Victoria Day 2-4, Ales and Dominions
A happy Victoria Day to all our readers! Some have dubbed this ‘May 2-4’, I suppose since it often falls somewhat close to the 24th of May – the birthday of Queen Victoria. Hence, by royal decree, this day is always the Monday prior to the 25th of May, which is sometimes the Queen’s birthday. She is, of course, Britain’s second longest reigning monarch, having become queen a month after her 18th birthday, upon the death of her uncle, William IV, and reigned until her death on January 22nd, 1901, at the age of 81, having governed England well and truly for 63 years, seven months and two days. Queen Elizabeth II is currently in the 68th year of her own reign (!). Ad multos annos, and I can only add as an Irishman, may she accept the fullness of the Faith before she sees the fullness of her years.
But this day also has the connotation of the classic 24-case of Canadian beer – or, alas, the American stuff that strives to mimic this ancient and noble beverage. Of course, mass produced ale or lager – the former more classic beer than the latter, for it was what the 
monks made and drank, and still do – will never touch the real craft varieties, especially those still made in monasteries, ad maiorem Dei gloriam, tinged with the divine charity and devotion of those consecrated to God’s service. You can always tell a true Trappist ale since it has the little logo on the bottle – and, when you purchase one and imbibe, you do double duty: Not only do you partake in the finest beverages out there, but for part of the proceeds go towards the work and upkeep of those same monks. So drinking a beer is even more of a prayer than it already might be.
But back to Victoria Day: This weekend reminds us that Canada is not a republic, nor even technically a completely independent ‘country’, but rather a Dominion, a constitutional monarchy under the King or Queen of the British Isles and its dominions (currently, Elizabeth the Second), who delegates his or her authority to the Governor-General (Ms. Julie Payette holding that title at present), who in turn by writ permits the democratically-elected Prime Minister (alas, Justin Trudeau, insofar as he has it within him to even run a ‘democracy’) to govern in the monarch’s name. I wonder whether in this last election the writ should have been dropped, preferably down a deep, dark hole. But we likely get the leaders we deserve, and must endure, like the Israelites of old under their own unjust potentates.
Still, I for one am with Chesterton, hoping for some Arthurian Catholic King of England to assume the throne, and kick some constitutional sense into the moral flabbiness and entropy of this once-strong nation. But that may have to come from the ground-up, so to speak, from all those noble and humble souls – that is, all you readers – who work and toil in the trenches, striving in so many ways to build a culture of life, and who will not give up, even though the enemy streams over the gates, onto the beaches and into the streets. For God wills what the Duke of Wellington exhorted in another context of uncertain outcome: that each one of us be found doing our duty, but for God first – king and country, second.
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→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]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→
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→
Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000 1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→
Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass
Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’… ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→