ROME 23/05 – Day 10: Hardness of water and freshness of brains

Posted on 10 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

05:53

and 20:20

and 20:30

and it is the Feast of St. Isidore the Worker, the same who was canonized on that fateful day, 12 March 1622 by Gregory XV along with Sts. Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavier (aka “the real thing”), St. Theresa of Avila (patroness of chess players), and Philip Neri (please, Pippo! Help with the project!  PLEASE!).

It is also the Feast of St. Job, Old Testament figure.

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.

My email is flooded every day with the same question: “But Father! But Father!  How hard is the water in Rome?”

The Roman water is so hard that you can break your teeth on it when you chew it… before it’s frozen.   The Roman water is so hard, that can use it and only it to sand down terracotta tiles.   The Roman water is so hard, that…

Frankly, I made up that part about the email.  I don’t get any questions about the hardness Roman water, or any other characteristic of the water in Rome other than if it can be drunk safely from the street fountains, the “nasoni”, around town.  The answer to that us a resounding yes.   And most of the time, though it depends on the source of the water, you will find that it is rather “sweet”.

But, to answer the question about how hard the water is, I’ll show you.

I was going to make some pasta yesterday and then changed my mind.  I turned off the heat when the water started to boil and left the pan to cool.   This is the result.

You can see the sediment from the separated minerals.  I didn’t put anything into it, such as salt.  This is just from the water.

You might see it better in a video.

So… how hard is the Roman water?   It is so hard that if you leave it to sit, it’ll form a white crust on the inside of your glass.  True.

I use a vinegar from alcohol to clean off all the “calco”, especially in the electric kettle.

Meanwhile, no wonder our breads and doughs are as they are and … the flowers are so beautiful.

We have spectacular peonies right now.   I’ll put up the wavvy flag and hope.

I have a hankering for rabbit, which took me to a specific butcher shop.   Meat cases here are quite different from those in the USA.

Yes, those are what you think they are.

I’ve struggled for years with the names of the cuts of meat here.   Sometimes it isn’t my fault since the cutting or chopping can be a little irregular.  However, here is a chart showing the names of the same cuts in different regions.  There’s a little of that in the States, but not like this.

You should be able to right click for a larger image.

Later tonight I expect that The Great Roman™ may come by for some rabbit.  The plan is debone, stuff, tie and roast.  I have yet to assemble all the parts but that’s the idea.  It’ll develop once I actually start the process.   I’m thinking, sausage, savory herbs, bread crumbs.  They guys in the butcher shop suggested the addition of pistachio and pieces of plum!  Veg is determined, however: cicoria in padella.

A primo?   A little aglio, olio, pepperoncino?  Nibbles will be little marinated anchovies and small stuff sweet peppers.  Gins and tonic.   I need limes for that.

Time to go to the shops.

Here’s a puzzle.

White to move.  Be sneaky, pick up a piece and break your opponent’s will to continue.

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

UPDATE on the new book from the the wonderful Benedictine nuns of Gower Abbey, who have the great music albums. They have a book for girls about the religious life they live. The story is about a postulant being introduced to all the aspects of life of the nuns at the Abbey. It is very sweet.  I am reminded of one of my favorite books Little Saint Placid, though it isn’t really for children.

Brides of Christ.

US HERE – UK HERE (now available to order in the UK for release on 16 May.)

Posted in Fr. Z's Kitchen, On the road, SESSIUNCULA |
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ROME 23/05 – Day 09: Bronze, silver, and gold

Posted on 9 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

To get high the sky over Rome, the Sun had to rise at 05:55. It will decline to the horizon line at 20: 19.

The Ave Maria Bell is at 20:30.

Today is, among others, the Feast of the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah.

Most, if not all, of the Old Testament prophets have a feast in the Roman calendar, listed in the Martyrology if not in the Missal.  I am not sure what text, what Mass formula one would use for Isaiah.  Doctor?

After Mass today, I had a chat with Our Lord and did not forget to admire the beautiful flowers that the faithful have given, roses and peonies.

I had breakfast with a couple of priests and then started a stroll to Gammarelli to get the estimates for the vestments for Ss. Trinità.   I cut through a little passage to get over to this famous fountain, a gift from Alexander VII.

It is too nice not to share more fully.

At Gammarelli, we looked at my photos from the other day in the sacristy and the great Max instantly knew the fabric.    We took a look at trim options.   It’s the trim that really changes the range in prices.   One or another could swing a single vestment a couple hundred euro!    I have to talk to the parish priest again about this, whether he wouldn’t be okay with synthetic for the daily use of priests who come and go, since it would be tougher, more resistant to daily use, getting out of drawer, laying out, leaning on the altar, drawing the maniple over the edge of the altar, putting away, etc.

I should have estimate on silk-blend tonight sometime after Max gets the price on putting my coat-of-arms on the back.  I’ll reach out to some of you who have written already.  Soon.

On the way back to the Campo to buy myself flowers for the apartment, I saw the tiny church of San Giuliano was open, national church of the Flemish.

It is a sweet little church, neo-classical baroque in its decoration.  It has a stupid altar, but that can be taken care of my a couple of men, crowbars, and a cart.  The supports could go back to being altar rails (I think).

Here’s something for you.

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

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New, grand SSPX church, Bishops, and Proof of Concept

Posted on 8 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At Crisis there is a piece by Eric Sammons entitled “Our Incurious Bishops“.

The idea is this.  The SSPX just consecrated a huge and beautiful church in Kansas.  It was packed with precisely the sort of people bishops might like to see: devout, young, large families, etc.   The next day there was confirmation of an absolute hoard of confirmands.

On a similar note at Catholic World Report there is a piece about how numbers of priestly vocations are down and… why they might be down.  In Milan there is a scramble to find solutions, some good, some really bad.  But the problems are deeper than how many years of this or that sort of formation or whether or not seminarians should wear clerical clothing.  The writer thinks that, as the old saying goes, the problem may be at the head.

Normal people, when they try to do something and they don’t get too far, on seeing others succeed begin to wonder how they did it.   Are they doing something differently?  What’s the key to their success?  Moreover, when normal people fail several times they make changes.  You know the old adage.

I have in mind a couple scenes from the movie The Patriot with Mel Gibson.  Early on you see him trying to make a very light weight rocking chair.  As he rocks, about the second time the frail thing implodes, cracking him to the floor in splinters.  In anger he hurls it into the corner where is a pile of previous experiments.  Later in the movie, he is in the house of a British General against whom he is fighting. In the room where he is waiting for the General to appear there is a rocking chair like the one he was trying to make.  He sits down and rocks and it is fine.  He’s bumfuzzled.  As the scene moves on he’s viewed by the General down on the floor looking more closely at the underside of the chair.

The Crisis piece says that the SSPX is growing and dioceses are in decline in many ways.  Why?  What is the SSPX doing that attracts followers?  How are they able to build a huge new seminary in Virginia and a huge new church in Kansas?

The CWR piece suggest that the College of Cardinals had better do some serious soul searching about the future of the Church.  What is going on now isn’t working.  Wanna try it again?

Sammons writes in Crisis:

Sadly, it appears that our bishops are not asking these questions; in fact, they seem wholly incurious, even at times antagonistic, about this juxtaposition.

[…]

Bishops… Cardinals… whatever.

It is a little too early to see if the building of the Immaculate by the SSPX might be a wake up call or turning point for US and other bishops.   It ought to be.  But… hey, we’re talking about bishops.

As for the Cardinals.. yeah, they’ve had time.

But let’s stick to the SSPX and The Immaculata.

But the real import of the consecration of “The Immaculata” of the SSPX is not just that it was jammed and the consecration followed by very many viewers.

This is what Their Collective Excellencies need to understand.

The building and consecration of The Immaculata was

Proof of Concept.

Proof of concept is, roughly, the successful test of some idea in concrete terms to demonstrate that something bigger can be undertaken.    You test the feasibility of an idea with a first attempt.  If successful, you implement – especially using what you learned from the trial run – on a larger scale.

Keep that in mind as you look at these photos of this tiny little chapel in Kansas.

Itty bitty.

Just a humble little utilitarian place, thrown together as “good enough”.

Proof of concept.

Hey, bishops!

They did it.   They built that.   It’s not an idea or a drawing or a dream.  It’s concrete and open and functioning.

Now that they have demonstrated that they can build it, they will build others.   Their followers know this, too.  People like to donate for concrete projects and now they have a track record.

Proof of concept.

In the CWR piece there is a different proof of concept example, though not as dramatic or as, it seems to me, weighty in it’s long-term implications.  A “Novus Ordo” parish doing Novus Ordo-y things right and being successful.  The point is that when you do Catholic things with common sense, whaddya know, things seem to go better.  What does that tell us?

The rocking chair was proof of the concept the Gibson character had.  It was a proof that the chair he envisioned could be made.

The Immaculata.

More to come?

Oh, and the newly confirmed… just sayin’….

 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, SSPX, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
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8 May Indulgence: Supplication to O.L. of Pompeii

Posted on 8 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There is a beautiful tradition for 8 May, this year Sunday (often right at 1200 noon).

Once upon a time one could obtain this day a plenary indulgence by reciting the Supplication to the Madonna of Pompei.  The other day for this is the first Sunday of October.

Bl. Bartolo Longo, who fostered this devotion was dedicated also to St. Michael the Archangel.  For this reason he wanted the Supplica to be said on the Feast of the Apparition of St. Michael which occurred in 490.   The place, Mt. Gargano, is one of the points that can be drawn through Michael shrines from Ireland to the Holy Land, St. Michael’s Sword, firmly fixed also with Mary’s Supplica.

With the changes to the concessions for indulgences, according to the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, there is no longer any plenary indulgence for this prayer, notwithstanding anything you might see in some old book or on a website.  For example, if you see something about Pope Leo XIII granting an indulgence, etc., that is null and void now.

However, the new Enchiridion says with concession #17, §3 that Marian prayers obtain a partial indulgence under the condition that the prayer is approved by competent authority and that it is recited with fervor in the state of grace (you don’t need confession and Communion within 20 days, nor must you recite the prayers for the Roman Pontiffs intentions for a partial indulgence). You can receive a partial indulgence, by maintaining this beautiful custom of the Supplication today. 

For more about this, including the prayers, click HERE.  I included background on Bl. Bartolo Longo, a converted Satanic priest! John Paul II beatified Bartolo Longo in 1980.  Some of his writings form the basis of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary.

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My favorite moment from the Coronation ceremonies

Posted on 7 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Hands down.

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ROME 23/05 – Day 07: Blasts from the past in the present are the future?

Posted on 7 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

On this lovely Roman Sunday the sun arose at 05:57 and it will set at 20:17.  The Ave Maria is locked in at 20:30 right now.   Eventually, this will shift in another 15 minute increment as the days get longer.

It is the anniversary of the translation of the relics of St. Stephen, Protodeacon, to Rome from Constantinople.  They were placed with those of the greatly venerated St. Lawrence at the Verano cemetery and Basilica.

I should get out to St. Lawrence and the Campo Verano this week on a nice day, also the visit the grave of my friend Fr. Luigi Parrone.  The anniversary of his death is coming up: 13 May 2001.   I remember when you readers “Did it for Luigi!” and donated so that the parish here, Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini, could have their baptismal font.  How very proud I was of you and how happy the people here were.  

Meanwhile, morons are active in Rome. The other day a group of these nitwits blocked traffic by taking off all their cloths and sitting down in the street. Not pretty is a far too generous a description.

Here are more morons. Notice that the people watching are not very happy. They are hurting their cause.

And I cannot say with the word I would like what I would have done to the moron who did this. This is an ancient pomerium stone from the time of the EMPEROR CLAUDIUS!

From the English College, festivities for the coronation on the previous evening.

Their chapel.

From the swearing in of the Swiss Guard on 6 May.

Just because it was beautiful on the walk home.  Thanks, Rome, for having beautiful things to see on the walk home.

The door of the English College in Festive Mode.

A couple of videos from the Swearing.

All of these sights and sounds speak to us, handed as they are to us from the past.

What of our future?

We need the Traditional Latin Mass now, more than ever.  We are going to have it, too.  There is nothing they can do to stop it.

These lovely little tomatoes, very firm, extremely flavorful, are a little larger than golf balls.

With fresh pizza bianca from the forno and oozy mozzarella di bufala.

And the crowning shot… look at how this cheese leaks milk as you cut into it.

This is mozzarella.

We still have space for a puzzle.

Black to move and win.

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

A shout out to Roman donors.

Holy Mass this Sunday afternoon is for you.

Thank you and please pray for me.

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Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 4th Sunday after Easter (N.O.: 5th of) 2023

Posted on 7 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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

It was the 4th Sunday after Easter in the Vetus Ordo and the 5th Sunday of Easter in the Novus Ordo.

Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Sunday Mass of obligation?

Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I hear that it is growing. Of COURSE.

Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?

I have some thoughts about the Sunday reading HERE.

A taste:

There is a phrase attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo, namely, that “the virtue of hope has two beautiful daughters, anger and courage: anger with the way things are, and courage to change them for the better.” C. S. Lewis wisely noted that an anger that causes one a dark pleasure is false, as in “the fact that one feels entirely righteous oneself only when one is angry. Then the other person is pure black, and you are pure white.” This is not, of course, the path to truth or righteousness. Pope St. Gregory the Great said: “We must beware lest, when we use anger as an instrument of virtue, it overrule the mind, and go before it as its mistress, instead of following in reason’s train, ever ready, as its handmaid, to obey.”

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ASK THE READERS: Would-be-priest, denied, now a saint

Posted on 7 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A question for the readership.

Can anyone think of a man who, having sought the priesthood, was denied that path for some reason, but was later beatified or canonized?

What I’m searching for is a saint who could be the patron of men whose vocations were thwarted by bishops or their “formators” in seminary, forced out to find work and another path in life, “regular” work, etc.  There’s no question that that path can be a path to holiness.  However, it could be a good thing to identity a saint with that same experience in his earthly background: thwarted as a priest he goes on to live a life of heroic virtue or martyrdom in a secular job, perhaps married, etc.

UPDATE: Please respond in this blog’s combox?  Thanks.

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St. John in Oil

Posted on 6 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf


Today is, along with being the day of the Swearing of the new Swiss Guards, the Feast of St. John at the Latin Gate.  The Romans call it San Giovanni “sott’olio… St. John in oil”, which sounds like how you pack anchovies in a jar.

The Church of St John at the Latin Gate is at site of the attempted murder of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist.

There is a solid tradition that John was in Rome in 92 AD at the time of the Emperor Domitian. According to the very early Latin writer Tertullian who died around 220, in his work The Prescription of Heretics the Romans tried to killed John by boiling him in oil but John emerged unscathed, As legend has it, thousands of spectators were converted to Christianity when they saw John miraculous protection of harm.

There is also a story that they tried to poison john with a cup of venom filled wine. As John blessed it, the poisons emerged in the form of a snake. That is why we often see john depicted with a chalice with a little snake or dragon critter crawling out. Another good reason to bless our food and drink.  This is also why there is a special blessing for wine on the Feast of St. John just after Christmas.

After his miraculous protection from harm, John would have then been banished from Rome to Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation. A church was built on the place where John’s martyrdom took place near the southern part of the Rome’s wall. The aforementioned church is one of the Roman Stations during Lent. The building of the church goes back to the time of Pope Gelasius who died in 496, there are still roof tiles which have the stamp of Theodoric who ruled from 493- 526. The beautiful campanile or bell tower was added in the 8th century. the baroque decorations added in the 16 and 17th centuries were removed in the 1940’s.

There are different forms of martyrdom and not all of them are bloody. But authentic martyrdom is always a witness to the Faith of the person who is suffering and that witness bears fruit for the Faith of others.

Different forms of martyrdom can include dying to the world in different modes of living in the world, active and contemplative. Our reading today in Holy Mass today was a springboard for St. Augustine to look at this paring of figures, types of the active and contemplative lives, Peter and John, Leah and Rachel, Martha and Mary.

Posted in Saints: Stories & Symbols, SESSIUNCULA | Tagged
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ROME 23/05 – Day 06: Falling apart and weird vegetables

Posted on 6 May 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The skies were brightening already over Rome when the sun broke the horizon at 05:58. It will set at 20:16.  The Ave Maria Bell is in the 20:30 cycle.

Welcome registrants:

Paladino
Pankrac

It is the Feast of, as the Romans say, “San Giovanni sott’olio… St. John under oil”, which makes him sound rather more like a slab of tuna than an Apostle, Evangelist and mighty saint that he is.  There’s a story behind this which I’ll post elsewhere.

After Mass today I chatted for awhile with a long-time reader and one of the daily Mass viewers when I streaming them.   Then some breakfast at a nearby shop.  The Roman cornetto.

Be advised.  The cornetto is NOT a croissant!  And there is a Roman thing: cornetti di notte, when you’ve been out and around… late.  You can also get a maritozzo or a bomba.

Or, if you are at Campo de’ Fiori in the morning you can get one of these… cabbages?  They are next to the alien radicchio from Exomoon LV-426 (I still can’t believe no one bit on that).   No, they are not spattered with paint.  This is a kind of radicchio, I think.

The Antico Forno, where Nancy Silverton’s life changed.  That’s Diana behind the counter back there.  This morning I stopped for two slices of pizza bianca, one for caprese and one probably for a sandwich of some kind.

Just a nice view from the sacristy.  A wall full of birettas should make any Catholic happy.

I used this for Mass this morning.   There’s a detail…

The pieces are pretty worn, fraying.  The edges of the burse are going.  The maniple has a pretty big hole now.  The chasuble… meh.

It hurts just to look at that.

I had a thought while divesting.  I had already spoken to the priests here about anything they might need for a potential project for us all… donations, etc.  They need a good solemn set in white.  More on that as I wait for an estimate and complete plan.   However, how about something in the interim?  How about replacing this poor, tired old soldier of a red vestment with something new from Gammarelli, perhaps with my coat-of-arms on it (so the priests who come and go and use it will remember me at Mass).  Self-serving?  Sure.  But, it would also be a nice gesture.  And its concrete.  It’s going to get used.  Drop me a note if this is something you might be interested in doing.  HERE  Put “New Vestment” in the subject line.  And we wouldn’t have to stop at red, of course.  You should see the rough shape the black are in.

My guess is that a pianeta Romana in synthetic fabric (with arms) would be about €350 and in better damask fabric about €800.

Here is an object lesson.  A while ago I posted a photo of the pastor sweeping the floor of the sacristy.   That’s how things get done.   You see something that needs attention and, rather than grumble, you do it.   You start with small things and then see what else can be done.  For example.  I remember how the sacristy was many years ago.  It was pretty sad.  Hard even to know where to start, there was so much to do everywhere.   However, again the same pastor saw a little thing that could be done, did it, and it made a huge difference.

Behold!

Cabinet locks on the cupboards.   Before, they were dark and corroded.  The pastor got out a screwdriver, took them all off, had them gilded and put them back on.  They look great!  It looks like someone cares.

Everyone took notice.  From that point, other little projects were found and people stepped up to take care of them.

For example, this old door.  It had been hanging there all rickety and awful for years.  There is an 18th writer who described churches and their appointments called Xavier Barbier de Montault,  He describes doors like this in sacristies, with the cushioning and little pompoms.   Therefore… RESTORE!   It was done.

This is how we get things done, my friends.  Brick by brick.  A little by little.  Many hands making light work, as Sam’s ol’ gaffer used to say.   That’s how I got here in Rome: many helping hands.  For my part I can have your backs spiritually and provide a bit of daily amusement, for what it’s worth.

“Therefore, RESTORE!”

Here’s some amusement….

White to move.  Rook is hanging.   Better find something fast.

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

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