At LifeSite there is a a superb opinion piece (frankly, most of LifeSite is opinion) by Kevin Wells, author of The Priests We Need to Save the Church.
Wells describes a program that some men are undertaking, a kind of spiritual S.E.R.E. training called Exodus 90, 90 days of physical denial and penances, cold showers, daily Mass, Rosary, etc. to “lift the mind up to Christ, strengthen virtue, and subdue the flesh”.
BTW… there is a difference between cold showers in Florida and in Minnesota.
Here are some snips from the piece, which I hope all the male readers here, and Jesuits, will read.
Time for bishops to be faithful and shut down renegade priests who champion homosexuality
[…]
A single American bishop (that I’m aware of) is participating in Exodus 90. Interestingly, this is the same bishop who addresses, by name, the progressive toxicity of Fr. James Martin and his seemingly unimpeded march to normalize homosexuality. This shepherd (who will go unnamed because he would not want the attention) presses for answers on the Vatican’s stagnated McCarrick report. He’s condemned the United Nations for its anti-life stance and urges the hierarchy to maintain, enshrine, and proclaim difficult Church teachings and doctrine. He’s given
over his diocese to veneration of the Eucharist.
During these days of muted courageous leadership within our Church, many American Catholics today regard this bishop as a warrior or some sort of sanctified cowboy — a solitary figure attuned to the multitudinous troubles that have broken into his Church. He’s masculine — a shepherd who often regards parts of his weathervane-wind-whipped Church simply as loose stallions needing to be meeked.
Many regard his way as too rigid or overly pious. Thankfully, for this bishop, there is only the fight for souls — his own, those in his diocese, and the troubled soul of what seems an increasingly balkanized Church. Red martyrdom, he’s mentioned to me, is not something he regards as seldom read passages from old small-fonted Catholic books on saints; he believes that Mary is leading him to it. He knows that the burden of his identity includes an embrace of a certain death to help guard the travailed Church. This awareness became clear during his daily Holy Hour.
[…]
Wells goes on to describe the opposite of that bishop, an embarrassment of a priest, Fr. Peter Daly, who conducts affirming retreats for the homosexual inclinations of priests, sponsored by the condemned New Ways Ministry, etc. Wells doesn’t spare the scorn.
He calls on bishops to do something.
[…]
When the stampeding Fr. James Martin begins to be slowed by a few courageous shepherds, your flock will begin to heal. When you rise up and speak against the “synodal” heresies of German bishops, a salve will begin to stretch into harmed souls — and the laity will trust you again — because it is then that you’ll be acting like a father.
Until then, though, I’ll place my trust in my own little fraternity, which each day puts in the sweat equity that fathers must. These fathers really are like hero cowboys, men who happily embrace discomforts, sacrifices, and worldly rejection so that one day, God willing, they’ll gather with their families for endless length of days in their true native land.
On the sidebar, I have a quote from the late Fulton J. Sheen:
“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.”
UPDATE:
Thanks to acardnal, in the comments.
UPDATED 1 Feb 2020:
I have an apology to make. Not to the cofE.
Yesterday, before I had read anything else, I checked my mail. A couple of friends with whom I often exchange news, both dire and ironic, for the blog had included me in this.
As you can see, my corresponded wrote, not as part of a link, “Th [sic] Church of England apologizes for it’s temporary lapse into Christianity.”
I thought that was a pretty snappy line. I did a post with it. I did not know that the origin of the outstandingly sardonic quip was the perennially funny Eccles is saved. I hadn’t seen that blog yesterday. Had I known, I absolutely would have given attribution. My sincere apology for stepping on Eccles feet. I didn’t get the phrase directly from his blog, but indirectly. In any event, that’s where it came from and he deserves the credit.
That said, there is another issue. The blog Rorate.
One of the writers at Rorate has for some time now often posted truly nasty things about me. For a long time that bothered me because I had no idea why the hostile turn. I have on quite a few occasions reached out on the blog toward them with an olive branch. To no avail. The fragmentation of the traditional side of the blogosphere does nothing but to harm our common cause, the restoration of worthy sacred liturgical worship, without which no other project in the Church will succeed.
In the wake of Eccles alert that I had used his line (again, sorry about that) Rorate, again, used the occasion again to attack me publicly in a Tweet.
That’s what he does. Our whole problem with him has always been this one, and this one only.
It doesn’t look good.
— Rorate Caeli (@RorateCaeli) January 31, 2020
That’s the “only problem”. That’s good. At least, now I know it.
Here’s the deal.
Firstly, I am glad at least to know something about the rough parameter of Rorate’s “problem” with me. Someone there – he wrote “we” but I know writers for Rorate – who seems to be the main contributor, believes that I have taken their lines without attribution.
Frankly, I am not aware that I have done that. I searched back in my email and found a puzzling exchange from 2013 – yes, 2013 – in which the Rorate chap refers to something I don’t any longer recall anything about, something have to do with Card. Bergoglio perhaps approving hybrid Masses in Argentina. It was
2013 – Seven years – Perhaps it’s time to bury the hatchet?
Even the Bible says that seven years is a time of grace.
I am happy to clear the air in private way, if that will help.
Meanwhile, I send my cordial regards to Eccles, hoping that he is still saved, even after my inadvertent posting of his seriously funny line.
My apologies for that, to Eccles, and thanks for his lighter touch in pointing it out.
Maybe we can bring something out of this to help souls, which is more important than clicks.
___ Originally Published on: Jan 31, 2020 at 09:17
The late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus said that the Anglican Church existed in order to make irony redundant.
Today I read that the church of England apologized for its temporary lapse into Christianity.
From The Guardian…
Church sorry for saying that sex is just for married heterosexuals
Church of England archbishops acknowledge pastoral guidance ‘jeopardised trust’The archbishops of Canterbury and York have apologised over a statement issued by Church of England bishops last week which declared that only married heterosexuals should have sex.
Justin Welby and John Sentamu said they took responsibility for releasing the statement which “jeopardised trust”. They added: “We are very sorry and recognise the division and hurt this has caused.”
The archbishops’ statement did not retract the substance of the “pastoral guidance” issued by the bishops, but implied it should not have been issued while the C of E is in the midst of a review of its teaching on sexuality and marriage.
[…]
Hey, let’s not be too hard on the “c“hurch of England.
Do you remember a few years back the disastrous Card. Kasper and his appalling “tolerated, but not accepted” kabuki dance whereby objective adulterers with no purpose of amendment would be admitted to Communion?
In effect, Kasper infamously suggested to the bishops in the Extraordinary Synod (“walking together”) on the Family, during his looooong, flimsy ramble about Communion for the “remarried”, that there could/should be a “tolerated, but not accepted” solution. That is: “The Church won’t accept your new status, because you are obviously committing adultery and Christ made it clear that you couldn’t ‘marry’ again with your spouse still on this side of the grass, but – hey! – we will hold our noses and watch you go to Communion anyway. You can be a kind of pity case or second class Catholic. We will tolerate you, but not accept you.”
I remind all my readers who are perhaps mired in the cofE and its other branches, that there is something called Anglicanorum coetibus. If you can’t stand it anymore, cross the Tiber.
Benedict XVI! The Pope of Christian Unity!
On the flip side, I still think the cofE should issue a response to Anglicanorum coetibus. They should issue Romanorum coetibus by which they can welcoming into their “ecclesial community” (remember, according to Dominus Iesus they don’t have a real Church because they don’t have valid apostolic succession), all the dissident Catholics who, rebelling against the Magisterium, desire to keep their most treasured customs. There in the embrace of the Anglicans they can have their clay pot chalices and burlap banners, their ditties and rainbow stoles, and gender free sex, free from the interference of patriarchal oppression.
Perhaps this is a good moment for a bunch of Jesuits – irony much? – to leave and join the cofE.
Candlemas is coming up, the Feast of the Purification, as it is traditionally called.
We call it Candlemas because, with the references to light in the liturgy, we bless candles.
Candlemas is the conclusion of the Advent/Christmas cycle. We are 40 days from the Nativity of our Lord. Liturgically, the Marian Antiphon and response changes. We have been singing Alma Redemptoris Mater since the beginning of Advent. This ends on Candlemas. Hereafter we sing Ave Regina Caelorum through Lent until Spy Wednesday of Holy Week.
Because of the antiquity of the feast, there are many cultural traditions for its celebration. For example, in some French speaking regions it is customary to eat crêpes, in Mexico tamales. I am contemplating the other Christmas pudding I made this year.
Also, I now have a beautiful crêpe pan sent some time ago from my wishlist by a kind reader.
Here are some poems for Candlemas.
First and foremost, making a reference to the removal of Christmas decorations, is a lovely poem by Robert Herrick (+1674). In some places, people take down their decorations on Twelfth Night. In others, Candlemas.
This poem traces something of the shifting seasons of the liturgical year and reminds us of the bitter and sweet passing of time.
Ceremony Upon Candlemas Eve
by Robert Herrick
Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and misletoe ;
Down with the holly, ivy, all,
Wherewith ye dress’d the Christmas Hall :
That so the superstitious find
No one least branch there left behind :
For look, how many leaves there be
Neglected, there (maids, trust to me)
So many goblins you shall see.
And the longer version of the same…
Down with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the mistletow;
Instead of holly now upraise
The greener box for show.
The holly hitherto did sway,
Let box now domineer,
Until the dancing Easter day,
Or Easter’s Eve appear.
Then youthful box which now hath grace
Your houses to renew,
Grown old, surrender must his place
Unto the crisped yew.
When yew is out, then birth comes in,
And many flowers beside,
Both of a fresh and fragrant kin,
To honour Whitsuntide. [Pentecost]
Green rushes then, and sweetest bents,
With cooler oaken boughs,
Come in for comly ornaments,
To readorn the house.
Thus times do shift;
Each thing his turn doth hold;
New things succeed,
As former things grow old.
I do like that last stanza, which is taken up in a lovely rendering of the poem, by Kate Rusby from a Christmas album – US HERE – UK HERE.
Next, something quite old and in an ancestor of Modern English. It is from a manuscript in the Bodleian Library (MS Eng. poet. e. I, f. 38 f.). To pronounce it you have to get some of the Norman French back into your tongue. Here it is with a cheat version.
When I hear that Latin revértere, I immediately call to mind two moments in the Old Testament. First, in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, Jerusalem is called to “turn about and go back” to the Lord. Also, and more important for this carol, the Song of Songs comes up: Revertere revertere Sulamitis revertere revertere ut intueamur te HERE
| Revertere, revertere The queen of blysse and of beaute. |
Revertere, revertere, The queen of bliss and of beauty. |
| Behold what lyfe that we ryne ine, Frayl to fale and ever lyke to syne Thorow owr enmys entysyng; Therefor we syng and cry to the: Revertere… |
Behold what life that we run in, Frail to fall and ever like to sin Through our enemy’s enticing; Therefore we sing and cry to thee: Revertere… |
| Come hyder, Lady, fayryst floure, And kepe us, Lady, from doloure; Defend us, Lady, and be owr socoure, For we cease not to cal to the: Revertere… |
Come hither, Lady, fairest flower, And keep us, Lady, from dolour; Defend us, Lady, and be our succour, For we cease not to call to thee: Revertere… |
| Torne owr lyfe, Lady, to Goddys luste, Syne to fle and fleschly luste, For aftur hym in the we trust To kep us frome adversyte. Revertere… |
Turn our life, Lady, to God’s lust, [pleasure] Sin to flee and fleshly lust, For, after him, in thee we trust To keep us from adversity. Revertere… |
| Thys holy day of Puryfycacyon To the temple thou bare owr salvacyon Jhesu Cryst, thin own swet Sone, To whome thefor now syng we: Revertere… |
This holy day of Purification To the temple thou bare our salvation, Jesu Christ, thine own sweet Son, To whom therefore now sing we: Revertere… |
| Farwell, Crystmas gayer and fre! Farwell, Newers Day with the! Farwell, the holy Epyphane! And to Mary now syng we: Revertere… |
Farewell, Christmas fair and free! Farewell, New Year’s Day with thee! Farewell, the holy Epiphany! And to Mary now sing we: Revertere… |
Revertere… turn around and for the last time gaze back at the joy of Christmas.
Of course we have to have something from Rossetti (+1894)
A Candlemas Dialogue
by Christina Georgina Rossetti (after 1891)
‘Love brought Me down: and cannot love make thee
Carol for joy to Me?
Hear cheerful robin carol from his tree,
Who owes not half to Me
I won for thee.’
‘Yea, Lord, I hear his carol’s wordless voice;
And well may he rejoice
Who hath not heard of death’s discordant noise.
So might I too rejoice
With such a voice.’
‘True, thou hast compassed death: but hast not thou
The tree of life’s own bough?
Am I not Life and Resurrection now?
My Cross, balm-bearing bough
For such as thou.’
‘Ah me, Thy Cross! – but that seems far away;
Thy Cradle-song to-day
I too would raise and worship Thee and pray:
Not empty, Lord, to-day
Send me away.’
‘If thou wilt not go empty, spend thy store;
And I will give thee more,
Yea, make thee ten times richer than before.
Give more and give yet more
Out of thy store.’
‘Because Thou givest me Thyself, I will
Thy blessed word fulfil,
Give with both hands, and hoard by giving still:
Thy pleasure to fulfil,
And work Thy Will.’
How about a couple more?
Mary’s Purification
Sr. M. Bernetta, O.S.F. Robert, Cyril. Our Lady’s Praise In Poetry.
Poughkeepsie, New York: Marist Press, 1944.
Out went the stupid to wash the snow,
To cleanse the lily of Christ.
Wouldn’t you think that they all should know
The pearl who couldn’t be priced?
Wiser to purify the crystal stone,
To call the tulip unclean,
Than to wash the rose that God’s hand had sown,
Young Mary, the innocent Queen.
Candlemas
Francesca Franciscan Magazine – February 1960
The Mother brings her Candle
To the Temple of Desire,
In wax of flesh and weakness
But soul-wick full of fire!
A light to pierce the darkness,
Redemption for our race,
The gift of expiation
Before our Father’s face!
A flame of contradiction
To tyrant, Gentile, Jew,
But holocaust for ages,
Each dawn will see anew!
O take your Candle, Mary,
Too soon you’ll suffer loss
In Love’s great conflagration
On the altar of the Cross!
Finally… St. John Henry Newman’s 1849 poem “Candlemas”:
The Angel-lights of Christmas morn,
Which shot across the sky,
Away they pass at Candlemas,
They sparkle and they die.
Comfort of earth is brief at best,
Although it be divine;
Like funeral lights for Christmas gone,
Old Simeon’s tapers shine.
And then for eight long weeks and more,
We wait in twilight grey,
Till the high candle sheds a beam
On Holy Saturday.
We wait along the penance-tide
Of solemn fast and prayer;
While song is hush’d, and lights grow dim
In the sin-laden air. {280}
And while the sword in Mary’s soul
Is driven home, we hide
In our own hearts, and count the wounds
Of passion and of pride.
And still, though Candlemas be spent
And Alleluias o’er,
Mary is music in our need,
And Jesus light in store.
From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
Hi Father- I attended an N.O. Mass this morning, along with about 50 others, and I was shocked to see the priest allow his dog on the altar! During the sermon, the priest stopped, looked up and asked if the sound coming from outside the church was his dog barking. Some people in the back said yes. (Helloooooo, the Mass?) I barely heard it, but apparently the dog barked a couple times. He then told them to let the dog in, and “it would be okay. The dog would just come down to the altar.” (That’s “okay?”) So someone let the dog in, and pretty soon, an older golden retriever came down a side aisle and went right up ONTO the altar. The dog did its thing, sniffing around, chasing its tail a couple times, and then plopping down next to the priest who started with consecration as though nothing was out of the norm. At one point, the dog sat up and barked once at something he saw in the congregation. He roamed around while on the altar, and stepped off the altar to lie in the main aisle at one point. At the recession, he followed the priest out, and when I exited, I noticed parishioners petting the dog in the back, and giving him all kinds of attention.
Am I wrong to think this is beyond disrespectful and inappropriate? And am I wrong to be even more horrified that the parishioners didn’t seem to take issue with it…? I think I need a sanity check….
Believe me, I have heard some pretty crazy stories about what eccentric priests have done during Masses. While their antics are more or less reverent depending on the circumstances, they have the same impact when viewed through the lens of our humanity.
In the words of the immortal Gracie Allen, people are funnier than anyone.
Just because a priest is ordained, that is no guarantee that the priest is smart.
That should be consoling. God does not choose those who are worthy of priesthood, He chooses those whom it pleaseth Him to choose. The very fact that there are eccentric or thick priests demonstrates on a daily basis that Christ is the true High Priest. Validity of sacraments do not depend on how smart, or how holy, or how refined a priest is.
It might be the case that the priest has a deep problem with PTSD because of the hideous formation inflicted on him in the hellish seminary he had to attend. Maybe he has to have Fido there as a therapy animal.
Personally, I would prefer to deal with my Post Seminary Traumatic Stress Disorder though the proximity of a emotional support therapy pangolin named Jerry.
It is highly unlikely that the priest in question is doing something that he considers wrong, with the intent to irritate or be irreverent. He probably just thinks that it is cute to have his dog up there or that it shows just how wonderful he is in his casual approach to the most awe-inspiring thing that any human can do: say Mass. Isn’t he amazing?
You would be within your rights to let the priest know, in a kind way, that you find the presence of his dog – in the sanctuary for Mass – both distracting and inappropriate.
At the same time, there is nothing per se wrong with an animal in church, but our sensibilities don’t generally wrap around their presence as a good thing. However, I have in mind a story from Italy some years ago. A man who was a daily Mass goer and dog owner died. From that time on, that faithful old dog – now homeless – went to the church every day for Mass, in the church. The people there took it in stride because they knew the background and adopted it, taking care of it.
Finally, I can think of a great reason for trained dogs in church, and not just for taking down an active shooter. I can imagine a couple of dogs near the Communion rail, trained to growl ominously every time someone stuck her hand out for Communion.
UPDATE:
I suddenly remembered, after posting, that there are various depictions of the Last Support in Renaissance art which feature companion animals. For example, in Rosselli’s beautiful painting on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, you find a dog.
Dogs in these paintings are often a sign of fidelity. Thus, the nickname, “fido” for dogs.
On the other hand, near Judas, who has a little black “halo” and a miniature demon on his back, there is a dog facing off with a sneaky looking cat. Just sayin’.
Jacopo Bassano does the same in his Last Supper, with the dog near the center with Christ and the cat near Judas. HERE
Also check out the beautifully painted dog in Tintoretto’s “Washing of Feet” which was at the Last Supper. HERE It’s a fantastic painting in the Prado.
Once you start to notice these critters in Last Supper depictions, they start popping out at you.
In my ongoing desire for clarity, I have posted about the burning issues of our day.
For example, I have sought clarity, and found it, about the true plural of the drink made from Gin and from Tonic. The answer is clear.
For example, I have sought clarity, and found it, about how to identify what dresses pasta, Sauce or Gravy.
(BTW… I am determined, soon, to have my own Sunday Gravy post.)
To the point in question.
I saw on Twitter, from Ed Condon, this:
What we have in Chicago is proof that literally anything is better than NY pizza.
— Ed. Condon (@canonlawyered) January 29, 2020
Frankly, I think that pretty much all pizza in these USA is seriously defective unless it is made in the style of either Naples (or, mainly, Rome). Period. That requires no proof. It is simply true, like an axiom, and needs no defense, nor shall any disagreement with that dogma be permitted.
That does NOT, however, resolve the issue at hand. Whatever it is, we want clarity.
New York? Chicago?
Also, “pizza” or “tomato pie”?
Using some generalizations….
The New York style probably had its origin in the Neapolitan style. However, now? Neapolitan is, by definition, thinner, as a matter of fact, it is supposed (in Naples) not to be more than 3mm.
Chicago style, thicker, probably had its origin in the Sicilian style, which almost by definition is thick.
This burning question needs resolution.
Pick your best answer. You MUST choose. You are not allow not to have an opinion. This is too important.
Anyone can vote in the poll, but you must be registered and approved to post a comment.
Meanwhile, the legendary Pizza Rat has already decided.
From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
Father, in the Philippines a bishop told people to stop receiving Communion on the tongue and receive only in the hand because of Coronavirus and don’t have the chalice too.
What say you?
We have seen this movie before, with the outbreak of various strains of influenza and viruses.
Here are a few commonsense observations.
Firstly, it is not allowed to distribute Communion in the hand during the Traditional Latin Mass or when using the Rite for Distribution of Communion outside of Mass, or during sick calls with the older Rituale Romanum. Also, in the older Rite, Communion is not distributed under both kinds. That takes care of that.
I don’t see a way around that. Distribution of Communion in the hand would be a serious liturgical abuse, precisely because it deals with the Eucharistic species.
If you are concerned about contagion, in a TLM, then don’t go to Communion. You are not obliged to receive. You can make a spiritual Communion.
That said, I would bend the rubrics so far as to have the priest rapidly purify his fingers again immediately before distribution of Communion using something like hand sanitizer or wipes of some sort.
That second purification is certainly extra-rubrical, but it is before handling the Eucharist, not a violation while handling the Eucharist.
Moreover, if a priest has to cough or sneeze during Mass, his momentary halt to handle a handkerchief is not described by the rubrics and is not treated in De defectibus. If a guy has to stop for a moment so that he can clear himself up, then he’s got to stop for a moment. Therefore, if Father, immediately before – and after for his own sake – distribution, uses a sanitizer, I say tolleratur. He doesn’t have to be burned and his ashes put down the sacrarium.
As far as the Novus Ordo is concerned, this is less of an issue.
In most places, sad to say, there is juridical permission (I don’t think it’s moral) to receive directly in the hand. I am not sure how that reduces the risk of contagion. Maybe it does. Certain suspending distribution of the Precious Blood would reduce the risk. Given the options, a person has to decide what to do. If the local bishop has said don’t receive on the tongue (contrary to your right) and the priest takes a hard position and refuses to distribute on the tongue (contrary to your right), then you have to decide what to do.
If you are dead set against receiving on the hand, period, then don’t even go forward. Don’t make a scene at the Communion rail. Make a spiritual Communion.
And, people, if you know that you are sick and probably shedding virus left and right, stay home. Stay home. If you are ill or infectious or contagious then you don’t have an obligation to go to Sunday Mass. While it might be laudable from your perspective to offer up the discomfort and make the effort, it might be a violation of both prudence and charity.
Lastly, while I fully endorse the praiseworthy desire to receive the Eucharist in Communion, and I wholeheartedly embrace the spiritual benefits of frequent reception, something has to be done about that near mania about Communion.
First, there is the promotion of Communion at every Mass such that people think they haven’t been to Mass unless they have received. NO. There is the psychological pressure to go, especially promoted by row by row Communion. It winds up that people go forward when they know they should not. Sacrilege results. There is the problem of people not having a clue about what the Eucharist is: “That’s the white thing we get before we sing the song. It means that people like me.” Sacrilege results. But there is an overwhelming notion that if you, in the state of grace, go to Mass then you must receive. NO. If you wish to, you can. You are not obliged.
I say, get rid of row by row Communion. Will it be a little messier? Sure. Who cares?
I say, bring back the longer Eucharistic fast. That will provide also – in addition to spiritual benefits – an apparent reason for why you choose not to go forward: maybe you ate something within the period.
Two things that could help.
Also, we need catechesis, catechesis and also catechesis about the Eucharist and about Holy Communion.
UPDATE
Just to be clear…
The image, larger… with additions.
A – The head is not tilted back and the tongue is not out.
B – The hands are in the way.
C – The head is back, but the tongue is not out.
D – The tongue is out, but the head is angled downward.
Other observations.
LifeSite posted this fascinating, predictable, video. But an image is worth a thousand words.
Listening to the view of the other side in this video is like witnessing the autopsy of long dead cadaver in really bad shape.
You can tell that this was once a living, breathing member of the same race, but… oh my.
These people are locked into serious delusion, probably also spurred by the sorts of demons which attach because of certain kinds of sins.
I have an idea.
Perhaps a bishop out there would take it upon himself to celebrated Holy Mass in the traditional rite, specifically in reparation for the ills which these poor people advance through their actions and inactions. At the same time, we need to beg for forgiveness for our own part in this national tragedy. We can sin by both commission and omission.
Penance.
And GO TO CONFESSION.
Think about how personal sins tear at the whole fabric of humanity. We are in this together.
I had posted a while ago that there was going to be yet another maintenance issue coming up.
As you recall, we did a massive switch to a new server last October. That went well.
This time we had to point the domain resolution from the old server IP address to the new server IP address. The traffic to the old IP address was “proxied” to the new. Now, when someone seeks the IP address for the blog, it gets the IP address of the new server, thus removing an intermediary step.
It seems to me that the blog loads faster now.
I am moved to remind those of you who are tech savvy and serious… emphasis on serious… and savvy… that we are trying to create something we might describe as a “Catholic Signal Corps“.
It it hard to find good Catholic tech help that is both capable and reliable.
Right now there is a discussion group available to some of the people who have answered my queries in the past. I am in touch with the group’s “moderator” and getting feedback about it.
This could be important in the future for Catholic sites.
BTW… in the traditional calendar, today is the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, often associated with mass media.
There is an online resource for tracking airline flights: Flightaware. It is fascinating to see the planes move in real time. You get a sense of how important air travel and freight is for all of us.
You also get a sense of how many flights are still going to and leaving China right now.
Today I read that British Airways has ceased direct flights to China. I’m sure that’s partly due to those flights now being mostly empty.
Wanna go to China, anyone?
I checked FlightAware just now. It’s night there, of course, so the rhythm of flights from the Left Coast of these USA hasn’t started to beat yet, and more is head to China than coming at this hour. Still, note the concentrations around Hong Kong, Bangkok, etc.
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