Each day is just a little longer. The sun rose at 05:47 and will set at 20:27. The Ave Maria Bell ought to be rung at 20:45 right now. In a few days it will shift another 15 minutes to accommodate the longer day.
We are in Rogation Week, before the Feast of the Ascension, that mysterious feast without which we would be truly struggling.
In the mornings there is a procession at the parish, humble, but we pray for you and for many other things.
Yesterday, I was particularly aware of my benefactors.
Today a few other petitions made a significant impact.
| V. Ut Ecclésiam tuam sanctam regere et conservare dignéris. V. That it may please thee to rule and govern thy holy Church. |
R. Te rogamus, audi nos. R. We beseech thee to hear us, Lord. |
| V. Ut domnum Apostolicum et omnes ecclesiásticos ordines in sancta religióne conservare dignéris. V. That it may please thee to preserve the Apostolic Lord, and to keep all orders of the Church in thy sacred religion. |
R. Te rogamus, audi nos. R. We beseech thee to hear us, Lord. |
| V. Ut inimícos sanctæ Ecclésiæ humiliare dignéris. V. That it may please thee to overthrow the enemies of thy holy Church. |
R. Te rogamus, audi nos. R. We beseech thee to hear us, Lord. |
Was there ever a time when these petitions were more needed earnestly to be prayed?
We are reminded that this is CHRIST’s Church and not the plaything of a few, no matter how exalted they themselves and others perceive them to be.
We are reminded that Orders are for ORDER and not for whatever the hell it is we have now. We need to be united in CHRIST’s sacred religion which is impossible to be if we don’t know what it is! Therefore, our tradition is a sine qua non for our unity and identity. Tradition has logical and chronological priority over whatever notions (which are things in a sewing basket, not the basis of serious governance) the forward-minded but continuity-retarded might come up with like the infamous Good Idea Fairy.
We are reminded that, while the Church will always have enemies, within and without, we must work to DEFEAT the Church’s enemies. If they are the enemies of Christ’s CHURCH, they are the enemies of CHRIST what ever they wear. They are the enemies of our souls, because in the Church we belong to Christ’s mystical PERSON. There is no compromise with the Enemy of the soul. There is only perseverance in rightly ordered governance in the Church’s sacred religion for the ultimate victory which is the salvation of souls.
For this we need order, tradition and courage.
For this we need “meno chiacchere – più processioni“.
Once upon a time… and NOW where tradition is maintained.
Again out with clerical friends for breakfast. To whom goes that fresh squeezed OJ?
On the way to the Campo de’ Fiori for, fiori, and also something for lunch which you can’t get back in that other place.
At the bakery. I didn’t get any of these, but it does my heart good to know that I could.
I did get some of this mortadella with black truffle to go with the pizza bianca I got at the bakery.
Meanwhile, here is a problem. Not so tough, but interesting.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
When Candela Francisco was six years old, her parents bought her a chess set for Christmas for $1.50 because it was the only gift they could afford!
Ten years later, Candela is the #womeninchess champion of the entire American continent! ????
This is what #chess is about! https://t.co/lvfNTDiXll pic.twitter.com/vc0rLtwpoT
— Women’s Chess Coverage (@OnTheQueenside) May 15, 2023
Great story.
Here’s another great story.
nce upon a time …Fr. Z readers all started to use his Amazon links when shopping online. US HERE – UK HERE Not only did they get their stuff, but Fr. Z got a small percentage of each purchase which meant that, over time, he would put a new roof on his house and continue to pay his health insurance because being cancelled sucks. The people were so happy using those links that they also remembered that wine gladdens man’s heart, and so they got wine from the monks of Le Barroux, in France, and beer from the monks at Norcia, in Italy. The monks were so glad from the income, because that meant they could maintain and build their monasteries where they pray in reparation for people out here in the world all the time.
The End.
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Ahhh the pastries look amazing! My Italian great grandnana emmigrated to the US as a young mother in the early 20th c. She brought a recipe for ciambelle that look very similar to the ciambellini in your photos that we still use to this day, though our pronunciation has been corrupted to something more like “sha-mella”. It is lightly sweet, anise flavored, and has no wine. The seam to join the ends into a circle is pressed down with a piece of walnut. They are amazing, there is nothing else like them here in the US.
I hope you don’t have to pass them up next time you are at the bakery. Donation with this in mind forthcoming. :)
Thank you for all the pictures, Fr. Z. I look forward to them every day.
What great news out of Argentina!
Best I’ve heard in a long time!
Rxb8+ Qxb8 (forced)
Qxb8#
[Mate in ONE, mate!]
Congratulations to Candela Francisco!
Thanks for an easy puzzle that even as poor a player as I can solve. Rook at a1 to b1.
[Alas, Rxb1 isn’t going to work for mate in ONE because black recaptures with Qxb1. See that inky queen way over on the other side of the board?]
Bb3# (N4f6+ is tempting but, at least for one move, allows the Black king to escape to h8, thus not mate in 1 for White.) Still learning full-board awareness.
Bb3# – yup. That’s it (except for the pin part). And it is good example of how powerful the bishop pair can be in the end game.
Bb3#: Is that (in the traditional terminology) Bishop to Queen’s Knight 3? Doesn’t that place White in Check from the Queen on King’s Rook 2?
I think Qf7# would work also. King can’t retreat to h8 because of white’s dark squared bishop.
whoops I didn’t see that the queen was pinned, Disregard.
IaninEngland says: Bishop to Queen’s Knight 3
Wow. Yeah. I haven’t heard that for a while. That’s how I grew up with notation. It divides the board into King’s side and Queen’s side (which we still talk about now in describing the arc of games). Now I use the “algebraic” notation which is so much easier and consistent. On the puzzles I post, I try always to have the rank and file numbers and letters on the graphic. Here is something on modern notation. HERE
Bb3 doesn’t work as the white king is in check, so invalid move.
The only option I can see here is Qb3#.
Very interesting board though.
Ian is correct – the light-squared bishop is pinned to the second rank, just as Jon noticed the queen is pinned to the b-file, so this time it cannot work with the dark-squared bishop to mate in one. So tough to see the full board! After wondering for a while if there really was no solution, and nearly posting to ask you for the solution from lichess, I finally found the needed “chess tactic” (perhaps a metaphor for a quintessentially Catholic “spiritual tactic”): Qb3#! This both bypasses the pin BY the enemy rook and exploits the pin ON the enemy rook to the back rank, preventing recapture and crushing the enemy king. Our queen accomplishes all this while being directly adjacent to our king. Beautiful puzzle. Ad Jesum per Mariam!
Yes! “Notation”, not “teminology”. That’s the word I was looking for.
Granted, the new notation is easier and consistent, but I just think the old notation sounds more “human” and less “mechanical”, rather like “feet ‘n’ inches” versus centimetres, yottagrammes and kilowhatevers.
Great puzzle, no?
Qb3#
The white queen is pinned to her king by that black rook. BUT, the black rook is pinned to its king by that white rook in the corner on a8. So, pull the white queen all the way back to b3 to hit that diagonal.