ROSARY & RIFLE
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ROSARY & RIFLE 2022
The badlands of Eastern Oregon. Desolation, solitude, silence. Dust, sagebrush, despair. The creek beds are dry and the sky is a smokey haze. The howls of the bygone Sahaptin can be heard soaring through the wind following the sounds of booming cannons thundering above the foothills of the Blue Mountains. Oregon Trail wagon ruts and abandoned Virtue Flat gold mines cross and dot this remote high-desert landscape.
This is a place for outlaws.
We sat around a crackling fire toasting to the Creator, the Saints, Angels, ancestors and to each other. We made oaths of strength, loyalty, honor, and brotherhood. We chased moments of laughter and tears with salutes and edification.
Following Lauds, we hit the range to drill defensive and combat fundamentals, breaking to pray the Chaplet of Saint Michael. Through hails of gunfire and dynamic movements we grew tighter with our weapons and as a fighting unit. We ran our gear and equipment through tests, and then convoyed back to camp for Vespers.
God watched as grim, armed men of Saint Michael and the War Angels, and of Our Lady of Peace offered blood, sweat, and tears on the ancient alkali road to the Pacific, where Cayuse warriors once stood their ground against Blue Coats. The fire of the Hospitallers, Crusaders, Conquistadors and Cristeros lived on in this brief white martyrdom. And for a moment, we were everything contemporary unholy radicals wholly despise: Catholic Outlaws.
Boucicaut Method
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Our Muscular Catholicism/Physical Culture program is best seen through the lens of a hyper-traditionalist Medievalism, or the fitness method of the Crusader Knight Boucicaut - Jean II Le Mangre.
A short biography will show how he is (alongside the Earl of Pembroke William Marshall) the epitome of the Crusading Warrior Poet.
Born in 1366, the son of Jean I Le Manger, Boucicaut became a page at the court of Charles IV accompanying his father in campaigns against the Normans (at the time most of France was under the Norman yoke of the kings Henry); at 16 he was knighted on the battlefield by Louis II. At 17 he began his quest across Europe as a sell-sword fighting for various noble causes. In 1384 he fought against the Moors in Spain (part of the wider, centuries long Reconquista); he fought in France during the almost constant petty skirmishes among the French, Normans, and English; he fought in the Balkans and traveled to Palestine and the Crusader States. During his travels through the Holy Land he and his knight companions composed a body of poetry, the Livre des Cent Ballades, celebrating the virtues of the chivalrous life in the service of kings and ladies.
In 1390, during a truce with England, Boucicaut set up a tournament in Saint-Inglevert with his friends, jousting against knights from across the region and over the Channel. He was renowned by this point as the embodiment of chivalry both for his famed song and physical prowess.
In 1391 he fought in Prussia once again and returned to France to be named Marshal (a highly honorific title vaguely similar to what would today be a starred general in the military, or the Minister of Defense); he fought in the French-Hungarian crusade against the Ottomans which was brutally defeated at the Battle of Nicopolis, where he was taken hostage and ransomed (as most noblemen were).
Upon his return to France he founded a chivalric order (after the fashion of the older crusading orders) Emprise de l’Escu vert a la Dame Blanche, heavily influenced by the popularity at the time of courtly love poets (Amor). He did not leave behind his animosity towards the Ottomans and fought again in 1399 aiding the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus.
Throughout the first decade of the 1400’s he fought in various petty struggles of the French in the Mediterranean against the Venetians and other island kingdoms (Cyprus, etc.). Finally at the infamous Battle of Agincourt in 1415 he commanded the French vanguard and was captured by the English, dying unceremoniously in Yorkshire in 1421. He is buried in the Cathedral of Tours in his family’s chapel under the epitaph “Grand Constable of the Emperor and the Empire of Constantinople”. He may have lived a life in service of his beloved nation, France, but he died and was interred under the banner of Crusader.
Boucicaut’s infamy on and off the battlefield was credited with his rigid exercise regime which was exceptionally well structured for the time. He credited his daily training program with his success in the charge against real foes and the joust against rivals. In his biography he lists 10 exercises which were the core of his training:
Jumping onto a horse in full armor
Running or Marching for long efforts
Striking/swinging a heavy mace or blacksmith hammer
Somersaulting in armor
Dancing in armor
Training with weapons in armor
Climbing in between two close walls in armor
Lifting, carrying and throwing stones (his favorite pastime as a youth)
Punching mud and stone to harden his fists
Climbing the underside of a ladder in chainmail, which he removed at the top whilst dangling from one arm
It doesn’t take a combat expert to see that Boucicaut had developed what we would now see as a solid cross-training plan utilizing all fuel systems (cardio, lactic threshold, and creatine phosphate). We can copy this method with relative ease with very few minor modern adaptations:
Gymnastics vaulting, box jumps, or wall jump-over in weighted vest
Running or rucking with weight
Mace swings or sledgehammer-tire slams
Calisthenics, animal movement, grappling drills/sparring (BJJ rolling)
Aerobics workout in weight vest (1980’s dance style for extra points)
Combat/defensive rifle & firearms training in armor & full kit
Rope climbing in weight vest
Weightlifting; core barbell lifts, or heavy dumbbell/kettlebell exercises
Striking pads & heavy bag work to harden fists
Weighted pull-ups or monkey bars in weight vest
Cucullus Non Facit Monachum
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The path to the Grail is peppered with noticeable landmarks and the quest is riddled with rites of passage, some formal and some without ceremony. Between these milestones are weeks and months of tedious training and preparation – the banal day-in and day-out grinding. Everyone’s first steps on the path are their own. Sir Galahad was already one of the greatest knights of King Arthur’s court when he began his quest, after pulling the sword from the stone – an impossible feat that brought him even more fame. Sir Percival was a poor farm boy who had never seen a knight nor stepped foot inside a church and, like most of us, started at the bottom. Sir Bors landed somewhere in between, born into the peerage but somewhat of an outcast who always had to prove himself. With trouble always threatening him, he could’ve gone either way.
Each of them had their own beginnings and early challenges. They certainly had their own unique strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures – each of them much different from each other. Yet none of them could have achieved the Grail without first being men of combat, and second, men of Christ. These are the two requirements, and the book-ends that hold everything else in place. No amount of wisdom, talent, experience, or otherwise is useful on the path for one who wishes to achieve the success of Grail Knight without first being in the business of waging war and doing so in the service of God.
Again, this is not metaphorical, nor merely a social identity. Since the beginning of time, for us, it was never acceptable to be a warrior “at heart” but we must be acknowledged by higher ranking Officers and must be employed as warriors. No military branch awards service medals to those who “almost joined.” We are not knights because we want to be and therefore, we stated it in our social media bios. We are knights because we are called to be, and we were made such by those who came before us in the branch, agency, or the order we find ourselves serving in. Anything less is unacceptable.
Since the beginning, it was never acceptable to be a lukewarm Christian, but we must be acknowledged and blessed by our Bishops and Priests, and we must complete all the necessary rites and rituals. No Catholic parish will knowingly allow one who is not baptized and confirmed to receive the Eucharist. We are not Catholics because we appreciate the aesthetics and the culture, so we post photos of the Saints and of Gothic cathedrals. We are Catholics because we believe, are called to be, and we were made such by God and the successors of the Apostles. Baptized, Confirmed, and documented. Anything less is unacceptable.
We went from the grappling mats to the chapel, and from striking pads to lectures on mental illness and disease. 12 of us bonding over weapons tactics, medical training, and lessons in the history of our Order. We spent the summer and autumn of 2021 leaving our public service or other agencies to patch over into the ranks of modern hospitaller guardians – armed men defending our Catholic sites, serving those of all walks of life who come in need of healing and protection. Our weapons and armor blessed by the Priests, our oaths given before Captains and Chaplains; certifications and badges presented to us by Sergeants-at-Arms. We pray like warriors and fight like monks. This is what we meant when we said “Ora et Pugna”; this is where two things become one and we can be forged into Grail Knights. It was time to hoist the black flag and so we did. Anything else is unacceptable.
There are countless adages and expressions that we’ve all heard which propose the idea that “it’s not about what you do, but who you really are on the inside.”
It’s all cathartic nonsense and heartwarming poppycock.
Having the heart of a knight is critical as we begin our quests and it continues to develop as we trek down the path toward the Grail Keep. But we are not champions, soldiers, Vikings, cowboys, crime-fighters, patriots, or part of anything iconic or meaningful merely because we say we are or believe it’s who we are deep down. We must be doers. We must have heart, we must have faith, and we must give feet to these things and take them down the path. We must walk the walk. We must demonstrate that we’ve met the requirements, and we must be recognized by those who hold authority. Only then have we become Grail Knights.
Clothes don’t make the man. A beard doesn’t make one a philosopher. You are not simply because you claim to be. The cowl does not make the monk.
We know you have it in you. Are you ready to become?
Ora et Pugna
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Pray and Fight.
One year ago we took a vow of silence. We remained silent about social issues as we understand that we are not of this world and the current societal crazes and problems were not taking place in our world. We remained silent about political issues as we understand that our Kingdom is in heaven first. While everyone else was speaking out, we remained diligent in our duties and sacrifices.
Six months ago we called for Flagello Corporis - an increase in penance and intensifying of mortification through physical training on the grappling mats and in the power racks in our cloister gyms, dungeon basements, and grotto garages shut up behind blackout curtains and hidden away from evil governors and their rats. While everyone else was trying to organize, we remained steadfast in our self-flagellations as hermits and reclusus.
We’ve watched as the world has continued to make their problems our problems. We’ve watched as society burned our churches across many nations and harassed our people. We’ve watched as politicians have continued to attack the freedoms and dignity of our churches, hospitals, facilities, institutions, and our people. We’ve watched scornfully at our people as they’ve scattered and made their feeble attempts at peace-loving resolutions. But we realize that this is why throughout history knights exist.
They’ve called us foolish, so starting today we will confound the wise. They’ve called us molesters, so now we will plunder and violate their mind, body and spirit. They’ve called us terrorists, so going forward we will be the holy terrors.
We’ve prayed, “…Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” and we know that "The gates of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” So we will be fighting, grim armed men of Saint Michael. And as they continue to come for us, they will be left with mouthfuls of broken teeth.
We wrote nearly two years ago that the time for war and hate was drawing near. It’s now time to hoist the flag.
We’ll be seeing you on the streets.
☩
We walk the earth, but are not of the earth.
We are men, but do not follow ways of men,
Only the ways of those who followed Christ;
Martyrs, outlaws, crusaders, questing knights,
Monks, protectors, defenders, soldiers, men.
Ancient monastic orders and brotherhoods.
The Vendee, Papal Zouaves, Spanish Carlists.
Soldier Saints, men out of step with the world,
But in step to the horns and drums of the Lord.
Clad in chainmail, bearing the Cross, our cloaks
Have been sold and swords now take their place,
Drawn in defense, in righteous and Just War, and
Sheathed in honor, only after we have perished.
The Grail, Skull, and Blade will be our banner.
Pope, Prophet, King; Hermits, Priests, warriors.
Exoteric to esoteric, now gathered as one to fight.
Catholic men wearing the Sacred Heart badge,
Wrapping clenched fists in iron rosary chains,
And facing Green, White and Red Martyrdom.
We band together with the ranks of men passed;
Of those who fought for Christ and with Christ.
The world teems with the hordes of evildoers.
The gaping maw of sin threatens to devour all.
The world raises a rotted fist and its own banner;
One of corruption, chaos, death and destruction.
“A time is coming when men will go mad, and
when they see someone who is not mad, they will
attack him, saying, 'You are mad; you are not like us.”
They are right, we are not, and we never shall be.
Soon even the statutes of men will begin to form
Against us and against God. We will be ostracized,
Classified as terrorists and outlaws, and expatriated.
If we are called these things for trusting God, then
Let it be so. We are Holy Terrors, we are Outlaws
For Christ. We are no longer silent, no longer alone.
We will come from the caves and crypts, and from
The darkest densest forests and most remote deserts.
Pilgrims and penitants, coming from the filth of cities,
From the low and lonesome country homesteads, the
Bunkers, barracks, gymnasiums, dungeons, and the
Rings of pugilism to band together as one, as brothers.
We’ve asked the question, and the Grail Keep is opened.
We’ve made fortresses of our bodies, of our Churches,
And the time has come to set the stones for the fortress
Of our Brothers. The Enemy will attempt to tear down
And breach the walls of of our fortresses, our homes, our
Cities, our parishes, our lives, and the lives of the innocent,
But we shall not falter, nor fail, nor rout, or run. We set
Our faces like flint and resolve as iron, for God is with us.
Who can be against us? Ora et Pugna. Get the Grail.
- SJK
Grail Quest on Good Friday
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Praefatio
And when the hour came for the Grail
to be filled and emptied to the dregs,
It came upon them as the swiftness of
Death, descending. Thus, the twelve
Scatter like sheep, falling away in fear.
The solitary shepard, now abandoned,
Face towards the Father, shall conclude
The Quest to Calvary, begun as birthright;
From Gethsemane to Golgotha. Neo-Adamic
blood shed upon old bones, now redeemed.
Primus et Secundus
The hands that:
Worked, bled,
Rose the dead,
Calmed the seas,
drove out demons.
Two nails, forged
In the fury of men.
Two wounds, bore
for the sake of them.
Tertius et Quartus
The feet that:
Wandered, trod
In deserts, on
Fronds laid
Before Him.
Two more nails
In two more limbs.
We find the Grail
That we may live.
Quintus
The lanced side;
The Saving blood,
And water of life
Freely owed.
Freely given,
Though his
Heart was
Truly riven.
Et Sextus?
For those who
Bore stigmata
True, there
Exists another
Wound. The
Shoulder that:
Bore the Cross
Tore His flesh,
Laid bare His
Bones; the
Final test.
A nal breath, consummatum est.
The veil tore, as was professed.
And as Longinus’ eyes truly saw
The soldiers stood, struck with awe.
“Truly, this man was the Son of God!”
By: Samuel J. Kuehn
samwrites780657520.wordpress.com
Never Give Up Your Back
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The World does not exist in our world.
Yes, we choose denial over the decaying corpse of the “free” world. Did you vote for the latest savior? Which one – the racist, or the retard? Was it the most exciting time of year? Have you thanked everyone for the piles of gewgaw that were Amazon’d straight to your door this “Holiday Season” as you sheltered in? Did you sign up for Mass? Did you receive in the hand? Did you wear your mask over your nose?
Don’t get us wrong – we have no problems with hands and noses. Hands and noses are fine. We have found that when made into fists, hands will crush noses. Anglers and trawlers are netting masks out of the Willamette by the dozens. How long did it take to smell the bullshit? Who has the upper hand? How much of the game did Christ have to play? At what point did He turtle up or tap out? Was it really on the Cross when He defeated death? Have you given up your back?
Tyranny is the only logical premise now for a “land of the free” that spans a continent and hosts over 300 million individuals. Who is in denial?
A Monarch is on the horizon. The rightful King of both the Roman and Greek and his warriors – the Cruciferi, those who continue ascent to Percival levels are stepping into formation now, and we all have a tyrant to fight. God’s method of delivering justice against evil dictators has remained steady since the beginning of time. They make of us beasts. But may we be reminded that our duty is penance. Through penance all the strength, skill and wisdom required for battle is become.
We have explained this. The coming Emperor does not require from us more brutality, for he carries the flaming sword. But we must trudge through blood-soaked streets weaving around writhing bodies without grimace or twitch. He does not require from us more tenderness, but we must weep during Confession and prayer. We enter a new age of warrior poets, monks in chainmail, and cultured thugs – David’s Mighty Warriors, Knights of the Round Table, Paladins of Charlemagne, Crusaders and Themata. We are salted around the globe like Tannerite setting the world ablaze. But we are not here to change the World. The World does not exist in our world. Never give up your back.
