All Sodomites Are Bullies, Hating Themselves

Eve by Solomon Joseph Solomon   (British, 1860-1927)

The homosexualist "anti-bullying" propaganda is completely misplaced because the primary and supreme bully of the person who abuses his own body is himself! He abuses himself and makes himself abused in his perverse actions. For society to sanction and otherwise deride that destructive self-abuse is not hatred at all but kindness.

Fags are their own bullies every time they fag around, and, if they do it publicly, they bully the public with their faggotry!
N.B. This thought came to me as I was reading the opening section of Joseph Ratzinger's treatment of Tertullian's montanist De Pudicitia in the prize winning Ratzinger 1951 thesis The People and House of God in the Doctrine of Saint Augustine on the Church. Here is the quote, which I only have in the German and Spanish versions.

Tertuliano luchó con vigoroso apasionamiento contra el pecado de la lascivia en su obra montanista sobre el pudor. Entre las armas no menos importantes que emplea en la lucha para librar la batalla está la mención de la extraordinaria dignidad del cuerpo humano, que dicho pecado ofende. Mientras las demás faltas, como explica Tertuliano apoyándose en Pablo, se quedan en la esfera de lo externo (Omne delictum quod admiserit homo, extra copus est, qui autem fornicatur, in corpus suum peccat, Tertuliano, Pud 16 [PL 2,1011], cf. 1 Cor 6,18) , este pecado se introduce en el centro del propio yo, todavía más: es un ataque a una propiedad exclusiva divina, pues el cuerpo pertenece a Dios (Corpus autem non fornicationi, sed deo: ibíd.; cf. 1 Cor 6,13)--a Dios, del que lleva la imagen--, puesto que Tertulliano aplica al cuerpo la semejanza divina de la que hablan las primeras páginas de la Escritura.

Adam and eve by Antonio Molinari (1701-1704)

Ratzinger, Obras Completas (I, Capítulo 3: El Concepto de la Iglesia en Tertuliano, § 7 La Iglesia, comunión de la disciplina, 1. La semejanza divina del cuerpo), 70.

•  Homosexuality is Bad for Your Health
• "Gay" Pride Harvest
• Cardinal Primate of America Fearlessly Denounces Homosexualist US Ambassador

N.B. What is more, "Sensitivity" training and "anti-bully" programs in this area are themselves bullying everyone into the pro-sodomite movement. It is perverting to force us to consider, speak of, and "respect" these shameful perversions of human intercourse. Cf. Eph. 5:12

US Gaydom Imperial Denounced by American Primate

His Emminence Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez, Primate of America, has repeatedly denounced the Obama Adminstration's appointment of a "faggot" ambassador to his traditional Catholic nation (Dominican Republic) with the express intention to cause national moral confusion by promoting "faggotry." "Since Brewster has made himself a man's wife he should go home and dedicate himself to keeping house!"

Below is the Wikipedia assessment of the matter.

P.S. All of the sources I have searched for this news have since taken it down! At the end of the Wikipedia quote I provide an unedited citation which was previously on the Acento.com.do website and I found here.

Comments on gay US ambassador[edit]

During a 27 June 2013 interview, responding to a question about Barack Obama's appointment of James Brewster, an openly gay man, as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic (D.R.), Lopez Rodriguez expressed his opposition to the appointment of a homosexual ambassador and said it was an attempt to promote the approval of same-sex marriages in the D.R. Moments later, when asked about problems between between Haiti and the D.R. resulting from Haiti's claim that bird flu could be found in the D.R., Cardinal López Rodríguez laughed and said: "After talking about faggots and lesbians, now we'll talk about chickens".^{[7][8][9][10]} In the Dominican Republic, homosexuals are usually referred to pejoratively as "birds."^[11]

In June 2014, after Brewster and his husband released a video promoting the celebration of June as Gay Pride Month, Lopez Rodriguez said "Diplomacy is not for that sort of thing, an absolutely negative propaganda" and that Brewster should “take his gay pride elsewhere".^[12] In December 2015, a week after Brewster criticized corruption in the Dominican Republic, Lopez Rodriguez said "That man [Brewster] needs to go back to his embassy. Let him focus on housework, since he's the wife to a man."^[13] US SenatorDick Durbin asked Pope Francis to ask Rodriguez to treat with Brewster with respect, citing the Pope's comments on the need to respect the dignity of all.^[14]

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El Cardenal: “Un embajador que es un maricón..que se vaya”
Por Ensegundos - 8 diciembre, 2015

Santo Domingo. El cardenal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez sugirió al embajador de Estados Unidos, James W. Brewster, irse del país.

En tono enérgico y molesto dijo que el diplomático lo que debe hacer es marcharse para su casa.

Reiteró que Brewster lo que ha querido es introducir su “mariconería” en el país.

Reaccionó de esta forma al preguntarle sobre las afirmaciones que hizo el embajador, en torno a unas declaraciones anteriores suyas, a las que el diplomático calificó como ruido y que fomentaban el odio.

“A un embajador, que lo que es un maricón, para qué vamos a estar con tanta cosa, no ombe no, que se vaya para su casa; aquí no tiene que venir a poner nada…” expresó el Cardenal.

Se manifestó cansado del tema y dijo entre otras cosas: “yo no hablo con maricones”.

Fuente Acento.com.do

Cf. Diario Libre

Patrona Bavariae: Mariensäule (München)

„Rem regem regimen regionem religionem conserva Bavaris, Virgo Patrona, tuis!“
     -Johann Jacob Balde S.J.

Mariensäuler or Mary's Pillar in Munich is a column that was built in 1638 , during the 30 Years War (1618-1648), after the city of Munich was saved from destruction by the Swedes.

At the base of the pillar there are four angels slaying four beasts representing the four threats Munich had at that time.

• The first monster is a dragon representing hunger.
• The second, a lion representing war.
• The third is something like a "lizard-hen" representing illness.
• The fourth, a serpent representing heresy , i.e. all the Protestants, who battle against the Church.

P.S. You can buy nice wooden reproductions of that image from Demetz, starting at € 50.

Apostle of Spain: Leander of Seville

Illumination in a 12th-century

manuscript of a letter of

Saint Gregory's to St. Leander

(Bibl. Municipale, MS 2, Dijon)

At Seville, in Spain, [in the year 596,] holy Leander, Bishop of that city, by whose preaching and labours, assisted by Reccared, King of the Visigoths, that nation were converted from the Arian misbelief to the Catholic faith, [today, February 27th anno Domini 2016 the 19th Day of the Moon, was born into the better life]. --Roman Martyrology

Saint Leander was the tutor of his four younger siblings, among whom was the more famous brother Saint Isidore of Seville. Leander authored an extant homily celebrating the conversion of the Arians to the Catholic faith: Homilia de triumpho ecclesiæ ob conversionem Gothorum (P.L, LXXII). St. Isidore wrote of his brother: "This man of suave eloquence and eminent talent shone as brightly by his virtues as by his doctrine. By his faith and zeal the Gothic people have been converted from Arianism to the Catholic faith" (De script. eccles., xxviii).

Below is a Spanish translation of that sermon.

Homilia de San Leandro de Sevilla

En alabanza de la Iglesia por la conversión de los Pueblos

Esta festividad que celebramos [la culminación de Concilio], es entre todas la más solemne y su novedad lo deja traslucir. Porque así como es nueva la conversión de tantos pueblos, así son más nobles de lo acostumbrado los gozos de la Iglesia. Ésta celebra muchas solemnidades en el trascurso del año, en las cuales, aunque tiene los gozos acostumbrados, no son sin embargo nuevos como en la actual. Pues que de un modo se goza con las cosas que siempre ha poseído y de otro con los grandes tesoros hallados recientemente.

Por lo cual, nosotros experimentamos tanta mayor alegría, porque vemos que repentinamente, la Iglesia ha dado a luz nuevos pueblos. Y aquellos por cuya aspereza gemíamos antes, nos dan ahora motivo de alegría por su fe. Es por eso que la materia de nuestro gozo, fue el motivo de la tribulación pasada. Gemíamos cuando estábamos oprimidos, cuando se nos culpaba; pero aquellos gemidos produjeron que los que nos servían de peso por su infidelidad, llegaran a ser nuestra corona después de su conversión.

La Iglesia expresa esto con gozo en los salmos cuando dice me ensanchaste en la tribulación (Sal 4, 2); y Sara siendo codiciada muchas veces por los reyes ni recibe mancha en su pureza y enriquece a Abraham por su hermosura, pues le hacen muchos regalos todos los reyes que la codician (Gn 20, 16). Dignamente pues, la Iglesia Católica convierte en lucro de su esposo —esto es de Cristo— los pueblos que tenía por enemigos mediante el brillo de la fe; y por medio de la adquisición de estos reinos, hace rico a su esposo, siendo así que antes le causaba inquietudes.

Por lo tanto, la Iglesia cuando al principio es provocada y mordida por los dientes de los envidiosos, cuando es oprimida, recibe instrucción, cuando se la persigue se dilata. Porque su paciencia, o vence o hace suyos a sus rivales. Dice pues la Escritura Sagrada, muchas hijas reunieron riquezas pero las sobrepujaste a todas (Prov 31, 29). Y no hay que admirarse de que a las herejías se les de el nombre de hijas. Pero debe observarse que se las coloca en lugar de las espinas. Son hijas porque han sido engendradas del semen cristiano y espinas porque se encuentran fuera del paraíso de Dios, esto es, se alimentan fuera de la Iglesia Católica. Y esto no es una conjetura de nuestros sentidos, sino que se prueba por la autoridad de la divina Escritura, pues dice Salomón: como el lirio entre las espinas, así mi amiga entre las hijas (Cant 2, 2).

Y para que no se admiren de que llame hijas a las herejías, inmediatamente las apellida espinas. Las herejías se encuentran en todos los ángulos del mundo o de las naciones; sin embargo la Iglesia Católica, ya que se extiende por todo el orbe, se compone de la sociedad de todos los pueblos. Rectamente, pues, las herejías, en las cavernas en que se ocultan, reúnen en parte riquezas; mas la Iglesia Católica, colocada en la atalaya de todo el mundo, aventaja a todas.

¡Regocíjate y alégrate Iglesia de Dios! Gózate y progresa en un solo Cuerpo de Cristo y ármate de fortaleza y llénate de júbilo, porque tus aflicciones se han convertido en gozo y el traje de la tristeza se cambiará por el de alegría. He aquí que olvidada de tu esterilidad y pobreza, de repente, en un solo parto, engendraste pueblos innumerables para tu Cristo, pues que prosperas con tus pérdidas y creces con tu propio daño.

Y es tan grande tu esposo, por cuyo imperio eres gobernada, que cuando permite que le quiten alguna cosa, te lo devuelve y convierte en amigos a tus enemigos. A la manera que el labrador y el pescador, no consideran pérdida —en atención a sus futuros lucros — el grano con que siembran ni lo que ponen en el anzuelo; de la misma manera no debes ya llorar ni entristecerte, porque temporalmente algunos se hayan separado de ti, puesto que ves que han vuelto a ti con grandes lucros.

Alégrate pues con razón por la confianza de tu fe y de tu cabeza; ten firmeza en la fe, viendo que las antiguas promesas se han cumplido. Pues la misma Verdad dice en el Evangelio: convenía que Cristo muriese por la nación y no solamente por la nación, mas también para congregar en la unidad a los hijos de Dios que estaban dispersos (Jn 11, 51-52). Tu por lo tanto gritas en los salmos a los que odian la paz: glorifique conmigo al Señor alabemos su nombre todos juntos (Sal 34, 4). Y después: cuando se reúnan los pueblos y los reinos y sirvan todos al Señor (Sal 102, 23).

Sabiendo por los vaticinios proféticos, por los oráculos evangélicos y por los documentos apostólicos, cuál es la dulzura de la caridad y el deleite de la unidad, no predicas sino la unión de las naciones, no aspiras sino a la unidad de los pueblos y no siembras mas que los bienes de la paz y de la caridad.

Alégrate, pues, en el Señor, porque no has sido defraudada en tu deseo, puesto que aquellos que concebiste, después de tanto tiempo de gemidos y oración continua, ahora pasado el hielo del invierno, después de la dureza del frío, después de la austeridad de la nieve, repentinamente los has parido en gozo, como un fruto delicioso de los campos y como flores alegres de primavera o risueños sarmientos de vides.

Por lo cual hermanos, conviene alegrarnos extraordinariamente en el Señor y dar gracias a Dios nuestro Salvador, debiendo, en vista de lo que ha pasado, creer que se cumplirá lo que falta. Pues aquel vaticinio del Señor: tengo otras ovejas que no son de este redil y conviene que vengan a mí, de modo que se forme una grey y un solo pastor (Jn 10, 16), vemos que ya se ha cumplido. Por lo cual no hay que dudar que todo el mundo puede creer en Cristo y reunirse en una sola Iglesia; puesto que según testimonio de este mismo Señor leemos en el Evangelio: y se predicara este evangelio en todo el mundo para que sirva de testimonio a todos los pueblos y entonces llegará la consumación (Mt 24, 14). Luego no debemos dudar, si tenemos por verdadero lo que el Señor dijo, que aunque falte alguna parte del mundo o haya algunos pueblos bárbaros a quienes la fe aun no haya llegado, llegarán a creer y a formar una sola Iglesia.

De modo que, hermanos, la bondad ha ocupado el lugar de la malignidad y al error ha sucedido la verdad; y así como la soberbia a causa de la diversidad de lenguas había separado de la unidad a los pueblos, por razón opuesta, la caridad los reunirá por segunda vez al gremio de la hermandad; y así, como un solo Señor es el poseedor de todo el mundo, del mismo modo llegará a formar un solo corazón y una sola alma de semejante posesión. Dice: pídeme, y te daré las naciones como herencia, y como propiedad, los confines de la tierra (Sal 2, 8). Por lo tanto de un solo hombre se propagó todo el género humano, para que supieran todos los que proceden de él, que debían buscar y amar la unidad. El orden natural exige pues, que aquellos que traen su origen de un solo hombre, tengan caridad mutua y que no disientan de la verdad de la fe los que no se separan en el origen natural. Las herejías y divisiones dimanan de la fuente de los vicios. Luego cualquiera que vuelve a la unidad, vuelve desde el vicio a la naturaleza; porque así como es propio de ésta componer una unidad de muchas; del mismo modo es propio del vicio, trastornar la dulzura de la fraternidad.

Regocijémonos pues extraordinariamente, porque los pueblos que habían perecido por deseo de combatir, Cristo los ha reunido en amistad en una sola Iglesia, en la que la concordia de la verdad los ha vuelto a colocar. De esta Iglesia el Profeta vaticinó lo siguiente: mi casa se llamará casa de oración para todos los pueblos (Mc 11, 17); y mas adelante: Sucederá al fin de los tiempos que la montaña de la Casa del Señor será afianzada sobre la cumbre de las montañas y se elevará por encima de las colinas. Todas las naciones afluirán hacia ella y acudirán pueblos numerosos, que dirán; ¡Vengan, subamos a la montaña del Señor, a la Casa del Dios de Jacob! (Is 2, 2-3). El monte es Cristo y la casa del Señor de Jacob es su Iglesia, a la cual dice que acudirán las gentes y los pueblos. Después on otro pasaje se explica así el Profeta: ¡Levántate, resplandece, porque llega tu luz y la gloria del Señor brilla sobre ti! Porque las tinieblas cubren la tierra y una densa oscuridad, a las naciones, pero sobre ti brillará el Señor y su gloria aparecerá sobre ti. Las naciones caminarán a tu luz y los reyes, al esplendor de tu aurora. Mira a tu alrededor y observa: todos se han reunido y vienen hacia ti; tus hijos llegan desde lejos y tus hijas son llevadas en brazos. (Is 60, 1-4)

El cual, a fin de que se supiera lo que había de suceder a la gente y al pueblo que se hubiesen separado de la comunión de una Iglesia, siguió diciendo: porque la nación y el reino que no te sirvan, perecerán, y las naciones serán exterminadas (Is 60, 12) y finalmente en otro lugar se expresó de idéntica manera: mira, llamarás a los pueblos que no conocías y las naciones que no te conocieron correrán a ti. (Is 55, 5)

No hay pues sino un solo Cristo, Señor nuestro, cuya posesión es una sola santa Iglesia por todo el mundo; él es pues la cabeza y ella el cuerpo de quienes se dijo al principio del Génesis: serán dos en una sola carne (Gen 2, 24). Lo que el Apóstol interpreta de Cristo y de la Iglesia. Y queriendo Cristo que de todos los pueblos se forme una Iglesia, es positivo que cualquiera que es extraño a ella, aunque lleve el nombre de cristiano, sin embargo no está comprendido en la reunión del cuerpo de Cristo. La herejía que desecha la unidad de la Iglesia católica, ama a Cristo con un amor adulterino; no ocupa el lugar de esposa sino de concubina, porque la Escritura dice que en realidad serán dos en una sola carne, esto es un Cristo y una Iglesia, en donde la ramera no encuentra tercera plaza.

Cristo dice: una sola es mi paloma mi preciosa. Ella es la única de su madre, la preferida de la que la engendró (Cant 6, 9); acerca de lo cual la misma Iglesia dice: yo para mi amado y mi amado para mí (Cant 6, 3) Busquen ahora las herejías quien las prostituya o de quién se han hecho rameras, porque se apartaron del inmaculado lecho de Cristo, del cual en el grado que sabemos que es preciosa la unión de la caridad, en el mismo debemos alabar a Dios por esta celebridad; porque no ha permitido que los pueblos por quienes se derramó la sangre de su Unigénito, sean devorados fuera de un solo redil por los dientes del diablo.

Llore pues el antiguo ladrón, por haber perdido su presa, porque vemos cumplido el vaticinio del Profeta: Sí, al guerrero se le quitará el cautivo y al violento se le escapará el botín; yo mismo litigaré con tus litigantes y yo mismo salvaré a tus hijos (Is 49, 25). La paz de Cristo destruyó el muro de la discordia, que el diablo había fabricado, y la casa, que por la división se inclinaba a la mutua ruina, es unida por solo Cristo piedra angular.

Digamos, pues, todos: Gloria a Dios en las alturas y paz en la tierra a los hombres de buena voluntad (Lc 19, 38). Porque ningún premio compensa a la caridad. Por lo tanto se antepone a todo goce porque se convirtió en paz y en caridad, de la cual todas las virtudes obtienen su principio. Solo falta que los que componemos unánimemente un solo reino, nos presentemos a dar gracias a Dios, tanto por la estabilidad del reino terreno, como por la felicidad del celestial, para que el reino y la gente que glorificó a Dios en la tierra, sean glorificados por él, no solo en la tierra sino en los cielos. Amen

Beethoven Sonatas

That which I am presently enjoying as I work.

Beethoven in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon, in the evening, anytime!

Genius.

Very much on a higher level!

Apostolicity Tract for Feast of Saint Matthias

Apostolic Succession

The first Christians had no doubts about how to determine which was the true Church and which doctrines the true teachings of Christ. The test was simple: Just trace the apostolic succession of the claimants.
Apostolic succession is the line of bishops stretching back to the apostles. All over the world, all Catholic bishops are part of a lineage that goes back to the time of the apostles, something that is impossible in Protestant denominations (most of which do not even claim to have bishops).
The role of apostolic succession in preserving true doctrine is illustrated in the Bible. To make sure that the apostles’ teachings would be passed down after the deaths of the apostles, Paul told Timothy, "[W]hat you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2). In this passage he refers to the first three generations of apostolic succession—his own generation, Timothy’s generation, and the generation Timothy will teach.
The Church Fathers, who were links in that chain of succession, regularly appealed to apostolic succession as a test for whether Catholics or heretics had correct doctrine. This was necessary because heretics simply put their own interpretations, even bizarre ones, on Scripture. Clearly, something other than Scripture had to be used as an ultimate test of doctrine in these cases.
Thus the early Church historian J. N. D. Kelly, a Protestant, writes, "[W]here in practice was [the] apostolic testimony or tradition to be found? . . . The most obvious answer was that the apostles had committed it orally to the Church, where it had been handed down from generation to generation. . . . Unlike the alleged secret tradition of the Gnostics, it was entirely public and open, having been entrusted by the apostles to their successors, and by these in turn to those who followed them, and was visible in the Church for all who cared to look for it" (Early Christian Doctrines, 37).
For the early Fathers, "the identity of the oral tradition with the original revelation is guaranteed by the unbroken succession of bishops in the great sees going back lineally to the apostles. . . . [A]n additional safeguard is supplied by the Holy Spirit, for the message committed was to the Church, and the Church is the home of the Spirit. Indeed, the Church’s bishops are . . . Spirit-endowed men who have been vouchsafed ‘an infallible charism of truth’" (ibid.).
Thus on the basis of experience the Fathers could be "profoundly convinced of the futility of arguing with heretics merely on the basis of Scripture. The skill and success with which they twisted its plain meaning made it impossible to reach any decisive conclusion in that field" (ibid., 41).

Pope Clement I "Through countryside and city [the apostles] preached, and they appointed their earliest converts, testing them by the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers. Nor was this a novelty, for bishops and deacons had been written about a long time earlier. . . . Our apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry" (Letter to the Corinthians 42:4–5, 44:1–3 [A.D. 80]).

Hegesippus "When I had come to Rome, I [visited] Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus. And after Anicetus [died], Soter succeeded, and after him Eleutherus. In each succession and in each city there is a continuance of that which is proclaimed by the law, the prophets, and the Lord" (Memoirs, cited in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 4:22 [A.D. 180]).

Irenaeus "It is possible, then, for everyone in every church, who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the apostles which has been made known to us throughout the whole world. And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the apostles and their successors down to our own times, men who neither knew nor taught anything like what these heretics rave about" (Against Heresies 3:3:1 [A.D. 189]).
"But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the successions of all the churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul—that church which has the tradition and the faith with which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles. For with this Church, because of its superior origin, all churches must agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world. And it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition" (ibid., 3:3:2).
"Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom, departed this life, having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time" (ibid., 3:3:4).
"Since therefore we have such proofs, it is not necessary to seek the truth among others which it is easy to obtain from the Church; since the apostles, like a rich man [depositing his money] in a bank, lodged in her hands most copiously all things pertaining to the truth, so that every man, whosoever will, can draw from her the water of life. . . . For how stands the case? Suppose there arise a dispute relative to some important question among us, should we not have recourse to the most ancient churches with which the apostles held constant conversation, and learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present question?" (ibid., 3:4:1).
"[I]t is incumbent to obey the presbyters who are in the Church—those who, as I have shown, possess the succession from the apostles; those who, together with the succession of the episcopate, have received the infallible charism of truth, according to the good pleasure of the Father. But [it is also incumbent] to hold in suspicion others who depart from the primitive succession, and assemble themselves together in any place whatsoever, either as heretics of perverse minds, or as schismatics puffed up and self-pleasing, or again as hypocrites, acting thus for the sake of lucre and vainglory. For all these have fallen from the truth" (ibid., 4:26:2).
"The true knowledge is the doctrine of the apostles, and the ancient organization of the Church throughout the whole world, and the manifestation of the body of Christ according to the succession of bishops, by which succession the bishops have handed down the Church which is found everywhere" (ibid., 4:33:8).

Tertullian"[The apostles] founded churches in every city, from which all the other churches, one after another, derived the tradition of the faith, and the seeds of doctrine, and are every day deriving them, that they may become churches. Indeed, it is on this account only that they will be able to deem themselves apostolic, as being the offspring of apostolic churches. Every sort of thing must necessarily revert to its original for its classification. Therefore the churches, although they are so many and so great, comprise but the one primitive Church, [founded] by the apostles, from which they all [spring]. In this way, all are primitive, and all are apostolic, while they are all proved to be one in unity" (Demurrer Against the Heretics 20 [A.D. 200]).
"[W]hat it was which Christ revealed to them [the apostles] can, as I must here likewise prescribe, properly be proved in no other way than by those very churches which the apostles founded in person, by declaring the gospel to them directly themselves . . . If then these things are so, it is in the same degree manifest that all doctrine which agrees with the apostolic churches—those molds and original sources of the faith must be reckoned for truth, as undoubtedly containing that which the churches received from the apostles, the apostles from Christ, [and] Christ from God. Whereas all doctrine must be prejudged as false which savors of contrariety to the truth of the churches and apostles of Christ and God. It remains, then, that we demonstrate whether this doctrine of ours, of which we have now given the rule, has its origin in the tradition of the apostles, and whether all other doctrines do not ipso facto proceed from falsehood" (ibid., 21).
"But if there be any [heresies] which are bold enough to plant [their origin] in the midst of the apostolic age, that they may thereby seem to have been handed down by the apostles, because they existed in the time of the apostles, we can say: Let them produce the original records of their churches; let them unfold the roll of their bishops, running down in due succession from the beginning in such a manner that [their first] bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor some one of the apostles or of apostolic men—a man, moreover, who continued steadfast with the apostles. For this is the manner in which the apostolic churches transmit their registers: as the church of Smyrna, which records that Polycarp was placed therein by John; as also the church of Rome, which makes Clement to have been ordained in like manner by Peter" (ibid., 32).
"But should they even effect the contrivance [of composing a succession list for themselves], they will not advance a step. For their very doctrine, after comparison with that of the apostles [as contained in other churches], will declare, by its own diversity and contrariety, that it had for its author neither an apostle nor an apostolic man; because, as the apostles would never have taught things which were self-contradictory" (ibid.).
"Then let all the heresies, when challenged to these two tests by our apostolic Church, offer their proof of how they deem themselves to be apostolic. But in truth they neither are so, nor are they able to prove themselves to be what they are not. Nor are they admitted to peaceful relations and communion by such churches as are in any way connected with apostles, inasmuch as they are in no sense themselves apostolic because of their diversity as to the mysteries of the faith" (ibid.).

Cyprian of Carthage "[T]he Church is one, and as she is one, cannot be both within and without. For if she is with [the heretic] Novatian, she was not with [Pope] Cornelius. But if she was with Cornelius, who succeeded the bishop [of Rome], Fabian, by lawful ordination, and whom, beside the honor of the priesthood the Lord glorified also with martyrdom, Novatian is not in the Church; nor can he be reckoned as a bishop, who, succeeding to no one, and despising the evangelical and apostolic tradition, sprang from himself. For he who has not been ordained in the Church can neither have nor hold to the Church in any way" (Letters 69[75]:3 [A.D. 253]).

Jerome "Far be it from me to speak adversely of any of these clergy who, in succession from the apostles, confect by their sacred word the Body of Christ and through whose efforts also it is that we are Christians" (Letters 14:8 [A.D. 396]).

Augustine "[T]here are many other things which most properly can keep me in [the Catholic Church’s] bosom. The unanimity of peoples and nations keeps me here. Her authority, inaugurated in miracles, nourished by hope, augmented by love, and confirmed by her age, keeps me here. The succession of priests, from the very see of the apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after his resurrection, gave the charge of feeding his sheep [John 21:15–17], up to the present episcopate, keeps me here. And last, the very name Catholic, which, not without reason, belongs to this Church alone, in the face of so many heretics, so much so that, although all heretics want to be called ‘Catholic,’ when a stranger inquires where the Catholic Church meets, none of the heretics would dare to point out his own basilica or house" (Against the Letter of ManiCalled "The Foundation" 4:5 [A.D. 397]).
NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors. Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004 
IMPRIMATUR: In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted. +Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/apostolic-succession (Catholic Answers)

Justice Antonin Scalia Funeral Mass: Full PBS Video

Go to minute 1:32:30 for Father Paul Scalia's exemplary sermon for the occasion of his dad's funeral.

"We are gathered here because of one Man,
a Man know personally to many of us,
known only by reputation to even more,
a Man loved by many,
scorned by others,
a Man known for great controversy
and for great compassion.
That Man, of course, is
Jesus of Nazareth...

"Dad understood that the deeper he went in his Catholic faith, the better a citizen and public servant he became. God blessed him with the desire to be the country's good servant because he was God's first...

"We are here...to pray for God's inexplicable mercy to a sinner, to this sinner, Antonin Scalia. Let us not show a false love and allow our admiration to deprive him of our prayers,...that he rest in peace...

"We consider our own place in eternity, and whether it will be with the Lord...We cannot depart here unchanged...We must allow this encounter with eternity to change us, to turn us from sin and towards the Lord."

Transcript of Full Sermon

N.B. That Mass, though manifesting the great Catholic American cohesion of 2016, which has come a long way during the past three decades, is still, almost necessarily, the status quo novus ordo. Scalia, as I understand it, was a Latin Mass faithful Catholic. His right to the Solemn High Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form surely would not even have be an option because of the present continued incompetence of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and of Her episcopal patrons regarding the Latin Liturgy, our Catholic heritage! Which neglect is almost universal throughout the Church's Basilicas, Cathedrals and National Shrines worldwide. That is one of the reasons the SSPX gains so much traction, because we are wrongly deprived of much of the beauty of our Catholic cult in favor of something cheap, flippant and unattractive.

In any case, at least we are beyond the twilight of the confused Borders/Bernadin era of Catholic America!

Cf. Answering the Liturgical Heresy

Pope Francis Praises the Courageous, Persistent and Efficacious Anti-Pedophilia Labor of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI

With all of the sensationalism of the Mexico return flight interview of February 17th here is a nugget which has been ignored and needs to be said. Joseph Ratzinger was heroic and very effective in his clean-up of Catholic clergy "filth."

Caso Maciel. Y aquí me permito rendir un homenaje al hombre que luchó en un momento que no tenía fuerza para imponerse, hasta que logró imponer: Ratzinger. El cardenal Ratzinger -un aplauso para él- es un hombre que tuvo toda la documentación. Siendo Prefecto de la Congragación para la Doctrina de la Fe tuvo todo en su mano, hizo las investigaciones y llegó, y llegó, y llegó, y llegó, y no pudo ir más allá en la ejecución. Pero si ustedes se acuerdan, 10 días antes de morir San Juan Pablo II, aquel Vía Crucis del Viernes Santo, le dijo a toda la Iglesia, que había que limpiar las porquerías de la Iglesia, le “sporcizie”. Y en la Misa Pro Eligendo Pontifice – no es tonto, él sabía que era un candidato- no le importó maquillar su postura, dijo exactamente lo mismo. O sea, fue el valiente que ayudó a tantos a abrir esta puerta. Así que lo quiero recordar, porque a veces nos olvidamos de estos trabajos escondidos que fueron los que prepararon los cimientos para destapar la olla.

Caso Maciel. E qui mi permetto di rendere un omaggio all’uomo che ha lottato in un momento in cui non aveva forza per imporsi, finché è riuscito ad imporsi: Ratzinger. Il Cardinale Ratzinger – un applauso per lui! – è un uomo che ha avuto tutta la documentazione. Quando era Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della fede ha avuto tutto nelle sue mani, ha fatto le indagini e è andato avanti, avanti, avanti… ma non è potuto andare più in là nell’esecuzione. Ma se voi ricordate, dieci giorni prima che morisse san Giovanni Paolo II, quella Via Crucis del Venerdì Santo, disse a tutta la Chiesa che bisognava pulire le “sporcizie” della Chiesa. E nella Messa Pro Eligendo Pontifice – non è uno sciocco, lui sapeva di essere un candidato – non gli importò di mascherare la suo posizione, disse esattamente la stessa cosa. Vale a dire, è stato l’uomo coraggioso che ha aiutato tanti ad aprire questa porta. Così che voglio ricordarvelo, perché a volte ci dimentichiamo di questi lavori nascosti che sono stati quelli che hanno preparato le basi per scoperchiare la pentola.

A Patron Saint for the Conversion of the Mohammedans

Tomorrow in Her Martyrology the Church commemorates the martyrdom of Saint Peter Mavimeno at Damascus in the year 743. Some Arabs came to see him while he was ill, and to them he said, 

"Whoever does not embrace the Catholic Christian religion will be damned, as your false prophet Mohammed is,"

whereupon they killed him.

“There is also the superstition of the Ishmaelites which to this day prevails and keeps people in error, being a forerunner of the Antichrist…. From that time to the present a false prophet named Mohammed has appeared in their midst. This man, after having chanced upon the Old and New Testaments and likewise, it seems, having conversed with an Arian monk, devised his own heresy. Then, having insinuated himself into the good graces of the people by a show of seeming piety, he gave out that a certain book had been sent down to him from heaven. He had set down some ridiculous compositions in this book of his and he gave it to them as an object of veneration.”

-St. John Damascene (d. 749), Syrian Arab Catholic monk and scholar. Quoted from his bookOn Heresies under the section On the Heresy of the Ishmaelites (in The Fathers of the Church. Vol. 37. Translated by the Catholic University of America. CUA Press. 1958. Pages 153-160.)

“We profess Christ to be truly God and your prophet to be a precursor of the Antichrist and other profane doctrine.”

-Sts. Habenitus, Jeremiah, Peter, Sabinian, Walabonsus, and Wistremundus (d. 851), martyrs of Cordoba, Spain. Reported in the Memoriale Sanctorum in response to Spanish Umayyad Caliph ‘Abd Ar-Rahman II’s ministers that they convert to Islam on pain of death.

“Any cult which denies the divinity of Christ, does not profess the existence of the Holy Trinity, refutes baptism, defames Christians, and derogates the priesthood, we consider to be damned.”

-Sts. Aurelius, Felix, George, Liliosa, and Natalia (d. 852), martyrs of Cordoba, Spain. Reported in the Memoriale Sanctorum in response to Spanish Umayyad Caliph ‘Abd Ar-Rahman II’s ministers that they convert to Islam on pain of death.

“On the other hand, those who founded sects committed to erroneous doctrines proceeded in a way that is opposite to this, the point is clear in the case of Muhammad. He seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure to which the concupiscence of the flesh goads us. His teaching also contained precepts that were in conformity with his promises, and he gave free rein to carnal pleasure. In all this, as is not unexpected, he was obeyed by carnal men. As for proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he brought forward only such as could be grasped by the natural ability of anyone with a very modest wisdom. Indeed, the truths that he taught he mingled with many fables and with doctrines of the greatest falsity. He did not bring forth any signs produced in a supernatural way, which alone fittingly gives witness to divine inspiration; for a visible action that can be only divine reveals an invisibly inspired teacher of truth. On the contrary, Muhammad said that he was sent in the power of his arms—which are signs not lacking even to robbers and tyrants.”

-St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), Theologian and Doctor of the Church. Quoted from his De Rationibus Fidei Contra Saracenos, Graecos, et Armenos and translated from Fr. Damian Fehlner’s Aquinas on Reasons for the Faith: Against the Muslims, Greeks, and Armenians(Franciscans of the Immaculate. 2002.).

“As we have seen, Muhammed had neither supernatural miracles nor natural motives of reason to persuade those of his sect. As he lacked in everything, he took to bestial and barbaric means, which is the force of arms. Thus he introduced and promulgated his message with robberies, murders, and bloodshedding, destroying those who did not want to receive it, and with the same means his ministers conserve this today, until God placates his anger and destroys this pestilence from the earth...

"(Muhammad) can also be figured for the dragon in the same Apocalypse which says that the dragon swept up a third of the stars and hurled down a third to earth. Although this line is more appropriately understood concerning the Antichrist, Mohammed was his precursor – the prophet of Satan, father of the sons of haughtiness...

"Even if all the things contained in his law were fables in philosophy and errors in theology, even for those who do not possess the light of reason, the very manners (Islam) teaches are from a school of vicious bestialities. (Muhammad) did not prove his new sect with any motive, having neither supernatural miracles nor natural reasons, but solely the force of arms, violence, fictions, lies, and carnal license. It remains an impious, blasphemous, vicious cult, an innovention of the devil, and the direct way into the fires of hell. It does not even merit the name of being called a religion.”

-St. Juan de Ribera (d.1611), Archbishop of Valencia, missionary to Spanish Muslims, and organizer of the Muslim expulsions of 1609 from Spain. Quoted in several locations from his 1599 Catechismo para la Instruccion de los Nuevos Convertidos de los Moros (1P5 translation).

“The Mahometan paradise, however, is only fit for beasts; for filthy sensual pleasure is all the believer has to expect there.”

St. Alfonsus Liguori (d. 1787). Quoted from his book, The History of Heresies and their Refutation.

From Contingent to Necessary Being

Bertrant Russell will help you get into the modern mind but he will not get you out of it!
Typical of modern philosophy.

Without metaphysics philosophy is impossible, you are stuck in an "infinity" of contingent "realities," where consequently the meanings of both infinity and reality are not at all clear.

The modern mind is a maze of riddles without solutions.

Metaphysics is the science of offering solutions to the deepest questions of reality.

The moderns simply propose problems while excluding every reasonable way out.

And it is thus that the conversation ends...

Traditionalism Excludes Direct Personal Knowledge of God

PA R T I

The Unity of God: His Existence and Nature

SECTION I

The Existence of God

CHAPTER 1

The Natural Knowability of the Existence of God

§ 3. Errors Regarding the Natural Knowability of God

1. Traditionalism
Traditionalism, which developed as a reaction against the rationalism of the Enlightenment, proceeds from the view that God, in a comprehensive primitive Revelation, bestowed on man simultaneously with speech a sum of religious and moral basic truths, which have been reproduced in mankind through tradition. General reason (raison générale) or common sense (sens commun) guarantees the unfalsified transference of the original heritage of the Revelation. The individual receives it through oral teaching. Reason cannot achieve of itself the knowledge of the existence of God (scepticism). The knowledge of God is, like every religious and moral knowledge, a knowledge of faith : Deum esse traditur sive creditur. The chief exponents of traditionalism in its strict form are L. G. A. de Bonald, F. de Lamennais and L. E. Bautain. It was represented in a moderated form by A. Bonnetty and G. Ventura. This theory was condemned by Pope Gregory XVI (D 1622/27), Pope Pius IX (D 1649/52) and by the Vatican Council (D 1785 et seq. 1806).
The semi-traditionalists of the School of Löwe (G. C. Ubaghs, † 1875) admit, indeed, that natural reason from the contemplation of natural things can with certainty recognise the existence of God, but only on the supposition that it has already, through instruction, imbibed the idea of God originating from the primitive Revelation. Traditionalism is to be rejected on philosophical and theological grounds : a) Language does not generate concepts, it presupposes them. b) Acceptance of the Revelation presupposes, according to reason, knowledge of the Revealing God, and the certain conviction of the truth of His testimony.

Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Dr. Ludwig Ott, Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books, 1974, 15-16.

P.S. Catholics are believers in God, Jesus Christ, loyally under the living Magisterium of the Church of all time, authoritatively exercised by the Roman Pontiff and all the faithful united to Him. Catholicism is the only legitimate "-ism!" And it does not forbid but rather presupposes and promotes a personal relationship with God with everything that entails including primarily the direct communication between God and the believer.

What's in Rye Whiskey?

Having tasted my first "Rye" Whiskey about two months ago it is by far the best whiskey I have ever tasted because of its hot flavor which absolutely thrilled me! It is like scotch whiskey with chilly deep in it's essence. The one I have is Woodford Reserve which I came to find is only 51% rye. What a let down! I will have to keep on shopping. It is very difficult to find the rye content of rye whiskeys though. Below is a blog post from Serious Eats which has done much research on the subject.

The Serious Eats Guide to Rye Whiskey

COCKTAIL 101 All the basics of the bar.

MICHAEL DIETSCH PROFILE TWITTER FACEBOOK 

I don't know about any of you, but I'm a boozer who likes to drink rye whiskey year 'round. Winter, summer, whatever, no day's too hot to enjoy a nice rye old-fashioned. But normal people, I hear, think of rye as a cold-weather treat. Its spicy, robust character and bone-dry palate certainly help take the edge off a brisk, autumn day. And since we in the Northeast have had several such days lately, it's time to talk all things rye.

While you're Halloween-shopping for sparkle-vampire costumes and candy corn, you're probably ready to pop into your local likker shop for grand old rye whiskey. Today, I'll get you up to speed on rye's origins, its future, what makes it unique, and how it's made.

WHAT IS RYE?

An ear of rye.

According to the United States government, rye whiskey sold in the United States must meet these requirements:

Made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% rye.
Aged in new charred-oak barrels.
Distilled to no more than 160 proof, or 80% alcohol by volume (ABV). In practice, most rye is distilled out at a lower proof than this.
Entered into the barrel for aging at a proof no higher than 125 (62.5% ABV).
Bottled at no less than 80 proof (40% ABV).

Rye needs to be, as noted, 51% rye. The remaining 49% includes other grains. Usually, those grains include corn, wheat, malted rye, and malted barley, in any combination. Some distilleries, though, have experimented with rice, oats, and other grains. In ryes from large producers, though, the proportions are typically about 51% rye, 39% corn, and 10% malted barley.

Like bourbon, the rules on rye require the use of new charred-oak barrels. This allows the barrel to impart more of its own flavors of oak, caramel, and vanilla into the whiskey than you get with Scotch, which generally uses second-hand barrels.

WHAT ABOUT CANADIAN?

Remember the first episode of Mad Men? Joan is lecturing Peggy on her new role as secretary, while giving her a tour of the office. Then ...

Joan: I don't know what your goals are, but don't over-do it with the perfume. Keep a fifth of something in your desk. Mr. Draper drinks rye. Also, invest in some aspirin, some band-aids, and a needle and thread.

Peggy whips out a steno-pad and starts writing.

Peggy: Rye is Canadian, right?

Joan: You better find out.

Why do some people, even today, associate rye whiskey with Canadian? Canadian whisky was traditionally a high-rye product, with a fairly large amount of rye in the mash bill, although not necessarily a majority. It therefore became known in the shorthand as "rye."

However, to call Canadian whisky "rye" is somewhat misleading, for not all Canadian products have a high amount of rye in them—or, to be accurate, any rye at all. I'll cover the world of Canadian hooch in a future post, but for now, it's enough to say that Canadian and rye are not interchangable terms, and nothing I say in this article is generally applicable to Canadian whisky. There are a couple of Canadian ryes that are primarily or entirely made of rye grain, but they're the exception.

HOW RYE WHISKEY IS MADE

Bininger's "Old Times" family rye, distilled in 1848...designed for family & medicinal use

In my article on bourbon whiskey, I covered bourbon's distillation process in depth. Because rye is distilled using the same methods, I won't repeat all that information here; if you want full details, click back to the earlier post. However, I will summarize the process.

Like bourbon, rye starts with a "mash bill," a blend of grains that forms the basis of the whiskey. Rye's mash bill must, by law, consist of at least 51% rye. Most rye whiskeys use malted barley or corn as the other grains.

As with bourbon, ground grain is mixed with water and a bit of mash from a previous distillation, in what's known as a sour-mash process. This introduces yeasts from the previous distillation. In baking terms, it's similar to using a sourdough starter to begin the fermentation process. The sour-mash process has two advantages: first, it creates a consistent environment for yeast from batch to batch, helping ensure that each batch of whiskey has a consistent flavor and aroma with batches that came before. Second, it lowers the pH of the batch, which helps the yeasts in the batch ferment the mash more efficiently, boosting a higher yield of alcohol.

After the sour mash goes in, fresh yeast is added and the mixture is fermented. It then goes through the distillation process and then it's pumped into barrels to be aged. (Again, there's more detail on this in the bourbon post from a few months ago.)

WHAT IS STRAIGHT RYE?

In the bourbon article, I explained the term "straight bourbon." You might not see the term "straight rye" used as often on rye labels as you do in bourbon, but some manufacturers do use the term, so it's worth explaining again what makes a whiskey "straight."

Straight rye must meet all the legal requirements of regular rye, but it has a couple of extra requirements that regular rye lacks:
Straight rye must be aged at least two years. If it is aged less than four years, the bottle must carry an age statement. The corollary to this is, if a bottle labeled "straight rye" carries no age statement, the whiskey is aged at least four years. (Some straight ryes aged longer than four years carry age statements. This is mainly for marketing purposes, but if you prefer older whiskeys, you may find it informative.)
Straight rye may contain no added colorings, flavorings, or additional spirits.
If a straight rye carries an age statement, it carries the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle. In other words, if a distillery blends several barrels of rye to make a batch for bottling, the age on the bottle refers to the whiskey from the youngest barrel. Some whiskey may be older.

HISTORY OF RYE


The early distilling industry in colonial America grew up around rum, starting in the mid-1600s. It would take a hundred years, and the beginnings of revolution, for whiskey to begin to take hold. The true king of Colonial America wasn't named George but Rum, and King Rum held sway in the colonies until the Revolution. A British blockade of colonial ports dried up the supply of molasses from the West Indies, which led distillers to convert their operations to whiskey making.

But farmers found that the barley of their ancestral homes didn't grow well in Colonial soil, and so they turned to crops that grew very well in what became the Eastern United States—rye and corn.

Distilling gave farmers several advantages. First, it allowed them to use up excess grain instead of letting it rot. Next, turning grain into alcohol adds value to the product, and so farmers could get considerably more money for whiskey than for raw grain. Finally, grain is laborious to transport to market, but booze is relatively easy to move around.

The media have made much lately of the beer brewed in the Obama White House, but as you probably know, America's earliest presidents weren't just brewers but also distillers and winemakers. George Washington made rye at his Mount Vernon estate, and recently a group of craft distillers came together to re-create his recipe.

STYLES OF RYE

The rye whiskeys on the market today is all over the map in terms of style and flavor. Some are big and spicy; others rounder and softer. Each distillery making rye is pretty much free to do whatever they like. Large Kentucky distilleries generally use the 51%–39%–10% formula I mentioned earlier—or something like it, anyway. Craft distilleries and bottlers are experimenting with other options, including some that ratchet the rye up to 100%.

Before Prohibition, however, there were distinctly unique, regional styles that characterized much of the rye whiskey on the market. These styles held on for a while even after Prohibition, but with production eventually consolidating in Kentucky, these regional styles eventually died out. It's pretty difficult to find much information about these classic styles; what I'm going to present here is at best a sketch. I invite anyone with more information to leave a comment.

First, though, let me back up a bit and look at Washington's recipe: 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% barley. And I'll compare that to the typical recipe of today: 51% rye, 39% corn, and 10% barley. The rye, of course, provides the flavor backbone of the whiskey. Corn adds sweetness. Barley's role in a bourbon or rye is to contribute the enzymes that convert starches to sugars, and thus drive the fermentation process.

Pennsylvania, a.k.a. Monongahela


Looking upstream along the Monongahela River from Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Originally, Pennsylvania-style rye, also known as Monongahela-style, was a full-on rye bomb of a whiskey, 100% rye. It was a blend of malted and unmalted rye, with no corn or barley. The malted rye served the same role that malting provides in making Scotch; malting prodded along the fermentation process by providing the enzymes that open up the grain kernels and convert starches to sugars.

By the end of the 19th century, though, Pennsylvania distillers moved from malted rye to malted barley in their mash bills. Anywhere from 80–95% was unmalted rye, with malted barley as the remainder. Still no corn.

Some Monongahela-style ryes may have used sweet mash in the fermentation process. In sweet-mash whiskeymaking, only fresh yeast is used, instead of sour mash from previous fermentations. Sweet mash has a higher pH than sour, which means it ferments differently, creating subtly different flavor profiles in the whiskey.

Nevertheless, by the 20th century, all Pennsylvania rye distillers had switched over to the sour-mash process.

The flavor profile would, generally speaking, have been dry and spicy. Since most modern ryes have a larger amount of corn in the recipe than did Monongahela ryes, the Pennsylvania style would have tasted much less sweet than most of today's ryes.

Old Overholt and Rittenhouse were initially Monongahela ryes, but both are produced now in Kentucky, and neither brand maintains the original Monongahela-style recipes and mash bills. Both are excellent ryes, especially at their price points, but don't look to either one if you're hoping to taste history.

The last distillery making Monongahela rye closed in the 1980s. Monongahela rye meets a modern update in Dad's Hat Rye, a whiskey out of Eastern Pennsylvania. Dad's Hat has a mash bill of 80% rye, 15% malted barley, and 5% malted rye. It's aged in small barrels (so-called quarter casks) for six months. The company is also reportedly working on a straight rye that will be aged in standard barrels for at least two years.

Maryland

Softer, rounder, brighter, and more floral than Monongahela, Maryland rye died as a style in the 1970s and early '80s. What I can't seem to find anywhere in my research is what the mash bill of the Maryland style was. I assume from reading about its flavor profile that it was a little lighter on the rye than the Pennsylvania style, and perhaps had some corn in it as well, but still less so than most of today's major rye brands.

Today, the Leopold Brothers distillery is attempting to resurrect a Maryland-style rye. According to a post in the Straight Bourbon forums, Leopold's rye has a mash bill of around 65% rye, 20% malted barley, and 15% corn. The current Leopold bottling is a young whiskey, but Leopold has set aside a portion of its stocks for longer aging, though, and the older rye should be available in about 3 years.
BRANDS OF RYE

This is by no means a complete list of rye brands, but here's a basic guide to major distillers and a sampling of some of the craft ryes available.

MGP/LDI

First, though, here's an interesting fact you might not know about the whiskey industry. In Lawrenceburg, Indiana (in the southeast corner of the state, near its borders with Ohio and Kentucky), sits a massive distillery, formerly owned by Seagrams. Until recently, the facility was known as Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana, or LDI, and you'll find that some whiskey writers still refer to it as such.

The previous owners sold the plant recently, however, and it's now known as MGP Ingredients. MGP stands for Midwest Grain Products, and that gives you an indication of what the company does; it makes food, alcohol (both for beverages and for fuels), and bioplastics. Among its outputs are massive quantities of neutral grain spirits that are used in both vodkas and gins.

MGP/LDI also makes whiskey. Two main products come from its whiskey plant, and there's a strong chance you've tasted them, without realizing it. The first is a high-rye bourbon. This term refers to a bourbon with a large amount of rye grain in the mash bill. From the MGP plant in Indiana, that means the bourbon is 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% malted barley.

The other product is what I'll be talking about here: rye whiskey. The MGP product is 95% rye and 5% malted barley.

As you might know, there are several rye whiskey products on the market right now that contain 95% rye. All of them are made at MGP/LDI; here's a list:

Templeton Rye: The Templeton website tells a fun story about Templeton, Iowa; its rye grain crops; and its bootleg-rye recipe that was popular with Al Capone during Prohibition. And if you read the story without paying close attention, you might believe that Templeton Rye is made in Iowa, the way it was during Prohibition. Now, Templeton Rye Spirits, Inc., has built a distillery in Iowa and is starting to make small amounts of product there using locally sourced grain; I assume this product will eventually be for sale at the distillery itself. But the juice you buy at your liquor store is made in Indiana, not Iowa.

Redemption: This company has two products, a rye and a high-rye bourbon. You can guess where they're made.

Bulleit Rye: This may be the biggest surprise on the list; it's almost certainly the best-known brand name on the list. Bulleit's bourbon is a Bluegrass product, but its rye is all Hoosier.

Willett: The current Willett brand is owned by a company called Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, which despite its name, doesn't do much distilling at present. KBD buys whiskey from other producers and bottles it under various names. Willett's 95% rye bottling is made in Lawrenceburg. KBD does have a distillation plant of its own, though, which it brought back into small production earlier this year. But since whiskey is a well-aged product, you shouldn't look for any KBD-distilled whiskey for several years.

High West: High West, like Willett/KBD, buys its whiskeys from other sources and blends them to spec, to create unique and inventive bottlings. Not all of High West's products originate in Lawrenceburg, but some do, notably its recent Campfire release, a Frankenweenie blend of MGP's rye and high-rye bourbon, along with a small amount of peaty Scotch, from the Scottish mainland. (Andrew Strenioreviewed it in this space; incidentally, I thought Campfire was a fascinating experiment, but I don't seem to have liked it as much as Andrew. I generally love High West's stuff, but this one just didn't quite work for me.)

George Dickel Rye?: Diageo just announced this week that its George Dickel brand of Tennessee whiskey will be unveiling a new rye in November. It's 90 proof and has a mashbill that's 95% rye and 5% malted barley. Sound familiar? There's no specific word that it's made in Indiana instead of Tennessee, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Now, this raises a question: with all these products coming from MGP Ingredients, what's the difference between them? I don't honestly know the answer to that question, and reading the various whiskey blogs, magazines, and websites, I can't seem to find out.

I don't know whether the brands buy unaged stocks (white dog) and age it themselves, to spec. If that's true, there are various aging techniques a brand can use to make a unique product. Some brands are higher proof than others, which means they're less watered down. That's a legitimate difference between brands.

Okay, with LDI/MGP behind us, I'll move on to other distilleries. Most of these are pretty straightforward; all the major brands make and bottle their own products, and all the major brands are roughly of a similar mash bill: 51% rye, 39% corn, 10% barley. I'll make note of any exceptions.

Beam Inc:
Jim Beam Rye—80 proof
Knob Creek Rye—100 proof
Old Overholt—80 proof only; historically, OO was available as a 100-proof product.
(ri)1—92 proof

Heaven Hill:
Rittenhouse—80 proof; 100 proof.
Pikesville Supreme—80 proof

Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (bottler only; these whiskeys are made elsewhere and sold by other companies):
Black Maple Hill—sold at various ages (up to 23 years) and at various proofs
Michter's Rye—various bottlings

Sazerac Company/Buffalo Trace Distillery:
Sazerac—6 year, 90 proof; 18 year, 90 proof
Thomas H. Handy—seasonal release; age and proof vary from release to release; the 2012 release was distilled in 2006 and is bottled at 132.4 proof. Yes, that's 66.2% abv. Watch out for that .2 percent!
Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye—most Van Winkle products are currently made at Buffalo Trace, under contract for Van Winkle. Details vary by year.

Wild Turkey/Austin Nichols:
Wild Turkey—81 proof, 101 proof. The latter is in limited supply at present.
Russell's Reserve—6 years old, 90 proof.

Anchor Distilling—from the company that created Anchor Steam Beer and Junipero Gin, these are some unique and innovative whiskeys, although they're not for everyone:
Old Potrero Straight Rye—pot-distilled; 100% malted rye; 90 proof; aged in charred oak barrels
Old Potrero 18th Century Whiskey—pot-distilled; 100% malted rye; 102.4 proof; aged in uncharred oak

Old Potrero Hotaling's Single Malt Whiskey—pot-distilled; 100% malted rye; 100 proof; aged for 11 years in charred oak barrels

Dad's Hat—90 proof; aged six months; 80% rye, 15% malted barley, and 5% malted rye

Leopold's—86 proof; 65% rye, 20% malted barley, and 15% corn

WhistlePig—100 proof; 10 years old; 100% rye. A Canadian rye from Vermont.

WhistlePig is a new Vermont distillery that developed its first product by purchasing a stock of aged, Canadian rye and then bottling it.

Jefferson's—94 proof; 10 years old; 100% rye. Like the WhistlePig, this is also sourced from an unnamed Canadian distillery. It may be the same whiskey, just with more water added.

Oct 18, 2012 9:45AM

Cf. Also Bourbon Whiskey Review for additional comprehensive reviews of ryes, etc..