Happy Birthday Blog! Sweet 16.

Happy Sweet 16th birthday to this blog.

I cannot say adequately how grateful I am to you, especially long-time readers.  It’s like a parish which has developed over the years.

To my benefactors, those who have been sending ad hoc or monthly donations by subscription or items from my wishlist:

Lately I have been saying daily Mass pretty much exclusively for your intention everyday.   The way I figure it, since I now rely on you more than ever, more than ever I raise your intention to God at the altar and I do so with great pleasure and gratitude.

That first post, 16 years ago.

It was a cold winter evening in Rome…

… I posted this photo, taken from my apartment window.


Here is a shot across the City on the night that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI was elected to succeed the late Pope John Paul II as Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Christ. It is not very often that the Apostolic Palace is also illuminated in the manner we see in this photo.

St. Peter's and Apostolic Palace - 19 April 2005


Now I have to deal with the blog wanting that driver’s license, staying out later, looking at potential schools.   Sigh.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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24 Comments

  1. Pingback: Happy Birthday Blog! Sweet 16. – Via Nova Media

  2. Andreas says:

    Sending heartfelt congratulations to you on this, the 16th anniversary of your BLOG, Father. Through your time, efforts, insights, counsel, humor and creativity, you have brought us, your readers, the priceless treasure of a greater understanding of what it means to be truly Catholic, especially now during these most troubled times. For this I am most grateful indeed. I look forward to many such Father Z’s BLOG anniversaries to come.

  3. Liz says:

    Happy Anniversary, Father Z!

    That’s a beautiful photo!

    Thank you for your blog and all that you do for us. I appreciate your reasonable opinion about things and the way you entertain us all. You inform us about sobering things and humorous ones as well. I like that you fight the evil in our times, but you encourage us too. You give us a chance to pray for each other and to share good news.

    I thought of you and offered my Holy Communion for you this morning.

    Thank you for everything.

    By the way, teens are exhausting!

  4. Liz: By the way, teens are exhausting!

    You can say that again!

  5. IaninEngland says:

    Happy Birthday! You can probably download the drivers for free from somewhere. You’re welcome :)
    Thank you for 16 years of advice, entertainment and sheer wisdom, for the …cazts and for the Rome shots and for your insightful commentary on what is going on. Ad multos annos!

  6. DavidJ says:

    Thank you for sticking with it for so long. I find it edifying and thought-provoking. Ad multos annos!

  7. Baritone says:

    Happy 16th anniversary of the blog! Thank you for the years of hard work and especially for the Masses you offer on our behalf.

  8. mo7 says:

    Congratulations Father and thank you. My how things have changed in 16 years. I am grateful for your constant devotion to tradition.

  9. VForr says:

    Happy birthday to this blog and thank you, Father, for it! Ever so grateful for the knowledge, wisdom, encouragement, and inspiration you provide.

  10. Thank you Father, for all the help you have given me over the years.

    P.S. Didn’t the Sanpietrini used to plant candles or torches all over the outside of of St. Peter’s when a new Pope was elected? That’s one of many customs that should be brought back.

  11. KateD says:

    Congratulations, Father Z!!!!

    And mille grazie!

    Be grateful…in some states they can get provisional licenses at 14!!!! Arg!

  12. KateriK says:

    Ad multos annos!
    Happy 16th Anniversary!
    Thank you for all the years’ worth of advice, catechesis, Latin lessons, cooking inspirations, pictures of Rome, remembrances at Holy Masses for us! You’ve been a great help to my family and me for quite some time and we’re very grateful.
    May God grant you your deepest desires and reward for your work!

  13. Pingback: THVRSDAY EDITION – Big Pulpit

  14. JonPatrick says:

    Congratulations Father Z!

    Since I discovered this blog sometime around 2010 when I started getting interested in the Traditional Mass and taking my faith more seriously (funny how those things seem to go together often) I have found it the go-to place when there is something happening in the Church, or to see cool pictures of food, listen to the various “cazts”. This blog was also a big factor in my getting back into Ham Radio. Thanks again and 73!

  15. Nicholas says:

    I have been reading you since the fall of 2012, when I was still a Sophomore in diocesan high school. Finally deciding to become a donator. Thanks for all the work you do! Especially the reminders to confess.

  16. Nicholas says:

    I have been reading you since the fall of 2012, when I was still a Sophomore in diocesan high school. Finally deciding to become a donator. Thanks for all the work you do! Especially the reminders to confess.

  17. Nicholas says:

    I have been reading you since the fall of 2012, when I was still a Sophomore in diocesan high school. Finally deciding to become a donator. Thanks for all the work you do! Especially the reminders to confess.

  18. Semper Gumby says:

    Thank you Fr. Z. Outstanding blog, very helpful, and extraordinary commenters.

  19. Venerator Sti Lot says:

    Grateful congratulations! To borrow the words of Eastern Church tradition: m?nogaja l?ta!

  20. Venerator Sti Lot says:

    Ach, the ‘u’ and ‘e’ with diacriticals did not cut and paste (and the special character link bewilders me). Wikipedia says the Ukrainian version is ‘Mnohaya lita’!

  21. Venerator: Otherwise known in Russian as Многая лета.

    Remember to use UNICODE with special characters here.

    A tool, HERE

    And may we not have to worry about the Ukranian people any time soon: Многая літа!

  22. Lurker 59 says:

    I’ve been posting since 2009 and lurking since nearly since the beginning blowing in on the winds sometime in 2006. That is millennia ago in terms of the internet. The blog still stands (while many have gone dark) and the writing is still top-shelf and as Catholic as ever (how many have gone off the rails?).

    This blog has had a profound impact on people’s lives. I really cannot express how grateful I personally am.

  23. Mariana2 says:

    Thank you Father! Your blog is so needed in the (nominal) Lutheran desert I live in!

  24. poohbear says:

    Congratulations, and thank you for all you do.

Comments are closed.