From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
The most recent podcast with Ann Barnhardt was on the topic of prepping — HERE — and since the Church in the US might be needing to go underground sooner than we think one of the things we’ll need is supplies on hand so that underground priests can travel light and not carry full kit with them everywhere they go.
What are the minimum essentials to have a Mass if it’s an underground situation? Can a hand-missal be used if all of the Latin is there? Can a votive Mass be said on any day if there’s not access to a proper Missal (eg: print and laminate all the prayers for a full votive Mass to have on hand with wine and unconsecrated hosts)? What’s the best preparation we can make now to support underground priests (to the best we can make predictions about the future)?
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
Firstly, I answer those few questions. Then I will add some other comments.
Yes, a hand missal can be used. In a pinch, such as we are talking about here, a hand-held device, screen-device, could be used. Say you have one in “Farraday” cage or bag against the day when the coronal mass ejection hits and triggers a Carrington event, or an EMP from a foreign power. Have your sacred books as PDFs (they are available) loaded. Have physical books if possible. Remember: if you are networked, more people can share the expense of getting concrete sacred books. Not every group will need a Pontificale Romanum (for bishops), but the Missale Romanum and Rituale Romanum are indispensable.
Yes, in the situation you describe, when prepper conditions are engaged, sure. Why not? It would be great to have the Mass propers for, say, St. John Eudes. However, if what you have is a set of cards with a couple of Votive Masses, such as of the Blessed Virgin or of the Holy Spirit, sure! Use a Votive Mass! And say you want a Mass of the Virgin, but you only have an old set of BLACK vestments. In those conditions… who cares? Use the black when “saying the black”. Have only green but it is Christmas? Use green! And laminating is a good idea. Hard lamination.
Definitely have wine squirreled away. That might be the toughest aspect of all of this. As a matter of fact, there is a way to make wine from raisins that would be valid matter for Holy Mass. So, not only wine, but raisins and the know how to do it. Flour and water and heat can make a valid host for Mass. They don’t have to be pretty. However, there are available for sale host irons. US HERE – UK HERE You would not need a high watt machine, since your power could be limited anyway.
What support?
- Firstly, a place to stay that is safe where he can let his guard down and really sleep for a change.
- Enough supplies to get to his next destination.
- Antibiotics and vitamins, first aid stuff.
- A working “ham radio” station (power, transceiver, antennas(s)).
- Perhaps stock up on stuff that someone who is itinerant might need: changes of boots, clothes, etc. Send him on his way refreshed.
- Ammo: self-defense and also small game (which will be “money” if things get bad enough)
- Olive oil. You might ask priests to give you their old oils (SC, OC, OI) at the end of a year and then freeze them or store them in a dark cool place. Or ask a friendly priest to request extra oils and then do the same.
In the past I have written about
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Unfortunately, the day when TSHTF may not be as far off as imagined. I think there is a high chance of civil unrest when the President is re-elected. I’m speaking of violence one or two orders of magnitude greater than 2016, when the feminazis and soyboys put on their pink knitted cat-shaped hats and screamed in the streets.
If God chastises us with a ‘Biden’ presidency, then all bets are off. He’ll be in office less than a year, and then bravely, tearfully announce he’s making the ultimate patriotic decision by resigning for ‘health reasons.’ He’s suffering from episodic dementia; my grandmother had it and he’s showing all the classic signs. THEN we get President Kamala Harris and her choice of an unelected VP, most likely a Squad member or Georgia’s Stacey Abrams. Then AntiFa & the Marxist core BLM Movement will have their dreams come true, as law enforcement has a habit of following lawful, if unjust orders.
At that point, brush up on where Viva Cristo Rey!!! comes from.
Emergency preparedness is always a great idea, whether for the commonly occurring natural disasters, civil unrest — or the rare but very plausible scenario of a mass corona ejection or offensive EMP that takes down the power grid and fries our electronic gadgets.
But it’s highly unlikely that a Biden administration will drive the Church, or a faithful portion of it, underground. A Biden win, bad as it would be, will not the The End of America as We Know It. After all, we survived 8 years of the most openly leftist President in history, Barack Obama. A need for American Cristeros is not imminent. And there would still be attacks on the Church, even if Trump wins re-election.
I agree with what the Astronomer posted above. Biden might not even last more than a few days after his swearing in. The thing is we won’t know who the real president is, I don’t think it will be Harris as she is no capable of running a convenience store yet alone the country. Of course with mail in voting, unless it is a Trump landslide we won’t know who the president is until “all the votes are counted” i.e. the Democrats have manufactured enough ballots to get Biden across the finish line. In the meantime Nancy Pelosi as acting chief executive? It could be a mess.
As far as the Church and priests are concerned, I think sooner or later we will see preaching about abortion and same sex marriage as a “hate crime” and that will be how they will shut us down and God priests will be in danger.
The host iron on the US Amazon site shows a european electrical plug. Before ordering folks should probably double-check with the seller to make sure it will ordered with a US compatible plug.
Playing along with the unlikely (and cynical) scenario (Biden resigning) for a moment…
They would avoid so short a term if at all possible. If I recall Social Studies correctly, they would have Biden serve at least two years – any less, and Harris could only run once at the top of the ticket.
After seeing how almost all of our priests / bishops caved almost immediately to the demands of the governors and mayors a few months ago, I wonder how many underground priest will actually exist?
Charivari Rob, I don’t think it is cynical to expect Biden to have a short term considering how he has performed during the campaign, the evasiveness about holding debates, his being hidden away with only brief carefully staged appearances in public. As for concern about Harris only having 1 term, I doubt the party really considers her the heir apparent given her poor showing in the primaries.
Josephus Corvus, I think there are more solid priests out there than you think. Of course all priests have to obey the directions of their ordinary and especially traditional priests are actually more likely to be obedient to a lawful order. If SHTF then that will be a different story.
@JonPatrick: Short of impeachment or a 25th Amendment disability removal, Joe Biden, if elected, cannot simply be forced out. If health issues do not obviously intrude, of course he will serve out his full term if elected, and run for re-election.
It does seem likely that Biden will be influenced to the woke Left of his party. That is already on full display. But, the danger to the Church and religion in general is more likely to be incremental than catastrophic. Going too far in kowtowing to the Left is a good way for the Democrats to be shellacked in the 2022 Congressional elections, as they were in 2010 under Obama. Democrats still like to win elections, which is why Biden and not Bernie Sanders is their nominee.
” Going too far in kowtowing to the Left is a good way for the Democrats to be shellacked in the 2022 Congressional elections, as they were in 2010 under Obama.”
Not if they get the presidency, retain the House and pick up a few more seats in the Senate. If this happens they will completely change the way elections are conducted, make full use of executive orders to undo everything that has been gained by Trump and legislate everything they can with Biden rubber stamping everything that crosses his desk.. I believe with my whole heart that if the left wins this election, then elections will be no more.
@NOCatholic – At a time where Democrats are bailing out rioters and looters from jail, where they’ve defended 100+ days of Portland burning, where they are pushing do defund the police across the country, where they bend over backwards to please the CCP, where they openly call for violence to be done against anyone who opposes them, and where they managed in 8 years under Obama to go from tacit approval of homosexual relationships to transgender bathrooms in schools and fought tooth and nail to force nuns to pay for contraception and bakers to make gay and transgender celebrating cakes . . . at this time you’re arguing that really the Democrats are still actually very reasonable and can be trusted to move back to the center? Pointing to them picking Biden, who portrays a false “centrist” image, while building a radical leftist platform that Bernie himself is proud of does NOT help your argument.
If anyone thinks Biden makes it out of the 1st year of his term, I’ll take that bet (although I sincerely hope he doesn’t get any term at all). The Dems will suddenly realize he has had a “severe cognitive decline” – a complete shock, shock I say – and can no longer serve as President. And at this point, if they win the presidential election (legitimately or otherwise), they’ll likely get control of the Senate.
One of the biggest problems in recent American politics is that one side, the Left, pushes as HARD as they can to move the ball down the field every chance they get. The other side, whenever they get the ball, tries as hard as they can to not rock the boat or make any big movements. If anyone thinks the Left will not use Biden/Harris and complete control of the legislature to finish America’s descent into a Communist country . . . then Heaven help you. I’ll side with Bishop Strickland’s judgment.
@Bob: “I believe with my whole heart that if the left wins this election, then elections will be no more.”
The Democratic Party and the Left, while overlapping to a large degree, are not identical. And getting rid of elections means changing the Constitution, or else a complte governmental overthrow. Neither is likely.
@WVC: “… at this time you’re arguing that really the Democrats are still actually very reasonable and can be trusted to move back to the center?”
My friend, what an active imagination you have! At no point did I say the Democrats would be “reasonable”! I said they like to win elections, and going too far Left is a good way to lose elections. Not at all the same thing.
“If anyone thinks Biden makes it out of the 1st year of his term, I’ll take that bet (although I sincerely hope he doesn’t get any term at all)”
I would take that bet, but I don’t want to take your money (and besides, I don’t want Biden to have a term either).
“If anyone thinks the Left will not use Biden/Harris and complete control of the legislature to finish America’s descent into a Communist country . . . then Heaven help you. I’ll side with Bishop Strickland’s judgment.”
I doubt that Bishop Strickland would agree with you. And there is a lot of room between where the Left in this country wants to go, and Soviet or Maoist style Communism. There is also a lot of resistance to going there. That resistance is a large part of what got Donald Trump elected in the first place.
But if we really are a single wrongly-decided election away from a Communist dictatorship in this country, then we are already lost. In our two-party system, there is no way to keep either major party out of power for any period of time. Prayer, not any one election, will save this country.
@NOCatholic – Oh, I get it now. You’re for the Left’s Communism-lite. Something that’s not too Maoist or Stalinist. And the current violence in the streets along with the absurd legal persecution of anyone trying to oppose the violent mobs is what convinces you the Left isn’t really trying to push for “mean” Communism, just “nice” Communism. Or maybe it’s the Obama Administrations abuse of FISA warrants to spy on citizens that fills you with this confidence?
However, you almost get the picture. We actually are lost. Our country kills millions of babies a year, praises every form of sexual deviance, has made blasphemy an American past time, and believes Sunday was the day God set aside for watching or playing organized sports. From no-fault divorce to serial polygamy, from wanton materialism to sickening hedonism, from illegal destabilization of foreign, duly elected governments to the abuse of our own legal system to persecute our own innocent citizens – there’s way more mess than any President, even (or especially) Donald Trump can fix. There is, however, definitely a way that the wrong President can make things even worse. You clearly haven’t made a frank and honest assessment of how much evil Obama was able to accomplish in 8 years.
I don’t support Trump because he can fix the problems. I just want 4 more years of breathing room. I would’ve thought that was obvious. Just as last time Trump’s greatest qualities were that he wasn’t Clinton and he wasn’t Jeb Bush, this time his greatest qualities are that he’s not Joe Biden or Kamala Harris. I’m confused that anyone would think that more was required. If forced to swim with either a turtle or a shark, I’ll pick the turtle if for no other reason than he’s not a shark. Sort of obvious, I would think.
For the record, I maintain that Trump is also better than the corpse of Millard Filmore. Especially since the Woke Mob has cancelled him. Poor Millard.
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