ROMAE, die XIII commorationis, A.D. MMXXVI: Campana nos admonet aeternitatis.

Posted on 13 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Hodie sol super septem colles ortus est hora VII et XVIII minutis, occasurus hora XVIII et XXXIV minutis.

Campana autem Salutationis Angelicae, secundum cursum horarum Curiae Romanae, hora XVIII et XLV minutis pulsanda est. Sol suo cursu, Curia suo calendario regitur. Uterque, ut speramus, sub providentia divina. 

Ecce quomodo sonat campana “Ave Maria” in Paroecia™ , ubi triginta minutis post solis occasum pulsatur, non secundum cyclum horarum, sicut apud Curiam Romanam.

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto. Inter strepitum Urbis et negotia mortalium, campana nos admonet aeternitatis.

Supper.  I put some color on the chicken ahead of time.

Black to move.   Now what?

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ROME 26/10– Day 12: “A church that cannot worship must be entertained, and …”

Posted on 12 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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?

And this…. OAF!

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.

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This guy is GREAT. And he is a reader!

I love this about my gal.

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.

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

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This is what I get when I procrastinate… UPDATED

Posted on 12 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UPDATE 12 Oct:

I saw at InfoVaticana that:

A comparison of the documents shows that the norm on orientation reproduces almost word for word the one promulgated by Most Rev. Lawrence T. Persico for the Diocese of Erie (Pennsylvania) on January 14, 2022, with a single notable addition: priests with several parishes or “churches of limited use” may not distribute the celebrations among them in order to increase their number.

So, he’s also unoriginal.  Which leads me to wonder if this isn’t a “canary in the coal shaft” move.  One might wonder who put him up to this, to test just how far the priests of the diocese, and through them the people, can be pushed.  We learned a lot from COVID about bishops, didn’t we.

I was also a little curious about the bishop’s background.  Most Rev. Jeffrey Walsh in 1987 attained a bachelor’s degree in health and human resources. He got the coveted MDiv from seminary. He has a master’s degree in social work.

Originally posted 11 Oct:

This is what I get when I procrastinate…

Peter K beat me to it.

He’s right on all three counts.  That decree from the Bishop of Gaylord is a complete joke founded on… let it be said… a lie.   There can be some discussion of the early practice of different ancient churches regarding orientation of worship (… not much discussion, mind you…) but using GIRM 299 like that… that’s brazen.   I’ve written about 299 many times.   (Esp. HERE) Why the strong word “lie”?  Because even the Congregation for Divine Worship explained that the English translation used by the USCCB (then endlessly parroted by bishops in their attempts to stomp out ad orientem worship) was wrong.  The Congregation even had to explain the Latin because, apparently, the brain trust of the USCCB at the time didn’t get it right.   They were either too ignorant to get it right, or they purposely got it wrong.  However, once Rome explained it, clearly, to continue to use the bad translation is, effectively, to lie.

GIRM 299:

Altare maius exstruatur a pariete seiunctum, ut facile circumiri et in eo celebratio versus populum peragi possit, quod expedit ubicumque possibile sit.

ACCURATE LITERAL VERSION

The main altar should be built separated from the wall, which is useful wherever it is possible, so that it can be easily walked around and a celebration toward the people can be carried out.

USCCB’s BAD TRANSLATION

In every church there should ordinarily be a fixed, dedicated altar, which should be freestanding to allow the ministers to walk around it easily and Mass to be celebrated facing the people, which is desirable whenever possible….

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From “The Private Diary of Bishop F. Atticus McButterpants” – 26-10-06 – Chester And Bp. Dozer

Posted on 12 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

October 6th 2026

Dear Diary,

Dozer* stayed last night. He came over on his day off.  We grilled steaks and had drinks while Fr. Gilbert went to Razzo’s for some necessarities, like lasagna and a cheesecake. Earlier in the day, I had tried to shut Chester out.  Gilbert walked him with instructions to leave him in the garage.  He escaped.  Sr. Randi tried too.  No joy.  I don’t know how he does it.  So, Chester wound up watching Dozer eat from across the room.  You could feel his eyes.  It wasn’t until about the third highball that D relaxed a bit.

Later Dozer a little shaken called me over to the guest suite.  Chester was stretched across the bed. He ignored commands, treats, threats. D took the room across the hall.  At 3 he woke to find Chester standing beside his bed, staring at him, so he spent the rest of the night asleep in the chapel with Chester outside the door.  He left before breakfast. Said he isn’t coming back until he can take C to the vet himself for the final visit.

At breakfast Fr. Gilbert gave him the remaining cheesecake.  I don’t think Gilbert likes Dozer.  Is that how Chester kept getting back?   Then he told me the Nuncio wants my observations about that thing. Damn. Now I have to write to him.  I hate this.

*Bishop Antuninu “Dozer” Ruspa is the Bishop of neighboring Pie Town and Fatty’s best friend from their seminary days. His nickname reflects his unfortunate enthusiasm for closing churches and selling their architectural contents. Chester, Bp. Fatty’s loathsome and somewhat deformed dog, hates Dozer.  There was an early encounter ending with Dozer in an embarrassing emergency room visit after Chester bit him very high up on the inside of a leg. During a later visit, Chester escaped confinement, seized one of Dozer’s shoes and reduced it to something resembling the output of a woodchipper. Relations have not improved.

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ROME 26/10– Day 11: 100 year old WW2 Vet

Posted on 11 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The sun’s morning chores began in Rome at 07:16.

They ended at 18:37.

The Ave Maria Bell cycle for the Curia has changed to 18:45.

There are only 82 days left in the calendar year.

It is the Feast of the Maternity of Mary as well as that of St. Philip the Deacon.

From Holy Mass this morning.

“Suscipe…”

So I’m walking along and spot a group and an old fella in a wheelchair wearing a WW2 Veteran ball cap.   There was nothing to do but stop and chat.   As it turns out “Uncle Jack” is very soon going to be 100.  He had a tumble a while ago, so he has the chair in Rome which would be a bumpy ride for sure, but the cobbles here are treacherous. It turns out that they had all been at the Solemn Mass at The Parish™ just before (photos above) and that the nice young man on the left once upon a time sent me some 9mm.  It’s hard to get better than this… WW2 Vet in Rome with a blog-reading nephew who sends priests ammo just coming from a Solemn Sunday TLM.

I can’t improve on that. 

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11 October: Maternity of Mary. A tale of an antiphon, image, and a little street chapel.

Posted on 11 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It is the 20th Sunday after Pentecost in the Vetus Ordo calendar.  It is also the Feast of the Maternity of Mary established by Pope Pius XI for the universal Church in 1931, commemorating the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus (431), which defended Mary’s title Theotokos, God-bearer, against Nestorian errors concerning the unity of Christ’s Person. Mary is truly Mother of God because the Child she conceived and bore is one divine Person, the Eternal Word made flesh.

In the Breviarium Romanum we commemorate the feast at Laudes with this lovely antiphon associated with St. Fulbert of Chartres (+1028):

Ant. Sancta María, succúrre míseris, iuva pusillánimes, réfove flébiles, ora pro pópulo, intérveni pro clero, intercéde pro devóto femíneo sexu: séntiant omnes tuum iuvámen, quicúmque célebrant tuam admirábilem Maternitátem.

This antiphon Sancta Maria, succurre miseris, brings this dogmatic truth of Mary’s divine motherhood down into the dust and tears of our daily lives.

Note those imperatives, 6 arranged in 2 groups: succurre, iuva, refove, etc. Run to our aid! Help! Restore! We address Mary with the confidence of children who know their Mother will hear them.

Holy Mary show thine aid to those in misery, strengthen the faint-hearted, comfort the sorrowful, pray for the people, mediate for the clergy, intercede for all women vowed to God; may all experience thy help who celebrate thy admirable Motherhood.

Nobody is forgotten. Particularly striking is the petition for priests, who must themselves bring Christ to souls even while struggling with their own weakness.

What really grabbed my attention was that succure miseris… help the wretched.

At The Parish™, there is a beautiful image of Mary, much venerated by those who come and go.

Look carefully at the lower right part of the frame.  Somewhat obscured by flowers you can see that the title of the image is Sancta Maria Succure Miseris.

This image was originally in a tiny chapel just up the street near the Monte di Pieta, which was founded by the Church to provide loans so that people wouldn’t go to the Jewish usurers in the nearby Ghetto district.   The image was transferred to the church along the way.  The little chapel was locked up and fell into a bad way, neglected, dirty, hardly to be noticed for years.

Then the priests at The Parish™ got to it, obtaining the keys.  They cleaned, replaced lights, had a copy of the original image put in place.  They took down the ex voto offerings which had been given to Mary for favors received and had then restored.  Now, during October, every Saturday after the evening Mass they make a procession to the little chapel to say the Rosary.   It creates quite a draw for the massive river of tourists and locals.

Yesterday evening I helped The World’s Best Sacristan™ carry to the chapel the restored ex voto frames and a ladder.

More work has to be done before the ex voto frames can be hung up again.  The artisan changed the location of the hooks.

Sancta Maria, succurre miseris.
Holy Mary, hurry to help us.
Hurry to help the Church!

UDPATE:

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ROME 26/10– Day 10: butcher, baker… no candlestick maker (sorry)

Posted on 10 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A glimpse at my usual butcher shop.  I stopped in for some chicken for Sunday roasting with vegetables.  Campo de Fiori.

And at the corner nearby, the bakery where Nancy Silverton had her bread epiphany.

Behind S. Maria sopra Minerva there is a little church of the candle makers!    I took some of the Roman donors into this church once in a walking about video I made as “premium content”.

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

Fr. McTeigue is so good this week that I’m embedding, not just linking.  NB: The first part includes his ongoing look into the “Space Trilogy” of C.S. Lewis.  His commentary along the way is applicable way beyond the specific volume (Perelandra).

Did you see the “poetry”… scribblings…. dribblings of the awardee of the Noble Prize for Literature?

Black 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.

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ROME 26/10– Day 09: very cool and a rare restaurant review

Posted on 9 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It was 7:14 when the sun strove to illuminate Rome through the clouds. It worked on and off against clouds and rain until 18:41 when it wearily slid away in the West.

1900 is still the cycle for the Ave Maria for the Curia.

It is the feast of St. John Leonardi, et al. His body is in nearby S. M. in Campitelli.

Please keep me in your prayers for a health issue. Thanks.

RESTAURANT NOTE:  I admit to being ignorant about the restaurants along the edge of the Campo de’ Fiori, a place I otherwise know well.  Today, aware of my ignorance and determined to try one, I stopped – an optimist in spite of being a Prussian Dane who studied Augustine – with someone for a pizza.  It was a mistake.   The restaurant in question, rather near Ruggieri, was unfortunately named “Magus Bistro”. Perhaps I was there on a bad day, but… nah…it was the epitome of mediocrity with a touch of pretention on the part of the staff.  The pizza was as unfortunate as the name and even less magical, particularly in regard to flavor.  AVOID “Magus Bistro”.  Your time in Rome is too short for this.  Our time on earth is too short for this.  And, having only wine by the glass rather than by quarter or half liters like civilized Romans, their light pour was an insult to the glass it came in as well as to the client who ordered it.  My lunch companion’s salad was Italian cliché with the inevitable corn on top.  It was served in a rather narrow and yet tall bowl which rendered it an unlikely candidate for both dressing with the oil and vinegar as well as subsequent attempts to draw it up as if from a well and then eat it.  Lastly, we ate outside, rather than in, so I don’t know what the interior is like.

This… it IS going to happen again, of course. Think Carrington Event.

Pure crap.

And…

Black to move. 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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Archbishop: Church had greater unity under Summorum Pontificum

Posted on 9 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

AdVaticanum is increasingly useful.

Here is their reportage of an interview that San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone gave with a French source.

This is an Archbishop who gets it.

Here is a taste from the beginning.

My emphases

Archbishop Cordileone: Church had greater unity under Summorum Pontificum

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has said the Church experienced greater unity under Summorum Pontificum than under Traditionis Custodes, warning that restrictions on the traditional liturgy risk reopening old wounds

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has said the Church experienced greater unity under Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum than it does under Pope Francis’s Traditionis Custodes.

In an interview with French Catholic newspaper Tribune Chrétienne on October 8, the Archbishop of San Francisco said the restrictions placed on the traditional liturgy risk repeating wounds caused by the rapid liturgical changes that followed the Second Vatican Council.

“It’s very clear to me that there was more unity in the Church when we were living under Summorum Pontificum than we are now under Traditionis Custodes,” Archbishop Cordileone said.  [Kee in mind that “unity” is, at least on the surface, one of Leo’s strong desires, give how often he uses the word.]

He recalled the “liturgical wars” that followed the Council, when Catholics were judged and stereotyped according to their liturgical preferences. He said tensions continued into the 1990s before the situation began to “mellow” following the indult permitted under St John Paul II and then the publication of Summorum Pontificum.  [Under SP people started to “unclench”.  It was working, especially because it was getting into parish churches and young priests were being shaped by it, which affected how they understood themselves and priests and how the celebrated Holy Mass.  The knock on effect went on to the laity.]

Under Pope Benedict’s approach, Archbishop Cordileone said, Catholics attached to traditional worship and those preferring more contemporary forms could coexist peacefully without harsh judgement.

The Archbishop said Pope Benedict recognised that the Church had suffered a “profound wound” through the rupture experienced after the Council, including cases in which rapid and radical liturgical changes had damaged, and sometimes destroyed, Catholics’ faith.

Archbishop Cordileone also explained that Pope Benedict XVI’s proposal to recognise the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Roman Rite was intended to facilitate what the former Pope called an “internal reconciliation” within the Church’s worship. His Grace said Benedict understood that genuine reconciliation could not be engineered by a committee of scholars drafting a new liturgy, but would have to develop organically through generations of Catholics worshipping according to both forms.

“It has to happen organically,” Archbishop Cordileone said. “Pope Benedict understood that this would take a long time, generations, maybe even centuries, with people worshiping with both forms of the Mass to come to a unified worship in the Church.”  [This was the insight of Joseph Ratzinger and he was 1000% right.]

[…]

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ACTION ITEM! GULF of America BISHOPS, PRIESTS, LAITY: Pray the Litany against Hurricane “Isaias”

Posted on 9 October 2026 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It looks like hurricane Isaias in the Gulf of America could be big.

In the past I have urged bishops and priests to get out and pray against the storm using the older, traditional Rituale Romanum.

I saw this. This is what bishops need to do. Priests too.

With confidence we can pray the prayers which the Church has designated against storms.

I believe what the Church believes. Do you?  C’MON! What do you have to lose?

Therefore….

BISHOPS OF THE GULF COAST: Stand on the steps of your respective cathedral churches, dressed in cope and miter and, surrounded by clergy, with crosiers in hand, pronounce from the traditional Rituale Romanum the Litany of Saints with the deprecatory prayers against storms. [below] Ring the cathedral bells.  Go to the coast and pray.  You all talk to each other: perhaps coordinate your timing.

You don’t have to do it just once.   Do it more than once.

Bells are sacramentals. They are “baptized” and given names. They speak. In valleys of mountainous countries, as storms approached, people would ring the bells and pray the Litany. That’s one of the reasons why we have consecrated bells!

I know that in every chancery at least one person reads this blog, probably more. Readers, especially if you know your bishops personally, ask them to do this.

Look, you bishops out there… I know you are nervous about Rome frowning on you because you used a traditional book. You don’t have to publicize it. If you are nervous, do in it private. BUT DO IT.  Use the God given office and authority of a successor of the Apostles and PRAY DOWN THIS STORM!

PRIESTS: Ditto. Also, if you have blessed bells, ring the bells of your churches against the storm.

LAY PEOPLE: Get on your priests about this. The prayers of priests and bishop are powerful. Also, ask your holy angels to protect you and to help you make prudent decisions.

Fathers, Bishops… use the old Roman Ritual (yes, the traditional book – you can do it! – it’s the real deal!) and pray the Litany with the deprecatory prayers against storms.  A procession could be done around the grounds of the cathedral or even indoors… even with a very few.

“But… but… but… but Father!  TC says…”.

It’s a hurricane.  Who cares about TC?

You don’t have to be directly in the line of the storm to pray for others! You don’t have to be in Florida or Alabama!

PROCESSION FOR AVERTING TEMPEST [Better in Latin, but here is the English.]

The church bells are rung, and all who can assemble in church. Then the Litany of the Saints is said, during which – at the right moment, namely, after the invocation, “That you grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed, etc.”, the following invocation is said twice:

From lightning and tempest, Lord, deliver us.

At the end of the litany the following is added:

P: Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
Psalm 147
P: Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem; * praise your God, O Sion.
All: For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; * He has blessed your children within you.
P: He has granted peace in your borders; * with the best of wheat He fills you.
All: He sends forth His command to the earth; * swiftly runs His word!
P: He spreads snow like wool; * He strews frost like ashes.
All: He scatters His hail like crumbs; * the waters freeze before His cold.
P: He sends His word and melts them; * He lets His breeze blow and the waters run.
All: He has proclaimed His word to Jacob, * His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
P: He has not done thus for any other nation; * He has not made known His ordinances to them.
All: Glory be to the Father.
P: As it was in the beginning.
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: Lord, show us your mercy.
All: And grant us your salvation.
P: Help us, O God, our Savior.
All: And deliver us, O Lord, for your name’s sake.
P: Let the enemy have no power over us.
All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm us.
P: May your mercy, Lord, remain with us always.
All: For we put our whole trust in you.
P: Save your faithful people, Lord.
All: Bless all who belong to you.
P: You withhold no good thing from those who walk in sincerity.
All: Lord of hosts, happy the men who trust in you.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: And with your spirit.

Let us pray.
God, who are offended by our sins but appeased by our penances, may it please you to hear the entreaties of your people and to turn away the stripes that our transgressions rightly deserve.

We beg you, Lord, to repel the wicked spirits from your family, and to ward off the destructive tempestuous winds.

Almighty everlasting God, spare us in our anxiety and take pity on us in our abasement, so that after the lightning in the skies and the force of the storm have calmed, even the very threat of tempest may be an occasion for us to offer you praise.

Lord Jesus, who uttered a word of command to the raging tempest of wind and sea and there came a great calm; hear the prayers of your family, and grant that by this sign of the holy cross all ferocity of the elements may abate.

Almighty and merciful God, who heal us by your chastisement and save us by your forgiveness; grant that we, your suppliants, may be heartened and consoled by the tranquil weather we desire, and so may ever profit from your gracious favors; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.
He sprinkles the surroundings with holy water.

Bishops, priests!

You don’t have to advertise this or call in the TV cameras (though that would be great, too). JUST DO IT.

C’MON! What do you have to lose?

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