Sunrise in Rome was 06:10 and sunset will be at 20:06. Each day a little longer and they are, right now, beautiful days.
The Ave Maria should ring at 20:15.
It is the Feast of St. Peter Canisius, SJ, Doctor of the Church.
Last night a couple of retired Navy friends were/are in town. Here’s one of them when he was at Annapolis.
GO NAVY – BEAT ARMY
We had cocktails at the Campo de’ Fiori – the cocktail culture is being revived in Rome as only the Italians can do followed by supper at a nearby favorite spot with Roman and Sicilian fare. We started with moscardini and alici fritti with scratch made mayo.
A “bis” divided up… after a while the pasta gets a bit overwhelming. Behold caccio e pepe and the other with asparagus and truffle. Very good.
On the way home.
After Mass this morning I noticed something I’ve seen a thousand times. This time it hit me. Shell… pilgrims… Trinità dei Pellegrini … DUH! [Insert forehead slap here.]
Yesterday I followed Game 12. This is a 14 game match and the first to make it to 7.5 (.5 for a draw and 1.0 for a win) takes Magnus’ title. As 12 started Ding Liren was down 5 to Nepo’s 6. Effectively, Nepo would have had a nearly insurmountable lead of 2.o by winning Game 12.
What happened in Game 12 was astonishing. Nepo with black got a serious positional advantage over Ding and was on the verge of squeezing him like a Boa Constrictor. Also, knowing that Ding gets into time trouble, he started blitzing out moves. Bad mistake. With one misstep, one blunder, he was on the ropes and knew it. In complete, manifest agony he played a couple more moves and resigned to Ding, who pulled off a stunning victory. I have bookmarked the video below to just before Nepo’s f5 disaster move. Watch for a while after as he practically writhes in frustration, talking to himself in sheer disbelief.
Nepo was thunderstruck almost immediately after his error.
That said, think about what goes through the mind of a damned soul in the first few minutes after arrival in Hell.
GO TO CONFESSION.
Here’s a puzzle. White to move.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Oh… in Game 13 Ding with black was up but lost his edge and wound up with a draw. Tomorrow is a rest day and the final classical Game 14 comes up on Saturday. The Match is tied at 6.5.
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One of my prized possessions, which I don’t crack open very often on account of my iniquitous inattention, is a two volume copy of St. Peter Canisius’ “Meditationes seu Notae in Evangelicas Lectiones,” a collection of learned and pious reflections on the Sunday Gospels in very nice Latin. An excerpt from his reflection for this coming Sunday, from the “De Precibus cum hoc Evangelio coniungendis:”
“Precandus est mihi Deus, ut praemunitum habeam animum adversus mundi sive blandimenta sive terriculamenta, quae mentem fidelium saepe perturbant ac vulnerant. Non enim omnium, et vix quidem paucorum est, adversus mundi venata spicula pectys illaesum tueri et cum Paulo dicere: ‘Mihi mundus crucifixus est et ego mundo.’ ‘Quicunque autem voluerit amicus esse saeculi huius, inimicus Dei constituitur’ Iacobo apostolo teste.
Orabo pro usu laetitiae atque tristitiae moderato legitimoque, ut rebus prosperis affluentibus non insolescam, sed in Domino cum debita modestia gaudeam et rursus ob quaevis adversa non pusillanimus fiam, sed tristitiam, quae secundum Deum est, ad mundi gaudium temperandum prudenter adiugam. A Seneca quidem recte dictum est: ‘In secundis nemo confidat, in adversis nemo deficiat, alternae sunt vices rerum’ Eodem autem spectat Sapientis aurea sententia: ‘In die bonorum ne sis immemor malorum, et in die malorum ne sis immemor bonorum’ – ‘Confide in Deo et mane in loco tuo.”
Apt.
No matter what one happens to think of the Jesuit rule, it must be admitted that the Ratio Studiorum produced some of the finest fruits of high renaissance scholarship the likes of which we will (probably) never see again. They don’t make ’em like they used to.
1. Rd8+ Kxd8
2. Nf7+ is a triple fork that wins the queen
CavalierH:
Very apposite, considering St. Peter Canisius’ feast was today (27th) in the old calendar. And, speaking of things apposite, this extract is particularly… eh… apposite:
“Quicunque autem voluerit amicus esse saeculi huius, inimicus Dei constituitur”.
“Terriculamenta”. That’s a new one on me. Still, ex Latina semper aliquid novi. Mihi.
Fr. Z:
Glad you had visitors and I appreciate your support for the Church and Military.
I met Fr. Foley years ago during my discernment process when he was a LCDR assigned to vocations. He’s a good priest and a good example – he was deployed at least twice to Iraq and Afghanistan. I found him helpful and he is a “manly” priest. I am sure USNA was a good fit for him the years he was there and he was a positive role model. I think colleges the last several years have been more “discerning” on which priests get appointments to campus ministry – I had two good priests at a secular college I attended that made an impact on my faith journey.
I think since his retirement as a CAPT Fr. Foley is now a parish priest in his home diocese. Glad he was able to take the time to visit Rome.