Bibiana and All the Single Ladies

Saint Bibiana, who is commemorated today, a virgin martyred during the reign of Julian the Apostate, is the patroness of single laywomen, amongst her other heavenly duties (she is also invoked, for reasons I cannot discern, for hangovers, whether as a cure or as a prevention, but probably both). Single ladies could use a lot of intercession in today’s fractious world, which may be likened to a spiritual post-World War One era. Just as after 1918, the young women of Europe could not find a young-ish man, ten million of whom had been blown to bits in a senseless war, so too, here in 2019, so many young men have been spiritually shredded by the evils of our culture: pornography, radical feminism, pointlessness, lassitude, unemployment, a hyper-reaction to ‘toxic masculinity’ – now including even normal masculine proclivities – and on it goes. So men, man up, and if you feel called to marriage, for forth et carpe diem et carpe feminam. The culture of life can only be built up one person, one couple, one family at a time. And, as Saint Paul says, that time is now.

And, while on masculinity, it seems Andrew Scheer is striving to show some, albeit a little too little, too late, and to the wrong audience. It seems the knives are out, and there he was, berating his fellow conservatives who are trying to oust him, saying this is no time for naysayers and infighting, a veritable ‘how dare you’. But where was this spirit in his conversations with feminists, pro-abortionists, pro-transgenderists? Would that he had been more clear and vociferous in his principles, one which I’m sure, or at least hope, he holds, deep down. Yet now he is fighting for his political posterity and posterior, the latter of which is soon likely to be handed him on a silver platter, as the ‘Conservative’ party seeks a leader more attuned to the culture, who will march, bedecked in rainbow-ism, arm-in-arm with Trudeau in the endless ‘gay pride’ parades.

Mr. Scheer seems not to want to be an historical footnote, the man who would be, might have been, prime minister. I’m at the point now where we should probably seek a leader in someone who seeks not that role, in fact, who would disdain it, a anti-politician, one who lives by Saint Philip’s maxim amare nesciri, loving to be unknown, a Platonic hermit philosopher king, and take up the mantle only as a service to mankind (and one who would use that latter word) – a true ‘public servant’. Quixotic, perhaps, but one can, even must, dream.

The real battle, after all, is not in politics, but in culture, which we must rebuild, one brick, one life, one soul – indeed, with each and every moral decision – at a time. Take up that task, dear reader, like the courageous, principled young Bibiana, beaten and pummelled by leaden chains until death, one who disdained the anti-Christian politics of her time – and the world may change for the better than one might have thought.

Carney’s Amoral Majority

After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→

Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress

This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→

A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop

As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→

A Tale of Two Benedicts

A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→

My Name is Bernadette

April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→

Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk

As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→

The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus

As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→

Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace

Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→

Payette’s Payout

I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→