Daily Rome Shot 744 – The day of days

Posted on 20 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Welcome new registrant:

MAK

At the Piazza Navona there is a store that has many chess sets for sale.  For example, various crusaders going at each other.  Right Click for larger.

I don’t enjoy playing with fancy pieces.  I like straight Staunton or similar.  I would very much like, however, some day to have the Sinquefield or Modena Series which has a spiffy fierce knight.

White to play and mate in 2. For extra credit, name the classic mating pattern.

On this International Chess Day I’ll remind you that there is 20% off with the code “DAY” at my chess.com and House of Staunton affiliate link. Yesterday I recommended a set. Today I’ll send you to the site and do a search for

DYO-QVR-COMBO

Design Your Own Quiver Combo

I prefer the (optional) blue clock with the white toggles behind that bright red one.   You can choose the color or patter of the bag.  I imagine that for the bag Jesuits might opt for pink camo, the papalotrous could chose… zebra stripes?  You can choose the material of the board (I like vinyl but there is silicon and mousepad) and the height/weight/style of the pieces (huge options).

Chesscomshop Banner

If you are moving, consider contacting Real Estate For Life.  The agents affiliated give a portion of their fees to pro-life causes.  Win win.

BTW… Sinquefield 2022 search MENWSNQ2022-PLY-P

and Modena search MENWMOD44

Teramo and Cremona are also nifty.   In case you are curious.

Posted in Chess, SESSIUNCULA |
6 Comments

A “walking together” opportunity for Australian Catholics! ACTION ITEM!

Posted on 20 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There’s going to be a webinar on Synodality (“walking together-ity”).

SYNOD ON SYNODALITY – A NEW KIND OF CHURCH

Australasian Catholics Coalition for Church Reform (ACCCR), Yarra Theological Union (YTU, and Garratt Publishing are pleased to present the Synod on Synodality – A New Kind of Church Webinar.

I’ll bet they would love to have the input of traditionally-minded Australian Catholics in large numbers!

After all, they wrote: “We encourage all Catholics to be involved in synodal activities.”

Go HERE to learn more.

Just trying to help the process!

Posted in ACTION ITEM!, Liberals, Pò sì jiù, Synod | Tagged ,
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BELATED ANNIVERSARY! 2nd year of “Traditionis custodes”.

Posted on 19 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It occurs to me that we missed celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the stupidly unnecessary, falsely grounded and wickedly cruel attack on the people who desire the Traditional Latin Mass via the document Taurina cacata… er… um… Traditionis custodes.

In the last year, in travelling in these USA and also during my sojourns in Rome (thank you… and I have a fundraiser going on for October) I’ve heard again and again what a great failure TC and subsequent documents have been.  Interest in the traditional Roman Rite has increased, not decreased.  Young priests and seminarians still want to use the 1962 (and earlier) Missale.

The best thing that bishops can do is IGNORE TC and quietly let people have what they want.

The best thing that priests can do is CONTINUE to say Mass with the older rite when they can.

The best thing that laypeople can do is JOYFULLY participate with eager hearts and attentive minds and EXCERCISE PRUDENCE.  Don’t be your and our own worst enemy.

Pop over the One Peter Five (where I also write weekly) and check out this:

Papalist Failure: Traditionis Custodes, Two Years Later

That piece mentions also an important consequence of TC: the unmasking of “hyperüberultramontanism”, nearly fanatic papalotry unlike that ever seen in the history of the Church.

Friends, the Traditional Roman Rite is not going away. It can’t be suppressed. This is not the 70’s or 80’s when resources such as appropriate vestments and books were as rare as hen’s teeth. We have the internet. The haters have nothing but bullying.

Three points:

I suspect that those who want to suppress the Traditional Latin Mass do so because it makes them feel guilty about something.

They might dislike the TLM, but they dislike the people who want the TLM even more. It’s the people they dislike. The attack on the rite is really an attack on the people who desire it.

When they say that the Traditional Roman Rite is against Vatican II, they are lying. If the “spirit” of Vatican II, informed by an overly optimistic anthropocentrism, might emphasize eschatological joy more than the Traditional Latin Mass, the TLM offers a strong focus on eschatological joy but it supplements that hope with HOW TO ATTAIN IT.

The Novus Ordo falls down on something important: the joy of Heaven is a great theme, but we have to get to Heaven to have it. That means that we have to deal with our sin, our guilt, our unworthiness, the overwhelming mercy of God which we must beg for in order to receive it, the obligation to amend our lives, etc.

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

 

Posted in ACTION ITEM!, The future and our choices, Traditionis custodes |
6 Comments

VINTAGE RECTORY BATHROOM TILES: 02

Posted on 19 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Yeah… I think I’ve seen this theme in other rectories.  Thanks, Father, for sending it in for the edification of all.

Father’s note:

My rectory guest bathroom.
When They decided to go with this tile it reminds me of Dickens. To paraphrase,
It was the worst of times, it was the worst of time. It was the age of no wisdom, it was definitely the age of foolishness.

On the other hand, note the graceful art deco details of the tub.

Pink was a thing.  Heck it was even a color of uniforms of the US Army.  “Pinks.”

And let us never forget The Duke.

PRODCEDURAL NOTE.

If more than one offering arrives on the same day, I’ll put them on one post and start over the next day.   One expects an avalanche.  After all we are already up to #2!

Posted in Lighter fare | Tagged
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Daily Rome Shot 743 – The day before the day!

Posted on 19 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Instead of a still photo, the video in this tweet is a great example of concelebration Vatican II style. In fact, the video, which I had seen before, was taken during Vatican II. Various bishops and priests all saying Masses together… at separate altars, as it should be. Apologies in advance for the music by Marco Frisina.

You might need to be on Twitter to see this.

Welcome new registrants (who are now able to comment):

JHNewman56
Lazymom

The fine Catholic artist Daniel Mitsui is selling some of his originals.  Pretty nice.  HERE

In other good news, after 400 years the Jesuits are leaving Linz, Austria’s Old Cathedral in the hands of Ukrainian Catholics.

 “We are becoming fewer and we are getting older. From there we have to concentrate.”

The road to success for sure.  HERE

They will now pursue new and excitingly woke ventures sure to increase their numbers as they inspire young men… or whatever… to follow in their footsteps.

In future, the Jesuit Order and the Province want to focus more on retreats, for more justice, youth and climate protection. For the latter, the first step was taken with an opening of a centre for social-ecological transformation called “Ukama”. “There are some confreres living there who are networking with other climate protection groups and who are dealing with this issue in terms of content. Also from our spirituality,” Bürgler explained. Father Jörg Alt, who participates in protests of the Last Generation and against whom a criminal case has already been initiated, is considered the best-known Jesuit climate protection representative in the German-speaking world. “I carry this along as a form of commitment. Of course, it is important to me that this is non-violent and does not damage anything or anyone,” Bürgler said of Alt’s commitment. In the Order, however, there are also different approaches and methods to the climate protest, the Provincial stated.

White to play and mate in 2.

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

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

TOMORROW is INTERNATIONAL CHESS DAY. 

I’m sure you have it marked on your calendars already.  It would be a great day – well, every day is a great day to buy chess stuff.

For some reason I can’t make a specific link to a recommendation.  I recommend a vinyl tournament style board that rolls up and triple-weighted pieces with a bag that has pockets for your pieces and a clock, etc.  You’ll be good to go.  Click the image and search:

SKU COMBO7

The bag comes in various colors including but not limited to pink camo and giraffe.

Chesscomshop Banner

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
5 Comments

“The clerics’ starting gun … Itinerarium Clericorum” read in Latin, an mp3 audio file available for priests.

Posted on 18 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I just concluded a driving road trip that chalked up over 3400 miles.  There were a few perilous moments and one or two that were, frankly, frightening.  One involved a human who shouldn’t be allowed to drive and the other the weather, when it rained stupid hard.

It was/is the tradition before making journeys or pilgrimages for clerics to recite the Itinererarium Clericorum prayers, which involve an antiphon, the Benedictus as in Lauds, some responses (because you usually wouldn’t travel alone on lonely dangerous byways) and several beautiful collects.  You can read the whole thing in Latin and English HERE.

In Latin, itinerarium, n. as an adjective (-us, -a, -um) means “of or belonging to a journey or march, itinerary”.

However, as a neuter noun it is both an “account of a journey” and also, and this is what it means here, “a signal for marching”.

So, the title of the prayer, which is ideally recited by more than one so that responses can be made, “The clerics’ starting gun”, so something like. A strong indicator that this is the proper meaning is that, at the end of the prayer, there is the “Procedamus in pace. In nomine Christi, Amen” as before stepping off in processions

I made an mp3 recording of the prayers, in case there are clerics out there who would like to say it but perhaps are unsure about pronunciation and accents.  It moves along pretty quickly, but that’s okay.

Fathers!  If you would like the audio file, I’d be happy to send it to you.  I’ve done this in the past with the all the prayers for exorcisms (intended for exorcists) of both chapters 2 and 3.

Fathers! Drop me a line HERE.  Put ITINERARIUM in the subject line.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Just Too Cool, Latin, Mail from priests, Priests and Priesthood | Tagged ,
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VINTAGE RECTORY BATHROOM TILES: 01

Posted on 18 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Yesterday I wrote, only half-facetiously, about my road trip…

Along the way I wish I had been taking photos of bathroom tiles in old rectories. Some of them have their fixtures from the 40’s and 50’s, which means also great color combinations like pink and green with gray…. I should start a series for priests to send in photos of their rectories (anonymized of course) or places they visit (again anonymized): VINTAGE RECTORY BATHROOM TILES

Wouldn’t ya know but these came in today.

These are great pics, I’ve gotta say.

However, Fathers, remember that the vertically oriented shots post better on the blog than horizontally.  After all, the blog really ought to be more about the transcendent than the immanent, right?

(Having written that on a post about rectory bathroom tiles… sheesh.)

 

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged
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Daily Rome Shot 742

Posted on 18 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It’s not Rome, but rather in Norcia where there are traditional Benedictines who make excellent beer.  It is the birthplace of St. Benedict. There was a terrible earthquake there a few years ago and the basilica was badly damaged.  Work has been done and scaffolds are coming down.

Greetings to new registrants. A few in the last few days while I was on the road, but today…

Catholic Bunny
kmleo

When you register, I always read the “Biographical Info” (which is what I use to filter out spammers and bots). I ask for something like a confirmation name or name of your parish, something brief. Sometimes I get more. One of them today was amazing.

The puzzle today, a miniature (with less than 7 pieces) via the Marshall Spectator, is from a 13th century illuminated manuscript in the Morgan Library called “Bonus Socius“.  White to move.  Mate in 2.   Tricky.

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

The manuscript is magnificent, with funny marginal characters here and there.  HERE

Interested in learning?  Try THIS.

Speaking of beer…

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

Chesscomshop Banner

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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From “The Private Diary of Bishop F. Atticus McButterpants” – 23-07-13 – Pizza or tacos

Posted on 18 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Editor’s Note:  After a longish road trip, I’ve been able to give more time to email.  Several more entries have come in.  I’ll post as I am able to transcribe, decipher and edit the stuff that can’t be posted.

July 13th 2023

Dear Diary,

Still thinking about the inner-city parishes and the ones on the west side. Only a few, but they struggle to meet the parish tax. Long-term issue. Joe in the Fort Louis diocese said he got one of these new communities “Our Lady’s New Mission of Evangelization” into one of his parishes. Three priests and then a handful of sisters in kind of old-style habits. Things were going okay until it was discovered that the founder was not okay. But the NME priests seemed blameless and the Sisters were liked by everyone. Those habits, though. What a throwback! A ton of fabric. Veils almost to the floor!!  Do I really want the blowback from the disgraced founder?  It’s bound to come eventually.  I think he died a few years ago? Get Gilbert and Vice to look into it. Five minutes on their phones and they should be able to suss out what people are up to and if they are worth the effort or not. All I know is that they got money from other sources to cover the shortfall in the parish tax. The guys all speak Spanish, so that’s a plus. The NME has been in the US long enough, at least some of them, long enough to pick up English.

Next week, TWO ministries meetings. Gotta check in with staff, be present, make sure they feel valued. We’ll order pizza! Balloons maybe. Get Mrs. Kennedy on it.  Or we could go with the taco truck again. That was awesome last summer. People had to stand outside in the driveway for a while, but they were all talking to each other and laughing. Building community!  Everyone was happy and that’s what counts.

Posted in Diary of Bp. McButterpants | Tagged
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My View For Awhile: (South) Carolina on my mind

Posted on 17 July 2023 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’m heading back the way I came. Solid driving got me back to Parris Island.

Supper with my buddy who’s at the MCRD.

Nice sunset.

That, by the way, is not at the MCRD.

Which drink is mine?

Blue Points and St. James.

Grouper stuffed with crab.  Flavorful but overcooked as it turns out.  You must must must be careful with fish and broilers.  Will they never learn?

That, by the way, is not chow at the MCRD.

Along the way I wish I had been taking photos of bathroom tiles in old rectories.  Some of them have their fixtures from the 40’s and 50’s, which means also great color combinations like pink and green with gray.

Here is a shot of one corner in one place.

I should start a series for priests to send in photos of their rectories (anonymized of course) or places they visit (again anonymized): VINTAGE RECTORY BATHROOM TILES

The drive included a stop at Buc-ee’s which was a MISTAKE.  It was only by 80% brilliance and 20% luck on my part that I found a back way to exit and didn’t have to spend at least an hour trying to get to the Interstate using their indications.  It was MADNESS.  NEVER stop at a Buc-ee’s on a week in summer (unless it is before, say, 0600).  JUST. DON’T.

And, 800 recruits were at Sunday Mass.

For the rest, I have an incredible amount of email stacked up and a lot of thank you note to write.  Please be patient.

Finally, if you haven’t watched the video yet, please do.  It’s significant. HERE

And you will find this highly engaging. From Fr. James Mawdsley…

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

US HERE – UK HERE

Posted in On the road, SESSIUNCULA, What Fr. Z is up to |
9 Comments