thesmellypocket

A man pens a brief note:

"Grace and peace to you from the Singular and Merciful God,

I thought I would offer a few passing thoughts on your recent thesis.

You will catch more flies, Father, with a single spoonful of honey, than with all the barrels of vinegar you might muster. 

The first law must not be hatred of sin, but love of God. We don't start with sin and hate, that is to have it wrongly proportioned, for we know that sin is wrong because it is a violation of the Good. I am not a pacifist. But if I were, the anti-war pamphlets would not be full of gruesome pictures of battles, but of sunshine and flowers and rainbows - things that men never got to love, because the war cut their lives short. God created us as rational creatures that we might enjoy Him forever. That is the fundamental truth of our religion.

Owyn himself demonstrated an approach rather different to the one you claim he had. You name your stick over carrot philosophy after him. But if Owyn used the stick, he also liberally - and first - employed the carrot. Observe his Epistles. When inter-acting with the gentile races and peoples, he does not begin with what they have gotten wrong, but begins by praising them. He does not merely rebuke, but he also consoles with God's mercy. 

If I might be permitted to quote from the Canonist Commentary on Sacred Scripture: "Owyn does not wreck or tear out everything the Godwinites do. They, like all creatures, depend on God entirely for their existence. He works from what is good and right and true in their preconceived notions and then corrects what is wrong. Therefore in evangelisation, we ought to start from some common, agreeable ground, and then expand outwards - starting with commonality and ending with admonishment, rather than the other way around." (This same written by the founder of the FSSCT.)

I think that we will get much further in all things if we induce men by sweetness, than if we assault them by beatings. After all, as a wise man once said, if we must err on the side of severity or mercy, let us err on the side of mercy. For we know that if we have erred on the side of mercy in a doubtful instance, we shall come much cleaner before that Judge who admits of no excuse, rather than, out of an unjustified severity, we shall have wronged man. For, not having been mercy, we can expect that no mercy shall be given us.

I do not think that the best Priest is a mere fiery zealot, or a mere pleaser of crowds, or a mere learned scholar, or a mere parish clerk - I think he is all of these things. Because, remember, that, first and foremost, as the gatekeeper of the sacraments, you are, first of all, the floodgate of God's mercy. The time for severity comes at judgement: judgement of each and every man at his death. We do not want man to pass through the gates of severity, but through the gates of mercy: namely, the sacraments. Severity is only good and useful insofar as it helps people draw to this gate. So, I do not think we should really like or want to be severe. It should go against the Priest's nature. We should want to be kind, to praise and to show affection. Severity should be a heavy burden we sometimes are forced to yield, not a cane we deal out with all the gleeful liberality of a cruel schoolteacher. Too often among flamenists (I do not accuse you) I find this love of severity which goes against the heart of the Faith.

I will end this little letter with a quote from the Angelic Doctor, Saint Jude, to show you how that man in whose name you have co-signed this letter drew souls to God:

"We are meant to love God above all things. We should not love him out of fear but like the love of a Father to his eldest son. We need to make sure our love is pure and good. I am not saying not to love other people, but love God above all and you shall be rewarded in his kingdom and live in his love forever."

I remain your most humble servant in the Most High,

Brother Thomas Williams."

2 hours ago, Average 3rd Brigadier said:

Captain Robert Archibald would nod "Well, they've got a very good bass section, mind, but no top tenors that's for sure."

 

A patriotic [Welsh]man sings: "Man of Oren, stop your dreaming!

Can't you see their spear-points gleaming?

See their warrior pennants streaming,

To this battlefield!

Men of Oren, stand ye steady,

Let it not be ever said ye,

For the battle were not ready,

Oren scorns to yield!

From the hills rebounding,

Let this war cry sounding,

Summon all to Julia's call,

The mighty force surrounding!

Men of Oren, on to glory,

This will ever be your story,

See these burning words before ye...

OREN SCORNS TO YIELD!" 

"My son, what have you done?" Laments Blessed Pius of Sutica, FSSCT, from the Skies. Pius petitions Almighty God for a miracle to rain down hundreds of little 'RULE OF THE FSSCT' booklets on the man's head.

"Kinda defeats the point if you write a missive, publicising your penance, don't it?" Says one boy.

On 3/29/2021 at 4:52 PM, argonian said:

  Reveal hidden contents

((That's a new spin-off group, even says so on the thread. linked them regardless though. if you search turkins on the forums you find mentions of turkins going back years and years, to semih's group and others, and even a (sadly, broken) link to a culture post))

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MFd3gtRYLNFHXMY5hxbcHmoVTORWhfBdZ0th0M-Ba0g/edit ((There is the doc, although I reckon that the final post probably ended up a little different. 

Historically, the Turkins converted to Canonism rather than Rashidun. Because first they migrated to Lorraine and many were converted to that religion by the local Bishop. And Semih converted loads of them to Canonism at some point. A few would still remain in their original religion, Tigirism, although they have perhaps disappeared now. They did have some Qali influence thanks to their adoption (alongside the flexio/common) of the Qali alphabet and some of their education system. So I suppose this could have allowed the Rashiduns to convert them.

Some elements of Tigirism are recorded in the Chronicle of Suleyman, who refused to convert to Canonism. Their religion was also monotheistic!

The Akritian theory of Turkin origins can also be found in the Chronicle of Alexandros, but it's just a myth to explain the historical enmity between the two peoples. For example the reader (whichever idiot played him I don't know) didn't understand the Turkin religion.))

((I didn't know your char but now I wish I had, wonderful post!!!!

A child lights a candle at St. Julia's altar for the departed soul.

Philip decides to keep the poem "The Boulevard of Sprites" on his desk, enjoying it greatly. "The outrageous joy of the Saints", says he "Lies in their smallness!"

Acolyte Philip Romolo Vaz shakes his head. "The Paradise that is economic prosperity? Is this man thinking clearly? I would rather live poor and honourable than rich and degenerate; economic prosperity cannot bring any form of "paradise" and lasting "happiness." All attempts by men to build a utopia are doomed to fail; your Modernist state would collapse even if you succeeded in establishing it. Even if you got everything you wanted, you would still be wretched and miserable." 

"We need to turn to God more than ever. Let us ask Saint Julia, Mama Mia, for her prayers to turn away from the moral degeneracy and live virtuous lives. That it is the key to happiness, not what these utopia-peddling merchants want to sell you. Oh yes, virtue is very hard to practise, and what they sell you seems very smooth and easy, but virtue is plain bread whereas Modernism is poisoned honey. Remember that if you fall, God's mercy is always there to pick you back up." Philip tells his parishioners.

"Perhaps we must set up institutions which aim to provide a solid Canonist education, which preserves this balance which our Pontiff has laid out." Suggests Philip.

"Truly this is a promising man. The world is not suffering from want of wonders, but from want of wonder." Says Philip.

On 3/15/2021 at 9:09 PM, rep2k said:

 

[!] Letter should arrive in one Saint's day, stating your position in the Holy Mother Church.

Philip makes a request to be stationed in Jorenus.

11 hours ago, Burnsider said:

Joaquin turned to the woman who had approached him. “Mistake me not for one who has received ordination. I am no man of the cloth.

 

“Woe be to a family of the unrighteous, one that speaks of who is their equal and who is not, one that speaks of their own virtue, though they take for themselves titles undeserving. For you shall not desire the wealth of this world, nor the wealth of others, but the wealth of the spirit. And you shall take the pleasures of the world carefully, and shall not become a creature of worldly indulgence. You shall aspire not to greatness among men, but to His glory. And you shall not judge your own virtue, be it great or small, for all fall short of Him. Before the mountain, the ant and the auruchs are equally small. Truly truly, I say to you that it is easier for an uruk to overcome his bloodlust than it is for those who build palaces and proclaim their glory and virtue to enter the Seven Skies.

 

“Remember well what GOD said to Owyn, ‘Even as my holiest city was sacred in spite of Harren’s rejection, it is spoiled by the blood of kin.’ That which is done is not undone, for the lords of this land have seen the sins of the unrighteous. And GOD absolved Owyn not when he slew those who broke the laws of men, but the laws of GOD. Even then, his failures will only be redeemed upon the final days.

 

“And did Godfrey banish Reynard or slay him? For Godfrey had learned from Owyn and knew that Owyn’s wroth had made the whole world suffer. So, then, did he only banish him from the land. But Godfrey knew not righteousness except by GOD, for he made the foreigner grovel before man in worship, and he taught not the love of GOD, but the terror of GOD. What would he have done to Reynard had he not been filled with pride? Would he have forgiven? For he too made the world suffer, and he will be redeemed of his failures only upon the final days.

 

“The righteous speak not of just punishment, for Justice is one of the deceivers of Vagentgotz, who exalts wrath in its name. The righteous do not celebrate the deaths of their brothers and kin, for Glory is one of the deceivers of Vagentgotz, who exalts pride in its name. And when Justice and Glory are set forth upon the world, the village will give way to the citadel, the citadel gives way to the battlefield, nations will be destroyed and this is left no refuge and men are ungoverned and slain.”

"I agree with much of what you have said, Signore, ", Writes Philip Romolo Vaz in a missive. "I do not understand much of politics, nor have I investigated the cause of this rebellion. I see only the bloodshed, and worse, souls lost through the wrath and unchastity that such wars occasion, which is the deplorable cause of the eternal damnation of many of the immoral souls. I see also immorality and atheism in every corner of high society: The Sedanites are right in that, and are right to be filled with holy zeal against it. But their recourse to violence and rebellion against a legitimate ruler, however bad, can hardly be justified except perhaps as the very last resort. Prayer, especially through Exalted Horen and Saint Julia, must be the first! Holiness and goodness must be chosen by souls and defended by swords. The mistake of warlike men is to press by the sword what is the domain of the soul, by trying to force men to adopt personal holiness by the sword, which is an inherent absurdity and contradiction, and spirals further into sin. The mistake of the pacifists is not to defend the Good when it is attacked. For then it is only necessary that good men do nothing for the triumph of evil. Unjust laws must be resisted, for this is not disobedience, but rather obedience to the Supreme Power. Unjust laws have no binding force; but they must be proven to contradict the eternal law of God, either as He has revealed to us by the Scrolls and Holy Church, or by the natural law inherent within us (As defined by Holy Church.) It is then when the Divine Law must be defended by the sword: for they would press against the law of God by the sword, and therefore cannot be opposed but by the sword. 

There are, however, a couple of corrections I now make on your interpretation of Scripture, which I have heard you preaching in Providence. Your errors arise from not reading the Scriptures with the official commentaries. First of all, you must realise that civil authority is part of the divine order. This is made explicit in the Canticle of Fidelity: "I have ordered the estates of the earth." (Virtue 6:4) There is, in the "stations" of society and law, a divine order, and therefore civil authority should be obeyed by Canonists unless the law be directly contrary to Divine Law or Church teaching. But not only this. Open the Flexio Text and Commentary, and see Bl. Pius explain meaning. It has an Imprimatur from Bl. James II who adopted it officially as our commentary, and I have the text here:

"The text moves back to the singular here. This is perhaps to emphasise the fact that EACH individual’s person station and birth is individually determined and positively willed by God. Hence it is clear that a rebel against the social order, rebels against God, for the social order and our place in it is determined by God. Not that a man who, by his own merit, advances in rank is in any way sinful: if he has done so by hard work and honest merit we may say that this advancement was positively the will of God. But he that attempts to overthrow or destroy the social order commits a grave sin. Nor should a man be covetous to advance in rank, but rather he should advance in virtue, and if this causes him to be raised up, then this is a side-effect. But chasing the higher rank as an end of itself, may be called the sin of avarice." (On Virtue 6:6)

Therefore, it is clear from this that we have a duty to obey the social and political order, and to respect legitimate leaders. But the Canticle goes further than this:

"Literally: sustain ye your word and order. The word, sustain, indicates exactly what it means in Common. Not only is the Canonist expected to not covet the higher, but he is expected to help sustain the social order and enforce his word. This means that each Canonist has a duty to help enforce laws insofar as they are just and to fight treason and rebellion, insofar as they are able. (For example, a woman is not expected to fight against treason.) Each is expected to do as their state in life dictates. This means our obligations to our family, our country and our class. Since God is the author of the nations, to despise your own country is a sin against piety; to disobey a just law a sin against fidelity." (Virtue 6:8.)

Now this imperative command from God, "Sustinete" makes clear that Canonists have not only a negative duty to obey the social order, but a positive duty to enforce it. Therefore it is entirely moral, righteous and divinely ordained for a man to take up the sword and even lay down his life for the "laws of men" contrary to what you have written, for, in sustaining them (Again, I make no reference to immoral laws, for they are not laws at all but rather pure violence), they actually implement the positive command of God, and enforce that order He Himself has ordained. 

Therefore, we cannot dismiss the Orenian cause as "enforcing the laws of men", for the dichotomy you set up between fighting for the "law of God" and the "law of men" is a false one. For in enforcing the latter we do the former. We might say that those who die for the Faith in an explicit way are due greater veneration than those who die for civil laws, for the which cause the Church venerates the former as martyrs and does not venerate the latter for that reason alone. But we cannot condemn those who fight to enforce the laws of men, and in fact, every Canonist has a positive duty, according to that person's age, sex, and state in life, defend the laws of their country and the authority of their Emperor. 

On the contrary, the distinction you made between "righteousness" and "justice" is again, a trick of the language. It does not exist in Flexio. For our word "justice" comes from "justitia" in the Flexio, and our word "righteousness" can only be rendered "justice" in that language, it having some kind of Waldenian origin. Now the word for the "virtuous" in the Virtue is "justi", viz., the just. And this can be found plainly in the Flexio text made available by Blessed Pius. Therefore we cannot interpret Auspice as being against Justice, for the righteous are those that are just; there is no distinction to be made. Are we also to suppose that "glory" is bad? Or "reward?" On the contrary, God promises rewards many times in the Scrolls for the just. But remember that they are guises. Iblees dresses as justice, but it is a false justice, a false glory, and a false reward, because it is not that of Almighty God. And so we cannot say that men have no duty toward justice, or that the just ought not to care for her. It is perhaps the kind of justice that places men's justice over the Moral Law, which, as I say, would be null and void by its very nature. 

God love you,

Philip Romolo Vaz.

Saint Horen, Patron, Protector and Founder of the Human Family, pray for us.

Saint Julia, Mother of Mankind, pray for us.

Saint Catherine, Lady of Peace, pray for us."

"The author has said that words are futile and meaningless, and then refuted his own argument by using words to prove it; this is the biggest self-own I have ever seen." Says Philip.

"I have already shown that such a rule, viz. that knights must not decline a request for a duel, is a hateful one, unworthy of the Canonist profession, and clearly the knight would be sinning if he fought on such trivial grounds as personal honour. They should rather fear the eternal dishonour of the Void which iniquitous actions merit!" Says Philip.

Philip says "This is very evil, perhaps we need to finish Bl. Pius' work "Adversus Haereses.""

A jolly young man of shining countenance skips into the office.

“Good to see you here on this day, brother. We shall begin quite simply. What is your name?”

"My name is Philip Romolo Vaz."

“How old are you?”

"I am 31."

“This question is obvious, but it is for the sake of these records. What race of the descendants are you of?”

"I am a Heartlander, si."

“You are able to read and write, am I right?”

"Yes."

“And with that, I hope you are familiar with the Holy Scrolls and Catechism of our Church?”

"Si, God has given me that mercy!"

“You are of course baptized?”

"Si. It was an emergency Baptism, actually.

“Good, good. Are you married? Do you have children?”

"No, Signore."

“In what way of the clergy do you wish to serve? As a Priest, or a Monastic?”

"In obedience to my Confessor, I seek ordination."

“This really depends on the needs of the Church, but in what Diocese would you prefer to serve in? You can simply name a city or Kingdom.”

"I have often wanted to serve as a mission to heathen races, but I think Jorenus is where I am called."

“A rather personal question, why have you chosen to walk this path in God?”

"I am a great fool, a sinner and very unworthy, but it is God's will and so He will make me a fitting instrument."

“And lastly, are you truly devoted to this way of life? Prepared to take any vows involved with ordination and commit oneself to this lifetime bond with the Lord Almighty?”

"Yes, I am prepared to die rather than forsake it."

Philip thinks knowing these quotes should be a requirement for membership.

Francois d'Ibelin, squire of Augustus, first Duke of Lorraine, in the part of the Skies which holds good Canonists, grieves at his old master's race falling to apostasy. "They have traded the God and Father of all things, for another 'god', other than the singular and omnipotent - a mere imitation of the true Father of all. They have betrayed the very foundation of their race. I should not expect a building without foundations to stand."

"Founded by chairwoman..." Philip reads, and stops reading.

"You shall not judge your own virtue, be it great or small, for all fall short of Me."-Virtue 7:8.

An exhortation to the people, against tabloid newspapers. 

O senseless sons of Horen, cease this nonsense, but prove yourselves worthy of that name. It is indeed a reproach to you from Almighty God that again it should fall to an idiot and wretch like me to be the one to rebuke you.

Point I. The Immoral Nature of these "Tabloids" is Now Clear. To Even Read Them, is a Sin. To Write or Promote Them, a Grave Sin.

What shall I say about these "tabloids" circulating in Oren and Haense today? They are not fit even to be mentioned. It is certain that those who write them are certainly the slaves of iblees, for of them we read: "their lies are lifted up in worship, for the slaves [Flexio: servi] of Iblees proclaim them truth." Even if they are not lies, even if they are true, then still a grave evil there is in the writing of them. For they show themselves to be utterly unrestrained in their imprudence, completely wanton in their effeminacy, and unreservedly rampaging in their calumny. Such publications and the interest in them reveal a very sinful and prideful civilisation. For indeed, why else would we want to hear about other people's evils? Why is a publication gossiping about immoralities more popular than reading about virtue? It is simple. It is because a society that is overwhelmed with guilt wants to hear about other people's problems. For the more they read of adulteries in others, comparing themselves to those, the more they become secure in their own self-assessment. But, as we have read, this is not the way God teaches us. God says: "Judge not your own virtue." Constantly comparing yourselves with others and holding yourselves above them, is a trick of iblees that leads straight to the Void. Therefore we should avoid reading such things.

Such gossiping is undoubtedly a sin. It is a grave sin against charity and prudence. For, if we love the sinner, we will seek to uphold and exhort him, not calumniate him. To publish, far and wide, gossip about him will destroy our neighbour and wreck him to misery, and it is a common temptation for women, who, seduced by the love of illicit pleasure, do grave injury to their fellows. We desire to bring the sinner to repentance. But I speak as assuming these persons are sinners. For these "tabloids" speak only in shades and in the venomous poison of snakes, and there is no knowing whether what they say is true or not. They are filled with horrible insults and meanness, and deserve to be burned. Indeed, if we must err on any point, let us err on the side of mercy. I mean that, if there is probable but not certain evidence of sin in another person, we should not believe it until proven beyond reasonable doubt, for, if we err in that a man has sinned when we thought he did not, we will have erred on the part of humility and mercy, whereas to condemn a man wrongly is to gather up kindling for one's own eternal fire, which we shall deserve, for, wrongly having judged another, he shall find himself before that Judge who admits of no excuse. 

These publications excuse sin, which, according to Blessed Seraphim the Tractarian, is the worst blasphemy. It is the gravest violation of the very first maxim we receive from Almighty God: "Blaspheme NOT!" (Virtue 1:8.) There is one such case where such a woman as this or that has committed adultery, and one of these - I mention not the name - and the publication, although saying they do not excuse the sin, go on to do so. They say that such a husband is a dullard, or something of that nature. Apologies if I get some details wrong, I have already done what each and every one of you ought to have done by now, and committed this rubbish to the flames. It is straight from the mouth of iblees, all of it.

People nowadays are very careful with what they eat. There is talk of sanitation laws. If a little dirt gets on a man's bread, he will not eat it. He will refrain from sweet foods in the knowledge that they are bad for him. But filth for the mind? We gobble it up with wanton gluttony! We will pour in all of the most poisonous vomit, and think nothing of it. But know that the filth of the mind is far worse than that of the body, and far more damaging. And as for the sweet foods of the soul, we will be seduced by the sweetness of gossip and calumny, and not care for the future bitterness that we reap thereby. Better it is to be good in poor health than evil in good health. For observe this: we become like that which we spend time with. Do you want to be a good man? Spend time with good men. Women, do you want to be like Saint Julia? Go and spend some time with her. A man among robbers, blasphemers, adulterers, drunkards and so on, ought to take care, lest he become one himself. At first, the sake of friendship he will at first excuse evil, and then he will share its delight, and then finally assent to it. Stay away from the sorts of people who make such publications, as well as the publications themselves. It seems that men become like that which they love. If they love what is noble, they will become noble. But if they love that which is base, they will become base.

Take care, then. Guard your mind against all bad books and pamphlets. It will avail you very little if you are very careful of what you eat and live to be an hundred, if all those years are pride, griping, lust, calumny and so on, because that is what you have poured into your mind, and so you will have become evil. Go instead to read the lives of the Saints, the Scriptures or Tractarian writings. Or even read books of wholesome recreation, not necessarily religious but ennobled by good characters, stories and wonderful language.  Even despite occasional liberal nonsense, Epochs of the Empire is well-written and not sinful, but teaches of our ancestors, and makes for better reading. You are called to be spiritual sons of Horen and Julia. Just like Owyn, Godfrey and Sigmund.  Why then do you become like worms in the ground? Rise up, do manfully, and be strengthened in the faith.

"But this man or that is a sluggard!" "This woman has done this!" ENOUGH! Are you yourself perfect? Can you yourself, a sinner, so judge others? You highlight the sins of others because you are yourself guilty. Stop this, and humble yourselves; do penance for the evil you have done. For if Godfrey, a man we all agree was most excellent, called himself a grave sinner (Proverbs 1:3), which of you shall be blameless? Do good deeds. Pray. Go to Confession. You are called by God to love your fellow man and woman. That does not mean loving a perfect man, it means loving the sluggard whom God, in His infinite wisdom, has given you. For it is in the extremity that virtues are tried. To crush a little ant is no sign of courage, and so to love someone who is always giving you sweets is not so difficult a thing. But we are not called to be courageous against ants, but a soldier must stand against enemy soldiers perhaps stronger and more numerous than his own. And so, you are called to love. Remember the example of a certain Priest, Ven. Humbert, who, upon seeing criminals about to be executed, exclaimed: "There but for the grace of God goes Humbert!" And Bl. Pius the Tractarian, who used to, upon hearing of a crime, say: "Thank God I have not done worse!' 

To the victims of the calumny, I beg them to forgive their calumniators, to not care for the opinions of men and women, but to lift their hearts to God. For, though our misery be great, yet is His mercy infinite, and, as Blessed Pius says, until God's mercy ceases to be infinite and your wickedness begins to be, then you have a right to stop hoping. But as for now, since God's mercy is infinite and you are very small in comparison, go and cast all your casts upon Him, plunging yourselves into the vast ocean of His mercy. 

Point II. Young Women and Effeminate Men are Drawn to Such Pleasures Because they Are Idle. 

I said this in the previous little homily. But idleness is a chief cause of these evils. Women do these evils, especially so-called noble women (for they rather less deserve that name than humble peasant girls whom God loves for their simplicity of soul), because they are bored. Illicit pleasure is, to them, an intoxicating remedy for their boredom. And it is the same with effeminate men who take to this manner of foolishness. But, as we know, there is such a thing as sweet poison, and that is what this is. We see it in the fruits of what has transpired: sickly envy, vengefulness and crime. But there is a sweet thing that costs nothing to drink, and bears no bitterness in it. It is the free air. Preserve yourselves then, little ones, from this idleness. Go and enjoy the free air, go and dance and play among the lillies, those games which you played when you were children. These pleasures are freer, more wholesome and joyous than any these evil things can give, whilst, by the self-forgetfulness and lightness they endow unto the soul, induce us to humility and playfulness. So bless the Lord at all times, occupy yourself with your looms and your children, and, when you have time, calumniate not, but play, and, in fact, do anything that will keep you from idleness and sin.

A blessing I wish you all, in the Name of He who lives and reigns forever and ever, Amen.

"What a load of degenerate nonsense and women's gossip! This immoral sham of a publication should be shut down. Whoever wrote this should repent, he is in danger of hellfire." Says Philip, scandalised. He makes sure to dispose of any copies he can find.

"Surely you should have consulted the Pontiff privately first? It was imprudent and uncharitable for you to write first an open letter. Whatever his alleged misdemeanours, he is, indeed, due reverence as your Bishop." Says Philip. "If indeed they are even partly untrue, you have wrought condemnation for yourself by acting thus imprudently."

TO HIS HOLINESS, Jude II, present Pontiff of the Church of the Canon.

May Almighty God continue to shower you with many blessings, Holy Father. Your continued fatherly watch over the flock God has committed to you, namely every rational creature breathing under the Skies, is well shown by the fact you readily listen to even the slightest, littlest and most foolish of your subjects. Being all three of these, I, with confidence and love, write this brief little note to you, and submit it to the consideration of Holy Church.

You will, of course, be aware of that heroic model of Bishops, Saint Kristoff of Hanseti. He is an example of charity and courage for all of our Priests and religious, and a worthy patron for all within the bosom of Holy Mother Church. God favoured him with so many special graces that they truly are innumerable to count, and we had sooner count the number of the stars than the vast plurality of his virtues. 

But what is less well known is that he had a son, Jurgen. (Of course, before he had sworn a Vow of Celibacy.) This Jurgen is well remembered in Savoyard folklore (For that is where Kristoff settled and became known and loved), as a brave soldier, a compassionate physician, distinguished in all manliness, but, and this is what concerns us, he could also be called the worker of at least one miracle in his life. This is well recorded in the most authentic account of a knight called Francois de Argon, who fought in the Dukes' War and was squire to Augustus, first Duke of Lorraine. Although weighted toward the Savoyard side, Blessed Pius of Sutica in his Life of Ven. Olivier trusted its reliability (He contrasted it with von Manstein's history of Savoy which was another pro-Savoyard account); Francois simply relates the plain truth as he saw it, and therefore examination has vindicated the honesty, if not the objectivity, of his autobiography, The Annals. This Francois himself was known for keen observance to the Code of Chivalry to the point of "Scrupulosity" (Life of Ven. Olivier 4.9), which states: "[A knight shall] at all times speak the truth, even under pain of death."

According to this account, this Francois began to lose the feeling in his arm. He had made friends with Jurgen, a garrison soldier among the Savoyards and camp physician (His father, Saint Kristoff, had been a famed medical doctor himself.) Now this Francois confided this problem to Jurgen, who, taking compassion on him, could see no other explanation but that leprosy was taking hold. Now Jurgen, far from being repelled, urged Francois that leprosy was in fact far less contagious than is often-times feared, and kept it a secret. And trying divers cures to no effect, however, after a long period, Jurgen was rewarded with a miraculous cure for his "diligence" and "charity", and the disease receded. (Francois, Annals, V.) 

Now this Jurgen is also recorded for his heroic charity in the records. The historian Manstein, as well as Francois himself, tell of his great courage in fighting the undead, his charity toward the poor, and his great humility is shown also in a correspondence between the two. Jurgen rejected any veneration for his part and asked Francois not to speak of it, saying that the Author of the miracle was God, and that it owed more to the faith of he who believed in the miracle, then he through whom it was affected. One folk song spoke of universal mourning upon this holy physician's death, saying: "[Jurgen], God knows of your devotion, as a defender of His notion." 

With this miracle, faithfully recorded, and several faithful witnesses to his great holiness, not least Saint Kristoff himself, who trained him in the physician's art, I beg that Jurgen's cause be opened, and that he be declared Venerable. This means that people will venerate him and ask for his intercession, and, God willing, God will grant so many numerous miracles that he will be crowned together with his father by Holy Church. 

And please also remember little Philip in your prayers, for he has need of them.

I remain the least of your children,

Philip Romolo Vaz.

P.S. If indeed his testimony is worth anything, let it be noted that the author of this letter himself has a special devotion to this holy man, and has received many graces through his intercession.

P.S. AGAIN: I apologise, Holy Father. I am very forgetful. I must not neglect Jurgen's great cheerfulness under pain, suffering and danger. I think such holy cheerfulness is the best medicine for today's so-called rationalists.

Blessed Pius of Sutica takes pity on the Fraternity Priest and, knowing that his petition will be granted with the confidence of a child, prays that he may receive a very special grace which he calls "a shower of roses from Heaven." After receiving such a grace, Gawain would distinctly hear Pius' voice: "Take courage, my son, I am with you more than I have ever been. God has entrusted your soul to me, have recourse to me and God shall unite us in the Skies."

"This is a most prudent man!" Exclaims Philip.