ROSARY & RIFLE

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.