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The Seven Sorrows and Dolours of St. Joseph to Vater Unser arranged by J.S. Bach

A text hymn, in measurable rhythmic meter (8.8.8.8.8.8, eight syllables per line, for each of six lines, per verse), but without a tune, from a publication, The Parochial Hymn Book, Burns and Oates, London, 1881

Set to the German “Our Father” (Vater Unser) as arranged by J.S. Bach.
St. Peter is popularly supposed to assume the role of the doorman of heaven, deciding on who gains or is denied admittance, but he only functions under the authority of St. Joseph as the Steward of God’s House. If you suffer from abandonment, desolation, fearfulness or depression, you can obtain certain relief by confiding your cares to the Mayor of the Palace of God, who will admit you to His holy mother for her kind solicitude.
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The Seven Dolours and Joys of Saint Joseph
The Parochial Hymn Book (1897) VATER UNSER (Old 112th)
1. O Spouse of Mary, glorious Saint!
Thy heart with doubt was sore distressed,
But welcome came the Angel’s word,
And changed thy trouble into rest!
When fears oppress on every side,
Dear Saint, our weary footsteps guide.
2. O Spouse of Mary! glorious Saint!
In poverty thou didst behold,
the Infant Jesus born on earth;
But Angels’ songs brought joy untold!
As through this drear, cold world we roam,
May Angel voices lead us home!
3. O Spouse of Mary, glorious Saint!
The tears of Jesus wrung thy heart,
But His sweet Name thy anguish soothed–
Jesus, sweet balm for every smart!
Oh, may our lips with loving faith,
Breathe that sweet Name, in life and death.
4. O Spouse of Mary, glorious Saint!
Thy heart was sad at Simeon’s word,
But ransomed souls in vision rose,
Won by the pangs of Mary’s Sword.
Oh, by that gladness and that pain,
Help us eternal life to gain!
5. O Spouse of Mary, glorious Saint!
All weary with the rugged way,
Sweet was thy toil, with Jesus near,
When Egypt’s idols owned His sway,
Oh, let our hearts’ loved idols fall–
And Jesus be our God—our All!
6. O Spouse of Mary, glorious Saint!
The tyrant’s wrath aroused thy fear,
But Nazareth, thy humble home,
Was shelter safe, with Jesus near.
Oh, in this world so bleak and cold,
Still keep us safe in Christ’s true Fold!
7. O Spouse of Mary, glorious Saint!
How couldst thou bear that three days’ pain,
With Mary’s tears, and Jesus gone?
Oh joy to find thy Lord again!
May we, our weary wanderings o’er,
Find Jesus on the’eternal shore!
Amen.

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The full litany of The Seven Dolours and Seven Joys of St. Joseph
http://www.sing-prayer.org/p/289

This shortlink
http://www.sing-prayer.org/p/2277

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Lovely Lady Dressed in Blue


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Lovely Lady dressed in blue,
Teach me how to pray!
God was just your little boy,
Tell me what to say!
2. Did you lift Him up, sometimes,
Gently on your knee?
Did you sing to Him the way
Mother does to me?
3. Did you hold His hand at night?
Did you ever try
Telling stories of the world?
O! And did He cry?
4. Do you really think He cares
If I tell Him things
Little things that happen? And
Do the Angels’ wings—
—Make a noise? And can He hear
Me if I speak low?
Does He understand me now?
Tell me, for you know.
6. Lovely Lady dressed in blue,
Teach me how to pray!
God was just your little boy,
And you know the way. Amen.

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This shortlink
http://www.sing-prayer.org/p/2117

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O Purest of Creatures – Sweet Star of the Sea

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O Purest of Creatures – Sweet Star of the Sea
Fr. Frederick William Faber, (1814-1863) St. Denio
1. O purest of creatures,
sweet Mother! sweet Maid!
The one spotless womb wherein
Jesus was laid!
Dark night hath come down on us,
Mother! And we,
Look out for thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
2. Deep night has come down on this
rough-spoken world,
&-the banners of darkness are
boldly unfurled;
&-the tempest tossed Church—
all her eyes are on thee,
They look to thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
3. He gazed on thy soul; it was
spotless and fair;
For-the empire of sin—it had
never been there;
None had ever owned thee, dear
Mother! but He,
And-He blessed thy clear shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
4. Earth gave Him one lodging; ‘twas
deep in thy breast,
And God found a home where the
sinner finds rest;
His home and His hiding place
both were in thee,
He-was won by thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea.
5. O blissful and calm was the
wonderful rest,
That-thou gavest thy God in thy
virginal breast;
For-the heaven He left, He found
heaven in thee,
And-He shone in thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
6. To sinners what comfort, to
angels what mirth,
That God found one creature un-
fallen on earth,
One spot where His Spirit, un-
troubled could be,
The depth of thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
7. O shine on us brighter than
even, then shine,
For-the highest of honours, dear
Mother! Is thine;
“Conceived without sin,” thy chaste
title e’re be,
Clear light from thy birth-spring, sweet
Star of the Sea!
8. So worship we God in these
rude latter days;
So worship we Jesus our
Love, when we praise,
His wonderful grace in the
gifts He gave thee,
The gift of clear shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
9. Deep night hath come down on us,
Mother! Deep night,
And-we need more than ever the
guide of thy light;
For-the darker the night is the
brighter should be,
Thy beautiful shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
Amen.

This shortlink
http://www.sing-prayer.org/p/2114

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Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Sweet Morn Thou Parent of the Sun (New York, Catholic Hymn Book, Edward Dunigan and Brother, 1851), arranged to Kingsfold (the theme of Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus by Ralph Vaughan Williams)
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1. Sweet Morn! thou Parent of the Sun!
And Daughter of the same!
What joy and gladness, through thy birth,
This day to mortals came!
Clothed in the Sun I see Thee stand,
The Moon beneath thy feet,
The Stars above thy sacred head
A radiant coronet.
2. Thrones and Dominions gird Thee round,
The Armies of the sky;
Pure streams of glory from Thee flow,
All bathed in Deity!
Terrific as the banner’d line
Of battle’s dread array!
Before Thee tremble Hell and Death,
And own thy mighty sway:
3. While crush’d beneath thy dauntless foot,
The Serpent writhes in vain,
Smit by a deadly stroke, and bound,
In an eternal chain.
O Mightiest! pray for us, that He
Who came through Thee of yore,
May come to dwell within our hearts,
And never quit us more.
4. Praise to the Father, with the Son,
And Holy Ghost, through Whom
The Word eternal was conceived
Within the Virgin’s Womb.
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Now and through eternity.
Immortal, infinite sublime!
Older than chaos, space or time!





The Imitation of Mary, by Thomas a Kempis (Click/Expand)

Chapter XXX – OF THE ETERNAL ROYALTY OF LOVE

I. Upon her head, like that of a Queen, is placed a crown of twelve stars. These twelve stars on the brow of Mary are the twelve prerogatives of the Queen and of the Mother before God in heaven.

She possesses, indeed, in the Church Triumphant, surpassing all other blessed spirits, four special prerogatives:

  1. the power of listening with great goodness,
  2. of condescending with great mercy,
  3. of intervening for us with great power,
  4. and of succoring on earth with great ease.

She, has besides, in the Church Triumphant, four privileges, outstanding among all:

  1. she is resplendent more than all others;
  2. she is glorified more than all others;
  3. she is loved more tenderly than all others;
  4. she is honored more fervently than all others.

Mary possesses also, in relation to the Trinity, four particular favors, which are for her like brilliant stars midst fainter stars.

Better, truly, than those who contemplate the glory of the Divine Trinity,

  1. she contemplates fully the Divine Trinity Itself:
  2. she knows with greater joy its sweetness,
  3. she comprehends with greater profundity its mysteries,
  4. she tastes with greater charm its richness.

II. Listen again, listen devoutly, to what the greatest of the servants of Mary, the doctor of gentle speech, St. Bernard, said to his Religious about the stars which form a crown on the forehead of the Virgin:

No one can estimate the importance of the jewels, no one can count the number of the gems which adorn the diadem of Mary in Heaven.

It is an undertaking above our power, that of examining the value, or of scrutinizing the composition of her brilliant aureole.

We shall undertake to do so with humility.

Without wishing to penetrate the secrets of the Lord, it seems that one can see in the twelve stars the twelve prerogatives of our Mother.

We find indeed in the Virgin Mary,

  1. privileges granted to her soul,
  2. privileges infused into her heart,
  3. privileges attached to her body.

And if we multiply this number three,

by the number of the four known favors,

we shall find the number of twelve stars which shine on the brow of Mary, our Queen.

We find these wonders,

  1. at her birth,
  2. in the salutation she received from the angel,
  3. in the overshadowing of her by the Holy Spirit,
  4. and finally in the conception of Jesus Himself .

The holy doctor goes on to enumerate the circumstances of the life of our Mother in which grace brought its favors.

III. Let us meditate therefore, often and with piety, on the life and deeds of Mary. Let us chant hymns and canticles in her honor, on the days of her solemnities.

Come before her altar and before her image, incline your head, kneel before her, as if you were seeing Mary herself present before you.

Raise your eyes and contemplate Mary speaking with the angels, or better still, Mary holding on her knees her son Jesus:

In contemplating the Mother of Mercy, say then, with a burst of confident love:

IV. Prayer:

O most loving Virgin Mary, Mother of God Queen of Heaven, Mistress of the Earth,

O you, the Joy of Saints, and the Salvation of sinners, listen to the appeals of our repentant hearts!

Listen to the desires of our souls at prayer!

Come to the help of the poor and the infirm!

Renew the courage of the afflicted!

Protect your children against their enemies!

Deliver them from the snares of the devils.

Lead them near to you in blessedness in heaven, where you reign with your Son in the midst of the elect for all eternity!

(Cloistral Discipline, Chap. XIV)

HOMILY – ROYALTY OF HEART

I. Everything is sold or bought on the earth: power, favor, gold, conscience itself. Only the heart is not sold; it gives itself or does not give itself, fashioned as it is with a spark of royalty.

A great orator has said: the heart is the whole of man, it is the raison d’etre of a woman.

The heart of Mary is the greatest of hearts, after the Heart of Jesus.

Was not the Heart of Jesus fashioned from a bit of the human heart of Mary?

II. The Heart of Jesus, united to the divinity in the person of Christ, has transmitted by its contact with the heart of His Mother something of Its grandeur and beauty to the heart of Mary.

Mary is therefore queen by her heart, as she is queen by her human destiny.

Her heart vibrates with more force than the heart of any other creature.

It is less sublime than the Heart of God, but it is unique in heaven and earth.

III. Oh! how sweet it is to feel yourself near this heart which has loved with a mother’s love an Infant God, and which loves with the same maternal love all the children of men.

MEDITATION – THE PERPETUITY OF LOVE

Love is not a simple sentiment; it is a gigantic force: women hold a power which they do not know.

Only Mary has known what power the heart of a mother has.

To know how to love, and to love always, is an ardent life, an active life, a very short life.

Not to love is to be dead.

Love addresses itself to the spirited person who vibrates and not to the lifeless or inactive person.

Love supposes beauty, and sometimes creates it or exalts it.

Let us love Mary!

She has beauty,
she has grace,
she has charm.

No creature equals her; no woman surpasses her.

She comes next after God, as Dante sings.

Let us say to her then with the heavenly poet:
O Mother, O Queen, O Mary, help us to love you, help us to praise you.

You are beauty, la belta, and we cannot admire you enough.

You are goodness, la bonta, and we cannot praise you enough.

We say to you therefore the only word worthy of you, the word sent from heaven, the word of the Archangel:

Ave Maria!

Practice: Imitate the early Christians and often recite the Liturgical Office of the Holy Virgin.

Thought: O Mary, bless us and our families.

Nos cum prole pia, benedicat Virgo Maria.


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O Purest of Creatures – Sweet Star of the Sea
Fr. Frederick William Faber, (1814-1863) St. Denio
1. O purest of creatures,
sweet Mother! sweet Maid!
The one spotless womb wherein
Jesus was laid!
Dark night hath come down on us,
Mother! And we,
Look out for thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
2. Deep night has come down on this
rough-spoken world,
&-the banners of darkness are
boldly unfurled;
&-the tempest tossed Church—
all her eyes are on thee,
They look to thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
3. He gazed on thy soul; it was
spotless and fair;
For-the empire of sin—it had
never been there;
None had ever owned thee, dear
Mother! but He,
And-He blessed thy clear shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
4. Earth gave Him one lodging; ‘twas
deep in thy breast,
And God found a home where the
sinner finds rest;
His home and His hiding place
both were in thee,
He-was won by thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea.
5. O blissful and calm was the
wonderful rest,
That-thou gavest thy God in thy
virginal breast;
For-the heaven He left, He found
heaven in thee,
And-He shone in thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
6. To sinners what comfort, to
angels what mirth,
That God found one creature un-
fallen on earth,
One spot where His Spirit, un-
troubled could be,
The depth of thy shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
7. O shine on us brighter than
even, then shine,
For-the highest of honours, dear
Mother! Is thine;
“Conceived without sin,” thy chaste
title e’re be,
Clear light from thy birth-spring, sweet
Star of the Sea!
8. So worship we God in these
rude latter days;
So worship we Jesus our
Love, when we praise,
His wonderful grace in the
gifts He gave thee,
The gift of clear shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
9. Deep night hath come down on us,
Mother! Deep night,
And-we need more than ever the
guide of thy light;
For-the darker the night is the
brighter should be,
Thy beautiful shining, sweet
Star of the Sea!
Amen.

This shortlink
https://www.sing-prayer.org/p/1989

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Becoming an Involuntary Subject in a Non-Therapeutic, Medical Experiment

In this episode “Phage” of Star Trek Voyager (Season 1, Episode 4), the lungs are involuntarily harvested from the character “Neelix” (the tiger-man). The difference from subjecting pre-born children to non-therapeutic–receiving no medical benefit–involuntary participation in a medical experiment, is that this character is tangible and identifiable, having been personalized, and able to be advocated for by those who love him. Whereas it is only God and His Church who love and advocate for the rights of pre-born human persons who have never been personalized by tangible identification by, in G.K. Chesterton’s memorable phrase, “the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about” (Orthodoxy, “The Ethics of Elfland”).

https://dai.ly/x7ypgmr

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Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, Body and Soul

The Marriage at Cana by Giotto

Mary attended the wedding of a poor couple, accompanied by Jesus and His disciples. The couple did not expect so many guests at their wedding banquet. They ran out of wine, to their dismay and shame.

The servants of the wedding banquet knew to come to Mary. “They have run out of wine.” Mary took their problem to her Son, Jesus. “Woman, what is it to Me, to you? My hour is not yet come.”

Mary only said to the servants, “Do Whatever He Tells You.” Jesus changed the water into wine, the servants took the wine to the chief steward, who did not know what Jesus had done, he said to the Bridegroom, “Every man sets forth the good wine first, then when the guests have drunk well, he puts out the inferior wine, but you have saved the good wine until last!” This was Jesus’ first miracle, the beginning of His public ministry, at His mother’s prompting. And His disciples believed in Him.

After His mother told Him, “They have no wine.”

On the cross, Jesus gave His mother to His friend John.

And the dragon was angry against the woman: and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. – Revelation 12:17

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O Virgin, guest most gracious,
the couple’s last recourse,
unless thy help’s solicited,
they languish in remorse;
Thou bidst us do whatever He says,
His Word’s command Divine,
The type of His great gift of Self,
The water into wine.


God was so pleased with Enoch, that He took him bodily up to heaven. God took Elijah up to heaven in a fiery chariot. No one knows where Moses is buried, it is thought that he was taken up to heaven in his body. It is the firm tradition of the Eastern Orthodox and the Catholic, from the earliest time of the Church, that Mary, whom Jesus loved more than anyone, did not presume to avoid death after her Son had suffered death, but when she fell asleep, it was fitting, along with Enoch, Elijah and Moses, that she should suffer no corruption, and that she was taken bodily up to heaven, where , in her body, physically united with her soul, she is now with Jesus, Who Himself had already ascended bodily to the right hand of God nevermore to suffer death, as His holy mother had never been subject to the devil’s domain of death, except by her choice to imitate her Divine Son’s death. And after the end of the world and the ending of all death, we will also be reunited with new bodies, in heaven or otherwise, after the first-fruits of salvation, Jesus and Mary. Mary now sits at the right hand of her Divine Son at the eternal Wedding Feast of the Lamb.

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Fr. Frederick W. Faber Fr. Charles Raymond-Barker, S.J.
1. Sing, sing, ye Angel Bands,
All beautiful and bright;
For higher still, and higher,
Through fields of starry light,
Mary, your Queen, ascends,
Like the sweet moon at night.
2. A fairer flower than she,
On earth hath never been;
And, save the Throne of God,
Your heavens have never seen,
A wonder half so bright,
As your ascending Queen!
3. O happy Angels! look,
How beautiful she is!
See! Jesus bears her up,
Her hand is locked in His;
O who can tell the height
Of that fair Mother’s bliss?
4. And shall I lose thee then,
Lose my sweet right to thee?
Ah! no—the Angel’s Queen,
Man’s mother still will be,
And thou, upon thy throne,
Wilt keep thy love for me.
5. On then, dear Pageant, on!
Sweet music breathes around;
And love like dew distills,
On hearts in rapture bound;
The Queen of heaven goes up,
To be proclaimed and crowned!
6. On—through the countless stars,
Proceeds the bright array;
And Love Divine comes forth,
To light her on her way,
Through the short gloom of night,
Into celestial day.
7. The Eternal Father calls,
His daughter to be blessed;
The Son His Maiden-Mother,
Woos unto His Breast;
The Holy Ghost His spouse,
Beckons into her rest.
8. Swifter and swifter grows,
That marvelous flight of love,
As though her heart were drawn,
More vehemently above:
While jubilant angels part,
A pathway for the Dove!
9. Hark! hark! through highest heaven,
What sounds of mystic mirth!
Mary by God proclaimed,
Queen of Immaculate Birth,
And diademed With stars,
The lowliest of the earth!
10. See! see! the Eternal Hands
Put on her radiant crown,
And the sweet Majesty,
Of Mercy sitteth down,
For ever and for ever,
On her predestined throne! Amen.

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Hymn Between the 12th and 13th Stations of the Cross

The Full Stations of the Cross

(The illustration appears to signify Jesus expelling His dying breath.)

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Anonymous The Sodalist’s Hymnal (1887)
1. Thy life, O Lord, is ebbing fast,
Thine eyes are growing dim at last;
How near to death Thou art!
I hear Thou heave one heavy sigh:
It is the last, the loudest cry
That broke Thy Sacred Heart,
That broke Thy Sacred Heart.
2. The scene, the dreadful scene is o’er–
The wicked men can do no more,
Thy head is on Thy breast;
The thorns, the nails Thou dost not fear,
The cruel scoff, the bitter jeer–
Thy Heart is now at rest,
Thy Heart is now at rest.
3. Thy voice, that made the demons flee,
That waked the dead and calmed the sea,
Itself in death is hushed;
But O, we have this comfort sweet,
Our foes lie prostrate at Thy feet,
The serpent’s head is crushed,
The serpent’s head is crushed.
4. Thy corpse is hanging on the tree,
While mocking crowds in impious glee
The murd’rous act applaud;
But quiv’ring earth and darkened skies,
The crumbling rocks, the dead that rise,
Proclaim Thee to be God,
Proclaim Thee to be God.
5. Yes, Jesus, bruised and marked with blood,
And fastened to the dripping wood,
To me Thou art the same,
As throned on Thabor’s shining mount,
Or in the heav’ns, of bliss the Fount,
In glory and in shame,
In glory and in shame.
6. O, may Thy last, Thy piercing cry,
The Blood that pleaded loud on high,
For me be not in vain!
O, make me treat the world as dross,
And glory only in the Cross,
On which Thou wouldst be slain,
On which Thou wouldst be slain!
Amen.

O Jesus, my Savior! I see You now dead on this cross. You speak no more; You breathe no more; because You have life no longer, having willed to lose it to give life to our souls. You have no longer any blood; for you have shed it all, by dint of torments, to wash away our sins. In one word, You have abandoned Yourself to death through Your love for us. He has loved us, and delivered Himself for us.Ephesians 5:2. “Let us consider,” writes St. Francis de Sales, “this divine Savior stretched upon the cross, as upon His altar of honor, where He is dying of love for us; but a love more painful than that very death. Ah, why, then, do we not in spirit throw ourselves upon Him to die upon the cross with Him, Who has willed to die there for love of us? ‘I will hold Him’, we ought to say, ‘and will never let Him go. I will die with Him, and be burned up in the flames of His love. One and the same fire shall consume this divine Creator and His miserable creature. My Jesus is all mine, and I am all His. I will live and die upon his breast; neither death nor life shall ever separate him from me.'” – St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Passion of Jesus Christ. 2. “The death of Jesus”.

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Prayer Intention: For Someone Who Lost a Baby Through No Fault of Her Own

… and for her mother.

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Chesterton’s ‘Christmas Carol’ (1900) with Praetorius’ ‘Ach Gott vom Himmelreiche’ (1609)

Postcards of Botticelli’s Mystic Nativity

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G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
A Christmas Carol (1900)

Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
Ach Gott vom Himmelreiche (1609)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s lap,
His hair was like a light.
(O weary, weary were the world,
But here is all aright.)
The Christ-child lay on Mary’s breast
His hair was like a star.
(O stern and cunning are the kings,
But here the true hearts are.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s heart,
His hair was like a fire.
(O weary, weary is the world,
But here the world’s desire.)
The Christ-child stood on Mary’s knee,
His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at Him,
And all the stars looked down.


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https://www.sing-prayer.org/p/1331

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Mainstream Studies of Dumbed-Down Compulsory Universal Schooling

This advocacy piece would merely be a paranoid, conspiratorialist rave–except that the actual evidence is all in the notes. (This posting isn’t intended so much as an article, as a set of easily accessible notes for making arguments.)

You can sometimes learn more from your presumptive ‘opponents’ than from your alleged friends, who can actually be acting in Pecksniffian self-interest presenting a highly-filtered public persona, on the presumption that they know better than you what you need to know. Regardless of the functional debilities of extreme leftism, Noam Chomsky still aspires to the tenet of classical liberalism, that “I strongly uphold your right to your point of view, no matter how strongly I disagree with you”. It’s sometimes worth listening to what he has to say.

Noam Chomsky, citing Ralph Waldo Emerson on the elites’ rationale for agitating for universal, compulsory education: “The grounds on which eminent public servants urge the claims of popular education, is fear” … [that, in their words, he says] … “This country is filling up with thousands and millions of voters, and you must educate them to keep them from our throats”, meaning, “educate them the right way,” keep their perspectives and their understanding narrow and restricted, discourage free and independent thought, and frighten them into obedience –something that’s done over and over in the schools as well–we’ve all experienced it.”

.
Before factory schooling, young people, whether geniuses or working people, were free to write their own life script.

WE breed water dogs not to bite game birds, we hood falcons to control them, when race horses run too fast we “handicap” them with lead weights, and when students are in danger of independent learning so that they threaten to evade being conditioned into mindless consumers and docile, unquestioning employees of giant corporations, we subject them to “schooling”.
College graduates today have been denied, by design, a basic liberal-arts education that was freely available to many 1-room schoolhouse, elementary students prior to the imposition of universal forced schooling in the period 1880-1920. It was a result of planned, deliberate deprecation of curricula and intense, adverse behavioral conditioning, which long preceded their high school graduation. A vast store of evidence for this assertion, unknown to the general public, is in freely available authors in a tradition of “studies of Deliberate Dumbing Down K-12”. (Author list at the end of the article.)
.
The issue of deliberate dumbing down (DDD), of unimaginably vast scope, centers on the confidential history, virtually never discussed openly in the press or taught in schools or colleges themselves, that contrasts the rigidly controlled, standard anti-intellectual conditioning children receive today in public schools, with the extreme opposite, self-directed, radical freedom which prevailed in America prior to the railroads (1840).
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America from the Colonial/Revolutionary period, until the mid-19th century, was an outpost of personal independence, granted immunity by geographical isolation, from the restrictive model of Europe’s old-world, highly stratified class system. (America was at a colonial “margin” at some distance from the imperial center, England. The historical dissolution in the mother country of the ancient, manorial-feudal medieval society in which peasants had traditional rights to the land which their lord could not abrogate, had been disrupted centuries earlier in England than in America, with the enclosure of common lands for specialized sheep-grazing for the Italian wool trade by the lower gentry, socially rapacious behavior in common with the higher nobility, friends of Henry VIII, in the despoiling of Church lands built up over centuries of free labor accumulation under the evangelical counsel of Poverty. This pattern of dissolution only encroached on the colonial margin in America, centuries after it happened at the center, in England.) For instance, it was illegal in 19th century England to teach to lower class children, what John Taylor Gatto termed “the active literacies”, writing, public speaking and the cultivation of eloquence.
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Concurrent with the liberal Protestant biblical studies (“Historical-Critical Method”) of Adolf von Harnack in the late 19th century which “proved” that biblical accounts of miracles were “fantasies”, agnostic or atheist northern German philosophers were instrumental in enlarging on the rationalist foundation of the French Enlightenment until the late 19th century rise of the Fabian Socialist Society (symbol: a wolf in sheep’s clothing) espoused by the high architects of compulsory, universal, dumbed-down schooling. In contrast with the 99% of humanity which has believed in some sort of God, “when people stop believing in God, they don’t believe nothing, they’ll believe anything”.
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“There can’t be a God, nor any Heaven”, (the outlook that “proves one is a ‘scientist‘ “), therefore, let’s “create” heaven on earth, “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die”, (never to be resurrected into any eternal paradise), continually “improving” humanity, reinventing ourselves, on Darwin’s racist model of human “survival of the fittest”, leading to Hitler’s death factories and ultimately, today, to Bill Gates’ great purge of the “excess” of the majority of humanity.
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A free people would never accept this. Therefore, starting in the mid-19th century, American children had to be wrested out of their family traditions and religions by secretly socialistic, anti-intellectual conditioning, subjecting them, in compulsory, universal, police-enforced, deliberately dumbed-down schooling, beyond the parents’ knowledge and understanding, to the endless drudgery of factory schooling, “at least keeping them off the streets and out of trouble”, precisely from the age when their brains should be furiously, delightfully absorbing everything about the wonderful, fascinating world.