What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

Z-Cam & Radio Sabina, or "Fr Z TV" is on the air most of the time!

Live Broadcasting by Ustream

Watch the feeder and very often windows of the chapel and also my office.

There is Z-Chat in a chatroom from time to time.  I send out Tweets about when it is open via Twitter.  (Latin pipata, or "tweets" from pipio "to twitter, chirp")


Open as a pop up.

"tuppence a bag…"

Friends from Rome are visiting the Sabine Farm. 

Alas, they must drink my poor Sabine wine rather than the Falernian and Caecuban and Formian they are accustomed to quaff.

We do, however, know how to prepare Sabine meats on the grill!

One of the kids (there are four), can’t eat beef.  He got some nice little frenched lamb chops.



There were some fine pork ribs with barbecue sauce.



And the grown ups had T-bones.



It was great to watch someone else at the grill and just have a beer and shoot the breeze.

It was a perfect evening, temperature-wise.  Sunny skies and a breeze.

We started our revels in the late afternoon with Holy Mass in the chapel, with the Votive Mass of Christ the High Priest.

Then we trooped out to the bee hives to bless the bees!

From the Roman Ritual:

O Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth!  Thou didst create all living things for man’s use.  Moreover, thou didst order by the ministry of thy holy Church that candles made from the industry of bees shall burn during the Sacred Mystery in which we consecrate and consume the most holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, thy Son.  Send thy holy blessing + upon these bees and this beehive to make them numerous and productive, and to preserve them from harm, so that their yield of wax can be turned to thy honor, and to the honor of they Son and Holy Spirit, and to the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

I am told there are 40k bees in each hive.

They had no comment on the whole affair.

The kids are having a great time: I believe there is a lot of frog catching going on even as I write.

I don’t think a kid has been a kid until frogs have been caught, fireflies captured and put in jars, and dragonflies pursued.

There may even be a measure of chipmunk terrorizing taking place.

I’m with Martial on this one:

Ludi magister, parce simplici turbae:
sic te frequentes audiant capillati
et delicatae diligat chorus mensae,
nec calculator nec notarius velox
maiore quisquam circulo coronetur.
cirrata loris horridis Scythae pellis,
qua vapulavit* Marsyas Celaenaeus,
ferulaeque tristes, sceptra paedagogorum,
cessent et Idus dormiant in Octobres:
aestate pueri si valent, satis discunt.

 

PENJING REPORT

Penjing has been perfectly fine during my trip eastward.  As usual.

What surprised me was the incredible growth shown by Penzai, the Chinese Elm.



Irohamomiji, the Japanese Maple, is still doing its best to bud, but this tree is pretty slow.  I am wondering if perhaps it was dropped on its head as a sapling.



My rosemary, which survived the winter, is blooming like mad.



From the feeder, there is some news.

The birds seem now to have changed some of their eating habits.  I have noticed that some birds have changed what they prefer to eat.  For example, the Goldfinches, who are getting ready to nest, have been less after the thistle but the other seeds on the other feeders.  On the other hand, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak was hanging out on the finches’ thistle socks.  Odd.



The Goldfinches are really arguing these days.



See?  Mrs. Grosbeak on the thistle sock.  Odd.



Some shots.










But wait!   The Grosbeak is now getting in on the Oriole’s action.





* a very cool verb.  It is sort of the opposite of a deponent, active in form but passive in meaning.

Feed The Black – Feed The Red



"tuppence a bag…"

I went to the Morgan Library tonight.

There is wonderful exhibit there of illuminated Medieval manuscripts. I went on the recommendation of a nice fellow who gave me a ride into town from LaGuardia.

Stunning.

In the new acquisitions exhibit, here are a few things I found.

A manuscript page of an untitled story by Ernest Hemmingway (1947)

Artist Arthur Getz’s sketchbook from 1948-58 of covers for New Yorker.

A playbill of the 1788 Leipzig performance of Mozart’s Il dissoluto punito o sia D. Giovanni.

A score of Meistersinger marked up by Wagner.

Letters of Oscar Wilde.

A typewritten letter of TS Eliot from 1929 to a friend, a roomate from college. Some rather funny but scatological verse was included. Also the detail: "the Criterion is sent to you with invoice. Yes, it still exists, in spite of various vicissitudes; and the Pope, Ramsey Mac, and Herbet Hoover are said to tear it open with trembling fingers once every three months."



A page a story by Bernard Malamud, marked up and edited by him with changes. Fascinating.

A first printing from 1567 of the Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina.

An autograph photo and page of Yeats.

A letter of Charles Dawin eight years after Origin, in which he claims that his views will be universally accepted.

A 1536 printing of Bede’s Opuscula cumplura.

Seven photos of Mark Twain in a rocking chair on his porch which he wrote on as a series showing, like a story board, Twain having a moral debate with himself.



A scale survey map of London and Southwark from 1748.

Sketches by Degas, Mattisse, Toulouse-Laurtrec and many other artists.

Dylan Thomas’s hand written draft of "In the white giant’s thigh", close to the end of his life.

A singed ms page of Charles Dickens "Evenings of a working man" from 1844.

Dante Gabriel Rosetti’s letter to introduce himself and his poetry to Leigh Hunt, a friend of Keat, Shelley, and Byron. 1847

Robert Frost’s note to Conrad Aiken about his upcoming visit… and tennis.

A 1743 wordbook of London performance of the Messiah.

A manuscript page of the second movement of the 7th Symphony by Beethoven from 1812.

A letter of Vincent van Gogh to Paul Gauguin 1888 about an upcoming visit of the latter. It has sketches of a sitting room. He writes, "I often don’t know what I am doing, working almost like a sleepwalker."

How about this…

A handwritten manscript by Frederik the Great of his refutation of Machiavelli’s The Prince. But WAIT! There’s more! It is marked up by Voltaire, to whom Frederick had sent it for corrections and suggestions. COOL?

At the closing of the Library, I met a priest friend who was kind enough to take me out to supper at a superb country-style French place.  I had duck with orange sauce and a gentle Cote du Rhone.  The duck was tender with just the right amount of fat.  It came with green beans and a little mix of rice and wild mushrooms.

I am at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Manhattan for a few days.

Yesterday I participated at a fine conference on the Sacred Heart at Our Savior on Park and 38th.   The church is very striking.  Here are a couple shots during a Mass in the Braga Rite.

 

A couple quick shots.

More than birds are flying right now.

It looks like the migration is on.





I am pretty sure this is a Cedar Waxwing.  I just got a glimpse.



This heron decided to take a hike as I walked down to Sabine Pond.

Big.



I caught this Hummingbird with the flash.

Just a quick shot of the feeder… which I have neglected to show for a while.

Mr. Ruby Throated Hummingbird is coming in for a rest on the top of the feeder pole.





Finding a new view…  



Mr. Oriole is waiting to get at the grape jelly and orange slices.



Meanwhile, the Missus is tucking in.

A new visitor to the feeder, whom I have not ever seen.

Flicker.

A rarely seen guest came today – rare these days, at least – Mrs. Oriole.



This scruffy bird is a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  I hadn’t seen this one until today.

Perhaps immature?  Perhaps just scruffy?  Either way, he is the fifth male I have seen at the feeder.



Despite the color, this is not Mr. Bluebird.

You can see why so many baseball teams are named for this bird, and those like them.

First, many thanks to you who have voted for WDTPRS in the many categories of the Catholic Media Awards!  Please let your friends know about the voting and ask them to help WDTPRS.

Also, I am deeply grateful to the MA of CA for using my amazon.com wish list to send me the copy of Augustine and the Jews: A Christian Defense of Jews and Judaism by Paula Fredriksen.  While this is not directly related to my main interests in Augustine, it is good to have this.  A trusted colleague told me that the book as merits.  People bring up Augustine on Jews once in a while.  It is good to have this resource.

Some of you have been so kind as to send donations through the donation button on the left sidebar and on some posts, for example, on the PRAYERCAzT and PODCAzT entries and some of the entries on the Sabine bird feeder.  Some also have used the little "cup of coffee" link on the sidebar. 

Both the birds and I are grateful.  These winged gluttons can really eat.  Your donations have helped to keep them going.  This was very important during the winter and early spring, especially.  There are many more birds here this year and many more varieties than I have seen in the past.  Thank you!

Speaking of the feeder….

Here is Mrs. Rose-breasted Grosbeak having a little preen in between feasts.



It seems these finches also like the orange slices I put out for orioles.



This chipmunk is baffled.



I haven’t seen this before.  Two male Orioles feeding at the same.

I suppose they haven’t paired up with mates yet and are therefore less territorial.



Just a nice and peaceful view from the window late in the afternoon.



To those of you who have sent things or made donations, please know that I remember you in prayer, as is fitting for benefactors, and from time to time I say Mass for the intention of those who have been so kind.  I will do this again on Friday, the Ember Friday of Pentecost.

I am very pleased that Fr. Finelli, aka "iPadre" celebrated his first TLM today and, being tech savvy ustreamed it!

Here is a screenshot.



I captured the stream and put it also on "Father Z TV", the Z-Cam.

 

PENJING REPORT

Penjing has been outside and is doing very well.. lots of new growth.



"But Father! But Father!", some of you are saying… gesticulating at the screen.  "Wasn’t there another tree?  It had a funny name…  Did you … kill it?"

I am glad you asked.



You will recall that I had a Japanese Maple, Irohamomiji.  Last autumn, I was a little worried about this tree when all the leaves went nasty and dropped.  "Beh!", quoth I.  "It is a maple, after all."

During the whole of the long winter a friend made fun of me for diligently watering this twig.

Now… I can report that Irohamomiji’s little buds are finally moving and changing.  Some seem to be getting moist and a little sticky, The maple sap is running!

I don’t think I’ll tap it.

There is life after all.  Let this be a lesson to us all.



It will be interesting to see what happens.

In the meantime, a kind reader sent me a very nice addition.

This is a Chinese Elm, Ulmus parvifolia.



This is to be known as Penzai.

A reader has sent me a photo taken clandestinely.

This may explain how the enemy maintains that sustained attack on the bird feeders.

This may even explain why I had no coffee beans this morning!

Some quick shots from the feeder.

There have been a lot of woodpeckers in the last few days and many few finches.

This Red-Bellied Woodpecker triumphantly comes up with a peanut.



Brown Thrasher.  What a very different eye they have from most of the other birds who visit.



They use their beaks to shove the food around until they find what they like.





This Hairy Woodpecker has driven off an Oriole.



Too bad I didn’t have my camera handy as I saw this develop.

Mr. & Mrs. Purple Finch are on a date.  They are doing a little courting.

I saw them clacking their beaks together as the Missus flapped one wing only.

This must be some courting behavior. 

I only got this one shot in before a big woodpecker came in and they took off.



And they eat… and eat… and eat…



Red-Winged Blackbird proclaims his ownership of my lawn.

Some thanks are do to readers.

First, JP of CA sent a USB hub which has allowed me more easily to connect several webcams for the sake of the Z-Cam.  This hub actually works.  With the other hub, for one reason or another, more than two cams would lock everything up. 

JK of OH sent two delightful books.  The Wine of Certitude: A Literary Biography of Ronald Knox by David Rooney.  Also, JK sent The Death of a Pope by Piers Paul Read.

I have read the Evelyn Waugh’s biography The Life of the Right Reverend Ronald Knox Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, and Pronotary Apostolic to His Holiness Pope Pius XII.  I am quite interested in what Rooney has to say.  Also I have heard some good things about the novel, a thriller.

I am also very grateful to those of you who have sent donations via the donation button.  They are very helpful, especially for the continual feeding of the winged eating machines, who greedily descend day in and day out.

This is about right…




Visit Loose Parts

A small selection of excerpts from my ordination in Rome in 1991.

Another well-known priest was ordained on the same day.

It was a nearly perfect afternoon at the Sabine Farm today.





I had a friend over to enjoy a leisurely late lunch of trouts, a fennel au gratin, sweet corn with a little garish of roasted red peppers.

I prepared the trout on a bed of the fennel greens with slices of orange.  For liquid I used fish stock, white wine and ginger.



It went into the 350F oven.







I made a sauce from the reduced cooking liquid which I rapidly cooked down with cream.

After, we had espresso and ice cold limoncello.

Birds and bees had lunch as well.

Blue Jay dines alone, as you can imagine.







And here… at a distance… is Mr. Bluebird.







I found another Robin in the act of pulling a worm.  The other pics, however, didn’t come out well.



The bees are really at the apple blossoms.

Penjing had nothing to say to lunch, but rather enjoyed sunshine and lots of water.  There were visitors, however.





A pair of scholars took some shade for a discussion, master and pupil.





As the shadows lengthened toward evening, some time in the chapel for vespers and rosary.

I look forward to the morrow.

The flag is ready to be hung in its accustomed place.