Fr. Z's Blog | Formerly entitled: "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" – Clear, straight commentary on Catholic issues, liturgy and life by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬)

Paris: Day 3 – Water lilies and chicken

Posted on 12 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

As one does, we had a stroll in the Tuileries Garden.

Chestnuts are blooming.

We went to the Orangeries to see some Monet, the monumental water lily and pond panels from 1927, in two oval rooms that represent infinity.

I didn’t realize that there was such a good collection there.

A visit to the Madaleine.

It is a great barn of the place, but it tells you something about the Catholicism of its era.

Then to Our Lady of Victories.

There were zillions of people in church praying the Rosary.

Also in the church were relics of St. Therese and, in a small chapel soon to be saints, Martin and Zelie.

In the even we took care of a Bresse chicken.

Next… an exhibit of Velasquez!

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Paris
11 Comments

Warning about “dark web”, hacks of your webcams

Posted on 11 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I saw a story on CNN (which I almost never watch) about a growing trend… an alarming trend. I bring it to your attention so that you can take steps to guard against a really nasty hack.

It is possible to receive an email that has a trojan horse in it. Once on your computer, the hacker can access your webcam and… stream it or take images. Those images can then be used to blackmail you into doing more and horrible things.

Blackmailers trade nude pics like baseball cards on the ‘dark web’

Be aware of this. These interwebs are changing our lives in positive ways, but bad people figure out how to do old bad things in new horrible ways. The force multiplier that is the internet can ruin lives, not just improve them.

Be careful, people, about your emails. Be careful with what you click and send. You would do well to treat your devices with a measure of wariness.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ACTION ITEM!, Semper Paratus, The Coming Storm | Tagged blackmail, dark web, hackers, webcams
13 Comments

Is the revolution beginning? “Hundreds” of priest learn TLM in England

Posted on 11 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Is the revolution beginning?

From Church Militant:

Hundreds [!]of UK Priests Learn Ancient Rite of Mass

Hundreds of priests in the United Kingdom gathered in the city of Bath in England last week to learn how to say the Traditional Latin Mass. [Yep. It says hundreds.]

The event, sponsored by the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, took place over three days, and saw a large turn-out of priests, deacons, and seminarians. This is the eleventh such conference for LMS. The first conference was organized in 2007, in the same year Pope Benedict issued Summorum Pontificum, the motu proprio granting every priest the right to offer the Traditional Latin Mass without special permission from his bishop.

The conference has been well attended each year, with an increasing number of attendees gathering at each conference.

The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales was founded to promote the traditional Latin liturgy of the Church, and is known for its well-attended annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, among other things.

There was a great percentage turnout of priests who signed the Letter to the Synod.

Now this.

The Benedict Effect!

Posted in Hard-Identity Catholicism, Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Mail from priests, Our Catholic Identity, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM | Tagged Benedict Effect, Latin Mass Society, LMS
19 Comments

Paris: Day 2 – Chartres and a new clerical style?

Posted on 10 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’ve barely been online all day. What a change.

Today we went to Chartres.

I have great memories of this place, which intimately tied with my personal history.

Great controversy surrounds the cleaning of the interior.

People will ask me what I think….

I’ve already told you about the stupidity of altars like this.

Here’s a little feminist nun catnip.

What to say?

Back in Paris, I saw this “Nehru” jacket.

… a clerical option?

What drink is this?

Supper.. artichoke….

Some wine… pretty okay as it turned out!

The veal chop was only about 1 1/4 inches thick.

After supper a stroll up to the bridge to catch a glimpse of the Tower sparkling at the top of the hour and then back to the hotel for a night cap and sleeeeeeep…..

… after calling my Mother for Mother’s Day.

Posted in On the road, What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged Chartres
26 Comments

Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Posted on 10 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Was there a good point in the sermon you heard this Sunday?

What was it?

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
14 Comments

Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Posted on 10 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Was there a good point in the sermon you heard this Sunday?

What was it?

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
1 Comment

Paris: Day 1 – Of surf and turf

Posted on 9 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The flight was uneventful and on time. I used the wonderful Uber to get from the airport to town for only €35.

We had variations on “surf and turf” starting with terrine and snails.

On to sole meunière and steak tartare.

Yum.

The view.

UPDATE morning:

Not sure what to do today. Perhaps a train out to Chartres, where I haven’t been for many years.

I don’t know what these trees are, but they are blooming all over the city, different colors.

In the Luxembourg Gardens the orange blossoms are about to open. They are already on the breeze.

Saint Sulpice.

Mass in the chapel of the Immaculate. I took this as it started, but it really filled up… on a Saturday midday. Nice to see.

At the Musee de Cluny, medieval collection, there was a fine, working sundial.

Nuns.

The second half of the piece, together showing the makeup of the Church.

The oldest inscription in Paris, from the time of the Emperor Tiberius.

I found a great Christological Goldfinch.

This shows a development of style. Mary is standing and the Infant is more animated. I am not sure the finch is having a great day.

The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. Who knows what this thing means? Theories abound.

More later.

UPDATE:

Parked on a boulevard.

What’s this?

St Germain-de-Prés

Luxembourg Gardens… back for nice stroll before supper.

UPDATE:

Fantastic fresh tomatoes. How I have missed them over the long winter.

Bellota ham.

St. Nectaire

Paté au foie gras.

And to help it down…

Time for compline.

Posted in On the road, What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged Christological Goldfinch, Paris, Paté au foie gras
22 Comments

My View For Awhile: Research Edition

Posted on 7 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UPDATE: Check the comments for a Ham Radio comment.

I’m off to do some research on a couple topics.

It’s sort of weird to have been 19/52 on the upgrade list. But the plane is jammed with roadwarriors. I don’t think Cartier has more “diamonds”. There were so many priority boarders that I thought, “when everyone’s special, noone is”.

I want a new clerical priority deal, a new priest-traveller priority class. Maybe…

Kryptonite Class?

Vibranium Class?

UPDATE:

I am in Atlanta waiting for flight deux.

There is a cool patio at the club here. When it cools off a bit I’ll go out there for the last few minutes of freedom.

Do you charge your phone outside of your house? Perhaps at a public place or from a computer or anything connected to a network? I once plugged my phone into an airline seat thingie to charge it and I got a message on screen “Do you trust this computer?” “Whoa!” quoth I. “No! DENIED!” So, now I use these data blocker things everywhere. They will let power in, but nothing else in or out. HERE

No, you may not look in my phone.

I am told that there is WiFi for the whole of the flight now. To think!

When I called my mother earlier, I reflected on what it was like to live overseas in the 80’s, what sort of communications challenges there were. It’s all so very different now.

Click!

Someone wanted to know what I am reading. It is a novel by Ross King called Ex Libris. So, far it is pretty engaging. I started chapter one as I buckled up on the last flight. I have read a couple other things by King, including Brunelleschi’s Dome: The Story of the Great Cathedral in Florence and The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism. The latter I read after I returned from my Paris trip some months back. I wish I had read it before! Now, when I visit the Musée d’Orsay, it’ll be with a new perspective and appreciation.

As you veteran readers here may have noticed, I like going to museums.

UPDATE

Time to get going again.

This is the part I don’t like so much.

Posted in On the road, SESSIUNCULA, What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged Atlanta, frequent flyers, Rome, Ross King
23 Comments

ASK FATHER: Text for 1st Blessing by a new priest (… same as blessing by an old priest)

Posted on 7 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

QUAERITUR:

Every year this comes up. I get questions about the Latin form of blessing to be given by new priests.

There is no need to throw in all sorts of other ingredients as if those to be blessed were lined up at a salad bar … sprinklings of pious imagery, vague invocations of niceness and holy fluff, rambling discourses that dead end in words like “beautiful”.

You all know what I am talking about.

Romans are concise.

The usual blessing:

Benedictio Dei omnipotentis Patris, et + Filii, et Spiritus Sancti descendat super te [plural: vos] et máneat semper. Amen.

Memorize this.

This is also the blessing the priest should give to servers after Mass.

Ask priests for their blessing.

ADDENDUM: There are some Latin texts useful for blessings of people according to their state in life.

Formulæ Benedictionum

Sacerdoti:

Resúscitet in te Dóminus grátiam Spíritus Sancti quam per mánuum impositiónem accepísti, ut sis dignus mínister Christi et fidélis dispensátor misteriórum Dei – sis sal Christi numquam infatuándum et lucérna ardens in domo Dei – memor sit Dóminus omnis sacrifícii tui, et holocaústum tuum pingue fiat. Tríbuat tibi Dóminus longitúdinem diérum et finálem grátiam, ut possis bonum certámen certáre et cursum tuum felíciter consummáre, adiuvánte Dómino nostro Iesu Christo, qui vivit et regnat cum Deo Patre in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia saécula sæculórum. Amen.

Clerico [Let’s call this deacons and major seminarians]:

Effúndat super te Dóminus Spíritum sapiéntiæ et intelléctus, consílii, sciéntiæ, fortitúdinis, pietátis ac timóris Dómini, ut evádas sacérdos secúndum cor Dei. Adímpleat Deus petitiónes tuas et omne consílium tuum confírmet, ac omni benedictióne cœlésti ac terréstri benedícat te Deus Pater et Fílius et Spíritus Sanctus. Amen.

Regulari vel Moniali:

Deprecatiónes tuas admíttat Dóminus ad sacrárium exauditiónis suæ, ut possis gloriári in cruce Dómini nostri Iesu Christi, per quem tibi mundus crucifíxus est et tu mundo, et cui fidéliter desérvis, ipse sit tibi merces tua, qui vivit regnat cum Deo Patre in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia saécula sæculórum. Amen.

Patri vel Matri [adjust if they are together]:

Accipe Pater (Mater) benedictiónem a fílio, qui tibi sit báculus in senectúte tua, benedícat te Deus benedictiónibus cœli et terræ, ímpleat omnes petitiónes tuas, det tibi ómnia secúndum cor tuum, confírmet omne consílium tuum. Largiátur tibi de abscóndito thesaúro suo, plenitúdinem omnis grátiæ et longitúdinem vitæ tuæ; cum autem defécerit virtus tua non derelínquat te Dóminus, sed tríbuat tibi finálem grátiam meque in ætérnæ claritátis gaúdio fáciat te vidére, qui vivit et regnat in saécula sæculórum. Amen.

Fratri vel Sorori:

Accipe frater (soror) benedictiónem a fratre tuo, quam Deus ratam hábeat in conspéctu suo (reliqua si sit adolescens, ut infra pro adolescente; si virgo, ut pro virgine.)

Adolescenti:

Omnipoténtia ætérni Dei Patris consérvet te, Fílii Dei sapiéntia erúdiat te, et Spíritus Sancti cáritas inflámmet te, ut crescas sapiéntia et ætáte, ac grátia apud Deum et hómines. Sis báculus in senectúte tuórum paréntum, et vídeas bona Ierúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ, ac omni benedictióne cœlésti ac terréstri benedícat te Deus, Pater et Fílius et Spíritus Sanctus.

Virgini:

Tríbuat tibi Dóminus de abscóndito thesaúro suo grátiam, ut sis virgo sápiens, et una de número prudéntum. Effúndat super te Spíritum pietátis, castitátis ac timóris sui, ut sponso cœlésti complacére, et ad thálamum eius admitti mereáris, qui vivit et regnat in saécula sæculórum. Amen.

Benedictio communis: [along with the other one, above, the winner!]

Omni benedictióne cœlésti et terréstri, benedícat te omnípotens Deus, Pater et Fílius et Spíritus Sanctus. Amen.

Benedictio generalis: in casu innumerabilis populi ambas manus extendendo dicit:

Pax Dómini nostri Iesu Christi, et virtus sanctíssimæ passiónis, et signum sanctæ crucis, et intégritas beatíssimæ Maríæ Vírginis, intercessiónes ómnium Sanctórum et suffrágia electórum Dei sint in vobis, ut inimícos vestros visíbiles et invisíbiles, máxime in hora mortis superáre valeátis, et omni benedictióne cœlésti et terréstri benedícat vos omnípotens Deus, Pater et Fílius et Spíritus Sanctus.

Per impositiónem (extensiónem*) mánuum meárum sacerdotálium, et per intercessiónem beátæ Maríæ semper Vírginis, et Sancti (Sanctæ)…, et ómnium Sanctórum; Benedíctio Dei Omnipoténtis, Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti, descéndat super te (vos) et máneat semper Amen.

* “Extensiónem” was/is used for anyone tonsured or for consecrated nuns. You wouldn’t touch them.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Mail from priests, Our Catholic Identity, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged blessings, First Blessing
8 Comments

ASK FATHER: Name of bishop during Mass on a ship

Posted on 7 May 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

Which bishop, if any at all, do priests pray for during the Canon of the Mass if a ship is at sea? Would it be the bishop whose diocese is closest? Would it be the bishop whose diocese the ship embarked? I could imagine that military ships pray for the Military Ordinary, but what about us non-military?

Good question.

The priest is to say the name of the bishop of the territory where the Mass is being celebrated. Even if he is with a group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Black Duck, and they are travelling through the Archdiocese of Metropolis, they say the name of the Archbishop, not of their own Bishop of Black Duck. An exception is, for example, on military ships which are covered by the Archdiocese for the Military Services.

Dioceses are regions of land, not oceans. They would include bodies of water such as lakes and rivers, but they would not extend out into the, say, Pacific beyond a very short way.

Under the old Code, if I am not mistaken (I’m writing this on the fly), people were covered by the jurisdiction of the port whence they departed. This is why I believe your planet’s Moon is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Orlando, since (then) Cape Kennedy was in that diocese. If that was the case under the older Code, I suppose there would be something similar via the newer Code.

I am not quite sure how the Apostolate of the Sea would fit into all of this.

Another thing comes to mind, if the priest truly doesn’t know the name of the bishop, he can simply leave the proper name out… except in Rome. In Rome he leaves out the whole phrase about the diocesan bishop, because he has mentioned the Pope and the Pope is the diocesan bishop.

If memory serves, there was once a papal permission given to a priest to have Mass aboard the infamous zepelin Hindenburg…. without candles. Perhaps someone could dig that document up and learn whose names were to be mentioned.

Another point to consider deals with the calendar, which liturgical day to observe. Imagine being close to the International Date Line, or on a ship that’s moving really fast, like the International Space Station.

It’s all a blur.

Bottom line: When I don’t know the name, I just leave it out and say “Antistite nostro… our Bishop”, and move on. I’ve prayed for the local bishop. God knows the name, even if I had forgotten it when I got to that point.