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!

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

Live Broadcasting by Ustream

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…"

Well… far more than tuppence, actually…. HELP!



REGISTER to be able to post comments.

I don’t know about you, but I am a little tired of the suggestion (from churchmen who shall remain nameless, out of respect for those who are offended by gender-exclusive language) that people are too stooopid to understand the new translation which, God willing, we will be able to use before the Lord returns.

Let me put this to you this way:

Are you stooopid or something?

Okay, boys and girls, let’s have a test!

Let’s read the new and improved text of the Creed used at Mass.

Here we go!   I will flag in RED the parts that might be tooo haaard.  Skip them if you have to.

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial* with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate* of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake
he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated
at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
[...] And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,
the giver of life, who proceeds
from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
[...] And one, holy, catholic
and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection
of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

*WARNING: These are in fact haaard parts, generally considered by smart people… not necessary just liberal smart people (in other words, people smarter than you), to be mysteries.  While they ought to be covered thoroughly in your First Holy Communion catechesis as well as from the pulpit at different times of the year, they do remain sort of haaard, even ineffable.   This fact does NOT… NOT… put the following POLL in the category of "trick question".

Okay!  I am sure that was haaard, but let’s see how you did!


n

I have been slugging away at articles and listening to the USCCB meeting.

At this point, a glance out the window at a nice day and some visitors at the feeder is in order.

Red-bellied Woodpecker in a typical pose.



I have frequent visits from a female Cardinal.  The male sometimes comes along, but hasn’t been around today so far.



Nuthatch in a classic stance.  They have a sort of swayed back because they usually are upside down.



A view of one of the webcams for the Z-Cam and Radio Sabina.



Red-breasted Nuthatch is coming more often.  Perhaps twice a day, morning and evening.



Team House Finch.



Slightly alert.




Variations on red.

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, filled with anxiety.

I took apart a long used, hard traveled, aging but still useful mini-laptop and replaced its cooling fan.

For quite a while I have been unable to use this little box without a cooling pad, which is inconvenient and not as helpful as it could be.

There was nothing else to be done.

So, I found the part on e-bay, had it sent and.. today.. went to work!

And without a net, for the most part.

It was like Chinese puzzle box.  I went very deliberately, checking myself along the way, so that I could reassemble properly.



I found had to lift up the mother-board to get at the anchor screws for the fan, which was a pain.



This little bugger slowed me down. 



I spent a long time trying to get the little brown fastening clip back on.

In the end, success!

I turned on.  It booted up.  The screen worked.

The OS loaded.  All the ports worked.

The key board and touchpad worked.

I could hear the fan. 



So, I have revived for greater use a very small travel laptop, which could serve as a backup or auxiliary.

Meanwhile, to aid me in my resection, I finally lit two beeswax candles I was give a long time ago.

On some trip or other… not sure where… I was given two homemade beeswax candles.

The are curious affairs.   They seem to be sheets of wax that were rolled around a wick.







They are odd, to be sure, but they smell grand. 

They got a little crunched in my travels, but I straightened them out.

They lend that wonderful and unmistakable beeswax smell to the whole place.

I have some beeswax candles for the chapel, for Requiem Masses, but none for the house.

Whoever you are who gave these to me… thanks!

And now to extract a couple electronic components from the incredibly complicated stack of stuff, and do some rearranging.



This is always a harrowing adventure, since many of these things are daisy-chained together and hooked in to the Sabine network.

I have to pull a couple things out and then reorganize the whole mass of scary boxes.

You can’t believe the whole web of wires.

And then I write 1000 words for The Catholic Herald.

And then a workout and alien slaying with the XBOX.

And then some time in the chapel.

And then to bed.
 

A not so common visitor to the Sabine Feeder, is Red-breasted Nuthatch.



Unimpressed by this Nuthatch, Goldfinch is having a little nap.



Posting a new tweet.

 

I had as usual a good time in NYC despite the unfortunate victory of a team to remain nameless.

Until next time, thanks to all the great folks I met on this trip.

UPDATE:

Minneapolis and St Paul, my hometown.

First, I will say "Go Phillies" and get it out of the way. Nice view on the way in.

UPDATE: Out for a walk with a friend, we stopped at Holy Innocents. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed and we were there for Benediction.

UPDATE: Nice to stretch the legs. A short visit to St Patrick’s.

UPDATE: Time for some supper. Shanghai juicy dumplings!

UPDATE: In New York watching the game with a serious Yankees fan.

UPDATE: Painful… but there is still a lot of baseball yet to be played.

UPDATE: Just before the latest painful moment.

6 RBIs

UPDATE: That’ better…

UPDATE: I am required by my host to post the following sad image…. sigh…

I am pleased to report that donations allowed me to get my camera cleaned!  Therefore, here is a report from the feeder.

For some reason I have not seen Cardinals at the feeder except for the rare bird.  Today I was delighted to see both Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal!

Here is a very jaunty Missus.



Mister stands out against the still green grass.



This is European Starling in its winter plumage.  I hope he will be moving along soon.

I was surprised at how big it is.
 


In the meantime, the Chickadees are in charge.



UPDATE:

since I have been on the road for a while, I want also to thank the kind souls who sent things from my amazon wish list.

MA sent a volume of English translations of Sermons of St. Augustine.  Very helpful!

LR of CA sent Spies in the Vatican: The Soviet Union’s Way Against the Catholic Church by John Koehler, as well as God is No Delusion: A Refutation of Richard Dawkins by Thomas Crean.

I was also very pleased to receive the English translation of Antonio Socci’s book The Fourth Secret of Fatima. 

These gestures of kindness, as well as the donations, lift my spirits, especially on tough days.  They keep me coming back to the keyboard.  

I always remember to pray for benefactors – which is what I consider you to be – at the Lord’s altar.  

From time to time it is good to visit a well provided museum. This morning I am at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

In the atrium of the old building is one of the best pieces in the collection.

This is a 2nd c. BC Roman copy, one of four extant, of a famous 5th c. bronze by Polykleitos. It is a spear-bearer or Doryphoros. The original was perfectly designed to produce a harmony from an ideal or “canon” on the human form. The measurements to the different parts of the form took their origin from the end if a now missing little finger.

This is the best copy, the others being in the Uffizi, Vatican, and Naples.

In the background is a fine stemma in wood of the Farnese Pope, Paul III.

Many thanks to all of you who have sent birthday greetings!  Your notes are very much appreciated.

Also, belated thanks are due to the kind soul, JV of PA who used my wish list to send me the three volumes of Dante’s Divine Comedy in a new translation by Anthony Esolen.  They are in affordable paperbacks and have the wonderful advantage of the facing original Italian.  I have a couple wonderful Italian editions with facing modern Italian, but it is nice to have the English.  I haven’t started to drill into these yet, but I look forward to them.   If you are interested, you can get the Inferno here, Purgatory here, and Paradise here.  Far too many people look at some parts of the Inferno but don’t actually understand what Dante is trying to accomplish in the whole arc not only of that first part, but in the whole work.

Also, just in time for Pope Benedict’s new provisions for Anglicans, JH of MN sent me the music CD, Vol. 4 of the Complete New English Hymnal.  There are  This volume features the choir of Gloucester Cathedral. It was sent with a birthday greeting.  Thanks!   There are, I think, 10 volumes in the series and I have 1-5.  Every once in a while I add a few to the list. They are nice during the day when I am working.  It isn’t always Gregorian chant and polyphony folks!  Sometimes its English hymns and Chinese Opera.

In the meantime, at the feeder:

The bold Chickadees are in complete control together with their Nuthatch allies.

During the summer I beleive the Chickadees were on a cruise.  But they are back in large numbers.  I believe they may be my favorites.

This one is stylin’ for the Z-Cam

Penjing and Penzai have both, rumor has it, lost most of their leaves.  They are in seclusion and were unavailable for comment.  Irohamomiji, on the other hand, if it is to be believed is entirely beleaved.

In the Catholic Review of the Archdiocese of Baltimore comes this CNS story.

On 22 October His Excellency Most Rev. Donald W. Trautman, Bishop of Erie, gave a talk at Catholic University of American in which he ran down the new translation of the Missale Romanum.

I would like a transcript or video of the whole talk.  I am sure the bishop’s remarks are interesting.

But let us work with what we have, with my emphases and comments.

Bishop criticizes ‘slavishly literal’ English translation of missal
By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON – Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, Pa., former chairman of the U.S. bishops’ liturgy committee, sharply criticized what he called the “slavishly literal” translation into English of the new Roman Missal from the original Latin.

He said the “sacred language” used by translators “tends to be elitist and remote from everyday speech and frequently not understandable” and could lead to a “pastoral disaster.”

“The vast majority of God’s people in the assembly are not familiar with words of the new missal like ‘ineffable,’ ‘consubstantial,’ ‘incarnate,’ ‘inviolate,’ ‘oblation,’ ‘ignominy,’ ‘precursor,’ ‘suffused’ and ‘unvanquished.’ The vocabulary is not readily understandable by the average Catholic,” Bishop Trautman said.  [So…each one of these words could perhaps be … what… explained?  Words such as "ineffable" and "incarnate" point to metaphysical realities that need explanation.  In centuries past we fought wars for this language.  "Consubstantial"?  This had to be explained in every century.  It took tears and even blood to craft this language and pass it down.  Maybe the problem is that priests and deacons need to study the Fathers…. knowing that bishops already have done so, of course.]

“The (Second Vatican Council’s) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy stipulated vernacular language, not sacred language,” [No, Your Excellency.  Sacrosanctum Concilium required the Latin language.   It permitted the vernacular in limited circumstances.  And are you, Your Excellency, seriously suggesting that in the sacred liturgy we should not use sacred language?] he added. “Did Jesus ever speak to the people of his day in words beyond their comprehension? Did Jesus ever use terms or expressions beyond his hearer’s understanding?”  [Jesus never used the word "bishop" either.  And what of Matthew 13?  "The disciples approached him and said, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ He said to them in reply, ‘Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.’"]

Bishop Trautman made his remarks in an Oct. 22 lecture at The Catholic University of America in Washington, as part of the Monsignor Frederick R. McManus Lecture Series. Monsignor McManus, a liturgist, served as a peritus, or expert, during Vatican II.

The Roman Missal has not yet been given final approval for use in the United States. The U.S. bishops were scheduled to vote on four items pertaining to the missal at their November general meeting in Baltimore. It is expected that the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments would give its “recognitio,” or approval, at some point following the U.S. bishops’ vote.  [So, this is part of Bp. Trautman’s ongoing campaign to move brother bishops to vote against the new translations.]

Bishop Trautman took note of sentences in the new missal that he said run 66, 70 and 83 words, declaring that they were “unproclaimable” by the speaker and “incomprehensible” to the hearer.

“American Catholics have every right to expect the translation of the new missal to follow the rules for English grammar. The prefaces of the new missal, however, violate English syntax in a most egregious way,” Bishop Trautman said, citing some examples in his remarks. [I would like to see them.  Sincerely.]

“The translators have slavishly transposed a Lain ‘qui’ clause into English without respecting English sentence word order,” he added. The bishop also pointed out subordinate clauses from the missal that are “represented as a sentence,” and sentences lacking a subject and predicate.

Bishop Trautman also questioned the use of “I believe” in the retranslated version of the Nicene Creed, “even though the original and official Nicene Creed promulgated by the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 said ‘we believe’ in both the Greek and Latin versions. [There is a difference between the Creed in the liturgy and  Creed in a Council.  Sure, they are close to each other.  They are both gatherings of statements of belief.  But Creeds coming from Councils or Synods had to be signed by members of divergent theological parties as a formula of unity.  That is why the conciliar or synodal Creeds start with "WE".  An ancient council is a different context than the Mass.  In the liturgy, individuals – together – make personal statements of faith, as they would at their own baptism.]

“Since this is a creedal prayer recited by the entire assembly in unison, the use of ‘we’ emphasized the unity of the assembly in praying this together as one body. Changing the plural form of ‘we’ to ‘I’ in the Nicene Creed goes against all ecumenical agreements regarding common prayer texts,” he said.  [Ummm… the Creed in the liturgy begins CREDO and not CREDIMUS.  Latin 101.  Furthermore, ecumenical agreements ring hollow if the translation is wrong.  Let’s have an ecumenical agreement about the correct translation!]

The bishop complained about the lack of “pastoral style” in the new translation. [I think he means "dumber".  Am I wrong?] The current wording in Eucharistic Prayer 3 asks God to “welcome into your kingdom our departed brothers and sisters,” which he considered “inspiring, hope-filled, consoling, memorable.”  [That’s his opinion.  Fine.]

The new translation asks God to “give kind admittance to your kingdom,” which Bishop Trautman called “a dull lackluster expression which reminds one of a ticket-taker at the door. ... The first text reflects a pleading, passionate heart and the latter text a formality – cold and insipid.”  [The Latin says: "in regnum tuum benignus admitte". I worked on this years ago in WDTPRS, when I wrote about the Eucharistic prayers.  My version was "kindly admit into your kingdom".  On this point, I therefore agree with Bp. Trautman – my "slavishly literal" version was better.  I posted mine seven years ago, btw.  But why should Bp. Trautman’s emotions about the present, lame-duck translation trump what the prayer really says?]

Bishop Trautman quoted the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, which said rites and texts “should radiate a noble simplicity. They should be short, clear, free from useless repetition. They should be within the people’s powers of comprehension, and normally should not require much explanation.” [Let’s not forget how the lame-duck ICEL version isn’t  noble or simple.  It is just ignobly simplistic. Beyond simplistic, it is sanitized.  We need to be reminded – even through our sacral liturgical language – that religion is hard.  Furthermore, I think the new texts are within their comprehension, even if not immediate.  I think people are smarter than Bp. Trautman does.   Still, religion and religious concepts are hard.  They ought to challenge.]

“Why are these conciliar directives not implemented in the new missal?” he asked. [If Counciliar decrees are so important, why are you, Your Excellency, not therefore fighting for Gregorian chant in every parish?  What about the mandate of the same Sacrosanctum Concilium that pastors of souls should make sure their flocks can both sing and speak their responses in Latin?  Are we being a little selective in invoking the Council?]  They are “especially” relevant, Bishop Trautman added, to “the people of the third millennium: children, teenagers, adults, those with varying degrees of education, and those with English as a second language.”  [Because… what?  Those are new groups the Church?  Holy Church has never seen teens or people with varying degrees of education during the first two millennia?]

He acknowledged that “there are those who disagree with the way the liturgical reform of Vatican II was interpreted and implemented” and who maintained that “a reform of the reform” was necessary to stem what they saw as “diminishing religiosity (and) declining Mass attendance” tied to the Mass texts. ["those who disagree"...  I think he is talking about Pope Benedict and even about Pope John Paul II.]

But while “the Latin text is the official, authoritative text,” Bishop Trautman said, “the Latin text is not inspired. It is a human text, reflecting a certain mindset, theology and world view.”  [The Latin text of the Missale Romanum is not inspired in the way Holy Scripture is inspired.  Granted. But it is theological locus and is entirely under the aegis of the Vicar of Christ.  But if we stipulate that the Latin text is not inspired, does that mean that the vernacular text can be changed in pretty much any way the winds of change suggest?  That seems to be what Bp. Trautman is arguing.]

As a consequence, “a major and radical change” and “a major pastoral, catechetical problem erupts” [It erupts now because it has been ignored for decades.] in the new missal during the words of consecration, which say that the blood of Christ “will be poured out for you and for many,” instead of “for all,” as is currently the practice.

“For whom did Jesus not die?” Bishop Trautman asked. “In 1974 the Holy See itself had approved our present words of institution (consecration) as an accurate, orthodox translation of the Latin phrase ‘pro multis,’“ he added. “It is a doctrine of our Catholic faith that Jesus died on the cross for all people.”  [And now the Vicar of Christ has made the determination that the words will be, in every language, "for many".  Why, Your Excellency, can’t Pope Benedict make this determination?  Are you suggesting that he didn’t know what he was doing?  Furthermore, the Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent has a specific paragraph about why we do not, cannot, say "for all".  Moreover, it is also a doctrine of our faith that not all will actually be saved.  The Church says "pro multis" – for good reason – and all the necessary explanations have been issued repeatedly.]

Bishop Trautman took issue with a 2006 letter to bishops by Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, then head of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, which said that “salvation is not brought about in some mechanistic way, without one’s own willing or participation.”

“I respond that Jesus died even for those who reject his grace. He died for all,” Bishop Trautman said.  [This is old stuff now.  It is settled and the explanations have been given.  The Lord  without question died for all, but not all will be saved.  Furthermore, "pro multis" does not, cannot, mean "for all".  That’s just plain wrong and embarrasing.]

“Why do we now have a reversal? The Aramaic and Latin texts have not changed. [LOL!] The scriptural arguments have not changed, but the insistence on literal translation has changed.”  [RIGHT!  The Latin text did not change.  The Latin text says "pro multis".  And the Aramaic?  Show us, Your Excellency, the Aramaic text of the Lord’s words.  This reference to the Aramaic is pure speculation based on a philological fan dance performed by a Lutheran Scripture scholar who argued that the Greek Scriptures about the Last Supper were wrong and that he knew better.  I have written on this at length.  Pope Benedict is right about this: the Latin text constitutes its own theological locus and it must be respected as such.  Enough.]

Bishop Trautman hearkened back to Monsignor McManus, whom he called “an apostle of the liturgical renewal.”

“If Monsignor McManus were with us today, he would call us to fidelity to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and encourage us to produce a translation of the missal that is accurate, inspiring, referent, proclaimable, understandable, pastoral in every sense – a text that raises our minds and hearts to God.”

Religion is not easy or self-evident.

That’s why we have the preaching office. Have we forgotten that? 

We have to have elevated language for that which is hard. 

Words such as "ineffable" point to the nature of a mystery. 

If a priest, deacon, or lay catechist could spend two minutes to explain what the word "ineffable" means that would be two minutes well spent on the people of God. 

Too much to ask?

And if those priests, or deacons, or lay catechists, or the people in the pews don’t like what they hear about "ineffable" or "consubstantial", there are loads of churches out there that don’t have complicated theology as part of their heritage. 

There is plenty of Salvation Army theology out there.  It isn’t hard to find. 

The Orthodox are not dumbing down their liturgy.  Traditional Catholics aren’t seeking more banal experiences.  Anglicans fought pitched battles over liturgical language. 

Let us for a moment review the Missa Trautmanensis which came up on the blog a few years ago:

Priest: Uhm, like, hey guys, we need to, you know, get started, so let’s do the cross thingy.  OK, so now we’re gonna say sorry and stuff to God because, you know
what? Nobody’s perfect.
All: I’m sorry if anything I did was offensive. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. My bad.
Priest: Ok, let’s, like, talk to God now and listen to the stories in the book.
Lector: [lector reads the day’s selection] This is from that book from God.
All: Thanks God.
Cantor: Now you all are gonna repeat after me, like row row row your boat and I’ll sing some stuff from the book.
Priest: Uhm, This next part is really important so let’s everybody stand up and do the cross thingy on our heads, mouths and chest.
Hey, peace y’all.
All: Right back atcha.
[the priest reads the Gospel of the day]
Priest: Jesus did this.
All: Thanks Jesus.
Priest: [gives pastoral, easily comprehensible homily]
Priest: Hey guys, now let’s say that long thing that talks about what we think about and stuff.
All: We like God.  God is cool and really nice because He made me and this whole world – which by the way – we are totally polluting and it’s getting hot.  Jesus was born in a little barn and every Christmas we have a play during church but then he died. But you know what? He loves me and wants me to be happy.  There’s this spirit that talks to us in a book and he makes things live.  I like my church because everyone here is so nice and the priest is nice and we sing nice songs about nice stuff and later when we get old and icky, after we die, we all get to go to heaven with Jesus. He’s really cool by the way. Amen.
Priest: Now let’s pray for a bunch of stuff.
[intentions are prayed]
Priest: hey you guys in the back? Can y’all carry that basket and pitcher up here? That’d help a lot. Thanks.
Priest: Hey y’all, be peaceful and stuff.
All: You too.
Priest: Let’s pray to God and, you know.
All: yeah, that’d be nice.
Priest: You know what? Angels and stuff sing to God so let’s sing along with them.
All: Hey God. 
You are way bigger than us.
You make the world happy.
We love you big guy.
YAY!
Jesus liked you and he was cool.
YAY!
Priest: A long time ago, at dinner, Jesus gave His friend’s some bread and wine and stuff.
Because Jesus likes us, He wants us to have bread and wine too.
God wants us to have this snack also.
And you know what?
We really like snacks so let’s tell God and Jesus and that Spirit gal thanks.
All: Yeah…Thanks.
[all present themselves for communion]
Priest: (holding out a wicker basket) Uhm, like, here’s some bread for you from God.
Recipient: Yum, that’s good and nutty, is it whole grain by the way? I like it. Now where’s that dude with the vino?

Nothing about religion is easy or self-evident.

That’s why we have the preaching office or … have we forgotten that? 

Thank heaven this last ditch effort is too late.  

The fight over the liturgical translation is effectively over.

Just a note of thanks to readers who have made donations lately, especially for the bird feeding fund.

I was able to stock up a bit on some feed during a sale and also get a little feeder for the window close to where I have a webcam parked for Fr. Z TV.

So far there are no takers for the new feeder, but as it gets colder and colder, I think it will bring in some customers.

These critters can really chow down.

In any event…

I will be in New York City from 4-9 November.  

One of the things I will be doing is acting as celebrant for a Solemn TLM on 6 November, a First Friday, at 6:30 PM at the Church of the Guardian Angel in Manhattan (10th Ave. and 21st St.).  This link should take you to some pictures of the Church.

However, perhaps in advance we might give some thought to a Big Apple Blognic?

First, is anyone interested?

Maybe a Saturday morning thing?

Many thanks to the kind people who have contributed to the Feed Z Birds fund! 

This winter they will eat by your donations.

Right now there is a good sale on feed going, till 18 October, at a wild bird store.  I will try to stock up while the sale is on.

Also, many thanks to TG of MO who checked the wish list and sent the flat of San Marzano tomatoes!  That is part of the Feed Z… Z fund. 

I will mark those cans, so when I use them I will remember TG who sent them.

From the Laudator:

Richard Wilbur, October Maples, Portland:

The leaves, though little time they have to live,
Were never so unfallen as today,
And seem to yield us through a rustled sieve
The very light from which time fell away.

A showered fire we thought forever lost
Redeems the air. Where friends in passing meet,
They parley in the tongues of Pentecost.
Gold ranks of temples flank the dazzled street.

It is a light of maples, and will go;
But not before it washes eye and brain
With such a tincture, such a sanguine glow
As cannot fail to leave a lasting stain.

So Mary’s laundered mantle (in the tale
Which, like all pretty tales, may still be true),
Spread on the rosemary-bush, so drenched the pale
Slight blooms in its irradiated hue,

They could not choose but to return in blue.

I returned from Detroit to find that little winged gluttons had picked the feeders clean.

While I was filling one of the feeders the Chickadee was already zooming in with reproaches.

He practically knocked me out of the way.





The Juncos are back!



There are no lack of Goldfinches.



The young ones are still begging relentlessly.

This woodpecker stared at me through the window for a while.





When the young beg for food, they flap their wings and make squeaky toy noises.









Mom shows up.









BUSTED.



No begging from the House Finch!



I can beg, however.   They eat from your donations!

Some other images from Detroit.

There is a reason why the parish where I am staying is called Assumption Grotto.

The parish is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, but behind the parish church there is a fine cemetery with a Lourdes Grotto.






I am told that during the summer there is a procession on Sundays with the Blessed Sacrament to the Grotto and Benediction.  Also, some morning parish Masses are celebrated here.

After Mass I stopped in for a choir practice, lead by the pastor Fr. Perrone.  They were working on the Theresianmesse.



Here is the facade of the church.



After the last Sunday Mass one of the priests took me down to see Sacred Heart Seminary.







On the way back to the parish, making our way up beautiful Gratiot Avenue, I spotted a very useful business.   If I lived at Assumption Grotto, I would be tempted to have my taxes done here!

In downtown Detroit check out Henry the Hatter on Broadway. Great hat store!

Gents need hats.

And you might have an adventure!

We did!

I came with another priest.

We met all sorts of really interesting people too!

But we made it out alive.

At first, in the shop, they thought we might be rabbis. I assured them we were not.

And then there was the episode with the tire jack! (No… not our tire…).

Detroit is a lot of fun, I can tell you.