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“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
Semper Gumby on The pub that survived the Great Plague is shut down by Covid-1984Mariana2: Good question. At least the shelves at Sainsbury's are well-stocked with bully beef, salad leaves and boiled puddings, wot?...
Gab on Daily Rome Shot 59@ThePapalCount, thank you!
ThePapalCount on Daily Rome Shot 59FrZ you've added a photo of the clock tower near the Chiesa Nuovo but one which most people never see....
Ave Maria on ACTION ITEM: Good article at Crisis. Then Fr. Z rants.I am in a novus ordo parish but....we have a well attended Sunday TLM (rivaling the best attended N.O. of...
WVC on “Here is a link to a Newsreel from 1949 that seems as if it is from another planet.”@NOCatholic - Weigel has long made it a hallmark of his writing to always portray anything to the right of...
Iacobus Mil on ACTION ITEM: Good article at Crisis. Then Fr. Z rants.I've had a number of priests tell me in recent years that they wished they knew Latin. There are any...
ChesterFrank on ACTION ITEM: Good article at Crisis. Then Fr. Z rants.The church that I attend is using a program called Rebuilt https://www.rebuiltparish.com/why to try and gain parishioners. The diocese is...
NOCatholic on “Here is a link to a Newsreel from 1949 that seems as if it is from another planet.”Very much different, from the blimp overhead, to the well-dressed (by modern standards) spectators, to say nothing of President Truman...
JonPatrick on CQ CQ CQ: #HamRadio – #ZedNet reminder – Sunday 24 Jan ’21Working on getting on the air. Got my radio codeplug configured and now have all the parts to set up...
JonPatrick on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 3rd Sunday after Epiphany (NO – 3rd Ordinary) 2021The theme of this NO Mass was repent and we don't have much time. Jonah reluctantly preaches at Nineveh that...
catholictrad on WDTPRS: 3rd Ordinary Sunday – Which is it? “unity and peace” or “abound with good works”?Is “unity and peace” ICEL-speak for “social justice”? Not that we should oppose actual social justice, but I believe what...
Rob Pryb on “Here is a link to a Newsreel from 1949 that seems as if it is from another planet.”Very touching how, after taking the oath of office, the oath-takers bow down to the Bible to kiss it.
Woody on Of Benedictines, Books and BeerAnd I would add that having read Everyday Saints, I can highly recommend it. In the English translation it is...
Woody on Of Benedictines, Books and BeerVery interesting list of books that I will certainly consult for reading in 2021. Noting Everyday Saints by then- Archimandrite...
semperficatholic on ASK FATHER: Coming late to Mass and reception of Holy CommunionEveryone should read this Inaestimabile Donum Instruction Concerning Worship Of The Eucharistic Mystery
Iacobus Mil on WDTPRS: 3rd Ordinary Sunday – Which is it? “unity and peace” or “abound with good works”?Funny how the ICEL translations always manage to be more vague and abstract than the original, and at the same...
Semper Gumby on “Here is a link to a Newsreel from 1949 that seems as if it is from another planet.”From the post above: "...wake people up to reality and commonsense again." A never-ending task, and no one is perfect...
jhogan on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 3rd Sunday after Epiphany (NO – 3rd Ordinary) 2021Our pastor had a timely message. He stated he noticed an increase in a malaise that was endangering people’s spiritual...
Gregg the Obscure on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 3rd Sunday after Epiphany (NO – 3rd Ordinary) 2021today was good. serious exhortations to increase the priority of prayer and Scripture and to leave behind those things that...
Semper Gumby on “Here is a link to a Newsreel from 1949 that seems as if it is from another planet.”In his 1949 Inaugural Address Pres. Truman used the word "democracy" or "democratic" 12 times. The usage of "democracy" rather...
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“Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops.”
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Fr John Zuhlsdorf
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“The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual.”
- C.S. Lewis
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"But if, in any layman who is indeed imbued with literature, ignorance of the Latin language, which we can truly call the 'catholic' language, indicates a certain sluggishness in his love toward the Church, how much more fitting it is that each and every cleric should be adequately practiced and skilled in that language!" - Pius XI
"Let us realize that this remark of Cicero (Brutus 37, 140) can be in a certain way referred to [young lay people]: 'It is not so much a matter of distinction to know Latin as it is disgraceful not to know it.'" - St. John Paul II-
Recent Posts
- With a tip of the biretta to the great Fr. Hunwicke
- Daily Rome Shot 59
- ACTION ITEM: Good article at Crisis. Then Fr. Z rants.
- WDTPRS: 3rd Ordinary Sunday – Which is it? “unity and peace” or “abound with good works”?
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 3rd Sunday after Epiphany (NO – 3rd Ordinary) 2021
- “Here is a link to a Newsreel from 1949 that seems as if it is from another planet.”
- Daily Rome Shot 58
- CQ CQ CQ: #HamRadio – #ZedNet reminder – Sunday 24 Jan ’21
- The pub that survived the Great Plague is shut down by Covid-1984
- Of Benedictines, Books and Beer
- ASK FATHER: Coming late to Mass and reception of Holy Communion
- The Popes’ guts, martyrdom and YOU
- Daily Rome Shot 58
- Daily Rome Shot 57
- From a reader – “Idea: Spiritual battle/Catholic Church fullness of faith.” Wherein Fr. Z rants.
- OLDIE PODCAzT 127: The Eve of St. Agnes and a Bleak Midwinter
- 20 Jan: St. Sebastian, invoked against the pandemic
- ASK FATHER: Prayers “for the Pope”
- Daily Rome Shot 56
- PROJECT “200!” Wherein Fr. Z asks for some help.
- Daily Rome Shot 55
- Daily Rome Shot 54
- Diei duri nox…
- LIVE VIDEO – 18 Jan 2021 – 1200 NOON CST – Traditional Latin Mass – Requiem
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 2nd Sunday of Epiphany (NO – 2nd Ordinary)
- CQ CQ CQ: #HamRadio – #ZedNet reminder – Sunday 17 Jan ’21
- LIVE VIDEO – 17 Jan 2021 – 1200 NOON CST – Traditional Latin Mass – 2nd Sunday after Epiphany
- Daily Rome Shot 53
- WDTPRS – 2nd Sunday after Epiphany (TLM) & WDTPRS – 2nd Ordinary (NO): God knows our needs better than we do
- Fr. Z with thanks for your notes
Let us pray…
Grant unto thy Church, we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that She, being gathered together by the Holy Ghost, may be in no wise troubled by attack from her foes. O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people making supplication unto Thee,and turn away the scourges of Thine anger which we deserve for our sins. Almighty and Everlasting God, in whose Hand are the power and the government of every realm: look down upon and help the Christian people that the heathen nations who trust in the fierceness of their own might may be crushed by the power of thine Arm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.Yes, Fr. Z is taking ads…
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Monthly Archives: May 2006
Lightning storm tonight
Lightning storn tonight. Lot’s of branch lightning. Hard to predict, but I caught a little. Continue reading
Posted in My View, SESSIUNCULA
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It is still Paschaltide (in the Novus Ordo at least)
Meanwhile, back at the Sabine farm…
Here is a detail showing the Risen Lord of one of my vestments in the chapel. Continue reading
Posted in My View, SESSIUNCULA
7 Comments
Wednesday after Ascension in the 7th Week of Easter
EXCERPT:
Augustine was deeply, passionately, fiercely interested in love. Often and appropriately he is depicted with a burning heart. For Augustine, belief and love were intertwined. He described love as a gravitational force pulling us to where we by nature belong. Some people think the old man was a terrible pessimist about the human condition, especially as he got older, was worn down by constant theological battles and pastoral burdens and deteriorating health. If he saw the negative side of the human condition, he knew with absolute conviction that love was its solution. This conviction grew as the years passed. The great Augustinian scholar A.-M. La Bonnardiere found that between 387-429, Augustine (+430) quoted Romans 5:5 at least 201 times. Augustine rarely used Romans 5:5 before 411 (the year Rome was sacked by Alaric). Romans 5:5 is found more frequently between 411-421 when he was fighting with Pelagians about grace. Many references continue from 421 until his death while he was engaged in his bitter fight with the bête noir of his old age Julian of Eclanum.
What is Romans 5:5? Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA, WDTPRS
12 Comments
The Zen of Chinese Chess continues
Over at the fine Catholic World News (which you ought to subscribe to if you don’t already) there is a very good story on WDTPRS’s favorite Joseph Card. Zen of Hong Kong. Go read the article. However, here is an … Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA
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Tuesday after Ascension in the 7th Week of Easter
COLLECT: Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens et misericors Deus, ut Spiritus Sanctus adveniens templum nos gloriae suae dignanter inhabitando perficiat. LITERAL VERSION: Grant, we beseech You, Almighty and merciful God, that the Holy Spirit, now coming, will by the indwelling of His … Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA, WDTPRS
4 Comments
A Bedtime Prayer Of A Catholic Marine Corps Officer
A Bedtime PrayerOf A Catholic Marine Corps Officer – Luke 18:17- Now I lay me down to sleep.I pray Thee Lord my soul to keep.If I should die before I wake,I pray Thee Lord my soul to take. For ‘ere … Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA
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Memorial Day and our Chaplains
It is fitting to honor those who served in the armed forces and who gave their lives. Today I especially have in mind fallen military chaplains. Here is just one example of service and valor for love of God, neighbor … Continue reading
Monday after Ascension in the 7th Week of Easter
EXCERPT:
What you do outwardly can have an enormous impact on the faith of others. You can jump start a dormant faith life, strengthen another, or perhaps spark someone else into seeking answers to the questions they have. On the other hand, you can damage people too. Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA, WDTPRS
7 Comments
First the Camauro and now the Golden Rose
EXCERPT:
One might ask why roses were given to Catholic rulers and other figures. The papal letters and documents that came with the rose hint at the meaning attached to it. Innocent III wrote about the significance of the rose and Laetare Sunday: “As Lætare Sunday, the day set apart for the function, represents love after hate, joy after sorrow, and fullness after hunger, so does the rose designate by its color, odor, and taste, love, joy, and satiety respectively.” Innocent also says that the rose is the flower spoken of in Isaiah 11, 1: “there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root”. Centuries later Pope Leo XIII wrote that the beautiful golden flower signifies Christ in His majesty, spoken of by the prophet as “the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys”; the flower’s fragrance shows the sweet odor of Christ which should be diffused through the whole world by His faithful followers. The thorns and red color symbolize His Passion, harkening to both the real event of the Crucifixion and its foretelling by the prophet Isaiah 43,2: “Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the winepress?” These themes are in the prayer that was used to bless the golden roses:… Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA
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Evening stroll and sliver moon
Tonight I had a nice stroll. I went over to the P.za Navona and got a cuban cigar and walked around. I found a new Latin inscription of Pope Benedict XIV about the obelisk which was the center of the sundial of Augustus. I chatted with some Carabinieri. I saw cufflinks which were way above my paygrade (which doesn’t take much). But these cufflinks… I tell you…. Please send money? Lots of money.
Anyway, I got back to my place and the moon was setting, so I thought I would share it wichya. Continue reading
Posted in My View, SESSIUNCULA
2 Comments
7th Sunday of Easter: Super Oblata (2)
It is immediately after this prayer that we launch into the Euchrist Prayer beginning with the Preface and Sanctus. You all know the phrase, “Sursum corda! Lift up your hearts!” In 418 St. Augustine (s. 261) declared to his flock:
“The resurrection of the Lord is our hope, the Lord’s ascension our glorification. … So if we are to celebrate the Lord’s ascension in the right way, with faith, with devotion, with reverence as godfearing people, we must ascend with him, and lift up our hearts. In ascending, however, we mustn’t get above ourselves. Yes, we should lift up our hearts, but to the Lord. Hearts, you see, lifted up, not to the Lord – that’s pride; while hearts lifted up to the Lord, that’s called taking refuge. After all, we say to the one who has ascended, Lord, you have become a refuge for us (Ps 90:1).” Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA, WDTPRS
1 Comment
7th Sunday of Easter: Post Communion
EXCERPT:
In the Incarnation, God the Son, the Second Person, took our humanity, our substantia into an indestructible bond with His divinity, His substantia. In the Resurrection, our substantia rose from death in Christ. In His Ascension, the God Man took our human nature to be seated at the right hand of the Father. Our humanity is at this very moment already seated in bliss with the Father in the Person of the risen Christ. By living in friendship with Him in the state of grace and striving with real single-minded focus (devotio) to bend all that we say, do, think and desire toward that final end of heaven, God will give us the help we need to get there. He already gives us, in anticipation of that great homecoming in heaven (for our humanity is already home in Him), the greatest help of all: spiritual nourishment in the Eucharist. He permits us here in this fading and passing vale of tears to make loving use of unfading and eternal mysteries. Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA, WDTPRS
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7th Sunday of Easter: Super Oblata (1)
What Does the Prayer Really Say? Seventh Sunday of Easter/Ascension of the Lord ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2002 In many places where WDTPRS is read, Ascension Thursday is transferred and celebrated on the following Sunday, the Seventh of … Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA, WDTPRS
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Benedict in Poland on priests and “affective maturity”
In his address to priests in the Warsaw cathedral the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI said (emphasis mine): In reality, we grow in affective maturity when our hearts adhere to God. Christ needs priests who are mature, virile, capable of … Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA
4 Comments
UPDATE: INTERNET PRAYER – Swedish AUDIO
I am delighted to report that one of our participants has sent an audio file of the Internet Prayer in Swedish! Many thanks. Please say a prayer for this fellow in gratitude for his contribution. Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA
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Aurea mediocritas restated in a Chinese fashion
You all know the phrase coined by the Roman poet Q. Horatius Flaccus or Horace (+8 BC) aurea mediocritas which refers to keeping a balance, applying the mean and reason to human activities so as to avoid the excesses that … Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA
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Saturday after Ascension in the 6th Week of Easter
EXCERPT:
The author of the prayer was probably trying to make the prayer more interesting by using both donum and munus to express the concept of “gift”. However, there are subtle lessons to learn from the vocabulary. When we receive something (percipio) as a gift and then come to “perceive” what the content of the gift is, we are obliged to express outwardly both gratitude and also subsequent care for the gift so as to honor the giver. If you receive a beautiful and precious present from someone of high station you do so with humility. You express wonder, gratitude. You examine it carefully. You position it in a place of honor in your home, on display for others to see and to help you remember kindly the giver. You probably will try to learn more about the thing, its history, and so forth. You explain to others the story of how you got it and what it is. Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA, WDTPRS
4 Comments
Indonesian earthquake
Pray for the folks in Indonesia. We are hoping that our WDTPRS participant from Indonesia, who contributed recently a translation of The Internet Prayer, will check in and let us know he is okay after the big earthquake.
Posted in SESSIUNCULA
3 Comments
Secretary of State
I believe we are going to be seeing a new Secretary of State in the first week or so of June. His name is To Be announced. I think the furniture is being moved. Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA
9 Comments
Friday after Ascension in the 6th Week of Easter
COLLECT: Deus, qui ad aeternam vitam in Christi resurrectione nos reparas, erige nos ad consedentem in dextera tua nostrae salutis auctorem, ut, cum in maiestate sua Salvator noster advenerit, quos fecisiti baptismo renasci, facias beata immortatlitate vestiri. LITERAL VERSION: O … Continue reading
Posted in SESSIUNCULA, WDTPRS
3 Comments