I have a real problem, dear readers.
On my first full day my laptop is dead.
I mean dead.
Hard drive dead.
I have my phone. I hope I can borrow a laptop from someone.
And if course the blog was down. For how long I don’t know.
It’s only a papal conclave going on.
Do me a favor and keep me in your prayers. I need some serious patience and guardian angels to help with solutions.
It’s Zuhlsdorf’s Law in full fury.
At InfoDocket there is a story describing the project to digitize the Vatican Library.
Get this!
EMC Corporation has today announced that it is providing 2.8 petabytes of storage to help the Vatican Apostolic Library digitize its entire catalogue of historic manuscripts and incunabula (a book or pamphlet printed before 1501). One of the oldest libraries in the world, the Vatican Apostolic Library holds many of the rarest and most valuable documents in existence including the 42 line Latin Bible of Gutenberg, the first book printed with movable type and dating between 1451 and 1455.
Do you remember “Doc’s” reaction to how much electricity was needed to power the DeLorean? We are all used to hearing “giga-” these days. But this is “peta-”
Our hard drives are now in gigabytes and terabytes. I remember when having megabytes was a big deal.
The prefixes indicate multipliers. kilo-, mega-, giga-, tera-, peta- etc.
| Prefix | Symbol(s) | Power of 10 | Power of 2 |
| yocto- | y | 10-24 * | — |
| zepto- | z | 10-21 * | — |
| atto- | a | 10-18 * | — |
| femto- | f | 10-15 * | — |
| pico- | p | 10-12 * | — |
| nano- | n | 10-9 * | — |
| micro- | m | 10-6 * | — |
| milli- | m | 10-3 * | — |
| centi- | c | 10-2 * | — |
| deci- | d | 10-1 * | — |
| (none) | — | 100 | 20 |
| deka- | D | 101 * | — |
| hecto- | h | 102 * | — |
| kilo- | k or K ** | 103 | 210 |
| mega- | M | 106 | 220 |
| giga- | G | 109 | 230 |
| tera- | T | 1012 | 240 |
| peta- | P | 1015 | 250 |
| exa- | E | 1018 * | 260 |
| zetta- | Z | 1021 * | 270 |
| yotta- | Y | 1024 * | 280 |
| * Not generally used to express data speed | |||
| ** k = 103 and K = 210 | |||
If the Roman Pontiff can have a Twitter account, so can the Sistine Chapel CHIMNEY that signals the election of the Roman Pontiff! Yes, @ConclaveChimney
Why didn’t I think of that?
Meanwhile…
Fr. Lombardi, who attends the General Congregations of the Cardinals:
PRESS COMMUNIQUÉ FROM THE HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE
The eighth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals has decided that the Conclave will begin on Tuesday, 12 March 2013. A Pro eligendo Romano Pontifice? Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica in the morning. In the afternoon the cardinals will enter into the Conclave.
In the traditional Roman calendar, it will be the Feast of St. Gregory the Great (+604). Let us pray for a liturgically engaged Pope, in continuity with the vision of Benedict XVI.
BTW… the Cardinal who will preach to the Cardinal Electors in the Sistine Chapel before the closing of the doors will be His Eminence Prosper Card. Grech, OSA. He was one of my profs, and is still an active prof, at my school, the Augustinianum. Card. Grech (pronounced “grek”) is from Malta. He is over 80 and is not an Elector.
Here is some great news. Fr. Jay Finelli, whose podcasts are up for an award in the same contest this blog is a part of (HERE – VOTE DAILY to help (Fr. Z’s Blog TOO!)), sent me a note saying:
In Tribute to His Holiness Benedict XVI, we are going “ad orientem” at all Masses beginning with the Easter Vigil.
This is clearly the direction Pope wanted to urge the Church. I made my own podcasts about what he was doing in promoting, both in his books and in his good example, what has come to be called the “Benedictine Arrangement”, that is, the Crucifix at the center of a versus populum altar (for Mass “facing the people”) with the corpus facing the priest, so that Christ remains the center of focus. This is a transitional arrangement and one that is superior where Mass cannot physically but be celebrated “facing the people”.
Fr. Finelli provided inserts in his parish bulletin, HERE. They include quotes from Joseph Ratzinger and a pamphlet. Fathers! These could be useful in helping your own parishes make this transition.
A great statement during the Year of Faith!
CLICK TO VOTE (It takes just a few seconds.)
Fr. Lombardi indicated during the press briefing today (going on as I write), that the date of the beginning of the Conclave may be announced this evening, at 7 p.m. Rome time.
It would probably – not for sure – be early next week.
The Cardinals meeting in General Congregation (now that all the Electors are present and sworn in) will vote on the matter in the afternoon/evening meeting.
According to the Motu Proprio of Benedict XVI just before his retirement, said that the Cardinals could move the date forward. Cf. Universi dominici gregis 38 (modified).
Also, according the UDG 38, the College voted to accept the motives for the absence of the Cardinals who are not coming (the Cardinal from Indonesia for health reasons and O’Brien for “personal” reasons).
There are now, officially, 115 Electors. 77 are going to required to elect a new Pope.
The site adoptacardinal.org was mentioned in the press briefing.
I hear there is a bit of … contrast.. among the holy Cardinal Electors. There is wrangling. Some want the conclave to be delayed. Some want it move along quickly. Some say that a conclave soon would favor a curial man. Some say that a delayed conclave would favor a “pastoral” man (as if curial work isn’t pastoral!). Some are demanding that names be named from certain reports.
There could be a date announced 7 p.m Rome time.
In the meantime…
My friend Fr. Tim Finigan, the great P.P. of Blackfen, etc., has posted a letter from the Vocations Director of the Archdiocese of Southwark, Fr. Stephen Langridge to the seminarians of same, in the wake of the problems that are out about Card. O’Brien. Moral is low. Fr. Langridge responds thusly:
How would we react if we were to discover that our father was committing adultery? I am sure there would be a range of emotions including anger, confusion and great sadness. But would we blame our mother? No. We would cling to her more closely. We would try to console her by the warmth of our love. We would stick with her. When the Church has been wronged by one of her members it should evoke within us a desire for reparation and a determination to respond with greater fidelity. Our fidelity is shown in little things: in getting up on time, in doing a day’s work, in looking after our prayer, in our service of our neighbour, in our determination to turn away from sin.
This isn’t a time to get disheartened. It is a time to be more faithful. That is what the Lord is asking of you today. Please be assured that I am praying for you.
First, Fr. Z kudos to Fr. Langridge. Well done.
Next, it may be that some of the men who are in formation there and elsewhere have indeed had to deal with “infidelity” of parents… in the sense of divorce and remarriage without declarations of nullity. This is not to say that parents might not be true to the union they are in at the moment.
We are men and women of our age. We are shaped by the age we live in. The age includes no-fault divorce and an decreasing sense of commitment to something long-term.
The experience of parents who have marital problems and then divorce and then remarriage, the experience of prelates who have problems (that bishop’s ring was in the ancient church a sign of being espoused to their diocese, not to all dioceses), could take the heart out of a seminarian.
But actual graces are offered.
Stand firm, men. We’ve got your six.
Keep calm and carry on.
Thousands of readers of this blog, here and now, will stop and pray for you…. here and NOW:
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Lent is a time for introspection and conversion.
Has it been a while since you have made a good confession?
Here are some tips.
Fr. Z’s 20 Tips For Making A Good Confession o{]:¬)
We should…
1) …examine our consciences regularly and thoroughly;
2) …wait our turn in line patiently;
3) …come at the time confessions are scheduled, not a few minutes before they are to end;
4) …speak distinctly but never so loudly that we might be overheard;
5) …state our sins clearly and briefly without rambling;
6) …confess all mortal sins in number and kind;
7) …listen carefully to the advice the priest gives;
8) …confess our own sins and not someone else’s;
9) …carefully listen to and remember the penance and be sure to understand it;
10) …use a regular formula for confession so that it is familiar and comfortable;
11) …never be afraid to say something “embarrassing”… just say it;
12) …never worry that the priest thinks we are jerks…. he is usually impressed by our courage;
13) …never fear that the priest will not keep our confession secret… he is bound by the Seal;
14) …never confess “tendencies” or “struggles”… just sins;
15) …never leave the confessional before the priest has finished giving absolution;
16) …memorize an Act of Contrition;
17) …answer the priest’s questions briefly if he asks for a clarification;
18) …ask questions if we can’t understand what he means when he tells us something;
19) …keep in mind that sometimes priests can have bad days just like we do;
20) …remember that priests must go to confession too … they know what we are going through.
And this…
Keep these in mind, examine your consciences, and
GO TO CONFESSION!
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
APX on 10 November – St Andrew Avellino (Vetus Ordo). Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “Many priests live alone, with no one to notice if they fail to rise, suffer a fall, or become suddenly…”
on 10 November – St Andrew Avellino (Vetus Ordo). Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “Father, in case you haven’t already considered this, an iPhone might help you or another priest in that situation. “…”
on 10 November – St Andrew Avellino (Vetus Ordo). Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “his Theatines maintain a minor seminary in the neighborhood under his patronage. i drove by it on the way to…”
on WDTPRS – 9 November: Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran, Rome’s Cathedral: “Great stuff Fr Z….. are the doors to St John Lateran originally the doors from the Roman Curia in the…”
on 10 November – St Andrew Avellino (Vetus Ordo). Wherein Fr. Z rants.: “As the demographic collapse accelerates, priests may find it prudent to live together in a central location with their deanery.…”
on Some notes for your Sunday Mass in the Vetus and the Novus Ordo: “This is the best explanation I have heard in my almost 50 years. I wish it was what was heard…”
on Some notes for your Sunday Mass in the Vetus and the Novus Ordo: “moon1234: We have to understand something about the Lord’s parables. The parable, or Hebrew mashal is an allegorical lesson of…”
on WDTPRS – 9 November: Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran, Rome’s Cathedral: “The obelisk outside the building was originally built by Thutmose III, and contains dedications from subsequent pharoahs. If you follow…”
A Daily Prayer for Priests
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