In Search of
The Authentic Life
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October joyfully celebrates Our Lady of the Rosary, whose feast is on the 7th and encourages devotion to this great gift, given through Saint Dominic. It is especially consoling to pray the Holy Rosary during difficult times. It may be a chore to pick up those beads and get it started, but you will never regret it. Spiritual effort always comes back to you in blessings 100-fold! October also, sorrowfully remembers the unborn and all those in our society whose lives are considered of less value, such as the handicapped and elderly. Death will not remain in confinement. It will continue to take more and more human territory until no one is safe. This obvious fact mysteriously eludes so many. We all must fight this fight. The innocent and vulnerable need us. Judgement is now upon us and has been a long time coming.
+++ Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. +++
The feast of the Annunciation is exactly 9 months before Christmas Day, March 25th. On October 11th, we commemorate the Divine Maternity, as the Mother of God enters the final stages of carrying Our Lord in her womb. How appropriate it is to remember pro-life intentions this month.
We continue to meditate here, upon the “Marian Triad of the Months.” We have contemplated her most loving heart, her great sorrows and now her glory as Our Lady of the Rosary, which streams from her Immaculate Heart and is the antidote to our own sorrows. Let us consider this Mariology and pray on it during the coming month, as many polycrises are heating up in the world and the future is quite uncertain. Let us flee to Mary for consolation and guidance in examining our consciences well, so we may obtain mercy and not wrath, for ourselves, Holy Mother Church and the world.
On the last Sunday of October, we honor the King of Kings, Christ the King, in the traditional calendar. We then enter into the “Triduum of Death,” to contemplate our mortality, roughly 4 weeks before a new Church year and our meditation upon the Incarnation!
Notable feasts of October:
1st-Saint Therese of Lisieux (new)
2nd-Holy Guardian Angels
3rd-Saint Therese of Lisieux (trad)
4th-First Friday of the Sacred Heart/Saint Francis of Assisi
5th-First Saturday of the Immaculate Heart/Saint Faustina
7th-OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
11th-DIVINE MATERNITY OF OUR LADY/Saint John XXIII
16th-Saint Margaret Mary (new)
17th-Saint Margaret Mary (trad)
18th-Saint Luke, Evangelist
19th-Saint Isaac Jogues & Companions, Martyrs of New York territory under the Native Americans
22nd-Saint John Paul II
24th-Saint Raphael the Archangel
27th-CHRIST THE KING
28th-Saints Simon & Jude
31st-Triduum of Death (till Nov 2nd)/All Hallows Eve
November 1st to 8th-Be Ready for the Plenary Indulgences! Get 8 Loved Ones into Heaven! (Get your instructions right here in the coming month.)
As usual, there are a variety of activities, one of which is a virtual Pro-Life Advocacy Workshop. “Marching 101” is from 11:00-12:00, January 18th, ET. This is a great learning opportunity for young people. You can register at: marchforlife.org/marching-101
Don’t forget, the babies still need us!
The first week of October is jam-packed with amazing feasts. October 1st is the new feast of Saint Therese and the 3rd is her trad feast. The 2nd is devoted to the Holy Guardian Angels, the 4th is Saint Francis of Assisi, the 5th is Saint Faustina Kowalska (stay tuned for a post on our recent visit to the Divine Mercy Shrine) and the 7th, Our Lady of the Rosary. On the 11th, we have the Divine Maternity of Our Lady & Saint John XXIII, 20th Century Pope. The month goes on: 13th-Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima (not a feast), 16th & 17th (new/trad)-Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, 18th-Saint Luke, 22nd-Saint John Paul II, another 20th Century Pope, 24th-Saint Raphael the Archangel, 28th-Saints Simon & Jude, 29th-the traditional CHRIST THE KING and the 31st-All Hallows’ Eve, beginning the Triduum of Death.
Don’t forget the wonderful November plenaries the first week of November. Your departed loved ones will be eternally grateful!
In the last of the Marian Triad of the Months, we honor Mary under the title Our Lady of the Rosary…so important is this great devotion! Through Our Lady of Fatima, we know the Holy Rosary is the antidote to these unprecedented times of evil. One of the worst of these evils is the sin of abortion and all of the offenses against human life which are becoming more prevalent in a post-Christendom world. One of Our Lady’s requests at Fatima was the recitation of the Rosary daily. She saw what was coming upon the world and this great meditative prayer was given to us to obtain mercy and mitigate these evils. Let us pray the Holy Rosary for the sanctity of life this month and encourage others to do so as well.
RFK Jr., the son of Bobby Kennedy, who was killed in Los Angeles, 1968, is campaigning for President of the United States on the Democratic ticket. The Washington Post claims he already enjoys 20% of this party’s support. He is also attracting many on the “right,” due to his centrist leanings and promise to secure our freedoms, in post-Covid America. He has straddled the fence on abortion in the past, but has now fallen decidedly against the unborn. Have a look at these 2 articles…
Robert F Kennedy Jr. Supports Abortion
The Hole in the Heart of RFK Jr.’s Extraordinary Book
Sadly, RFK Jr. is a Catholic who purportedly attends Mass daily and even wrote a children’s book on his patron saint, Francis of Assisi, in 2005. Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. would do well to contemplate the words of Holy Scripture, perhaps speaking of these very times…
Apocalypse 3:15
Even though Roe vs. Wade has been overturned, the March goes on this year, Friday the 20th….
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Let us also continue to pray for the safety of all pro-lifers and churches in this post-Roe environment. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
I just started watching this guy on YouTube-”Stokermatic”-and I also have a renewed interest in compasses after recently buying an Army Style Lensatic Compass from Deutsche Optik (check this site out for awesome prepper gear)…I paid $35 for it and you can now get it for $19! The compass mentioned above, is a cheaper baseplate compass which I’ve had for a while. I was amazed when this guy (he calls himself “Stoker”), a US Army veteran, did a video recently on this compass…I said, “That’s my compass!”
This video will give you an intro to Stoker and his work. It is technical and assumes you already know a bit. That’s okay if you don’t. It is an immersion, like those language courses which only speak in the language you are learning. Just take it in and get the gist of it. Watch a few more videos to see if this content is for you. I am addicted now.
Think how fun it would be to do this sort of thing with your children, family or friends…enjoy the outdoors, try to find something with a compass and learn some valuable skills as the world hurtles toward chaos. It could be the beginning of an incredible journey!
There is also a Stokermatic website with all kinds of info and several products. Get stoked!
PS If you know a gender-confused girly boy, he just needs to spend one day with Stoker and the girl will be whooped out of him. (I think he does give courses-I will email him about that.)
This post is a sampling of what I have been researching recently. I have been looking into the possible future (not a crystal ball, just research) since I took an interest in it as a teenager. So that’s about 40 years. I stepped it up after 9/11 and have been writing on these topics for 14 years.
I can tell you, I have never seen what is happening now. It’s not just the freaks and geeks, the conspiracy theorists, the End Times eccentrics holding signs in Times Square. The warnings are coming from everywhere. From ordinary people. From experts in all areas. It’s being freely discussed…and censored. People are putting their jobs, their reputations and even their lives on the line. The video above is just one of hundreds of warnings out there right now. This southern homesteading woman reads an email she was sent from a farmer in Texas. She boldly asserts that a day of reckoning is coming. She talks about being right with God and gives her heartfelt advice.
I would add 2 points to this video…#1: It takes a village. #2: Get out of dodge. As Catholics, we must develop our communities and we must also consider establishing them in less populated areas. For a number of reasons, the dense areas are not where you want to be when things go wrong. Of course, this is only my take on it and you must pray and assume responsibility for your own decisions.
Also as Catholics, we know we are here in exile and some are called to a glorious martyrdom. We know the most important preparedness is spiritual. We must flee to the Sacrament of Penance and take consolation in the Rosary. To pray the Rosary is a great joy in the midst of suffering. Let us all pray at this hour and discern the work Our Blessed Lord desires of us.
These topics aren’t really random at all. It is all connected.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid."
John 14:27
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As I groggily sauntered into the kitchen this morning, my husband immediately greeted me with the stunning news. We all suspected this was coming, but you are never quite ready for that moment when something anticipated becomes real. As I was still trying to absorb the information, I did my customary glance at the Catholic calendar and saw “The Sacred Heart of Jesus” as today’s feast. Instantly I said to myself, “Not a coincidence! Amazing!” Tomorrow is also the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. After waiting just shy of 50 long years, the dice land on this day. This shows God’s omnipotent Providence in all things and gives us great consolation. This incredible day is graced by the Two Hearts!
After spending the past 34 years fighting for life, I never thought I would live to see this day. There is a feeling of joy thinking of all my pro-life friends, past and present, rejoicing today. A wave of positive energy has shot through the world…a world that desperately needs it. It’s hard to believe it’s true.
Yes, there are those who will take this opportunity to do evil and to persecute us more viciously, but we cannot focus on that ugliness from Hell. We must focus on Heaven, life and beauty. Just look at a picture of a precious baby and you will regain your perspective. Let us thank God in the coming days and continue to pray for peace and the safety of our people. Let us continue the fight for life as never before. Evil cannot stand forever. Christ already has the victory on the Cross! Alleluia!
Since the Rogation Days invoke God’s mercy and also are associated with litanies, here is the Litany of the Mercy of God. Think about praying it tonight with your family! The closing prayer is very similar to a prayer in the Divine Mercy Chaplet:
O God, Whose Mercy is infinite and Whose treasures of pity are inexhaustible, graciously look down upon us and increase in us Thy Mercy so that we may never, even in the greatest trials, give way to despair, but may always trustfully conform ourselves to Thy Holy Will, which is Mercy itself. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Mercy, Who with Thee and the Holy Spirit doth show us Mercy forever and ever. Amen.
I was doing some research last night and came across the assertion that Bill Gates’ father was the “president of Planned Parenthood.” I said to myself, “Why have I never heard this before?” I went down the rabbit hole to corroborate the info. An article on Lifesite quotes Gates in a 2003 interview with Bill Moyers: “My dad was head of Planned Parenthood. And it was very controversial to be involved with that.” Bill Gates Sr. died 8 months ago and the New York Times had this to say, “He was president of the Seattle/King County Bar Association and the Washington State Bar Association and a director of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the King County United Way and Planned Parenthood.” We can see that Gates’ father was indeed the director of Planned Parenthood, probably on a local level. This same New York Times piece shows us a picture of Gates Sr. holding a baby of color in his arms, next to Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter, in South Africa. Surely, he would have had no problem presiding over this baby’s death in Washington State.
His son, Mr. Covid Vaccine King, continues the wonderful legacy. Lifesite goes on, “[Bill Gates] says, he has seen that by improving health and education, population decreases as parents decide to have less children. Despite all his distancing from Malthus, Gates remains steadfast to the unfounded Malthusian fear of overpopulation.” Another article: “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s role in funding COVID-19 vaccine research has been a point of particular concern, due in large part to the couple’s history as radical advocates for abortion and population control.” Melinda Gates is quoted: "Here in the United States, it's going to be black people who really should get [the Covid vaccine] first and many indigenous people, as well as people with underlying symptoms, and then elderly people." They have it all figured out.
Yet one more Lifesite deeply concerning article tells us: ”Gates also invested approximately $20 million in MicroCHIPS, a company that makes chip-based devices, including birth-control implant chips with wireless on/off switches for remote-controlled drug-delivery by medical authorities.”
How are we to respond to all this? The Gates are for education. So must we be, in our own spheres. They’ve been busy bees. So must we be, building The Newer World Order. And as the prayer above implores, never despair. That is not our world and as we discussed on Good Friday…It Will Fail!
The squirrel likes my flax seeds. Birds don’t. LOL (I don’t mind, I love the squirrels.) I also had to remove that blue tray because it does not drain rainwater but there is plastic underneath that does drain. The blue tray will be a perfect basin for potted plants!
After 6 years on this blog, maybe it’s time to tell you a bit about me. I initially did not want to write a bio because I do not like the focus to be on me. But recently, I have been thinking that it is probably important to give my readers more of a sense of a personal connection. So, here goes my life story (sorry, there is only one version…the long one)…
Chiara Florence Mathews
I was born in Levittown, New York, in the late 60’s. This was the first of William J. Levitt’s idyllic pre-fab post WWII communities. My formative years were a beautiful initiation into life. To some degree, my personality was formed by Levitt’s vision. I have never lost, through great trials, that spirit of beauty, order and exuberance that Levittown gave me. Of course, I also must credit my loving parents. Though not devout, they sent me to Catholic school and gave me some understanding of the Faith.
It all went south when my father died of heart attack when I was 7 years old. My mother was left confused and helpless, with 3 children still at home. 2 years later, she married a Jewish man and we lived a strange dual-religion life, with Judaism being predominant. This led to spending several months in Beersheba, Israel, when I was 10 years old. It was an incredible thing visiting the Holy Land at such a young age and it changed the direction of my thinking and my understanding of the world. I remember walking across the desert to the bus station (quite a walk) and thinking, “Maybe Jesus walked in this very spot.” We spent a few days in Jerusalem and visited the Western Wall of the Temple, the significance of which I did not comprehend at the time. As is customary, I wrote something and placed it within the wall. I have no idea what I wrote-I wish I could remember. This was nothing like a pleasure trip. The experience was fraught with difficulty and terror. But I am deeply grateful for it and everything I learned about Judaism, which enriched my understanding of Catholicism.
My teenage years were spent in New Jersey, in a spiritual search for truth and an immersion in music, creative writing and theater. After making the rounds of Protestant churches and considering conversion to Mormonism, a friend invited me to come to the city with his family, to see a priest they knew. This priest was none other than one of the greatest Catholic theologians of the 20th century, Fr. John A. Hardon (there is now a cause for his canonization). To me, he was just a nice old man. I spent a few minutes privately with him and confided that I was confused. The only thing I remember him saying is, “Pray the Rosary every day.” He handed me a pair of blue plastic Rosary beads, which I cherish to this day. Through the same friend, I met my future husband, also from a devout family. He was able to explain all the things about Catholicism which I did not understand. I made the decision at the age of 18 to return in fullness to the Catholic Faith.
At Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), NJ, I majored in music. After meeting Fr. Michael T. Mannion, famed for his work in post-abortion healing and the director of the campus Newman Center, I started a pro-life club. We accomplished some great things, but received flack for it, which included a run-in with the head of the music department. I left to pursue my dream of becoming a singer/songwriter in Manhattan (I wound up working all the time to pay my rent). Eventually, I continued college at the State University of New York in Purchase. I was one of a group of winners in a recorded music competition, which gave me the opportunity to present my work on a CD put out by the college. This led to a meeting in the Sony building in the city, with a well-known producer. He likened one song to Leonard Cohen and was interested in working with me. I was supposed to record a few more things and come back. I never entered the Sony building again.
With John Paul II’s “Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei" in 1988, my husband-to-be brought me to the Tridentine Mass. At the age of 21, just down the block from Grand Central Station, at Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s former parish, Saint Agnes, I wept while kneeling. Seeing what I had been deprived of growing up…The most beautiful thing this side of Heaven*, I was forever changed. In the ensuing years, this is where my spirituality and intellect would continue to take shape, through the extraordinary oratory of theologians Fr. George Rutler and Fr. John Perricone. This is where we would be married. This is where our son would be baptized.
Work during my 20’s included teaching music, a series of office jobs and a difficult position at Good Counsel as a live-in counselor at one of their homes for women and children. I got to know the director, Chris Bell, and his pro-life heroin wife Joan Andrews Bell (I had sung 2 of my songs at their wedding reception prior to working there-Joan had asked me to do so, because she really liked a pro-life song of mine). Fr. Benedict Groeschel was part of the ministry and we would occasionally have retreats with him. My pro-life activism also led me to NYC’s pregnancy center pioneer Chris Slattery and sidewalk counseling at some of the worst clinics in the city. All of this gave me life experience well beyond my young years.
From Levittown to the Negev Desert to the death camps on Main Street, it’s no wonder my music sounded like Leonard Cohen. But gradually, I realized Cohen’s “cold and broken Hallelujah” could not be mine. There was another “Hallelujah” which called me. And I began to see, looking at the Signs of the Times, that the jig was up anyway.
After 10 years with my best friend, I finally married the young man who helped me so much in the spiritual life. We had a beautiful big baby right away. This was to be our only child. I became ill with Chronic Fatigue/Pain Syndrome, which I still suffer from. We bought a house on Long Island, not far from Levittown. In the past 20 years, I have continued with pro-life work, in addition to volunteering in various capacities (church, school and community garden projects). I have had training in preparedness/back to nature issues, including the Cornell University Master Gardener course. I am also proud to have pioneered a program with a local Montessori school, which has introduced thousands of Long Island children to gardening, at the annual Huntington Tulip Festival.
Needless to say, as a New Yorker and as a human being, I was very deeply affected by the terrible events of 9/11. After watching Bush’s behavior in the classroom on that day, I realized this is not the world I thought it was. There was something very wrong and I had to get to the bottom of it. Hence my “truther” journey, which involved in-depth study of the true control-structure of the world. This led to many esoteric topics and back to Catholicism, in terms of prophecy. (I have been connecting the dots for the past 2 decades, which prepared me for understanding the events of the past year.)
Realizing, as I suspected long ago, that we are approaching volatile times, a new dream emerged, of creating a Catholic ministry to deal with the issues before us. I started a blog 13 years ago and this is the current version of it. The vision of Nomen Christi Apostolate started to form about 9 years ago, as ideas came into greater maturity, including my thesis of “The Authentic Life.” Simply stated, the way God intended us to live, close to nature and communal, is also the safest, most self-reliant kind of life (ultimately speaking). The vision continues to evolve, particularly in light of the past year, as things are clearly heating up. It is my goal to move out of cyberspace and into the real world. I have become more interested in helping people to create rural refuges from the world. Stick with me and there will be more talk on this. I touch on theology from time to time. I should say, I am not a theologian but I like to meditate on these topics. I have been influenced by the best of the best and I give them all the credit.
My husband is an Information Technology manager. I would never have been able to navigate the computer world without him, so he has been an integral part of this work. Our son has an engineering degree from the University of Southern California. Our Shihpoo Frankie (named after Saint Francis) has degrees in cuteness and begging.
As for music, I will sing with Saint Cecilia on a cloud one day…
PS What have I learned from it all? I’ve learned this.
* famous quote by Fr. Frederick Faber, 1814-1863
© 2015-2024 Chiara F. Mathews Content may be reproduced or shared on the condition that this source is indicated.
