Fr. Z's Blog

Today, sunrise was at 0630 and sunset will be at 1952. The Ave Maria is at 2000.

It is Friday in the Octave of Easter, which according to the Novus Ordo calendar is held as a Solemnity. Hence, there is today no obligation for Friday penance.

The Roman Station is at Santa Maria ad Martyres in the Campo Marzio.  It’s other name is The Pantheon.   There is a great account of when St. Pope Boniface IV exorcized this ancient temple to pagan gods (aka demons) on 13 May 609.

That date, 609, got me thinking.  St. Pope Gregory the Great died in 604.  I looked up Boniface and, sur’nuf, he was one of Gregory’s deacons, mentored by Gregory.  You can imagine the sort of men that Gregory surrounded himself with in those difficult and dangerous times.  Gregory himself was highly educated and devout, with a strong inclination to asceticism.   In his governance he was quite practical, though he had that powerful evangelical spirit that comes from love of the Faith.  After all, when you love something you want to share it with others, right?  Surely this is one of the reasons for immense care he lavished on the sacred worship of the Roman Church, which careful alterations are still with us in the Traditional Latin Mass and, to a lesser extent, in the Novus Ordo.   Gregory chose as his collaborators men like Boniface, who would stand in the doorway of the Pantheon and exorcize raging demons. I wonder what Gregory would think of those in certain key positions today.

On another note, for nibbles last night I had some little peppers stuffed with tuna and some marinated anchovies.

Some chicken was roasted with the remains of my enormous caprese tomato.  Note the the traces of feathers.

Today dawned, dreary and cold.  On the horizon to the south and the Castelli are indications of a later sunny day.  When the forecast intermittent rains settle down, I’ll run errands.  Walking around in Rome in the rain is a miserable exercise.

I found a good video on Youtube, one of the best I’ve seen that explains the lay out of the city and who made it happen.

Speaking of beauty, the Grand Masters who commented on yesterday’s game 4 between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Ding emerged victorious after a terrible blunder by Nepo. After that blunder and during the mopping up, the commentators opined about Nepo’s future performance in light of how he collapsed when facing Magnus last time.

One of the most interesting bit in the coverage of Game 4 was a rather philosophical discussion about chess and beauty. Anish Giri opened the topic and they went back and forth with it in quite a thoughtful way. I’d be very interested in your thoughts about what they came up with. In the video, below, I have set the starting point to just before their conversion, about 3:02:10.

Meanwhile,…  white to move.  Tricky position for white.  Use your first principles.

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

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Meanwhile… I just received a copy of Fr. Claude Barthe’s book, now in English, A Forest of Symbols: The Traditional Mass and Its Meaning

Fr. Barthe was ordained by Archbp. Lefevbre in 1979 and is incardinated in the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon.

This is published by the wonderful Angelico Press.

US HERE – UK HERE

Here is an excerpt.  I really like approaches like this.  Many of the things we do at Mass developed from ancient uses and then took on spiritual meanings, depending on the loving meditation of the commentator.  Some of the spiritualized interpretations differ, and that’s okay.  There is no reason to force any of them.    Here is Fr. Barthe on the incensation of the offertory gifts.  I went right to this section, because I’ve been looking for some time now for an explanation of the way the priest makes the circular incensations, echoed in, for example, the rite of consecration of a church.

The priest then traces three circles with the smoking censer around the offerings consisting of the bread and the chalice, while saying, Et descendat super nos misericordia tua . . . (and may thy mercy come down upon us) in order to show that this host and this sacrifice are surrounded by the merits of Jesus Christ. This good savor of the merits and prayers of Christ, which fills the entire house (Jn 12:3), also recalls the gesture of Mary Magdalen. We will therefore note that this triple censing recalls the three occasions when she anointed Christ (or, in the case of the last, the anointing prepared for the tomb and which she wished to carry out on Easter morning, the occasion when she wanted to anoint Christ, since the intention is as good as the action): the first being when she anointed Jesus’s feet in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Lk 7:36–38); the second being when she spread perfume on his hair (Mt 26:6–7) and his feet (Jn 12:3) in the house of Simon the leper; and the third being when she bought aromatic spices to go and anoint Jesus when he had been laid in the tomb (Mk 16:1). The spread of the incense, like that of the perfume spread by Mary Magdalen’s vase, signifies that this action, which heralds the meritorious death of Christ, shines out over all the church: “Amen I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memory of her” (Mt 26:13).

Beautiful.

This pattern of incensation was destroyed for the Novus Ordo by the “experts” of the Concilium who were tasked with a reform that was supposed to make no changes that were a) not organic developments from existing forms and b) truly for the good of the people.

The sun rose over Rome at 0632 and it will set at 1951.  The days are lengthening.  The Ave Maria is set to ring at 2000.

I am sure that you are all fully aligned with and eager to know about the ringing of the Ave Maria in Rome, which is – as you know – not the same as the Angelus… in this season the Regina Caeli.   The old lists say that the Ave Maria at this time of year should ring at 1900.  That was, however, before the “ora legale”… daylight saving time.  Hence, from 2 April until 15 April it is at 2000 instead of 1900.

The Roman Station is at Santi Dodici Apostoli… it is, after all, a Thursday.   You long-time readers will recall the connection of Thursdays with this place.   S12 is also the burial place of Clement XIV of happiest memory.

Last night the sacrament of baptism was conferred by a bishop at Ss. Trinità.  One of the catechumens was brought along by The Great Roman™.  You can bet that that one knows the Faith!

Here is a lovely “oil stock” used for the rite.   Not bad.

Late afternoon on my way home.  There is an idiot offering to do card readings, etc., on the right, thus placing them in danger of demonic attachment.  When I go by him I invoke the Holy Angels to bind him and the demons and to bring all his efforts to nothing.

A view of the window of the shop where I often stop for cheeses, etc.

Here are a few shots from the Easter Vigil, sampled from very many.

Look at all these dangerous people!  They could overturn THE COUNCIL!  They must be repressed!

And then there are these guys!  Archconfraternity.  Arch-VILLIANS, more like! Imagine all that subversive anti-conciliar activity like… like… catechizing and feeding the poor.  Pffft.   They must be dealt with.

Meanwhile,…

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Black to move and mate.

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. Thanks in advance. US HERE – UK HERE  These links take you to a generic “catholic” search in Amazon, but, once in and browsing or searching, Amazon remembers that you used my link and I get the credit.

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In the city of Bp. Athanasius Schneider, Astana, Ian Nepomniachtchi yesterday surprised us with an opening d4. With a QGD Ding Liren fought with black for a draw by repetition after 30 moves. Ding has white today against Nepo beginning 1100 CET 0200 EDT. I have found the commentary by Anish Giri (#6 FIDE) to be quite instructive. It is amazing what he sees that the other two GMs don’t, and he explains well.

Also, an interviewer found out that these days Ding Liren has been listening a lot to Bob Dylan.  Not what I would have guessed.

Many thanks to a recent Roman Sojourn donor who mentioned flowers. I got some alstroemeria which is opening up brightly. Flowers always make the place little more cheerful. Thank you. I am praying for all my benefactors here in Rome, regular monthly donors and the goal directed as well (e.g., this Rome trip, help with plumbers bill back home, just because, etc.) especially with Mass intentions. It is my duty and pleasure to pray for you. In the last couple of days, I heard from MM, AB, MK, and MH.

At 0633 – up. At 1950 – down. The Ave Maria is still in the 2000 slot.

The Roman Station is at S. Lorenzo fuori le mura. I was once deacon for the Station Mass there celebrated by my bishop and got to sing the Gospel from high atop the great ambo.

Yesterday involved moving things and starting the basic shopping and some repairs. Today will involve the same, along with some writing and a good walk later. It is unseasonably cool here, which I welcome.

Out with friends the other night.  Which drink is mine?

A few little starters.

I opted for orata.

Last night, however, I opted for caprese with a lovely tomato from my usual veg stand.

In the sacristy, everything is set up for a pontifical baptism.

Here is a bugia.  It is used at different times during Masses by priests when the celebrant is reading from the Missale.  Bishops get them pretty much all the time.

Along the way I thought to share a few photos from last Holy Week.   Not systematically.  Just for nice.

Meanwhile,…

Black to move.

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

Will you remember a few things?

First, do frequent the shop of the lovely Summit Dominicans.

Also, when you use Amazon, please use my link. You get your stuff, and I get a small cut of the sale. Thanks in advance. US HERE – UK HERE

Finally, consider sponsoring your priest so he can go to the conference for priests organized by the St. Paul Center.

It seems the whole men-finding-deviant-ways-to-compete-against-women farce has also invaded chess. In the Kenyan Open Championship, a guy wearing a niqab with only his glasses and eyes visible, pretended to be a woman in order to win a prize. Apparently he walked funny and wore shoes worn by men.

Today, Ding and Nepo face off again. Nepo is up 1.5 to .5. Ding’s game yesterday did not go well at all after a really strange 4th move, perhaps – surely, rather – suggested by his second, Richard Rapport, a somewhat erratic Hungarian who plays under the Romanian flag.

The sun rose, and I sometime later, at 635 and it will set, and I sometime after, at 1948.  The 2000 cycle holds for the Ave Maria.

It is Tuesday in the Octave of Easter and the Station is St. Paul’s outside-the-walls.   We celebrate St. Gemma Galgani today, a great saint.

Today I left my temporary digs, useful for Holy Week purposes and with the Chicagoans who have departed and have transferred to the Roman Sojourn Apartment.

I started making my first rounds of collecting things for the place, but a sandwich was necessary.

And a suppli.

I went to my usual veg stand in the Campo.  The PEAS have come in and they are magnificent.  Soooo sweet.

Perhaps more later.   This afternoon I have been getting all the tech set up, bags unpacked, lists made of what to purchase… food stuffs, cleaning things, items someone broke in the meantime, etc.

I may curl up for a power nap before I hit the cobbles again.

Right now my plan for supper is caprese with mozzarella from my most dependable place.  Shall I make something warm, too?   Who knows?

Meanwhile, Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Ding Liren in game 2.  Tomorrow is game 3.

The folks who redid my chalice in Rome have a spectacular Missale Romanum for sale.  There is some restoration work to be done, but this is a treasure.

Just sayin’.  I don’t know much about it.  Last spring Aldo said something about a Cardinal who passed away.  It may have been among his things and the family wants to offload it.

I recall that the silverwork is amazing.

Yesterday, Easter Sunday, I offered my Holy Mass for my Roman Donors.  Thank you for your great kindness and your prayers.  I will say Mass for you often while I am here.

On this Easter Monday, which is called “Little Easter” here. It is also called “Lunedi dell’Angelo”, probably because of the mentions of the angels of the resurrection in the antiphons for Mass, though the Gospel reading is traditionally about the Road to Emmaus.

The sun rose again in Rome and will set another time, respectively at 0637 and 1947. The Ave Maria remains nailed to that 2000 spot. We are in the Moon’s last quarter, in case you had not noticed.

Today’s Roman Station is at San Pietro in Vaticano. In ancient times and into the medieval period the Roman Bishop would go to St. Peter’s for the Mass and then return to the Lateran in a solemn procession while distributing money to the poor, through the Jewish quarter where he received their petitions, and then through the Forum and up the hill.

A couple views from Sunday Solemn Mass.

There are those who say that I should have buckles on my shoes when in choro or celebrating Mass. Technically, they may be right, since according to Trimelloni they were still obligatory – on the books at least – in 1962. I have a pair of 8″ Bates milspec boots back home in storage with some buckles laced in more or less in the right place, but I don’ think that that is what Trimelloni and the Church had in mind.   To my mind they are entirely appropriate, given the state of affairs and the amount of… stuff we have to wade through about “walking together” and other B as in B, S as in S.

I have business at Gammarelli.  I’ll inquire. If they are available and reasonable, I hope they have good traction.  The deadliest carpet in the world covers the steps to the altar.  I was celebrant yesterday for Vespers and it was a harrowing descent.

Just nice.  The inscription above says “CREDO SANCTORUM COMMUNIONEM”.

At Ss. Trinità they do it right.  I should ask if someone at the parish is arranging their flowers or if they are being done at a shop.  Otherwise, I know the stand where they get most of their blooms, at Campo de’ Fiori, the same stand I’ve used for decades, where “Pippo” reigns.

Last night we went out with priests from the parish and had a good time and a fairly decent meal.  I have not often mentioned names of restaurants in these posts but I decided to do so occasionally on this trip.   Last night, because so many places were booked up solid for Easter, we wound up at Da Pancrazio at the P.za del Biscione.  I had pajjata which was acceptable though not remarkable.  It was good to see it on the menu.  I never received my second course.  More on that below.

Da Pancrazio… I haven’t eaten there for decades and that is a good thing.

It is an interesting place, in that it has in the basement visible traces of the Theater of Gn. Pompeius Magnus, Rome’s first stone theatre and of great importance for Roman history. That is the restaurant’s main draw.

One advantage to Da Pancrazio is that they can  accommodate even large groups, though in the rather cavernous lower level it can get loud if there are young people.

The complaint about the place – for last night at least – was the slipshod table service: food out of order… some that didn’t come at all…. There was nothing special about the food, which was standard Roman fare prepared with and plated with zero creativity. One of us ordered mixed berries with whipped cream for dessert only to be told that there was no whipped cream. “Look: whipped cream takes a few seconds!” On the waiter’s return he informed us that while there was now whipped cream there were no berries and they could not come up with anything to substitute, not even with a minimum effort.

Apart from the splendid company and great conversation, that berry thing characterized the evening.   That and not even delivering my second.  They are skating.

The surroundings were pleasant enough, if leaning toward tourist kitschy. It was clean.  Our waiter had a good attitude, though perhaps he was overly challenged in covering his area and in overseeing the details.  The food was okay, without being memorable in any way other than for its non-arrival or straight up unavailability. There were some good bottles on the wine list (some very good), which – with coaxing and repeated explanations a distracted young lady managed to deliver – were eventually produced in the correct number.

And the “tiramisù” would have been more aptly named “tiramigiù”. I broke a standard of several years by ordering it in a sudden flash of misplaced optimism.  Even by the standard of standard tiramisù in this City, this particularly insipid manifestation was so far from the platonic ideal that its identity was hardly to be guessed at.   Thus, I confirmed that if I never have tiramisù again before it has been made by archangels it will be too soon.

Bottom line.  Even the worst of places – Da Pancrazio is not “the worst” by a long stretch – can be transformed into a wonderful locus for a meal depending on the people you are with.  From that point of view, the evening could not have been better.  We had great conversation and enjoyed each other’s company.   That said, I last ate there in the mid-80s. There are so many other places now that merit our patronage.  Unless some larger group I am with needs a place in a pinch, I’ll next return to “Da Pancrazio” in about 2043.

Tonight out with my Chicagoans who depart on the morrow and with our dear friends The Great Roman™ and his Better Half™.

Meanwhile,…

Black to move.

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

Interested in learning?  Try THIS.

Your use of my Amazon affiliate link is a major part of my income. It helps to pay for insurance, groceries, everything. Please remember me when shopping online. Thanks in advance.  US HERE – UK HERE

The traditional monks of Norcia make great beer. We had some the other night after the Vigil.

In chess news… in the FIDE World Championship Ding Liren (3) vs. Ian Nepomniachtchi (2) – drew in Game 1 in Astana. Game Two today. I caught only a little commentary – delayed. Anish Giri was insightful and amusing. I gained a lot from his play by play and speculation about the game. He also revealed something of his own preparation at this high level.