A Beautiful Spring Evening But Don't Forget Detroit

Here we are on a beautiful Spring evening in North Central Texas. Peacocks shriek, roosters crow, fierce robins face-off against marauding squirrels and Mexican music fills the air as Eduardo tends to the neighboring chicken operation. 

All good, nature obviously rejoices at the Kennedy Center's $25 million gift, which you can read about on Virtual Mirage, LL's gentle and tolerant news portal. But of course things aren't so good, Kennedy Center pork notwithstanding, as the Chinese Virus starts to lay hold of the DFW metrosprawl. Then there's Detroit.

A Typical Detroit Street Scene

Detroit, America's onetime thriving Motor City has the highest rate of contagion outside of New York and New Orleans. Who would've thought it? Spare a prayer for the hapless city and its declining population.

Pre-Virus Detroit. Now It's Shut

But enough doom and gloom, it should be dry enough to get out to the range tomorrow for some plinking, or maybe fishing. We must thank God for his many mercies.

This Old Gentleman is Resting

Train hard, think positive, fight easy,

LSP

Powerful Prayers From Moscow

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has approved the following prayers for inclusion in the Litany of Fervent Supplication. Via Anglican Ink:

Again we pray unto Thee, O Lord our God, for the mercy and salvation from the disastrous epidemic coming onto us, for the deliverance of Thy faithful people from spiritual and bodily death, for the healing and health of the diseased and for Thy divine protection and help, we pray unto Thee, O merciful Lord, hearken soon and have mercy.

Again we pray for the pacification of confusion and every fear among people, for the protection of Thy faithful by firm faith, for filling our hearts with peace and quietness, we pray unto Thee, O Lord, hearken and have mercy.

O Lord our God, enter not into judgment with Thy servants and save us from the disastrous epidemic coming onto us. Have mercy on us, Thy lowly and unworthy servants who in repentance, with fervent faith and broken heart, prostrate ourselves before Thee, O God, merciful and ordaining every good change, and trust in Thy mercy.

For Thy property it is to show mercy and to save us, O our God, and unto Thee do we send up glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thank you, Patriarch, for these powerful supplications.

God bless,

LSP

The Annunciation

We celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation today, and with it Mary's fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum, let it be done unto me according to thy word. With that righteous yes salvation came into the world, may we echo it. But I won't bang on, here's the Angelus:

V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.R. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.

Hail Mary, full of grace,The Lord is with Thee;Blessed art thou among women,And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.Holy Mary, Mother of God,Pray for us sinners,Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

Hail Mary, etc.

V. And the Word was made Flesh. (genuflect you heathen)R. And dwelt among us.

 Hail Mary, etc.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts; that as we have known the Incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his (cross yourselves, pagans) cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory of his resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the Blessed Ever Virgin Mary intercede for you, the hosts of Angels watch over you and may God bless you all, Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

LSP

A Holy Priest

Priests have had a lot of bad press, to put it mildly, and much it self-inflicted and deserved. But don't forget the many holy men who lay down their lives for the flock, true shepherds. 72 year old Father Giuseppe Berardelli who gave his ventilator to a younger patient, was one of them.

Via Breitbart:

"Father Giuseppe Berardelli died as a priest,” said one of the healthcare workers in the Saint Joseph retirement home where the priest lived. “I am profoundly moved by the fact that he, as archpriest of Casnigo, freely renounced his respirator to give it to someone younger than him.”

The priest died during the night of March 15 in the hospital of Lovere, in Bergamo, but his story only began to circulate on Italian media on Monday. Like many others who have succumbed to the disease, Father Berardelli already suffered from severe health complications.

According to Breitbart, some 50 priests have died in Italy and while you may be baffled, confused and shocked that I make no claims to sanctity, I'm inspired and humbled by the example of Fr. Berardelli. Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friends.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory,

LSP

Behold The Face Of Evil

Have you witnessed a more despicable, venal, traitorous, corrupt, lying, malfeasant spectacle than the Democrats derailing stimulus for America in a time of crisis? And it is a crisis, people can't make rent,  payroll, are losing their jobs and don't know, day to day, if they'll be in an ICU tomorrow.

Pelosi and Schumer don't care. Why would they? They're Millionaire Socialists so the affairs of working people, of the underclass who can't afford private jets, adrenachrome and private islands don't concern them. Who cares if flyover country dies while we wax fat off the proceeds in our gated mansions?

Here's Ted Cruz:

"What in the hell does a windmill have to do with this crisis?" @SenTedCruz @realDonaldTrump @parscale pic.twitter.com/u49CZnvEdZ

— 🇺🇸🇺🇸 Miguelifornia 🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@michaelbeatty3) March 23, 2020

Well said, Ted, who may be a fool but /ourfool. In the meanwhile, I know more than a few of the small handful who read this simple mind blog have served. Question. Is there not a unit ready, willing and able to take out the traitors sabotaging our country and the lives of its citizens?

You know, like the way Charles I attempted to take out Parliament but failed, or Cromwell who succeeded.

Thanks in advance for advice.

DFTR,

LSP

Bumpy Night!

Via RR.

DFTR,

LSP

Private Mass

While not able to worship publicly at this time, I did offer the Mass this morning on all our behalf. This service is known as a Missa sine populo (Mass without the people) or a Private Mass. 

However, the grace in this worship is very far from private and ripples or reverberates throughout the whole Church, not least our part of it.

This is because all of us are joined to Christ and one another in a mystical, spiritual communion. As the Apostle Paul teaches us, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." (1 Cor. 12:13) And so the blessing of even one faithful Communion at the Eucharist extends to us all.

Please know that you were all offered up at the Altar of Our Lord this morning and rest assured of my daily prayers. May God bless, preserve and keep you. 

Be strong in Him and take courage, for Christ has "overcome the world,"(Jhn. 16:33) and neither death nor Hell itself have any power over us.

With much love and every blessing,

LSP

Silver Linings

It's dark, wet, and cold in the bucolic haven that is this small Texan farming community meets industrial theme park. That, and the Chinese Plague or "Red Death" is a looming threat from the nearby DFW metrosprawl.

Still, behind every dark cloud there's a silver lining. To name several: Drag Queen Story Hour's been cancelled and no one seems to care very much about preferred pronouns. It's almost as though the "greatest civil rights issue of our time" (Joe Biden) wasn't so very important after all. But of course the Mass is.

Question. Should the Parsons be livestreaming Private Masses or not? I'm inclined to say it cheapens the Sacrament of the Altar. Here's Adrienne:

At first (in a rather paganish way) I thought, "Cool - don't have to put on makeup, fix my hair, dress up. I can sit in front of my computer and think holy thoughts."

Reality. Prayers at the foot of the altar = Erica kitteh demanding breakfast. The Introit = Frankie doggie having to go out and pee. The epistle and gospel = I have to pee. And on, and on.

Good points. Whatever the case, I'll be posting links to the Mass tomorrow.

Be safe and as always...

DFTR,

LSP

Trooping The Colour

You might think this stupid and irrelevant. Maybe you should think again.

Your Pal,

LSP

Majestic Melania Addresses The Nation

pic.twitter.com/3KXrAP0A35

— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 19, 2020

America's First Lady offers the nation timeless words of advice and consolation at this time of crisis, as the storm is upon us. Melania's love of children, life, and country are as self-evident as her majestic, elegant simplicity.

Elegant Simplicity

Here at the Compound we join with loyal Americans everywhere in giving thanks to God that patriots are in control. You can imagine, perhaps, what the outcome would have been otherwise.

Behold Satan

We will, as America's popular and glamorous First Lady reminds us, survive this ordeal and emerge stronger, more unified and better able to face the threats that beset our constitutional democracy. 

A Beautiful White Hat

And they're manifold, not least a transnational cabal of sociopath, corrupt, venal, alien, consumed by greed, nihilist traitors who care nothing for God, country and people.

Stay strong, keep the faith and thank you, First Lady for doing your not inconsiderable best to keep America and by extension the West, great. 

God bless,

LSP

Don't Fear The Reaper

Helpful, right?

LSP

Snowflake & Safespace

You may have noticed we're experiencing some turbulence lately, thanks to the ChiCom Bat Bug or "Red Death." So let's thank the higher power for Marvel's new line of Superheroes, Snowflake and Safespace.

Snowflake and Safespace spring from the mind of Emmy nominated Daniel Kibblesmith. Here's Marvel:

"Safespace is a big, burly, sort of stereotypical jock. He can create forcefields, but he can only trigger them if he's protecting somebody else. Snowflake is non-binary and goes by they/them, and has the power to generate individual crystalized snowflake-shaped shurikens. The connotations of the word 'snowflake' in our culture right now are something fragile, and this is a character who is turning it into something sharp.

Faggy Mountebanks

"Snowflake is the person who has the more offensive power, and Safespace is the person who has the more defensive power. The idea is that they would mirror each other and complement each other."

But that's not all, there's the morbidly obese, rubbish sidekick Trailblazer, who has a quantum backpack as well as a whole lotta weight. Ghetto stereotype, clever irony, fried chicken or something else again. But here's my call, for what it's worth. 

Hmmm. Fried Chicken

It's as though we're sitting on a bomb right now and we don't know if it'll go off; it might, it might not, it has in Italy. Whatever the case, we're being forced to reflect on our mortality, remember O man that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return. A Lenten theme and with it, be not afraid.

So bad call, Marvel, you're exposed as a purveyor of degenerate irrelevancy. Take stock, not that you read this tiny kebab stand on the *net superhighway, and provide us with real heroes. We need them.

God bless,

LSP