Up Here at Kilkenny's

Worked late tonight.   Hanging out in a quiet booth at Kilkenny's Irish Pub in Tulsa (I'm half Irish-American and half German), drinking a Bud Light and eating bangers and cheddar cheese.   Just finished an Irish Whiskey. 

Lately ponderings.  Need to review how to take Max advantage of obtaining Indulgences during All Souls-tide, if that's a word.  Scroll down to read my post about Indulgences.    I'm thinking on All Souls Day you can gain 3 (!), under the usual conditions as it were, applied to the Poor Souls only. 

Tomorrow is Halloween.   I can imagine some Catholic mothers 
worried if Trick-or-Treating is a near occasion of sin.   Well this is one of the, as I call it,  trad theological errors, if you ask me.   It's a fine line,  but you CAN do Halloween in a traditional Catholic way, imo.  

One alternative to the psychopathic horror show that is secular Halloween, is the All Saints Day Party. 

And guess what?   We Okie Trads
in the Diocese of Tulsa of Eastern Oklahoma (new name! Btw, I often refer to our Local Church that way), have TWO All Saints Day Parties coming up! 

1.  After next Sunday Mass at MPB, I hear. 

2.  A week later--on a Saturday-- at a SSPP family's house.  (email me if you'd like an invite). 

Happy All Hallows Eve, fella Okie Trads! 

Some Thoughts on Indulgences

Introduction.

After I was given a practically brand spankin' new laptop (Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series, Touchscreen) by a fellow Okie Trad reader of the blog, another reader emailed me offering two laptops.  I declined due to the recent gift but they insisted and sent me the laptops.  Now I have 3 new (to me) laptops!

"Anonymous" asks we pray for the Pour Souls in Purgatory, in light of their contribution, and that I write a blog post about Indulgences.  Cracking my knuckles, I'll see what I can do "Anoynmous."  And THANK YOU again for the two laptops.  Wow and double wow.

Indulgences.

Indulgences.  The remittance of temporal punishment due to sin, as a canonical act of mercy by either the pope or the local bishop.  i.e. To reduce Purgatory time. 

And friends, if you haven't ever read what private revelation says about purgatory, (cheapest version: HERE), you might be surprised to learn how real it really is.  The author drives home how horrible it is that you will gladly embrace regular prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to satisfy your sin debt on this side of the River Styx. 

Let's see, you've got your partial indulgence which remits punishment on par with the quality of your devotion when performing the prayer and/or other devotional act.  In fact saying one Hail Mary with complete humility and no holds barred charity for the Almighty can theoretically satisfy the debt for a lifetime of sin.

Priest Dies, Sees Hell,

Purgatory, and Heaven

A Must Watch Folks

And then you've got your plenary indulgence.  That takes care of the whole kit and caboodle. If gained, it remits all temporal punishment due to sin. It ain't as simple though as doing the necessary act.

An example of a plenary indulgence is saying a rosary in a group.  But the kicker is there are a few additional requirements the pope wants us to take care of to get the complete benefit. 

A) Go to confession/communion within 21 days before or after the required act (the previous law stated within one week but was changed in the early 2000s, thanks I think to JP2)

B) Say a prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father (one Our Father and one Hail Mary will suffice).

C) This here is the most challenging part:  "no attachment to venial sin."

That last part, I've observed, often confounds the earnest believer trying to earn the plenary indulgence. 

As an aside, I can imagine some readers being like "Wha Okie Trad?  'Earn?'  We don't 'earn' our salvation!"  To which I would respond, yes we do participate in "earning" our salvation; its not all on God as Martin Luther would have us believe. 

Incidentally, when he objected to indulgences he later admitted he had been ignorant of what the Church teaches on the subject.  Ya'll let me know in the Comm section if any factoid of my presentation is off and I can duly edit it.

                          "Solo Fides, Okie Trad"

Not to worry.  The objection I raised in the last paragraph I heard addressed by a priest once in a conference.  He said the kind of "detachment from venial sin" required to earn the plenary indulgence

is not absolute. 

We don't have to be 100% free of concupiscence, the weakness of the flesh, or sin.  It is a basic kind of detachment.

But that kind of detachment is more a product of moral disposition, or habit of the soul, over time, than mustering all the spiritual strength you can at the time of performing the indulgence act. 

For example, if you are praying a rosary with your family, and at the end offer the indulgence prayers for the pope's intentions, you don't have to grit your teeth, take a deep breath, and drive out all the evil inclinations from your mind in one fell swoop to gain the full, plenary indulgence.  You simply have to be detached from sin. 

But to assure yourself that you are, the habit of detachment from all sin could be cultivated through daily prayer, fasting, and almsgiving--the three forms of penance recommended by the Church since the beginning.

There are all sorts of ways to gain partial indulgences.  Every prayer of the rosary--the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and Creed are all indulgenced prayers.  "Ejaculatory prayers" are a common way to gain indulgences throughout the day. 

That old school term means to vocalize, even with a whisper, short simple prayers such as:

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph I give you my heart and my soul;  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph assist me in my last agony and death;" Jesus, Mary, and Joseph I breathe forth my soul and peace to you."

Here is the official list of approved indulgences:

Enchiridion  (cool name)

And rules or general conditions:

LINK

My favorite plenary indulgence is the daily family rosary.  But during the time of All Saints Day and All Souls Day you can earn several indulgences, for the Poor Souls: 

LINK

A few other interesting aspects about Indulgences.

If you have had the habit of prayer during your lifetime, get this, you can gain a plenary indulgence at the moment of death!  Or, if you are blessed to have Anointing of the Sick, confession, communion, and the "last rites" at the time of your death (remember we're all doing to die!), the priest will/should give you the Apostolic Blessing which carries with it a plenary indulgence from the pope. 

In either case, if properly received, the departed soul will go straight through the Pearly Gates.  That's a comfort for Catholics reading this whose deceased loved ones received this special grace before death.  I remember my father receiving the Apostolic Blessing before passing on.  But I still have Masses said for him.

Conclusion.

Indulgences are a marvelous aspect of the spiritual life, and in fact help give form to the spiritual life.

Just think about it.  Those requirements for indulgences are synonymous with the ordinary means of saving your soul:  prayers, fasting, almsgiving, confession, communion. 

The Saints actually teach that it is a greater act of charity and duty to pray for the dead than spiritual or corporal works of mercy to our fellow man here below.  Yup, that blows my mind too.  But gaining indulgences for them, and us, we participate more fully and intimately in the Communion of the Saints, on the level of the Church Militant (us) praying for and with the Church Suffering (souls in Purgatory).

Did I miss any important aspect of Indulgences?  Let me know in the Comm. Box below.  And thanks again to "Anonymous" for their generous gift of two laptops.  Ya'll please pray for their intentions:  for the Poor Souls in Purgatory.

PS  My next post is a compilation of interesting facts about St. Padre Pio, one of my favorite saints. 

Sunday Hot Tub

Holy Mass.

Reasor's Chicken.

Hot tub before work.

Where I think up my best blog posts.  :)

Got an Award: this Blog in the Top 100 Catholic Blogs!

According to

Feedspot

Cool!

Thanks!

New Book! By Yours Truely! History of Latin Mass Movement in Eastern Oklahoma!

Do you attend the Latin Mass in Eastern Oklahoma?

Ever wondered how the whole thing got started?

About the different Latin Mass communities?

About the Past, Present, and Future of Traditional Catholicism

in our Local Church?

Look no further.  I bring you, from my laptop to yours, a little, informal, self-published book I recently wrote.   I have not officially published it yet.  Right now, there is no charge. 

People are free to correct me on the factoids and dates I present, challenge assumptions and prognostications, or just ask questions for conversation.

At some point, I would like to get this little book printed, and distributed through every Latin Mass community in Eastern Oklahoma.

Without Further Ado, I, Joseph Ostermeir give you...

The Complete History of the Traditional Latin Mass Movement of Eastern Oklahoma

The Traditional Catholic Blogosphere as the 21st Century Version of the Catacombs

Deo gracias!  Wunderbar!  Holy moley!  Praise the Living God!  Yes!!  I recently received, from a Reader and Benefactor, "Anonymous," who happens to be a professional, Catholic gentleman and Okie trad, a practically brand-new, very nice Dell Inspiron 15, 7000, 7548 Laptop with a 15.6 inch Touchscreen, that can be used both with Microsoft and as a Chromebook.  Having spent most of the past six months typing my blog posts using my right thumb and my 3 inch smartphone, this is quite the relief.  Our little chromebook got fried, and the wallet was thin.  And my right metacarpophalangeal joint in particular is thankful!

My Metacarpophalangeal Joint

is Thankful!

And thanks again to another generous Okie trad and professional gentleman, "OkiePapist," for lending me his laptop recently!  Look up there in the upper right hand corner, and you can click
the post about it, and please pray for his Mother, for her conversion to the Catholic Faith!

Later, I'll put up a reminder to pray for the intentions of the Anonymous donor of the Dell; but as promised, I am writing a blog post about a topic of his choice.  He emailed me the other day, after I let him know the Dell came in the mail, and suggested the topic.  It is--using Trump's voice--huuuuuge!    Right up my alley, and it fits the majestic vision that came down from heaven as I was sharing a cigar October last year, with a Tulsa Trad.  The thought was to use the Blog as a Voice for Traditional Catholicism/Catholics across Oklahoma.  Here is the 2016  POST describing my grandeous dream. 

Anyonymous' Idea for a Blog Post is....drum roll please 

The Blogosphere/Internet as the

21st Century Version of the

Catacombs

And this here is the idea, fellow trads and Okies:  take the Counter-Revolution, and Traditionalist Remnant Church Online!  As a Safe, Legitimate Refuge from the Modernists that Be within the Hierarchical Structure of the Church.  This is of course already the case, to a certain degree.  We have all sorts of traditional Catholic blogs/forums/online journals,newspapers/etc.   This Online Remnant is already de facto a reality.  You will hear Michael Matt talk about it over at his Remnant online TV program,

with a setting that resembles an underground Catacomb.

Online Remnant Catholic Church

The Internet Catacombs

In Oklahoma, the online Catholic counter-revolution can be found at The Okie Traditionalist blog, The Hirsch Filess blog, The Catholic Gentleman blog, Oremus Traditional Catholic Newspaper website (out of Oklahoma City), The Catholic Manshow Radio Program (out of Tulsa, part of St. Michael's Radio, podcasts saved on websites), Mother Miriam's Daily Podcast/Radio Program, Most Precious Blood Parish FB page/website, etc.

Here is a Directory of Online Okie Trad Resources.

By now, most know that Joseph Ostermeir lays his head down every night on the East side of Oklahoma, so that might be more my focus.  Building up the Traditional Catholic Remnant across the Tulsa Diocese

In Oklahoma, we already have an Online, Remnant Catholic Church, De Facto Network of Traditional Catholics.  My hope is to help facilitate and encourage our Online Okie Local Church.

Outside of Oklahoma, the Online Catholic Underground Church is seen with Michael Voris and the CMTV, Catholic Answers, The Remnant website, Fr. Z's blog, Rorate Coeli blog, New Liturgical Movement blog, Eponymous Flower blog, Vox Cantoris blog, all sorts of great blogs by Trad Priests (Fr. Kirby's Vultus Christi is a great example.).  The main tradition-minded Catholic newspapers and journals are part of the Traditional Catholic Blogosphere/Online Remnant:  The Remnant, Catholic Family News, Angelus Press, Wanderer--each with their own Conferences which now can be viewed from home via paid Streaming, and EWTN TV/Radio/website.   

A Canonical Underground Church on the Internet:  3 Reasons Why We Can/Must

1.  Canon 212 says that Lay Catholics have the right to make known their opinions and concerns to the Pastors.  But is it not true, that too often our letters to the Chancery or an office in the Vatican go unanswered?  What other means is more effective and long-reaching besides the Online Blogosphere Catacombs  "to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion of matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faifhful?"

2.  Catholics also have canonical rights to establish Catholic entities without the approval of the local ordinary, to share matters pertaining to the Catholic Faith:  blogs, websites, forums, online journals, etc.   These are basically "private associations of the faithful" which share information publicly online.  It is grassroots and word-of-mouth, and in my opinion when you have a Catholic Blogosphere, constantly sharing knowledge and wisdom via Social Media, that is a (using Trump's voice again) huuuuugggeee  Force to be Reckoned With.  

3. The Catholic Church, even the official structures of each Diocese, are going more and more online. It is just a matter of time before so much of our daily life is integrated with a Virtual Reality via the internet, smartphones, laptops, and VR goggles.  The time is ripe to build up an Online Remnant for Traditional Catholics!  As we are witnessing today.

Imagine if God-forbid, your bishop or even the pope himself, should suppress the traditional Mass.  He has the authority to suspend or transfer priests, shut down parishes/convents, or remove traditionalist priestly societies from his diocese.  But he DOES NOT have the authority to dissolve coalitions of traditional Catholics in the flesh or online.   The Online Catacomb Catholics can come together and organize for traditional Catholic Action.

Imagine you learn your progressive or modernist Bishop is about to shut down a Traditional Latin Mass community.  Whispers in the parking lot (to borrow a phrase from Laramie Hirsch), or letters to the chancery just aren't cutting the mustard.  But with the Power of the Blog, and social media, lay Catholics can respectfully organize and voice their concern.  And these kind of stories go viral.

Imagine you want to start up a TLM, but are having a hard tim finding locals interested, or the support of the Local Bishop and/or his Presbyteral Council.  Look no further.  Turn on your electronic device, make sure you have a Wifi connection, in a few keystrokes, and use of a few simple online tools, they Project is underway. 

Think how you can help build up an Online Blogosphere Traditional Catholic Remnant in your own Diocese.  To help build up Tradition!  To help defend it!  One of the beauties of canon law combined with the Internet, is that traditionalist Catholics can in fact legitimately organize a Traditional Movement across their Diocese.

A few tips:  focus criticisms on words and actions, rather than personal attacks of a bishop or priest;  network with other blogs, websites, forums, etc;  highlight the good, true, and beautiful in your diocese, and at the same time respectfully express concern what seems to be bad, false, and ugly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5  Ideas for the Diocese of Tulsa, Online Traditional Catholic Blogosphere/Catacombs (A Model for other Local Churches):

1.  Bloggers and website owners network via email and Facebook, and have meetups to strategize.

2.  Make known this network.  The Okie Traditionalist Blog and OkieTradCats Forum can be a Hub for the network.

3. Have an outreach to Bishop Konderla and the Powers-that-Be on his Presbyteral Council:  make known to them our Network, our concerns and cares, and ask for assistance.  Offer assistance.

4. Informally network with Bishop Emeritus Slattery (he still has an office at the chancery) and tradition-minded priests (who are or may be interested in the TLM).   Use Fr. Z's Tridentine Latin Mass Society of Madison as a model, how to spread the TLM throughout the Diocese.  To help preserve and increase +Slattery's Works of Traditional Restoration!  And to defend them from being removed.

5.  Have conferences, social events, and informal meetups of traditional Catholics of Eastern Oklahoma from Clear Creek, Sts. Peter and Paul, Most Precious Blood, the former SSPX-Tulsa members, etc.

Peanut: My Backpacking Buddy

It was almost exactly two years ago to the day, that I took with me my backpacking buddy, on a backpacking trip on a loop trail by Greenleaf Lake State Park, southeast of Muskogee. Greencountry, as we call Northeastern Oklahoma.  About an hour or so southeast Tulsa.  "Backpacking buddy" is one of the nickname's I give for my "Man's-Best-Friend" named Peanut, a five-year old, black female Dauchshund, who, true to her breed, loves to tunnel under blankets and chew anything that is chewable.  On our outdoor adventure, she loved  carrying the little fanny pack wrapped around her back contained her dog food and water.  It being Fall again, she and I are beginning to train for that same trip, walking around the neighborhood.

Greenleaf Lake, Oklahoma

Backpacking Trail Loop

Recently, I received a thankful email from a Reader of the blog, named Sarah, a Student Doctor of Veterinary Science from California, who said she and her cousins are regular Readers of the Blog!  What-up from Oklahoma!  She wanted to recommend to other readers and dog lovers a website where, if you have a dog, you can look up photos and info about your dog's breed.  Thanks Dr. Sarah!

Cute Puppies Now

I felt horrible back in late April when I took Peanut with me to a doctor's appointment.  I kind of realized at the last minute I had forgot about the appointment (I'm thinking I wasn't too fond of the particular doctor).  Before going into the doctor's building, I had rolled down all the windows enough to let in air, as well as the sunroof, and it being I think in the 70 degrees F, I figured we were okay.  That is until some sort of animal rescue police officer came into the exam room to lecture me about leaving my dog out in the "heat."  For the next hour or so, the argument whether-or-not he was right ping-ponged back and forth in my mind.  I mean, it was still April, nice temps, windows rolled down enough, she had water.  But, in the end, my conscience yielded, and I decided I would not leave her in the car unless the temps were below 70 F.

Maybe Dr. Sarah has some recommendations about this...

And so I am waiting.  Waiting for Fall to keep coming out and showing us he is here.  So that Peanut cannot only be my Backpacking Buddy, but also my Run-Around-Town Buddy.   In the backseat, I have ready a bed, with blanket, food, water, leash, and toys.  So hopefully in a couple weeks or so, she will be running around all over town with me, with her head poked out the window (rolled up enough to be safe!), and her tongue wagging in the wind.

I love that little dog, Peanut. 

Have a great Fall Weekend, Ya'll!!

Saturday Morning Diner Steak 'n Eggs

2 eggs sunny-side up, tomatoes, a sirloin steak medium well, and a diet Coke.

Sitting in a booth at an old-fashioned diner here in T-town
overlooking downtown.

Nice, cool Fall weekend.  Today
swimming, blogging at Panera, wash car, give virtual reality goggles to my nephews, review
political writings prepping for
Coulombe podcast, confession/holy hour, grill chicken, watch The Hobbit.