Whatever curious and interesting subject strikes my fancy, be it silly or serious, gets posted for your reading pleasure.

Thursday 1 August 2024

Now Available! ~ "Jesus Christ According to the Old Testament" by Fr. Marin de Boylesve

 

 


 

 

My latest translation / publication is now available!

 

 The first English translation of

"JESUS CHRIST According to the OLD TESTAMENT" 

 by Fr. Marin de Boylesve, (1813-1892).

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Originally published at a dark time when France was teetering on the brink of losing its predominance in Europe to Germany, and when the red shirt Risorgimento was underway with Rome under attack, ushering in the loss of the papal states and the bleak period of 'Prisoner Popes' under Bl. Pius IX, “Jesus Christ According to the Old Testament” by Fr. Marin de Boylesve  is a rallying cry of encouragement for the faithful of his time besieged by the ongoing ravages of the anti-religious revolutions, a publication which remains just as relevant and encouraging for us today in our own tumultuous times.


    Examining sacred and ancient history as recorded in the Old Testament, Fr de Boylesve demonstrates where all revolutions truly spring from, that revolutions may promise but never bring true freedom and civilized progress, and that it is only through obedience to God, to His Christ and to His rule that true peace, freedom, and civilization be found.


    The author demonstrates the Universal Kingship of Jesus of Nazareth: that He is truly the promised Messiah of the ancient prophecies, the Christ, that is, the Anointed One, and as God's anointed One, He is King of kings and Lord of Lords, the Lion of the tribe of Judah – the Son of God Whose Kingdom shall have no end. Those who remain true to Christ and His Church, the victory is already assured, and, also imparts a word of warning to persecutors: “Woe to that nation, woe to that king who refuses to submit to Him,” cries Fr de Boylesve, for it has been declared through the prophet Isaiah, “The nation that shall not serve Thee shall perish.”

No matter how dark the times may seem, the loyal followers of the Christ are on the victorious side of history and eternity. 

 Jesus Christ, the King of kings, will bring an end to all disorders.

Published for the first time in English, this new edition features a biography of the author, thirty-nine illustrations, as well as prayers to Christ the King and prayers for the Triumph of the Catholic Faith, this book is a must-have for your spiritual reading.

About the Author: Fr. Marin de Boylesve is best remembered in France for spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart with his writings thereby promoting the cause for the construction of the Sacre Coeur Basilica in Paris.

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 Book Details:

 Batalha Publishers

Publication date - August 1, 2024

5.5 x 8.5 inches

Paperback, 258 pages

ISBN: 978-989-53726-5-2

(Table of Contents further down.)

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WHERE TO ORDER- click on the links.

 

* Amazon (USA + ships internationally).

* Barnes and Noble (USA + international shipping)

* Books-a-Million (USA only)

* Amazon UK (+ Ireland)

* Waterstones UK (+Ireland)

* Foyles UK (+Ireland and some other world destinations.)

*Amazon (Canada)

* McNally Robinson (Canada)

 

~~  You can also use the book details to order from you local bookstore!

 

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More About the Book - TABLE OF CONTENTS



About the Author 9

About this Edition 21

The Reign of Christ 23

God … 24

The Angels … 27

The World 30

Man … 33

The God-Man … 34

Lucifer … 37

Michael … 40

The Serpent … 45

The Two Camps … 51

Babel … 57

Civilization … 61

The Great Nation … 71

He Will Supplant … 82

The Lion of Judah … 86

Pharaoh … 98

Moses … 100

How the Pharaohs End Up … 105

How Revolutions End Up 121

The Star of Jacob … 126

A Prophet Like Moses … 131

King by Divine Right … 136

The Sacrifice … 138

The Triumph … 145

The Hebrews and the Greeks … 153

Royalty … 156

Institutions and Mankind … 157

Divine Intervention 158

David … 161

Once Again – Civilization … 163

The Just One … 167

Emmanuel … 171

The Revolution and the Church … 177

The Saviour … 183

The Patient One … 191

To Serve or Perish … 194

He is Alone … 199

All is Lost … 204

In the Time of Nebuchadnezzar … 208

The Four Metals 212

The Four Animals … 215

The Messiah … 220

The Agreement between the Prophets ...  223

He Must Reign … 235



APPENDIX



A Prayer to Christ the King … 239

  A Short Prayer to Christ the King … … 239

Prayer for the Conversion of Sinners

            and the Liberty and Exaltation

            of the Church … 240



Consecration of the Human Race

                to the Sacred Heart

                by Pope Leo XIII … 240

Prayers Revealed to Olive Danzé:

                Sr. Marie of Christ the King


  1. Prayer to Merciful Jesus … 242

  2. Prayer to Christ the King,

    Prince of Peace, Master of Nations 243

  3. A Prayer Said by Sr Marie of the Cross … 244


Prayer for the Triumph

of the Catholic Faith … 245

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***  If you like this, you will love my other books!

Visit my Site! Click here.

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"Books, Babble and Blarney" Past Posts - TABLE OF CONTENTS


 

 

Friday 13 October 2023

My "Rainbow" Writing Hack - A Simple Trick to Get Past the "Blip-ity Blank"

 


 

 

I am sure this happens to a lot of you writers out there.


You just get a great idea for a blog post, or, you have an idea for a book. You eagerly fire up your computer and open the word processor to begin jotting down the first ideas, or, to get the rough draft started however so rough, when almost imperceptibly at first, as you stare at the blank page, your motivation to begin flexing those fingers and have them dance across the keys ebbs, then digressively drains away with each successive blinking of the that vertical blip called the cursor.


It is aptly called that, certainly seems like a 'curser'. You feel like every good idea and just got sucked right out of you, like some vampiric curse is draining you of your author-powers when a moment ago you were all revved up and ready to reveal your imagination and thoughts into the visible realm via the written word.


Now, trying to nail down that very first sentence let alone the first paragraph becomes an energy- sapping ordeal, your inspiring thoughts seem morphed into the strange sensation felt during those debilitating nightmares when you try to run, but your legs move with a lumbering stumble as though your were wading through a field of wet cement bogged up to your knees.


Then the doubts set in.


'Will this sound good?' 'Is this just good in my head, but will be boring to everyone else'? 'Wow, this story could take a thousand directions. Maybe I need to think about this...'


The dreaded bane of a writer next makes its presence felt – procrastination.

 

 'Maybe I need to do more research', you ask yourself, (the internet begins to beckon....) 

 

 Worse yet, impostor syndrome. 'Gasp! Am I really a writer at all?'


Before you realize it, the ideas just don't want to come out, or, you are now unsure if it was such a good idea, and struggle to put things into a visible, legible form. You had a whole outline in your head, and here you are, staring at a blank page – for hours!


And / or, you got lured into 'doing more research', your hours spent Googling diddly-squat having fallen prey to the pretext your were being productive as long as you were researching, but basically, doing anything to escape the white brick wall you were banging your head against, hoping you just might get your elusive writer's mojo back.


The horror!


Why does this happen?


Frankly, I don't know. I wish I did. I've wasted so much time sitting staring at a screen because of this curse.   But, it must be something that 'clicks off' in our brains the minute we sit down to a blank, white page, especially when writing on a computer. That's my guess, anyway.


This may not seem related, I once read an article theorizing why we tend to forget what tasks we go to do the minute we enter another room, or, go up or down the stairs. I wish I could find the article, but the gist of what I remember is, our brains are set to remember actions in specific 'patterns', and the theory was that for some strange reason, 3D shapes could affect these patterns. When we go through the rectangle frame of a door, or rise up to another level of the house, or down, we could be hitting a certain type of visually activated 'reset' switch in the brain, which then resets short-term memory. I guess it is like when our computer gets jammed and simply turning the thing on and off resets it and clears the cache. Maybe our brain gets bogged down with mundane tasks, does a bit of a stall and then resets when it goes through the door frame? Interesting concept.


I've also read articles on how colours can affect mood, productivity and spending habits, you probably have as well trying to build a website people will engage with, design an appealing book cover, or effective advertising, packaging, etc. The interesting thing I read is that certain paper colours can help you retain information you are reading, crème and yellow paper works best for this if I remember correctly. I always wondered why I liked legal pads for doodling, and crème colour book pages over white paper when reading ....


A thought then came to me – perhaps I am getting mentally closed off by just the blank white background? Starting a new blank page, even when already well into a story just seemed to halt progress on getting words out and down, some times seemed worse than others. Psychologically the plain, rectangular white block in front of me could be suggesting the 'emptiness' of 'nothing', or, the strange impression everything I write is starting from 'scratch', even when I have already progressed pages into a draft. So, it was possible the colour was also 'resetting' the brain to feel like this.


Intrigued with the idea of the brain resetting itself, and, wondering if colours could influence this during the writing process, I thought why not try experimenting with changing the page colour

 I was going into a particularly dark area of my second novel Vocation of a Gadfly when I thought of it, so, why not pick something that was matching the 'feel' of the scenes I was trying to describe and see what happens?

At that point I chose a dark grey. Yes, dark grey. 

 

But, isn't the colour more depressing? Won't it make things worse? Hey, the scene I was working on features an half-abandoned, gruesomely nefarious insane asylum after all. No harm in experimenting ....


I didn't think it would help much if at all, it was just a change of page background, but words were coming out, the colour helped keep me in the 'feel' of things, it made it harder for the dreaded 'procrastinating screen stare' to settle. When the mood changed in the story, I did it again, switched the page background to a different colour. Creme, light yellow, tan, even light pink and sky blue, depending where the plot went. When my document program didn't have a preset colour that was 'just right' I used the 'colour picker' and played around with the rainbow of colours until I got a shade that matched the mood of the scene, or, was depicted the mood I was aiming for.


Could something so simple do the trick? Huh. I guess so. I certainly got my draft finished with less 'screen stare' getting in the way!


Now, I am sharing my little 'rainbow' draft hack with you.

If you haven't already stumbled upon this idea yourself, try it, you may be surprised. I was.


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 PAST BLOG POSTS, click here.

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If you like my blog, you will LOVE my books!

Visit my site, click here.

 







Tuesday 2 May 2023

Guess what everyone?

 Hi everyone!

Guess what?  I've figured out how to publish on KINDLE - so what's now on Kindle?

My two novels of course!

"BRUSHSTROKES of a GADFLY" - a biting tale of art and love in the Big Apple.

and the sequel,

 "VOCATION of a GADFLY" - creepy things happen here, things go bump in the night: if you want to jump straight into the scary stuff, this can be enjoyed as a stand-alone book.

Click on the titles for book info and the Kindle links!

 


 

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Check out the rest of my books, click here.

 



Thursday 1 December 2022

"The First and Second Joseph"

 

 

Announcing the latest book release!

 


 

 "The FIRST and SECOND JOSEPH"

Another spiritual classic by Fr. Marin de Boylesve written in honour of St. Joseph, translated for the first time into English. 

 

 If you wish to increase your trust, love and devotion for St. Joseph, this beautiful collection of thirty-one meditations is a must-have for your spiritual reading collection. Noted for his book, 'Little Month of Saint Joseph', Fr. Marin de Boylesve, S.J. (1813-1892) shows in his next set of reflections how the greatness of St. Joseph was foretold through the life of the favourite son of Jacob. God blessed the first Joseph of the Old Testament with so many graces, great power and authority, but this was only a prelude to what He had prepared for the second Joseph of the New Testament, the hidden, humble son of David chosen to be the foster father of His beloved Son and the spouse of His Immaculate Mother.


    In addition to the meditations, there are several accounts of the miraculous interventions of this great saint, also thirty-three sacred illustrations and various pious devotions are included. Are you in need of a great heavenly intercessor to safeguard your spiritual and temporal interests? “Go to Joseph, and do all that he shall say to you.” (Gen. 41:55)


About the Author: Fr. Marin de Boylesve is best remembered in France for spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart with his writings thereby promoting the cause for the construction of the Sacre Coeur Basilica in Paris.


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ORDER your copy using the links below!

Batalha Publishers

Size: 5" x 8"

ISBN:  978-9895372621

174 Pages

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Where to order, click the links:

 

* Amazon USA (+ international shipping)

* Barnes and Noble (USA + international shipping) 

* Books-a-Million (USA only)

 

* Amazon UK (+ ships to Ireland)

* Waterstones (UK + ships to Ireland)


* Amazon Canada

* McNally Robinson - Canada

 

~~~ You can also order it at any brick and mortar bookstore!

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 Add it to your Goodreads page.


The First and Second Joseph
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More About the Book:

 

Table of Contents


About this Edition ………………………… 9

About the Author ………………………… 10


Part I: 31 Days of Meditations:

Joseph of the Old Testament

and

Joseph of the New Testament … Pages 25 to 85



Part II : The Power of St. Joseph

Demonstrated by

Recent Events ……… 86


~ CONVERSIONS:


1 ~ Abjuration …………………… 86

2 ~ A Family Man ……………… 87

3 ~ A Protestant ……………… 88

4 ~ An Illness …………………… 90

5 ~ A Freemason ……………… 91

6 ~ An Elderly Man …………… 91

7 ~ An Old Impious Man …… 92

8 ~ Go Fetch the Priest ……… 95

9 ~ Three Conversions ……… 98



~ TEMPORAL FAVOURS:


10 ~ A Calmed Storm …………… 100

11 ~ A Child is Healed ………… 102

12 ~ Health Strengthened …… 103

13 ~ A Parish Preserved ……… 104

14 ~ Affairs Settled …………… 105

15 ~ A Healing …………………… 106

16 ~ Prosperity of

a Boarding School ……… 107

17 ~ The Garibaldians and

the Jesuits ………………… 108

18 ~ A Demon Cast Out ……… 110

19 ~ Moral and Physical Healing 112

20 ~ Hope Against All Hope …… 112



~ ST. JOSEPH AND THE DYING:


21 ~ The Pious Magistrate …… 116

22 ~ The Dying Religious …… 118


Appendix


Apparition of St. Joseph

to the Breton Stigmatist,

Marie-Julie Jahenny ……… 121


Devotion to the Seven Joys

and the Seven Sorrows

of St. Joseph ………… 130


Prayer to St. Joseph

for a Soul in Purgatory …… 139

A Novena to St. Joseph ………… 141


Saint Joseph,

Dear Guardian of Mary … 144

Prayer to St. Joseph

in Any Great Necessity … 146


Prayer of Confidence

in St. Joseph ……………… 146


The Chaplet of St. Joseph ……… 148


Indulgenced Prayers to St. Joseph:


~ Indulgences granted during March

for Devotions said

in Honour of St. Joseph ……… 150

~ Novena in Honour of St. Joseph,

Spouse of Mary Most Holy …… 151


~ The Memorare to St. Joseph ……… 151


~ Prayers in Honour of St. Joseph

for Those in Their Last Agony … 152


~ Act of Consecration to St. Joseph … 153


~ Prayer of St. Pius X

to St. Joseph the Worker ……… 155


~ Short Invocations to St. Joseph …… 156


~ Prayer for Purity ……………………… 157


~ Prayer to St. Joseph,

Patron of the Universal Church 157


~ Prayers for

St. Joseph's Intercession ……… 158


~ Short Prayers to the Holy Family … 160

 

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Past Blog Posts:  Table of Contents