What to do when "The Enemy is at large..."

Maybe due to the recent trio of feasts - St. Monica, St. Augustine, and the Passion of St. John Baptist - I was thinking about the Battle... you know, the one GKC warned about in his very last words: "It is between light and darkness and every one must choose his side." [Ward, Gilbert Keith Chesterton 650]

And so I thought I ought to post this so you will know what goes on when bad things happen in the Saga. (I hope you catch the Augustinian reference, hee hee) I think it wise for us to keep for reference when bad things happen in our cosmos, since it's really the same cosmos, you know, and as Bernie remarks, "We have allies who are more than a match for our adversaries."

Hence, we must be ready to go into action ourselves, since we also are Warriors. Huh? You say you are waiting for an invitation to join the College? Don't be absurd - you are already belong. (At least as a trainee; I dare not say any more here.) Like Uncle and Auntie, you are a Field Agent, and have the same tools as your disposal as they do. So get busy!

In St. Michael’s Orphanage, Father Bondost gathered the boys and had them pray in the chapel while he made some phone calls. First he called the monastery in Altiora and talked to the diocesan exorcist. Then he called his old friend C. B. Cardinal Tallisen in New York... and from these two points, ripples propagated over both very ancient and very modern networks of communication: The Enemy is at large, the Warriors are mustered.

And so, in certain far-flung places, behind high and thick and near-impenetrable walls, a tiny host of Amazons were marshalled and went into action. Few they were in number, many were no longer young, and most were weak physically, yet they were mighty in spirit and especially in prayer: like their foundress, they had chosen the better part, no less able to confront their Enemy for their seclusion than any others... indeed, perhaps more able, since they were far more single-minded in their discipline, and far less distracted than those who lived beyond their walls.

And in a tiny chapel in New York, a group of men gathered while the eldest among them put on the garb of an ancient Roman, including the stole of authority and the maniple of a servant. Then, now clad in what he called his “Altar-ego,” the Pontifex offered the One Sacrifice...

[PJF Ite Milites Audaces]

Today: Sunday, August 25, 2013

Yes, the calendar of the Real World has caught up to the Saga... and we now embark on the same journey as our young friends from Quayment...

But finally, the day of transition came. Sunday, August 25, Bernie and Marty went to Mass at St. Ambrose’s up at the top of the north hill. They went with their parents for brunch at Shelly’s. After that, they loaded their gear into the old station wagon Bernie had gotten earlier that summer, and they set off on their four-hour drive north, into Pennsylvania, to the little mountainous town called Stirling, the home of Howell College.

 

                They parked behind the dorm and carted their things up to their room. They peered around the place curiously. It was a suite for three: a large central workroom with three desks, three chairs, and three comfy chairs by the windows. Open doors led to two smaller bedrooms with doorless clothes closets and chests of drawers: one room, slightly larger, had bunks, the other had a single bed. Obviously, the third person had not yet arrived.

                “I don’t see why we shouldn’t take the bunks,” Marty said. “I’d like the top, if you don’t mind.”

                “Sure, that’s fine. I wonder what our roommate will be like.”

                “We’ll find out soon enough, I guess. But let’s get moved in, then we can go get some dinner.”

                “Right.”

                “And the first thing after that is to check out the chapel. Remember what Dr. Grosjean told us?”

                “Oh yeah... It’s open round the clock... the founder wrote it into the college charter that the students were always to have access to the best possible means of assistance...”

                “Exactly. I guess it’s not Catholic, but they have Mass there, and it will be a good quiet place. We’ll need it.”

                “Oh yeah.”

[PJF Three Things Which Go Well]

New: Introduction to Heraldry For Chestertonians!

Due to overwhelming demand at the presentation on Heraldry at the just-concluded 2013 ACS conference, I am pleased to announce, as promised, a short introduction to Heraldry.

Visit http://www.debellisstellarum.com/heraldry/overview.htm

Please inform me if you wish any augmentation or further details. At some point I will try to devise a glossary, but not just now.  And be sure to check out the various coats of arms for the Saga, which are elswhere on that site...