Guess what he just saw!
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By 23 August 1972, the controversy about the American use of technology against the Spassky is still simmering. BUT… there will be steps taken. Stay tuned.
Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE
Black to move and win.
… it would be run by Jesuits… and couple of babylonian Franciscans… and a couple of cardinals.
Never mind that the characters look like women in this video. That’s just a trick of your un-woked habits. This is actually what Jesuits and those others are like on the inside, which is trying to come out.
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On 22 August 1972, in the “Match of the Century” World Champ Boris Spassky sat down with the white pieces across from Bobby Fischer, who proceeded to play the Pirc Defense for the first time in his career. Game 17 resulted in a draw by repetition at move 45. However, on the morning of the 17th Game, the Soviet teams Efrem Geller issued a public statement saying that the Americans were using some sort of technology to put Spassky off of his game. Geller asserted that it was all part of a plot: the complaints about the venue, noise, cameras, rows, boards, etc. Game 17 fueled the fire. Fischer claimed the draw by repetition of position. However, Spassky could be argued to have had a material advantage, being up two rooks against Fischer’s rook and knight. Something was bound to happen, one supposes. Fischer had pretty much been a jerk since before the match started. Spassky, on the other hand, had been calm and a real gentleman. Victor Korchnoi quipped in regard to Spassky, that being a gentleman might win the ladies, but it doesn’t win chess games. The technology attack claim by the Soviets would escalate and soon become the focus of the world.
White to move.
When the angel Gabriel came to Mary he told her that her Son would have the throne of David and that His kingdom would have no end (Luke 1:32-33).
In ancient Israel, the mothers of the House of David’s kings were crowned, addressed as Gebirah, “Great Lady”. They sat beside the throne of their royal sons.
Since our Lord is our King, then His Mother is our Queen.
On 22 August we observe, in the traditional Roman calendar, the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the newer calendar it will be the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mary’s Queenship is intimately tied to the Kingship of her Son.
Her Immaculate Heart beats in harmony with His Sacred Heart, for she conceived her King within her Heart, before she carried Him below her Heart.
Imagine, for a moment, the smiles of Mary and Jesus as they regard each other. Try to picture that.
Their hearts beat as one.
Her Queenship rests not on her own merits alone, but rather it rests upon the majesty of her divine Son.
At the conclusion of Dante’s Divina Commedia St Bernard sings of Heaven’s Queen that she is the “daughter of her Son”. But she will always remain, as Saint Thérèse observed, “more Mother than Queen”.
In addressing Mary, we name her Queen in many prayers, such as the Salve, Regina. We invoke her in the Litany of Loreto as Queen of Angels, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, All Saints and, so important these days, Families. St John Paul, taking stock of our times, added that last title to the Litany in 1995. She is the Queen conceived without original sin, assumed into Heaven, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary and Queen of Peace.
May I suggest, dear readers, that you offer your day to the King of Fearful Majesty through our Queen’s intercession? I ask also a prayer for myself.
O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the altars throughout the world, joining with It the offering of my every thought, word, and action of this day. O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can and I offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate, that she may best apply them in the interests of Thy Most Sacred Heart. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Fifty years ago, what was up in Reykjavík? Not much having to do with chess. Fischer wrote a snarky letter to the match’s arbiter Lothar Schmid, threatening not to play anymore unless his demands were met. Fischer was demanding that three more rows of seats be removed. Efrem Geller, of Spassky’s team, countered that five rows be put back. The Americans said Fischer wouldn’t play if they were put back. The Soviets said that Spassky wouldn’t play if they weren’t. The Solomonic decision was made to put the rows back but not to let anyone sit in them!
Meanwhile, white to move. Think deflection and mate in 4.
Some of you have asked for food posts. I’ve been mainly living on sandwiches these days. However, this morning I treated myself to a couple of sunny eggs and coffee from the Canons of St. John Cantius, who recently sent me a pound. Apparently, the sale of Nicaraguan beans helped the farmers built a chicken coop.
You will notice that I am using a cuillère à sauce individuelle about which I have written HERE. This is just about the perfect instrument for eggs with runny yolks. In the back ground is some of my backwardism merch, a page of the Roman Canon with the iconic phrase of Leonidas at Thermopylae in 480 BC as recounted by Herodotus: μολὼν λαβέ… molṑn labé. Literally, with that aorist participle and imperative, “having come, take!”, or, “Come and take them!”, as a defiant response to the demand of the Persian invader Xerxes that the Spartans surrender their weapons.
Speaking of backwardism, I was struck by something in the Office of Matins today that I hadn’t paid attention to over the years. In the 2nd psalm of the Office, Ps 2:
Ant. Serve ye the Lord * with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling.
Psalm 2 [2]
2:1 Why have the Gentiles raged, * and the people devised vain things?
2:2 The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, * against the Lord and against his Christ.
2:3 Let us break their bonds asunder: * and let us cast away their yoke from us.
2:4 He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: * and the Lord shall deride them.
2:5 Then shall he speak to them in his anger, * and trouble them in his rage.
2:6 But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, * preaching his commandment.
2:7 The Lord hath said to me: * Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
2:8 Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, * and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.
2:9 Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, * and shalt break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
2:10 And now, O ye kings, understand: * receive instruction, you that judge the earth.
2:11 Serve ye the Lord with fear: * and rejoice unto him with trembling.
2:12 Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, * and you perish from the just way.
2:13 When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, * blessed are all they that trust in him.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, * and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Ant. Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling.
Servíte Dómino * in timóre, et exsultáte ei cum tremóre.
Ya’ll serve the Lord in fear, and, with trembling, rejoice in Him.
How perfectly this line exemplifies the dynamic of the Christian soul enveloped in the action of sacred liturgical worship.
In our Catholic worship we seek an encounter with something transformative. We are ultimately driven to seek this transformation by the growing realization of the absolute certainty of our judgment, preceded inevitably by death. Because of our baptism we can participate in the sacred mysteries, to which we are inexorably drawn in holy fear and joyful trembling, awe at transcendence, as William James would say. The more we come to our liturgical rites with full, conscious and active participation, the more we are aware of the transformative mystery we are touched by as being tremendum et fascinans, to borrow the language of Rudolph Otto, “tremble inducing and yet alluring”. This is the very stuff of religion.
I think the Vetus Ordo helps us to this point better than the Novus Ordo, particularly because the Vetus does not deemphasize the Four Last Things. It does not obscure the Passion in its emphasis on the Resurrection.
Just a rapid thought.
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 11th Sunday after Pentecost (21th Ordinary in the Novus)?
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I hear that it is growing. Of COURSE.
Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?
A few thoughts of my own, HERE.
This Sunday’s Gospel Has a Word that “Sums up the Whole Message and the Whole Work of Christ.”
In medias res…
[…]
Then Jesus looked up to Heaven and “sighed” and said “Ephphatha.” He didn’t talk to the Father or pray with words. He “sighed a deep sigh,” stenazo, “to groan,” which suggests the deep compassion with which the Eternal Word held the man who, all his life, had been cut off without words from his fellow men. That Christ was especially moved by this man’s plight is suggested in their going apart and the speechless sigh, which “said it all” a quiet uttering of the ruach, the Spirit.
I mentioned Greek, but we are perhaps distracted by that flashy “Ephphatha.” In Greek, Mark uses the verb dianoigo, “be opened,” dianoíxtheti in the aorist passive imperative form… 2nd person singular: “let you be opened.” Jesus didn’t command the ears and mouth to be opened, He commanded the man to be opened. As a result, “his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly” (v. 35).
[…]
My post for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost, at One Peter Five, “This Sunday’s Gospel Has a Word that “Sums up the Whole Message and the Whole Work of Christ”” begins with a digression.
Because the Gospel for this 11th Sunday after Pentecost concerns the miraculous healing of a man’s deafness and inability to talk, before I drill into the Sunday passage and risk losing most of you because I go on and on and on, let me offer this from the top.
St. Gregory Nazianzen (+390) says that half of all vices may be charged to the account of the tongue. It would be better for many persons to have no tongue and to be unable to talk from their birth, for then they would be miserable only for this life, whereas owing to the sins of their tongue they plunge themselves into eternal damnation. Talk not inconsiderately, but bear in mind that you have to give an account of every idle word you speak.
How many sins could we avoid, if we would bridle our tongues! Or, rather, sheath them. The 17th c. Protestant preacher Thomas Brooks (+1680) said, our tongues can be likened to three fatal weapons, a razor, a sword and an arrow: the tongue slashes reputations, wounds deeply and can strike from afar. By our speech we reveal our inner selves to others. Thus, Brooks:
When the Pumpe goes you may quickly know whether the water that is in the Fountain or Well, be clear or muddy, sweet or stinking; and when the clapper strikes, you may soon guess of what mettal the Bell is made of: and so by mens tongues you may easily guess what is in their hearts; if the tongue be vil’d, the heart is so; if the tongue be bloody, the heart is so; if the tongue be adulterous, the heart is so; if the tongue be malicious, the heart is so; if the tongue be covetous, the heart is so; and if the tongue be cruel, the heart is so, &c. Mens minds are known by their mouthes; if the mouth be bad, the mind is not good; he that is rotten in his talk, is commonly rotten in the heart. Of all the members of the body, there is none so serviceable to Satan as an evil tongue….
With that in mind, I proceed in my weekly task invoking St. Francis de Sales, who wrote:
“I wish I had buttons on both lips [hands?], which I should be obliged to unfasten when I had an occasion to speak [write?], for I should then gain more time to reflect, and to consider.”
Let us now consider together the context of this Sunday’s Holy Mass and its readings.
Even as he warns against assuming conscious organization of the themes of Sundays of Ordered Time after Pentecost, the great commentator of the 20th century Liturgical Movement Pius Parsch suggests that…
[…]
Fifty years ago today, in Reykjavík, Game 16 took place between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Fischer brought the Ruy Lopez to the board. They played to a draw by move 34. However, Spassky prolonged the game to move 60 as psychological torture. It ended in the inevitable draw. Fischer is winning in the match, of course.
Did you know that the common opening called the Ruy Lopez, aka The Spanish Game, is named after a priest? Ruy López de Segura (+1580 at only 50 years old). In Rome, for dealings with Pius IV (Medici), he learned to play chess. “When in Rome…”. He apparently read Damiano da Odemira’s book about chess and, being unimpressed, penned his own. Later, my favorite chess guys, the Modenese Masters, including Fr. Ponziani, thought rather little of his writings. However, in his time, López beat everyone alive. You can see some of his games HERE.
In any event, you might say a “Hail, Mary” for the repose of the soul of Fr. Ruy López de Segura. Priests need prayers, living and dead. I hope you will pray for me, living and dead.
Click!
There’s a back story, too.
Back story HERE. It’s about you.
Here’s a painting by Luigi Mussini of the Spanish Court and Fr. Ruy López de Segura playing chess.
The dogs have been shown the consistory list by their cruel mistress and her conniving maid.
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Finally, in honor of the long lost Semper Gumby, there’s THIS.
Which leads to this.
If you are thoughtful, there are applications from this video to your local situation. Never mind that an idiot or two launch intellectually STUPID attacks on the Church as Militant.
Think of every scene as a metaphor. This is about being prepared and reacting to attacks. Translate the scenarios into real time parish and diocese issues.
PS: I recommended one of Jocko’s books on leadership, for the sake of his parish, to a priest, once thought of as a friend and who dumped me when I was canceled. To this day, the problems HE is causing in the parish, as he parasites off own group for the sake of popularity with the other, persist.
This is a note to BISHOPS too.. US HERE – UK HERE. The Directory for Priests and your vague notions of bishop/priest relations are fantasy. What we need are leaders.
When we are Pope, Clemeny XIV2, we shall send prospective bishops to a kind of BUD/S, yes, also physical with carefully considered exceptions due to sheer holiness and merit apart of physical aptitude. And the physical qualifications are not the point.
Am I wrong? Do bishops not have to be courageous leaders?
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
Suburbanbanshee on ROME 26/10-11 – Day 35: Penultimate: “The illumination is a fun one. It literally shows Christ the Pharmacist, which is not a title you read every…”
on ASK FATHER: “Why isn’t the Male Only Holy Orders a Dogma?”: “TonyO: Don’t you realize that the “spirit of Vatican II” only speaks in one direction can can only be discerned…”
on ROME 26/10-11 – Day 33: All Souls: “Whoever thought it was a smart idea to link the refrigerators and freezers to the Internet should have to thoroughly…”
on ASK FATHER: “Why isn’t the Male Only Holy Orders a Dogma?”: “@TonyO Well, you don’t listen to the voice of the spirit^tm by listening to the vox populi. The hoi polloi…”
on WDTPRS: A charming translation for the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo – 4 November: “Dear Fr. Z. Thank you for your wonderful mention of John, Marquess of Bute (+1900), whose translation of the Roman…”
on CQ CQ CQ – EWTN shut down its shortwave radio service on 31 October. Understandable, but I have some reservations.: “I am also nostalgic for the days of shortwave radio, back when I was in high school in the 1960s…”
on ROME 26/10-11 – Day 33: All Souls: “If I remember correctly, the plaque on the USS Wisconsin dryly reports the aftermath of that hit with the phrase…”
on ASK FATHER: “Why isn’t the Male Only Holy Orders a Dogma?”: “1. Vatican II serves as a foundational instruction to “listen to the voice of the spirit^tm”. Ok. So, “the people”…”
A Daily Prayer for Priests
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