Crackpot Malta
Published:
September 13, 2010 at 12:07pm
After uploading those photographs of men standing around hear houses with enough explosives to blow up an army (and then merrily posting the pictures on their websites), I made the mistake of looking up, on YouTube, the latest nuthouse antics from Borg in-Nadur.
Ah, the irony of people who think like medieval serfs using 21st-century technology to promote their superstitious belief in false mystics and flying eucharists!
Say what you like, I think Maltese society manifests the classic symptoms of cabin fever: distress or anxiety caused by prolonged confinement in a small or remote place.
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Allow me to pass a personal remark – no hard feelings, of course, but why are you so hard on things religious?
[Daphne – I’m not hard on things religious, but on this kind on inane and insane behaviour. Christianity pared down to its essence is beautiful. This kind of fevered superstition has nothing to do with it.]
This is not religion. Angelik and his cronies ridicule and vilify religion.
And now this fraudster is being aided and abetted by a Jesuit. It’s a scandal.
“Maltese society manifests the classic symptoms of cabin fever: distress or anxiety caused by prolonged confinement in a small or remote place.”
I agree perfectly. It partly explains the exodus of young people from Malta.
It is very unethical to say things which are clearly not true. What concrete evidence do you have that any Jesuit is helping him?
And what concrete evidence do you have that he is a fraudster?
Daphne, I’m sure you’re smart enough to realise that Christianity and many, if not most, other religions started off with exactly this kind of potty behaviour and claims of miraculous deeds by their founders.
Just because said events supposedly happened a very long time ago, doesn’t make them any less crazy.
Maybe it’s time to come out and start calling a spade a spade.
Yeah, yeah, look at the sun like a bunch of idiots so you’ll damage your retina!
What is that priest doing? This is such a farce! It has been proved already that the miracles Angelik speaks about are false.
On the other hand, if we turn Borg in-Nadur into another Lourdes it won’t be such a bad idea – maybe Angelik can apply for some tourism funding through the EU.
To observe the white disk, that cameras cannot capture, requires a degree of retina damage.
Worse than lemmings.
“It has been proved already that the miracles Angelik speaks about are false.” what is this proof?
That Blessed Virgin has been reading mlatasart.com to learn her English.
The chap who sees these “apparitions” has left a trail of unpaid bills in Zejtun and Birzebbugia.
He used to visit my surgery for dental treatment and always found excuses to avoid paying. I decided that this is one patient I could do without.
In Zejtun, we once we had il-Pupa who saw the light and people used to attend his very showy prayer meetings. When he died in an accident, the absence of Zejtun people was very indicative of the non-gullibility of the residents.
Mela l-BAMBIN baghtulek lil dan il-pazjent!
Does this man work at all? Surely he is not pensionable age yet unless he has been boarded out. That phrase always cracks me up,
I bet you he has followers/fans who see to all his needs.
[Daphne – Not ALL his needs, for this is a sect in which the reverse order of power applies and the wife controls the husband, thereby preventing him from the usual progression to the inevitable end of selecting a harem of devoted concubines.]
One thing is certain he is no bag of spanners and not exactly living on low-fat yoghurt and two nuts. Next time he comes in for teeth-whitening it’s cash on the table mate, or else.
This is not religion. It’s a bad farce.
These are a couple of observations after having just wasted close on 15 minutes of my life watching the video.
‘Our Lady’ would do well to take a crash course in English. One cannot envisage the ‘Seat of Wisdom’ expressing dismay at the “…people who TAKE IT against the Church”. It does not take much to work out the origin of the message.
The Curia would do well to direct the Capuchin friar, the Jesuit and the two nuns to cease their active participation in these charades, as by so doing they are only giving credence to what has from the outset been an ongoing fake presided over by a half-witted charlatan manipulated by his wife.
How long is it going to be before the promoters of this farce latch onto the media coverage given to the Koran-burning pastor, and work in their own version of the stunt in a bid to obtain world-wide media coverage?
The message is originally in Maltese. Any mistranslated phrases are the responsibility of who translated them.
Coran-burning pastor? Serious!
Love the caption at 3:00
“Although this phenomenon is seen with the naked eye, photos and video footage show nothing out of the ordinary”
This is medieval magical thinking.
It’s just a crude attempt at trying to use religion to influence public opinion on a purely civil matter by playing on the gullibility and superstition of some people.
Total trash.
About two minutes into the video, they turn their backs on the cross and stare at the sun. It doesn’t get any more pagan than that: from Ra in Heliopolis to Angelik in Borg in-Nadur.
If you think that religion in these villages is not Christianity at all but a whole jumble of pagan beliefs and Catholic mysticism, there’s your proof.
Agreed 100 per cent – but my remark was based on some of your past thoughts. Again, I repeat – I fully respect your attitude towards things.
I tend to take these “apparitions” with a pinch of salt. However I also keep in mind that the more rational premises upon which Catholicism is “founded”, so to speak, are beyond the grasp of people of a more impressionable disposition. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, really.
Having said all this, we must keep in mind that Our Lady has appeared to what many people would call “simpletons”. Still I quite agree that hysteria has to be curbed and strongly discouraged.
I have come to the conclusion that most Maltese are a pampered lot who have never been educated to take responsibility for their actions or to understand the real meaning of a sense of duty.
The government takes the role of father, the Catholic Church is mother and the Opposition is grandma spoiling the grandchildren.
That is why we never grow up, because it suits all three to be like this. We are sorry when fatal accidents happen – a lot of hoo-ha and then we go off and do the same thing all over again.
“Christianity pared down to its essence is beautiful”.
Couldn’t agree with you more. Unfortunately, after 2,000 years of adding this and that and interpreting different things in different ways, it has snowballed into anything but.
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest.
Come on, Daph! Pseudo-religious hysterics aren’t confined only to small, overcrowded places like our blessed islands.
[Daphne – I think you’ll find that the other places where this sort of thing occurs are small, remote villages in large countries: cabin fever all the same.]
This is superstition shrouded in the trappings of the official state religion.
This is little more than the animistic proto-religions that worship some hallowed grounds. Islam is divided on this issue: Sunni are very puritanical and accept only god and his prophets whilst the Shia have transmogrified the old djinn lore into reverence towards saintly imams in their shrines.
Sounds very similar to what the Catholic Church does. But how can you keep the masses occupied?
Letting go of reason and following the crowd is soothing. We are social animals after all. Reason requires effort and many times you end up looking like a loser, a spoil sport, a brat, or a goofy nerd who’s missing something upstairs, when you point these things out.
For a mob in a frenzy you’re dangerous and you’re actually endangering yourself as they see you as the devil incarnate ending up the offering in some bacchanalian orgy. History is replete with tragedies of usually very sane people who meld into the mob and do worse things than what’s on that video.
Kemm gew sexy it-tattoos ta l-Alpha u l-Omega. XEJN SEW!
I lost it at 02:22 and stopped watching; it’s so offensive to human intelligence.
“He looked directly at the sun” – yes, sure, at that time of day. U hallina! Cabin fever at its worst.
[Daphne – Well, the worst would be when we all start eating each other. But hang on, that’s happening already, isn’t it?]
Yes, we are eating each other.
But what can be done?
I can’t stop thinking how to reverse this very sad trend, but I can’t find any solution. Apart from mass emigration.
I already spelled out the solution:
NUKE IT FROM ORBIT.
I’m shovelling pitchblende into the microwave in my kamra tan-nar as I speak. I haven’t yet built the delivery system, but it’ll be along the lines of an oil drum in a field. After all, the missile doesn’t have to be intercontinental. Straight up, and then straight down, will do very nicely.
For those who are “wondering when the water will issue from this tree”……probably on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning!
http://www.maltairport.com/weather/page.asp?n=weather&l=1&lng=e&t=5
I’m curious to know how anyone could have seen a ‘white’ disc in the ‘centre’ of the sun.
Even if it wasn’t just the effect of staring at the sun for too long, how did they conclude that it was The Eucharist ?
Red nose, this is not about religion, but about people being taken for a ride, through their religious beliefs.
I feel deeply sorry for them, seeing their faith in such a person.
I am from Birzebbuga,and I know Angelik and his antics quite well. I do not intend to mention them here. Last Saturday, I saw him and noticed that his hands are covered in tattoo-like markings.
His latest news is that some day water will flow from Borg In-Nadur.
[Daphne – Well, at least it won’t be cooking oil, like the tears that pour forth from that plastic statue of the Madonna which his weird, controlling wife – his manager – bought at a pet-shop.]
The message is very long. Does Angelik repeat it at the end or does he repeat the words as they are being said to Fr Hayden who then repeats it to the followers when it is over?
I understand Our Lady speaks Maltese.
Anyway, apparently we’re not going to see any signs from up above until we (all Malta, I presume) mend our ways.
The main actor at Borg in-Nadur is no mystic. His sidekicks are sad figures.
Real mystics of the kind that appeared in 16th and 17th century Spain, for instance, were not only great literary figures who elevated their language to heights hitherto unknown but they were also great monastic reformers who inspired and encouraged people to seek God through human need and desire, rather than on the basis of the status quo, rigid rules and legalism.
….. probably on the next Xarabank episode !
‘Christianity pared dowm to its essence is beautiful’. Written from you is both a very powerful statement but it also leaves much room for explanation.
Have you ever penned an article with this title before?
‘a white circle (people call it the eucharist) is seen moving near the sun’
Oh sure, if you stare at the sun you see loads of circles. Go on try it anytime you like. Crackpots.
What a load of hocus pocus – in common language, bollocks. All the moron has to do now is provide tangible proof.
Pity there was no hint of the Gharb explosion. Or of Everton’s very late comeback.
Seriously, where is the Archibishop’s Curia in all this? The thinking is probably along the lines of: ‘Let them be, for they remain within the fold. If we upset them they’ll join some sect or set up their own.’
On the other hand, this stuff doesn’t do much to attract new members. Or bring back the lost sheep.
Why does it have to be the Curia? I expect every sane Catholic to come down like a ton of bricks on this. When are the reasonable Catholics you find at parties going to stick their neck out?
They’ve been steamrollered by the guitar-happy-clapping-kumbaya brigade.
Once again we are discussing sick people. Like the bananas “politician” who walks up and down Republic Street uttering utter nonsense.
Things religious my foot. This is plain mental illness.
Once again I want to dissociate myself from any attacks and criticism of these poor people.
I am sorry but I feel very strongly about this. Maybe because for forty years I have worked hard to help them. Criticising them and taking advantage of them is anathema to me.
As I said last week they are not treated compassionately like asthmatics and diabetics.
Just because it is in the nature of their illness to make fools of themselves, they are abused.
This, I consider, is very unfair. They should be left well alone and helped if possible.
The fact that many people seem to fall for their bizarre ideas just goes to show how many of them there are around and how huge the problem is.
[Daphne – The main abuser is his wife.]
For what it’s worth, the wife, Catherine, is a former police officer.
If there is nothing confirmed and approved about this particular case from the Curia and the Vatican, how could friars and nuns participate in such meetings?
Is that friar the official photographer of the event?
Daphne, I agree. She is taking advantage of him aided and abetted by other unscrupulous sharks.
The Church has so far not pronounced itself on these alleged mystic appearances. Therefore, it is presumptuous for any one of us to denounce them or for that matter to approve of them.
The Church, in such instances, does not rush into conclusions.
Essentially the message is an exhortation against embracing divorce.
Eventually, it is a question of faith. Just as some believe in the existence of a loving God, others dismiss Him completely.
In the end, truth will come out.
The Catholic Church is not new to mystics.
Catherine of Siena
Theresa of Avila
John of the Cross
These are the mystics of the Church. Giants of theological writings. Whenever I read them I feel as if I have the brain of a virus.
The Borg in Nadur mystic is a sick man surrounded by other sick people and opportunistic clowns.
I suggest you should also read the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and The Way of Divine Love by Sister Josefa Menendez.
These books will give give a better dimension regarding God’s choice of mystics. These two were not “Giants of theological writings”, but simple humble nuns.
Also can you tell us on whose medical authority you conclude that “the Nadur mystic” is a sick man surrounded by other sick people and opportunistic clowns” This statement of yours speaks volumes about your irresponsible outburst against people unless you can prove this slander of yours.
Dawn it-tip ta’ nies iridu jghixu bin-ne**.
Some years ago, an overweight female impersonator with the stage name of Miss Badet used to appear on our television screens. Miss Badet decided on a career change and became a medium, and was invited on different shows to speak about his sixth sense and his mystic abilities and of course his private sessions as a medium.
When someone asked him if he could guess the lotto winning numbers he simply answered “il-flus halluhom ghas-sinjuri”.
When he finally lost weight and got rid of his double chin he told his audience “hallas mitejn lira u tonqos mill-piz”.
It’s amazing how this kind of person always finds some kind of support and is given credibility by our television stations.
That’s because every few years he reinvents himself. When Xarabank attacked fortune tellers, he claimed that he was not a fortune teller but some sort of spiritual worker. He is still invited to give the horoscope on TV.
They say he was taken to court for his weight loss spells.
How depressing … get me out of here!
The only one in his right senses is Angelik himself. All the others around him, including the so-called professionals, are cuckoo.
A lot of people here have called him a crackpot (which he is). How is he so different however from the thousands of crackpots who think they can help someone by saying a prayer?
Who make promises to various saints in return for favours? Who go to Lourdes/Fatima/wherever hoping for a miracle?
What evidence can more mainstream Catholics present that makes their ideas superior to Angelik?
It’s all the same to me, bunch of beliefs without any grounding in reality.
Which aspect exactly is so beautiful about religion?
I expect the reply to be “because it encourages us to love one another”. My answer to that is that that concept is certainly not unique to religion.
Roman Catholics believe in transubstantiation and that Christ is present in the Holy Eucharist.
So why are these ‘Catholic’ devotees at Borg in-Nadur seeking the Eucharist in the sun, while ignoring the true presence of Christ in the tabernacle that is to be found literally metres away from anyone’s home?
The priests and nuns who actively participate in the pagan rituals on that non-sacred hillock need to seriously contemplate on the warped interpretation of Catholic beliefs that their actions are fostering.
And the same holds true for those priests and other religious who organise ‘pilgimages’ to Medjugorje, while actively hiding from the ‘pilgrims’ the fact that the Vatican long ago declared the ‘apparitions of the Virgin Mary’ there as being a fraud.
@ Claire Marie
“If there is nothing confirmed and approved about this particular case from the Curia and the Vatican, how could friars and nuns participate in such meetings?”
Because the Curia has no jurisdiction over friars and nuns (i.e members of religious orders as opposed to Diocesan priests). They are only subject to their superiors.
Having said that I would expect that at the very least such superiors issue some sort of comment/take some sort of action, as these charades are only serving to put religion in Malta in a bad light.
The Dominican Order took action against Mark Montebello; why shouldn’t appropriate action be taken against the Jesuit, the Franciscan and the nuns for participating in this mumbo-jumbo?
The best bit was when he said that the Holy Mary asked him to stop smoking. When asked if he did stop, he said that he cut down on cigarettes and is only smoking two to three a day.