Halloween (”All Hallows’ Eve”) marks the day before the All Saints’ Day, on November 1. The Feast of All Saints is a holy day of obligation and is when we honor all the saints of the Church — especially those who are unknown and who do not have feast days of their own. November 2 is the Commemoration of All Souls, when we honor the dead and pray for the souls in Purgatory. This ‘triduum’ of sorts (October 31 to November 2) is collectively celebrated in Mexican and many Latin-American cultures as the Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

These days serve as a good reminder to honor our obligation as faithful Catholics to pray for the dead. In New York City, many Catholics have a wonderful tradition for honoring these days: On the Feast of All Saints (a holy day of obligation), Latin Mass is held at the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel (7.30pm, 230 East 90th St., between 2nd & 3rd Ave.); the Commemoration of All Souls is celebrated by a Latin Mass at the Church of St. Vincent de Paul (6.30pm, 123 West 23rd St., between Ave. of the Americas & 7th Ave.); and to cap it all off, the Annual Solemn Requiem of the New York Purgatorial Society is celebrated at Church of St. Agnes (6.30pm, 143 East 43rd Street, between 3rd Avenue and Lexington). This year, the Requiem Mass is at on Monday, November 5.

O Lord God omnipotent, I ask you by the Precious Blood, which your divine Son Jesus shed –

In the Garden;
In His cruel scourging;
In His bitter crowning with thorns;
In the streets of Jerusalem whilst He carried on His sacred shoulders the heavy burden of the Cross;
Upon the tree of the Cross, especially from His sacred hands and feet;
Which gushed forth from His sacred side, in the presence and to the great sorrow of His most holy Mother;
and which He himself, on the night before His Passion, gave as meat and drink to His beloved Apostles and bequeathed to His holy Church to the perpetual Sacrifice and life-giving nourishment of his faithful people –

deliver the souls in Purgatory, and especially that one which is the most forsaken of all, and bring it into your glory, where it may praise and bless you forever.

O God, Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful: Grant unto the souls of your servants and handmaids the remission of all their sins, that through our devout supplications, they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who lives and reigns, world without end; Amen.

A new children’s fantasy film called The Golden Compass (starring Nicole Kidman) is set to be released this December. Contrary to its blatant similarity to the Chronicles of Narnia, it is everything but Christian.

The Golden Compass is based on the book Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman, first in a trilogy entitled His Dark Materials. Pullman is a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia. His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis’ symbolisms of Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series. Moreover, he aims to bash Christianity and promote atheism — As he admitted in an interview, “my books are about killing God.” He has even stated that he wants to “kill God in the minds of children.” It has been said of Pullman that he is “the writer the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed.” Peter Hitchens called Pullman “the most dangerous author in Britain.” In his own words, Pullman admitted in an interview with The Washington Post (19 February 2001),

“I’m trying to undermine the basis ofChristian belief,” says Pullman. “Mr. [C.S.] Lewis would think I was doing the Devil’s work.”

Similarly, in an interview published in the Sydney Morning Herald (13 December 2003), Pullman stated,

“I’ve been surprised by how little criticism I’ve got. Harry Potter’s been taking all the flak. I’m a great fan of J.K. Rowling, but the people — mainly from America’s Bible Belt — who complain that Harry Potter promotes Satanism or witchcraft obviously haven’t got enough in their lives. Meanwhile, I’ve been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God.“

At first glance, The Golden Compass movie itself may seem mild and innocent, and an exciting children’s tale. (Indeed, the official film trailer portrays it as an engrossing film, full of action and drama, good acting and spectacular special effects.) In many ways, it shares much with the Chronicles of Narnia. For example, both The Golden Compass and Narnia feature children facing adult moral choices, talking animals, religious allegories, parallel worlds, and concern the ultimate fate of those worlds. They even begin the same way, with a young girl hiding in a wardrobe.

But the similarities end there. In the trilogy, a young streetwise girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle to ultimately defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God. Another character, an ex-nun, describes Christianity as “a very powerful and convincing mistake.” In the final book, characters representing Adam and Eve eventually kill God, who at times is called YAHWEH. Each book in the trilogy gets progressively worse, regarding Pullman’s hatred of Jesus Christ.

The Golden Compass is set to premier on December 7 and will probably be heavily advertised. The film itself may be unlikely to offend (as New Line Cinema — ironically, producer of fabulous film adaptation of the faithfully Catholic Lord of the Rings trilogy — tried to downplay the religious element), but this actually makes matters worse: Unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the movie, children will enjoy the movie, and they will want to read the anti-Church series. As Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, stated, “They’re intentionally watering down the most offensive element. … The movie is made for the books. … It’s a deceitful, stealth campaign. Pullman is hoping his books will fly off the shelves at Christmastime.”

Please consider boycotting this movie and the books. You can watch a video of Bill Donohue’s discussion of the film here.

Did you know that Miserere.org provides a link to EWTN’s live streaming video? The link is in the navigation bar at right, under the ‘Resources’ section.

Check it out HERE!

A schedule of EWTN’s programming can be found here.

Nestled deep in the postcard-perfect French Alps, the Grande Chartreuse is considered one of the world’s most ascetic monasteries. In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning wrote to the Carthusian order for permission to make a documentary about them. They said they would get back to him.

Sixteen years later, they were ready.

Gröning, sans crew or artificial lighting, lived in the monks’ quarters for six months — filming their daily prayers, tasks, rituals and rare outdoor excursions. Seeking to embody a monastery, rather than simply depict one, this film has no score, no voiceover and no archival footage. What remains is stunningly elemental: time, space and light. One of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, Into Great Silence dissolves the border between screen and audience with a total immersion into the hush of monastic life. It is more meditation than documentary.

As a reviewer on Amazon.com eruditely and eloquently states,

This is cinema at its purest and most exalted. It is hard to place into words a film, which is wrought in silence. For 162-minutes you will be allowed a glimpse of the ascetic strictness of the monks. I do not see this as a documentary, but an immersion into an entire way of life that will have no voiceovers or explanations. Just a small part of our time spent in transcendent meditation on the human pursuit of meaning, on man as a religious and social creature, on the form and function of symbols, ritual and traditions. And on the rhythms of work and prayer, night and day, winter and spring.

It is a beautiful film where everyone will take away something different and hopefully fulfilling. The film will not allow you to enter the world of the monks, but to just view it from the outside. You will see the day-to-day activities from season to season and be able to form your own opinions and conclusions. Many may at first experience impatience at the repetitions and variations encountered, but allow yourself time to adjust to the contemplative pace. And be witness to the ordinary moments that taken together are a representation of grace.

The Carthusian monks who are the subjects of this documentary do not have a great deal to say. Living in a light-filled stone charterhouse in a picturesque valley in the French Alps, they bind themselves to a vow not of literal silence but of extreme reticence. We view the daily lives, prayers and routines of this most ascetic of Catholic Orders founded in 1084 by Saint Bruno. The monks, because of their vow of poverty, subsist on very little. They pray aloud at times and sing solemn Gregorian chants, but they rarely speak, except on there Monday walks.

The monks in their rigor and discipline find their freedom and fulfillment. Your view on the monastery and our world will change as the movie progresses. And isn’t that what a good movie or book is suppose to accomplish? It is a world of yesteryear as it existed one thousand years ago, where some modern technology has crept in, as you will see. In our modern world of moral decay this gives us a window to a traditional Catholic existence. A two thousand year tradition of following the Desert Fathers into a way of life that is rarely, if ever, seen.

[T]his film is about the presence of God, a God who is there for those who seek Him with their whole hearts. In the film only a blind monk offers some simple but piercing observations on Christian happiness, abandonment to God’s providential care, and the tragedy of the loss of faith and meaning in the modern world.

Into Great Silence is in French, German and Latin, with subtitles. The film itself runs 162 minutes and is a breathtaking high-definition 16:9 anamorphic transfer. The second of this two-disc DVD set features behind-the-scenes footage, a night Mass and an informative guide to the Carthusion order.

It is now available for purchase from Amazon.com for about $20.

Healthy Respect is a leading not-for-profit provider of abstinence education for thousands of students in downstate New York. Healthy Respect is a program of Project Reach. … The Healthy Respect curriculum for students in grades 7 to 12 is designed to guide young people in making good moral choices regarding the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, and promotes abstinence in preparation for marriage by illustrating the power and delicacy of the human reproductive system.

It is important that all responsible citizens should know that there has been an ongoing political campaign against such programs. The Bush Administration has been encouraging and supportive of abstinence programs, but on the local level, special interest groups involved in promoting abortion and other moral offenses have tried to block them. Recently, Governor Spitzer and New York State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines announced a rejection of Federal Title V funding for abstinence-education programs while advocating “comprehensive sex-education programs.”

[CEO of Healthy Respect, and member of the Guild of Catholic Lawyers,] James Margand issued a reply saying that in denying more than $3 million to over 40 community-based organizations around New York State, the Commissioner and Governer risk being

at odds with parents, the primary educators of children in matters of human sexuality, who desire that teens receive a clear and consistent message regarding the benefits of abstinence and other healthy choices. … We urge the state to reevaluate this misguided decision because at a time when state budgets are strapped, the parents and taxpayers of New York question the unthinkable decision of rejecting $3 million of federal support for this common sense approach.

When we consider the responsible role of Christians in the political course of our nation, incidents such as this willful promotion of immoral teaching should remind us that political choices very much influence the very foundation of a culture’s moral integrity. The growing “culture of death,” which holds natural law in contempt, is a threat to all citizens. At the same time, we can be thankful for the many selfless people who are willing to dedicate their skills to explaining the facts and the consequences of neglecting them. What is at risk is more than millions of dollars. Millions of lives have been lost and many more will be lost if the dignity of life is not promoted through articulate defense of human virtue and practical common-sense voting in public elections.

See also:

• Healthy Respect
• References for the Catholic Family — An extensive listing of resources, with a section focusing on abstinence.

Traditionalists might like to know of a new web site and forum called Eiusdem Generis (”of like mind”). Although it is self-described as a “gathering place for Traditional Catholic young people on the internet,” it is open to Catholics of all ages. In addition to an active forum, the site also has a limited (but growing) collection of articles and resources to peruse. The site design is great, too! Take a look!

While I hope you’ll visit Eiusdem Generis, I should also take this opportunity to remind you of the Traditional Catholicism Forum at Catholic.com.

One of the features I really missed from the old Miserere.org site design is the random quote that would be displayed on each page.

Well, finally, after many months since recoding the site, I’ve finally restored this feature. You can see the random quote printed at the top of the home page, and you can view the entire quote database on the quotes page in the references and resources section. As of now, the database only has approximately 110 quotes, but more will follow. Feel free to recommend your own in the comments section.

Another recent addition you may have noticed is the little calendar/almanac entry in the navigation bar, to the right (under the date). This will list the major feast days throughout the year, if there are any. I will add entries for the traditional liturgical calendar soon.