Standing Fast #23 – Fr. Angelo Geiger on the need for Christianity in Chivalry ( 9min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Fr. Angelo is back and vlogging with a vengeance. This episode is on religious chivalry vs secular chivalry. Referring to groups like the Society of Creative Anachronisms which are trying to reintroduce Chivalry with an ethical code not based on religious principles but on secular or even neo-pagan ones, Fr Angelo mentions that this is nothing new. Listen as he points out how western chivalry was uniquely Christian and thus superior to any of the many other forms of Chivalry, especially in regard to the treatment of women which was based on devotion to Mary.

Ave Maria!

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FI News #33 – Type the Caption here ( 9min) >>> Play

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This exciting video of Doug Barry’s Radix Boot Camp has been edited from footage captured a the last Knights and Squires Encampment in Griswold Connecticut, held last Fall. We will be running the Encampment and Boot Camp again on the Weekend of May 23-25. Doug will not be there, but we hope to have him come for the Fall Encampment.

For more on this, check out MaryVictrix.

The post FiNews #33 – Knights and Squires Encampment May 2008 first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #080720 ( 22min) Play – Fr. Angelo preaches on the Sunday Mass at the end of our Encampment Weekend for the Knights of Lepanto. The day’s Gospel has three parables of the Kingdom of God, the Field with the Wheat and the Weeds, the Mustard Seed, and the Yeast and the Bread. These parables that are agricultural in their details hark back to the fall which involved good and bad fruit, and so, underscores how salvation comes to us in the same way that the fall happened but in reverse. Listen as Father explains how this refers to our need to battle temptations in our life, to uphold family life and how this fits with the role of the Knights of Lepanto.
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The post Jul 20 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Three Parables on the Kingdom first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Standing Fast #28 – A Young Knight recites the Four Rules of Knighthood ( 2min) >>> Play

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This was sent to us by someone who attended the last Knights of Lepanto Encampment with his son who is the main actor along with Fr. Angelo. He filmed it himself and his children edited it, pretty good for a first try. We need more Catholics doing this. Bravo!

They cover the four rules of being a knight that were discussed at the encampment. These are:

1. Morning Act of Offering

2. Daily Examination of Conscience

3. Treat your Mother with Respect

4. Treat your Sister(s) with Respect

This sounds really tough for a knight of any age, but for one so young! But, hey, no pain no gain. At least there is no “Clean your Room Every Day.” Or is this included in “Treat your Mother with Respect”?

Ave Maria!

The post Video – Fr Angelo – Standing Fast #28: Four Rules for a Young Knight first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #081011 ( 33min) Play – On the first morning of our Fall Encampment for the Squires and Knights of Lepanto we have the honor of having Fr. Pablo Straub as a guest preacher. He gives a profoundly stirring homily on Catholic Men and Fatherhood but starts with the Divine Motherhood of Mary as mentioned in the Gospel and so covers the full spirituality of families.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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The post Oct 11 – Homily – Fr Pablo Straub: Catholic Men first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Our Knights of Lepanto  Spring Encampment at our friary here in Griswold, CT is coming up soon (Friday, May 22 – Sunday, May 24). All Catholic fathers and sons are welcome for a weekend of marian chivalry, camping, fencing, archery, challenge coarse, spiritual talks and roasted marshmallows. Come one, come all!

The link in the sidebar will remain there.  Note that the dates for the Summer and Fall Encampments are given there as well.  Mark your calendars.

The post 2009 Spring Encampment first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #090523 ( 10min) Play – Fr. Angelo preaches at the 2nd Mass for the Spring Encampment for the Knights and Squires of Lepanto. He calls the Roman Missal the Dangerous Book for Boys (a book he has talked about before) because it is about the Mass, the re-presentation of the Sacrifice on Calvary where Our Lord engages in the most dangerous battle ever fought, the battle against Satan to save mankind who was enslaved to him.

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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The post May 23 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Missal, Dangerous Book for Boys first appeared on AirMaria.com.

In my last post I promised more on the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Grail and their relation to an Easter catechesis and the tradition of chivalry. There is much there to reflect on, much to be researched and assimilated, so it will take at bit more time.

Meanwhile, however, I thought I would point out that in the Office of Readings this week we have been reading from the the Jerusalem Catechesis, or otherwise known as the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem (+386).  The Catechesis consists in twenty-three lectures, the first eighteen of which were delivered to the candidates for baptism during Lent and the last five to the newly baptized during Easter, and is an excellent example of the mystogogia. In fact, at the end of the prologue for Lectures St. Cyril makes sure his readers understand that his instructions are only for those whose Baptism is imminent, and is to be seen neither by the other catechumens nor heathens.

St. Cyril admonishes the candidates for Baptism to shun all “secret hypocrisy,” in order to be fit for the Lord’s true service.   He compares the penetration of our souls by the judgment of God to a military review of recruits by one who levies for war.  He bestows his seal only upon those in whom He discerns a good conscience, in view of which the devils tremble and the holy angels recognize.  St. Cyril says:  ”You are receiving not a perishable but a spiritual shield. Henceforth you are planted in the invisible Paradise . . .  it is God’s to grant grace, but yours to receive and guard it. Despise not the grace because it is freely given, but receive and treasure it devoutly” (Lecture 1, 3-4).  This is even before Baptism, hence prior to the mystagogia, but the saint is already admonishing the new recruits to be prepared for war and especially to to protect the paradise of their own souls.

During the mystogogia proper, when St. Cyril discusses the doctrine of the Eucharist:

Consider therefore the Bread and the Wine not as bare elements, for they are, according to the Lord’s declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ; for even though sense suggests this to you, yet let faith establish you. Judge not the matter from the taste, but from faith be fully assured without misgiving, that the Body and Blood of Christ have been vouchsafed to you (Lecture 22, 6).

But he goes beyond the content of the doctrine and emphasizes to the newly baptized that the Eucharist has been prepared for those who have been anointed by the Lord, and thus they have been sealed against the afflictions of the evil spirits.  The Lord has set a “mystical and spiritual Table,” in opposition to table of corruption set against us by the enemy. Our hearts have been strengthened, he say,s and the “face of our souls” made to shine.

And your cup intoxicates me, as very strong. You see that cup here spoken of, which Jesus took in His hands, and gave thanks, and said, This is My blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Lecture 22, 6-7, 9).

This is the Holy Grail that we seek.  At the beginning of the mystogogia proper, St. Cyril speaks of the relation between the catechesis prior to baptism and that that is about to take place:

And these things were done in the outer chamber. But if God will, when in the succeeding lectures on the Mysteries we have entered into the Holy of Holies , we shall there know the symbolic meaning of the things which are there performed. Now to God the Father, with the Son and the Holy Ghost, be glory, and power, and majesty, forever and ever. Amen (Lecture 19, 11).

We are not only searching, but we have already arrived.  We are in an in-between time, indeed.

The Easter octave is about to come to a close with the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday.  At that Mass we will pray:

O Lord our God, may we be healed now and forever by these sacred rites which You instituted to protect us in our new life of grace.

We have entered into the Holy of Holies, and that sanctuary is the Heart of Christ, whose mercy and grace is poured out as blood and water from His side.  We are healed and protected in Him, and in the Heart of His Holy Mother.  The true knighthood of Christ is the protection of these mysteries, first of all within our own Hearts.  That ultimately is the meaning of the crusade for the Holy Sepulcher and the Quest for the Holy Grail.  More on this next time.

Filed under: Blessed Virgin Mary, Catholicism, Chivalry, Culture, Knaves, Knights, Literature, Marian Chivalry, Prayers, Religion, Spirituality Tagged: Baptism, Easter, Easter Triduum, Eucharist, Holy Grail, Holy of Holies, Holy Sepulcher, Holy Week, Jerusalem Catechesis, Mystagogia, St. Cyril
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The Holy Father has been taking a beating lately on behalf of his sinful sons in the priesthood.  “The pope will have much to suffer,” Our Lady told the children at Fatima.  This has been realized in every pope since the time of the apparitions, but we wonder if Our Lady had these days and this pope particularly in mind.

None of us should be particularly surprised or even disturbed by the assaults of the enemies of the Church.  This is nothing new or unexpected.  For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry? Our Lord said on the day he died (Lk23:31).  History has played itself out, just as he predicted.

It is the height of hypocrisy for secularists to act horrified by unnatural vice within the Church when they are its biggest advocates.  But it is even worse for a wolf to cloth himself in the robes of a shepherd.  We have put the rope in our enemies’ hands.

En route to Portugal on Tuesday, Benedict was asked if the suffering of John Paul contained in Fatima’s third secret could be extended to encompass the suffering of the church today concerning the clerical abuse scandal.

Benedict affirmed it could, arguing that the Fatima message doesn’t respond to a particular situation or time but offers a “fundamental response” to the constant need for penance and prayer.

“In terms of what we today can discover in this message, attacks against the pope or the church don’t come just from outside the church,” he told reporters. “The suffering of the church also comes from within the church, because sin exists in the church. This, too, has always been known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way.”

The evil within the Church is especially terrifying because it has not done more to restore our militancy.  Where has been the outrage?  Why did the Church not protect the innocent once pastors knew what was happening?  Leon Podles has written on the subject of anger and the sex scandal.  Katie van Schaijik at The Linde has an interesting commentary on Podles’ article.

The ethics of chivalry originally arose out of the need to moderate the ferociousness of masculine aggressiveness.  Today it needs to be restored in order to validate masculine authority and the role of fathers.  This is not to say that the moderation of chivalry is not necessary today.  Militancy and Chivalry are not necessarily identical and there are many divisions within the Church that exist because of arrogance and a lack of charity.  But child molestation is a no-brainer.

The way of Chivarly is the hard road.  It admits of no extremes and makes demands on all sides.  No rest for the weary.  No convalescing for the wounded.  On your feet and fight.  On your feet and tend to the needy.

Here is an interesting take on the culture of Twitter which is appropriate to this subject.  Fight the good fight, with the emphasis on good.

Filed under: Blessed Virgin Mary, Catholic, Catholic Action, Catholic Church, Catholicism, Chivalry, Culture, Knights, Manliness, Religion, Spirituality Tagged: Benedict XVI, Fatima, Katie van Schaijik, Leon Podles, The Linde
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Standing Fast #35 – Templar Secrets: Introduction ( 10 min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Father Angelo introduces the subject of the “secrets” of the Knights Templar from a Catholic perspective in relation to the ideals of Marian Chivalry.  In this first in a series he sets the true history of the Templars apart from the conspiracy theories and myths promoted by Freemasons and Gnostics, and previews the subjects he will be covering in this series.

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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