Dear CathInfo family,

I pray that Our Lord is blessing you all with a healthy and holy Advent.

Many of you have been generous in helping our family during this very trying time.

I am making one final appeal here on CathInfo.

I still have the turn-of-the-century Rituale Romanum, the statue of the Sacred Heart, various Missals, figurines, etc.

I am offering the Rituale for $100 or your most generous offer.

The Sacred Heart statue is $50 or what you can afford.

Other items can be sent to you for almost any donation.

We've managed to pay last month's car payment and get our car insurance restored. We are now overdue on this month's payment, our insurance cancels in a little over a week, our internet is about to be cut off, and we have no more food-stamp funds till next month.

I know people have recommended that we visit the SVDP offices, Catholic Charities or other social-services outlets, but, to make a long story short, we are white, not on drugs, not gαy, not homeless and not eligible for cash welfare, so we are basically ignored by the social-services crowd. They are all trying to "help" the stereotypical ones that Obama loves to say he's "improving the lives of".

I have some musical work opportunities, but they are not until after the New Year. The pay will not be super, but it will be decent and steady, and references from one job will help get the next, and so on, etc.

Any help that anyone can give would be much appreciated. My family is stretched to their limit financially in paying our house note, and my relationship with my (Protestant, bitter, ignorantly anti-Catholic) mother makes any other assistance impossible.

I have lots of vintage items that would make great Christmas gifts. Of course, mailing costs will be included to anywhere in the US; international mailing will cost more, so it will have to be addressed on an individual-case basis.

If I don't find Catholic friends to place these items with, I may have to resort to eBay or our Etsy store (CraftsAndFinds), but I don't want to sell Catholic items to anonymous strangers.

Above all, we covet your prayers and are praying for you all daily.

Ave Maria,

Stephen Francis

I am interested in helping you out.  Do you have photos and dimensions of your items?  What Missals do you have and what are the publication dates?

In also interested in the missals you have available, can you post a link to them?

I strongly suggest you contact the local food bank.  Perhaps it is different in your state, but I have volunteered at several food bank around my state, and I can guarantee you the vast majority of those who received aid were white.  Admittedly, most were from single-parent households (usually divorce), but there were plenty where the mother and father were still married.

All,

It has been a while since I've been home and had Internet long enough to post. I am praying for you all and beg your prayers for us.

We have, through the kindness of friends in Christ Our Lord, been able to manage some of our outstanding debt. The most recent car payment was made, albeit 15 days late. The next one is due January 15. Our car insurance is now paid for the next couple of weeks.

I was very ill for almost two months, then had a terrible bout with my reflux disease. It usually manifests as painful indigestion; for a short time, it began manifesting as an irritation in my esophagus. It caused an annoying and almost constant cough. I was sometimes unable to breathe for very long at a time. Thanks be to God, a regimen of Prevacid has regulated things to the point that the coughing is gone.

To those who have suggested food banks: We are not in need of food. We receive food stamps and the amount is more than sufficient for our needs. Indeed, we are often able to bless others by providing meals when we visit them, or when we find that someone else is in need of food.

I still do not know where any sort of gainful employ will be coming from; I am stuck between HAVING disabilities that employers can obviously see and not being "officially" disabled because I somehow managed to qualify for jobs that don't exist, yet would be suitable. For instance, I was told by a disability reviewer that I should "go get" a security job that doesn't require me to climb stairs, lift, or stand or sit for any length of time at a stretch. The problem is that EVERY security job requires precisely those things. I know, because I used to be a supervisor who took part in the hiring process for others.

We did receive a miracle from Our Lord through the protection of St. Christopher and Our Lady. We were returning from a trip nearly an hour from our home when our van (which has mechanical problems to begin with) began shaking, making terrible noises and flashing the "service engine" light. It was clear that a belt or perhaps a cylinder in the engine was faulty. We were in heavy city traffic, many miles from home with no way to afford a taxi or anything if we broke down.

I prayed the Rosary from the time the trouble started until we reached home. Deo gratias, not only did we make it safely, the car's problem vanished and has not returned at all. There has not been even the slightest hint of whatever was wrong that day. Our Lady was kind and merciful in asking Our Lord Jesus to spare us an accident or worse.

Again, we thank you all for your prayers and ask that you continue. My only desire is that I am able to support my family somehow as I figure out what comes next.

I still do have many good Catholic books and devotional items available if anyone would like to donate toward one.

May Our Lord continue to keep you and may Our Lady guide and protect you as you journey towards Heaven.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph soon!

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Would you guys be open to relocating?
Texas, Arizona and Colorado have very good job markets right now.

I would second that.  PLUS, the cost of living is incredibly high in New Jersey vs. other parts of the country (some parts of Texas, Ohio, Indiana, PA, etc.)

Stephen,
You have as the first part of your signature

This evil of heresy spreads itself. The doctrines of godliness are overturned; the rules of the Church are in confusion; the ambition of the unprincipled seizes upon places of authority; and the chief seat [the Papacy] is now openly proposed as a reward for impiety; so that he whose blasphemies are the more shocking is more eligible for the oversight of the people. Priestly gravity has perished; there are none left to feed the Lord's flock with knowledge; ambitious men are ever spending, in purposes of self-indulgence and bribery, possessions that they hold in trust for the poor. The accurate observation of the canons are no more; there is no restraint upon sin. Unbelievers laugh at what they see, and the weak are unsettled; faith is doubtful; ignorance is poured over their souls, because the adulterators of the word in wickedness imitate the truth. Religious people keep silence, but every blaspheming tongue is let loose. Sacred things are profaned; those of the laity who are sound in faith avoid the places of worship, as schools of impiety, and raise their hands in solitude with groans and tears to the Lord in Heaven.

Can you say who wrote that?

Praying for you....

He is quoting St. Basil the Great, Memento.

He sounds like St. Athanasius there, I tend to think, which is natural as they were compatriots in the same fight.

'You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church by your Faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has come down to you from Apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. No one, ever, will prevail against your Faith, beloved Brothers. And we believe that God will give us our churches back some day.'

St. Athanasius