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FIDE, the international “governing” (if that’s what you can call it) body of chess, expelled the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) and reprimanded the FIDE president, a Russian, for being too entangled with the Russian government. Of course the Ukrainian conflict looms in this. The RCF has been holding events in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia in violation of international law. So, the RCF now has 60 days to conform itself to FIDE’s will. Players, coaches and referees belonging to the RCF will not be affected by this measure. For a long time now, Russian players have not been able to use the Russian flag, instead using that if FIDE. A while back Russian players were given the option of switching and playing under another flag.
Chess is hard.
For example, white to play and mate in two.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE
Interested in learning? Try THIS.
The traditional monks of Le Barroux make good wine from the ancient vineyards of Avignon Popes. Try some. Help them.
As I write, I am listening to the recent music release from the wonderful Benedictine nuns of Gower Abbey in Missouri, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles.
Here are three tiny tastes. I like that they put the famous Ut queant laxis into the collection. I did a podcast about it back in… HEH!… 2007! I still have traces of youth in my voice.
Let’s see if we can sell out all the discs and break the downloads.
Finally, this is not something you expect to see at chess.com…
Respondeo dicendum: GO TO CONFESSION!
There are queues for the confessional! Of course there are! If you have one, and it is “in service”, it will be used. If you have two, people will queue.
I stepped into a church last week with confessions scheduled and there were a dozen people in each of two lines. It’s an area where there is clearly not enough availability of confession times on various days.
Fathers! Schedule more confession times.
Fathers! Don’t punish people by having just 30 or 45 minutes on a Saturday afternoon! There are fairly large towns with several parishes and all the confession times are at the same – single – time slot of the week. Provide more and at different times! Coordinate!
Schedule times during the week, too, or before Masses. More than one priest in residence? Have confessions DURING Mass!
i must brag on my parish in this regard.
Sunday: 1700 until all are heard (this usually ends up being after the offertory of the 1830 Mass) with two or three priests for the first hour or so.
Monday-Friday: 1100-1200
Saturday: 1500-1600
days other than Sunday have a hard stop since there are Masses to be said at 1210 on weekdays at 1630 on Saturdays.
Glad to have the day off so I can avail myself.
If I may, I would like to offer some recognition to the work the Dominican Friars at St. Patrick Church in Columbus, OH, are doing with regard to making the Sacrament of Confession available. They hear confessions starting half an hour before each Sunday Mass (two priests available) and continue hearing them during Mass until every penitent has gone through. I was there in April for a conference and attended the 10:30 am Sunday Mass. Getting there early (around 10), I saw the lines forming–those friars heard confessions until about 11:30! And these were not just a handful of super-lengthy confessions: the lines were long, but they were moving! They do this before/during each of the four Sunday Masses and also have scheduled times every other day of the week. My favorite part of their Confession Schedule is the line “until done,” as in “M-F 12:15 until done.” Nobody rushing out of the box with penitents still in line at St. Patricks!
Over the years when I needed confession and it wasn’t a saturday ,I would ring the bell at any rectory and ask Father to hear my confession. If it is a Novus Ordo Priest, they are usually very excited about doing it.
I have to agree that if the time is provided, they will come.
At our Parish we have confessions 1/2 hour before each Mass and during almost every Sunday Mass (3) totaling in a usual week around 5-6 hours of scheduled time. There is usually a line and often folks wait from one Sunday Mass to the next one to get in. This is an FSSP parish and run very traditionally! Father even had built an old style priest in the middle two penitent type to hear more confessions. Fr also has requested no cell phones in the confessional to ensure no listening in or recording occurs.
My diocese, based on a slew of assumptions (~1 hr of confessions/parish/week, that the number of Catholics reported by the diocese as residing within the diocese is in roughly the right order of magnitude) provides about 40 seconds per Catholic per year for confessions. The neighboring diocese is about 25 seconds/year under the same assumptions.
To hit the ideal of every reported Catholic being able to get a few minutes of confession/month, that would require (on average) ~40 hrs/week/parish, and preferably not during typical business hours.
Re: Coordinating Confession times. Amen! And it’d be great if they’d try it with daily Mass times too! It really seems sometimes like priests want only retirees and homeschoolers to show up, given how they schedule things.
We have 5 kids, 2 of confession age, and used to stand in line for 45+ minutes every Saturday to get 4 people to confession. One parent and two kids would pull all sorts of unsavory tactics to be first in line, while the other parent watched the 3 other kids, and then that parent would join the end of the line after the first parent was done. This is even at a parish that has a decent confession schedule. But you get a line of 10 people with one priest and that’s a half hour at least…
There are 100% families even in parishes with “generous” confession schedules who are going to confession less frequently because standing in line with small children is a hassle. The DMV and airport terminals are the only other places in modern life where you have to unexpectedly wait for more than a half hour, and well… that’s not great company, even if this is an unreasonable expectation for modern man to have.
At our new church home, an FSSP parish, on Sunday there are always long lines of penitents on both sides of the church. We have 3 priests so all 3 will be in the confessionals before mass then 2 stay on during mass except one will slip out to help at communion time. That is except for the rare occasion of a solemn mass which I have only seen once so far.
We have NO confession times at Parroquia St Agustine Puerto Octay, Chile.
Just too busy I guess.
I checked the web page to verify.
Yep NONE.
My parish in Columbus OH – Holy Family (run by the Merceidans) – has Confessions 1/2 hour before each daily Mass and an hour before each Sunday Mass (4).
As mentioned above with the Dominicans in Columbus, this is an area where orthodox religious orders are a godsend. Yes, it’s important to confess to your pastor so he knows what he’s dealing with at his parish, but religious have the numbers, and honestly, the time and prayer capacity, to really help out a diocese. Our diocese has some Capuchins who opened up a chapel at a mall several years ago. They have daily Mass twice a day, but their amazing ministry is having confession all day at the mall. Our Heavenly Father will greatly reward these good religious for their work of mercy, saving so many lost souls with their availability in the world! There are wondrous stories of people who walk the mall until they get up the nerve to walk in and speak to Father or go to confession after decades away from the Church! Especially for large families it’s so great to go to the mall when you can and get into confession, as they often have two or three priests hearing confessions at the same time. I assure you, the diocese has reaped many, many graces! Blessed be God!
I wanted to post the link to these amazing Capuchins!
https://www.catholiccitadel.com/
I attend two parishes in order to have daily Mass and each one has confessions either 5 or 6 days a week and there are always folks in line for confession. If you build it, they will come…
Jim D,
Too busy indeed.
A note to the local Ordinary might be warranted.
That’s worse than the standard Saturday 3:30 – 4 pm or “call for an appointment”.
I confess that I’m stuck on the mate in two puzzle. Did anyone get it?
My parish offers Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, an hour each. With only one priest here full time, that’s not as bad as it might be. Given that the priest has to say 3 or 4 masses for Sunday, it is hard to see him putting in confession times too, before masses, and I don’t fault him for that.
But the prior pastor had confessions 4 to 5 days a week.
I echo what Fr. Z says: priests, please offer varied times during the week, and coordinate with neighboring parishes. A Catholic should be able to look around the area and find somewhere that works within a 3-day window, if he is willing to give up his football game out with the guys, bowling, evening in front of TV or the like. And please LIST the times in bulletin and on website.
“Confession on appointment” is not a reasonable permanent arrangement. Just…not. Might as well completely dispense with confession not being face to face if you are going to do that. Would you want to return to public confessions and penances?
When I lived near Washington DC, I knew of multiple parishes in-city that had confession times during or near lunchtime so that working people could hit confession during their lunch. (Instead of?) I understand that might not be as useful in far-out suburbia or ex-urbia. But they can instead manage multiple evenings during the week.
Jim D, I imagine they are too busy. There’s, umm, bingo, and golf, and … stuff.
When I began going to Latin Masses in 1998, the priests always heard confessions before Mass. Was this a pre-reform rule? Where I would like to regularly go to the VO, the priest used to also hear confession after Mass until no one was left. The congregation has gotten so large that now another priest (from a local religious order) apparently now also hears confessions before Mass so he no longer has to do this after a morning in which he offers two VO and one NO Mass. In my diocese there seems to be an unusually large emphasis on encouraging confessions, but the diocesan Latin Masses are the only ones I know of where the priest hears confessions before Mass on a Sunday. At one of the two local NO churches the celebrating priest hears confessions before the weekday noon Mass (which I took advantage of today) as well as after the Saturday morning Mass, but not on Sunday.
Both local NO parishes emphasize confession and the need to confess before receiving Holy Communion if one has committed a mortal sin. It was not like this 10 years ago.
Puzzle solution: 1.Rd5…
Thanks for sharing more about that album of by the Benedictine nuns. Wow.
i second @happymom’s gratitude for the Capuchins in Southern Colorado. I’ve gone to confession there a few times. had i the resources, i’d like to set up such an operation up here in Denver too.
Yes, it’s important to confess to your pastor so he knows what he’s dealing with at his parish, but religious have the numbers, and honestly, the time and prayer capacity, to really help out a diocese.
happymom, this may be true, but the reason it’s true is that the dioceses have spent 60+ years WRECKING their vocational paradigm. In some cases, intentionally. In others, merely out of stupidity and lack of orthodox faith. (If one can say “merely” about that.)
The parish I regularly attend (and registered) has three priests and is in a central part of the city. Confessions begin on Saturday morning after the 0800 Mass and at least two priests will stay until at least 1030. Two other parishes that I know of within a ten mile radius have confessions on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1530 up until the Saturday evening vigil Mass begins at 1700. That’s pretty good scheduling and people show up.
My parish also has confessions on Thursdays beginning after the 1730 daily Mass. Holy hour also takes place around that time beginning at 1800. Confessions are scheduled up through 2000. That Thursday evening works out well for confession and Holy Hour and yes, people show up.
The parish by my house has two priests with confessions on Saturday afternoon from 1530 up until 1700 when the Saturday Vigil Mass begins. If I get there at 1545 sometimes there are 15 people in front of me. It’s more of a “gigo” and I end up doing my Act of Contrition outside, but I at least get to confession. During the “Leave the Light On” during Holy Week it was so packed that after two hours the pastor tactfully did General Absolution and explained the differences. Later the pastor told me “I don’t think the parish in [insert city 15 minutes away where a large number of Catholics drive to this parish instead] even did the Leave the Light On which was prioritized by the local ordinary.”