Rowland Taylor, Martyr, Feb 9, 1555

In this time of the insipid idolatry and depravity of the Episcopal Church and the empty ritualistic wanna-be Romanism of most of the "continuing church", it's hard to imagine that hundreds of good Anglican men died for their faith, burned at the stake at the hands of the Roman Church and her English Queen, Bloody Mary.

The most famous, perhaps, was Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop to Henry and Edward and author of the Book of Common Prayer, who perished in the flames on March 21, 1556. Another martyr, burned at the stake a year earlier, was Rowland Taylor, whose story appears in the great 19th Century Anglican Bishop J. C. Ryle's "Five English Reformers", an excerpt of which is available on the Internet as "Why Were Our Reformers Burned?"

The third leading Reformer who suffered in Mary's reign was Rowland Taylor, Rector of Hadleigh, in Suffolk. He was burned on Aldham Common, close to his own parish, the same day that Hooper died at Gloucester, on Saturday, the 9th February, 1555.

Striking and deeply affecting was his last testament and legacy of advice to his wife, his family, and parishioners, though far too long to be inserted here, excepting the last sentence : -"For God's sake beware of Popery: for though it appear to have in it unity, yet the same is vanity and Antichristianity, and not in Christ's faith and verity." -Foxe's"Acts and Monuments," vol. iii.p.144.

He was sent down from London to Hadleigh, to his great delight, to be burned before the eyes of his parishioners. When he got within two miles of Hadleigh, the Sheriff of Suffolk asked him how he felt. "God be praised, Master Sheriff," was his reply, "never better. For now I am almost at home. I lack but just two stiles to go over, and I am even at my Father's house."

As he rode through the streets of the little town of Hadleigh, he found them lined with crowds of his parishioners, who had heard of his approach, and came out of their houses to greet him with many tears and lamentations. To them he only made one constant address, "I have preached to you God's Word and truth, and am come this day to seal it with my blood."

When he was stripped to his shirt and ready for the stake, he said, with a loud voice, "Good people, I have taught you nothing but God's Holy Word, and those lessons that I have taken out of the Bible; and I am come hither to seal it with my blood." He would probably have said more, but, like all the other martyrs, he was strictly forbidden to speak, and even now was struck violently on the head for saying these few words. He then knelt down and prayed, a poor woman of the parish insisting, in spite of every effort to prevent her, in kneeling down with him. After this, he was chained to the stake, and repeating the 51st Psalm, and crying to God, "Merciful Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, receive my soul into Thy hands," stood quietly amidst the flames without crying or moving, till one of the guards dashed out his brains with a halberd. And so this good old Suffolk incumbent passed away.

May God bless his faithful, in life and death.

Somewhere In Time

I can't believe that I'm posting an actual ice skating video (as opposed to the monkey parody I posted a month ago) but this is such a nice visualization of John Barry's lovely soundtrack to Somewhere In Time.

Poetic justice I guess, that I come across an ice skating video that I actually like after making fun of the "sport" by putting a bunch of monkeys on skates up.

Hmm, I wonder if there's a version of the monkey video set to Somewhere In Time...

For you know who.

Why They Hate Her

Good article by the Weekly Standard's Jeffry Bell about the threat that Sarah Palin is to the Left.

The fact that the Pill was taken only by women gave them a greater feeling of control over their sexual activity and eroded their social and psychological resistance to premarital sex. "No fault" divorce, a term borrowed from the field of auto insurance, in reality amounted to unilateral divorce and began to undermine the idea of marriage as a binding mutual contract oriented toward the procreation and nurturing of children. Contrary to nearly every prediction, the ubiquity of far more reliable methods of contraception and the growing ideological separation of sex from reproduction, coincided with a huge increase in unwed pregnancies.

Though earlier versions of feminism tended to embrace children and elevate motherhood, the more adversarial feminism that gained a mass base in virtually every affluent democracy beginning in the 1970s preached that children and childbearing were the central instrumentality of men's subjugation of women. This more than anything else in the menu of the post-socialist left raised toward cultural consensus a vision in which the monogamous family was what prevented humanity from achieving a Rousseau-like "natural" state of freedom from all laws and all bonds of mutual obligation.

http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubID.3535/pub_detail.asp

Contrary to nearly every prediction, except that of the Vatican, which was vilified over it's continued opposition to contraception expressed in 1968's Humanae Vitae.

Interesting, is it not, how the pill is linked to so many pathologies that started in the 1960's. The pope was right.

“The End of Feminism”

A masterful piece on the Feminist attack on Fatherhood, with a wonderful tying together of Feminism and Genesis 3 and 1 Timothy 2.

For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. 1 Timothy 2:13-15 (KJV)

Most pro-family advocates over the decades have pointed to the attack on motherhood as an integral weapon in this war. When a mother turns on the child of her womb as a competitor or even enemy, many rightly presume that civilization is in great peril. It is true that Satan approached Eve in order to bring about our fall from grace — and that diabolical strategy has had its successes ever since — but we cannot lose sight of the subsequent means of restoration. Motherhood was key to salvation and always will be, not only because of the life it fosters but because of the bridge it creates.

The motherhood of Mary is instructive for all mothers, in that she received the seed of God and that she restored our relationship with the Creator, thus placing motherhood within a constellation of family of relationships. The enemies of motherhood strategically attack it — not primarily because of its capacity for life but because of the truth it contains: motherhood is the bridge to fatherhood, and fatherhood is the icon of God Himself. The war on motherhood is of a transitive nature: fatherhood is the true enemy.

http://www.catholicexchange.com/2008/09/18/113780/

Is SNL Watchable Again?

This is actually very funny, and more critical of Hillary Clinton (and Obama) than the live Manhattan audience gets, I think.

Love the Palin character voguing while Clinton rants.



McCain-Palin in a landslide with coattails.

Change You Can Believe In!

Is Barack Hussein Obama such a wretched candidate that he will actually turn the State of Washington GOP? WA hasn't gone Republican for President since Reagan in 1984, actually going for Dukakis in 1988!

Well, according to Rasmussen, things are not looking good for the Obamessiah here in the People's Republic of Washington.

Washington is the latest state to show a strong western surge for John McCain since he added Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Washington finds Barack Obama still ahead, but barely. It’s Obama 49%, McCain 47%. A month ago, Obama was up by twelve percentage points. Recent polls have shown McCain gains in Montana, New Mexico and North Dakota.

It was already clear that Obama is the single worst candidate that the Democrats have ever put forth, but if he can turn WA red, maybe he really is a miracle worker.

We may get the Governorship, to boot. It was stolen by the Seattle machine and Gregoire in 2006. Rossi is up by 6 right now. One joint appearance with Palin, and it won't be close enough to be stolen this time.

¡Sí, se puede!

Barack Hussein Obama? Thank you, Karl Rove!

Figure Skating For Guys

This is so much better than the normal stuff.