THE TRUE LIFE STORY OF THIS WEBMASTER

“It is how a captain feels in the middle of the ocean. He watches the sky and the sea;
he knows a storm is brewing behind the horizon and that he can do nothing to stop it.
But what he can do is prepare, secure, be on alert and pray for protection.

When you read this brief life story you may also understand the impact a holy priest like Monsignor Moss made on our family.
From the very first moment we met him more than 22 years ago we were able to share with him our experiences in how the Holy Mother the Church in Europe ended so rapidly into the deep end.
He was fully aware of what we were talking about and although he preached about this extreme danger almost on a weekly basis from the pulpit he also knew how difficult it was to reach the hearts of people in a rural community who feel often protected and far away from what is happening on the outside.

I was born in The Hague, Holland in 1930. My dear parents were devout Catholics and raised their children in the faith by simply being good examples. My brother and two sisters were between 2 and 9 years older.
The oldest sister and my brother married, the youngest sister became a Franciscan nun.
We lived in the Western suburbs of The Hague and our parish church, The Holy Family Church, a large city church was completed in the late 1920's, just before I was born. It was a truly beautiful church.
                                     
Our pastor was as it was called in these years a "building pastor" which meant that he had to go out to get the funds to build the church. He would start going from door to door years ahead of the construction. This way he also got to know his future parishioners and could also talk with them about his plans for the new parish and the planned Catholic schools. Our parish was indeed brand new because it was located at the outskirts of the city which area was rapidly growing.

But in the 30's the people lived in hard times.  The depression hit everybody, many people were out of work, many people were poor, lots of worries about the future and growing unrest in Europe. But what little they had, the people gave generously because they had one desire: They wanted their own church and Catholic schools because once the church was built the next step would be to build the Catholic schools. He built an elementary school for the boys, then an elementary school for the girls (included a kindergarten), followed by a High School for the boys and a High School for the girls. Once this was done he built a parish hall. Then last but not least a home for the elderly where retired people, mainly widows and widowers, could live in their own apartment but enjoyed all the services and had their own chapel. The nuns looked after them.
All of it was already completed when I went to school in 1937 at age 7.

Three times a week we had a children’s Mass before school. When we arrived both the brothers and the nuns were already there, waiting. They made sure to be a good example. I went to the brother school and my wife had the nuns on the elementary school. The teachers were strict but fair and had only one intention and that was to give you a good Catholic education, to teach you manners, respect, discipline and self discipline, to help you grow in your faith and get you ready to become a responsible adult .
And in all of that the parents would fully back them up, so it worked from both sides.
                                                                  
Both my wife and me belonged to the same parish. We married in 1964 still with a Traditional Latin High Mass with 3 priests. Also our sisters married in this church.
She was also the last stop for our mothers and my father on the way to the cemetery. 
How were we blessed with our priests. Daily we had 4 Masses, on Sundays and Religious Holydays  6.
On Sundays it was a good idea to be in church 10 minutes before Mass started otherwise it was standing room only.
The big church was always packed. It had a gorgeous organ and a beautiful choir. If you wanted to serve as an altar boy you would end up on a long waiting list because there were so many applicants.
We had a congregation for men above 18 and one for the teenagers. The same for women. They attended church services once a week. They both had their own spiritual director, one of the parish priests.
Three times daily, in the morning, at lunchtime and in the evening the bells would ring for the Angeles.

Although we were still married in the Traditional Rite two years later in 1966 this was discontinued when the the High altar was replaced by the table. Soon after that it all started to go down-hill and fast. I had to think back to my early years when I was on elementary school. One of my best friends  who was a protestant let us have a quick peak in their protestant church close to our home and I can still remember how cold and bare it looked to me.  A big city church with only a table in front, that was about it. Our parish church with that beautiful altar with the tabernacle in the center and the burning lamp, the flowers, the candles, the beautiful statues, etc. etc. the warmth of it all. It was such a big difference! Then when the table appeared in our church it gave me truly a very strange feeling and I could not help thinking back to these years.
Nobody had foreseen that often this "change" would push slowly but gradually Christ Himself out of the sanctuary or at best gave Him second place. Often the "High Chair" was placed center stage so the priest could "preside" in the center - with his back to the tabernacle. Oh, well, in cases where the faithful protested the tabernacle was put to the side in the sanctuary but later in many churches it disappeared altogether and was moved to some side chapel.
This was hard to swallow. Christ received second place or was moved out of the sanctuary, His own House!

Then also suddenly the crucifixes with the "risen" Christ started appearing. We all know that Christ did not die that way, He was nailed to the cross and died in agony and unbelievable pain. He was scourged and crowned with thorns! He was covered with blood over His whole body. That is the cross we MUST face. The cross is a constant reminder that He died for our sins. Then on Easter Sunday He rose from the dead but not before that !
But the thought behind that cross with the "risen Christ" was that the resurrection makes people feel so much happier. But get this: The last one is not present without the first one ! It was all so deceiving.
Just remember this: At that time I was already 36 years old which counts for almost half of my present age.

We used to have a pastor and 4 to 5 chaplains, all good and holy priests, but suddenly new priestly calls started falling dramatically and within a few years one seminary after the other was closing. Over the years these seminaries had delivered devout priests with a high level of religious education ( a full 12 years study ) and the Latin language was the core language of that education. That language was detrimental for studying scripture. Now most of that seems to be lost. I used to have endless conversations with my previous pastor some 25 years ago and he had heard and read about the speedy downfall of the church in Holland. He knew I was born and raised there and wanted to know how I personally experienced the changes. He knew that my profession made me regularly travel back and forth to the Continent so that I experienced these changes gradually almost step by step. So we had plenty to talk about. He said that in his seminary years in the US (he was ordained in 1950) they very often used Holland as an example to follow. In those years the Roman Catholic faith in Holland was considered solid and it was a good example to learn from. And he was absolutely right because at that time the church was strong and vibrant. However already in the 50's, and more rapidly in the 60’s that pendulum had started to make a complete turn of 180 degrees.
Hearing and reading about all what happened there our parish priest felt that it was a scary thought that at that time (1982) any seminary in the US would still look at it as an example. And he got that right. It scared us too!
I told him that in 1968 when we emigrated, the Catholic Church in the USA seemed to be still fairly conservative and that we hoped and prayed that the damaging and liberal practices promoted by the Dutch Catholic church would not be exported to this country but in the years ahead that proved to be only wishful thinking.
It's liberal teachings would soon spread throughout the entire Western world including the USA.

On one of my recent visits to Holland I noticed that where once the elementary school of the boys stood are now condominiums. The Parish Hall walls are clattered with Arabian text. It is still used but not by Catholics.
The church itself has now a "meeting space" with tables and chairs in the back of the church (they removed the pews)
It is about as protestant as one can imagine. After Mass or whatever service coffee or tea is waiting for you and the few people who still attend services can "socialize" with each other. So much for silence in God’s house.
What we were recently told is that the only reason our Holy Family church still stands is because the city government considers it to be of "monumental" value. What a reason ! How wonderful………..!
I hope our good pastor is in heaven and prays for us because I am sure he must be extremely saddened to see what is left of his lifetime work, merely 70 years later.

So on the horizon we saw the storm approaching and at least could start bracing ourselves against it but unfortunately most of the good people around us did not see it coming yet. The elimination of Latin in the Church and the introduction of the native language became a true disaster. I can remember when I went to sea I always had my Latin/Dutch missal with me. I could go to any church, in any place, from East to West anywhere in the world and follow the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass without the slightest problem. It was everywhere the same. Exactly the same !
When I entered a church I had never been to, I never had to check first what "what was going on" in the sanctuary or on the altar because with the Traditional Latin Mass that was never necessary. Behind the communion rail it was off-limits.
Once during a discussion I brought this subject of language change on the table and the reply I got was as follows:
"Did you really expect that the VCII should have considered the needs of a few mariners out there in their decision?" Well, ironically in today’s world everybody is traveling and nobody can follow the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass anymore unless you speak the native language which most usually don't. So certainly not a very good excuse.
My profession made me travel intensively worldwide for over 55 years so the least I can do is share this experience.
And still today almost none of the clergy is willing to admit that the decision to remove the Latin language  became a total failure. It also created generations of priests who would not be able to translate scriptures in the same manner as their predecessors and this makes one wonder if this was done on purpose or not. The fact remains that because of that total lack of knowledge the faithful often don't get proper answers to their questions about the faith. Monsignor Moss had always answers to all our questions because he was highly educated in Latin and would immediately detect when translations did not reflect the truth according to scriptures and consequently you would get a clear answer.
Before VCII this was almost guaranteed, parish priests would have quick answers but now it has become an exception. Thus from the viewpoint of success stories the removal of Latin in the Holy Church was certainly not one of them.

My country of birth Holland was in a hurry implementing the NO Mass but it was not so much the NO Mass as the numerous abuses with the NO Mass which made many wonder where this would end up. And rightfully so! It became already soon clear that it was left wide open for all kind of "variations" so it started depending solely on the clergy. If he was a good priest he would celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass with the same respect for the Eucharist as in the TLM. However it was for other priests their chance to implement variations which sometimes made your eyebrows raise above your hair, from clowns and bongo bands on the altar to even changes in the celebration of the Holy sacrifice of the Mass itself. For some of them there appeared no limits. It comes sometimes to a point where one truly start doubting the value of that Mass !
On my travels I have attended Holy Mass in churches were the "shaking of the hands" ended up in nothing less than a full circus. The Agnus Dei was overlooked in that circus. People were running through the church hugging and kissing or whatever while the Agnus Dei was prayed. For these faithful (and the priests) the Lamb of God could take a back seat. Is it not a most important part of the Holy sacrifice of the Mass anymore?
It were the people who put up the act but it was the priest on the altar who allows it to happen.
That's why it was pleasing to see that years ago monsignor discontinued this often abused addition.

So it is a MUST that the FAITHFUL stay alert of what exactly is happening in the sanctuary and on the altar. Granted that priests should never abuse the use of the NO Mass unfortunately that is often certainly not the case so it remains the responsibility of the FAITHFUL to make sure they don't get dragged into the wrong direction. There is absolutely NO excuse for that ! When you know what you witness is really wrong, stand up and walk out ! And parents with children should be even more alert !
What I have never understood is that so many older people (the majority) - my own age - got trapped into this pit because they sure should know a lot better which makes them often part of the problem. They stopped being good examples for the people around them especially the young people. They should stop blaming others for what went wrong over the years but start taking a good in depth look at themselves.
And the same goes equally for the priests and religious.
Young people look for guidance, good guidance, honest guidance not for the so called "tolerant" guidance.

The first experience I had with these changes was when I returned home for a visit during the 60's and met an old priest-friend of mine. I got to know him during the war years and he was the son of a devout Catholic family. His brother was also a priest only a few years difference in age. His sister was a nun in Africa, in missionary work. He told me that in his new parish (he was at that time may be a priest for about 9 years ) they had changed the "dark" confession box with an open room with a table and two chairs with an ashtray on the table so the person coming to confession would feel more "comfortable". Apparently it did not ring a bell for him as a priest that a person coming to confession is not supposed to feel "comfortable" but just the opposite because he brings his sins with him.  When he leaves the confessional then he should feel comfortable because he is looking forward to a new start. I never forget that conversation - particularly the ash tray ! - because the entire thinking is so twisted that it is hard to grasp.
It appeared that the real purpose of the sacrament of confession was getting into danger.
It was all part of the new teaching that we all should feel very happy and be tolerant, peace at ANY cost, the now infamous "Dutch tolerance". The terrible bloody war - just behind us - had taught us nothing ! Nothing!
For 5 long years we prayed daily to Our Lady for peace - to intercede for us. So her Son would grant us peace.
But look at what the people did with it ! How soon we started ungratefully abusing the peace He granted to us !

Well, again, it was all a sign of the start of the slippery slope. It must have been so clear for those who kept their eyes focused on what was happening but unfortunately the majority did not focus.

Then after that every year I could see it go downhill - step by step - but in a steady trend. Suddenly the pulpit was out of order because the priest had to be on the "same level" as the parishioners. What was not understood was that the faithful had no desire whatsoever to be on the "same level" with the priest because he was a priest and they were not. The people wanted to look up to a priest because he had listened to the priestly call to be a servant of the Almighty God and had decided to devote his life to that. He was chosen for that, by God not by us.
That was the difference between him and us. The people in the pew looked to him for guidance not equality.

I can remember the ordination of a priest which I attended in the Basilica and afterward his reception when he arrived at his village. I was about 25 years old. The entire parish community was waiting for him. Kids with bicycles draped with flowers, boys and girls in their first communion dresses, everybody dressed up for the occasion, a welcome wagon, the village band, an open horse carriage, etc. etc. He was met at the village border and then after a welcome speech they all started moving in procession to the parish church.
After his 12 years in seminary he finally made his "triumphant" entrance into his village ! The people showed their gratitude because one of their sons had become a priest ! One of their own !!! This was not taken lightly.
He would celebrate a Solemn Mass - his First Mass and the village church was packed. Then afterwards a big reception and a dinner in the local hall arranged by the parish closed the celebrations.
That's how a new priest was welcomed into the community.
I worked during the war in this village on the land so I know it very well. It happened to be a true vineyard for priests and religious and was almost completely Catholic. If we now check the statistics of the annually ordained priests we see that it took a nosedive after the mid 60's from the top to nearly none. That speaks for itself !

The priests taught us how to live our faith by being good examples themselves. They were always there when you needed them. Nothing was too much. Just one example always sticks in my head: When you were sick for more than a week the priest would come to bring communion at home. These priests drove often a bicycle or came by foot depending on the distance. They would carry the Consecrated Hosts with one arm underneath their coat. This way the pedestrians could immediately see when he passed by that he was carrying the Blessed Sacrament. In the middle of the city street we could see people stop for a brief moment and take off their hat, some making a slight bow. I have even seen our non-Catholics friends do that. When one of us was sick my mother would call the rectory and we would be put on the schedule because we had a large city parish. When the priest came my mother would have prepared the bed upstairs for communion, putting 2 lighted candles and a cross next to it and a white cover on top of my blanket. (similar as receiving communion at the rail in church) Then she would go downstairs and wait with another lighted candle behind the little window in the front door until the priest arrived. When he put his bicycle against the house wall she would ring a little bell which she held in her hand to let the patient upstairs know that he had arrived. Then she opened the door and guided him while holding a candle upstairs. No words were spoken.
You would know if he had to visit more sick people after visiting us because he would leave the house without speaking to my mother. If we heard him talk to her downstairs in the hall before he left we knew that he had visited the last sick person that morning. That's how priests set the example.

Then the priests starting changing their clerical cloth for laymen suits similar to protestant ministers.
They could now travel and go places without being noticed as a man of the cloth. The grand excuse was that the faithful would feel much more "comfortable" as he was dressed like them. The fact is that it gave them more freedom and the truth is that they did not want to be recognized as a Catholic priest in the mainstream. Many of the faithful did not like it at all because they wanted to see a priest as a priest (and many still do!) but unfortunately the faithful had very little to say about it. Once the priests had started this so called "mingling between the people" the nuns and other religious gradually followed. Bad example follows bad example.
The parishioners were told that it would help to "bring the nominations" closer to each other. Why we have never seen monsignor without his priestly cloth and why his church was always packed to capacity and why he had the most flourishing parish in the area with so many young families and its 32 altar boys. You know why ? Because he was a true priest of Melchesideck, once a priest always a priest. That's why!
Obviously the intention to bring the nominations closer to each other meant Catholics had to move into the protestant arena and not try to draw the protestant nominations back into the Holy church.
Is that not upside-down church teaching?

Let me give an example: When in the early 70's I returned for a few days to Holland I visited as usual my sister in the convent - she is a Franciscan nun - but to my big surprise somebody walked up to me in a regular dress.
No more habit not even a sign. When I gave her my own honest thoughts on that she started crying and told me that I was not fair. She had to change on orders of Mother Superior and upon entering the convent she had promised obedience. That is of course true indeed but then so much for her Mother Superior !
It is often said it starts at the TOP and that is exactly what I started to watch from that day on.
The proof of how much harm the TOP can do is that in this very same convent for retired nuns there were also nuns in full habit and when I asked my sister why they were still dressed as nuns I was told that they were from the German motherhouse and that their mother superior wanted them to stay in full dress. Remember: The same Franciscan order only another Mother Superior in another convent (obviously a better one)  So here you have it: It starts at the TOP !
By the way now most of these nuns have died still in full habit. God bless them and their Mother Superior.

Then because it was Sunday we had to go to church and she asked me to join her in the chapel.
The chapel was also open for people from the outside regardless of faith.
But then it came to Holy Communion ! A protestant minister together with the priest started giving out communion. That was for me the last straw ! I respect all people for what they are but a protestant minister does not see the host as the body of Christ so it is "hands off". This is one of the vital differences in our faiths ! They don't believe in the sacraments. We do. (We better do!)
When I criticized this I got the same feed-back. It was all to so called "bring the nominations together."
I believe my sister is in her heart a good person, prays daily her rosary, will go to Mass in the convent (if there is a priest available) but she just accept everything they do and tell her. And if that comes from that same TOP then we have major problem. I realized how everybody was truly brainwashed and did not even giving it a thought of their own. The once so vibrant cloister life is completely destroyed and they don't even see it.
 
Another subject was of course how a protestant looks at Mary. I had a long discussion with my sister, the nun, about that too but there was no reasoning with her. I was old-fashioned and did not see the necessity of unity between the nominations, blah, blah, blah. Yes, I told her, I would love to see all Christian people unite in Christ - in one Holy Church - but never at the cost of our Catholic faith. That would be simply absurd.
In Holland the rosary got soon also less and less attention because I suppose it was seen as a roadblock for unifying the nominations. Otherwise I could not see any other reason to let Mary down. Because that is exactly what it is.
Her importance as the Mother of our Savior got less and less attention and we don't have to look far.
In the war years the rosary was a daily prayer everywhere. We needed her to intercede for us for peace and to see an end to that terrible war. After dinner it was literally all of us on our knees and together with mama we prayed the rosary. What's happening with it today?

At that time I could clearly see how fast things were going downhill. I wondered why she could not see that within the walls of the convent. But since these teachings indeed came from the TOP she just accepted it.
It has become so bad now that people don't even blink their eyes anymore. It made me even more alert !

I can remember I was visiting Holland on another trip and happened to be in my hometown on a First Saturday. We had a Fatima Church nearby and I thought that was just the right place. Well, they did not celebrate First Saturday, they really did not know anything about Fatima and when I wanted to go confession before the Saturday afternoon Mass I had to ask somebody if there was a priest available ( the sign read that confessions would be heard 15 minutes before Mass ) A friendly person lightening the candles on the altar looked like I was from outer space and said he would find out for me. He went into the sacristy and a little later somebody walked towards the confession box and entered it. It could have been the milkman because no any sign of a priest.
No need to say that it made me very uncomfortable so it was the last time I ever went to confession there.

Just recently in this year 2007 I was told that the Fatima church is closed permanently and that it will be demolished with 7 other big city churches surrounding our Holy Family parish.
Now remember: This church was only built in the 50's !!!
The city of The Hague where the seat of the government is located - with nearly a million people - is now left with only 6 priests !!! Christ's Houses are demolished left and right and mosques are appearing as mushrooms all over the country.  The church attendance is now 3% and on the way down. How much down it can go?
Is Pope Benedict XVI wrong when he says that the faith in Europe is almost lost.

Until these changes came about we could walk into any church, at any time, whenever you felt like it because the doors were always open. People respected God's house and the priests would make sure that nobody would ever hit a closed door. The churches were Holy places where people could pray and meditate.
Talking in church was not even heard of. It just did not happen!
But the priests set always the example and were also never afraid to speak up if they had to do so.

So here we are.
At age 35 I was steadily confronted with the changes in the church and often not for the good.
Suddenly the priests did not dare raise their voices anymore or call a spade a spade. They stopped standing up for the faith and true teachings of the Holy Mother the Church. Rarely a priest would condemn openly a government action which was in complete violation with church teachings and the commandments.
It all had to be "politically correct" ( a new definition ) But a priest HAS to preach the teachings of the Holy Mother the Church and scriptures NOT what the government or people "like" to hear. That was always Monsignor's message.
Faith is not negotiable and certainly not for SALE !

Tolerance became the big "IN" word and it was used ( abused ) for about everything, bad or good.
As long as you did good things, with or without God, that was not important. Truly peace at any cost.
So today you hear rarely any good sermons anymore. Sermons which left you something to think about on the way home and after. Still today I think often about our parish Lent meditations every Tuesday night in our Holy Family church. A special visiting priest would come to preach. They were usually all excellent speakers and rotated through the parishes. This meditation – as it was called – took the faithful step by step to Calvary. In the Good week it would reach the climax with Christ’s death on the cross. I was a teenager around 16-17 years old and I can vigorously remember the always packed church and how the faithful were hanging on his lips. You were almost right there where it happened! This is how impressive and beautiful these meditations were presented. So good, that we usually regretted it when it was over. And that should say something when you are a teenager ! ! !

In the 40's during the war the priests were not afraid to speak up when the German authorities tried to implement certain rules which had a direct effect on the faith. They spoke up, they spoke their peace and warned the faithful of the consequences. Some of them did so with great risk and some of them paid for it dearly including death.
Yes, they gave a good bang on the pulpit from time to time to bring their message over but it worked and worked very well ! There is nothing wrong with a good bang! It made people pay attention and again, when they went home they had at least something to think about. It was good for moral ! 
Everything was presented "Godly" correct and not "political" correct. The way it should be.
The priests stood up for the faith. Rigid and strong ! But most of that has now disappeared because a loud bang might just scare the faithful and that is unhealthy because we should only feel very "happy".

Over the years each time I returned to Holland something else had changed. And nobody even blinked.
They experienced the changes bit by bit, drip after drip. It reminds me of Monsignor's famous story of the frog held down in cool water, then every so often the temperature was raised - one degree at the time - and eventually the frog could live in boiling water. In Holland they are now in the boiling water and very soon here on this side of the ocean it could be the same if we don't fight it. Bystanders are as guilty as the creators of this trend. When people can't distinguish right from wrong anymore you have a serious problem on your hand.

When visiting Holland I soon had to start "shopping" for the right church because I really had to be very careful not to fall in the wrong hands. It is really not so difficult to know what is right and wrong, certainly not when you are raised properly in the faith. What has always amazed me with all the traveling I have done is, that for some reason, if you pray for guidance you end up in the right places. There are not too many places left but you will find them if you want to. Believe it or not but even in Holland I know a few places where you are in good priestly hands and that will say something. You might have to travel a bit but it will be worth it.
What is fascinating is that these are always well attended churches, strong parishes, great devotion, young families and true Catholic teachings. I don't speak Japanese but I found the shrine in Akita, I don't speak Korean but I found the shrine in Naju and so I can give you plenty more examples.
Look and you will find, if anything is true that is true.
I recommend it: Try it and you like it !

One more thing about Holland my native country where most of the decay started:

Although we have a tendency to say that the decay started with the 60 generation, this is not completely true. With the people the decay started in fact soon after the war when people wanted PEACE AT ANY COST (which by itself was may be understandable after the just finished miserable war.) However they went about it totally the wrong way. They started to become very "tolerant" and "flexible" so their kids would have only the very best. (Whatever that is) As long as their kids were happy they were happy so we know what that means. Lack of respect and discipline. Values started to slide and before we knew it we had created the so called "60 - hippy generation" a product we severely suffer from still today. I was a teenager at that time so I know where I am talking about.  I was slowly getting dragged into the wrong direction too but fortunately because of the deep faith of my parents I started soon opening my eyes. Then even worse the priests and the religious people started to gradually give in to the "new thinking" with the false idea that it would keep the faithful together. That's when the rebels in the Holy church saw their chance to start pushing thru their agenda at home and abroad. Then in the 60's after VCII all hell broke loose and that's when everything started to really decay and fast ! So when we look for blame let us start looking at ourselves who really started it and certainly no less of course at the priests and religious people who encouraged it and became weaker and weaker, not standing up defending the faith and the Holy Mother the church. It would have been their full responsibility to keep us on the right track.
In the sixties Holland became also the center for the hippies and the druggies. In Amsterdam they spent their nights on the Dam, the main square in the center of the city, where they urinated against the Holocaust memorial, threw flowerpots all over the place, smoked their pot and deposited the leftovers of their food or whatever on the pavement around the monument.  Where they showed what "free love" was all about. The motto: "Everything goes!"  It was so bad that the fire brigade had to come every morning, day in day out, to spout the square clean. The weak national government and the weak city government allowed it all. They were too weak to act. In this time the saying: "The tolerant Dutch" was born.
On one day in the early 60's we were watching the TV news when they showed the misbehavior of this pot-smoking crowd on the Dam square and somebody made the following remark to me:
"Wait until this generation comes into power! You have seen nothing yet ! ". At that time it appeared all very far away but I never forgot what he said. We are there right now and how scary !
We watch churches being closed and demolished left and right, the army of non-believers is growing by the day, most of what is left of the faithful don't even bother going to church, broken up marriages, divorces, young people not marrying anymore, just living together, drug-addicts galore with the Dutch so called "coffee shops", alcohol abuse by young people growing by the day, no shame, no obligations, no responsibilities, abortions, euthanasia, homo-sexual marriages, neglected families, the kids left at their own devices, filthy TV programs, filthy newspaper pictures and articles, loss of respect for the elderly, no respect in general, loss of discipline all together with growing selfishness on the parents side and sole love for materialism with God becoming less and less important in the people's lives. A youth without guidance and direction. The Holy Church in ruins.
Everything is political correctness which really means: " Without God"!
Knowing how strong in Holland the Catholic faith once was - just 50 years ago - and what is left of it today, it makes one really cry. Christ has been deserted, His house demolished, His Mother ridiculed.  In the 50's most Dutchmen had never seen a mosque in their live and now they are over 400 of them and the number is growing. And they still don't wake up !!! Except for a few they are sound asleep. Most of them who still think they believe tell you that it is all the same. No, it is not all the same. Not by a long shot.!!!

I have always loved the life in the rural areas because it seems far away from all these problems but of course it is at the same time also dangerous because people think it will not hit them.
It is all far away from their bed.
But the storm is raging and approaching faster than we would like to see it but we can still prepare.
Our good priest Monsignor Moss knew that and that is why he unceasingly warned his flock against the upcoming threat. To pray for peace and for guidance, for priests and religious, for the Holy Mother the Church.  All he hoped and prayed for was that people would wake up before the storm hits us because if not prepared it will hit as a tornado and for that one cannot prepare. And worse, it would be too late!
And it would really also be our own fault. Not so good when we appear to Him for final judgment.

The above is my own true life experience as a Dutch Catholic and it is hard to grasp that so much in such a very short time could change for the worse. Then you might now also understand why the spiritual guidance of a priest like Monsignor Moss in these Godless times had such an enormous impact on me and our family.
He was a true teacher of the Catholic faith with a fervent love for Christ in the Blessed Sacrament who never ceased to preach the importance of our love for His Blessed Mother, to ask for her guidance and protection.
The purpose of this website will therefore always remain to remember not only him but also his teachings.
We will be always very grateful to the Almighty God for the gift of this holy priest. May he rest in peace.
 

 A TRAGEDY

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