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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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YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
- Chicagiensis_Indianapolitana on A ‘Cri de Coeur’ from the heartland: “With the rather stark difference between +Bp. Schneider’s letter and +Card. Sarah’s letter, a few observations. Let us first leave…”
- Ave Maria on A ‘Cri de Coeur’ from the heartland: “It is the enemy of souls that wants to suppress a valid Mass.”
- FRLBJ on A ‘Cri de Coeur’ from the heartland: “Totally agree with Cri de Coeur. There is no subsitute for that old time religion. We must polititely express ourselves…”
- Ages on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “A minor thing, probably a setting change, but I liked that the desktop version home page previously showed the full…”
- WVC on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “@JonPatrick – I agree – it’s as bad as when they change the layout or swipe function on your smartphone…”
- WVC on Daily Rome Shot 1559: “@TonyO – at the rate we’re going, they’re going to start announcing automatic excommunication for anyone who says anything mean…”
- amenamen on Daily Rome Shot 1560: “Black must keep White King in check, lest White Queen threatens: Bf7+, Kh7 (or Kg7) Qg8# So, Black forces these…”
- Fr. John Zuhlsdorf on Daily Rome Shot 1560: “Black to move and mate in 4. [NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t…”
- revueltos67 on Daily Rome Shot 1559: “White to move and mate in 4 1) Rc8+ Rd8 forced 2) Qxf7+ Kh8 forced 3) Qg8+ Rxg8 forced 4)…”
- JonPatrick on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “I am glad you are not changing the blog’s design. There is nothing I hate more that going to a…”
- kelleyb on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “Father Z earns the GOLD star today!”
- TonyO on Daily Rome Shot 1559: “Monsignor Breis Pereira de Maceió, Archbishop of Maceió (Brazil), has declared excommunication for any priest who celebrates or any faithful…”
- Fr. John Zuhlsdorf on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “Smarticus Pantsicus!”
- Longinus on “The bread was fresh and was good. The cheese was not and was excellent.”: “The dolce is heavenly, especially with a bit of Tuscan acacia honey on it.”
- 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
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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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“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
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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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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
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 1st Sunday in/of Lent 2026
- Daily Rome Shot 1561
- “And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse…”
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 13: Monday in the 2nd Week in Lent – “Everything became clear to me.”
- A ‘Cri de Coeur’ from the heartland
- 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”
- Daily Rome Shot 1560
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 12: 2nd Sunday in Lent – Benedict XVI from Lent of sad 2013
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 11: Ember Saturday 1st Week in Lent – “Know Thyself!”
- On this Ember Friday we are 38 days out from Easter. What does the number 38 mean to St. Augustine?
- “The bread was fresh and was good. The cheese was not and was excellent.”
- Daily Rome Shot 1559
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 10: Ember Friday 1st Week in Lent – “Ego te absolvo” is your sure guarantee!
- Two items worthy of your precious time
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 09: Thursday 1st Week in Lent – Law and Order
- WDTPRS – Collect of Ember Wednesday of Lent (TLM & Novus)
- Daily Rome Shot 1558
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 08: Ember Wednesday 1st Week in Lent – The Four Preachers
- Daily Rome Shot 1557
- Brief summation of Bp. Schneider’s appeal to Pope Leo about the SSPX
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 07: Tuesday 1st Week in Lent – Against the wicked
- Daily Rome Shot 1556
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 06: Monday 1st Week in Lent – Bonds
- From “The Private Diary of Bishop F. Atticus McButterpants” – 26-02-18 – Ashes
- ASK FATHER: Why are Sunday “of Lent” in the Novus Ordo and “in Lent” in the TLM?
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 1st Sunday in/of Lent 2026
- Daily Rome Shot 1555
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 05: 1st Sunday of Lent – ANGELS!
- Daily Rome Shot 1554
- Card. Müller: a canonical solution for the SSPX
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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Ha ha..where I come from..in Sri Lanka…the elephant’s eyes are taller than corn stalks……
But their trumpet can grab everything…
Trump..trump…trump…
Does corn grow like that in Oklahoma? Looks more like Iowa corn to me….
Ptk, you’re right. OK is in the wheat belt. That looks like corn belt corn. Corn belt is iowa to Ohio. Another illustration of how city people view the rural areas, they’re all the same, right?
Maybe I am wrong, but my guess is that prayer warriors throughout the USA just got a very big boost in morale. Prayer works! Things can change!
This is not only a political but a huge cultural about-face. Several soul-crushing juggernauts just came to a grinding halt and are wondering if they have a future.
For myself I am praying that a certain larger than life businessman has a very public conversion to Jesus Christ and his Church, that he returns to his first wife, that he sets a magnificent example for the whole country and goes down in history as St. Donald.
How beautiful is it? This beautiful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bWyhj7siEY
(Zip a Dee Doo Dah)
and for the blue states: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLkp_Dx6VdI
(A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down)
I don’t want to sound negative, but right now it is really hard for so many of us in the thick of those who are freaking out, hand wringing, and ramping up the rhetoric. I have actually gone deeper underground than I was before the election because haters gonna hate (and they are completely unhinged presently).
Advice, Father, for us in the trenches? I feel like I didn’t even get a minute to savor this victory before I endured the eye-roll inducing drama that was yesterday at work (“c”atholic higher education- God help me–reports in that grief counseling was set up for students and faculty, prayer service scheduled, first one since 9-11, faculty and administration running around like their hair is on fire). I also have this nagging instinct that ole scratch is particularly angry and that we are all in for a bit of a beating as a result. I will be keeping my nose clean and staying close to the sacraments because I think we are in for some rough times, and I have advised my family to do the same. Please, someone, convince me I am wrong and I will enjoy my glass of schadenfreude and move forward.
I’ve received mail from the student counseling center offering help, mandalas and mindfulness for the special snowflakes who are oh so traumatized. I suspect I am the only person in my department who voted for Trump and I keep my mouth shut. I am also going to double down on the prayers since I think the evil one is ready to sow even more discord.
I am going to have to cut back on Facebook, all the people that are sick to their stomach because Trump is emotionally unstable and will start WW III, as if they are able to clinically diagnose him after watching some propaganda shots on national TV (I always thought Clinton was the one to be more likely to be unstable but then I have no clinical knowledge either).
the snowflakes appear to have figured out that they can riot too.
I’m singing The Te Deum and Non Nobis:
Still feeling like the first minute of this video . . .
https://youtu.be/hPXXuEel0fU
JonPatrick,
My FB page is full of people who are insulting Trump and his followers. This includes younger members of my extended family. I unfortunately got into it with one of my nieces, who lives in MIchigan and was openly insulting to the Trump voters who put him over in that State. It’s where I grew up – she lives there too – and was appalled that she would openly be so contemptuous of her fellow Michiganders some of whom, I’m sure, have access to her FB page. The girl assumes that anyone she has “friended” thinks as she does politically. How’s that for living in a bubble? Apparently many FB users have come to view the site as their own personal “safe space” and God help those who don’t realize it. So tread on FB warily, my friends, and be prepared to lose some “friends” there if you stand up for what you believe.
BTW – The movie “Oklahoma” was filmed in Arizona.
Facebook is indeed interesting. I am seeing only a few hysterical postings because many of my FB friends are Catholics and I’ve not met them in person. I am judicious about what I post, using FB purposely to assert my Catholicism. I’ve found many a friend because of that. (We need to go the shortwave route for when “those times” arrive so we can stay in touch!)
I live in a liberal area and so my local FB friends (those I have met face to face) know me and I hope they respect me enough to consider my opinion. I try not to be too much “in your face” but I don’t pass up sharing a good article just because it might cause consternation to some of my local “friends”.
Masked Chicken,
On the chance you see this comment, I think 11/8/2016 was a pretty good test case as to why we don’t want to throw out the electoral college. Otherwise, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will be the lords of the world, and we’d all be much less happier today.
Havin’ a fine day at work. All these musical video links are making it even finer. Thanks! (Nice touch with Henry V after Agincourt).
Had the election gone the other way, Clinton haters would have been as bad or worse. No?
The process worked! (Unless Trump was right and the election really was rigged.) Now our work is about loving others, especially the marginalized in our country. So we don’t turn into a nation of Trumps.
I think his promises were empty. But we’ll see. For myself, I think it’s a beautiful day because I’ve been fortunate to be alive for the Obama’s eight years in the White House, the leadership of Pope Francis in our Church and world, and the Cubs winning a World Series! I guess I can’t be greedy– 3 outta 4 is great!
AnnTherese wrote: “Had the election gone the other way, Clinton haters would have been as bad or worse. No?”
No.
Compare the immediate aftermaths of the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections. Michelle Malkin wrote a 2005 book titled, if I recall, “Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild.” In the last several days we have seen Trump supporters such as an 11-year old boy and high school girl beaten. Of course, you are aware of the rioting, arson, burning-in-effigy, and assaults on police, property, and passers-by. Also, apparently a mother is under investigation for allegedly throwing her young son out of the house for expressing a pro-Trump opinion.
Sure, there might have been an isolated and repulsive incident or two after 2008 and 2012. This week, however, there is organized lawlessness in multiple cities and towns, apparently funded by wealthy liberals, with a notable level of viciousness sustained over multiple nights. Ok, you see where this is going.
We can agree on the Chicago Cubs. And hopefully we can agree on the beauty, reverence, and necessity of the TLM- along with the profundity of Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum. Have a pleasant day.
Semper Gumby, we’re not on the same page about the TLM and SP. But I am happy that those who find this way of worshipping meaningful, have opportunities to do so.
AnnTherese wrote: “…we’re not on the same page about the TLM and SP. But I am happy that those who find this way of worshipping meaningful, have opportunities to do so.”
Thank you.
A couple of decades ago a Catholic author wrote: “Holy Mother Church is far bigger from the inside than it first appears from the outside.” I only noticed your comments several days ago, so perhaps you already know that that phrase can apply in a certain sense to Fr. Z’s blog. In addition to the events of the day, there are excellent posts, photos, audio files, and discussions on art, poetry, and music- along with the occasional brain-teaser that exercises the mind and refreshes the soul. For example, if you’re in the mood for history and a podcast check out “Mit Brennender Sorge” from the archives. As for me, I’m at the office this weekend, with Holy Mass this morning. No big deal for us working this schedule- sometimes there are semi-pressing matters that, these days, are routine.
Have a pleasant day.
Anntherese, an amusing remark was made in national review about all the rioting mormons in 2012, a car was spotted double parked in Provo and two young mormon men had their ties askew. Conservatives are much less likely to riot as they follow laws and rules.
Perhaps of interest:
http://donsurber.blogspot.nl/2016/11/catholics-elected-trump.html#more
His book apparently includes note of a selection of spontaneous instances of charity on the part of Mr. Trump.