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    13 February 2008

    Instruction on Saints’ Causes Due Out Monday

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 6:39 pm

    Instruction on Saints’ Causes Due Out Monday
    VATICAN CITY, FEB. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- "Sanctorum Mater," concerning norms regulating the opening of saints’ causes, will be presented Monday, the Vatican announced today.

    The document, from the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, will be presented by the dicastery’s prefect, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, accompanied by the secretary and under-secretary.

    A supplement, "Index Ac Status Causarum," will be presented at the same time.

    Cardinal Saraiva Martins, told the Italian ANSA news agency that the document aims to guide bishops "in the new spirit introduced by Benedict XVI."

    The new document has "certain instructions on how to proceed in the examination of the admissibility of new cases, and about what to do to concretely begin and carry forward the diocesan phase of the process," Cardinal Saraiva Martins told L’Osservatore Romano last month. "It involves very important innovations, capable of effectively highlighting the theology of the local Church as it was energetically reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council."

    • • • • • •

    Pope Waves 5-Year Waiting Period for Sister Lucia’s Beatification Process to Begin

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 6:38 pm

    Sister Lucia’s Beatification Process to Begin
    Pope Waves 5-Year Waiting Period

    VATICAN CITY, FEB. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI announced he will dispense with the five-year waiting period established by Canon Law to open the cause of beatification of Sister Lucia, one of the three Fatima visionaries.

    The news was announced today in the cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, on the third anniversary of the Carmelite’s death.
    The Holy Father dispensed with the established waiting period once before for the cause of Pope John Paul II. Benedict XVI made the announcement on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, some 42 days after the Pontiff’s death in 2005.

    John Paul II waived the waiting period in the case of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. The blessed died Sept. 5, 1997, and was beatified by John Paul II on Oct. 19, 2003.

    A communiqué of the Vatican press office states: "Benedict XVI, taking into account the petition presented by Bishop Albino Mamede Cleto of Coimbra, and supported by numerous bishops and faithful from all parts of the world, has revoked the five-year waiting period established by the canonical norms (cf. Article 9 of the ‘Normae Servandae’), and he has allowed for the diocesan phase of the Carmelite’s cause of beatification to begin three years after her death."

    Apparitions

    Lucia de Jesus dos Santos was 10 years old when she said she saw for the first time, on May 13, 1917, a lady whom she later identified as the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the Cova de Iria.

    She saw the vision with her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who were beatified by John Paul II in Fatima, in 2000.

    In a pastoral letter dated Oct. 13, 1930, the bishop of Leiria-Fatima, José Alves Correia da Silva, declared the apparitions of Fatima worthy of faith and allowed public devotion. Since then, the shrine has become a center of spirituality and pilgrimage of international scope.

    Born in Aljustrel in 1907, Lucia moved to Oporto in 1921, and at 14 was admitted as a boarder in the School of the Sisters of St. Dorothy in Vilar, on the city’s outskirts.

    On Oct. 24, 1925, she entered the Institute of the Sisters of St. Dorothy and at the same time was admitted as a postulant in the congregation’s convent in Tuy, Spain, near the Portuguese border. She made her first vows on Oct. 3, 1928, and her perpetual vows on Oct. 3, 1934, receiving the name Sister Mary of the Sorrowful Mother.

    She returned to Portugal in 1946 and two years later entered the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Coimbra, where she made her profession as a Discalced Carmelite on May 31, 1949, taking the name Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart.

    She wrote two volumes, one entitled "Memories" and the other "Appeals of the Fatima Message." In her writings, she recounts how the Virgin Mary and Child Jesus appeared to her on other occasions, years after the initial apparitions.

    The mortal remains of the Carmelite were moved in 2006 to the Shrine of Fatima. The body of the nun, who died at age 97, is buried next to Jacinta. Francisco is buried in the same basilica.

    • • • • • •

    Springfield, MO: good article about the TLM

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 1:54 pm

    There is an interesting article in the Springfield, MO, News Leader about the older form of Mass.  Here it is with my emphases and comments.

    Published February 11, 2008

    Catholics celebrate revival of Latin Mass

    Traditional Latin Mass will be performed monthly at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.

    Linda Leicht
    News-Leader

    Lili Simmerman found the Latin Mass a "little hard to follow," but she is ready to give it another try.  [Do you remember that amazing thread we had a few months ago with so many comments from people about their first experiences of the TLM?  This was a common reaction.]

    On Sunday afternoon, Simmerman and her mother, Pat Shanahan, both of Springfield, attended the first traditional Latin Mass celebrated in Springfield since the Roman Catholic Church introduced Mass in the vernacular in the 1960s.

    Shanahan remembers services in the ancient language from her youth, but her daughter grew up hearing only English in church.

    On Sunday, Monsignor Raymond Orf dusted off his Latin to perform what will be a monthly celebration at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Springfield.  [With soft shoe… "Brush up your Latin, start quoting it now…"]

    Orf entered the church in an ornate Roman chasuble, woven with gold wire, and wearing a black biretta on his head. Four altar servers assisted, wearing white surplices over black cassocks. Two carried large candles.

    They stepped up toward the altar, backs turned to the congregation, [Well… only apparently.  They are actually facing the liturgical East.]  and began. "In nomine Patris …" — "In the name of the Father …"

    The servers flanked Orf, on their knees, sometimes placing their heads on the step before them. "Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea …" — "For thou, O God, art my strength" — they replied.

    The prayers continued, a back and forth between the elderly priest and the young servers, [This is nice.] all male.

    Then, Orf ascended to the altar, lifted his arms up, his palms open, to pray for forgiveness of sins and pure minds. After kissing the altar, he turned around to face the more than 200 people who had attended the historic event.

    "Dominus vobiscum," Orf intoned.

    "Et cum spiritu tuo," the congregation replied.

    "The Lord be with you."

    "And with thy spirit."  [Which is what we will hear in the new translation of the Novus Ordo.]

    The voices came from young and old, from women in hats or lace cloths on their heads, from many with bare heads, from those with well-worn missals, many saved from their youth, or those who got a copy of the bright red booklets at the back of the church. Some replied easily from memory. Others stumbled with the unfamiliar language.

    Sharon James is only 16, but she had no trouble following the service. She and her parents and three sisters have been driving all the way to Kansas City for the past year to experience this same Mass.

    "There’s more reverence" in the Latin Mass, she said. "But I understand and get more out of the English."  [Hmm… but she understands that there is more reverence at the TLM.  It would be interesting to know what she is getting from the Mass celebrated in English.]

    The family immigrated from India 14 years ago, [Where languages other than Latin are considered sacred languages.] but it is not the familiar language of home they seek. It is the mystery and the "holiness" of the ancient Latin, said her father, James Xavier, who also attends an English Mass daily at Immaculate Conception in south Springfield.

    Mike Kramer, 20, who was one of the servers, would prefer to experience the Mass only in Latin.

    "Everything in this Mass is completely timeless," [Well.. maybe not "completely timeless".  It is still culturally conditioned to a certain extent, but we get the idea: there is continuity with the past.  That is the important point.] he said. "It’s from Christian antiquity. If you worship this way, you are worshipping the same way your great-great-grandmother did. In some ways, it’s your only connection to them.

    "There is a bond there with your entire family tree, [And far more than your family tree.  Or perhaps it helps you see that your family tree is bigger than you thought.] that is only accessible through this."

    For Sharon Hollars, who attended Sunday with her 84-year-old mother, Lucille Holars, the experience transcended language:

    "It’s just beautiful."

     

     Pretty good article!

    • • • • • •

    More on the Second Confiteor issue

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 1:39 pm

    Subsequent to the explosive entry about the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei confirming to me that the so-called Second Confiteor is not permitting in celebrations of Mass with the 1962 Missale Romanum, I have gotten some interesting e-mail.

    I closed the comments on the above mentioned thread and invited e-mail instead.

    Here is something that caught my attention and I share with you now.  It is somewhat edited and with my emphases and comments.

    Fr. Z,
     
    Your blog is very interesting indeed!
     
    I have enjoyed posting comments and reading the comments of others, for the most part.
     
    There has been quite a discussion on the issue of the rubrics of the 1962 Missal, and in particular the "second Confiteor".
     
    Though the PCED does not respond officially via email, I was able to get certain yet unofficial clarifications in accordance with the praxis of the Pontificial Commission from that office regarding a particular upcoming celebration of the Extraordinary Form in my parish.  Among the clarifications were the Confiteor before the Communion of the Faithful.
     
    The response stated the following points:
     
    1. The 1962 Roman Missal does not prescribe a second Confiteor before Holy Communion.  [Right.  This was removed from the rubrics for the 1962 edition.]
     
    2. It does seem that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter insists on this [a confiteor before Holy Communion]  [That sounds right.  I am not sure, but I think the ICK does also.]
     
    3. The 1962 Missal already took into consideration that the first Confiteor and the Pater Noster constitute an appropriate preparation for Holy Communion, rendering the repetition of the Confiteor redundant[Also, the Second Confiteor had been introduced because rites for distribution of Holy Communion outside of Mass were plugged into Mass, and therefore there was Confiteor included.]
     
    4. It is the 1962 code of rubrics which is to be followed, not an earlier one.  [That is really the point, isn’t it?  We have permission to use the 1962 Missal, not another.]
     
    While, personally, I prefer the idea of the second confiteor [Understandable.] and am not scandalized by its use in the EF, I would not be scandalized by its omission either.  There are some that would be and for yourself, you have pointed out that you would follow the practice of the place, though you would never train a priest to do it regularly, though hopefully you would make him aware of it.  [Right.  I would not train a priest that he should do it, but I would teach him what to do if the servers started a Second Confiteor.  My practice is simply to give the absolutions in the traditional way without making a silly fuss about it during Mass nd causing wonder.]
     
    It does seem to me that there is an important point about Church Discipline that is being missed when people are looking for it in obedience to red words.
     
    Saying the Black and Doing the Red does not always work, especially if there is a typo as there was in the 2002 Missal and as there have been in Traditional Missals.  Sometimes the black should be red and vice versa.  One needs to know enough to know when the book should not be followed.  [I think this part of the argument is a red herring.  Rubrics can be reasonably clarified.]  Knowledge of Tradition makes up for typos.  This is because Tradition is the Discipline of the Church.  When the Church changes her discipline does Tradition change too? Necessarily it would seem! 
     
    Before the authoritative statement given by Benedict XVI in his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, was it not the official position of the Church that the Traditional Mass could not be celebrated without express permission from Rome granted through the Ordinary under specific conditions?  [No, not quite.  Rome didn’t have to give permission.  The PCED preferred that local bishops and superiors do so.  Also, if memory stirs in the right direction, there was great latitude about this for strictly private Masses, but that is another issue.]  Thus for decades informed priests were bound in conscience to seek this permission, a permission that now, Benedict says was not really required since it was not abrogated.  [Do not forget that priests always need permission to say Mass at all!  They must have faculties from the proper authority.  Now, however, when priests have faculties to say the Roman Rite Mass at all, they automatically have the faculties to say the older Mass too.]
     
    But does that mean that the Traditional Mass was not degrogated by the promulgation of the New Order of Mass?  Surely no priest has an obligation to celebrate according the the now: extraordinary form.  [There might be some sort of obligation depending on the true pastoral needs of the faithful and, I think, an obligation to know how to celebrate your Rite, but I will stipulate.] Thus one does not have to follow those rubrics when saying Mass in the Roman Rite, one may instead choose to use the rubrics of 2002, exclusively.
     
    If the Traditional Mass was not abograted, but remains as an option, does it do so because of the will of the current Pope, because Paul VI failed to abrogate it canonically, or because that which once was sacred cannot cease to be for us and such things cannot be equitably anulled? If the latter then it would seem that it is Justice that prevents its lawful abrogation.
     
    How do you understand the ecclesiastical principle of equity in law as applying to this situation? It seems to me that this principle and the idea of Discipline are connected.  For the purpose of Discipline is Justice under the ideas of Order and Equity.  The idea of following the rubrics of the 1962 Missal falls under the idea of Order.  The idea of following the practice of the place when they are not following the rubrics of 1962 seems to fall under the idea of Equity if scandal were an issue. 
     
    Also, it would seem that only the Roman use of the Roman Rite is safeguarded by the Motu Proprio and not the Dominican, Fransican, or Carmelite uses of the Roman Rite.  Is this correct?  [The writer is now going all over the place.  We are talking about the 1962 Missale Romanum.]
     
    Obedience is certainly important, even in small details. This is granted.  At the same time I do hate to see fellow trads arguing about who is more or less obedient to the rubrics of 1962 Missal.  [The solution is easy: everyone should follow the rubrics.]
     
    Even in the unofficial clarification, it says that the second confiteor is not proscribed, it does not say that it is forbidden.  [This is slick, but I don’t know that it is right.  It is food for thought, however.  We might even be able to apply this to use of the older prayers for Jews on Good Friday with this argument.]  The clarification says that the rubrics of the 1962 are to be followed not an earlier one.  But this touches on more than omitting the confiteor at communion. It also would seem to abolish the bows to the crucifix at the Oremus and at the Name of Jesus, and who knows what else.  If there is doubt, and there seems to be, as the clarification points out regarding the FSSP, then it would seem that in equity, there is no obligation for priests to treat those minor details as having been abolished if for a good reason, they continue to observe the previous rubrics.
     
    Thank you and be assured of many prayers,
     
    Scott Smith

    If the popularization of this issue helps the PCED develop a list of questions to issue clarifications about in the future after the more general clarifying guidelines have been issued.

    BTWthe document we are waiting for, which I was was told by two independent sources is now on the Holy Father’s desk, and which will be issued in forma specifica, will not deal with these sorts of questions.   Specifics will need other responses.

    • • • • • •

    Good TLM news in WV

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 12:12 pm

    I got this news via e-mail from JM of WV.   My emphases and comments.

    Father Z,

    I wanted to make you aware that good progress is being made in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.  

    I wrote you a few months ago and indicated that our pastor graciously allowed a priest from FSSP to celebrate a monthly Low Mass.  The first Mass was a success and subsequent Masses are also well attended (for this area at least; usually 50-60 people).  Our pastor also attended the FSSP workshops on the Low Mass and will start offering them himself (after sufficient practice on his own).  

    But that’s just the start.  [But wait!  There’s more!]

    At Mass last Sunday, he made an announcement before Mass began.  The plan is to have a weekly sung TLM starting on Easter.  Apparently, he’s really behind this initiative that some dedicated laity put before him.  Fr. has the voice for a sung Mass, and (apparently) the choir has been practicing (on the sly) for this eventuality.  I guess Fr. didn’t want to get everyone’s hopes up if the choir wasn’t going to materialize.  But it looks like it’s a go.

    Anyway, things are looking up.

    Great news!  I hope to have some good reports of what is going on. 

    Thanks for that, JM!

    • • • • • •

    Upcoming blog event in Oxford

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 7:43 am

    I am supposed to speak to a group in Oxford on Friday.  Here is the blurb for the event which the organizer sent to me:

    Recognising the recent upsurge in blogs and blog readers in the world, a special  Colloquium has been organised by the Oxford University Newman Society, which will be held at the Catholic Chaplaincy on Friday, February 15, 2008 from 6-830pm on the theme of ‘Blogging and the Church.’

    This event will be quite informal and interactive and will discuss the nature of blogs—What effect have blogs had on the Church? Who writes blogs and who reads them?  Are blogs an efficient way to disseminate information? What are the responsibilities of bloggers? Are blogs Social Forces?


    The speakers are:

    Rev’d Fr John T Zuhlsdorf, author of ‘What does the Prayer Really Say?’

    Rev’d Fr John Hunwicke, author of ‘Fr Hunwicke’s Liturgical Notes’

    Br Lawrence Lew OP, ‘The New Liturgical Movement’ and ‘Godzdogz’

    Matthew Doyle, author of ‘Lacrimarum Valle’


    Directions to the Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy can be found at:
    http://www.catholic-chaplaincy.org.uk/how_to_find_us.html

    For more information please contact, Yaqoob K Bangash, President, Oxford University Newman Society. yaqoob.bangash@keble.ox.ac.uk

    • • • • • •

    OMVs cancel a TLM in California

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 6:48 am

    I got this by e-mail:

    Hello, Father,

    I got your blogsite from members at MusicaSacra, and they suggested I contact you. I had not known of your page, but enjoyed perusing it this morning.

    At Saint Peter Chanel in Hawaiian Gardens, CA, USA, we had been having a Tridentine low Mass for a few months (since November, I believe).

    Yesterday, the Pastor came out (before the recessional) and announced that the head of his order—The Oblates of the Virgin Mary—had ordered his priests to stop saying the indult Mass because it was an "apostolate" that the OMV does not embrace. He also said that the 170 person average Sunday attendance was insufficient to justify the Mass (in spite of the fact that we had only a Low Mass and had been relegated to the old Church—kneeling on a concrete floor—and were not interfering with N.O. masses). Daily Mass goers would certainly be shocked and disappointed to find that daily Masses were cancelled due to less than 200 person attendance, and I have never been to a Tridentine Mass in LA or OC with anywhere near 200 people, so I thought we were doing well. He also said that the Mass had been conducted on an "experimental basis," but I hadn’t heard that the Pope called for a conditional experiment. We have a stable group, and the MP doesn’t specify a minimum number.

    There were openly expressed protests to the decision as the pastor announced it, but he was obstinant and adamant. I plan to disenroll from the parish and go about twice as far to a TM in Huntington Beach, which I hear started up again. I’m hurt and distraught, and it seems the OMV (allegedly) is openly defying the Pope’s expressed wishes.

    Can you suggest any actions (in addition to prayer, which we’re already trying) to have the situation reversed again, and permanently this time? I’m afraid the parish has lost the trust of some of their most faithful parishoners, and only with difficulty might regain it. I had even joined the fledgling choir, and we spent much time, energy, and money to get the musical resources we needed for the High Mass we were told by another priest was being planned. I became invigorated spiritually by even this Low TM as I hadn’t been in over a decade, and this cancellation has really devastated me. What can we do?

    Other than making this known to the many people who read this blog, I cannot help much.  However, I suggest that you collect as much concrete information as possible, such as bulletin comments and then make this situation know to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.

    Please follow my tips for writing.

    • • • • • •

    If you don’t have one, get your own hand missal

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 6:05 am

    Over at the Cornell Society there is an interesting post about having your own hand missal, which you can use when participating at celebrations of Holy Mass.  I think people should have a hand missal for either the older or newer form, depending on what you prefer.  

    I don’t like the idea of disposable missalettes, though I know they are useful. 

    The comments below are useful if you are thinking about getting such a useful book. 

    Keep in mind that this focuses on the Baronius hand missal.  I think that the Angelus Press has sent one to me for a review, and when I return to the USA I will post about it. 

    That said…

    Let’s see the comments posted over at Cornell Society with my emphases and comments.

    Get a Missal

    baronius.jpg

    Now that the Traditional Latin Mass community in our part of the country has become more established, I’ve been looking about me on Sundays and wondering: why don’t more people buy daily missals?

    Quite recently, I was surprised to see Fr. Z of What Does the Prayer Really Say? write a post about the Baronius Missal which he had apparently just seen for the first time. Now, I received a Baronius Missal from my dear Doctor as a baptismal gift in May of 2005, so by now it’s an old friend for me. But, looking around at the congregation on Sunday at the Latin Mass, I note that surprisingly few people have their own daily missal. Many use the small red booklets from Ecclesia Dei, together with printouts containing the propers for the day, but it’s only the rare odd person who actually has a full missal.  [I can’t really understand why some people don’t want to follow the proper texts of Mass.]

    So here is my word on the matter: if you plan to assist regularly at the Traditional Latin Mass, you really must get yourself a missal! The red booklets are great to have around for the sake of newcomers and beginners, but it is infinitely nicer in the long run to have your own complete hand missal. In the first place, of course, it keeps you from having to refer back and forth between two different documents throughout the Mass (the missals have multiple ribbons for place markers, so it’s quite easy to flip back and forth between the propers and the ordinary.) It also gives you information that isn’t included in the red books (for example, the prefaces for all the different liturgical seasons), and all kinds of other invaluable spiritual aids, such as devotions to be read before and after confession and communion, morning and evening prayers to be used at home, litanies, and all manner of devotions for particular occasions. It has the kyriale in the back with several musical settings of the ordinary, which is great for people who like to sing. For some periods (Lent, for example) it includes not only the Sunday propers, but also the daily ones, and it also includes the propers for all the feast days, so even if you can’t get to Mass every day you can still read the passages on your own at home.

    I’m not really sure why more people (including some who assist at the Latin Mass extremely regularly and faithfully) don’t make this investment. [Amen to that, brother.] My husband suggested that, for some people, paying sixty dollars for a book is just not something they would ever do. And I understand that for some, that kind of expenditure might really constitute a hardship. But I would encourage you to consider the benefits. It’s only a one-time cost — with proper care, you should be able to use the same missal for decades and likely your whole life. And in fact, that’s really the best way to do it, because your missal will start to have a real personal significance when it’s been with you for a long time. You can leave it to a grandchild someday. (What a nice keepsake that would be!) But more importantly, as you become familiar with your missal, certain of its contents become important parts of your spiritual life. I don’t even need ribbons for many of my favorite places by now, because I know exactly where they are. At the same time, I sometimes discover new and interesting tidbits that I hadn’t seen before.  [I have seen people with hand missals so packed with memorial cards and other holy cards that they need a rubber band to hold it shut.  What a great way to remember people at Mass!]

    I think it’s particularly funny that I seem to be the only member of our Latin Mass choir who has a regular missal, which is silly, because the missal is especially invaluable for choir members. The pews where the choir sit are already piled with multiple books and pieces of music, and the put-down-pick-up game becomes considerably easier when you have the text of the ordinary and the propers, plus the musical settings of the ordinary all in one book, together with your before-Mass readings and your devotions for before and after Communion! I honestly can’t understand how the others live without this book. So, for all those who don’t have a missal yet, get one. If $60 is too much for you to spend on a whim, put it on your Christmas or birthday list. You won’t regret it.

    Good comments.

    • • • • • •

    The Pope’s schedule: Feb-April

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 5:47 am

    CELEBRATIONS TO BE PRESIDED BY THE POPE: FEBRUARY-APRIL

    VATICAN CITY, 9 FEB 2008 (VIS) – Below is the calendar of liturgical celebrations due to be presided over by the Holy Father between the months of February and April.

    FEBRUARY

    - Sunday 24. Third Sunday of Lent. Pastoral visit to the Roman parish of Santa Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio. At 9 a.m., celebration of the Eucharist.

    MARCH

    - Saturday 1. At 11 a.m. in the Consistory Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, consistory for certain causes of canonisation.

     - Sunday 9. Fifth Sunday of Lent. Pastoral visit to the International Youth Centre and the church of San Lorenzo in Piscibus. At 10 a.m., celebration of the Eucharist.

    - Thursday 13. At 5 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica, penitential celebration with young people from the diocese of Rome.

    - Sunday 16. Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Lord. At 9.30 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, blessing of palms, procession and Mass.

    - Thursday 20. Holy Thursday. In the Vatican Basilica at 9.30 a.m., Chrism Mass. In the Basilica of St. John Lateran at 5.30 p.m., the beginning of the Easter Triduum with the Mass of the Last Supper.

    - Friday 21. Good Friday. In the Vatican Basilica at 5 p.m., celebration of the Lord’s Passion. Way of the Cross at the Colosseum at 9.15 p.m.

    - Saturday 22. Holy Saturday. Easter vigil at 9 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica.

    - Sunday 23. Easter Sunday. Mass in St. Peter’s Square at 10.30 a.m. At midday, from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, "Urbi et Orbi" blessing.

    APRIL

     - Wednesday 2. In St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m., Mass for Pope John Paul II.

     - Tuesday 15 to Monday 21. Apostolic trip to the U.S.A.

     - Sunday 27. At 9 a.m. in the Vatican Basilica, priestly ordination of deacons from the diocese of Rome.

    • • • • • •

    Just a photo

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM, My View — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 5:27 am

    The other night I was priviledged to have supper with a fellow blogger, Zadok whom I am sure you are visiting.   We had a good meal at Er Facciolaro near the Pantheon and then, after a fast coffee, strolled over to the Trevi Fountain.

    I shot a couple photos of Zadok, but he is rather shy of having his likeness out there in the blogosphere.  He did return the favor of a photo, however.





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    Sadly I post this photo

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 4:53 am

    On one the most beautiful bridges in the world, the "Angel Bridge" which crosses the Tiber in front of Castel Sant’Angelo, there are stunning statues from the studio of Bernini.  Angels display to the passersby the instruments of the Passion of the Lord.

    Within the last few months one of them sadly, was damaged in a very bad way.   There had been some problems with dopes spray painting graffiti on the bases where the Latin inscriptions spoke of the mystery the angel was coveying.  Cleaning resulted in the erosion of those inscriptions. 

    This problem is worse.  I don’t know if it comes from vandalism or something else.

    This is one of my favorite statues, too.  The angel holding the nails which fixed the Lord to the Cross.


    Here is a shot of the statue, still intact, which I took a while back.

    Here it is now:

     

    I am pretty sad about this, frankly.

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