Fr. Z's Blog | Formerly entitled: "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" – Clear, straight commentary on Catholic issues, liturgy and life by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬)

Daily Rome Shot 427, etc.

Posted on 25 February 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Daily Fervorino. HERE

WORDLE

English – nasty today. Latin – a little luck.

Click!
There’s a back story, too.

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Rome Shot, sermon, Wordle
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Daily Rome Shot 426, etc.

Posted on 24 February 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Daily Fervorino HERE (tech problems today).

WORDLE

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Rome Shot, sermon, Wordle
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YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS

Posted on 23 February 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

PLEASE use the sharing buttons! Thanks!

Registered here or not, will you in your charity please take a moment look at the requests and to pray for the people about whom you read?

Continued from THESE.

Let’s remember all who are ill, who will die soon, who have lost their jobs, and who are afraid.

I get many requests by email asking for prayers. Some are heart-achingly grave and urgent.

Today I received this:

Father,
Thank you for all you do. You don’t realize it but your website and efforts were key to my reversion years ago and keeping on the reservation (so to speak).
A few weeks ago, was informed by a friend that her son was sexually assaulted at school: the damage to his psyche has been devastating. ON top of that, I know of several young adults whose psyches deteriorated due to the stress and isolation of the Covid restrictions. It feels like the culture of the country is falling apart. I pray for them, but one thing that would help is the notion of coming together in your prayer request page. If you could please post that again, and perhaps once every 6 weeks, I know it would be helpful (I regularly return to that page and pray for those who posted previously).

This is but a sample. We need to pray for each other.

I also received a note from Fr. Dana Christensen today, who is battling ALS. His message: “I’m alive!”

As long as my blog reaches so many readers in so many places, let’s give each other a hand. We should support each other in works of mercy.

If you have some prayer requests, feel free to post them below.

You have to be registered here to be able to post.

I ask a prayer for myself. I’m dealing with a lot of challenges right now.

Also, please pray for TF, who is facing serious – faith related – marriage problems. Great suffering.

Posted in PRAYER REQUEST, Urgent Prayer Requests | Tagged Urgent Prayer Requests
21 Comments

More fresh hell from Chicago

Posted on 23 February 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Sometimes, when I get a text, I have shivery feeling that it will be more bad news.

“What fresh hell is this?”, I quote to myself.

“Sheesh, Fr. Z, try to catch up!”, some of you are chuckling.

Sometimes, I just know it’s going to be grim, evil, or stupid.

I think the following fits two of these possibilities.

What could go wrong?

I started looking at parish websites, starting with St. Barnabas. Some of them, like St. Barnabas, have streamed and recording Masses.

Posted in Liberals, The Coming Storm, The Drill | Tagged Archd. Chicago, deaconettes
23 Comments

Daily Rome Shot 425, etc.

Posted on 23 February 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Daily Fervorino from live Mass HERE

WORDLE 11

Latin… happened to be one of my guess words.

That calls for some….

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Rome Shots, sermon
2 Comments

REMINDER: Super new book from Anthony Esolen: An Annotated Reading of the Prologue of John

Posted on 22 February 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I’m reposting this because… wow. What a book.

This book just keep rewarding and rewarding.

In the Beginning Was the Word: An Annotated Reading of the Prologue of John

US HERE – UK

When Anthony Esolen and Angelico Press team up… well… it just doesn’t get any better than that.

I was really excited at the notification that Anthony Esolen (whose translation of the Divine Comedy is terrific) had written an in depth reflection on the Prologue of the Gospel of John. I’m working through it now.

As a priest who uses the Vetus Ordo, the Prologue is “daily bread”, for it is recited at the end of almost every Mass.

If you frequent Mass in the Vetus Ordo your active participation will be massively increased through reading and weighing Esolen’s work. And – think about it – give a copy of this book to every priest you know who says the Vetus Ordo.

So, far, every single page has been enriching.

In the Beginning Was the Word: An Annotated Reading of the Prologue of John

US HERE – UK

Posted in REVIEWS | Tagged Esolen
9 Comments

Daily Rome Shot 424, etc., and a memory

Posted on 22 February 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I shot this photo on the Feast of the Cathedra of Peter in 2006 from my window.

Today’s Fervorino from daily Mass. HERE

WORDLE 10

OPPORTUNITY
10% off with code:
FATHERZ10

Posted in Sermons, SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Rome Shots, sermons
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Daily Rome Shot 422, etc., and an homage to a great priest

Posted on 21 February 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I learned that my friend, the amazing Luigi Card. De Magistris died recently, days short of his 96th birthday. He was a legend.

My office window in the Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio was open to the interior courtyard of the building. The window was covered with a lattice of massive iron bars, rather like a jail cell or a zoo. Thus it was that I first became acquainted with De Magistris, who had an apartment in the Palazzo. He was also a member of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”. He regularly walked past my window. Eventually he would stop and chat the through bars, relating amazing anecdotes or pieces of advice. Having gotten to know each other that way, we occasionally had some longish walks… he was a great walker. He had stories that amazed, from the time of the preparatory period before Vatican II and the Curia.

Eventually he was made Regente and then pro Major Penitentiary and consecrated bishop. He should have been made Cardinal at that time, but I think everyone knew that he knew where all the skeletons were. He took a few stands that were not popular and was known to be quite traditional, which was not… fashionable. I think he was treated quite badly by JP2.

In any event, De Magistris could be spotted all over Rome, having a brisk walk, always in cassock and usually with his Roman clerical flat hat. If stopped for a greeting, he would stand with his hat held in both hands before his chest and, on parting, would cover and then tip it in your direction. Coming to and from the sacristy in St. Peter’s for morning Masses he was precise in his clerical etiquette and would use the customary greetings in Latin, standing aside for vested priests, etc.

De Magistris was one of the many amazing figures I was privileged to know during my many years in Rome.

Even though the formation and ethos that shaped them has nearly vanished, I hope we shall see their like again. Lore and the clerical culture needs to be passed along to new generations, ne pereant.

Today’s daily Fervorino. HERE

WORDLE 09

ENGLISH LATIN

I did pretty well today!

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Rome Shot, sermons
2 Comments

At Crisis…. Screwtape to Wormwood on “A Certain Diocese”

Posted on 21 February 2022 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At Crisis, the piece in question begins thusly. My emphases…

My dear Wormwood,

I want to applaud you with regard to the work you have undertaken in one of the Enemy’s foremost dioceses in the Americas. For far too long, that detestable place has flourished virtually unchecked by us. But since the enthronement of our beloved Pachamama in Rome, events have gone better than I expected! These humans never cease to amaze me with how easily corruptible they are.

Now let us discuss this opportunity you have with the promulgation of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes (I am claiming full credit for that mockery of a title) and the responses to the Dubia issued by our English friend who covets a red hat. These documents have certainly stirred things up worldwide, but they can be of great aid to your sowing of division in that diocese.

I highly recommend you keep whispering into the ears of the Enemy’s top man there. Thus far, you have done well exploiting his false sense of obedience to his Roman authorities. If this was a bishop formed during the Middle Ages your remonstrations would not have worked. But the Enemy’s Church is now filled with so many weak and compliant men that your task is easier to accomplish. This bishop has already restricted the Enemy’s sacraments in that detestable ancient rite. This has caused immediate dissension amongst the priests and their faithful. Confusion and anger are great weapons!

Set your sights on the so-called Traditional Latin Mass. It must be expunged from that diocese. It is offered in far too many parishes, 21 at last count. Also, more than half the priests there have taken it upon themselves to learn that Mass with all its rubrics.

Now is not the time to relax your efforts. Devoted nephew, let me remind you of our long-term goal here: the ruination of that diocese that has been a source of our angst for far too long. You know well the outcomes we desire:

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