ROME DAY 21: Doohickey, Spiffy Alley, and Flower Therapy

Posted on 23 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Sunrise 7:27. Sunset 18:19. Ave Maria: 18:30.

First things first.   Does anyone know what this doohickey is?

Especially for MA, who wanted to get in to see this church, Santa Maria in Aquiro.  This was one of the ancient diaconal tituli.   There are some digs associated with the place.  The church isn’t particularly remarkable.

 

The Pope healing a guy with the Blessed Sacrament in a procession.  That’s what we need.  Less chattering, no Pachamama, and lots more processions…. even in the Amazon.  Like the movie.

A Pope honoring Mary.  Pius IX in this case.

Stupid Altar Alert.

This is a niffy vicolo.   It links P.za Capranica (where the hoity-toity seminary is/was) and the Via dei Pastini.  It is hard to say how this little way got its name.  One story is that knight of legend, Roland, was going to break his sword Durandel so that the enemy Saracens couldn’t get it.  He slammed it into a column which was cut in half and, somehow, brought here to this alley.  I once wrote a bit of a fantastic story about this street.  I’ve always liked the name and weird explanations.

Santa Maria in Monterone is one of the little churches I sometimes pass on the way to the area with clerical shops.

I’ll let you guess whose hands this little church is in.

Not TOO Stupid Altar Alert.

Detached and moved.  It needs a little TLC.  Death looks on.

A nice old confessional.

Speaking of clerical shops.  Do you see that nice rose moire above?  That’s the fabric I chose for the black and silver vestments.

Now do you see that brick red fabric?

Do they look like the same color to you?

Later, even as I was trying to stop the steam from exploding out of my ears, I said a Mass in BLACK vestments, a sort of Dantesque contrapasso to my experience in the afternoon.

I was so angry that I bought new flowers for the window flower box in my apartment and transplanted them.  Sometimes doing thing like that helps to dispel the fury.

COLD REPORT: It’s gone.

ANGER REPORT: It’s boiling.

A friend arrives today, and he will have the spare room here until it’s time to head home.  The days are ticking down.

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ROME DAY 20: Great saint, tourist inferno, and fury

Posted on 22 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Roman Sunset was 7:28 the Roman Sunset 18:21 is and the Ave Maria is 18:30.

today I made my way through several of the rings of tourist hell, like Dante in search of my reason. Indeed the reason why I headed to the Trevi Fountain was to find Santa Maria in Trivio… Trevi… trivio… tres viae… get it? In that little church is a saint, whose feast was yesterday. Hence, my tough road.  Ahi! Quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura
esta selva selvaggia e aspra…

Some shots on the way.

P.za Biscione… there’s a butcher, a good bar, some paintings, a nasone, and an escape route to the other side.

With a replica of the beloved painting of Mary in S. Carlo ai Catinari, nearby.

On the other side, you see how the building was built onto the curved back of the ancient Theater of Pompey.

Top floor, to the left the drain pipe… my room in seminary.

Near Montecitorio, someone has a sense of humor.

One of 13 ancient Egyptian obelisks in Rome.  This was the obelisk that cast the shadow for Augustus’ great sundial.

Santa Maria in Trivio

And where the church is in relation to the Trevi Fountain… see it to the left?

In front of the fountain is little Ss. Vincenzo e Anastasio, where the innards of Popes were interred.   They took their guts out and entombed them here.   Notice that Benedict XVI’s stemma is still up.

Okay… the fountain.

Nice and clean.  HOARDS of people.

Today was spent in  errands and meeting people for this and that.  I went to the Vatican Back today for the first time in years.  I had a GREAT teller who helped me get things done quickly.

Today at Gammarelli I had an experience which left me, frankly, FURIOUS.

FURIOUS.

More about that when I calm down

Did I mention…

FURIOUS?

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VIDEO: Pachamama demon idols take a dive into the Tiber.

Posted on 21 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This video pretty clearly shows that someone entered the church in the Via della Conciliazione, Santa Maria in Traspontina, took some of the seemingly ubiquitous pagan demon Pachamama idols out of their displays, and then left the church, went to the nearby Angel Bridge over the Tiber, and dropped them off the bridge and into the river (in which they will probably dissolve rapidly).

There must have been at least two people taking the videos on mobile phones, which were edited together.

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon

6,670 views so far.

My first reaction to this is…

If you are going record yourself boosting Pachamama demon idols that don’t belong to you, the least you could do is …

… hold your phone horizontally when making the videos?

Meanwhile… what are they saying in Rome?

“È all’uso calabrese: Pachamama, dorme con i pesci.”

UPDATE:

New version of the video.  Ever green.

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon

Maybe the Amazon actually falls into the Tiber?

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Bp. Schneider on today’s “vacuum of prayer and adoration”. Fr. Z makes a plea to bishops and priests.

Posted on 21 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From his terrific new book…

Christus Vincit: Christ’s Triumph Over the Darkness of the Age

US HERE – UK HERE

 

With my emphases:

SCHNEIDER: The whole crisis in the Church, as seen after the Council, was manifest in an incredible inflation of frenetic human activity to fill the void or the vacuum of prayer and adoration, to fill the void created through the abandonment of the supernatural.

MONTAGNA: Which is a void that can never be filled…

SCNHEIDER: Exactly. Nonetheless, efforts to fill this void have been tried, for example, in continual Church meetings and gatherings at different levels and in different forms—continuous synods. This is oftentimes busy work with a very pious mask. It is a waste of money; it is a waste of time that could be used for prayer and for direct evangelization. The phenomenon of permanent meetings, assemblies and synods on various levels is a kind of parliamentarization of Church life and is therefore worldly, although masked with the impressive word “synodality.” There are episcopal meetings on the continental, regional, and national level, on the subnational level, on the diocesan level, and so on. We are suffocated with continuous meetings and every meeting has to produce papers. So, we are really submerged by the weight of papers and papers and papers. This is pure, frenetic Pelagianism. Not only is this taking money and time away from evangelization and prayer; it is also an extremely cunning method of Satan to take away the successors of the Apostles and priests from prayer and evangelization—under the pretext of a so-called “synodality.”

[…]

Fathers!  Bishops!  You are busy about many things. You have lots of meetings.

How about cutting back on the number of meetings, or at least restraining them to minimum necessary time frames to cover a necessary agenda.   Just them back.

Use the time to do what only you – ordained – alter Christus – can do!

In another post today, and at other times, I’ve suggested going about the whole grounds of whatever place is entrusted to you, using Chapter 3, leaving blessed medals and salt, really doing some deep housecleaning on the supernatural level.  Then blessing.

There is nothing to lose, except time in a meeting.  There is potentially a lot to gain, including freedom from the influence of the fallen angels who attach and infest and seek to thwart us.

You believe in the Devil, right?

If that seems daunting, how about this?  Fathers, ask some priest friends to come to your place, your parish.  Tell them to bring their stoles and rituals, or provide copies.  Have them go around to different places, to help you you.  Then have a great meal together.

Bishops: designate a few priests to get this done.   “Father, please do me the kindness of  saying Chapter 3 today and then go about the chancery to bless the offices?”

Exorcise first.  Then bless.  That’s how we do it in the Roman Church, just as the angel cleansed Isaiah’s lips with the coal before he was commissioned as a prophet. In the traditional Roman Mass, before the Gospel, we still invoke this image of cleansing before proclaiming.  When blessing important things and places we exorcise and then bless.  We exorcise and then baptize.  There are reasons for these rites and…

… WE ARE OUR RITES!

Respectfully, for your consideration.

Remember: I have made recordings of the Latin of both Chapters 2 and 3 in the Rituale Romanum concerned with exorcisms.  I will make them available to priests and bishops who want them.

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Jesuit Homosexualist Activist James Martin’s recent spittle-flecked nutty. Reactions.

Posted on 21 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Liber scriptus proferetur…

As the canonization of St. John Henry Newman rolled up and rolled over us in Rome, I had anticipated that the Jesuit homosexualist activist ringleader, James Martin, would weaponize the saint because of Newman’s strong friendship with a man.

It seems to me that homosexual attraction is a perversion of friendship, hence it is so useful to the Enemy.   It could be that those who suffer from this disordered inclination have a difficult time imagining that men can be extremely close friends without sexualizing their friendship.

Martin tweeted these ghastly tweets. Note how slithery they are.

“We may never know for sure.”

Well, yes, we will. At the Last Judgment when liber scriptus proferetur in quo totum continetur.

Here’s where I redirect you to One Mad Mom, who has clearly had it with Martin’s duplicity.

Martin is at a retreat with openly homosexual clergy. LifeSite called it the “Portal of Hell” and Martin had a spittle-flecked nutty on Facebook.

In his spittle-flecked nutty on Facebook, Martin repeatedly claimed – apparently through his psychic powers – that all the men at the retreat are “living out the Catechism’s call for celibacy”.   First, how does he know that?  Next, what confusing language.   Celibacy means “not marrying”, while chastity means “proper use of the sexual abilities depending on your state in life”, while continence means “no use at all of the sexual powers”.

Please note that the call for celibacy was given and responded to at ordination. Yes, the CCC explains celibacy and the clerical state, but it could be that he is really referring to continence through the misapplication of the term “celibacy” (the commitment not to marry).    Orrr… he’s saying, “Well, they’re not married, are they?  So, they’re ‘faithful’!”  Get the slithery idea?

By the way, Martin has problems with the language the Catechism about homosexuality as being intrinsically disordered and wants it changed. The only reason why he would want it changed is because he wants the Church to change what she teaches about homosexuality.  He thinks it is normal.

Also, while Martin defends this “gay” (I hate that word) retreat for priests and religious (Martin claims “bishops”, too), the local Archbishop, Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee hasn’t viewed it favorably. He blasted it last year as being neither approved nor Catholic. HERE

Let’s be perfectly clear.  Three points.

First, homosexual acts are particularly grave sins.  They are peccata clamantia, “screaming sins” that “cry to heaven for vengeance”, in that they demand justice from God. Sorry, I’m not making this up.

Next, certain sins attract certain demons and given them leave to attach to the people and the places where the sins where committed.  This is so in the case of homosexual acts.  Again, I’m not making this up.  Ask a reliable exorcist.   This is why I have on occasion recommended that priests and bishops go through every room of every rectory, every school, every sacristy and church hall and the church itself and all around the grounds, blessing the places and even performing – privately – the exorcism in Chapter 3, the long-form St. Michael Prayer.  Bishops should do this in their chanceries and their cathedrals and any other place where a priest might ask the bishop to come.  Is there something more important on your schedule, Your Excellency?  If there is anything for which bishops are consecrated it’s along these lines, not committee meetings.  BATTER THE POWERS OF HELL with everything your have in your arsenal!

Finally, I fervently believe that men with strong homosexual inclinations should stay out of seminary or leave the seminary before ordination.  However, if they are ordained, I truly hold that homosexual men who are now ordained must not reveal that they have this appetite or attraction in order to avoid scandal.  In the case that they have revealed it publicly, then they must publicly redress the scandal they caused and try to be a good advocate for continence, etc.  NB: The rest of us must never look down on these men who have put their lives right.  Don’t we want conversions?  Moreover, I am convinced that if they remain chaste, and suffer, they will win a glorious crown in heaven and their place among the saved will be very high indeed.  If their suffering is greater than others, then their graces too will be greater and their rewards will be as well.   I do not doubt it for a moment.   Overcoming the inclination and embracing the Cross can be a path to glory in heaven.

What will lead souls to Hell, on the other hand, is ambiguity and the ideological wink and jesuitical nudge tactic of creeping incrementalism to overturn commonsense, natural law, the clear teaching of the Church and the precepts of God.

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ROME DAY 19: Altar v. Altar, Heart, Food Play

Posted on 21 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In Rome the Sunrise was at 7:27.  Sunset will be at 18:22.  Ave Maria at 18:30, this time.  See?

For the Sunday, the pastor at Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini asked me if I would be celebrant for the principle Mass.  I was very pleased to say yes.  Moreover, it happened that I was able to take my own intention, and so I celebrated Mass for the CRACK EXPERT TIGER TEAM who had moved the blog during the previous night.

The Mass had lovely music and the place was very full.  It was wonderful once again to hear booming back hundreds of voices.  I was reminded of those great Masses at St. Agnes.  Those many years ago.

I got to start Mass by throwing stuff at people.  It’s their turn after all.

Meanwhile, back in the USA, they used a new set of vestments which I just had made for the TMSM.  The vocation director for the Diocese celebrated the Missa Cantata.

I think he has someone in his sights.

For those of you whose diocesan vocations director doesn’t celebrate for you the Traditional Mass, all I can say is … neener neener neener.  That and… get to work!  Be inviting.  Work on it!

Meanwhile, back in Rome.

Meanwhile, back in Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, back in Rome.  I had a much better painting over my altar.   BTW… I celebrated my third Mass here.

Meanwhile, decked out with the new gear… not too bad.

The high point.

After Mass people commented that it seemed to them that I had done this before.

Yes, I have done this before.

The properly trained priest of the Roman Rite, knows his Rite.  We had men from three countries as sacred ministers.  Even if I had not been able to speak the languages of the ministers and servers, it wouldn’t have made a difference.  We had Latin.  The congregation in the chuch was as diverse as you will find anywhere on Earth.  MORE, I imagine.  In so many places, parishioners are fragemented from each other, by languages in the Novus Ordo, or between the TLM and the Novus Ordo.

Please, Lord, this time of division needs unity like never before.  Open the hearts and minds of pastors and bishops to embrace the full riches available in the Latin tradition of our Latin Church.  Your faithful who want this unity across borders, cultures and countless waves of our forebears are now the most marginalized people in the Church.  If they will open their hands and hearts also in works of mercy, there is nothing this creative minority cannot achieve in the revitalization of the Church, if it is Your will that she endure beyond the present generation.  Warm them to put aside all that divides them from each other.  I now also ask the Saints of the Roman Canon to intercede and to ask the High Priest Victim for inspiration and courage for priests not to be afraid to put out into the deep, to be willing to work and to learn and to make mistakes with cordial daring.  Please, O Mary, Queen of the Clergy, put your mantle over my petition and make it your own, and deploy the Holy Angels, over whom you are also Queen, to charge in and dispel all that might come from doubt or fear or reserve due to any smallness of spirit or from the Enemy of the soul who will rave in terror at this my petition.  Joseph, Terror of Demons, protect us and help us to build what is good, true and beautiful.  Michael, defend us.  I ask all this through the Holy Name.  Amen.

There was, as usual, a coffee hour after the Roman Mass.  There may have been something stronger on a sideboard.   The parish was grateful for the help we – YOU READERS – gave in bringing the fundraising for the baptismal font to completion.  They thanked me with the gift of a vestment, so that in the USA I would think of the parish.  As if I wouldn’t.  Sniff.

Almost to be used as new Superman cape.

After the reception, to local restaurant for lunch with The Great Roman™.  His youngest son was with us.  A great kid.  He had questions about how I and his father met and when.  So, we told some stories.

We three started with coratella, heart, lung, liver, etc.  Roman and more Roman.  This will put Roman heart into you!  It is amazing when stir fried with artichokes (more coming soon but not quite back in season).

Rabbit, rolled, stuffed with sausage and herbs.  It melted in the mouth.  The sauce was of carrot and parsley.

After, some chocolate cake and a sweet Cannellino.

Sunday was a lovely and memorable day, a great relaxation as we move into a new and extremely busy week.

I am so grateful to you readers, to benefactors who send support, to the community here.

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ASK FATHER: A priest asks about “behind the lines” warfare against the Enemy.

Posted on 20 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a priest in a European country writes…

QUAERITUR:

First thanks for your blog. It`s one of the things that kept me sane during my seminary years. [Thanks for that!] I`m a newly ordained priest from ___. A few moments ago I returned from a late evening walk on the streets of the parish where I work (in my cassock!). I prayed for people and blessed streets few times and it came to me as something very powerful: I`m responsible for the salvation of those people, they are mine and I should be the first one to go around and help them in the battle – even in a very “secret” way. I will use exorcised and blessed salt next time. Which prayers do you recommend for a “pastoral” walk like that (fortunately I was on my own, so no “synhodos” this time!)?

I did Sancte Michael Archangele and Magnificat few times, but I`m sure you have some powerful ideas! It`s dark – so something which I can memorize easily would be appreciated.

Si vis pacem para bellum!

That’s a good question.  Secret?

You might memorize the prayers for the blessings of houses, cars, various objects you might see often.

You might buy small medals and bless them and leave them in different places.

Be careful sprinkling salt around.  “Hello, Police?  There’s a guy in a robe out here sprinkling some kind of ‘white powder’….”

It may be that some readers have other serious ideas.

The war must now also move to the supernatural front.  Priests are both the officers leading the troops and they are the scouts and resistance fighters behind the lines.

Be The Maquis.

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ROME DAY 18: Gardens, Trees, No Roundup

Posted on 20 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The rose at 7:26 in Rome today and it will set at 18:24.  The Ave Maria bell will be neglected, as usual, at 18:45.

Yesterday, I trotted over to the Porta Sant’Anna and met a couple friends for a walk in Vatican Gardens.   First, we went up to the roof of the Basilica, where there is a rather good bar for a coffee and roll.

As you can imagine, the view from the roof is great.  Not as high as from the cupola, but not bad.

A view not many see.  The backs of the heroic statues on the facade.

I always want you to have a chance to read some Latin.

Down on the ground, we went past the Casa Santa Marta, quickly, and to an errand or two in office of the Fabbrica and Gendarmeria.  Meanwhile, how cool is it to have an inscription to commemorate Palestrina?

On Saturday the immense train door was open.  There are trains that run to Castel Gandolfo.   Looking out into Italy.  You don’t see this every day.

Along the way.

The residence of Benedict XVI.  We stopped and pray for him, Aves in German.

The Lourdes grotto.

Its altar.  It may be possible to celebrate Mass there.   Must learn more.

Nearby, the place where the horrid pagan ceremony took place and a tree was planted.  Here it is.  We have no round up, or the story might have been different.

It is known, however, that a priest did come to this spot and read the long St. Michael Prayer.

Another infamous tree.  This is on the other side of the Basilica, where the Museums are.  This is the Tree of Islamic Infamy, where the Iman read the sutra to claim the Vatican for Islam.

No plaque here.  Curious.  All the other trees have plaques.

It’s as if these spots surround San Pietro… Traspontina, Sant’Uffizio, Santa Marta, pagan tree, Imam tree.

Looking out of Vatican City into Rome.

And, on the way home from Mass in the evening, a shot of where I buy my coppiette.  Alas, no longer horse.

A glance in the doorway.

Bona dies, indeed!

COLD REPORT: Nothing to report today.  Some cough in the morning, gone in the afternoon.

Sunday I was asked to celebrate the main, Solemn Mass at Ss Trinità.  Among the announcements the pastor made, he thanks you and me.  They hit the target for the baptismal font. After Mass, at a little reception, they gave me a chasuble, which was very kind of them.

More on that later.

Meanwhile, I was up late-ish, watching the blog transition.  So far so good.

If only I could have provided a little round up!

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WE DID IT! This blog now has a new suit of armor and a new steed to ride.

Posted on 19 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

We did it.

We had a fairly narrow window to get the blog moved, but the CRACK EXPERT TIGER TEAM did it.

The blog has a new home.

Many many thanks go out to CB and JR (amazing) who were instrumental in the move and, as always, DY.  Without whom this blog wouldn’t have survived its first redition and challenge back in its earliest days when it first exploded.

You all might need to change some bookmarks.

Anything that had an address with

wdtprs.com/blog/

now loses the /blog/

The RSS feed is https://zuhlsdorf.computer/feed/

There is a bug email.  If you find something that is broken, other than my heart at what’s going on in the Church,

adorientemengine@gmail.com

Actually, my heart is as hard as one of those metals like, you know, Unobtainium.  It’s an honor to live in this time of war.

And the blog just obtained a new suit of armor and a new steed to ride.

 

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ROME DAY 17: Che Guevara, Baby Socks and Clam Sand

Posted on 19 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

0724

1825

1845

The madness of the Amazon “walking together” Synod continues.   Outside the unofficial church of the squatting amazonians and their accomplices this woman was holding forth to Swiss TV.  Note the shirt.

Inside (there is a video) a group was having what I understand was a regular meeting, in the pews, during the recitation of the rosary going on in the church!  A woman, bless her, told them to shut up or get out.  They went out.

See?  It can be done.

Nut jobs.

I might be getting these for the BLACK set, almost read and Gammarelli.

A little church which I haven’t seen open in… whew… a long time.

Sweet.

A famous fountain, of the Orsini’s.

Guys playing check under the big fig tree.

Gammarelli, baby monsignor and cardinal socks and miniature biretta.

The once bank of the Holy Spirit.  FDIC?

And nearby a plaque in honor of Benvenuto Cellini, whom I mentioned the other day.

Just a couple shots at a great corner.

This is the boarder of Ponte and Regola.  Don’t liter here.

Why you soak clams for hours in salt water.

Yes, it was so good last time, that I did it this Friday.

COLD REPORT: Slight cough.

Today I had a great walk in the Vatican Gardens with friends.  We did NOT run into Benedict XVI but we stood in prayer by his place.

Also, it may have happened that a certain priest privately read in Latin Ch. 3 of a certain Title in the Rituale Romanum while standing at the place where a certain pagan ceremony was conducted with a tree planting.   It may have happened that a certain priest was stung by a bee while reading it, but without any ill effects.  That’s all hypothetical, of course.

More tomorrow.

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