Dark Forces in the Heavens
Volume XXVII, Number 2
January 11, 2023
Hello friends. I forgot to welcome you to the twenty-seventh year of my Catholic email message—the great granddaddy of them all!
Thank you for your enthusiastic responses to my last message.
And yes, that cute little fuzzball was an American badger. A beautiful and extremely dangerous little creature—and apparently, no natural predator can overtake it.
I like that. I like that a lot. In case you missed it, here's my last message:
SEE BUD'S BADGER
Here's a quick outline of what I have for you today:
Dark Forces in the Heavens
Two weeks in, the mountains are behind us, the roads are desolate and flat, and the rain continues to pound us.
At times, particularly in one small town with an enormous prison, we palpably sensed the dark forces circling over our nation.
It reminded us we're toast without the divine protection of powerful angels.
O Mary, Queen of Angels, keep us hidden!
Saint Joseph, Terror of Demons, guide us!
Operation True Cross Angel, protect us!
Guardian Angel of the United States, govern us!
Yesterday Peter and I finally crossed the southern outskirts of Bakersfield, California—roughly 270 miles from where we began at Our Lady of Peace in Santa Clara—and one-tenth of the way to Notre Dame, Indiana.
Astonishingly, the swelling in Peter's achilles subsided quickly (no doubt due to your prayers), and he is walking again—but he is not fully healed. Now his other achilles is starting to act up. He spends his free time icing and keeping it elevated.
Every morning, we evaluate if, and for how long, he can walk. He's out walking right now in the pouring rain.
He prays and prays, carrying not only the fragment of the True Cross, but also (as do I), your intentions on a little flash drive in his wallet.
I sometimes read parts of your encouraging emails to him. When I finish walking, we pray the Daily Prayers to Save America in the van out loud while I ice down my knee before this little crucifix, Purple Scapular, and Mantle of Mary image.
We are turning east now and heading into hundreds of miles of desert (right smack between the Mojave and Joshua Tree National Park, if you want to look it up) on our way to the next big city (Tucson, Arizona).
The real grind begins.
Peter took this picture of me yesterday. If I looked bone-tired, it's because I am, despite eating well and getting plenty of sleep.
I have often described the other Cyrenes for you in colorful terms. I am a novelist, after all. Wondering what I looked like, I asked Peter for his impression when he sees me walking.
"You're like a Jeremiah Johnson or Grizzly Adams—completely comfortable and at ease in your environment, no matter what's going on around you."
Harrumph. I'll take it—and I'll keep growing my beard.
By This Sign You Shall Conquer
I often repeat a line that one of the guys came up with during the Wisconsin beam, "Every day is different. Every day is the same."
After waking, we pray the Angelus.
Then we proclaim in Latin the words received by the pagan Emperor Constantine in a vision God gave him of the Holy Cross—which he had his troops paint on their shields before his underdog victory against his rival:
"In hoc signo vinces!"
English translation? By this sign you shall conquer!
I encourage you to commit the Latin or English version to memory so you can proclaim it with us when you wake up or go to sleep.
Constantine converted, legalized Christianity, and his mother, Saint Helen, went to the Holy Land to find the True Cross.
During our pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2018, I took the fragment we're carrying of that same cross to the very spot where Saint Helen found it. There it is in the little crucifix reliquary, next to the flash drive with your intentions:
We then offer the most consoling Morning Prayer ever composed, which you and I will pray (along with thousands) at the end of this section.
I discovered the Unfathomable Plans Prayer in an ancient, out-of-print missal and memorized it a few minutes before I left the seminary in 1985.
That was one of the worst and best days of my life. I was completely unaware that years later, through the Mary Foundation, millions would pray it on our Rosary recording and via our Powerful Prayers booklet.
Please join me in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
I only know that nothing will happen
that was not foreseen by You
and directed to my greater good from all eternity.
I adore Your holy and unfathomable plans,
and submit to them with all my heart
for love of you, the pope,
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Amen.
Golden State Heartache
My heart breaks for California. There are so many good people here. It is achingly beautiful. I am old enough to remember first-hand what a wonderful state it was in the 1980s.
Two of my nine sisters live here. I have a son, his lovely wife, and two granddaughters here. Three of my sons attended Thomas Aquinas College here. Marianne Collins, who wrote the life-changing autobiography, Woman, grew up near Santa Clara and lived in Fresno.
I have been to California dozens of times, and have witnessed it deteriorate into an uneasy lawlessness as it exports diabolical ideology, porn, vile propaganda, and political corruption around the globe.
Oasis of GracePeter and I attended the Mass of the Epiphany (in Spanish) at the nearby, centuries-old Franciscan mission church, San Clemente. I felt so comfortable with my Hispanic brothers and sisters in that packed church.
So many fathers were there. Working men. Devoted wives and mothers. Entire families. But the number of their children has been shrinking. Years ago, there were five or six children per family. Now, it's two and sometimes three.
Little signs of the breakdown of civilization are manifold and manifest as I slowly pass through this enormous state and gaze upon it with the "eyes of my heart," as Saint Paul describes spiritual vision.
God's wrath is coming. As the Scripture assures us, "the rain falls upon the just and unjust man alike." It falls upon me. I would like to think I am a just man, but Proverbs teaches that this means I fall seven times a day. More like seven times seventy.
Words cannot express how deeply I long for God's divine intervention for the sake of the good people in California.
Did Our Lady Just Urge Us to Keep Walking?Last night, Peter read to me a striking message from Our Lady given to the mystic Luz de Maria, dated January 9th, 2023.
He got it from Mark Mallet's website, which publicizes contemporary messages from various Catholic mystics.
I stopped following these things closely because my father, perhaps the world's greatest expert on Marian Apparitions, showed me what was coming decades ago. Our Lady has called me to take action.
If authentic, Our Lady conveyed loving warnings about grave division inside the Church while assuring that "the true doctrine shall prevail."
She speaks of unbelievers marching into war. The horror of nuclear weapons, great volcanos erupting, the "soil trembling" beneath San Francisco, "spiritual corpses without faith," and other disturbing things.
Our Lady then asks us to fear not and pray without ceasing.
Her message ends with these words: "Be steadfast, children, without wavering continue to walk."
There was no prior reference to walking in her long message. There was no context. It simply ended with a five-word command, "without wavering continue to walk."
Was the Mother of God, just yesterday, specifically encouraging all of us who are participating in Operation True Cross?
Either way, keep praying the Daily Prayers to Save America, offering self-denials for the sake of those who cannot or will not do so for themselves, and giving alms to the point of sacrifice.
Best. Rosary. Book. Ever.
Last year I met and became friends with Keith Nester, a former Protestant minister and the founder of a growing daily Rosary livestream.
Keith is a powerful preacher—another Scott Hahn, but more explosive and enthusiastic, if that was possible.
Along with my son Xavier, last summer I spent several days editing his brand-new book, Unpacking the Mysteries of the Rosary.
It's not a long theological book, but a concise, practical guide. In a nutshell, any reader can learn how to meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary, including the profound, traditional "Spiritual Fruits" of each Mystery.
Keith's insights sometimes brought me to tears. I was honored to write the Foreword.
There are literally hundreds of good books on the Rosary. This is the one I recommend above all the others. This is the best one. If you already love the Rosary, read it. If you don't "get" the Rosary, read it.
And it's only thirteen bucks.
Nowadays, Keith and his lovely wife Estelle travel the country giving missions and retreats. If you want to invite them to set your parish on fire, let them know Bud sent you:
SCHEDULE KEITH FOR YOUR PARISH
How to Pray BetterOver two decades ago, I wrote a "How To" essay about establishing a daily, contemplative prayer life. A reader sent me the link, testifying to how much it helped him:
I had forgotten about it. It holds up well, primarily because it restates the teachings of the Church and the saints with my punchy, practical, "I stink at this too" approach.
Catholic Quotations
"Let nothing bother you. Let nothing disturb you. God alone suffices."
- Saint Teresa of Avila
"Anything worth doing is worthy doing badly."
- G.K. Chesterton
"Any day you go to Mass is a good day."
- Patricia Macfarlane (my mom)
"Stopped into a church I passed along the way. Well, I got down on my knees, and I pretend to pray. You know the preacher liked the cold—he knows I'm gonna stay. California dreamin' on such a winter's day."
- The Mamas & the Papas (1965)
"The most profound truths are simple. Simple truths are difficult to grasp."
- Father Edward O'Connor CSC (my mentor at Notre Dame)
"Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened to you."
- Jesus Christ
"If you continue putting off seeking sanctity until some vague future date, you will remain as you are until your last day: mediocre. As the song goes, someday never comes. Today is yesterday's someday. On this very day, at this very moment, fall on your knees, open your heart of stone, and beg God for the grace to take the narrow path. Then, take it. Pick up your cross and follow Him. Make today your someday."
- Joseph Wood
Thanks for being a part of it all.
You guys are the best.
Meet me in the Eucharist.
Help me carry the cross.
With Our Lady of Sorrows,
Bud Macfarlane
Founder
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