Fr. Z's Blog

The feast of St. Richard of Chichester cannot go by without my remembering a limerick my old pastor Msgr. Richard Schuler would occasionally quote:

There was an old Bishop of Chichester,
Who said thrice (the Latin for which is ‘ter’),
“Avaunt and defiance,
Foul spirit called Science,
And quit Mother Church, thou bewitchest her.”

On this topic of the Church and Science I recommend the book, Galileo in Rome: The Rise and Fall of a Troublesome Genius by William R. Shea and Mariano Artigas and Dava Sobel’s A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos (UK edition HERE).  In addition, there is Heilbron’s The Sun In The Church and Galileo by the same.

BTW… St. Richard called for a Crusade against the Saracens.  Bless him.

Happy feast of St. Richard!

Science… today we see people doing with “science” things that shouldn’t be done. Just because one can do something, doesn’t mean that it should be done. There’s nothing but trouble down that path.

However, in light of the now ongoing Artemis mission to the Moon, I am mindful that some of the greatest and most revolutionary scientific minds were Catholic priests. Most of the visible characteristics of face of the Moon were named by a priest, in fact.

We are not against science. We are wary of science unbridled. Which seems no longer to science, as it is detached from scientia and sapientia.

On this Holy Thursday the Roman sun arose at 06:49.

The tramonta will be at 19:39.

Listen for the Ave Maria Bell at 20:00… you won’t hear it… except at The Parish™ where it rings at the more technically accurate time rather than merely within a 15 minute cycle.

The Ave Maria Bell is a relic of time calculation from when accurate clocks were not simply everywhere. Also, the clocks were different than now.  The Ave Maria sounded a single bell struck 3 times, then 4 times, 5 times, and then 1 time.

The “Ave Maria” indicates the change of the religious day from day to night.   It was a way of calculating the day using a 6-hour clock that the Church developed in the 13th c.. the 6-hour dominated until Napoleon imposed the 12-hour clock (which predominates today).  If, when walking about in Rome and if you are in the know, you will spot old 6-hour day clocks.

I can give a more detailed explanation another day.

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Now that Artemis II has launched we have 10 days to get everyone on Earth a Planet of the Apes costume so we can do something hilarious when the astronauts return ? pic.twitter.com/64jbCUnRkz

— Spaceballs The X Account (@Grunt2A) April 1, 2026

A few pics from Holy Thursday.  I have been pretty busy and focused.  I’ll wait for more pics from the “pro” who is around… if I ever get the link!

The “Guardiani” of the Archconfraternity sit with the clergy in the sanctuary for great feasts.

Use of a housling cloth.

Getting ready for Tenebrae.

Tonight during Tenebrae we sang:

Tuus est dies, et tua est nox: * tu fabricátus es auróram et solem.
Tu fecísti omnes términos terræ: * æstátem et ver tu plasmásti ea.

The Lord’s Sun rose upon Rome at 06::51.  His night started at 19:38 with the setting.

The Ave Maria Bell ought to ring for the Curia at 20:00.

CLICK

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Preparations are underway before Thursday evening.

Since we priests can’t go out tomorrow to celebrate the priesthood, we went out today.

Puntarelle and squid salad

Squid ink pasta with sea critters.

Lemon sorbetto and ciambelle with vin santo.

On the way home from lunch, cold and windy.

Tenebrae begins.

The Great Roman in the habit of the Archconfraternity sings a Lesson.

I will stay up for Artemis, but I’m tired now and I should just post.

In Rome, sunrise was at 06:52.

Sunset was at 19:37.

The Ave Maria Bell is listed in the 20:00 cycle.

Things are going along at one might expect.

I did have a bit of a surprise yesterday, however.

As you may know, there is a pew at The Parish™ with my name on it and a request for prayers for me.  It is a consolation.  However, dear friends who are heading over the Rome as you read this, contacted The Parish™ and had the same done for my mother.  I came into the sacristy to ready for Mass the other day and saw it, waiting to be taken into church.  Words fail.

Here’s mine.

Here’s mom’s.  A few pews back.

I am quite moved by the kindness of my friends, both at home and abroad, at The Parish™.

CLICK

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

I have no interesting food to relate, since I’ve been eating very little and staying in at that to save money.

It will be a really busy and long day tomorrow, so I will turn in early. I’d like to catch the Artemis shot, however. Were I back in the states, I would have had a great view.