A message to those attacking traditional liturgical worship: “You’ve already lost.”

Posted on 7 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Be a Custos Traditionis:  HERE

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Pentecost Tuesday: a reflection

Posted on 7 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Tuesday in the Octave of Pentecost.   Another little ramble.

The Octave has Roman Stations. As the last two days honored St. Peter at churches bearing his name, one would expect now that St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles should be acknowledged with a trip to St. Paul’s outside the walls. However, because – as I can attest at the very moment I am writing this – it is blazing hot in the sun at this time of year – the Station was fixed at the important St. Anastasia, a church of the imperial court in the Greek and Byzantine section of the City near the markets and below the Palatine Hill.

The Octave was developed in Rome when there was strong Greek, Byzantine presence. So, it makes a measure of sense that the Introit would be from a Greek apocryphal book 4 Esdras.

In Acts 8 we read that Saul was still ravaging the Church, even going house to house and dragging people off to prison. Deacon Philip, in Samaria, was preaching and exorcizing and healing: remember that curing illness went hand in hand with exorcism. Philip baptized, but it was necessary for Apostles, Peter and John, to come to confer the Holy Spirit.

This is when a certain Simon tried to buy the power to confer the Holy Spirit, thus giving rise to the term “simony” for the selling and buying of spiritual goods. Then in Acts 8 Deacon Philip gets a directive from an angel to go find the Ethiopian Eunuch, thus giving rise to the great image found in the traditional blessing of vehicles. Thereafter, Philip gets whipped away by the angel to Azotus, bringing chapter 8 to a close.

Notice that yesterday Mass ended with a prayer for protection against the fury of enemies. The chapter of Acts we hear from today doesn’t begin with the first verses, but people knew their Scripture well. They knew what was going on in Acts 8 and that Saul was ravaging the Church.

We just learned that Nigeria Muslim terrorists killed over 50 people in an attack on a church during Mass on Pentecost Sunday.

As bad as that is, what is worse is the active erosion by priests and bishops of the church in the belief and practice of sound Christian morals on the part of their flocks. It is one thing to slay the body. It is another to endanger the soul.

Good shepherds?

Curiously, there is a good shepherd parable in the Gospel. In the traditional lectionary for Mass, there are various “Shepherd Masses”, as it were, and they pop up around the beginning of new seasons, for example, Monday after the 1st Sunday of Lent, Second Sunday after Easter, third Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel today is from John 10.

Our Lord says today, ““Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber;…”

I can’t help but think that those who put together the ancient Lectionary (0f the Vetus Ordo Mass) knew the context of Acts 8 and Simon and his “simony”. The Gospel concludes with the ominous: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Again, the emphases on an enemy at this happy time of the Octave.

The Collect today:

Adsit nobis, qu?sumus, Dómine, virtus Spíritus Sancti: quæ et corda nostra cleménter expúrget, et ab ómnibus tueátur advérsis.

Let the power of the Holy Spirit be present within us, O Lord: that It may graciously cleanse our hearts and guard us from all adversaries.

Guard us.

That’s what a good shepherd does. A good shepherd protects the sheepfold, gives them good water, good pasturing for nourishment.

Before Christ ascended He said He would send not just an advocate, a parakletos, but another parakletos. A parakletos is someone who stands by you, protects you under fire, counsels and guides, in fact shepherds you through perils. Christ is the 1st parakletos and the Holy Spirit is 2nd, showing how the work of the Trinity is present in each of the Persons, though for our understanding it is “teased out”.

Pray for an abundant outpouring of the parakletos on your priests and bishops, perhaps even to covert the hearts and illumine their minds so that they leave their enervating appearance of action in the Church and move to concrete work consonant with the Tradition handed down to us by true men of action in our forebears.   Pray for a softening of the rigidity of hatred for the ways of our forefathers especially in liturgical practice.

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ROME 6/22 – DAY 6: Strollin’

Posted on 7 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

5:33 was the time of the Roman sunrise.  At the other end of the day, the sunset will be 20:46.   The Ave Maria is still set for its 2100 cycle.

The “Ave Maria” indicates the change of the religious day from day to night. It is rung half an hour after sunset.

When there were large religious communities in Roman churches and chapters of canons, Vespers would be sung an hour before the Ave Maria Bell. However, in the Roman Curia, Cardinals and other officials would still receive people in audience for the hour after the Ave Maria Bell rang. An hour after the Ave Maria, a single bell would toll, thus ending all business for the day, since it was the first hour of night.

Thus, the Roman Ave Maria Bell.

And, before that, something of the last daylight that gives the City a special color, hard to describe.

I had noticed in other posts that my photos weren’t coming through with the sharpness that they really do have.  I fiddled with some settings on the app that posts to the blog from the phone.  I hope these turn out better, from now on.

Out for a stroll in the evening to burn some of the mortadella.

Piazza delle Coppelle.  A couple good places to eat here, one which used to make a really good caccio e pepe which is not easy at all.

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The last time I was here, the facade was covered with scaffolds.  It is nice to see it cleaned.

Pantheon.

 

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Pentecost Monday: a reflection

Posted on 6 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I celebrated Mass in the afternoon, so my thoughts about the readings are coming together. Being away from home I don’t have so many resources and notes. I’ll just jot a few things down for you and if you find them useful, I’ll be content.

First, please pray for a priest I know who has cancer. Rather, cancer again. Tough decisions in his life now and uncertainty. In your goodness pray for Fr. J.

Some thoughts on Pentecost Monday in the Vetus Ordo. Of course it has to be Vetus Ordo… RIGHT?!?

We’ve had an Octave to observe Pentecost from the time of St. Pope Leo I “the Great” (+441). The days of the Octave had their Station Churches and today, Monday, was St. Pietro ad vincula. Yesterday was St. Peter’s in the Vatican. Today, in the Gospel, we hear from Acts 10, that critical moment when Peter, having been instructed by God, does away with the kosher laws and then, having entered the house of the gentile Centurion Cornelius, preaches so that the Holy Spirit descends on Jews and gentiles alike. This is a critical moment in the Church. Was it to be a sect or off-shoot of the Jews only?

Remember that the Lord, when He initially rejected the plea of the non-Jewish woman for healing, said that His mission was not to the gentiles. When gentiles sought Jesus through Philip and Andrew (Greek names), the Lord said His hour had come and the Father’s voice was heard from the third time. In Acts 10 the time has explicitly come for the Apostles to go to “all nations”. While Paul is the quintessential apostle to the gentiles, Peter takes the definitive step, which is truly his to take as head of the College of Apostles.

An interesting feature of the Mass is the Introit, which is also the Introit for Corpus Christi (thanks to St. Thomas Aquinas). The point is about feeding. Pentecost was a time of baptizing and 1st Communion for the neophytes.

The Gospel reading at first left me a little puzzled, from John 3 when Christ is talking with Nicodemus about a man needing to be born again. But the pericope is mostly about the conflict of light with darkness. It begins with the famous John 3:16. Don’t forget Leviticus 3:16!

In any event, this seems to be about the conflict of the those who are in the light, filled with the Holy Spirit, with those who are instead filled with the darkness of this world. Taken this way, the Gospel presents a stark set.

In fact, I think this makes sense of the Postcommunion, which speaks to the dark set as the enemy. Attention you (bishop!) out there who think that we don’t have enemies. Here’s a slap of reality:

Orémus.
Adésto, qu?sumus, Dómine, pópulo tuo: et, quem mystériis cœléstibus imbuísti, ab hóstium furóre defénde.
Be present to Your people, we beseech You, O Lord, and defend those whom You have penetrated with Your heavenly sacraments against the fury of the enemy .

In the Gospel for Pentecost, we heard the Lord speak of “the prince of this world” at the very end of the Last Supper, leaving the last cup unconsumed, going forth into the night singing psalms: “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go hence.” Now, the first day of the Octave, we hear the themes of light and dark, of enemies.

No wonder Pentecost is associated with the Sacrament of Confirmation!

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Muslim Terrorists massacred 50+ Catholics during Mass in Nigeria on Pentecost Sunday

Posted on 6 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

CNA STORY: HERE

“Kidnappings and murders of priests and pastors, enslavement of Christian girls, and mob lynchings for alleged blasphemy against Islam” have intensified since the Biden administration removed Nigeria from the United States’ “Country of Concern” (CPC) list of countries where egregious religious persecution is taking place, ….

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Your Sunday Sermon Notes: Pentecost Sunday 2022

Posted on 6 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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

Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Mass of obligation for the 4th Sunday of Easter?

Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass.  I hear that it is growing.  Of COURSE.   Where I was, in Rome, the church was jammed.  Strong presence of young families.

Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?

I have some written remarks about the TLM Mass for this Sunday – HERE

Among other things I bring up the differences between the rites of Confirmation in the Vetus Ordo and the Novus Ordo.

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ROME 6/22 – DAY 5: Taking it in

Posted on 6 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Our Roman sunrise was at 5:33 and our Roman sunset will be at 20:45 and the poor, mostly neglected Ave Maria bell ought to ring at 21:00.

Yesterday, Pentecost Sunday, I longed to get out the camera phone and record some things from my vantage point in choro for the Solemn Mass. However, I really needed just to drink it all, replenish, sort of like Kal-El does in the sunlight. It wasn’t just the beautiful church setting or the marvelous appointments of the sacristy, or the nearly flawless ceremonial, or the very good choir. It was also the sight of a packed church, the booming of the responses, the number of people stacked up for confession, the baby carriages in the side aisles and the not rare toddling escape artist, the members of the Confraternity established by St. Philip Neri and now revived in the pews, tourists coming in the back for a glimpse and then staying for the rest. To be contrasted with the rather sad goings on, or non-goings on in dozens of other churches in the centro, where there is a tired priest in a polyester chasuble at an ironing board set up in front of a masterpiece of marble, in the same old excruciating set of awful tunes, a few old ladies in the plastic chairs in the nave and the proverbial four cats wandering around.

Anyway, after Mass the “big six” had to be extinguished.

In another church associated with St. Philip Neri, nearby, there is this sign.   Perhaps one of you can give a perfect rendering for the edification of the readership.

Lunch on Sunday.

It is blazing hot and humid here.  I welcome the sight and sound of the Roman “nasoni” fountains with their cold, sweetish, very hard water.

S. M. della Pace.  Alexander VII widened the streets here so that carriages could pass each other as they made their way from church to church so that their occupants could have the “sacred glimpse” of the Host at the elevation.  Footman of opposing coaches were getting into fights over right of way.

What’s wrong with this picture.

Oh, but for those days again.

The styles in the clerical shops have, in my experience, followed the trends set by the Roman Pontiff.   I am happy to say that the “B16” style prevails still.  Market forces are surely at work.  Otherwise, at the perennially weird Ghezzi a cleric unburdened by good taste could relieve his pockets of parish money and get this affliction for the people.

More light fare.

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ROME 6/22 – DAY 4: Guess the cheese

Posted on 5 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today in Rome the sun rose at 5:33 and it will set at 20:44.  Even though in the now pathetic Roman Curia the Ave Maria bell will not chime as it ought at 21:00, it will chime in Rome!   I am informed that the Ave Maria is sounded at the correct time at – where else – Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini, Rome’s traditional parish.

The Ave Maria is struck, not peeled, in the pattern 3-4-5-1.

It is Pentecost Sunday today.  Today we have the lovely Sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus and the image of the sacrum septinarium.

At the Pantheon, there ought to be fireman on the roof who will drop rose petals down through the oculus.  I photo from years ago from my apartment window.

Pantheon

Pantheon

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And now some odds and ends.

This is St. Raymond Nonnatus in the Church of Sant’Eustachio.

This also is St. Raymond Nonnatus in Sant’Eustachio.

St. Raymond has his name, “non-natus”, because he wasn’t born, but rather removed by caesarian-section when his mother had died.  He was Spanish, a Mercedarian and a close associate of St. Peter Nolasco. There is confusion about his having been a cardinal, as you see depicted in the first image. It was thought that Pope Gregory IX in 1239 made him Cardinal Deacon of Sant’Eustachio but he died going to Rome. However, scholars dispute this claiming that it was really an Englishman, Robert Somercote, who was Cardinal Deacon of S. Eustachio from 1238–1241 and they say St. Raymond was never a cardinal. I hope Robert Somercote was a saint. Raymond was canonized by Pope Alexander VII in 1657 and his feast in the Vetus Ordo is celebrated on August 31.

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Can you guess the cheese?

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Rome 6/22 – DAY 3: Fishiness

Posted on 4 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Roman sunrise was at 5:34 and the sunset will be at 20:44.   The Ave Maria bell – which will someday ring again in better times – ought to sound at 2100.

It is the feast of St. Quirinus.

Yesterday was a 1st Friday.

I was on my way to my fish shop.  Here’s a video.

At the end, I leave you will a fine inscription in Latin.

QUAE MODO PUTRIS ERAS ET OLENTI SORDIDA COENO
PLENAQUE DEFORMI MARTIA TERRA SITU
EXUIS HANC TURPEM XISTO SUB PRINCIPE FORMAM
OMNIA SUNT NITIDIS CONSPICIENDA LOCIS
DIGNA SALUTIFERO DEBENTUR PREMIA XISTO
O QUANTUM EST SUMMO DEBITA ROMA DUCI
– “VIA FLOREA”
– BAPTISTA ARCHIONIUS ET LUDOVICUS MARGANIUS CURATORES VIAR(UM) ANNO SALUTIS MCCCCLXXXIII

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Not sure what’s going on here.   I came for clams.

There’s nothing quite like a box of octopi.

One of my favorites: orata.

These do not approve of the consistory list either.

The first phase of lunch.  I survived on this in Rome for years.

My green grocer in the Campo, La Signora.   I am glad the family business survived.  However, do pray for her and her family.  She lost her husband of 61 years, Roberto, to a heart attack a month ago.  I said Mass for him yesterday.

Pilgrims.  Not sure what flavor, but the priest was in charge.

Phase two of lunch.  Not having good drinking glasses, I improvised.

Pizza bianca with zucchini flowers and anchovies.

I stopped by Cafe Sant’Eustachio for some supplies.  Really busy.

And then the church after which the square and shop are named.  There is a great painting of St. Michael the Archangel in a pretty much abandoned chapel.

Great confessionals.  In good repair, but because of the way the other furnishings are arranged, I think they are not used.

Supper.

Start with some garlic and slow heat, a splash of wine later and evaporate the alcohol in it.  Remove the garlic and leave the liquid.   Add a little starchy water from the just under al dente pasta pan.

The clams had purged in salt water all day.   In they go.   Cover.  It took about a minute with high heat to open them all.

Combine the pasta and let the oil and starches emulsify for a creamy result.

Parsley, finely chopped.  A squeeze of lemon.  Bread for the mopping up and the cheese to follow.  Supper.

 

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Look at these “dangerous” backward-steppers! They must be crushed!

Posted on 3 June 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Something has to be done! This awful “backward-stepping” simply has to STOP!

Look at these “dangerous” backward-steppers!

See how RIGID they are?!? See how they are backward-steppers of ugly traditions that don’t go forward by drawing FROM THE ROOTS?!?

They must be crushed!

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