Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

LSP

Holy Saturday Inspiration

Pretty Holy Saturday, right? Not that we need an excuse to run this  top song.

LSP

Appalled And Sickened

Yes, we are.

That is all,

LSP

Good Friday

The Altars are stripped and we behold the wood of the Cross on which hung the Saviour of the world. So we pray:

ALMIGHTY God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified; Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all estates of men in thy holy Church, that every member of the same, in his vocation and ministry, may truly and godly serve thee; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

MERCIFUL God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor desirest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all who know thee not as thou art revealed in the Gospel of thy Son. Take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy fold, that they may be made one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

God bless,

LSP

Behold The investigative Genius Of France

France is notorious for its detective work, for an uncanny ability to solve the baffling of crimes. Some would almost call it psychic:

The French investigators have such extraordinary powers of forensic penetration that they can dispense with all inductive aids to inquiry. Here they have not one, not two or three, but twelve acts of violent desecration in the past month, including an arsonist attack against the second largest church in France. 

Then Notre Dame catches fire - and what a fire it was - on Monday of Holy Week. Even before the fire was brought under control, the authorities ruled out arson. Has the world ever seen a more potent demonstration of investigative prowess?

In related news, it's Mueller Time. I think we own that meme now.

God bless,

LSP

Christ's Prayer In The Garden

Today we're looking forward to Maundy Thursday and with it the events of the Last Supper and beyond. Christ washes his disciples' feet, institutes the Eucharist, then goes to the Garden of Gethsemane where he prays before falling into the hands of sinful men.

Such mystery, and we tend to concentrate on the prophetic action of the foot washing and the sacrament of Jesus' body and blood. The one, of course, begets the other. As the disciples are cleansed by Christ and made fit for the Passover feast, so too are we cleansed by the blood of Calvary and participate in the heavenly banquet of the Eucharist. 

True enough and that's the least of it, but what of Gethsemane and Christ's prayer in the garden. Here's Benedict XVI:

Jesus says: “Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet not what I want, but what you want” (Mk 14:36). The natural will of the man Jesus recoils in fear before the enormity of the matter. He asks to be spared. Yet as the Son, he places this human will into the Father’s will: not I, but you. In this way he transformed the stance of Adam, the primordial human sin, and thus heals humanity. 

The stance of Adam was: not what you, O God, have desired; rather, I myself want to be a god. This pride is the real essence of sin. We think we are free and truly ourselves only if we follow our own will. God appears as the opposite of our freedom. We need to be free of him – so we think – and only then will we be free. 

This is the fundamental rebellion present throughout history and the fundamental lie which perverts life. When human beings set themselves against God, they set themselves against the truth of their own being and consequently do not become free, but alienated from themselves. We are free only if we stand in the truth of our being, if we are united to God.

This is the fundamental rebellion present throughout history and the fundamental lie which perverts life. And what a perversion it is, the same tormented falsehood, for example, that tells Mothers they'll find meaning and fulfillment if they kill their children.

We know where this comes from, "He was a murderer from the beginning." We also know that Hell was broken on the hard wood of the Cross.

Have a blessed and holy Triduum,

LSP

Guns & Flags

Another typical night at the Compound, cleaning shotguns, sharpening knives and ordering Confederate flags off the information superhighway. 

Yes, you can still buy them, oddly, and you don't even have to download a Tor browser and a company of undercover Feds to do so. But what flags?

Good question. The Bonnie Blue, obviously, and the First National. They come in "superknit nylon", 3'x5', and promise to set off the front porch in a patriotic, civic pride kind of way.

In related news, plans are afoot to create subdued Bonnie Blue velcro hook cap patches. Put 'em on your cap, your coat, wherever, totally up to you. Should be ready in a week or so.

Cheers,

LSP

Parisians Sing As Notre Dame Burns

Europe, and by extension the West, is the Faith, a Faith which is increasingly, vehemently under attack. The burning of Notre Dame serves as an apt symbol.

Here's Z's take via WRSA:

As news spread of the fire consuming the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the first reaction of most people was shock and sadness. You don’t have to be Catholic or French to feel as if some part of you has been lost. That was not just an old building or a historically important place. It was a symbol of Western civilization. Stand inside a great church and you feel the awe and power that inspired the builders. That cathedral was the primal roar of a people celebrating their creator and the essence of who they were as a people.

Of course, it did not take long for people to notice that its burning was a metaphor for the current crisis in the West. As Europe is swamped by Muslims, promising to replace Europeans in their own lands, it is only a matter of time before the great churches are turned into mosques or destroyed. Despite the endless propaganda from our rulers, most people here and there, are well aware of what’s happening. They don’t know how to articulate it or react to it, but they know. Watching the fire, they knew what it meant.

An aggressive take on a tragedy? Perhaps, but one which took place in the midst of a wave of attacks on French churches this year, though you'd hardly know it from our media. 

Notre Dame still stands, thank God; does the Faith it represents? It does, though badly eroded in the West, but if it were to go and with it the soul of our culture, what would take its place, what will fill the vacuum?

Serious question,

LSP

NOTRE DAME BURNS

I'd barely finished shooting when news came in that Notre Dame de Paris, perhaps Europe's most beautiful medieval cathedral, was on fire, flames had engulfed the building. 

First thoughts first, the Jihad did it, striking a blow against the Crusaders, if only they were, in the heart of the Frankish kingdom.

But no, ISIS hasn't claimed responsibility, which they would if they were in on it, what a triumph for the Jihad. Who then? A careless builder, throwing a half smoked Gauloise down on the tinder dry frame of the great church's roof? Perhaps.

Anarcho-Marxists, sticking it to the hated Man a few days before Easter? Conceivable. But who really stands to gain from such a disaster. 

What about Macron, who now gets to rebuild the "soul of France" and become a hero saviour at the very point of looking down the blade of a hi-viz guillotine.

Whatever the case, stand by for photo evidence of "yellow vests" setting light to the cathedral and in the meanwhile, thank God the church is still standing and its treasures safe. Apart, of course, from the  priceless irreplacement of it all.

Speaking of price, who insures Notre Dame? And while you're following the money, I'll tell you this. 

Do not, I repeat, do not mess with the Blessed Virgin Mary or you will be relentlessly destroyed.

Your Friend,

LSP

TRUMP 2020

President Donald Trump 2020 trailer from n3IVI0 on Vimeo.

Because this was taken down from this mind blog by the SocMedStasi. Apparently they haven't got 'round to censoring Vimeo yet. 

MAGA,

LSP

Holy Monday Shoot

The sun shone, rising incandescent over the chicken operation, and you could hear Maria singing to her ravenous birds while peacocks shrieked. A good day to be alive in Texas, a good day to shoot. 

Compound Sun

CC swung by from the metrosprawl, he wanted to test out his Winchester 1200 pump and I wanted to see if the new extractors I'd pinned into a Mossberg 835 lived up to their name. So off we went to the range with a truckload of guns. Holy Monday style.

Guns

Long story short, the 1200 didn't really work. Sure, it started off well enough, then decided it didn't want to feed or shoot when you squeezed the trigger. CC, word to the wise, lose that weapon or hang it on the wall as a keepsake. 

The Mossberg worked well enough, though three shells out of 60(?) failed to extract, the last being shooter error. So maybe a bit more attention's needed in the armory department.

CC, Lose The 1200

Then it was time for 20s. CC knocked a few clays outta the sky with a single shot something from Brazil. I call it "Old Bolsanero," for some reason, and we moved thankfully onto a CZ. Just a lot of fun to shoot, quick, dead on, light and easy on the shoulder. Stylish too, if you like a SxS.

A Couple of 20s

And go figure, we both smoked a lot of clays, hurled into the air redneck style with a plastic thrower. I'd like a machine, to be honest, but saving for a new rig and lever guns takes priority. All in good time.

Check it Out, Tejas

I tell you, this last few months have been all about shotguns. Remedial for me and a reminder of the sheer enjoyment that's to be had from blasting away at flying targets. And I have to say, again, that I'm a total convert to the 20 and, for that matter, doubles. OK, late in the game, LSP, but whatever.

Your Old Pal. Don't be a Narcissist, LSP

Shotgunnery over it was .22 plinkerthon time and what's wrong with that? Nothing at all, and it keeps your aim in on a Holy Week budget. Great fun, courtesy of Ruger and Remington, but news started to filter through to the range. Notre Dame was on fire.

Rig

Serious business, it was time to head back to the Compound.

Gun rights,

LSP

Palm Sunday 2019

I love Palm Sunday, the gateway to Holy Week and with it the opportunity to follow Christ ever more deeply on his way to the cross and resurrection. Beautiful, and it forces two things upon us, discernment and choice.

Who and what do we love, what leads us, who do we follow? Bread and power, the world, the flesh and the devil who hovers over all, or Christ? Discernment achieved, choose wisely.

That said, half of one of the Missions was missing in action today. Why? Because they'd gone to a rabbit show. That's right, a bunny display.

Well, there's nothing quite like anticipating Easter.

Antenicene Fathers forever,

LSP