The Lion In Winter

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York.

William Shakespeare,
Richard III, Act I, Scene I

Eighty-Six Forty-Seven

To Be, Or Not To Be...

The icon of the dying star
Slowly climbs up heaven’s vault:
`T’was there before laid eyes upon;
Though we now see it, it’s long gone...

Mihai Eminescu, To The Star

At long last, the heavens have finally answered the millions of fervent prayers, offered up over the past couple of years, tearfully begging God to eighty-six forty-seven, by 86-ing the beloved Star Trek star, whose illustrious acting carrier experienced a major professional breakthrough at the ripe age of forty-seven, a few short months after his eighty-sixth birthday. May his cherished memory endure till the stars all burn away.

Happy Halloween!

Saint Demetrius, Pray For Us!

The Fleet Of A Thousand Shadows

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Russian Fuel Shipments: Coming Soon To A Port Near You!

Why Sanctioning Russia Is Much Harder Than It Seems

Revelation 18

¹ And I saw an angel come down from heaven, ² saying: Babylon the great is fallen, ³ for all nations, and their kings, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. ⁷ She hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, for she saith in her heart: I sit a queen, and shall see no sorrow.

⁸ Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her, ⁵ for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. ⁶ Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double.

G20. UN. BRICS. Oligarchs.⁹ And the kings of the earth, who lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰ saying: Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.


Energy Exports¹¹ And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more. ¹⁵ The merchants which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off, weeping and wailing, ¹⁶ and saying: Alas, alas that great city, ¹⁷ for in one hour so great riches is come to nought.

Shadow Fleet¹⁷ And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, ¹⁸ and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying: What city is like unto this great city! ¹⁹ And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying: Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

²¹ Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more, ²³ for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. ²⁴ And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

War Losses

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Theodicy and the Problem of Evil

Matthew 2
¹⁷ Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
¹⁸ In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning:
  Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Half a Century of French-Ukrainian Friend-ship

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Taking Christ's Body Down From The Cross

A Soldier's Work Is Never Done!

Matthew 27
³⁵ And they crucified him: ⁵¹ and, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; ⁵² and the graves were opened. ⁵⁴ Now when the centurion watching Jesus saw the earthquake, feared greatly, saying: Truly this was the Son of God!

Crime and Punishment

I could... shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.

Donald Trump, Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, January 23, 2016.

Salome's Dance

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Gateway Drugs: How One Sin Leads To Another

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— Smoking —




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— Drinking —




In the long journey of fasting, the first step is always selfdenial

A Song of Ice and Fire

1 Kings 19
¹¹ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and mighty wind tore the mountains,
  and broke to pieces the rocks before the Lord: but the Lord was not in the wind;
  And after the wind, an earthquake: but the Lord was not in the earthquake;
¹² And after the earthquake, a fire: but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire,
  a still small voice: ¹³ And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle,
  and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave...

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Baltic Midsummer Traditions

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The Warm Season

The flaming fires of Pentecost officially mark the scorching summer heat.

Revelation 11

³ And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days. ⁵ And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies. ⁶ These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. ¹² And they ascended up to heaven. ¹³ And at the same hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand men were slain: and the remnant were frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Musically Ascending the Scales to Heaven

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Lifting Up Our Hearts ( And Voices ) For Ascension

Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women

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The Modern Magdalene, Struggling With Her Calling





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The Medieval Magdalene, Embracing Her Vocation

Passion Week: a World of Pain and Suffering

The Passion of Unrequited Love

Lady Day

Desperate Ukrainian Housewives

Coming Out

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James Van † Der Beek

John 8:32

And ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall set you free.

Groundhog Day

I could... shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.

Donald Trump, Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, January 23, 2016.

The New Normal

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Trump's America

I could... shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.

Donald Trump, Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, January 23, 2016.

Words To Live Or Die By

The beauty of the White Aryan woman must not perish from the earth.

The suburban women are under attack!

I want to protect the women of our country. I want to protect the women.
I'm going to do it, whether the women like it or not, I'm going to protect them.

Is there any woman in this giant stadium who would like not to be protected ?
Is there any woman in this stadium that wants to be protected by the president ?

Donald Trump, Resch Center,
Green Bay, Wisconsin, October 30, 2024.

Solid Patristic Advice

Wherefore, a good Christian ought to beware of mathematicians, or
of anyone who impiously divines, especially of those speaking the truth.

Augustine, De Genesi ad Litteram, Second Book,
Seventeenth Chapter, Thirty-Seventh Paragraph

Those impostors, then, whom they designate mathematicians, used
no sacrifices and invoked the aid of no spirit for their divinations.

Augustine, The Confessions,
Fourth Book, Third Chapter

Requiem For A Dying Faith

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Snow White: Winter Is Coming!

If there truly is a God, whose Son gave His Holy Apostles power to bind and unbind all things in heaven and on earth, and all those myriads of popes, patriarchs, (arch)bishops, cardinals, and priests are their living successors, why are they so utterly powerless in stopping or preventing Russian missiles flying through the sky from ever reaching Ukraine and brutally massacring its inhabitants ?

Silent Night

Silent Prayers Met With Divine Silence

Psalm 45:10

Be still, and know that I am God.

Exposing Russian Hoaxes

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Cathartic Conversations With Imaginary Girlfriends

Exposing Russian Disinformation

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The Apologist And The Women


The disenchanted, middle-aged I.T. graduate, slowly realizing one's highly expensive college education is
as useless at providing or securing decent employment opportunities, as it is at impressing beautiful girls.

Romanian Orthodox Halloween Mass

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How Evangelicals View Liturgical Services

Weather Forecast

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Icy Winter Ahead

The Trump Era

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Remo † Girone