Fr. Z's Blog

Thank you, Lord, for this day.  This is the 301st days of this calendar year.

Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday.

On this my natal day, the sun rose at 7:35 in Rome and it set at 17:12.

The Ave Maria Bell was suppose to ring for the Curia at 17:30.

It was the Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude (patron of impossible causes).  I have 1st class relics of BOTH in the Chapel of the Two Trinities back across the pond.

I celebrated Holy Mass today for my parents.  It seemed the right thing to do.

I ask a prayer please also for me, an impossible cause.  My Jesus, mercy.

I was amused by the dictionary.com Word of the Day today.  Not kidding.

The tomb of the Apostles Simon and Jude in the Vatican Basilica.

White to move and mate in 4.

Interested in learning?  Try THIS. Right now 70% off for Igor’s birthday… birthday, I say!

Meanwhile…

Makes sense https://t.co/jFhgxRfBgM

— MedievalistMatt (@medievalistmatt) October 26, 2026

Good question…

LATEST: Bishop Rob Mutsaerts responds to Cardinal Roche’s @RealAdVaticanum interview on the Traditional Latin Mass.

The Dutch auxiliary bishop of ’s-Hertogenbosch asks why liturgical diversity is celebrated for Eastern rites yet treated as a problem for the ancient Roman liturgy:

“Why is virtually every old Catholic liturgical tradition a treasure, except for the old Roman liturgy?”

The traditional Roman rite, His Excellency writes, “is not a foreign intruder in the Catholic Church; it comes from its own home.”

Read the full articles at @RealAdVaticanum

https://t.co/66W7hcDvPV

— Niwa Limbu (@NiwaLimbu1988) October 27, 2026

It was 06:34 when Helios guided his fiery chariot above the horizon in the Roman east.

At 17:13 the solar steeps galloped off into the west.

The curial calendar designated 17:30 as the time for the Ave Maria.

It is the Vigil of Sts. Simon and Jude (if you are using the pre-55 calendar).

From the sacristy of The Parish™ we see that one of the priests is set up for the feria day, some are ready for tomorrow already with red, one has purple for the vigil.

YOU READERS helped to furnish the red sets.

Walking along today, I saw that the lettering of the street signs is being spiffed up.

Fun

Black can mate in 4.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Steal his look https://t.co/UiYlQEw4Wc

— MedievalistMatt (@medievalistmatt) October 27, 2026

This is years ago….

There is a lot of “Rome” in this photo. Nasone, sanpietrini, walled-up door, rione sign, mondezzaro sign… have a closer look…
and … closer….

Did you get it?

Meanwhile…

Over Rome the sun did it’s thing at 06:33.

It goes on strike at 17:15.

The Ave Maria Bell is in the 17:30, but that’s not solar time.

Inter alia… it is the Feast of St. Quadragesimus, a subdeacon, who raised a dead man to life.

We need more names like that.

White mates in 4.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Medieval rube goldberg machine https://t.co/8Ubop92NY8

— MedievalistMatt (@medievalistmatt) October 26, 2026

About the goat rodeo in Rome…  I don’t understand the inconsistent spelling… but… more information is coming.

More proof that the world is upside down…

I never thought I’d see an NFL ball carrier penalized for running the ball too hard… Running defenders over is literally his job… 🤷‍♂️ #LakeBoss 🇺🇸 https://t.co/2ifNAl7Mfn

— Lake Boss 🚤🐟🐕‍🦺🇺🇸 (@LakeBoss) October 26, 2026

I think we should put AI in this thing… and on those creepy robotic dogs and then heavily arm them.

What could go wrong?

TESLA OPTIMUS TORE UP A STAGE IN DELHI IN 15 SECONDS

The festival paid $90,000 for it to walk out and wave

But the moment the drums hit, it went into bhangra like it was born in Punjab

One leg hops, shoulders on the beat, a squat and a spin without a single pause

The dancer who was up next took off his costume right backstage

The host kept yelling this wasn’t in the program, but nobody could hear him

The clip hit 40 million views overnight and Elon still hasn’t said a word

Who taught it this ?

— Shredder (@Shred_0x) October 25, 2026

In the course of things, dawn broke over Rome and some confused, angry and misled pilgrims and denizens at 06:32.  During the night, we went off the “daylight savings” here and so we gained back an hour of sleep.   The sunset was therefore also later by the clock, now close again to solar time, at 17:16.

Therefore the Ave Maria for the Curia adjusted to 17:30, but solar Ave Maria was at 17:36.

Today in the Vetus Calendar we celebrated the Feast of Christ the King with its wonderful texts about Our Lord being King of everything meaning also all social entities.

Also on the calendar today are Santi Crispino and Crispiniano of King Henry V fame and the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.  “Today….” you know how it goes!

Welcome registrants:

DavaoDan
Franciscan91

I was out to lunch at the dependable Elle Effe with a couple from the USA.  What they had.

Scottadito.

I’m trying to remember what this was … looks like fusilli… so Pasta Siciliana.  Elle Effe is a Roman/Sicilian venture.   Tell them “don John” sent you.  If you want a white wine, you will not make a mistake with their Catarratto.  If they are out, Leone.

But we tried…. and “santa mucca” it was great.

I love this medievalist’s wicked sense of humor…

Happy Sunday 🙂 https://t.co/zpCdwAUSQz

— MedievalistMatt (@medievalistmatt) October 25, 2026

BTW… I’ve seen a great many things… stupid things… harmful to the Cause posted about what went one and what didn’t go on during the Summorum pilgrimage.  I’ll post about it.  This is just to say, do NOT just go with “oh…they are being so mean to us”.  There’s more to it and involves, frankly, both incompetence and prevarication.   The truth will out.  I’m still gathering the threads.

THIS… is far more important…

Robin Yount walked out to throw the first pitch at the first Brewers World Series game in 44 years, and he was wearing another man’s jacket.

A plaid sport coat. One of Bob Uecker’s actual ones, off the rack in his closet.

Yount is the one who asked.

When he found out he had the first pitch, he went to Brewers broadcaster Lane Grindle and asked whether it would be appropriate to wear a plaid jacket in honor of Ueck. Grindle told him he thought it would be incredible.

Then Grindle went a step further and asked Uecker’s family whether the crew could borrow the real coats.

They said yes right away.

So Yount walked to the mound in Bob Uecker’s jacket. And then on the mound he took it off.

Underneath was a Brewers jersey. Number 19. UECK across the back.

The entire radio crew wore the coats too. Josh Maurer got the one Uecker wore in the Miller Lite commercial with Whitey Ford and John Goodman, which is also the coat he is wearing on the cover of Catcher in the Wry. The engineer, Kent Sommerfeld, wore the one from the commercial Uecker did with John Madden.

Outside the ballpark, people were setting Miller Lite cans down at the foot of the Uecker statue. Ryan Braun got the crowd to shout for Ueck before the game.

Now understand why it had to be Yount.

He played 20 seasons and every single one of them was in Milwaukee. He was the starting shortstop on Opening Day of 1974, at 18 years old, and he did not stop until 1993.

Bob Uecker had been in that radio booth since 1971.

Which means Uecker called every game Robin Yount ever played. All 2,856 of them.

And in 1982, the last time this franchise got here, Yount was the Most Valuable Player in the American League. He hit .414 in that World Series with a home run and six runs batted in.

Milwaukee lost it in seven games.

Yount finished with 3,142 hits, all of them in a Milwaukee uniform, and he won a second Most Valuable Player award in 1989 after a shoulder problem moved him to the outfield. Only two men before him had ever won it at two different positions.

Uecker did not make it to this one. He passed in January of last year at 90 years old, after 54 seasons calling Brewers games, and the team got back to the World Series twenty-one months later. The broadcast booth has his name on it now, which is not the same as having him in it.

Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 3 to 2.

A man who gave one city his entire playing career walked to the mound carrying the coat of the man who described all of it, took the coat off, and showed everybody whose name he had on his back.

— the Sports ON Tap (@thesportsontap) October 24, 2026

White mates in 4.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, and now also my late mother’s place.  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.  

From Diane Montagna‘s substack:

Vatican Bars Annual TLM Pilgrimage from Entering St. Peter’s Basilica
According to organizers, the decision was communicated in a letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State.

VATICAN CITY, 23 October 2026 — The Vatican will bar priests, religious and lay faithful participating in the annual Ad Petri Sedem pilgrimage from entering St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, Oct. 24, extending restrictions beyond the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass to the pilgrims’ customary gathering for prayer at the tomb of St. Peter.

According to the organizers, the decision was communicated in recent days in a letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State. “Your procession is not allowed to enter into St. Peter’s Basilica,” the letter stated, according to Christian Marquant, the pilgrimage’s chief organizer.

[…]

We’ve heard about various shrine and churches barring SSPX members…. but this isn’t an SSPX venture.

Or… we are all…. SSPX?….now?

Remember: It’s not just that they don’t like the traditional Roman Rite. They don’t like the people who want it.

Sol hodie Romae ortus hora VII et XXVIII minutis, occidit hora XVIII et XX minutis. Campana autem <<Ave Maria>> pulsari debet hora XVIII et XXX minutis, decem minutis post solis occasum, Curia pro Romana.

Sol oritur. Sol occidit. Campanae sonant. Nos interim, miseri temporis viatores, horas minutaque ac secundas numeramus, quasi fugientem diem retinere possimus.

Tempus fugit. Deus aeternus est.

Cum igitur campana vespertina insonuerit, meminerimus nos in tempore vivere, sed ad aeternitatem vocari.

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, and now also my late mother’s place.  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.  

This…

Finally, an O with an attitude https://t.co/yYeYE9Aquq

— MedievalistMatt (@medievalistmatt) October 23, 2026