Fr. Z's Blog

Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff.

Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Mass of obligation for this 4th Sunday after Easter (N.O. 5th Sunday OF Easter)?

Tell us about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass.

Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?

A taste of what I offered at 1 Peter 5 this week:

[…]

Desursum, “from above”, so that our hearts may be sursum, “upward”. Every good gift comes down from the Father of lights, with whom, as James says, there is “no variation or shadow due to change.” God is immutable. God is the source of all that is truly good. If the gift is not good, perhaps we should look elsewhere for its origin. Perhaps toward the “prince of this world”.

That phrase in the Gospel deserves attention. The Lord says that “the prince of this world is already judged,” or, in the RSV, “the ruler of this world is judged.” The “árchon toútou kósmou… princeps huius mundi” is the Devil. The same image of “archon… princeps” appears in the Synoptic tradition when the Lord’s enemies speak of Beelzebub as the “prince of the devils” (cf. Matthew 9:34; 12:24; Mark 3:22). In John 14:30, Christ says, “the prince of this world is coming. He has no power over me.” See also John 12:31.

There is no dualism here. God alone is King. The Devil, however marvelous a creature he once was before his fall, can never be king of anything. He can be a ruler in the sense of a tyrant. He can dominate, seduce, accuse, claim. Fallen angels have a measure of domination over material creation, always under the restraint of Almighty God. Because of Original Sin, we too fell under the domination of the Enemy of the Soul.

This explains the sober realism of the traditional Roman rites.

In the ancient rites of Baptism there are exorcisms. In the traditional Rituale Romanum, when priests bless certain objects, especially important sacramentals, there are exorcisms before constitutive blessings. When Father blesses an object in that way, he tears it away from the “prince of this world” and hands it over to the King. It is no longer ordered to ordinary, temporal, profane use. Profane comes from pro-fanum, “outside the sacred place”. After a constitutive blessing, the thing or place is sacred and demands reverent treatment. It now belongs, invisibly and juridically in the realm of sacred signs, to the dominion of Christ.

The new-fangled Book of Blessings, in its Preface, explicitly seeks to eliminate the distinction between invocative blessings and constitutive blessings. An invocative blessing calls down God’s favor here and now. A constitutive blessing renders a place, thing, or person sacred. That distinction matters. When we flatten such distinctions, we become poorer in our spiritual grammar.

When we eliminate, say, the Leonine Prayers after Low Mass, with their invocation of St. Michael the Archangel, and when we eliminate constitutive blessings, we are cruising for spiritual bruising. Look around.

[…]

In Rome we got sun at 06:02.

It set at 20:13.

The Ave Maria Bell is in the 20:30 cycle.

In the Novus Ordo calendar, along with being the 5th Sunday OF Easter, it is the Feast of the Apostles Philip and James the Lesser.

In the Vetus Ordo, in the back of the Missal, we find texts today the Feast of the Finding of the Cross.  The orations are terrific.

Please remember me when shopping online. Thanks in advance.  US HERE – UK HERE

Welcome Registrants:

Phil the Elder
LMC (added to the live stream list for when I start up again, since you followed Masses during COVID Theatre)

The damage this man did was inestimable.

I wonder if he found them easier to negotiate with than liturgists. https://t.co/p8q6UBIq1f

— Joseph Shaw (@LMSChairman) May 2, 2026

White to move and win.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

A screenshot of this instead of posting code, so that I don’t slime up my page.   Two comments.  A priest how long and that was a first Mass ad orientem?  Celebrating Mass this way is so far off his radar that he doesn’t know enough Latin to spell it correctly.  St. Ignatius would be so proud.

Pray that he have the courage to work with Courage.

I was out to lunch with The Great Roman™ after Mass today.   We went to a nearly legendary place right on the Campo and had a great meal.  We ate inside in the “upper room”.  It was quiet and some air was on the move with open windows.  The saltimbocca was, honestly, the best I’ve had in a Centro restaurant for years.  Mixed salad for veg and a glass of Cesanese (a varietal common in Lazio).  More on that below.

I took a big step.  I got my jasmine (no, not the Jesuit).   I’ll transplant it into that nearby planter and let it climb.

In the restaurant today there was a great framed “Bando” decree from 1716 fixing prices of meats, qualities and terms of sales.

I quite enjoy the stipulation that …

Terrific saltimbocca today.  With a little bread at the end … ho fatto la scarpetta.

UPDATE 3 May 2026:

Well!   This shows how out of touch I have been with the Novus Ordo and I posted from my work in the old days, on the 1970 edition.   But I did write about the 2002 edition Collect in 2016 HERE.   Folks, you can use the SEARCH feature.

In the 2002 edition of the Missale Romanum (the third typical edition), the Latin orations for the 5th Sunday of Easter were updated to include a new collect. This collect was drawn from Saturday of the fourth week of Easter in previous editions.  WHY???!???

Omnípotens sempiterne Deus, semper in nobis paschále perfice sacraméntum, ut, quos sacro baptísmate dignátus es renováre, mirábili tuitióne foveas. Per Dóminum.

Music Sacra has an interesting post which lists changes – TINKERITIS ANYONE? (if you needed more proof) – to the orations of the Easter season in the Novus Ordo.  HERE  It’s astonishing.  Here it is in small, just to give an idea.  You can see larger type there.

In case it’s of marginal interest to anyone:

I’ve discovered that a number of the collects for Easter weekdays are not ju2nd Week of Easter, Monday
was previously based on the 19th Week in Ordinary Time, but now has its own collect

2nd Week of Easter, Thursday
was previously the same as Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter, but now has its own collect

2nd Week of Easter, Friday
was previously the same as Wednesday of Holy Week, but now has its own collect

2nd Week of Easter, Saturday
was previously the same as the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time (and the Fifth Sunday of Easter), but now has two unqiue collects from which to choose

3rd Week of Easter, Monday
was previously the same as the 25th Week in Ordinary Time, but now has its own collect

4th Week of Easter, Monday
was previously the same as the 14th Week in Ordinary Time, but now has its own collect

4th Week of Easter, Saturday
now has a new collect because…

5th Sunday of Easter
was previously the same as the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time (and Saturday of the 2nd Week of Easter), but now has the collect that was previously assigned to Saturday of the 4th Week of Easter

5th Week of Easter, Monday
was previously the same as the 21st Week in Ordinary Time, but now has its own collect

6th Week of Easter, Tuesday
was previously the same as the Third Sunday of Easter, but now has its own collect

There is also a new collect provided for the Vigil Mass (and 1st Vepsers) of the Ascension, as well as an alternate collect for the Ascension itself.

While most of this work seems to be concentrated on Eastertide, there are a handful of other days in the Proper of Time that have had “touch-ups”:

In Lent, there is an new alternate collect provided for Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent.

The “new” collect for the Vigil Mass (and 1st Vespers) of the Epiphany was formerly the collect for January 7/Monday after the Epiphany, which has now received a new collect.

The alternate collect for the Baptism of the Lord is duplicated from January 8/Tuesday after the Epiphany.

This is because, in the «editio typica tertia» of the post-Vatican II «Missale Romanum», some of the Eastertide orations were exchanged/moved. The collect for Sun 5 Easter was one of these.
(pic 1 = 2002/08 MR, pic 2 = 1970 MR) https://t.co/9Z1ANNbGLp pic.twitter.com/SILqxLMGUm

— Matthew Hazell (@M_P_Hazell) May 3, 2026

Originally posted 2 May 2026

As we journey from the passion and Easter toward Ascension and Pentecost, the Church in Holy Mass leads us through meditations on the fruits of the Resurrection and our baptism.  Our mysterious procession was made possible by the Cross.  Our Collect today, for the 5th Sunday of Easter in the Ordinary Form calendar, is a delightful little piece of polished oratory.

It also has the Cross at its core.

Deus, per quem nobis et redemptio venit et praestatur adoptio, filios dilectionis tuae benignus intende, ut in Christo credentibus et vera tribuatur libertas, et hereditas aeterna.

This prayer, not in pre-Conciliar editions of the Roman Missal, was in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary in a section for evening prayers during Paschaltide. Its vocabulary suggests Patristic sources (e.g., Hilary of Poitiers, de trin 6, 44; Ambrose of Milan, ep 9, 65, 5).

Note the lovely chiasms (from the Greek letter chi, which looks like a “X”): redemptio venit…praestatur adoptio (subject verb – verb subject … and note that the endings of the subjects match) and vera libertas…hereditas aeterna (adjective noun – noun adjective).  These rhetorical flourishes are intended to delight the ear and help us link concepts within the text.  A chiasm is mapped out as

A       B
X
B        A

The Cross is embedded in the prayer’s very structure.

LITERAL VERSION:

O God, from whom both redemption comes to us and adoption is fulfilled for us, kindly give attention to your beloved children, so that both true freedom and an everlasting inheritance may be bestowed on those believing in Christ.

We pray for the freedom that is true, not the false and deceptive freedom of those enslaved to the world, the flesh and the devil… or false mercy, which fogs over the truth deceiving people smoothly.  We want an inheritance which is lasting, eternal, not passing.

CURRENT ICEL (2011):

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance.

Christ is the Father’s Son by His nature (He is consubstantial with the Father). We are sons and daughters by grace (conferred through baptism).

Our adoption through grace is “perfect” (perfecta).  It is complete (perficio, “bring to an end or conclusion, finish, complete”).  God the Holy Trinity puts the imperishable mark upon us in baptism and confirmation.  Nevertheless, our redemption and adoption, our freedom and inheritance, will only be completed and ratified as such if we persevere throughout our lives and, having died in a state of grace, having died in the supernatural love which is charity, we see God face to face.

Today’s Collect has its foundation certainly in the New Testament’s imagery of adoption (Ephesians 1:5, Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:5), but I think it also flows out of ancient Roman legal concepts of manumission and adoption, the freeing of slaves and the adoption of heirs.

In ancient Rome even a father’s natural children required his recognition before they were legally legitimate and heirs with any rights.  Adoption could grant those same rights and privileges.  Roman adoptio removed a person from one familia and put him into another, placing him under the authority of the paterfamilias, the head of the family and whole household.

By baptism and the life of grace, we are not only freed from the slavery of sin and death, but we undergo an adoption.

We are not merely former slaves, we are free members of the Church and sons and daughters of God.

No longer subject to Satan and destined for hell, we are now under new mastership and fatherhood of God.

Our prayer today also underscores the concepts of redemption and adoption, together with freedom and inheritance.  This too is reflected within the Collect, in another pattern of words called synchesis (A-B-A-B) useful for showing how one set of concepts reveals the relationship of another set.

The subjects of the Collect are found in this order:

Freedom is the result of redemption, inheritance the result of adoption.

This week we have connections and interconnections of words.  The phrases and patterns they make weave in and out of each other.  It seems to me that this whole collect provides a good reflection on how deeply intertwined are the effects of the resurrection.   And – the Cross – makes this all possible.

redemptio ↔ adoptio (A – A)
                ⤡     ⤢
        ⇵   dilectio   ⇵
                ⤢     ⤡
libertas ↔ hereditas (B – B)
And even as the Cross over-weaves the prayer, in the very heart we find dilectio, “love”.

It’s the feast of St. Joseph Opifex… the Worker. On 19 March 1937 (the Feast of Saint Joseph), Pius XI placed “the vast campaign of the Church against world Communism under the standard of Saint Joseph, her mighty protector.” In 1955, Pius XII established the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker on 1 May. He said that he was instituting the new feast “so that the dignity of human labor might sink more deeply into souls”. This is an explicit anti-Communist, anti-Socialist day for the Church favoring the dignity of the human person who works. As Pius IX wrote, no one can be both a Socialist and a Catholic.

The Roman sun rose at 6:07 on this feast, a civic holiday in Italy – Labor Day – probably because it is a special day for Communists. That’s how things are, I’m afraid.  It was chosen by Marxists to be International Workers’ Day to commemorate the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. The sun will set on Rome at 20:09.

The Ave Maria Bell is supposed to ring at 20:30.

It is the Feast of the Old Testament Prophet Jeremiah.   He figures in a newish book by Michael O’Brien, By The Waters Of Babylon which follows the youth and exile of Ezekiel with the Jews. O’Brien is a pleasure to read.  US HERE  UK HERE

It is a 1st Friday.

I was out with a friend tonight.  An aperitif at a usual spot, then to a place he remembered we have been to before and he liked.

The caponata is terrific.

He has a pistacchio crusted salmon with cabbage.

I, some pasta with tuna, artichoke and mentuccia.  While good, it was not something that I will get again.

It was one of the dailies.  Here are the others.   Maybe too many?

Full moon tonight.

CLICK

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

White can mate in 4.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

Interested in learning?  Try THIS.

At 6:06 the sun began to appear in Rome.

It’s evening disappearing act commences at 20:10.

The Ave Maria Bell is in it’s 20:30 cycle.

In the NO calendar we celebrate St. Pius V and in the VO, St. Catherine of Siena.

It is the Feast of St. Quirinus, martyr.

This is the 120th day of the year.   Full Moon tomorrow.

This morning was cloudy, but we wound up with clear deep blue skies and a breeze. It was a real pleasure to walk about after Mass. I went for a hair cut and a chat with mighty Pippo the florist about getting a jasmine (not the Jesuit) for my micro patio. He was against it because when I go, it will need watering. However, this afternoon a spoke with the fellow who cleans the entrance to my building every Thursday. He has to go back to the area where my patio is to get water for mopping the pavement. He said he would water my plants when I am gone. So, I am going to get myself a jasmine (not the Jesuit) and let it start doing its jasmine things (not promoting a sin that cries to Heaven). Will post a photo? You bet. However, I must wait until Saturday because tomorrow is a holiday and Pippo won’t be at the Campo. Non vedo l’ora.

Welcome Registrants:

Hiram
thequietsacristan

Of great interest…

CLICK

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

Anyone who has spent time as an adult on earth will recognize this… at least if you have spent even 10 minutes in Italy, the shape is so iconic.

La bottiglietta del Campari è stata realizzata da Fortunato Depero che si era ispirato alla figura degli scacchi e in particolare al Re: una forma triangolare e il tappo a corona, messo al contrario.
Non ha etichette e tutte le informazioni sul prodotto sono riportate sul tappo. pic.twitter.com/Yp0TV756zU

— MarioBruno Marino ???? (@mbmarino) April 29, 2026

Here are a couple of the jasmines (not the Jesuit).

If you want to visit the mighty Pippo’s site…

I already have a basil and rosemary for my cooking.  I might need a lavender too, but not for the Jesuit.

BTW… today I was told by Pippo and Anastasia that one of the priests from The Parish™ stopped in after a long absence.  “Of course”, quoth I, “tomorrow is May, the month dedicated to Mary and many flowers will be needed for her altar for the whole month.”

Also, in The Parish™ news, as I left church after Mass, a crew was returning from cleaning the little chapel up the street that once held the original of the beautiful Marian image now venerated in church.  Recent contacts were made with the management of the government entity that controls that little property and it is now being thoroughly cleaned and redecorated, including with the replacement of the copy of the original painting.   I wrote with photos HERE a couple of years ago when it was open – a very rare occasion back in the day.

It will be great once there is a new lighting system.

A couple nights ago I made a couple of involtini, to cover a couple of days.

I love the Roman afternoon colors.

Rome enjoyed a new sunrise at 06:07 and looks forward to another beautiful building hue changing sunset this evening at 20:09.

Entering a new cycle, the Ave Maria is supposed to ring… but won’t… mostly… at 2o:30.

In the Novus calendar it is the Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, Patroness of Italy. In the Vetus calendar, she is celebrated tomorrow in the Vetus Ordo. Today, however, in the Vetus is the Feast of St Peter Martyr, who was killed with a sword to the head by a Cathar assassin.  Those zany Cathars!  He is said to have, in life, conversed with Sts. Catherine of Alexandria, Agnes and Cecilia.  I think the Novus Ordo dropped him completely, because, really, who cares about the first Dominican martyr, right?  In the sacristy today, I conversed with a deacon from Milan who described that the skull of St Peter clearly reveals his death wound.   Fastest canonization in history. Greg DiPippo posted interesting photos over at NLM.

CLICK

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

BTW… I received a report today… it was way down, which is a bit of a problem.

Towards Sant’Eustachio.

It was only a matter of time.

Meanwhile,  white to move.

NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.