Today is the anniversary of the death 8 B.C. of the ancient Roman poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus – Horace.
SHOPPING ONLINE? Please, come here first!
About this blog…
“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
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
Wonderful about St. Joseph! “Terror of Demons”
- The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds.
St. John Eudes
Polls
Loading ...
Donate using VENMO
GREAT BEER from Traditional Benedictine Monks in Italy
CLICK and say your daily offerings!
Do you want to show some appreciation?
Do you have a faithful Catholic website that needs competent and reliable tech support?
NEW OPPORTUNITY – 10% off with code: FATHERZ10
Fr. Z’s VOICEMAIL
Nota bene: I do not answer these numbers or this Skype address. You won't get me "live". I check for messages regularly.
WDTPRS
020 8133 4535
651-447-6265YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
majuscule on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “I’m in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. A few weeks ago I learned that one of the seminarians who is…”
summorumpontificum777 on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “Abp. Cordileone is graced with an aptronym. Truly the heart of a lion. Pelosi is worse than the garden-variety pro-abortion…”
hilltop on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “The words Archbishop used and the points he made set up a difficult situation for any Priest or Bishop, even…”
APX on Wherein Francis explains it all to Bono: “Interesting. I too was told that Adam was responsible for Eve’s sin, but because he was standing next to her…”
TonyO on Wherein Francis explains it all to Bono: “It is true that “nature” (if you want to use that expression for the rest of physical creation) is a…”
B on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “I am glad that Archbishop Cordileone did this. But to be honest the bishops should have done this years ago.…”
Cornelius on Wherein Francis explains it all to Bono: “It was a stupid question. It got an equally stupid answer. All in all, a complete waste of time. Two…”
francophile on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “Having met the Archbishop last year at a liturgical conference, I know he did this after thoughtful reflection. The man…”
dahveed on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “May this finally be the occasion in which she confesses her sins, recants, obtains absolution. Happily praying for her.”
Not on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “THANK GOD ! Thank you Archbishop Cordileone! I mean this sincerely,I pray Pelosi publicly repents before she dies. I wish…”
JMody on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “I surely hope that the act of a bishop finally drawing a (NEEDED!!) line can be like a pebble to…”
redneckpride4ever on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “Fr. Martin SJ’s Facebook post is loaded with “weaponizong the Eucharist”, false accusations that guns are made to kill innocents…”
matt from az on Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion: “The Archbishop is a total Chad. I expect Pelosi will use the full force of the Deep State against him…”
elijah408 on ASK FATHER: Traditional Confirmation Availability?: “The Diocese of Lake Charles, LA offers it at St. Francis De Sales Oratory in Sulphur, LA run by the…”
Books which you must have.
This REALLY helps! And it’s great coffee (and tea)
I use this when I travel both in these USA and abroad. Very useful. Fast enough for Zoom. I connect my DMR (ham radio) through it. If you use my link, they give me more data. A GREAT back up.
Get ready…
Don’t rely on popes, bishops and priests.
“He [Satan] will set up a counter-Church which will be the ape of the Church because, he the devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the anti-Christ that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. In desperate need for God, whom he nevertheless refuses to adore, modern man in his loneliness and frustration will hunger more and more for membership in a community that will give him enlargement of purpose, but at the cost of losing himself in some vague collectivity.”
“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.”- Fulton Sheen
Therefore, ACTIVATE YOUR CONFIRMATION and get to work!
Send Snail Mail to Fr. Z
Fr John Zuhlsdorf
Tridentine Mass Society of Madison
733 Struck St.
PO BOX 44603
Madison, WI 53744-4603
For email HERE
- “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
This blog has to earn its keep!
PLEASE subscribe via PayPal if it is useful.
That way I have steady income I can plan on, and you wind up regularly on my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I periodically say Holy Mass.
In view of the rapidly changing challenges I now face, I would like to add more $10/month subscribers. Will you please help?
For a one time donation...
As for Latin…
"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
- Archbp. applies can. 915 to Pelosi: until PUBLIC regret for supporting abortion, no Communion
- Just Too Cool at Le Barroux
- Wherein Francis explains it all to Bono
- Daily Rome (not) Shot – 502 – bonus pics
- ASK FATHER: Traditional Confirmation Availability?
- ARIZONA: Abortion Pill Rescue Network
- ASK FATHER: Can Catholics still get married with the Traditional Latin rite of Matrimony?
- Daily Rome (not) Shot – 501 – bonus pics
- Concerning the Traditional Latin Mass in Washington D.C.
- Daily Rome (not) Shot – 500
- Daily Rome (not) Shot – 499
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes: 4th Sunday after Easter (5th Sunday of, N.O.)
- Fr Dana Christensen: R.I.P.
- WDTPRS – 4th Sunday after Easter (1962MR): The smoke of Satan in the Temple of God
- Daily Rome (not) Shot 498, etc.
- Daily Rome (not) Shot 497, etc.
- Hero priest Joseph Card. Zen, 90, has been arrested in Hong Kong
- Daily Rome (not) Shot 496, etc.
- My View For Awhile: Strangers and Italian Sojourners
- 9 May: St. Isaiah, Old Testament Prophet, with other, martyrs
- Daily Rome Shot 495, etc.
- ACTION ITEM! Prayers for Fr. John Hunwicke, scriptor admirabilis
- Daily Rome Shot 494, etc.
- Mobile phones in church to record illegal disturbances of Sunday Masses by invading pro-abortion terrorists?
- WDTPRS – 3rd Sunday after Easter (Vetus Ordo): Every Catholic is called to evangelize
- Daily Rome Shot 493, etc.
- @fatherz on Twitter
- Daily Rome Shot 492, etc.
- YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS
- FLORIDA OPPORTUNITY ALERT: Treasures of the Church
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…
Be a “Zed-Head”!
CHALLENGE COINS!
My "challenge coin" for my 25th anniversary of ordination in 2016.
Want one? I do exchanges with military and LEOs, etc.
PLEASE RESPOND. Pretty pleeeease?
Loading ...
This is really useful when travelling… and also when you aren’t and you need backup internet NOW! I use this for my DMR “Zednet” hotspot when I’m mobile. It’s a ham radio thing.
If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
Please use my links when shopping! I depend on your help.
WDTPRS POLL
Loading ...
Fr. Z’s stuff is everywhere
Help support Fr. Z’s Gospel of Life work at no cost to you. Do you need a Real Estate Agent? Calling these people is the FIRST thing you should do!
GREAT causes to support
Nunc est bibendum! is a phrase I believe to be appropriate to this occasion.
Fr. Z:
Interesting that you should mention this: I was just reading some of his poems. This one specifically struck me as particularly appropriate for our times: (taken from Book I, number 34):
Parcus deorum cultor et infrequens
insanientis dum sapientiae
consultus erro, nunc retrorsum
vela dare atque iterare cursus
cogor relictos …
If I was to reorder it for those who might have difficulty understanding I would put it this way:
Insanientis sapientiae parcus et infrequens deorum cultor dum consultus erro, nunc retrorsum cogor dare vela atque cursus iterare relictos.
More or less meaning: “A man of insane wisdom, sparingly devoted to religion, I allowed myself to be deliberately misled, and now I’ve got to turn my sail around and retrace my steps.”
This is said because of some imminent danger showing the horrific divine power in nature which convinces the poet to return to his senses.
How appropriate. I love the phrase “insanis sapientia”. Reminds me of St. Paul teaching about how God used the foolishness of this world to confound the wise. At times these ancients strike me as more christian than ourselves. They had a clearer world view, it would seem.
Andreas: Yes… Horace has had a kind of “conversion” due to a thunderclap in the middle of a clear day. Or so he says. He is being ironic. The midday thunder which so surprised and converted him probably has something to do with suviving intact the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC and obtained the patronage of Octavian’s friend Maecenas, who gave him the Sabine Farm.
The “crazy philosophy” he is talking about is probably Epicureanism. Horace would become of polticial necessity and personal gratitude, an apologist for Augustus and the Roman ways.
I love the oxymorons: “nutty wisdom” and “deliberately err”.
Non usitata, nec tenui ferar
Penna biformis per liquidum aethera
Vates; neque in terris morabor
Longius; invidiaque maior
Urbes relinquam: non ego pauperum
Sanguis parentum, non ego, uem vocas,
Dilecte Maecenas, obibo,
Nec Stygia cohibebor unda.
Iam iam refidunt cruribus asperae
Pelles et album mutor in alitem
Superne; nascunturque leves
Per digitos, humerosque plumae.
Iam Daedalco tutior Icaro
Visam gementis littor Bospori
Syrtesque Gaetulas canorus
Ales, Hyperboreosque campos.
Lib. I, Ode 9
Sorry, but the translation doesn’t follow the syntax.
Even in Horace, the word order is important.
“Insanis sapientiae” goes with consultus. “Consultus,”
as in “iuris consultus”, so, “an expert in unwise wisdom”.
“Parcus deorum cultor et infrequens — “parcus”, he
doesn’t spend much money on sacrifice, and “infrequens”
he doesn’t do it often.
John P
Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,
labuntur anni, nec pietas moram
rugis et instanti senectae
adferet indomitaeque morti
Someone has to quote it:
Non omnis moriar multaque pars mei
Vitabit Libitinam: usque ego postera
crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium
scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex.
Et requiescat in pace magnus poeta atque amabilis.
My dissertation director, the late Professor Robert Carrubba, consummate gentleman and scholar, was a Horace expert (the Epodes). Although I specialized more in Virgil, it remains my fondest accomplishment to have co-authored my first article with him, on the Leuconoe ode 1.11.
See, now I don’t know what any of this means. I wish that I did. It’s times like these that makes me think of how much I do not know, and how thankful that I am for Fr. Z and this blog. It also reminds me of how irritated I get when I think of how much I was NOT taught regarding the Faith, and myriad other things that are discussed here.(thank you 70’s “Catholic” school education)grrrr!
Semper Fi!
hmm… crazy philosopher… Epicureanism… Fr. Z and his culinary passion?? connection?? [Epicureanism, a challenge to Platonism based on the teachings of Epicurus (+270 BC), is fundamentally atomic materialism. This lead to the conclusion that the gods were physical beings composed of atoms and that they were entirely detached from human affairs and had nothing to do with creation. Later this would be Epicureanism’s deepest point of conflict with Christianity, since in the Christian way of seeing things God created the cosmos from nothing and is directly involved with human affairs. But because Epicureanism is materialist, there was an emphasis on pleasure being a good, in fact, one of the only goods. Therefore Epicureans stressed moderate pleasure which allows a person to attain the free state where a person isn’t burdened with fear. In this state a person would be free to pursue knowledge, friendship, and the virtues. However, since your comment was meant to be a nasty jab, I have already removed your ability to read this together with your ability to respond. If you come back via some other IP address and post similar comments, I will take moderate pleasure from doing the same. o{]:¬) ]
Sed non iam Capitolium scandit cum tacita virgine pontifex :-(
non scandit Capitolium pontifex, sed ipse Horatius
nunc etiam crescit laude recens.