Fr. Z's Blog

Something Roman Catholic…

This is a new book from Joseph Card. Zen Ze-kiun about how to

One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic

US HERE UK HERE

Gerhard Cardinal Müller says of it:

“This book by Cardinal Joseph Zen is a book needed in our time of great confusion in the Church. In his text, Cardinal Zen reminds everyone what the Church really is and what the Church always should be, a Church that Christ has given us for the salvation of humanity—not a sort of NGO. The words of the former bishop of Hong Kong are a wake-up call for all those who have forgotten what the Church is about and what should be her nature and structure. The pages on the Synod on Synodality also cause us to think about what is at stake in our day, and they should be considered with our utmost attention.”

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Meanwhile, white to move and mate in ONE. How long did it take?

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

Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff.

Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Mass of obligation for this 15th Sunday after Pentecost, or the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time?

Tell us about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass.

Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?

A couple thoughts about the sign of the cross: HERE  A taste…

If you are perhaps enveloped in mourning or concern, struck with anxiety and fear about your lot or that of a loved one, remember the resolute tenderness of the Lord for the widow of Nain.  If you are lonely or can’t see a way forward, know that Jesus has the same compassion for you as for her.  He will extend it to you in the way He knows you most have need of it.  If you are carrying the death-bier of the memory of your sins, perhaps still unconfessed, Christ will raise you from your cast-down state.

[…]

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

September is the month dedicated especially to the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

HEY! a*****f9**@charter.net  My note to you was kicked back.  New email?

HEY! s*****41@nc.rr.com  You too!

In chessy news, at OTB yesterday I had two good wins. It’s amazing what enough sleep can do for your game. However, it was on 1 Sept 1972 that Bobby Fischer won the World Chess Championship in Reykjavik when Boris Spassky resigned the 21st game.

Meanwhile, in space…

Starliner crew reports hearing strange “sonar like noises” emanating from their craft. This is the real audio of it: pic.twitter.com/xzHTMvB7uq

— SpaceBasedFox ???????????.??? (@SpaceBasedFox) September 1, 2024

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.

UPDATE: I took possession of my new washer and drier yesterday. They are installed and working. An amusing twist to this. A few days back, when I started posting about this, I made an oblique reference to a line from the dead parrot skit of Mont Python. Some of you instantly picked up on it and there ensued comments about the “Norwegian Blue”. Ironically, my new machines are… blue. They, too, do not talk.

Some of you offered to help with the washer/drier replacement and some did help. Thanks to MF, ES, MR, JP, DC, GD

And another thing... this is too cool not to post.  I do a chickadee pretty well, but this is amazing.

Samual an autistic child that can replicate bird calls, this is his school performance

? diabetic4one
pic.twitter.com/C8paSwfDfV

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) September 1, 2024

If there is no delivery of the washer/drier today in the afternoon, it’ll have to wait until Tuesday.  I don’t want it on a Sunday.    The saga continues.

Yesterday I posted the post-mortem on a less than pleasing cheese and pickle sandwich.

That brings me to today’s Rome shot:

The product, set to go sale in UK supermarkets in September with a £2 price tag, contains “pasta in a creamy sauce with pancetta” and “no artificial colours”.

[…]

Italians on social media reacted with fury and disbelief to the news on Thursday, with many asking if it was a joke.

Other comments included “I wouldn’t even give it to stray cats” or “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do”.

[…]

In 2020 Romans reeled in horror at celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s “nightmare carbonara” while in 2021 The New York Times caused upset in Italy with its Smoky Tomato Carbonara.

[…]

Italy’s tourism minister has chimed in:

“Italian cuisine is a serious thing”, Santanchè wrote in a post on X, before paraphrasing the actor Alberto Sordi in the 1954 classic film Un americano a Roma to say that canned carbonara should be fed to rats.

I wonder if this isn’t a ploy of Bill Gates to push people willingly to eat crickets.

My suffering continues.  I was trying to ignore this, but several friends insulted my phone by sending links.   I confess: I shared it once.  I won’t do it again…. No… wait.  I guess I’m doing it now!  See what happens when these improprieties are perpetrated?

Mala tempora currunt.  Peiora parantur.

Perhaps I should make my own carbonara tonight in reparation for this vile offense against humanity.  Alas, in a pinch I don’t think I can put my hands on real guanciale today.

HEY a*****.w****@erickson.com!  My email thank you note was kicked back.  New address?

WELCOME REGISTRANTS:

113016
emcarol

Speaking of cheese and pickle sandwiches, and speaking about what I’ve been watching in the evening:

Still in the realm of Morse – and I do need to revive ZedNet – the younger version of the gal who played in The Queen’s Gambit appeared in an Episode of Endeavour which I just saw.

In chessy news, … that’s about all I have.  The Queens Gambit was a series which helped fueled the chess explosion during COVID.  This explosion, like the Big Bang, is still expanding outward with remarkable effect.

Meanwhile, from the other game God prefers….

In 1968, Bob Gibson was never removed for another pitcher. Not once, all year. Including the World Series, he made 37 starts. He completed 31 of them. The other six, he was removed for a pinch-hitter. pic.twitter.com/h4a7tw2EoK

— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) August 31, 2024

White to move and mate in 2.  (How long did it take you?)

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

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

There is something about Borromini’s beautiful lantern on Sant’Ivo, which reminds one a bit of a washing machine agitator.   I’ve been reminded rather a lot about agitators these days, and not the sort who protest at speeches of conservatives.  Also, not in the way in way that Saint Mary Maytag does in San Francisco, or the cathedral in Liverpool.  Come to think of it, the latter looks more like the Mercury capsule or the marooned Starliner.

Welcome registrant:

Chili

In chessy news, I read today about the events surrounding the 2024 Chess Olympiad to be held in Budapest.   Why didn’t arrange things differently so that I could take in Budapest before heading to Rome?  The Olympics will be held from 10-23 September.  Also, it is the 100th anniversary of FIDE.  Lot’s of things going on for that.  Richard Rapport will again play for Hungary.  He’s Magyar, but played for Romania for a while.  Peter Leko, a great commentator, returns to the board.  For these USA we have Fabi, Wesley, Leinier, Levon and Ray Robson.  A good line up.  It would have been great to have Hikaru, but all are 2700 and above.  They will give the Indians and Chinese a run.  Now that I’ve read this I have a yen for Paprikas Csirke.  But, of course, it’s Friday.

Black to move and win material.   Careful!

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

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

I should have solid washer/dryer news tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in honor of starting to watch Endeavour again, for a penitential Friday lunch…

I celebrate as my onomastico or “name day” the Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist, 29 August.  “He must increase,” said the Baptist, “I must decrease” (John 3:30).  I need that rule of life.

St Augustine of Hippo (d 430) connected John’s sudden, violent “decrease”, his head’s removal from his shoulders, with the autumnal shortening of daylight, while the feast of John’s birth coincided with the vernal lengthening of days.

In the Art Institute of Chicago, there is a tempera on panel depiction of the Beheading of the Baptist by the Sienese painter Giovanni di Paolo (d 1482).

You view the instant after the deed.  Seen from outside the prison, John leans out of his window, guillotine like, his headless shoulders and angled arms still in place as a massive gout of blood jets forth the jutting neck.  A servant with a platter stoops for his head.  The executioner sheathes his man-length blade.

John was not only a martyr for the Truth.

The miraculous son of the elderly priest Zechariah was a priestly martyr.

John stood against Herod and his crony cadre of corrupted priests who backed his violation of the truth of sexuality and marriage.

Herod used his power to sin.  John’s blood exposed also priestly corruption in a way that no one could ignore.

By the way, Herod’s command to kill John, the incorruptible priest, came from his lust for a child.  Salome was a “little girl” (Greek korásion).

That’s the direction, of course, of the radical and aggressive homosexualist agenda. Their ultimate goal is the lowering of the legal age of consent.

The Washing Machine Saga.  Continuation…

I’ve made up my mind on a plan of attack, made possible by a few of you kind readers.  I write your names down on a card and put it near the machines to remind me to say a prayer for you when I use them.  Thank you.

The “head of St. John the Baptist” at S. Silvestro in capite.

Photo by The Great Roman™

Meanwhile, in St. Louis the chessy news is that the Sinquefield Cup has concluded with “Puer” in 1st place.  The final standings of the Grand Chess Tour has Puer in 1st, followed by Fabi, MVL and Wesley.  MVL finally broke his 25-game streak of draws by beating poor Ding Liren.

Absolutely heartbreaking ? moment for all Ding Liren fans. It’s tough to see him lose the final game of the #SinquefieldCup. We hope he regains his spirits before the Chess Olympiad and the World Chess Championship match! #Grandchesstour #Chess #DingLiren #worldchampion #fide… pic.twitter.com/J0j90mLIeR

— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) August 28, 2024

Chess is hard.

Meanwhile, white can force mate in 4.

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

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

FYI… I just ordered some salt for my water conditioner using my own link! I do it too.

You’ll be happy to know that the city govt has closed off to cars the area in front of the church and down the street to the left along its side.

Welcome registrant:

mcharris

Many thanks to several of you who have sent donations by Zelle or PayPal earmarked for a replacement for my washing machine, which has “run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible”. I went to an appliance store yesterday after OTB (won one, lost one) and spotted a washer dryer set which I think is an appropriate acquisition. I don’t impulse buy, so I am mulling and continuing my searches but I’d like to wrap this up today.

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

BONUS SHOT

These are not clams.

These are telline.

Right now, from 23 Aug to 1 Sept at Rome’s ancient port city Ostia (where St. Augustine’s mother Monica died) there is the “sagra della tellina”.   They have a fishing boat procession and “marriage with the sea” with a statue of Mary Stella Maris and then eat spaghetti with telline.  Telline are smaller than the clams called vongole and they have a sweeter taste.  They are, in fact, marvelous.

The Great Roman™ and I have on occasion consumed kilos of these little wonders.

Nice people! Great service!

In St. Louis the Sinquefield Cup, the last stage of the Grand Chess Tour, is wrapping up.    Alas, “Puer” won.  The battle is for 2nd.  Yesterday, Wesley and MLV drew.  So did everyone else.  Today, we shall see who comes in second.  Wesley plays the world champ challenger Gukesh with black.

Meanwhile, white to move and mate in 2.

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

And there is this…

When El Duque tossed his ENTIRE glove to first ? pic.twitter.com/RcU5yW1nh2

— Baseball’s Greatest Moments (@BBGreatMoments) August 28, 2024

Today is the Feast of St. Joseph Calasanzio, who founded the Piarists.  He was also a member of the Archconfraternity at Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, to which I belong.  St. Joseph’s body is in the nearby San Pantaleone.

Photos by The Great Roman™

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Welcome registrant:

onyva

In chessy news, … I am sad.  Yesterday in St. Louis at the Sinquefield Cup, my guy Wesley with black lost one to Nodirbek.  Puer beat Ding.   Nepo drew against Pragg and wound up with more time on his clock than he started with.

Today I will go play OTB.  Last Saturday I faced a Pirc defense, which I have now reviewed.  Will I see it again?

After OTB I am off to the appliance store to deal with my washing machine problem.  My machine died.  There’s no hope for it.  Therefore, it must be replaced.   I posted about this yesterday and several of you readers wrote back right away with offers of assistance.  I will gladly accept.  However, I first want to scope out my options.  I’ve done some extensive searches online.  At this point, I am inclined to use a veteran owned business near to where I go to play chess.  I’ll stop in and look around. I’ll need the option for having the dead washer hauled away to whatever fate awaits it.  I wonder if there would be a practical use of the washer’s motor?  Nah… I can’t go down that path.

This washing machine issue is annoying, especially since I wanted to start raising some funds for my time in Rome in October.  But I have the genuine consolation that there are kind people out there who would like to help.  I can’t adequately express what that means to me.

Also, along these lines, many thanks to you regular donors.  Last Sunday I said Mass for the intention of my benefactors, as I do regularly.

Interim, motus ad lusorem cum militibus albis pertinent. Scaccus mattus, scilicet mors regis, duobus in motis veniat.

NB: Detineam explicationes in crastinum, ne vestrae interrumpantur commentationes.

I’m a chess.com affiliate.

Also, I saw this…

St. Willibrord’s Church, Utrecht, Netherlands was scheduled for demolition in the 1970’s, but after a public outcry, was spared the wrecking ball. It is presently under the stewardship of the Society of St. Pius X. pic.twitter.com/HuIehIPfQf

— Father V (@father_rmv) August 27, 2024

I am perplexed by those who would sell our churches to non-Christians for either profane or false-religious uses. It’s like the attitude of those driving Taurina cacata… they’d rather see a smoking crater than a church filled with happy people and lots of young families who practice the Faith.

Also, …

#OnThisDay 1816 a combined @royalnavy & @kon_marine Fleet under Admiral Edward Pellew & Vice Adm. Theodorus van Capellen, bombarded the African port of Algiers to enforce the abolition of Christian slavery. The ferocious battle was a success freeing 3000 Christian slaves. pic.twitter.com/Dmn2eRjZM3

— On This Day RN (@OnthisdayRN) August 27, 2024