be ready to endure? When after all this, a Christian, believing in Jesus Christ, is still ruled and led by avarice or ambition; when he is still devoured by the fire of envy or carnal pleasures; when he is eagerly rushing after the happiness of this world, then we can truly say that, instead of following Jesus, he is despising Him, because he is walking on quite a different road, and not on the road taken by the Son of God during His mortal life of bitter suffering. Let us, therefore, recall to our mind our own wickedness; let us remember that the eternal Judge will punish our sins most severely; then, let us endeavor to destroy them by sorrowful repentance. Now, let us do severe penance, and thus escape in eternity the terrible wrath of an offended God. The tears shed in this life will take us to the joys of heaven, for Our Lord said: “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:5); whereas the pleasures of this world will, according to the same Savior, bring us to the eternal dwelling of tears and sorrow. “Woe to you that now laugh, for you shall mourn and weep” (Luke 6:25). If we wish to obtain the highest felicity, let us now walk in the path of penance, and our penitential life will not only gain for us great merits with God, but will be to His greater glory; for, according to the words of the Gospel, others will be encouraged by our good example. |