Of Flags and Dominions

Today marks the 60th anniversary of our adoption, back in 1965 under Lester B. Pearson, of a the ‘maple leaf’ as our national flag, replacing the richer symbolism of the Canadian Red Ensign. Whatever one’s aesthetic tastes, symbols mean something. The union jack, with Saint Andrew’s and Saint George’s Crosses, along with the lion rampant and the Celtic harp, signified a rich culture of robustness and strength, now diminished in the image of a leaf, a paper-thin entity blown hither and yon by capricious breezes, like the phantasmagoric lost souls described by Saint Jude: waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead.

Perhaps that’s too harsh. After all, maple also evokes the syrup, and even the noble strength of the tree from which it derives. And, the maple leaf is now ‘our’ symbol, recognized around the world. That used to be a good thing, but now, well, our reputation has suffered, not least in the last decade.

For all that, I do miss the ensign, even if I wasn’t alive when the change was made to the ‘maple leaf’…forever?

I need not elaborate that Canada is now going through an existential crisis. The whole ‘colonialism’ thing – part of the reason for rejecting a flag seen as too ‘British’, even ‘Christian’ – is now being drowned out in what Trump hath wrought. As I wrote recently on the potential disaster of a globalist, socialist Carney Prime Ministership, what holds it, and us, all together is fragile and fraught, like, say, a leaf. No amount of Timmy’s, hockey nights and syrup can sugarcoat that.

Perhaps there is still a strength there, deep down, of the older Canada, which was true, north, strong and free, the nation built by the habitants, pioneers and martyrs, carved by blood, sweat and tears out of a raw wilderness.

We are in a new kind of wilderness now, a spiritual and moral one, out of which we must rebuild a Christian civilization, or perhaps rediscover the one that was, before the Trudeaus and their ilk got to work dismantling this once-great nation.

There are many saints interceding for us, so let us rely upon them, and the God they served so well.

May that same God truly keep our country, in His dominion, which is the only path to prosperity.

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→

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→

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→

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→

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→