“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”
Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.
“But it is,” returned she; “for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.”
Mr. Bennet made no answer.
“Do you not want to know who has taken it?” cried his wife impatiently.
“You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.”
This was invitation enough.
“Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.”
–from Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
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Blessed feast of St. Michael the Archangel to you, dear reader. He surely is our protector and the protector of the Church, but this glorious victor over satan also shows us precisely how to battle the evil we face. And that is with humility. His cry should be ours: Quis ut Deus? Who is like God?
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All that in mind, I wanted to post a little legal sidebar about Michaelmas. Austen fans know (see above) that good old Bingley takes possession of Netherfield Park in Hertfordshire today, thus setting in motion all the machinations of Mrs. Bennet in her quest to marry off her daughters to gentlemen of good fortune. But Michaelmas is not a merely coincidental day to name for him to close the deal on his leasehold.
Michaelmas was an important day in the legal year in the English common law tradition, the common law being one of the best things the English ever gave us. It is one of the “Quarter Days” of the legal year, on which days rents were usually paid and real estate entered upon or quitted. They are as follows: Lady Day (March 25, the feast of the Annunciation), Midsummer Day (June 24, the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist), Michaelmas (September 29) and Christmas Day (December 25).
There was some local variation in the days themselves, but generally speaking, these four days marked the way along the four legal terms of the year. In the same order as given above, those terms are the Easter term, Trinity term, Michaelmas term and Hilary term (each owing to the proximity of the stated feast day within it). Like the liturgical calendar, and obviously influenced by it, it marked the way along the seasons of the legal year and each of the years that followed, in grand cycle.
There are still vestiges of the importance of Michaelmas today, even in the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court, for instance, begins its legal term on the first Monday of October, which would mark the beginning of the Michaelmas term. They end their term at the end of June, corresponding to the end of the Easter term and heralding Midsummer Day and the Trinity Term. All of the Court’s decisions must be handed down by the end of June.
For you lawyers and judges out there, the annual Red Mass for Catholics in the legal profession is said on a date close to Michaelmas and the start of the Michaelmas term.
This little trip down legal and literary memory lane serves to remind us of a country with Catholic instincts and the beauty and harmony of God’s plan in matters spiritual and temporal. If I may pray your patience a little longer, let us return to Mr. Bingley to give one more example of this.
In the middle ages, the ordinary way that good title to land would be given (or, if you will, a transfer of seisin of real property in fee simple absolute), would be by an act called “feoffment with delivery of seisin”. What is that, you ask?
The person transferring his real property would meet on the land itself with the person to whom he is transferring it and, in the presence of witnesses, would grab a clod of dirt or a twig and literally hand it to the new owner. In this way, full right of possession, use and ownership was made publicly manifest.
If you think that seems weird, I respond that, like the quarter days, it shows the influence of the Catholic Church and brings clarity and harmony. Is it not like a sacrament? Tangible things in nature are used as signs of the transfer of the land, and then also bring about the thing they signify. I think that’s beautiful. The history of English common law, particularly the law of real property, is wonderfully poetic to me. OK, I’m a nerd. But still.
At the end of Pride and Prejudice, after Bingley marries Jane, Austen writes about how Bingley finally chose his estate and became a landowner (recall Netherfield was a leasehold). When I read it, I like to think of Bingley walking on his new land and receiving his clod of dirt.
“That meaning of the sacred dogmas is ever to be maintained which has once been declared by holy mother Church, and there must never be any abandonment of this sense under the pretext or in the name of a more profound understanding. May understanding, knowledge and wisdom increase as ages and centuries roll along, and greatly and vigorously flourish, in each and all, in the individual and the whole Church: but this only in its own proper kind, that is to say, in the same doctrine, the same sense, and the same understanding.” Cf. Dei Filius, cap. 4, can. 3 “If anyone says that it is possible that at some time, given the advancement of knowledge, a sense may be assigned to the dogmas propounded by the Church which is different from that which the Church has understood and understands: let him be anathema.”
This article about Bishop Strickland of Tyler, TX announcing he would not resign is a further case in point to my last post.
The article is merely an exercise in sensationalism, as it says nothing controversial, nor does it imply any defiance of Bergoglio by the good bishop. It reports that Bishop won’t voluntarily resign if he is asked to by Bergoglio. Great, insofar as it goes. As he is guilty of no canonical delicts and is of proper age and sound mind, why would he accede to being railroaded out of his duties by adhering to the Catholic faith as is his job?
The non-story is really contained in one line, a quote from the bishop himself. After stating he could not in conscience voluntarily resign the mandate given him by Pope Benedict, he adds this:
“Of course that mandate can be rescinded by Pope Francis, but I cannot voluntarily abandon the flock that I have been given charge of as a successor of the apostles.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, the bolded statement proves my points: 1) Any Pope has the authority to remove a bishop from his see; and, 2) Any Pope (not an antipope) has the authority to remove a bishop from his see.
I guess the question that follows is this: “Which do we have in Bergoglio?
Here again, we are at an impasse, with people saying the partly true while just assuming the rest is true, too. Or that it may or may not be true but isn’t worth looking into or resolving. Or that it is worth looking into but not until later. Or that it isn’t worth looking into if it will cause me pain or inconvenience or scorn or whatever.
Hey folks, the person promoting heresies, allowing demon worship on Vatican property, actively trying to kill the ancient Mass, forcing out Catholic priests and prelates, promoting anti-Catholic and immoral priests and prelates, fronting for the globalist new world order, preparing to whip out a whole can of synodality, and all the other stuff we see, EITHER IS THE POPE OR IS NOT THE POPE.
It is just that simple.
What does it say about the Church if he is? What does it say about the Church if he isn’t?
Unless and until one addresses the abdication issue in a comprehensive manner, this kind of thing is useless. Would it be bad if a pope protected a total pervert? Duh.
But an antipope protecting a pervert is hardly surprising. Newsflash: Water is Wet.
So hey, DO NOT EVER ASK THE VERY OBVIOUS QUESTIONS OF WHETHER THIS PERSON IS AN ANTIPOPE.
The title of this post comes from today’s epistle, from St. Paul to the Hebrews, on the feast of St. Januarius and companions. It was most welcome to hear, as who couldn’t use a dose of hopeful reality these days. Certainly the Saint himself did not fail us, as his blood liquefied today as it usually does.
Brethren: Call to mind the days gone by, in which, after you had been enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings; partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by making common cause with those who fared thus. For you both have had compassion on those in prison and have joyfully accepted the plundering of your own goods, knowing that you have a better possession and a lasting one. Do not, therefore, lose your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of patience that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise: For yet a very little while, and He Who is to come, will come, and will not delay. Now My just one lives by faith.
Heb 10:32 – 38.
The Gospel also foretells of the victory of the man who perseveres to the end. And it paints a pretty accurate contemporary picture, so buckle up, and take care that no one leads you astray:
At that time, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when are these things to happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the world? And in answer Jesus said to them, Take care that no one leads you astray. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. For you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. Take care that you do not be alarmed, for these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nations, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be pestilences and famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are the beginnings of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and will put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will fall away, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray. And because iniquity will abound, the charity of the many will grow cold. But whoever perseveres to the end, he shall be saved.
You have already entered eternity. When I think of a life so beautiful, cut so short, I could weep. But you have missed this dystopian hellscape, bad and getting worse. I pray you are at peace.
The beauty you brought into this world is not forgotten, and is eternally present before the good God who made us.
Réquiem ætérnam dona ei Dómine; et lux perpétua lúceat ei. Requiéscat in pace. Amen.
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war, is much worse. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.