On this Good Friday the sun arose at 5:55 and it will set at 19:35.
The Ave Maria bell is in its 19:00 phase.
There are 279 days left in the year.
The Roman Station is Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.
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On the way to church yesterday for the solemn rites yesterday evening there was a lovely light, so hard to capture, strangely diffused in the air. Rome is like that.
After the Mass there was the procession with the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose.
We then sang Tenebrae.
Here is the altar of repose after Tenebrae from a couple of angles.
Quite a few people stayed.
Posted inSESSIUNCULA| Comments Off on ROME 24/3– Day 9: Good Friday
The fellow who made the video about the Star of Bethlehem (a compelling argument, I might add), also did some research about what happened in the heavens on Good Friday.
Let’s break it down.
Passover begins on the 14th day of the Jewish lunar month of Nisan. Moreover, Passover begins at twilight, dividing 14 Nisan and 15 Nissan. The Gospels say the Lord was crucified on Preparation Day, a Friday. 14 Nisan 14 fell on a Friday Preparation Day, twice: 7 April AD 30 and 3 April AD 33. Daniel in 444 BC prophesied (Daniel 9:21–26) that the Anointed one would be cut off in 476 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem: AD 33.
The Bible records that, at the time of the crucifixion and death of the Lord, there were signs, including a “blood moon” or lunar eclipse.
Only one Passover lunar eclipse was visible from Jerusalem while Pilate was in office. It occurred on 3 April 33.
On 3 April the Moon rose already in eclipse. It rose the color of blood. That means that the eclipse began before it rose, in the constellation of the Virgin (at the time of Christ’s birth there was a New Moon, in the constellation of the Virgin).
The eclipse started at 3 pm when Christ was breathing His last.
But remember that a lunar eclipse is a syzygy!
If there is an eclipse in one direction there is an eclipse in the other direction too.
If you were standing on the Moon during that syzygy of 3 April 33, you would see a total eclipse of the Sun.
The blotted Sun would be in the heart of the constellation of the Ram (cf. “the Lamb who was slain”).
You can try this out for yourselves. Go to the online astronomy aid Starry Night. HERE
Move your location to Jerusalem and then plug in the time of about 7 pm and date 3 April 33 and adjust your view to ESE. You will see the Moon has just risen and there is a label for your Earth’s shadow. The Moon had risen at about 6:30 pm in the totality of the eclipse. HERE
Click
With the daylight turned off, and the horizon removed, and then looking at an angle down through the Earth below the horizon, at 3 pm, you see the Moon and Earth’s shadow converging in Virgo.
Then you can switch to the view from the Moon!
You must adjust your view a little and turn yourself right with a few clicks. But you will find it. In the screenshot, below, you can see where Earth and Sun are in Aries. Since the Earth would be larger in the Moon’s sky than in this screenshot, the Sun would be in total eclipse. Adjust for UTC + 3 hours to the right time in Jerusalem from 1500 to 1800. HERE
Click
In reading around the question a little more, I find that, using different date calculators, there are some problems of the day of the week. Also, there are arguments for dating the Crucifixion to 1 April 33. If that is the case, then the phenomena described above occur on Easter Sunday. Much hinges on which calendar the Lord and His disciples were using for their own Passover meal, if the last Supper was a Passover meal (Joseph Ratzinger argued that it was a related sacrificial meal but not a seder.)
[Subsequently, I’ve found more and convincing arguments about calendar debate. This debate revolves around a seeming contradiction between John and the synoptics. Some say that Christ anticipated a meal so that He would die at the same time as the paschal lambs. That is attractive. But it is also not true. His Last Supper was indeed the supper of the Passover, with the paschal lamb. The argument hinges on the fact that it was not only Passover time (and all the days that followed were also called “Passover”, as we say “Happy Easter” for days after Easter), it was going to be the sabbath, and so, in the time of Passover, was the “day of Preparation of the Passover” was really preparation for SABBATH that fell in that Passover “umbra”, if you will permit the pun.]
Definitive? Not quite. But it is not to be discounted that God, from all Eternity knowing exactly what would happen, set the heaven’s in motion in so precise a way that its signs would help us to understand the mysteries taking place, which were in other ways foreshadowed. In the sacraments (a term interchangeable with “mystery” in many contexts), visible signs help us to understand that insensible graces and transformations are taking place. If in the signs of the sacraments, why not too signs in the heavens?
All eyes are turning to S. Montana – a beautiful area to be sure – where tens of people might attend a special conference for those recovering from being traditional. The Trad Recovery conference is for people who had bad experiences and therefore need some… I dunno… bucking up and a place to vent. There is on the slate at least one kooky speaker. The others I haven’t heard of. I’m sure they are nice.
Of course such a conference would, as she observes, need a large sports stadium (or two) instead of a miniscule church in the middle of nowhere although a beautiful area to be sure.
Dr. Smith’s piece is funny. She really takes the mickey out of the other thing. She lists here own topics and break out sessions for those hurt by the modernist Church.
UPDATE:
As I think about this… only because comments prompt me, otherwise it is sort of forgettable… wouldn’t it be great if several hundred “glad-trads” signed up and attended? Just to add some cordial balance to the proceedings?
Rome expected the sun to rise. This won’t always be the case. However, it did today at 05:57. Similar expectations await its setting at 19:34.
The cycle of the Ave Maria bell changes today to 19:00. It hops by quarter hours. However, sadly, no Ave Maria bell will sound where it is supposed to sound. It does at The Parish™.
The Roman Station for the Chrism Mass and for the Mass of the Last Supper is St John Lateran. But, that’s not gonna happen, is it. As I write this, the Chrism Mass is going on in San Pietro. I tuned in for a moment. The camera panned over the concelebrating priests in their infinite variety of street clothes sticking out over their chasubles and velcro closure albs with myriad meaningful stoles. The Mass vestments for the upper crust are 70’s Pedestrian Modern. Think big, random chunks of colored glass in church windows, only without a lot of color. They say: Nothing special here. I understand that Francis read a sermon of over 2000 words.
That said, here is what the Ave Regina caelorum sounded like at the end of Palm Sunday’s Mass.
Last night before Tenebrae began, we had a good attendance, which increased as it went on.
Getting read for the Mandatum on Thursday evening in the sacristy. Members of the Archconfraternity will have their feet washed. There is a custom of drawing a coin from a bag. The one who draws the different coin is cheerfully designated as “Judas” for the coming year.
The altar of repose reposes, awaiting its duties after the Mass of the Last Supper.
Something I saw on the way to lunch with priests for Holy Thursday.
Across the way is this madonella with St. Cajetan, founder of the Theatines. The once mighty Theatines are now, alas, no longer heavy on the earth.
The magnificent lantern of Sant’Ivo.
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Meanwhile, white to move and mate in 2. C’mon. Everyone can get this one.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
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In chessy news, there is a tournament going on in Karlsruhe, Germany, the GRENKE Classic, which has been on hold for several years. Richard Rapport is atop the standingswith a 1-point lead over Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren and Vincent Keymer. Yesterday Ding held with black against Magnus.
This is fun. On chess.com’s “Bullet Brawl” 10-year-old FM Faustino Oro beat Magnus Carlsen. This prompted waggish Anish Giri to tweet: “What’s all the hype, Carlsen would still probably beat him in a long classical chess match, especially if it’s 14 or 16 games.”
3:16 isn’t just in John.
UPDATE:
For lunch I was out to a nice place to eat with several priests, which itself was the main pleasure. Had we gone to stand around and eat slices of pizza, that would have been enough. It is such a pleasure to share their company.
A 5 minute daily podcast to help you in your Triduum discipline.
Benedict XVI speaks in a sermon for Holy Thursday about priesthood.
The Roman Station is supposed to be St. John Lateran for the Chrism Mass and the Mass of the Last Supper. The final prayer before the beginning of the Triduum.
You can continue your video spiritual pilgrimage to today’s Roman Station, St. Mary Major HERE.
The term “Spy” Wednesday is probably an allusion to Christ’s betrayal by Judas.
In the ancient Roman Church at the time of St. Pope Leo I, “the Great” (+461), there was no Mass during the day. Instead, many of the feria days were without Mass. There would be gatherings at “station” churches, however, where there would be vigils with preaching. We have sermons of Leo the Great preached on several of these Wednesdays of the 6th Week, the day before the Triduum. Mass would be offered at St. Mary Major in the evening, as if to entrust all that had been brought from Lent as well as everything upcoming to the Mother of God for its perfection.
This prayer was the Collect for this same day in the 1962 Missale Romanum. It was also in the ancient Gregorian Sacramentary in both the Hadrianum and Paduense manuscripts.
This is the final Collect before the Triduum. It serves as a summation and a starting point.
COLLECT
Deus, qui pro nobis Filium tuum crucis patibulum subire voluisti, ut inimici a nobis expelleres potestatem, concede nobis famulis tuis, ut resurrectionis gratiam consequamur.
This is an austere prayer, a razor, cutting to the heart of the matter.
The impressive and informative Lewis & Short Dictionary informs us that patibulum (deriving from pateo, “to open, stretch out, extend”) is “a fork-shaped yoke, placed on the necks of criminals, and to which their hands were tied; also, a fork-shaped gibbet”. In turn, English “gibbet” means “an upright post with a projecting arm for hanging the bodies of executed criminals as a warning”.
The patibulum is “the stretcher”, and not in the carrying sense.
The verb subeo in its basic meaning is “to come or go under any thing” and by logical extension “to subject one’s self to, take upon one’s self an evil; to undergo, submit to, sustain, endure, suffer”. The L&S explains that “The figure taken from stooping under a load, under blows, etc.)” There are other shades of meaning, including “to come on secretly, to advance or approach stealthily, to steal upon, steal into”. Keep this one in mind.
Consequor is interesting. It signifies “to follow, follow up, press upon, go after, attend, accompany, pursue any person or thing” and then it extends to concepts like “to follow a model, copy, an authority, example, opinion, etc.; to imitate, adopt, obey, etc.” and “to reach, overtake, obtain”. Going beyond even these definitions, there is this: “to become like or equal to a person or thing in any property or quality, to attain, come up to, to equal (cf. adsequor).” I know, I know – mentio non fit expositio. Still it is helpful to make connections in the words, which often have subtle overlaps.
Remember that meaning of subeo, above? There are shades of “pursuit” and “imitation” in the prayer’s vocabulary.
Finally, a gratia is a “favor” or “reward”, but we Christians hear in it God’s freely given gift to us which we don’t on our own merits deserve.
WDTPRS LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, who desired Your Son to undergo on our behalf the yoke of the Cross so that You might drive away from us the power of the enemy, grant to us Your servants, that we may attain the grace of the resurrection.
CURRENT ICEL:
O God, who willed your Son to submit for our sake
to the yoke of the Cross,
so that you might drive from us the power of the enemy,
grant us, your servants, to attain the grace of the resurrection.
By our sins we are in the clutches of the enemy, who mercilessly attacks us.
Christ freed us from dire consequences of slavery to sin by His Passion.
The ancient Romans forced their conquered foes pass under a yoke (iugum), to show that they were now subjugated.
Their juridical status changed by that “going under”.
Christ went under the Cross in its carrying and then underwent the Cross in its hideous torments.
In his liberating act of salvation, we passed from the servitude of the enemy to the service of the Lord, not as slaves, but as members of a family.
We are not merely household servants (famuli), we are accorded the status of children of the master of the house, able to inherit what He already has.
So, there’s that Collect.
However, at the end of the ferial Masses during Lent and Passiontide we have also had a final final Collect in the guise of the Oratio super populum, the Prayer over the People. This is the last oration of the Mass before the Triduum begins. It lines up well with the Collect we looked at, above.
Réspice, quaésumus, Dómine, super hanc famíliam tuam, pro qua Dóminus noster Iesus Christus non dubitávit mánibus tradi nocéntium, et Crucis subíre torméntum:
Even more than the 2nd Collect from the Spy Wednesday Mass, above, this oration serves as a summing up of all of Passiontide as well as the stepping off point for the whole of the Triduum. This oration will be repeated throughout the Triduum at the end of Tenebrae and in other moments such as in the much abbreviated, austere prayers at table for meals during the Triduum.
You already have the vocabulary notes for subeo, above.
Bl. Ildefonso Schuster writes of this terse prayer…
The Blessing over the people is so beautiful that the Church uses this collect during the three following days at the conclusion of each hour of the divine office: “Look down, we beseech thee, upon this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ hesitated not to be delivered up into the hands of wicked men and to undergo the torment of the cross.” There is no better way of moving our heavenly Father to pity for us than by reminding him of the Passion of his only-begotten Son, and more especially of the immense love with which he loved us.
Ave Maria… still 18:45. The 15 minute shift is coming up.
The Roman Station is Santa Maria Maggiore.
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Last night, the full Moon over the Campo de’ Fiori. This is the full Moon after the Vernal Equinox.
A midday meal. Bread, butter, anchovies.
Last night ossobuco at humble but reliably good place which hasn’t ever disappointed except when they are closed and I want to go there.
The altar of repose is ready.
Mass was celebrated for my monthly benefactors for whom I am so grateful. I ask your prayers as well.
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1… Ng4+ 2. fxg4 Rf8+ 3. Ke3 Qf4+ 4. Kd3 Qd4# NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
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I am now a chess.com affiliate. So, click and join! Maybe we can build a fun and active Catholic Chess Club within Chess.com.
In chessy news, there is a tournament going on in Karlsruhe, Germany, the GRENKE Classic, which has been on hold for several years. It’s a double round-robin, with two rounds per day. Games are “fast-classical” time control, 45 minutes with a 10-second increment. Yesterday, Magnus blundered against Richard Rapport, who then drew with Ding Liren. Rapport is on top so far.
Today sunrise was at 6:01. Sunset will occur at 19:32. Ave Maria 18:45 for a few more days.
The Roman Station is Santa Prisca on the Aventine Hill. Today in the Vetus Ordo we read the Passion according to Mark.
I’ve had a rather quiet day. I’ve been mostly at home, writing something for my weekly contribution at One Peter Five. Better to do it now than in the midst of the busy Triduum. Also, my right knee is killing me. This often happens in my first few days in Rome. So, supper with friend tonight at a nearby solid place.
IVY REPORT: A couple days back I posted a shot of the ivy on the wall of the (pretty good) restaurant on the P.za della Quercia. It’s coming in.
Not ivy at all, here’s a delightful little 1963 Fiat 500 Giannini. The 1962 Missal was in force and things hadn’t gone totally nuts yet, but they were getting there.
Yesterday at the parish new members were inducted into the Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Trinity and the Pilgrims, including this time the first priest member in who know how many years who isn’t a member ex officio. In the sacristy of the parish there are four large paintings showing the activities of the members, especially with St. Philip Neri the founder. In this detail you see well the habit of the archconfraternity for lay members (right) and priests (left) which is a portrait of St. Joseph Calasanz, Universal Patron of all Christian popular schools in the world.
Membership in the Archconfraternity is open to practicing Catholics, lay men and women, who are 18 years old, and in communion with the Roman Church. Residency in Rome is not required. Sponsorship by a current member is required. Members enjoy also the indulgences granted to the Archconfraternity. Requests for aggregation of a confraternity can be sent to the “mothership”. Drop me a line. NB: This is for already existing confraternities dedicated to the Trinity, the Blessed Sacrament, and works of mercy, not for individual membership. That’s another thing.
Next…
“I know I can! I know I can!”. On the way to the market for set up.
Thanks to readers, I have flowers. A special shout to long-time reader Zephyrinus.
Meanwhile, black to move and mate in 3. Not all that hard. However, for bonus points, name the winning technique.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
CLICK!
I am now a chess.com affiliate. So, click and join! Maybe we can build a fun and active Catholic Chess Club within Chess.com.
In chessy news, Magnus said in a podcast that he thinks that either Fabiano Caruana or Hikaru Nakamura will win the upcoming Candidates tournament to challenge reigning Ding Liren for the title of World Champion. Magnus is not playing. He also said, “I don’t particularly hope for anybody. I feel like anybody who is going to be classical world champion who is not me, is always going to be a bit weird.”
A 5 minute daily podcast to help you in your Lenten discipline.
Today, I present a summary of how, since Septuagesima, we are being prepared – pruned – in our liturgical rites. Fr. Troadec tells us about the silence of Jesus in His Passion.
You can continue your video spiritual pilgrimage to today’s Roman Station, Santa Prisca HERE.
Posted inLENTCAzT, PODCAzT| Comments Off on LENTCAzT 2024 – 42: Tuesday of Holy Week – The silence of Jesus
Today sunrise, with crystal clear skies and low temp of 42F, was at 6:02. Sunset will come at 18:30, 15 minutes before the Ave Maria Bell should ring to signal the end of the day’s business.
It is Monday in Holy Week. The Feast of the Annunciation is postponed to after the Easter Octave. It is the Feast of St. Dismas the Good Thief. As I write the clouds have moved in and it is 60F.
Today The World’s Best Sacristan™ and I marched over, first, to the Campo de’ Fiori. I had promised my fruttarola – vegetable vendor – a palm from the Sunday procession. I brought one of the small woven decorative crosses. She was, of course, quite pleased. I was also pleased to see that there were FAVE! I was on a mission from God, so I couldn’t get any at the moment. Tomorrow. She’s been there at that stand for over 60 years. Hard times. Good times. Weather in. Weather out.
Through the little passage way to the Largo del Pallaro.
I understand that the old proprietor of the Pallaro restaurant passed away. I think some American seminarians went there. They almost always tended to focus on the wrong places because other seminarians had gone there. I digress. The food wasn’t great, rather basic, but he was devout. R.I.P.
Palazzo Massimo, where St. Philip Neri raised the son of the Principe from the death.
Largo Argentina. Yes, there are still cats, including the tail-less black critter limping along in the foreground.
At Gammarelli, TWGS™ and I looked into the fabric for a possible set of black vestments for the parish.
Last year, a few of you incredible, dear readers, stepped up and got 7 sets of matching red Roman sets for the priests who would come and say their daily Masses. HERE
There were quite a few people who pledged donations for the red, but their pledges weren’t needed right away.
At the time I mentioned that there would be a couple more projects. The parish is also in need of BLACK VESTMENTS. In fact, in the mornings, quite a few priests need to use black, because they – as earthly life goes on for us and not for others – have Requiem Masses to say. The parish’s black vestments are also in disarray.
Whaddya say? Ready for another round? SEE UPDATE BELOW
Don’t send money yet. This is pledge time. Directions will follow.
Here’s the stoffa, the fabric.
UPDATE:
I have enough pledges already! If something comes up, I’ll open it up again. THANK YOU to
BB, SK, TP x2, TK, TS, AG
If you are still anxious to participate in a vestment project for the parish in Rome, let me know. They have in the works a white solemn set which will probably be rather costly because of the very fine fabric.
Heading to the other side of the Largo Argentina, we made the terrible mistake of stopping in at what used to be a good bar. Tre Effe – FFF. The gal at the cash register’s rudeness was matched only by her excessive and poorly conceived make-up. The cornetto was inedible and the cappuccino diminutive, due to the cups. Don’t ever stop at Tre Effe on the edge of the Largo Argentina.
Speaking of get stuff, today a box arrived with something I had ordered. The only thing that rivals my annoyance for cheap styrofoam or glitter in Christmas cards has to be this.
Meanwhile, black to move and mate in … 5?
1. … Qh3+ 2. Kh1 Qf3+ 3. Kg1 Rg8+ 4. Rg6 Rxg6+ 5. Kf1 Bh6# NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
CLICK!
I am now a chess.com affiliate. So, click and join! Maybe we can build a fun and active Catholic Chess Club within Chess.com.
Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE Interested in learning? Try THIS.
And speaking of “fruttarola”, my favorite of the old Roman singers, Claudio Villa.
On this day in 1991 Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre died.
Lefebvre was a great churchman, an astoundingly effective missionary. Much of the Church in French speaking Africa even today owes a great deal to his work. I find it not unusual at all that the African Church reveals strong fidelity to certain moral teachings which are lately under attack.
I learned of Lefebvre’s death in an interesting way. That morning I was opening up our office (the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei“) because I was the first to arrive. As I was switching on lights and machines, the doorbell rang. Thinking it was our secretary, who might not have the key handy, I opened the door to find… then-Card. Ratzinger. He gave me the news that Lefebvre had died. He had just received a phone call about his death and stopped at our office on his way in to the Congregation. I got on the phone to our own Cardinal right away.
Here are shots of Lefebvre’s memorial card, which I have kept these years.
If it were not Monday of Holy Week, today would be Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation, the instant of the Incarnation.
However, 25 March is also the Feast of the Good Thief, St. Dismas!
Fulton Sheen famously quipped of this thief-saint that he “stole heaven”. A good thief indeed!
Many saints have their feast days assigned to the day when they were born into heaven (read: died). There is a tradition that that first Good Friday was on the same day as the Annunciation, 25 March.
Luke 23:39-43:
And one of those robbers who were hanged, [Gesmas] blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other [Dismas] answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
It makes the heart ache, to read these words addressed to that penitent sinner. Would that they were address to each one of us.
But wait! They can be.
Holy Church has the Lord’s own authority to forgive sins, to loose and to bind! It is exercised by His bishops and priests!
GO TO CONFESSION!
There is, by the way, a legend that, during the Holy Family’s flight from Herod to Egypt, they ran into Dismas, who was exercising his trade of thievery.
Dismas was going to rob them, but seeing the Infant Jesus, he instead gave them shelter in his lair and let them go on their way without harming them. Dismas would continue to be a nefarious ne’er-do-well. His intellect still darkened by sin on Calvary kept him from recognizing Christ’s Mother.
This is another proof that sin makes you stupid.
Finally, Fathers, mark on your calendar that in the back of your traditional Missale Romanum there is a Mass formulary for the 2nd Sunday of October in honor of the Good Thief for use in prisons and in houses of reform of mores and of the discipline of amendment.
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Today, even though the Feast of the Annunciation is transferred, we hear from Fr. Troadec about Mary’s “yes”. We are also reminded to be resolute about our resolutions.
You can continue your video spiritual pilgrimage to today’s Roman Station, Santa Praxedes HERE.
Posted inLENTCAzT, Our Solitary Boast, PODCAzT| Comments Off on LENTCAzT 2024 – 41: Monday of Holy Week – What a prodigy of infinite love!
I would be remiss were I not to mention in Italy , today, 25 March is Dantedì… Dante Day. A national holiday. 25 March, is when Dante started his journey in The Divine Comedy, Holy Thursday night, before Good Friday, to the Wednesday after Easter in the spring of 1300.
It nigh on impossible to convey the importance of Dante’s work the tri-partite La Divina Commedia.
What I can do here, and you who know not Dante or know little will thank me, is point you to a good translation and some fun music.
For good translations, try the late, great Inkling Dorothy Sayers’ translation. She died while working on the Paradiso, but her assistant did an admirable job in completing the Part 1, Inferno, US HERE – UK HERE).
Another good translation is by Anthony Esolen. Part 1, Inferno- US HERE – UK HERE).
Do NOT make the mistake of reading only the Inferno. The really good stuff comes later in the Purgatorio and Paradiso.
Be smart in your approach to Dante. Read straight through a canto to get the line of thought and story and then go back over it looking at the notes in your edition. Sayers has good notes. Esolen has great notes. Dante was, I think, the last guy who knew everything. Hence, every Canto is dense with references. You will need notes to help with the history, philosophy, cosmology, poetic theory, politics, theology, etc. Really.
A BIG CME IS COMING: Two sunspots erupted at once on March 23rd, producing a powerful X1-class solar flare. A bright halo CME is now heading for Earth. Models suggest it could reach our planet during the early hours of March 25th, bringing a chance of strong geomagnetic storms and mid-latitude auroras. Follow this developing story @ Spaceweather.com.
Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Sunday Mass of obligation?
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I hear that it is growing. Of COURSE.
Did you have a procession with palms or olive branches?
Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?
Here’s a taste of my longer thoughts over at the other place HERE
[…]
First, to bear Christ to where He wants you to take Him, you must be a good donkey colt yourself, obedient, docile, patient. Mary said, “Let it be done to me” and Christ humbled Himself to death. We have the examples of saints. Be a good donkey and carry Christ to where He must go. Don’t be a froward ass.
The time of the rising of the sun upon Rome today was 06:04. It also set on schedule at 18:29. The Ave Maria bell is in the 18:45 cycle. Tomorrow is the Full Moon, first after the Vernal Equinox. The Feast of the Annunciation, ordinarily tomorrow, is postponed because it is Holy Week.
Today’s Roman Station was at St. John Lateran.
Welcome registrants: St Michael
martial
In church today we had the blessing of palms and olive branches, of course. Such beautiful prayers.
Distribution.
Here’s mine.
I think I will get more photos from the day from the pro photographer. But for now, here are some glimpses.
After Mass on the way out to lunch with friends, including The Great Roman™ and TGR’s Wife™, I spotted this.
At lunch I spotted these.
Meanwhile, can you spot the mate in four for white? Good luck!
1. Nf7+ Ke8 2.Qxe6+ Nxe6 3. Ng5+ Kd8 4. Nxe6# NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
CLICK!
I am now a chess.com affiliate. So, click and join! Maybe we can build a fun and active Catholic Chess Club within Chess.com.
Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE Interested in learning? Try THIS.
You could enjoy some excellent wine made by the traditional Benedictines of Le Barroux. OPPORTUNITY – 10% off with code: FATHERZ10
In chessy news, I finally got to see the end of the American Cup women’s section. ALICE LEE!!! It was down to blitz tie breakers.
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“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
AA Cunningham on Some Vatican news notes: “No doubt these latest examples of the Pontiff’s charity will soon be posted to: The Pope Francis Little Bumper Book…”
Robert on Some not Vatican news notes: “There is also a picture of their Prioress presiding on Good Friday in a stole: https://www.mountosb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_0523-scaled.jpg Perhaps the good Archbishop…”
robtbrown on Some not Vatican news notes: “The photo above should read: The Sisters of St Scholastica in the diaspora* *their own monastery”
Sandy on Some Vatican news notes: “An interview on “60 Minutes”, what could possibly go wrong?! I am personally disgusted by this and afraid to watch.”
Matthew111 on Daily Rome Shot 1023: “The black bishop taking white’s knight would check white’s king, so it’s not mate in two. Looking at this again…”
maternalView on Some Vatican news notes: “It seems to me to be one step away from casting doubt on the whole concept of apparitions especially Marian…”
summorumpontificum777 on Some not Vatican news notes: “I think it’s pundit Michael Knowles who often says that the Catholic Church is currently the only institution in the…”
TheCavalierHatherly on Census Fidelium…. Sensus Fidelium… A book: ““I know a sector of the Church which is vital, young and committed. Hey! Let’s persecute them!” Given the historical…”
poohbear on Some Vatican news notes: “Francis seems to fit his own definition of conservative, as he doesn’t want to see beyond his own opinions.”
jhogan on Some Vatican news notes: “In the movie “Song of Bernadette”, there was an exhaustive commission to investigate Lourdes. Apparitions of Our Lady was serious…”
JonPatrick on Some Vatican news notes: “The attenuation of the role of Diocesan bishops seems to be happening in other areas besides the approval of apparitions…”
Liam on Some not Vatican news notes: “The sterility of the historic high altar in the chapel of the Benedictines of Mount Saint Scholastica communicates much about…”
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Everyone, work to get this into your parish bulletins and diocesan papers.
The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds.
St. John Eudes
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“Until the Lord be pleased to settle, through the instrumentality of the princes of the Church and the lawful ministers of His justice, the trouble aroused by the pride of a few and the ignorance of some others, let us with the help of God endeavor with calm and humble patience to render love for hatred, to avoid disputes with the silly, to keep to the truth and not fight with the weapons of falsehood, and to beg of God at all times that in all our thoughts and desires, in all our words and actions, He may hold the first place who calls Himself the origin of all things.”
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“He [Satan] will set up a counter-Church which will be the ape of the Church because, he the devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the anti-Christ that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. In desperate need for God, whom he nevertheless refuses to adore, modern man in his loneliness and frustration will hunger more and more for membership in a community that will give him enlargement of purpose, but at the cost of losing himself in some vague collectivity.”
“Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops.”
“The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual.”
- C.S. Lewis
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As for Latin…
"But if, in any layman who is indeed imbued with literature, ignorance of the Latin language, which we can truly call the 'catholic' language, indicates a certain sluggishness in his love toward the Church, how much more fitting it is that each and every cleric should be adequately practiced and skilled in that language!" - Pius XI
"Let us realize that this remark of Cicero (Brutus 37, 140) can be in a certain way referred to [young lay people]: 'It is not so much a matter of distinction to know Latin as it is disgraceful not to know it.'" - St. John Paul II
Grant unto thy Church, we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that She, being gathered together by the Holy Ghost, may be in no wise troubled by attack from her foes. O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people making supplication unto Thee,and turn away the scourges of Thine anger which we deserve for our sins. Almighty and Everlasting God, in whose Hand are the power and the government of every realm: look down upon and help the Christian people that the heathen nations who trust in the fierceness of their own might may be crushed by the power of thine Arm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
This is really useful when travelling… and also when you aren’t and you need backup internet NOW! I use this for my DMR “Zednet” hotspot when I’m mobile. It’s a ham radio thing.
If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
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On this Good Friday the sun arose at 5:55 and it will set at 19:35.
Rome expected the sun to rise. This won’t always be the case. However, it did today at 05:57. Similar expectations await its setting at 19:34.
Sunrise: 05:59. Sunset: 19:33.
Today sunrise was at 6:01. Sunset will occur at 19:32. Ave Maria 18:45 for a few more days.
Today sunrise, with crystal clear skies and low temp of 42F, was at 6:02. Sunset will come at 18:30, 15 minutes before the Ave Maria Bell should ring to signal the end of the day’s business.
On this day in 1991 Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre died.
If it were not Monday of Holy Week, today would be Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation, the instant of the Incarnation.
For good translations, try the late, great Inkling Dorothy Sayers’ translation. She died while working on the Paradiso, but her assistant did an admirable job in completing the Part 1, Inferno, US 
Another good translation is by Anthony Esolen. Part 1, Inferno- US 
The time of the rising of the sun upon Rome today was 06:04. It also set on schedule at 18:29. The Ave Maria bell is in the 18:45 cycle. Tomorrow is the Full Moon, first after the Vernal Equinox. The Feast of the Annunciation, ordinarily tomorrow, is postponed because it is Holy Week.
Figaro on CHARTRES, FRANCE – PENTECOST PILGRIMAGE – Live and on demand VIDEO: “Our two eldest teens marched with me some 15 years ago, and then again, in their turn, their two younger…”
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