My dear readers!

First of all, I would like to explain my long silence. I've been experiencing a serious spiritual crisis for the last couple of months. I am torn between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The more I study and the more I explore, the more I am inclined to believe that the Orthodox Church preserved the purity of faith more faithfully then Catholics.

Therefore, I will dedicate the next couple of months to personal study, reflection and prayer. This is my very last post.

Thanks to all my readers for their fidelity.

Yours in Christ
A.P.

Who stands behind Pussy riot?

The famous Russian journalist Arkadij Mamontov released a new documentary about Pussy Riot trying to find out who sponsors this group of hooligans. He is not afraid to raise uncomfortable questions and offers some fascinating theories. One of the theories is, that the group is used by Boris Berezovsky (Most wanted Interpol) as a tool to divide Russian society and create anti-government and anti-Putin feelings. It mights sound a bit wild, but Arkadij Mamontov was the first journalist in the world who broke the story about the "spy stone". After years of denying, Jonathan Powell (Tony Blair's former chief of staff) was forced to admit that theBritish indeed used the "spy stone" (Powell admits spying). Furthermore, Mr. Mamontov claims to have a letter in his possession, which proves the actions against the Russian Orthodox Church were planned as early as 2008. It is truly fascinating and in many respects illuminating documentary. I am not aware of the existence of subtitled version, but for those of you, who speak Russian, please watch here: Provocateurs 2. You will hear and see what the Western "free" media don't tell you......

Destruction in Ireland

I've been recently in Ireland in a small town called Tullamore (yeah, the famous Tullamore dew). I went to hear a Holy Mass on Sunday and I was expecting to see a fine example of traditional Irish Catholicism, but instead of Irish stubbornness I discovered a parish destroyed by ultra-modernists. Well, as a minimum the interior of the Church was brutalized quite unscrupulously. I took a couple of pictures to show this barbarity to the world, so here it is:

      Theotokos, the mother of God? Street lamp? Psychedelic vitrine? Abstract art in its best....

A cross without our Saviour; how typically Protestant! Why the so called "progressive" Catholics have to destroy every traditional representation of Jesus and his saints in places of worship? Since when is the burned Cross a Catholic symbol? The only organization I can think of is Ku Klux Klan......

Why is Judas (far left) included among the Apostles? The idea probably was to remind us, that not everyone who participates in the Holy Mass will be saved. While I can understand such reasoning, I very much question the necessity of his presence in the sanctuary. As far as I know, this is practice unknown in the tradition of the Church.

   1970's street lanterns and half-empty seats in the Church...it's quite a depressing view....

Russian idea

"Nothing is more important in society than the moral principles that form its foundation, nothing. Everything else is secondary". These words were uttered not by a member of the Church, but by a politician. Unfortunately, this politician is not a president of EU, but the president of the Russian federation (Putin understands). Vladimir Putin attracts a lot of criticism, mainly from ultra-liberal Western media, but no matter how many half-truths and lies are told about him; he proves himself time and time again as the most intelligent leader in Europe and North America. More importantly, Vladimir Putin seems to be willing to endorse, protect and promote the Orthodox faith in his native Russia. Unfortunately, we citizens of Europe witness a very different attitude among politicians. This attitude is very often ignorant or explicitly hostile to the idea of Christian Europe. President Putin is not a professional politician, he is a statesman. In Europe we have multitude of professional politicians but no statesmen since Charles de Gaulle. As a result, we see a gross erosion of basic moral principles in our societies (e.g. homosexual marriages, abortions, feminist propaganda etc.). If we don't try to protect fundamental moral pillars today, they will be crushed tomorrow. Let's not fool ourselves. When the pillars will fall down, many good people will be buried under them. We should start to take the Russian idea seriously and adapt it to our European environment before it's too late. Let's leave our pride behind and be inspired by the East. The resurrection of the Church in Russia is truly miraculous after decades of Communism. Unlike in Russia, there is no revolution in Europe at the moment. The fall of Europe is a gradual process started long time ago. We can still stop it.....

Latin power

Latin is back and is "in". According to the article in Daily Telegraph (Mirabile dictu), his Holiness pope Benedict XVI. is preparing the ground for the glorious comeback of Latin into the life of the Church and beyond. The new institution will bear a name Pontificia Academia Latinitatis and its main purpose will be to promote the study of Latin language not only in the Church, but also among "civilians". That's certainly a good step forward, because too many so called "liberal" or "progressive" Catholics literally hate Latin. On the other hand and to my greatest shock, I've discovered today a news website in Latin! (Latin news). This is more than passion, this must be a real love!

Nuns, sisters and other women

They say one image is better than thousand words and I agree to a certain extent. Today I would like to bring to your attention a problem of our religious female organisation (can't call them orders anymore in many cases). Why do I say the problem? Well, as I said before "one image is better than thousand words" and I leave the images to speak for themselves. On one side we have an army of Orthodox female religious; on the other a group of Catholic religious.The visual difference could not be more striking and this visual representation of their understanding of religious life undermines how each group understands its service to the Church. Talking about current leadership of LCWR; I am not even sure if they really want to serve God in his Holy Church, but that's another issue. I think these images remind us, that no one and nothing exists separately and independently of others. Thus, the religious dress is not just something people use to cover their nudity. No, it's a visual manifestation of one's spirituality. Now, when I gaze at the picture with Orthodox nuns - I see pure beauty. When I look at the picture of nuns on bus; I see nothing but a bunch of old ladies gathered for a meeting. Nothing against the old ladies, but you've got the point....IT'S TIME TO RESTORE THE CHURCH!!!

Pax Christi

I was passing by Westminster cathedral today and noticed suspicious group in front of the church. They call themselves Pax Christi, which is a very nice name indeed, but not fitting in this case I'm afraid. I asked them why do they display gay badges? The woman behind the table replied "it's a symbol of peace". Something in her look told me it would be a futile attempt to point out that although originally "the symbol of peace"; it became a symbol of homosexual movement. Something about the group didn't feel and look right and after doing a quick research on the Internet, I found out it's basically homo-feminist movement trying to undermine to the authority of the Church from within. More info here:Who are Pax Christi?. Now, let's forget this assembly of dying modernists for a moment...The accident begs the question: Why was it allowed by the cathedral administration????!! One of the ladies confirmed their stand was authorized by the cathedral - was she lying? I don't think so, they had their stand there for a couple of hours and cathedral security would surely act, if they haven't had the permission. And that's what makes me sad - it's not the existence of various bizarre movements claiming to be Catholic. It''s the torturous silence (or even approval) of responsible Church authorities. What happened to priests? Why so timid, why so weak, why afraid to speak??? Where are the courageous shepherd's waiting with sticks in their hands to defend their flocks against the attacking wolves?

The perversion of innocents

Hello everybody and apologies for a period of long silence! I've been busy with personal matters. Anyway I am back and unfortunately with some bad news. I've read an article about a 10-year old boy who was invited to NY City Hall to deliver a pro-homosexual speech (10-year old boy exploited by homosexual lobby). I thought homosexual propagandists won't touch children, but I was obviously wrong. If you click on the link, you can see three or four adults grining like a small group of demons rejoicing at the corruption of youth. The 10-year old boy is too young to understand the consequences of his speech and I am sure he believes what he is saying is right and compassionate. I do not hold him responsible, but I do hold responsible those in position of power and authority. "It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble", Luke 17;2. This incident only shows how corrupt is the current society and how dangerous is the erosion of Christian values. It leads to decadence and self-destruction of entire nations and states. Notice also this, the title of the article is blasphemous "Out of the mouths of babes". A clear reference to Psalm 8. This goes beyond simple craziness of homosexual lobby; this is truly diabolical.

Pink clowns in Catholic processions - the sign of times?

There's a story in the Catholic Herald about the Spirit in the City (Spirit in the City). Basically, it's a series of events (prayers, processions, concerts etc.) and the aim is to bring the Catholic faith to people who would normally never had a chance to encounter Catholicism in their daily lives. I've checked their website and to my greatest shock I found a picture of a pink clown walking in the procession next to the icon of Theotokos (picture above). I think the picture is self-explanatory and there is no need to comment what looks almost like mockery of real good old-fashioned processions (see below the procession of our Orthodox brethren). What else could be said? We need to evangelize our society, but not in this way...After all, the faith of the apostles, the faith of the martyrs and virgins is no laughing matter. It's a question of life and dead.

The shadow of dictatorship

The Telegraph brings an unbelievable story (Forced to promote gay...). The current situation in Britain is becoming worse day by day and it seems like the country is sleepwalking towards dictatorship. If homosexual marriages are legalized, the teachers will be forced to promote this sodomy as equal to the sacred mystery of marriage. In other words, the traditional family will be presented only as one of the acceptable models of family and not as "the one" unique lifelong commitment between a man and a woman. Thus, the innocent souls of kids will be exposed to homosexual propaganda from the early age and it looks like the parents will NOT be able to withdraw their children from sex education classes. Father Chaplin said Russia will save Europe (West has betrayed Christianity...). I think they should start the saving operation right now.

Neo-pagan city ride

I've been walking through Holborn are in London last Saturday and I saw a group of photographers waiting for someone. After making few more steps I heard hellish shrieks and noises and a horde of half-barbaric people flooded the street. (Naked perverts riding the streets of London) At first I thought "what a bunch of idiots", but standing there and recording them, the reality suddenly dawned at me.....We live in the society, where a group of psychopaths can ride naked through the streets of London and the police does nothing. We live in the society, where the nurses and elderly couples are persecuted for their Christian faith and at the same time our basic instincts are being labelled as hypocritical. The problem is not the group of 200 hundred disrespectful people; the real problem is the society which ALLOWS them to perform such obscenities. I saw a young girl, a mere child covering her eyes. I saw a group of four black homeless men expressing their anger. But I also saw a group of people cheering, another laughing while taking pictures and other watching with wild hungry excitement this neo-pagan march of primitivism. Most importantly, I saw a society, which is no longer able to distinguish between good and evil. If one is permitted to think in terms of good and evil, then good is ridiculed and evil praised as the supreme good itself. On that Saturday evening, I saw the sign of our times and it was sad, scary experience...

Just Love. A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics

The title of this post suggests an authoritative view of the Church, a well researched and argued position of some respectable theologian, but it is not.......Unfortunately, sr. Margaret A. Farley R. S. M. (see the image above) exposed herself as a completely deluded and lost soul. In her book she advocates acceptance of homosexual acts and unions, divorce, masturbation and re-marriage. No sane person would call these views Catholic. What shocks me is not the fact, that some deeply confused sister wrote an utterly confusing book. The Church has a rich experience of disobedient priests, monks and nuns (some became even famous, e.g Luther, Hus). What is shocking in this case is the fact she wasn't corrected by her superiors. The basic search on Google reveals sr. Margaret departed from the teaching of the Church as early as 1984 expressing support for the killing of unborn innocents (Margaret Farley). The CDF action (CDF notifies) against sr. Margaret is a good step forward, but it should have been done long time ago. How can the Church  effectively proclaim the Gospel of the Lord, if the house is divided? How can we expect to attract young women to religious life in union with Christ, if what they see and hear is the spirit of falsehood and lies?! Thank God not all is gloom and doom; the young generation seems to have very little interest in self-deluding social constructs only loosely associated with Christianity. May God give sr. Margaret the grace of repentance before her death. John Paul II., pray for us!

You can't make it up: mutant and black gay in love

No, I am not making fun of anyone!! This is a real story brought to our attention by The Guardian (who else?). A company which publishes popular comics announced "the couple" will be "married" in one of the next issues of the magazine. Sounds incredible? Funny? Ridiculous? Yes and no! My first impression was this madness is just one of the many unhealthy symptoms of our dying society. Unfortunately this is no laughing matter. The children wants to imitate their heroes in everything they do and that includes not only costumes, sayings, but also attitudes. No wonder, an American organization of mothers expressed its concern. The extreme ultra-liberals are seeking to promote their sickening version of morality amongst children and there is no way we can stop such monstrosity in a democratic society. What we can do, however, is to oppose the dictatorship of relativism in word and deed. Above all, we need more priests whose mission will be mainly apologetic. This can't be limited simply to teaching and explaining the faith. Going back to one of my previous posts, where I mentioned the talk given by prof. Steiner about the role of priests and prophets in Israel; it looks like we are living in times when priests will play the role of  the Old Testament prophets. Their role was quite simple - to speak the truth. As we now from the Bible, such vocation is never easy and many holy men have been killed or persecuted for their fidelity to the Word of God. I hope this ultimate sacrifice won't be necessary, but if it comes - let's ask for the strenght to say "Thy will be done".


P.S. Oh, and here is the original story: Mutant gays

The feast of St. Philip Neri in Brompton oratory

I went to Brompton Oratory last Saturday to celebrate the feast of St. Philip Neri. Although the Holy Mass was NOT what people usually call "traditional Latin Mass", the Mass was celebrated ad orientem and in Latin. I could now describe in great details how encouraging and beautiful was to participate in a Mass, where priest and servers take their role seriously and the entire Mass is celebrated with much reverence and solemnity. That is not my intention however. Instead of writing ecstatic post on the splendour of Saturday's Mass, I would like to offer few controversial points of view for your reflection. Although I support the celebration of  "traditional Mass" as often as possible, I have realized how good and much needed was Vatican II. Here are my arguments:

1) Even in so called traditional Masses, the use of Gregorian chant is scarce. What is used instead is usually some 17th - 19th century religious music. Quite often Mozart, Bach or someone of such calibre. Please note, I have nothing against Mozart or Bach, but their music is not particulary spiritual. Sitting there on Saturday and listening to mostly Baroque music and watching servers in their 19th century rochets decorated by laces, I realized how vulgar and frivolous Baroque period was. Baroque is a synonym for the lack of taste and it was good, that Vatican II tried to eradicate these worldly elements from the Mass. Church is a house of prayer, not a music hall.

2) The cardinal was dressed in this vulgar, ridiculous, Baroque fashion. With servers holding his long veil and pair of richly decorated gloves, he resembled more a member of nobility, than a slave of God. Don't get me wrong - I do understand the reasoning behind such practise; after all a bishop is a prince among priests and in his earthly status equal to Seraphims in heaven. (can't remember exactly the phrase St. John Chrysostom used). However, such pomp looks slightly unnatural and even self-mocking in our times and therefore it was good, that Vatican II brought simplicity back to the Roman rite.

3) On the other hand, the Mass on Saturday was a good example how a Novus Ordo Mass should look like after "reform of the reform" will be accomplished. Mass served ad Orientem, frequent use of Latin, readings read by males serving in sanctuary and the Holy Communion distributed by priests only and not by women (unfortunately a matter of fact in majority of English parishes today). My last objection would be, that the Gospel was NOT read in English. I think possibility of offering the Mass in native languages of different cultures was a good fruit of Vatican II and this fruit should be preserved and cherished; along with the unifying fruits of the Latin language, of course...


I would welcome your feedback on this matter my readers!

Silent crimes

The Telegraph just reported 24 abortions were performed on three teenage girls (NHS performed 24 abortions....); some of them had up to 7 pregnancies terminated. What terrifies me most is not the fact, that such things are allowed in the current ultra-liberal society; that is to be expected when God and his law is replaced by social constructs of morality, where evil is " philosophical construct" at best. The tragedy of abortion is multiplied by cowardly silence of those, who should be protecting the rights of the unborn. The "40 days for life" was an amazing event, but such event should be seen only as a first step in the long battle for the rights of innocents. We need a courageous support from our bishops, who should be ideally organizing and leading marches for life (protecting the unborn) and marches for family (against perverse understanding of human sexuality). If not now, then when? If not we, then who?

Gay trespassing prohibited!

Now that's what I call Christians with attitude! The Orthodox faithful promised to stop the planned gay parade, which could possibly take in Moscow on March 27. Cossacks and youth sport associations also promised to help to "patrol Moscow streets, especially places where 'perverts of all sorts' gather" (see the full story here: Orhtodox activists to prevent gay pride parade). It would be naive to expect similar action from Catholics in London and the use of the same vocabulary could even lead to a police investigation. However, we should be inspired by the brave example of our Orthodox brethren. I am not saying the Catholics in London should try to block the gay parade; that would be a futile attempt indeed. What I am saying is, that we should organize pro-marriage march on the same day (or very close to gay parade date) and clearly, peacefuly without hesitation or fear opppose the distorted view of human sexuality. Anyone is coming with me?

Prophets and priests in Judaism

I've attended a lecture yesterday at Birkbeck, University of London. It was organized by Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism in cooperation with the School of Arts (Birkbeck). The talk was given by Professor George Steiner, who in his old age still sparks controversy. The topic could be summarized as: The history of Judaism and of Jewish identity has been characterized by radical inner tensions. These tensions, Professor Steiner suggests, oscillate between priest and prophet, the desert and the city, Zionism and the hopes and ideals of the Diaspora.

The lecture itself was more than interesting, but I would like to offer you only three main points for reflection:

1) revenge of the desert - The morals, laws, mentality of a desert is in direct opposition to a city. The life of the desert is wild, insecure, stripped to its bare necessities. The men of desert are brought to justice by the words they utter; the reputation of a man is established by his actions and words. A spoken word is more sacred than the ancient written law protected by the city authorities. On the contrary, the city is seen as a heart of law and order. City represents a defending wall against the wild spirits of a desert; the law (whether religious or civil) is to be protected and those find guilty, cast out behind the walls.


2) Tension between priest and prophet - Each and every prophet sent by God was killed or persecuted. No, not by pagans, but by those, who were entrusted to protect the purity and orthodoxy of faith. The prophet is always to be found at the left side of the priest...


3) In the Jewish tradition, a guest must leave his host in a better state than he was found. That means, a guest has an obligation to leave something, which will help those, who were entertaining him on his journey. We are only guests in life. We should leave life better than we found it.....

I hope the three main points I just shared with you (however imperfectly) will give you at least a glimpse of ideas of prof. Steiner. Why do I remember these three themes? 
Well, Jesus was a man of a desert and speaks in a parable about the landlord of the vineyard, whose servants were all killed, including the son (Luke 20:9-19)....And yet, he is also a priest. We refer to him as a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps 110;4), the pure and perfect priest who went to the highest Heaven (Hebrews 7;26 and Ephesians 4;10) and so on. Jesus seems to unite these two ministries. Not only that, he reconciles the desert with the city. He came to fulfil the law, not to abolish it (Matthew 5:17)...And finally, we often say we are only strangers here on earth. Even more, exiles in the valley of tears (Salve Regina)! Although both terms are helpful in our spiritual battle, the term "guest" reveals another layer of understanding. It is a lovely and helpful tool in our daily strive for holiness. Only guests in life.... Jesus said: "Look, I create all things new (Rev 21:5)!". How about we? Will we leave the life in a better state than we found it?

UK supports forcible sterilisation of Indian women

The headline says it all, but for those who would like to know more, here is the link: Population control: UK aid funds forcible sterilisation of India's poor. You think it's an exception? You are naive, the current government is promoting the culture of death quite aggressively and not only in India. Let's not forget the cutting of aid to Malawi and other African countries, when they dismissed David Cameron's bizarre homosexual propaganda. Jailing two homosexuals for their "engagement ceremony", the judge later said: "Malawi is not ready to see its sons getting married to its sons." (UK to Malawi: obey or your kids will starve to death!) What these two cases have in common? Well, they clearly illustrate the arrogant, cruel and racist attitude towards the so called "third world countries".While political correctness went mad in Britain, this new form of racism is spreading fast and spreading deep. I call it cultural racism. Let's be clear here; I do not approve the jailing of these two men, but I do understand the reasoning behind the judge's decision. More importantly, we have a duty to respect other cultures and traditions not just in words, but in deeds. Sadly, the UK does not recognize such duty at the moment. In reality, I fear the day when a state will determine what is moral and what is not. For when this day will come, I am pretty sure Christian morals will be seen as immoral...But let's go back to India's poor women. What was their crime? They had too many children! To be fair, we have to say the women went to a doctor and asked to be sterilised. But why did they asked for a sterilisation? Were they forced by their husbands? Or was it poverty beyond any European imagination? And did they really know what they are asking for? More importantly, the well fed Europeans have a DUTY to HELP people to make their lives better, not simply sterilise them like cattle. Yeah, but there are too many people on earth and we can't help everyone, an average Briton would say. We need to promote gender equality and reproduction rights, so people will behave more responsibly. Such arguments only distort the underlying attitude of advocates of the culture of death - NO MAN, NO PROBLEM.

West has betrayed Christianity, Russia will save it

According to father Vsevolod Chaplin, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, West has betrayed Christianity (see the full story here: West has betrayed Christianity). While such statement might sound shocking, we should perhaps take a step back and look at the present state of the Church. Disobedient priests in Ireland, radical feminist nuns in America, homosexuals forcing Austrian priest to leave their parishes, archbishops saying things like "who knows what's down the road", girls as altar servers and we could go on and on. Well, if we are honest, we have to admit father Chaplin has a point. But here is the other way how to look at it. Let's not take it as rebuke, but rather as a brotherly advice, warning and  a last minute wake up call. The Church should embrace the challenges of today's world and rejoice in the opportunity to bear a witness. When I say the Church, I mean the Catholic Church of course; protestant churches are just "groups" or "communities" as Benedikt XVI. rightly reminded us in 2007 (Dismay and anger as Pope declares Protestant...). There is no need to wait in fear for another punch from forces which are seeking to obscure the Christian heritage of Europe and erase God and Christianity from the public discourse. Let's not forget, we are in the war! Truly, it is a spiritual combat, but this battle can sometimes manifest itself in the cultural wars of the present time. This is my very first post and God bless you all!