The sun rose on Rome with every intention of making every man woman and child feel the heat. That time was 05:35. While clouds have provided a little relief, the cooling won’t begin in earnest until sunset at 20:41.
The Ave Maria Bell is in the 2100 cycle for the Roman Curia. However, those of us who are happy to have the amazing Ave Maria Clock app will enjoy the ringing (not dissimilar to the Angelus) according to the solar reckoning.
Mass on Sunday was offered for all my Benefactors.
Mass on Monday was offered specifically for my Roman Donors.
Thank you to all of you. Please pray for me.
And speaking of the Ave Maria Clock app,
Welcome New Registrants:
AveMariaClock
Franciscus24
Today is the Feast of St. Justin Martyr. I have a 1st class relic of him in an antimension.
With this 1st of June we begin the month dedicated in a special way to the Most Sacred Heart.
Remember, this Friday is a 1st Friday.
There are 214 days left in the year.
Because at The Parish™ we observed the Octave of Pentecost, the Feast of St. Philip Neri, 1st class for The Parish™ for obvious reasons, was transferred to today. Alas, poor Justin.
Tonight we will have solemn Vespers and a Solemn Mass followed by a reception for members of the Archconfraternity founded by St. Philip.
(As I write this, the Italian military 9-plane flying team, the “Frecce” are going over, a national holiday. There’s a fan going, too.)
Here is part of the facade of the Palazzo Spada, which I walk past at least twice a day.
The figures depicted are from ancient Roman history. This one, to the right, is Augustus.
Here is the plaque to describe him.
“The door being closed, he put an end to civil and foreign wars.”
The “closed door” is reference to the Temple of Janus. The doors of that temple were only closed when there was peacetime. In the Res Gestae of Augustus, entirely embedded in bronze letters along the supporting wall of the enclosure of the Ara Pacis, we can read of Augustus’ deeds as related by himself. One of the is that he close the doors of the Temple of Janus. That would have been the moment of the “fullness of time” when the world was at peace in Galatians 4:
4 But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.
We had a wonderful Solemn Mass for St. Philip Neri at The Parish™. Some moments. This may take a moment to load.
Here’s the end of Mass with a hymn to St. Philip, Last Gospel (quiet) and Salve Regina with an interruption by The World’s Best Sacristan:
After the Mass, we had a pleasant social moment of members of the Archconfraternity, including a lovely recital of vocal music from the time of St. Philip Neri. More on that later.
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Black to move and mate in 4.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
More Virgil, without edits:
“Ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas;
magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo.
iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna,
iam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto.
tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum
desinet ac toto surget gens aurea mundo,
casta fave Lucina; tuus iam regnat Apollo.”
History is not a series of accidents.
[The famous Eclogue, for those of you in Columbia Heights, which some have taken to be a prediction of the birth of Christ. Secularist (usually Marxist) scholars have “religiously” denied that Virgil could have know anything whatsoever about the Hebrew (Septuagint) Scriptures. Gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.]
Black to move and mate in 4
This one was kind of tricky. The white rook has a lot of blocking possibilities that can lead black around in circles.
1) … Rf2+
2) Kg3 (or Rg2) Rg2+
3) Kh4 (forced) Qf4+
4) Rg4 (or Kh5) Qh6#
If
2) Rg2 Qxg2#
If
4) Kh5 Qxg5#
It is always wonderful to hear Domenico Scarlatti’s ‘Iste Confessor’ at Mass; many thanks for posting the excerpt of this beautiful work for choir here.
Thank you Fr. Z for approving my registration. So glad you like the app. It’s been a lot of fun to build.
I have an android version but need at least 12 testers. If someone is interested in helping test the Ave Maria Clock on android please drop me a note with your gmail ID.
In the picture with the elevation of the Host it looks like a cross or sword above the priest’s head (on my phone anyway).
Father, I hope that sometimes on the feast of St. Filippo Neri at The Parish, the Mass can be graced by the amazing sacred polyphony on Tomás Luis de Victoria. As you may know, he was personally associated with the Saint. “In 1575 he graduated from minor orders to the priesthood: Bishop Thomas Goldwell, the last surviving member of the pre-Reformation English hierarchy, ordained him deacon on 25 August and priest three days later. The ceremonies took place at the English church on the Via di Monserrato.
Victoria next joined the Congregazione dell’Oratorio, a newly formed community of lay priests led by Filippo Neri, and on 8 June 1578 he received a chaplaincy at S
Girolamo della Carità, which he held until 7 May 1585. During these years he published five sumptuous volumes in folio, one each of hymns, Magnificat settings and
masses, an Office for Holy Week and an anthology of motets”