Daily Rome Shot 1371

Posted on 6 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I think the “scam” post I made the other day is important.

Today I received TWO scam attempts by email, both using a fake “invoice” for something which I have in the past used, one in Italian (Vodafone) and one in English (Norton).

BE CAREFUL!  BE ALERT!  BE SUSPICIOUS!  BE PATIENT!  BE CALM!

Daily Rome Shot 1371

Another Knights of Malta view.

Daily Rome Shot 1371

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

There’s this…

And you thought they’ve couldn’t have hurt us more?

And…

And the ULTIMATE priest gift! I have one of these portable altars. It is amazing. Thanks to St. Joseph’s Apprentice!

In chessy news…

Magnus Carlsen, who had a couple of really bad losses along the way, won his seventh Norway Chess title.  In the final round after he had a lost position again Arjun Erigaisi, survived and almost won. With bare seconds to go, he took a draw.  Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana was beating Gukesh. Caruana blundered in a drawing continuation but Gukesh blundered last and lost the chance for the title.

The one who blunders last is the one who loses.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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Daily Rome Shot 1370 – A plea from a traditional group

Posted on 5 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Daily Rome Shot 1370 - A plea from a traditional group

Let’s continue with a few more pics from the digs of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta on the Aventine Hill.

I received this from a reader who also requested a Mass intention for the same.  This seems a worthy cause:

Hi Fr Z,
Huge fan of your blog and work.
I’m an advisor with a faithful Catholic high school in Richmond, Va
that is struggling to stay open. We are desperately fundraising around
50k to keep our doors open and plan for the future.
We are all Latin Mass families seeking to provide a Catholic liberal
arts education and grow in the Richmond area.
We would be eternally indebted to you if you can pray and offer a Mass
for our cause and/or share this link with your readers:
https://www.cardinalnewmanacademy.org/donate

In the hands of Our Lady Help of Christians

Many hands make lighter work.  I understand that “Most of our families and teachers are Latin Mass devotees.”    Most, not all.  Which means that there is a broad spectrum here but solidly on the sane side.  AND… at their website (which I checked) I saw a photo of one of the board members playing chess.  It must be a good place!   They have 4 levels of Latin and an elective in Ancient Greek.

Welcome Registrant:

Tx Trad

And there’s this… FINALLY…

Yup…

In chessy news…  Norway Chess is back on again today.

Daily Rome Shot 1370 - A plea from a traditional groupMeanwhile, there is a tough puzzle from chess.com.  I had to work on this one for a few minutes. 1. Qc8+ Bxc8 2. Nc7+ Kb8 3. Nc6+ Kb7 4. a6+ Kxc6 5. b5#

White to move.  Force mate!

Daily Rome Shot 1370 - A plea from a traditional group

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Interested in learning?  Try THIS.

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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“a cringeworthy romp in the very worst that the 70’s and 80’s could offer”

Posted on 5 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

As the pogrom against those who desire the traditional sacred worship of the Roman Rite continues – to build great unity, of course! – I invite the readership to take in some of the liturgical wisdom of Fr. John Thomas Lane, S.S.S., who is the provincial superior of the Province of Saint Ann of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (U.S.A.) and pastor of his home parish in Highland Heights, Ohio, St. Paschal Baylon (D. Cleveland). He previously served as director for the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Fr. Lane has a piece  at Jesuit-run Amerika. HERE  It’s a cringeworthy romp in the very worst that the 70’s and 80’s could offer.

He even quotes Card. Mahony from 1997: “Gather Faithfully Together” which set off Mother Angelica (she won).

Given what he wrote, and given that he is pastor of a parish, I figured that he might be showcasing via videos what happens liturgically in the parish Masses.  They are every bit as painful as one might imagine.  Brace yourselves.  And remember that the TLM is restricted while this continues.  (The TLM is available to the faithful in the D. of Cleveland in more than one location.)

Beginning

Homily

Consecration

A friend of mine, once one of moderators of the legendary Catholic Online Forum of Compuserve (which ages us), wrote a good summary of Fr. Lane’s piece at Amerika.

Please excuse my tone if I rant a bit but I genuinely wondered if this article was satire. Sadly, it was not. Instead, it is a near-perfect example of the post-Vatican II liturgical project at its worst: horizontal, human-centered, emotionally therapeutic, and spiritually hollow. In other words, Protestant.

If there is to be a Eucharistic revival, it must begin not with more chalices, offertory processions, and bouncier songs, but with a recovery of the truth: that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. According to the 2019 Pew Research study, nearly 70% of self-identified Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence. That is the problem. That should be the primary focus of any eucharistic renewal.

The article suggests that Communion under both species is essential for a “fuller” experience. This idea directly contradicts Church teaching. The Council of Trent defined long ago that Christ is fully present under either species. This isn’t about “getting more of Jesus.” It’s about understanding that one drop of the Precious Blood or one crumb of the Sacred Host contains the fullness of God. To suggest otherwise is to reveal a lack of catechesis, not of authenticity.

And then there’s the music. We’re told to sing “easy” songs during Communion to encourage participation. But Holy Communion is not a group singalong. It is the most intimate moment on earth, where we are physically united to our Savior. Sacred silence or music that elevates the soul without requiring group participation is appropriate. Anyone who has experienced Holy Communion while listening to a choir sing William Byrd’s Ave Verum Corpus knows what I am talking about.

Worst of all is the suggestion that hosts from the tabernacle should not be used during Mass. This implies that yesterday’s consecration is somehow “less real.” The tabernacle does not contain leftovers. It houses the King of Kings. Drawing from it reverently, especially when needed, is not a sign of liturgical laziness. It’s a sign of belief. There is an undertone of symbolism like this in the entire article. Symbolism is more aligned with Protestant belief than Catholic.

If the goal is to revive the faith, then revive reverence. Preach truth. Teach the Real Presence. Mass is not about us, it’s about God. The focus is not on us, it is on Jesus Christ. Until we remember this, we’re not experiencing revival—we’re just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

 

Posted in Jesuits, Liberals, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Save The Liturgy - Save The World, SESSIUNCULA, You must be joking! | Tagged
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Si vis pacem, para bellum – If you want peace, prepare war! Hackers, scams and YOU. Some discussion.

Posted on 5 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Si vis pacem, para bellum - If you want peace, prepare war! Hackers, scams and YOU. Some discussion.Just lately, I’ve had a number of emails telling me things like:

“My email was hacked, so here is my new address.”

“My credit card info was stolen, so I have to change my donation method.”

“Someone I know got scammed.”

It seems to that it is growing worse.

Personally, I had a probable scammer buzzing my phone tonight.

I get phishing texts about topics like “a package couldn’t be delivered” or “where are you, you said you would be here” or something designed to get you to interact with the sender.   I get emails which look really suspicious so I check the sender addresses or URLs carefully. I virtually NEVER open anything or click on anything without doing some extra checking.

There are emails from a anti-virus software firm which look like you’ve been charged, others want you to put remote control software on your computer and then they emulate your bank account and fake adding or subtracting money to lure you into their trap,  some scammers want you to send gift cards, some pretend to be possible romantic connections, some want you to send cash to be picked up by a mule, they go on and on and on.  On the rise are cryptocurrency scams.

There are scammers who pretend to be guys who fight against scammers to help you to get your stolen money back!

I use VPNs, virus checking, and a malware sweeper.

I also saw recently a video about methods to steal passwords via wifi.  Scary stuff.   If you are in a public place and want to use the available “free” wifi … hooboy!… you don’t know who else may be there waiting for you.

As a public service post, we might have some discussion here and some tips.

Phone and wifi security.

Password security.

Identity theft issues.

Pentesting and cyber security and vulnerability detection.

I will also throw into the pot, a reminder about …

FEDERATED COMPUTER replaces expensive “software as a service”, your data is yours and it isn’t being mined by AI.  Old post about Federated HERE

Si vis pacem, para bellum - If you want peace, prepare war! Hackers, scams and YOU. Some discussion.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ACTION ITEM! |
4 Comments

“Other restrictions may apply.”

Posted on 4 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The two pages in their newspaper… screenshot…  congress page HERE

"Other restrictions may apply."

 

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged
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Wherein Fr. Z recommends a couple of YouTube videos

Posted on 4 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I warmly recommend a pair of videos from Catholic Unscripted.

Catholic Unscripted, if you don’t know about it, is an initiative from three English Catholics, Katherine Bennett, Gavin Ashenden, and Mark Lambert. They talk about stuff in a way that is NOT a waste of time (as so many other Catholic videos are).

The videos I post, below, stem from the dreadful developments in the Diocese of Charlotte, where a bishop has undertaken virtually to deconstruct Catholic identity.

In the first video, the more recent, they interview Peter Kwasniewski. The title of the video is taken from this blog and I was mentioned at the end.  (I would have posted it anyway.)

The second video, older by a day or so, delves into the mentality of those who want to do away with the traditional Roman Rite.

Play video

Play video

Their YouTube channel is HERE.

Again, I warmly recommend Catholic Unscripted.  I even decided to get a membership for their site in order to support them.  Believe me, I know what that’s about.   I am, however, a bit cross with them about the membership thing, since they deny to site members access to certain videos on their YouTube channel.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Save The Liturgy - Save The World, The Campus Telephone Pole, The Coming Storm, The Drill | Tagged
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Daily Rome Shot 1369

Posted on 4 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Daily Rome Shot 1369

Welcome registrant:

FrauDoctorProfessorH

Over in Norway, more chessy drama as Magnus blunders a knight and loses again…

Wine from Benedictines in France… Beer from Benedictines in Italy…

Daily Rome Shot 1369

Daily Rome Shot 1369

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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Daily Rome Shot 1368

Posted on 3 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Daily Rome Shot 1368

Welcome Registrant

PJN

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Daily Rome Shot 1368

And…

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
2 Comments

Daily Rome Shot 1367

Posted on 2 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Daily Rome Shot 1367

Welcome registrants:

Petroseni

The monks of Le Barroux have a project. They are trying to build a museum/shop. To get the project rolling they need to sale 20K bottles of wine. That’s where YOU come in. Help monks, get wine. Everyone wins.  HERE

Daily Rome Shot 1367

Great photo…

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

And in cheesy news…

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
4 Comments

News of the Church 13 – 2 June 2025

Posted on 2 June 2025 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Welcome to the 13th edition of News of the Church.

It’s 2 June 2025 and it is the Monday after Ascension Thursday and we commemorate Sts Marcellinus and Peter.  Some time ago, I saw a movie called News of the World in which years after the Civil War a former confederate officer scratches out a living as a gazetteer. He travels from town to and town and reads aloud stories from different newspapers. People pay a dime .10c a head to listen, which is about $2.50 today. The idea caught my imagination and here I am, a gazetteer.

Listen & subscribe: Apple Podcasts Overcast Pocket Casts RSS feed

An audio “gazette” of Catholic things.

00:14 – Init
01:00 – June and the Sacred Heart
10:25 – News from Outer Space
16:10 – Connecting Pentecost and Cheesecake
21:26 – News from Gower Abbey
26:14 – Frequency of Confession
28:46 – SSPX opines about Pope Leo XIV
35:00 – Exit

Posted in News of the Church, PODCAzT, SESSIUNCULA | Tagged
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