On this 12th day of my Roman sojourn, the 285th day of the year, the sun rose over the seven hills at 07:17, casting its first golden benediction upon increasingly dark domes, bell towers, and the ever more loathsome seagulls.
The weary orb will withdraw beyond the Janiculum at 18:36, leaving nine minutes for the city to gather its thoughts before the Ave Maria bell should ring at 18:45 for the Roman Curia to stop drafting yet more memoranda about commissions to study the feasibility of forming a committee about discussing Laudato Si in light of Amoris laetitia.
This is what the Salve Regina sounded like at the end of Mass on Sunday.
And…
The World’s Best Sacristan™ snagged a photo of me carrying the restored “ex voto” displays to the Little Chapel Up The Way™ dedicated to Mary “Sucurre Miseris“.
People saying the Rosary there.
I picked up this great quote from Fr. McTeigue:
“A church that cannot worship must be entertained, and men who cannot lead a church to worship must provide entertainment.”
Aiden Wilson Tozer – a protestant pastor who died in 1963
Right? Isn’t this what we are seeing all across the Church today?
Dancing idiot priests?
The Synodal Singing & Dance Active Participation Mass 👍
📍 Fr. Sergio Valverde, Parroquia Cristo Rey del Universo (Christ the King of the Universe Parish) San José, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 https://t.co/75AIYMTlu6
— AdVoluntasTua ❤️🔥🇻🇦 🇺🇸 🇵🇹 🚜 (@AdVoluntasTua) October 13, 2026
And this…. OAF!
This Fr. Fernando Hernandez, pastor of St. Patrick’s-St. Mary’s-Our Lady of the Lake in Newburgh, NY. He thought it was a good idea to end one of his Masses by putting on a Mexico soccer jersey. To do this inside of a church dedicated to the worship of God is a profanation. https://t.co/IKARuerzh5
— Tradition in Action (@TraditionAction) October 12, 2026
But the TLM must be suppressed.
And… this video (below) concerns THE BOOK, the “Five Cardinals Book” – Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church – which was sent to all the members of the “Robber Synod” and then stolen from their mail slots by the “walking together” mandarins. That was the Synod when we got that garbage from Kasper that plagues us today, even TODAY, in the meeting of the discernment taking place now in Rome about Amoris laetitia.
This guy is GREAT. And he is a reader!
Where are therapists getting their training?? https://t.co/V3mOl9lNNz
— MedievalistMatt (@medievalistmatt) October 12, 2026
I love this about my gal.
St. Thérèse’s sister Celine’s original oil painting of St. Thérèse is among the most prized and priceless treasures of the national shrine and museum in Darien, Illinois.
Sister Celine expressed that it is the most authentic representation of her sister, even better than the 47 pictures she photographed and painted of her.
— Bree Solstad (@BreeSolstad) October 12, 2026
White 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.
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Communiqué de la Maison générale de la FSSPX : Le recours contre le décret d’excommunication suit son cours à Rome
À la suite du communiqué de la Maison générale du 13 juillet 2026 annonçant le dépôt d’une démarche préalable auprès du Dicastère pour la Doctrine de la Foi, la FSSPX informe que les voies de recours prévues par le droit canonique ont depuis lors été poursuivies, dans le respect des délais et des procédures établis par le droit.
Par ces démarches, les évêques de la Fraternité entendent exercer le droit que leur reconnaît l’Église, en demandant l’examen des objections juridiques et doctrinales qu’ils ont formulées à l’encontre des textes du 2 juillet.
Dans l’attente de la suite qui sera donnée à ces démarches par les autorités compétentes, la Fraternité entend observer la discrétion requise par la nature de ces procédures. Elle invite prêtres et fidèles à demeurer unis dans la prière à l’intention du Saint-Père et de toute l’Église, dont la loi suprême est le salut des âmes.
Menzingen, le 13 octobre 2026
https://t.co/MguMJblrr0
— FSSPX Actualités (@FSSPXFR) October 13, 2026
1. R-e8+ . . K-h7
2. N-e7+ (discovered)
If . . . . . . K-g7
3. R-g8#
So . . . . . . f6-f5
3. B×f5+ . K-g7
4. R-g8#
Ironically, the Newburgh church with the soccer jersey priest is the church where the diocesan TLM is offered every Sunday.
waalaw: Unless I’m missing something, after
4 R-g8+ black has Kf6.
The chandelier and the wall of the Newburgh NY church look like they were stolen from Evil’s lair at the end of Time Bandits.
1. Re8+ Kh7
2. Ng3+
If 2. …. Kg7
3. Nh5#
So 2. …. f6-f5
3. Bxf5+ Kg7
4. Nh5#
Back in the day, corrupt Roman senators kept their power through “bread and circuses”; it seems that some in Church leadership today are doing the same. They entertain the people at Mass and worship with their “circuses” and provide them “bread” by ratifying their sins. By God’s grace, we have some voices in the Church echoing Our Lord’s words, “repent, and believe the Gospel”!
Pray for our Church leadership and clergy that they find their way back to the narrow path!
This is the solution for the Oct 13 problem as comments seem to be turned off for that post.
Black to move – then what?
Mate in 2 for black via a Queen sacrifice.
1. … Qc3+
2. b2xQc3 {forced} Ba3#
Fr. Z:
Thanks for the quote on entertainment. I remember a parish I attended in the 1980s where the 10:45 am Sunday Mass (which I ushered regularly – basically only usher in his early twenties back then) the choir was more like “The (insert name here) show” where much singing was done and there were soloists. More like a concert with Mass thrown in. Even my younger brothers didn’t care for that type of entertainment either – too much singing.
I also recall some homilies that I was like “uh, what did that have to do with the readings” and even grew tired of some opening jokes, one even was “every time the (local baseball team) win Father so and so puts on his (local baseball team) pajamas. ”
I was pretty much a “one hour Catholic” back then but I will say being scheduled to usher at least kept me showing up for Sunday Mass and it gave me something to do.