The old phrase is “Anything worth doing, is worth over-doing.”
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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
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- 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
Recent Comments
- Fr. John Zuhlsdorf on Daily Rome Shot 1567 – It was worse than we thought: “Black to move and mate in 4. [NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t…”
- Dicop on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Laetare Sunday, 4th in/of Lent 2026: “Had a very shocking incident a couple of weeks ago. Circumstances dictated I attend a Novus Ordo Mass. I went…”
- abasham on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Laetare Sunday, 4th in/of Lent 2026: “On this Laetare Sunday we were abundantly blessed on the outskirts of D.C. … We celebrated a Solemn High Mass…”
- BeatifyStickler on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Laetare Sunday, 4th in/of Lent 2026: “We recently became a canonical house. Amazing news. Our Lady of the Snow. Lots of children. More young couples attending…”
- Chris Garton-Zavesky on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Laetare Sunday, 4th in/of Lent 2026: “Picking up on the Introit (and the Offertory), our resident visiting priest preached on the importance of joy and how…”
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“Until the Lord be pleased to settle, through the instrumentality of the princes of the Church and the lawful ministers of His justice, the trouble aroused by the pride of a few and the ignorance of some others, let us with the help of God endeavor with calm and humble patience to render love for hatred, to avoid disputes with the silly, to keep to the truth and not fight with the weapons of falsehood, and to beg of God at all times that in all our thoughts and desires, in all our words and actions, He may hold the first place who calls Himself the origin of all things.”
- Prosper of Aquitaine (+c.455), De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio contra Collatorem 22.61
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Polls
Will you be a "Custos Traditionis" and commit to a DAILY 'Memorare' and WEEKLY penance?
- YES! (66%, 1,905 Votes)
- YES! And I will recruit others! (34%, 974 Votes)
Total Voters: 2,879
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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
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PLEASE subscribe via PayPal if it is useful. Zelle and Wise are better, but PayPal is convenient.
A monthly subscription donation means I have steady income I can plan on. I put you my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I often say Holy Mass.
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To donate monthly I prefer Zelle because it doesn't extract fees. Use
frz AT wdtprs DOT comAs 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
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Recent Posts
- Daily Rome Shot 1567 – It was worse than we thought
- Such wealth and depth we have in the traditional Roman Rite
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 27: Monday 4th Week in Lent – The truth and you
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Laetare Sunday, 4th in/of Lent 2026
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 26: Laetare Sunday, 4th in Lent – The goal
- Daily Rome Shot 1566
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 25: Saturday 3rd Week in Lent – The spirit of prayer
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 24: Friday 3rd Week in Lent – Evangelize with our lives
- “Days in Rome” Project – Easter 2026 and beyond
- HEAR YE! HEAR YE! New from TAN – “The Matins Lectionary: The Complete Readings from the Traditional Roman Breviary”
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 23: Thursday of the 3rd Week in Lent – Feet on the earth, minds in Heaven
- UPDATE on Fr. Z
- Daily Rome Shot 1565
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 22: Wednesday of the 3rd Week in Lent – Don’t let it fester
- YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 21: Tuesday 3rd Week in Lent – We are not in this alone
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 20: Monday 3rd Week in Lent – The healing bath
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 3rd Sunday in/of Lent 2026
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 19: 3rd Sunday of Lent – Fight the demon of impurity
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 18: Saturday in the 2nd Week in Lent – The Angelic Doctor
- STATIONS OF THE CROSS – Audio from Fr. Z
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 17: Friday in the 2nd Week in Lent – The slow martyrdom of virtue – CORRECTED
- Blog issues after the migration
- Daily Rome Shot 1564 – Madness
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 16: Thursday in the 2nd Week in Lent – Dives et Lazarus
- A Roman Station, Saintly Parallels, a Prayer over the People, and a Painting by Raphael
- Daily Rome Shot 1563 – 2nd class relic SHOE
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 15: Wednesday in the 2nd Week in Lent – We will account for our time
- Daily Rome Shot 1562
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 14: Tuesday in the 2nd Week in Lent – The gateway to salvation
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.
PLEASE RESPOND. Pretty pleeeease?
The "sign of peace" during Mass in the Ordinary Form...
- I dread it as it approaches and think of ways to avoid it. (36%, 9,555 Votes)
- I tolerate it. (35%, 9,195 Votes)
- I hate it so much I won't go to Mass where it is done. (12%, 3,205 Votes)
- I like it and am happy to do it. (11%, 2,955 Votes)
- I don't care one way or another. (6%, 1,696 Votes)
Total Voters: 26,606
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Should the Bishops of the USA have us return to obligatory meatless Fridays during the whole year and not just during Lent?
- Yes, and I think this is very important. (81%, 15,546 Votes)
- Yes, I guess so. (9%, 1,716 Votes)
- No, I hesitate about such a move. (5%, 900 Votes)
- No, this would be a really bad idea. (3%, 511 Votes)
- I don't care. (2%, 431 Votes)
- What's penance? (1%, 152 Votes)
Total Voters: 19,255
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:-O~~
English battered cod – with chips (i.e. French Fries, but not thinly cut) – the best meal in creation!!
Wensleydale cheese? I’d rather have White Cheshire – bit more savoury & salty.
Tripple Chocolate Cake? This is perhaps a triple chocolate cake with a built-in tipple?
Father, that’s a menu even Jack Aubrey could endorse. I’m curious… what are the wine pairings?
“Too much is always enough.”
Very Nice.
We had grilled lamb, roasted vegetables, twice-baked potatoes with truffle oil, eggplant cassorole, served with a 2005 Silver Oak Cabernet, and for dessert, my daughter’s triple-layer chocolate cake.
God is good; the Lord is near.
May all that are without find shelter, food, companionship, faith, and love.
May the Child Jesus console all families touched by the Newtown tragedy.
I can no longer look at a slice of Wensleydale cheese without breaking out in laughter.
It’s rare I see a menu like this that almost everything is something I would love. Sounded like a lovely meal, thanks be to God.
Well, my son and I did a traditional English Christmas dinner and I was overruled by the guest, who wanted turkey rather than goose for sentimental reasons. I bowed to his tradition rather than mine, which was always goose or pheasant. However, all went well. Son and I started the night before, of course…..
Glazed carrots in honey
Leeks fried in butter
Brussels sprouts
Roast potatoes
Cranberry and orange mold
Sausage, veggie and fruit stuffing (all gone-no leftovers on that one)
Turkey
Desert Chocolate Christmas Log
Champaign and Stollen brought my guest!
I am supposed to be making soup and bubble and squeak this morning, but I am really tired.
We had:
Radicchio, goat cheese, and toasted-pecan salad with vinaigrette
Prime rib au jus
Yorkshire pudding
Braised endives
Persimmon pudding with vanilla ice cream
Chartreuse
Apparently all armies, spiritual included, travel on their stomachs.
What is that first item on the list? With the fancy writing it is hard to read.
As I was tasked with kitchen duty, our menu was lighter:
Baked sugar-cured ham butt (with cloves)
Roasted sweet potatoes (with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and Fluff)
Fresh green beans with butter and salt
Cranberry jelly
Dessert was:
new York style cheesecake with cherry preserves
Pecan Pie with fresh whipped heavy cream
Assorted cheese tray (Stilton, Extra Sharp White Cheddar, Sap Sago [on toast bits], mild cheddar, Colby, Brie) along with Carr’s Water Biscuits and other savory biscuits.
Wensleydale cheese? Nice Cistercian connection there! – Cracking good cheese, Gromit!
Have a very Happy Christmas!
Wonderful menu for a most beautiful feast. ^^ We made tamales…four different types of chiles were used to make the chile sauce from scratch. I hail from the West Coast of the U.S. with strong family ties to the north of Mexico. Also, we had a big pot of fresh made chicken soup, roasted green chiles, fresh red salsa, beans, salad, fresh.
@Charlotte Allen…every year I make persimmon cookies and persimmon bread. One year I made persimmon bread pudding with a Brandy creme sauce…a Nancy Reagan recipe.
To everyone who graces this wonderful blog…the merriest of Christmases as the little Lord Jesus blesses each and every one of you. I pray for all to have a wonderful and blessed New Year beginning with Father Z and his wonderful wit, humor and solid faithfulness to all things Catholic!
@Stumbler: Persimmons are wonderful, aren’t they? The Cuisinart is the persimmon’s best friend. You used to have to push the pulp through a strainer–but no more!
My husband and I are from Southern California, so we love tamales. I used to make them fairly often, but I’ve gotten out of practice. Must start again, although locating the corn husks is tricky here in DC.
My favorite meal on this earth, and the easiest to cook, are King Crab Legs, boiled, with real butter on the side. But they are getting hard to find!
I think those darned Russians have over-harvested them!
You’ll never regret this recipe:
Taverna Opa’s Steamed King Crab Legs
Recipe and photo from the Taverna Opa Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Recipe Type: Crab, Seafood, Seafood Appetizers
Yields: 4 servings
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 cups (24 ounces) fish stock*
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
2 1/2 pounds cooked and chilled King Crab legs and claws, cracked and legs cut in half crosswise
1/2 cup 80-proof vodka, room temperature
* The restaurant chef make his own fish stock for heating the claws, but for the home cook, using the shelf-stable boxed variety from the supermarket is much easier and works fine.
Directions:
Melt butter in a large skillet with cover over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 1 1/2 minutes, until aromatic; do not let it burn. Add stock, salt, pepper and crab legs. Cover and simmer 6 minutes.
This may have to be done in batches if they don’t all fit into the pan at one time. If done in batches, remove the heated legs from the pan and keep them warm until all are heated through. If done in batches, repeat until all are heated.
When the last batch of crab legs are heated in the pan, remove cover, and reduce heat to medium high. Add the vodka around the side of the pan and let the vodka warm. Ignite it. Once the flame subsides, serve crab legs with pan juices over them.
We struck out on a new menu this Christmas. We had the families favorite meal. Spaghetti with meat sauce (I make the sauce with fresh herbs from my potted herb plants and a dash of Zin). Paired with the usual home made garlic Parmesan baguettes and the rest of the Zin. Caesar salad available for those who choose. Desert: triple chocolate brownies.