Fr. Z's Blog | Catholic commentary by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Looking for a disc of the movie ‘Apocalypto’

Posted on 31 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Has anyone noticed that the Mel Gibson movie Apocalypto is nearly impossible to find, and, via Amazon, is hugely expensive and probably bootleg?

HERE

Why would that be, I wonder.

I wonder.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Apocalypto, Mel Gibson
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Ritual bowl for demonic Pachamama placed on St. Peter’s altar at closing Mass of #AmazonSynod

Posted on 31 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Robert Moynihan is a long-time vaticanista. In his latest “Letter #59, 2019: In plain sight“, he looks into the pagan element worked into the closing Mass of the Amazon Synod (“walking together”). We had speculated about whether or not the wooden demon idols of Pachamama, a demon goddess to whom human sacrifice was offered, a kind of “mother earth” embodiment, but clearly demonic, would be involved at the closing Mass of the “walking together”. Nope. No demon statuette.

That doesn’t mean that Pachamama, the demon pagans worshipped with human sacrifice, wasn’t being openly honored during the Mass, and even put on altar of St. Peter’s, above the bones of the Apostle!

Moynihan at great length establishes with reference to video of the closing Mass the bringing forward at the offertory a bowl with a plant that that Francis instructed Msgr. Guido (that poor man) Marini to put on the altar. Of course gifts at the offertory are NOT to be placed on the altar, much less trash like this.

What was put on the altar?

A bowl of dirt with various plants, one with red flowers.

Those are ugly plants. Since they are not beautiful, they must have some other meaning or purpose.

Skipping to the point… Moynighan posted:

Then, after further searching, I learned that a bowl of soil with plants in it is often connected with ceremonial rituals involving Pachamana.

There is one among many websites that describes the ritual (link):

“If it is difficult for you to move to a natural space to offer to Mother Earth, do not worry, you can perform your own ritual at home:

“- Use a bottle or flower pot full of dirt, there you proceed to make a hole, it is recommended to do it with your hands to connect with the energy of the ritual. [This goes back to what happened in the Vatican Gardens… the pagan, demonic ceremony.]

“- A kind of well is made, and food and drinks are poured for the enjoyment of the Pachamama.

“- The food option is extensive, one can place anything from fruits to Creole foods and seeds. In the case of drinks, chicha, natural juices, honey, wine, even coca leaves are suggested.

“- Then we proceed to cover it with dirt and flowers.

“Every year more people join in and they learn to leave our daily work and reflect and realize who we are, where we are and have this gesture of recognition and thanks to Mother Earth, which we say is humanity, the earth, the air, the animals, the water, the fire, which is everything that makes our life.”

Also: “You should never miss something red, it is the favorite color of the Pacha! [Red flower.]

So it seemed that the bowl of flowers presented at the offertory of the final Synod Mass, and then placed on the altar during the consecration, may have been connected with a ritual of veneration, and thanks, to Mother Earth, known as Pachamana…

So the images were not in the basilica, but perhaps an offering to Pachamana, in a bowl, was…

Ann Barnhardt has the goods on this black bowl. HERE She has several posts. In summary….

These black bowls, the same as the one with the red flower on the altar of St. Peter’s, were all over the place in the Synod Hall.

They were all over the church Santa Maria in Traspontina, where all the evil displays and presence of this demonic shaman and women religious were found all day.

The black bowl was in the pagan Vatican garden ceremony in honor of Pachamama:

Look on the left.

A closeup shows there is a symbol on the bottom of the upturned bowl. Ann may have found a version of that symbol, which is, surprise, for Pachamama.

Detail… rotated.

With a red flower in honor of the demon goddess on the altar at St. Peter’s at the direction of Francis.

So, an obvious of statue wasn’t placed on or near the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, but this instrument with the demonic symbol was placed on the mensa of the altar of Sacrifice directly over the bones of Peter himself.

The implications of this are, frankly, horrifying to contemplate.

Posted in The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged Pachamama
42 Comments

PRIESTS: Are you available to take a “Gregorian Mass” intention?

Posted on 31 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In the past I have played “yenta” and put lay people who want Gregorian Masses (30 consecutive Masses for a single intention – usually, but not limited to, for the deceased).

I have a few requests that are languishing.

Priests: If you can take such an intention write to me.

Put AVAILABLE FOR GREGORIAN MASS in the subject line. Just that. Not anything else. Just that. Only that…. as in NOTHING OTHER THAN THAT. Drop me a note (HERE)

I will forward your email to people who made the requests. You work out stipends on your own. I will have ZERO to do with that.

UPDATE 31 Oct:

Right now I have 5 priests available.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes |
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For your “You can’t make this up!” file. Italian Bishops publish “Pachamama Prayer” in booklet

Posted on 31 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

On my way back to these USA, I got wind via The Great Roman the story on an Italian site that the Italian Bishops had published, before the Synod, a prayer involving Pachamama, the S. American demon those nitwits prayed before during the Synod (“walking together”).

LifeSite has a story about this that is more accessible than the Italian site. HERE

The fact that this was before the Synod, tells us something about the organizers and the source of the money that drove the pre-determined agenda.

This is pretty bad.

Pachamama di questi luoghi,
bevi e mangia a volontà questa offerta,
affinché sia fruttuosa questa terra.
Pachamama, buona madre
Sii propizia! Sii propizia!
Fa’ che i buoi camminino bene,
e che non si stanchino.
Fa’ che la semente spunti bene,
che non le succeda nulla di male,
che il gelo non la distrugga,
che produca buoni alimenti.
A te lo chiediamo:
donaci tutto.
Sii propizia! Sii propizia!
(Preghiera alla Madre Terra dei popoli Inca)

Pachamama of these places,
drink and eat this offering at will,
so that this land may be fruitful.
Pachamama, good mother
Be propitious! Be propitious!
Let the oxen walk well,
and let them not be tired.
Let the seed-sowing sprout well,
that nothing bad happens to them,
that frost does not destroy them,
that it produces good food.
We ask you from you:
give us everything.
Be propitious! Be propitious!
(Prayer to the Mother Earth of the Inca peoples)

This is a prayer to a demon, straight to the Italian people from their bishops.

Meanwhile, as per LifeSite, we are learning a little more about Pachamama… for those of you who think that this isn’t a big deal.

[…]

Indigenous ceremonies to the Pachamama involve different rites, including the most important that takes place at the beginning of August, when “Mother Earth” is supposedly tired and worn out. The rite consists in singing, dancing, and drinking around a blanket on which offerings are placed, some of them burned or smoked ritually, to “feed” the Earth that nourishes but that also destroys and kills by earthquakes and other catastrophes when men use too many of her resources, according to pagan legends. The ritual is led by a local shaman. [That sounds exactly what was done in the Vatican Gardens. Right?]

Often a hole is dug in the ground, symbolizing the Pachamama’s womb, and burnt offerings — including the highly sought after llama fetus, which is supposed to bring luck and riches — are ritually tipped into it.

Male and female shamans will take part in conducting these ceremonies.

Historically, before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, the Incan cult to Pachamama included human sacrifice, often of children aged 7 or 8, whose death was supposed to placate the Earth “divinity,” to avert her anger and to obtain prosperity. So were 200 youngsters offered up to accompany the crowning of Pachacutec in Cuzco, somewhere between 1430 and 1440. The sacrifice often took the form of freezing the children to death after having drugged them with coca, the sacred plant of many indigenous tribes in South America. Mummies of sacrificed children have been found that confirm the truth of the practice of human sacrifice to Pachamama in particular.

Vestiges of the Pachamama cult were to be found in the 1960s, but since then, the “Mother Earth” rhetoric has become more visible, if not mainstream, within the indigenous communities of some of the Andean regions. Evo Morales, indigenous president of Bolivia since 2006, played an important role in the recovery of pre-Columbian customs and rites; he even went so far as to include a mention of the syncretic “cosmogony” of the indigenous in the Bolivian constitution. [He gave the commie hammer and sickle “cross” to Francis during his visit. A commie and demon worshiper.]

[…]

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Amazon Synod, Evo Morales, Pachamama, Synod
13 Comments

HOME DAY 1: Thanks

Posted on 31 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Roman Sunset 6:39. Sunset 17:08. Ave Maria bell 17:30.

Madison Sunrise 7:32. Sunset: 17:51. There is not now nor has there ever been an Ave Maria bell in Madison.

In case you are curious, the next change to the time of the Roman Ave Maria will be 4 Nov, when it changes to 17:15 through 19 Nov.

So, I am back in Madison.

Don’t look for HOME DAY 2 tomorrow, because… well… think about it.

My time in Rome was terrific and you benefactors made it possible. I hope to get back to Rome at the beginning of May, for business and pleasure.

Yesterday, when I was picked up at the airport, there were snow flakes flying.

This morning, we have a solid cover of snow.

Quite a contrast and more proof of global warming.

I now have to deal with my computer issues. Sigh. First, it was the major changes to the blog while on the road. Now, at home, it is hardware.

I have a lot of mail to sort and quite a few errands. I would ask a prayer or two that I remain healthy!

UPDATE:

I’m definitely not in Rome any longer.

Quite a bit of snow, as a matter of fact.

Collecting mail and two boxes from Gammarelli in Rome.

There’s a lot to go through when you are gone for a while.

Posted in What Fr. Z is up to |
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ROME DAY 28: My View For Awhile

Posted on 30 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today your planet’s yellow Sun shall appear from Rome to rise at 6:37 and to set at 17:10. And for the Curia the phantom Ave Maria would sound, if it sounded, at 17:30.

Yesterday brought a friend and I to see the marvelous Matthew paintings by Caravaggio in the French national church.

I think I know which one is Matthew, but it is clear that the call from Christ extends beyond him to all who view the scene.

The Apostle has been dragged from thr altar aand has been stabbed at least once. He reaches for the palm.

In the correspnding chapel there is a photo of Fr Hamel.

Martyrdom is not a thing of the past. It will be a thing in the near future.

I stopped to visit my old bonsai guys in the Via dei Coronari. They’ve changed their shop.

My last Roman errand was to commission tassels for the new black dalmatics which will soon be sent. GREAT shop and a nice guy.

And this morning which still feels like yesterday because it is so very early.

The check in lines were insanely long. I have priority and still it took over half and hour to get a window. I have no idea how long the rest waited. Security was swift.

My final breakfast for the Roman sojourn consumed, I brace for the trip back to MSN.

Yesterday evening for my final Mass in the City, my intention was for benefactors. I said Mass for all of you who contributed to make sure this time in Rome possible. Thank you.

Is it too early to think about May?

And this last view of a Mercedes-Benz sponsored coffee bar is for a friend, recovering from some strange ideas.

UPDATE:

I dislike AMS (the airport, that is, not the Archdiocese).

UPDATE

After a boring flight (preferred) and several naps, I had the opportunity once again to be harassed at security stateside. They were very interested this time in my luggage tags. Luggage tags. It was harassment.

The last leg begins.

The book:

George Weigel’s new offering (which he signed and gave me in Rome a couple weeks back):

The Irony of Modern Catholic History: How the Church Rediscovered Itself and Challenged the Modern World to Reform

US HERE – UK HERE

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
12 Comments

Communion denied to pro-abortion candidate Biden. Good.

Posted on 29 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Here’s a good thing. The priest at this parish rightly denied Holy Communion to former VP Joe Biden according to can. 915. By can. 916 he should not have presented himself for Communion.

From ABC news in S. Carolina.

FLORENCE, S.C. (WPDE) — The pastor and priest of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Florence refused to give communion this past Sunday to Former Vice President and Presidential Hopeful Joe Biden.

Biden attended the church’s early services during his campaign stop in the Pee Dee.

The church’s pastor, Rev. Robert E. Morey, released the following statement on the matter:

“Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to Former Vice President Joe Biden. Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching. As a priest, it is my responsibility to minister to those souls entrusted to my care, and I must do so even in the most difficult situations. I will keep Mr. Biden in my prayers.”

The Biden campaign declined to comment, citing the incident as a private matter.

Fr Z kudos to Fr. Morey!

Posted in 1983 CIC can. 915, Emanations from Penumbras, Our Catholic Identity |
39 Comments

ROME DAY 27: Birthday Memories

Posted on 29 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Roman Sunrise 7:36. Roman Sunset: 18:11. Roman Ave Maria 17:30.

Yesterday was a bit of a down day. I didn’t do much, other than to get my things organized for packing and to write an article for Catholic Herald.

In the afternoon I said Mass at Ss. Trinità, as usual, and a few friends participated. One, from Germany, who has been good to the TMSM too, took a couple of photos.

It seems I am quite fast…

Afterwards we made our way to supper.

As we were waiting, they brought us some appetizers.

This a puff of baccala.

As mentioned yesterday, I had gone to the restaurant the day before to talk to the chef about creating a special risotto that would accompany the wonderful sake that my friend from Tokyo brought for my birthday. The risotto was splendid, with mussels, a scallop, a bit of saffron and a touch of Sambuca Romana in the process. The risotto and the sake were great together. The chef got it exactly right.

Some fettucine with guanciale, Roman mint, artichoke and pecorino.

These things… these things… someone else ordered them and they were unbelievably good, with a filling of stracotto, in a thyme butter and with carmelized onion. These guys have game.

There followed some 36 hour roast suckling pig and rabbit stuffed with sausage and herbs which we shared around.

For dessert some of us split portions of the unconventional ajo e ojo which matched up surprisingly well with Talisker 25, brought by a friend.

It was a fine evening, in a fine place, with close friends. This will be a great memory down the line. And it was a pleasure to share around the sake in such an interesting way which my friend from Japan took such trouble to bring, a real honor.

Thus, 60th birthday. Thanks to everyone who sent greetings.

Today, not sure what’s going to happen. I have packing in the morning. I may see an exhibit. There are two errands to fulfill and Mass tonight.

And that will be it.

Posted in On the road, What Fr. Z is up to |
11 Comments

A ‘Humanae vitae’ moment for this pontificate? It’s time to pray for a miracle.

Posted on 28 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I have in the past written, when writing about miracles, that it we don’t pray for miracles, we won’t receive them. Praying does not compel God to grant them, but praying prepares us to accept all that God grants and does not grant.

But God also works miracles. He pours out extraordinary, undeserved graces.

My friend Msgr. Charles Pope penned a thoughtful and also heartfelt reaction to the Synod, the antics in and around in, and its closing document, to which I subscribe. He contextualized it against the background of those things Francis has been rumored to have said, things hardly to be believed about the divinity of Christ and the annihilation of the souls of sinners rather than damnation.

Msgr. Pope recognizes, as so many do, that these are times of unprecedented uncertainty and disorder, and much of that disorder is coming from the top. Ex capite.

Finally, as I have done in some of my posts, Msgr. Pope prays. He prays for a ostensibly miraculous Humanae vitae moment. In 1968 who thought that Pope Paul would remain strong and true, and not give in to the spirit of the times. And this of those times! 1968. If 1968 was bad, 2019 is worse. Who believes that Francis will be strong and true in support of and in defense of tradition in wake of this Synod (“walking together”)?

We pray for many things. Sometimes we promise prayers. Sometimes we fulfill those promises. Sometimes we pray in passing. Sometimes we pray in earnest.

How will you now pray?

Now pray as you have never prayed before. Pray often, intensely, with purpose.

This is what Msgr. Pope says:

Let us pray: Help us, Lord. Save us and have mercy on us, and draw us back from the brink. We acknowledge our sins Lord and that all of us have fallen short of the glory and holiness to which you have summoned us. But now, on the edge of a precipice, we pray for a miracle — indeed, Lord, one that will stun the world. Guide the Holy Father, who now writes an apostolic exhortation, and may his thoughts be directed only to you and the precious faith you have revealed. Lord, we are poor and needy — whom do we have but you, O Lord? To whom else can we turn? In these times of deep confusion and division we ask a miracle, Lord — yes, a miracle.

Mother Mary, intercede for us. Amen.

Posted in Francis, Mail from priests, Synod, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged Amazon Synod, Humanae vitae, Synod
20 Comments

ROME DAY 26: Old friends, new friends, dear friends

Posted on 28 October 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Sunrise in Rome: 7:35. Sunset in Rome: 18:12. Ave Maria: 17:30.

Today is the Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles. Martyrs. Their tomb is in St. Peter’s Basilica. I posted a photo of their resting place yesterday.

In a special way I ask the Apostles, one in particular known for interceding in the cases of impossible causes, to intercede for me on my 60th Birthday.

Yesterday there was a great Mass at Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini, celebrated by Bp. Dominque Rey of the Diocese of Frejus-Toulon. He has been a champion of evangelism and traditional liturgy.

It was a Mass at the faldstool. Masses at the Throne are impossible in Rome.

This is a Roman altar, friends. With the “buste” and relics and the wonderful… what are they called again. The floral decorations in metal. I can never remember the term. Under that painting by Guido Reni.

After Mass I was greeted by very many people. One of them is a young Vietnamese man who told me about the TLM being celebrated in Vietnam for the first time in a very long time. Also, he spends time in Finland.

I also had a wonderful conversation with two Koran pilgrims. And there were many others from the USA (Portland stands out!) and elsewhere.

The organizers of the conference I spoke at gave me a bottle of good Calvados. I brought it for lunch with the priests and the bishop after Mass. It went well with the apple pie.

I had a good chat with Bp. Rey. He has 95 – 95 – seminarians. 95. He has a missionary view. Tradition and a missionary spirit brings them.

I told him that one of the priests in his diocese and I were seminary companions and dear old friends, long sundered. He instantly got out his mobile phone and called him. Handing it over to me, we had cordial exchange of greetings. I guess have to go to S. France to see what is going on.

In these last few days I have had a flatmate. We went to met mutual friends, who came to Rome specifically for these days, atop the Minerva Hotel at their well-known roof-top terrace bar and restaurant. The view. In the distance St. Peter’s. Close, Sant’Ivo. The next dome, St. Agnes on the P.za Navona. The tower, Santa Maria dell’Anima.

I don’t get this. Beams of light shooting up through the oculus of the Pantheon. I don’t think they remember that it is a church. In any event, my symbol wasn’t being projected, so I didn’t have to dash off.

Supper was… fussy. This had something to do with mozzarella, though you wouldn’t have known from the flavor. That thing propped up on the side that looks like it belongs on a rock in the ocean…. no, the one the right… was pretty good.

A view on the way back to the apartment.

Tonight, supper out with a small group of very close friends.

Speaking of friends, a great fellow from Tokyo, Augustine, came for the pilgrimage. It was something to see him in his traditional kimono holding the UNA VOCE banner in St. Peter’s Basilica during the Pontifical Mass.

Knowing that it was to be my 6oth birthday, Augustine brought a gift of fine sake and a beautiful little sakazuki cup. The 60th birthday, kanreki (), is one of the most important in Japanese culture. The characters indicate “circulate” and “calendar”, which means that you have come back to the same lunar year as when you were born, in my case, the Boar. In other words, I’ve completed a cycle. The little sakazuki which my friend brought is delicate, of wood, with a gilded bowl with a stylized boar. I will treasure it.

Yesterday I stopped at the restaurant where we will eat tonight and told the chef (this guy’s got game, friends) and asked if he could create a special risotto that we could have with the sake. There are few things in life that give more lasting pleasure and good memories than an evening out with a select cohort in a legendary place with thoughtful gifts to share around.

So the countdown is coming to an end. Not only do I have some 60 hours remaining in this Roman sojourn, but, in Scripture, 60 is a threshold year when people enter the last major age of life.

Posted in On the road, What Fr. Z is up to |
37 Comments