Daily Rome Shot 712: Of motes and beams

Posted on 9 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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.

A puzzle for you.

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.

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

The traditional Benedictines in Norcia make really good beer, three kinds. Give it a try and help them out at the same time.

The Norway tourney is coming to an end.  Magnus Carlsen has not won a single classical game, but, after draws, has been cleaning up in Armageddon.  Too little for a good ranking.  Fabi is in the lead.  He plays Hikaru today.  If Hikaru wins, he wins.  A draw leaves him in 2nd.  Yesterday, Fabi and my guy Wesley So tangled.  They drew the classical and, in Armageddon, …

In this tournament, if there is a win in classical (each player with 2 hours, no increments per move until 40) then they play a tie breaker called “Armageddon” in which the white player starts with 10 minutes and black 7 minutes, but, for black, a draw is a win.  Winner get’s 1.5 and the loser 1.0

… alas, Wesley made a misstep and Fabiano pounced.   Today going into Round 9 Wesley is #4 after Fabi, Hikaru, and 17 yr old Gukesh Dommaraju (17th in world).

Look at this crazy pawn structure in Gukesh v Firouza yesterday.

Gukesh eventually marched c and d down the board.

2700chess.com for more details and full list

The readings for Holy Mass in the Vetus Ordo today are beautiful.  From Luke 6:36-42:

In that time, Jesus said to His disciples: 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

Christ says the same thing in the Sermon on the Plain as in the Matthew account of the Sermon on the Mount.

I’ll remind the readership that when Christ taught His followers “the Lord’s Prayer”, the one thing he went back to stress was the need to forgive.  If we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven.  Period.  Thus, undertaking a effort of “purification of memory” is really important for some of us who have been hurt and badly treated.

Domenico Fetti (+1623), a fine painter whose canvass of the Repentant Magdalen you would recognize, has an image of the “Mote and the Beam” which is found in the Met in NYC – where I have not been for too long.

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Pope Benedict XVI on Corpus Christi processions and a rant from Fr. Z

Posted on 8 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In many places the Feast of Corpus Christi gets an “external celebration” on Sunday.  It is wonderful to see the multiplication of Eucharistic processions especially with the growth of the Traditional Latin Mass.  TLM began, processions generally followed.

In 2008 Pope Benedict taught about processions, a message we could all use today.  The full text is HERE.

“The Corpus Christi procession teaches us that the Eucharist seeks to free us from every kind of despondency and discouragement, wants to raise us, so that we can set out on the journey with the strength God gives us through Jesus Christ … Each one can find his own way if he encounters the One who is the Word and the Bread of Life and lets himself be guided by his friendly presence. Without the God-with-us, the God who is close, how can we stand up to the pilgrimage through life, either on our own or as society and the family of peoples? The Eucharist is the Sacrament of the God who does not leave us alone on the journey but stays at our side and shows us the way. Indeed, it is not enough to move onwards, one must also see where one is going! “Progress” does not suffice, if there are no criteria as reference points. On the contrary, if one loses the way one risks coming to a precipice, or at any rate more rapidly distancing oneself from the goal. God created us free but he did not leave us alone: he made himself the “way” and came to walk together with us so that in our freedom we should also have the criterion we need to discern the right way and to take it.”

This is a key point for our times in the Church right now….

“[I]f one loses the way one risks coming to a precipice, or at any rate more rapidly distancing oneself from the goal.”

We’ve gone down the wrong road for too long and we are paying the price.

As in geometry, the farther two rays extend from a point, the farther apart they get.  As in making a journey, if you want to get from, say, Chicago to Texas and, after driving for a long time, discover you are at the Canadian border, you would do well to turn around, retrace your MISTAKE, and start again on the right road.  As a matter of fact, you would be stupid to keep driving north.

Bashing Tradition to promote the Second Vatican Council is like driving north from Chicago in order to get to Texas.  More on this at the end.

No new initiative we undertake in the Church is going to succeed unless we revitalize our sacred liturgical worship and seek to fulfill the virtue of Religion, to give God what is His due.  Everything we do must flow from the Eucharist – by which we must understand both the sacred Eucharistic species and also its celebration which is Holy Mass.  Everything we do must then be brought back to the Eucharist.

Among the things that we can do relatively quickly are reinstitute many of our devotional practices: recitation of the Rosary (perhaps with a priest in the confessional), exposition and benediction (perhaps with a priest in the confessional), novenas on weeknights (perhaps with a priest in the confessional), processions, litanies, vespers, Forty Hours Devotion.

PROCESSIONS!  More processions!  Less chatter!

FORTY HOURS!   If there was ever a time in the life of the Church when we needed to recover the practice of FORTY HOURS DEVOTION… not pretend Forty Hours… not dumbed-down Forty Hours… not updated (see previous) Forty Hours… but REAL Forty Hours, it’s now.

Undiluted… unblended… undaunted… unmodified… unapologetic… traditional Forty Hours Devotion.

Thus endeth the rant.

We are our rites.

God, Our Father, with Your mighty steering hand guide Your priests and bishops out of the fog of worldly notions and onto a course of true renewal.

God, Our Savior and High Priest, chart onto the minds and hearts of Your sons a destination of a traditional priestly identity for our turbulent context here and now.

God, Holy Spirit, fill Your sons with zeal and with the courage to persevere when stormy resistance will rise from the agents of the Enemy.

Mary, Queen of the Clergy, put your protecting mantle over your sons who will be persecuted by their brethren and superiors when they implement traditional worship.

St. Joseph, Protector of Christ, Protector of the Church, guide the efforts of your sons to build up the Temple of God for worthy worship according to the virtue of Religion.

Holy Angels, guard us from evil and prompt us to do good.

 

ACTION ITEM! Be a “Custos Traditionis”! Join an association of prayer for the reversal of “Traditionis custodes”.

Also, as mentioned above.

This book pertains to the attempt by some to build up the Council by bashing tradition.

Illusions of Reform – Responses to Cavadini, Healy, and Weinandy
IN DEFENSE OF THE TRADITIONAL MASS AND THE FAITHFUL WHO ATTEND IT

US HERE – UK HERE

Three Catholic writers, Dr. John Cavadini, Dr. Mary Healy and Fr. Thomas Weinandy (CHW) signed a series of articles published by Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal (I know.. never heard of it…) attacking the TLM (and people who attend it) while also painting a picture of post-Conciliar “reforms” that was somewhat overly optimistic. “Cui bono?”  They seemed not really to have understood what they were writing about.

Posted in Classic Posts, Linking Back, Our Catholic Identity, The future and our choices |
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From “The Private Diary of Bishop F. Atticus McButterpants” – 23-06- 01 – Trinity Sunday

Posted on 8 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

EDITOR’S NOTE:

It has been hard to obtain fresh entries recently.  It’s possible that with +F.Atticus taking more naps, access to the Diary has been more difficult.

June 1st, 2023

Dear Diary,

Had to have a quiet week after the festivities. Luis was ordained last Saturday, I confirmed a ton of young folks on Sunday, and then the clergy cookout on Monday. Had to go to the office on Tuesday, for a really long day, but after that….took a few days. Wiped out. The ordination was great, and the reception (and food!) magnificent. I ate way too much. Butch would have loved it all. Fr. Luis kept grinning from ear to ear. But I still have trouble understanding him. Fr. Ernesto, who vested him, still has to ‘translate’ for me.

I’ve set myself up to preach again at the cathedral this weekend — on the Trinity, for Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is like God’s family, and everyone can relate to that!

There’s an old white cape, or cope, at the cathedral with a triangle and an eye on it on the back panel, all embroidered. It’s nice but a little creepy. They bust it out for Trinity Sunday. More confirmations on Sunday. My arm’s tired! The oil smells nice though.  It calls back so many good memories.

Sent Fr. Gilbert out to walk Chester today. They were out for quite a while, and Chester took a long nap when they got back. Gilbert took Chester out on Tuesday when we were at the office. Vice joined them in walking around the parking lot. Vice even tried petting Chester. That did not go well.

I wonder how Fr. Tommy is doing.

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Daily Rome Shot 711

Posted on 8 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Great controversy in St. Louis at the women’s Cairns Cup, as the defender GM Humpy Koneru left the tourney for medical reasons after Round 4.  Chaos in the standings, some losing points as Koneru’s games were voided.

In Norway, Round 8 of hostilities are just getting underway as I write this.    Leader Fabiano Caruana is up against my guy Wesley So, who won his classical yesterday.  Shakh and Magnus should be interesting.  Magnus has not yet won a classical in Norway.

Fabi (2773) started with 1.d4 and Wesley (2765) countered with the Nimzo.

3:16 isn’t just in John.

White to move, win material.

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

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Unintentional good advice.

Posted on 7 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

One of the necessary steps to true Eucharistic renewal is the elimination of Communion in the hand.

Thanks to Fr. D for the image!  Biretta tip (even though I don’t use a pom on my biretta any longer)…  o{]:¬)

Posted in Lighter fare, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged
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Daily Rome Shot 710

Posted on 7 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Up this street every morning for Mass.  *sigh*

Welcome registrants:

N2JIE
ZiaNM2

I received a book from my wish list by Fr. James Mawdsley, fellow cancelled priest,

Crucifixion to Creation: Roots of the Traditional Mass Traced back to Paradise

US HERE – UK HERE

NB: The title seems backwards.  In effect, Fr. Mawdsley points to the foreshadowing of Holy Mass and its effects from Creation all the way through salvation history.  He also has a chapter on the assault on the Mass and the attempts on its “roots”.  I look forward to getting into this one.

I very much like books by priests with long experience of celebrating Mass which are about the individual elements – their origins, their possible symbolic meanings.  There are some greats, such as Gihr, Croegaert, Sheen, Knox, etc.  I’ve contemplated writing one myself.

I note this with interest…

It is undoubtedly so.   More here on SAVE THE LITURGY – SAVE THE WORLD.

Meanwhile, I have another reader to thank, and I don’t know who it is.   One of you sent me some San Pellegrino Bitter (a zero-alcohol aperitif common in Italy).  When the box was delivered it was damaged and the gift slips were gone.  So, thanks who ever you are.  A toast to you.

In chess news, in Round 7 of Norway Chess, we saw the match that Magnus Carlsen would have wanted in another World Championship defense: Carlsen v. Firouzja. In a fun moment, Carlsen went into the “Confessional” I mentioned yesterday and talked about his strange 3. Bd3.

Magnus needs a haircut. At least he got rid of that ratty beard.

Hikaru Nakamura and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had a crazy QGA in which both players were in theory for over 20 moves. My mind reels. Shakh lost on time. My guy Wesley So defeated Nodirbek with a QGA. Yay! Fabiano is still on top of the heap, even though he flagged in his Armagedon game against young Gukesh… and he was clearly winning! If you want to see the end rush with seconds left… HERE. Wesley moved up to 3rd. There is a good interview with Wesley after his victory. I’ve bookmarked the start. Genuinely nice fellow. HERE.

Yesterday I apprehensive about going to OTB.  Today I am less so.

Also, I got a book of essays by the fellow I mentioned the other day, Raymond Keene.    US HERE – UK HERE  Evocative titles on the contents page… HERE.  This guy can write.


White to move and obtain a winning position.  F7 is a interesting square, isn’t it?

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

POSTSCRIPT:

I wish players at the top level would come to matches well-dressed, in a suit. I guess I’m getting old.

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TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s

Posted on 6 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This came to my email and I have to share it.

Some of you have surely seen it already but repetita iuvant!

I am reminded of what the ancient Roman Martial said: aestate pueri si valent, satis discunt. … if, during the summer, a child is healthy he has learned enough. Epigrams X, 62, 12.

And the days are still getting longer.

 

 

 

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank – While they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.

Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs Covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren’t overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing…that’s why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day and, we were OKAY. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, Only to find out that we forgot about brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not Have Play Stations, Nintendo and X-boxes. There were No video games, No 150 channels on cable, No video movies Or DVDs, No surround-sound or CDs, No cell phones, No personal computers, No Internet and No chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS And we went Outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, Broke bones and Lost teeth, And there were No lawsuits From those accidents.

We would get Spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, And no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms, And mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, 22 rifles for our 12th, rode horses, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and although we were told it would happen – we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts And not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of … They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.

The past 60 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If you are one of those born in the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s, congratulations.

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward this to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it ?

~~~~~~~

The quote of-the month by Jay Leno:

“With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of coronavirus and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?”

Posted in Lighter fare, Semper Paratus, TEOTWAWKI, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
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Daily Rome Shot 709: QGA

Posted on 6 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In chess news, the women are duking it out in St. Louis.  I haven’t followed that one closely, since Norway is underway.  In Norway, with black Fabi won a classical against Nodirbek.  (I assume you all know their names by now.)  In doing so, he moved into the 2nd highest rating in the world after Magnus.  My guy Wesley So gained points against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.  Watch the action today at 1100 EDT and 1700 CET.

There was a funny moment in coverage.    Ivanka was taking us into a short break with a phrase like, “We’ll be back in a few minutes with all the exciting action!”  The shot didn’t cut right way and the camera was fixed with a side view of one of the tables where only one of the players was at the board, sitting absolutely dead still.

One of the odd features of the tourney in Norway is “The Confessional”.  It’s really called that.

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Norwegian chess organizers and chess.com apparently have more confidence in the Confessional than 80% of Catholic parishes in these USA.

Players can go into this booth and bare their souls to the camera.  Of course what is said in the confessional stays in the confessional… at least as far as the other players are concerned.  Hikaru, the chattiest Kathy of them all, is a frequent confessor.   He’s also doing recaps of his games every day.  I don’t know how he does it.  I haven’t been a huge fan of Hikaru’s live stream because he is so verbally repetitive.  However, his recent recaps have been instructive.  As far as his “confessions” are concerned, it is interesting to hear how he thinks he is doing, compared to the eval bar and the three commentators (including women’s chess legend Judit Polgar).

For all of you…

GO TO CONFESSION!

I’ll make a confession right here, a chessy confession.  I’ve been playing badly.  I am thinking about my first OTB tournament in 50 years.  Scary.

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

Black to move. There are some weak squares around that enemy King.

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

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

Speaking of puzzles, a strong refutation of a series of puzzling pieces by scholars who ought to have know better than to wade into this topic unprepared:

Illusions of Reform – Responses to Cavadini, Healy, and Weinandy
IN DEFENSE OF THE TRADITIONAL MASS AND THE FAITHFUL WHO ATTEND IT

US HERE – UK HERE

I’m an affiliate of the shop of chess.com which is handled by House of Staunton.  I’ve ordered from them and, once, called in to obtain some spare queens for a set – not because it’s pride month and there were Jesuits around – but because the sets only had 32 pieces.  It is really handy to have a couple of extra queens, particularly when there is some interior decoration to be done on the promotion rank.  After all, a promoted queen is really just a trans-pawn, right?  (Trick question: No, it isn’t. It’s a queen.)  Hmmm… I guess that begs the question of why one wouldn’t have a few spare minor pieces.  After all, I know one nasty gambit line that requires under-promotion to a knight to gain a tempo with a check.  Perhaps because by the time you get to promotion, some pieces are off the board.

UPDATE:

I played OTB with the club today and did very well.  I won one with white against a super-aggressor with a really pretty surprise check mate and I won one with black, QGA against perhaps the strongest player.  (I won’t talk about the one before that, QGA where I went to the zoo and did exactly what my prep told me not to do.  Hilarity ensued.)

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There is hardly anything crueler that a priest can do than to leave people in doubt about the validity of their sacraments.  

Posted on 5 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It is extremely VEXING to learn of priests who are so thick… so arrogant… that they can’t or won’t be exacting about the VALIDITY of sacraments.   It isn’t hard.  You “Say The Black and Do The Red” and you use valid matter.

At the Pillar there is a note about how the Archdiocese of Kansas City has laid down the law about what wine can be used for Mass.  It seems that at “parishes” (plural) invalid matter for the Eucharist was used, invalid wine.  Therefore, for years, none of the Masses were valid.  None of the intentions for Masses were fulfilled.  Hence, redress from Rome must be sought to deal with the intentions, etc.

For STUPID!

Priests CANNOT CLAIM IGNORACE about these things because it is fundamental to their tool set.  If they are ignorant about the issue of valid matter for Mass it is culpable ignorance.    It is like running into a doctor who doesn’t know about blood types.

We read in Redemptionis Sacramentum:

wine that is used in the most sacred celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice must be natural, from the fruit of the grape, pure and incorrupt, not mixed with other substances…It is altogether forbidden to use wine of doubtful authenticity or provenance, for the Church requires certainty regarding the conditions necessary for the validity of the sacraments. Nor are other drinks of any kind to be admitted for any reason, as they do not constitute valid matter.

There can be some additives as preservatives.

It is of divine institution that the only valid substances for transubstantiation are, for the Host, bread made from wheat and, for the Precious Blood, wine made from grapes or raisins (desiccated grapes).

The grapes used must be ripe, which rules out “wine” such as verjus.

The wine for Mass can be red, white, dry, sweet, whatever.

Some prefer red because it resembles blood.  Some prefer white because it is easier to clean the linens afterward.

Sometimes questions come up about the use of wine which has very low alcohol content, called mustum, a wine which had the fermentation process halted by rapid freezing.  That is a valid substance because it is from grapes and the natural fermentation process began, making it wine.  It has an artificially low alcohol content, but mustum is considered valid wine.

However, there is the other end of spectrum to consider: wine which has an artificially high alcohol content.  Sometimes alcohol distilled from wine is added to wine in order to preserve it against spoiling or changing to vinegar.  This addition of wine alcohol produces “fortified wine”.  The usual types of “fortified wine” we encounter are port, sherry, madeira, marsala, and vermouth.

Unreconstructed Ossified ManualistFortified wines are valid matter so long as the wine-spirit added was distilled from grapes, that the quantity of alcohol added, together natural content from the fermentation, does not exceed 18% and that the additional alcohol is added during the process of fermentation.  You can read a good, brief article on altar wine in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Also, because we are Unreconstructed Ossified Manualists, we check our old theology manuals, such as Unreconstructed Ossified ManualistTanqueray’s Theologia Dogmatica.

We find in Tanqueray that wine for Mass has to be from ripe grapes, it can be of any color, not corrupted, and not frozen at the time of consecration.  Citing the Missale Romanum we are warned against wine that is turning bad.  As a matter of fact, it was (probably is still) illicit to say Mass with doubtful, soured wine.  And if the priest is not doubtful about it, and it is truly bad, he sins gravely by consecrating it.  “Si fuerit aliquantulum acre… conficiens graviter peccat“, says the Missal.  He would – knowingly – be attempting to consecrate something that is not wine and is therefore invalid matter.

That is not just bad, that is very bad.

By the way, the coffee mug which appears here is great for Mystic Monk Coffee!  It’s swell!

I would rule out vermouth, because herbs and so forth are added.

I would not use sherry because, if I am not mistaken, the addition of the spirits takes place after fermentation.

Marsala seems to be okay, so long as it is 18% or less.

Vin Santo, from desiccated grapes, is fine.  As the name implies, it is wine for the altar!

Port is valid, 18% or under.

All this information provides ample motive to stick with altar wines made by ecclesiastically approved vintners (unless you can’t for some reason).  However, a decent bottle of wine from a sound vintner, even if it is not from an ecclesiastically approved source, will be valid matter.   For example, if I were to open up that bottle of Tignanello that I don’t have, and I were to use it for Mass, it would be valid.  And it would be tasty.

If you have a doubt, Fathers, don’t use it.  Don’t screw around with validity of sacraments.

There is hardly anything crueler that a priest can do than to leave people in doubt about the validity of their sacraments.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged ,
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Daily Rome Shot 708: Dalmatic Bling Opportunity

Posted on 5 June 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

During my recent Roman Sojourn I was shown at the parish some beautiful sets of tassels for dalmatics.  Traditionally, the deacon(s) and subdeacon wear tassels on their dalmatics that descend from their shoulders and hang down their backs.

Before I forget… Welcome new registrant: ILoveMoose

For example…

Here are vestments of the TMSM which were shipped to Assumption Grotto in Detroit for a Pontifical Mass.

In this video from Easter, you can see the tassels (once the lights go up).

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon

Here’s the deal.

At Ss. Trinità there is a painting over the St. Gregory altar which shows a Cardinal Deacon in his dalmatic with tassels.  Lower left, with a miter next to Pope Gregory.

Want a closer view?

Obviously, the crew had similar tassles made for use in Masses… as one does.   A darker and a lighter pair… several pairs, in fact.  And this is where we get to business.

They are handmade. Quite striking.  They are not exactly like the tassels in the altarpiece but they are fine.

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There was only one problem. They accidently ordered twice as many as they could use. They are, therefore, interested in selling a few.

My part in this? I can get you in touch with someone at Ss. Trinita who would be able to organize the sale. Drop me a note if you are interested in this dalmatic bling.

Saving the world, dalmatic tassel by dalmatic tassel.

And here’s a puzzle.

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.

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.

Help the Summit Dominicans by visiting their online shop and help your chess game by visiting Remote Chess Academy.  I recently had an alert that someone of you readers used my link and got a course.  Yay!

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, SESSIUNCULA, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged
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