Today is the anniversary of the edict of 24 May 1766 in which the Monsignore Illustrissimo e Reverendissimo Presidente delle Strade prohibited littering and dumping in the Via Borgognona. Someone caught dumping here would be fined 10 scudi and given three “tratti di corda” with perhaps other punishments.
What are “tratti di corda”? It sounds like, maybe, “lashes”. Nope. This is also known as “strappado”. They tied your hands behind your back and then suspend you by the wrists, which results in dislocated shoulders. They could add additional weight. It would last about an hour. This form of punishment is still used today as a torture.
Just between the Campo de’ Fiori and the Piazza Farnese in Rome, in other words where I walked almost every day when in Rome, there is a street called the Via della Corda.
Corda could refer to the fact that the Campo was a place where public punishments of the corda were carried out. The street was originally a “vicolo” or “alley”, but in 1925 the city changed it to “via”.
The Roman poet Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (“er Belli”) wrote about tratti di corda in one of his Roman dialect sonnets:
Prima la corda al corso era un supprizzio,
che un galantuomo che l’avessi presa
manco era bbono ppiù a sservì la chiesa,
manco a ffà er ladro e a gguadaggnà sur vizio
“Before, the corda on the pulley was punishment, that a gentlemen who had taken it lacked the ability any longer to serve the Church, couldn’t be a thief and to make money by vice.”
Consider that St. Charles Borromeo assigned tratti di corda against the excesses of “carnevale” before Lent, imposing two times for those who transgressed on religious holidays or who had worn ecclesiastical clothing as a costume.
A certain group comes to mind.
St. John Sarkander, martyr, was tortured this way because he refused to reveal the contents of a confession to a fully Protestant court. He died in agony in prison on 17 March 1620.
This… for littering… dumping.
Cities in those days were bad enough without garbage being left everywhere. Strong measures were needed. Also, in those days people were injured to discomfort and pain on a daily basis. Simple punishments would be brushed off. Hence, they used punishments that actually got people’s attention.
Life was hard.
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In chessy news, I read an interview with world champ Ding Liren. He will compete at the upcoming Norway Chess, tough field. Ding said that his goals were “not to come in last” and that he had to show at least his “second-best”. Gosh. It makes me wonder if what Magnus opined about Ding might be true. Magnus wondered if Ding wasn’t “permanently broken”.
Chess is hard.
Is this hard? White to move and mate in two.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
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At NLM there is a great explanation of the Pentecost Roman Stations.
I find these historical details interesting because we find traces of ancient things in the traditional rites even today.
In any event, if I am to be believed, the Pentecost Friday Roman Station is Dodici Apostoli, Twelve Apostles, because that’s where Friday Ember Day Stations are. Believe me.
The texts of the Mass today are rather calming, as befits summery pursuits. Crops are planted. Early harvest of first fruits and grains are in. Other plantings and fruits are maturing. The days are long, warm, languid. There is always something to be done, but there is daylight for leisure.
The reading from Joel is about the harvest, and grain and wine and the gifts of God. The Antiphons and Gradual are all pretty joyful.
The Gospel is about the man whose friends lower him through the roof to get him to Jesus, who heals him. It’s a great moment in the Gospels.
Today in our Collect we have a return of the theme of “the enemy”.
Grant to Your Church, we beseech You, almighty God, that, united by the Holy Spirit, she may in no way be harmed by any assault of the enemy.
But for the most part, the overwhelming attitude of the Mass is joyful contentment with the abundant gifts of God.
Perhaps the idea of the enemy in the Collect, making a disturbance of the peace, is offset by the images of the paralytic man’s friends making a disturbance. Making a mess, but in a good sense.
Enemies tear houses apart. The man’s friends tore a hole in the roof. Both make disturbances, but with different scopes in mind and different outcomes.
The Postcommunion seems to echo what happened in the Gospel, thus tying our minds in the moment of Communion to the healing, strengthening effects of the Eucharist:
“We who have received the gift of Your Blessed Sacrament, O Lord, humbly pray that what You have taught us to do in commemoration of You, may profit and help us in our weakness.”
As I write, I have a thought of all your priests being the friends who tear a hole in the roof to get you to the Lord. The friends lowered the man. The priests bring the Lord down to you. The fabric of the roof is torn open.
The division of heaven from earth is ripped asunder and Christ is called down, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
But we have to turn this sock inside out. Even as this image takes form under my tapping fingers, it is really you lay people who are the ones who get that roof apart and get us priests to the Lord.
You do the heavy… lowering. We would be lost without you, frozen, unable to move.
Thank you for being our stretcher bearers.
Also, years ago, I made a series of PODCAzTs for the Octave of Pentecost. My technical abilities have improved a little since then, and I seem to have had a little more energy, but they aren’t bad.
So, these are from 2008… Benedict XVI was Pope.
1. Pentecost Monday: PODCAzT 56: Octaves – Fr. Z rants & Augustine on Pentecost
2. Pentecost Tuesday: PODCAzT 57: John Paul II on the unforgivable sin; Our Lady of Fatima and the vision of Hell
3. Pentecost Wednesday:PODCAzT 58: Ember Days; Chrysostom on St. Matthias; Prayer to the Holy Spirit
4. Pentecost Thursday: PODCAzT 59: Leo the Great on Pentecost fasting; Benedict XVI’s sermon for Pentecost Sunday
5. Pentecost Friday: PODCAzT 60: Pentecost customs; St. Ambrose on the dew of the Holy Spirit
6. Pentecost Saturday: PODCAzT 61: Pope Leo I on a post-Pentecost weekday; Fr. Z rambles not quite aimlessly for a while
UPDATE:
(1/2) Further on the suppression of the Octave of Pentecost in the Novus Ordo, here is a diagram of where the unique collects, secrets and postcommunions in the 1962 ended up in the 1970/2008 Missal, and how many orations were edited—note that one-third of them were deleted! https://t.co/wjMLHnVWg8pic.twitter.com/eb2IgChKQR
In 2012 the Congregation for Divine Worship allowed that the Thursday after Pentecost could be celebrated as the Feast of Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest. Music Sacra Forum as a link to the Latin texts for the Novus Ordo feast, as they appear in Notitiae 2012, 335-368.
It’s almost as if someone said, “This time after Pentecost seems a little empty. I wonder what we could do to spice it up?”
May I make a request? Perhaps today (or everyday) you could pray for a priest. I have a link on the side bar to a Daily Prayer for Priests.
It might be good to pray not only for priests whom you like, but especially for priests whom you find seriously annoying or troubling.
The Roman Station is St. Lawrence outside the walls, which is where it was in the Easter Octave on Wednesday.
In the Gospel from Luke 9, Jesus sends the Apostles out with authority to heal and cast out demons. In the Epistle from Acts 8, Deacon Philip is in Samaria doing the same.
For the rest, the remaining Mass propers are like those of Pentecost Sunday.
I note in the Epistle, “And the crowds with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip… So there was great joy in that city.”
I note in the Gospel, “And whatever house you enter, stay there, and do not depart from thence. And whosoever will not receive you – go forth from that town, and shake off even the dust from your feet for a witness against them.”
A common thread here is docility and acceptance of the Good News.
Where there is acceptance there is healing.
Where there is not, there is no joy in “dustville“.
The Lord Himself established the attitude that the Apostles (bishops and priests today?) should have.
In Latin, “étiam púlverem pedum vestrórum excútite in testimónium supra illos“. The Greek says, “kai koniortos“. In Greek, kai is a conjunction, a copulative like “and”. It is also a form of karate associated with a particular kind of snake practiced in the Receda area of L.A. where the vampires pass by on Ventura Boulevard. Sometimes I just want to see if anyone really reads this stuff. However, kai, the Greek particle, not the karate, can also lend greater force to what follows, which is how we get that Latin etiam that comes into English as ” don’t just leave that town but even shake the dust off your feet”. Leave it and forget it and the dust – whence all of them were made and to which they will return – will remain there as a reminder of what they lost: life, joy.
When dust is in the picture, something is up. Or rather, down.
This points to consequences for all of us when we reject something from God.
What pops into my mind is the rejection of a vocation.
For example, say someone has a vocation to marry, but… won’t. That person will be restless. Say someone doesn’t have the vocation to marry, but… does… and then abandons the marriage. Sorry, can’t do that.
Say the same about religious life or about priesthood.
Yes yes, there are ways to deal with “being in the wrong place”.
In canon law there is acknowledgement that marriages at times don’t work. The innocent one of the couple could in, for example, cases of infidelity, adultery, seek a separation from the other (not divorce, mind you). Canon Law even states that the bishop can be involved in this decision. This can be misunderstood by the poorly informed as asking a bishop to grant something so there can be a civil divorce, which clearly is a misunderstanding of the law: bishops aren’t going to be involved in divorces. Or they shouldn’t be. Similarly, there are paths for clerics to be relieved of the obligations of the clerical state.
However, both of these are exceptions and exceptions are … well… exceptions. They, by definition, are not the norm.
In most cases the better path forward is to bear the crosses that flow from the obligations one has chosen, that come from choosing that fork in the road rather than the other, and apply oneself with humble perseverance for the sake of saving one’s soul.
Life is short and eternity is long.
This pretty much flies in the face of the squishy messaging in certain documents with infamous footnotes that present the hard aspects of vocations as nearly impossible “ideals” that no one can be expected to be able to reach. Hence, there ought to be even greater and multiple paths “out” of whatever hard situation one finds oneself in. It’s a manifestation, I think, of a Christian-lite, one without the Cross, and maybe a dose of … wokey confusion about reality.
It is an aspect of fallen human nature to tend toward the easy path and to avoid the crosses life brings. We should be wary of this tendency. I do NOT mean that must always choose the way of greater suffering. But I think it is good to double-check oneself, even to consult, to determine what God wants.
Going back to Luke 9, when the Lord sent the Apostles out with His authority, He also told them not to take those things along by which they could possibly make a living or easily obtain creature comfort: they were to rely only on “the sending” … which was from Jesus alone. That probably entailed hunger and thirst during their mission. Not to mention anxiety and danger.
It was a harder path. But it was one which brought them their joy later.
It also provided an opportunity for people to be generous to the Apostles, in gratitude for their instruction, healing and the life of freedom as children of God.
In light of the many comments and interest in the topic, I reached out to a few bishops with whom I have some correspondence about quizzing and slapping at confirmation. I received three responses back, though I hope for a couple more.
Here’s what I received, somewhat edited to preserve anonymity:
Bishop 1
Good to hear from you. Hope you are well in these chaotic times.
I was confirmed in the old rite – in second grade. We were slapped. The Bishop did not, to my recollection, ask us questions. We were prepared ahead of time in Catechism at the Catholic school, of course.
As a parish priest, most the times the Bishop came to the parish for Confirmation. They did ask questions during the ‘homily time.’ No slap (although I heard that auxiliary Bishop X used to use the slap).
I have confirmed in the old Rite a few times. I slapped them as called for by the rubric. In the Novus Ordo, I did not use a slap. I anoint them and afterwards say “peace be with you” and handshake.
Most all times I confirmed, I met the candidates with their sponsors before the Mass, usually in the parish hall or wherever they were getting ready. I would ask some questions. I didn’t do it during the Confirmation itself, because it had not been the local custom.
Bishop 2
By my recollection, we were quizzed at the time of the homily, but the questions were all softballs. We were not slapped, but I do remember the bishop being somewhat cranky!
In practice, I never quiz the candidates, basically for the reasons outlined in the article. It is a Mass (usually) and the conferral of a Sacrament. I prefer to use the time that I have with the candidates and their sponsors before the Mass to connect with them, and then of course, in the homily to exhort them to understand the effects of the Sacrament , and to encourage the candidates to really live their Faith. By extension, I always hope that the message is heard by all of the rest of the “Catholics.” All in all, I think it’s a great opportunity to put a good face on the Church. Attitude, eye contact, joyfulness all are important.
And the only time I have slapped is when conferring the Sacrament in the traditional form.
Bishop3
When I was confirmed in 1962, a priest was assigned to question the confirmands before the bishop conferred upon us the Sacrament of Confirmation.
In confirming us, after the anointing with the Sacred Chrism, the bishop gave us a slight blow to the cheek while saying “Peace be with you.”
I do not question the confirmands when I administer the Sacrament of Confirmation, whether according to the old rite or the new rite. Since I require that the pastor of each confirmand formally declare that the confirmand is prepared to receive the Sacrament, I do not see the need to question them further.
When confirming according to the old rite, a give a slight blow to the cheek of the confirmand, as is prescribed in the Roman Pontifical.
When confirming according to the new rite, the gesture is not prescribed and, therefore, I do not give the slight blow to the cheek. In this, I follow the discipline of not mixing elements of the two uses but, rather, respecting the integrity of each use.
I hope that the above is of some help to you.
Be assured of a daily remembrance in my prayers.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED May 20, 2024 at 16:35
I went to Fishwrap (aka National Sodomitic Reporter) to see if there were any spittle-flecked nutties about Harrison Butker. They didn’t disappoint, which is itself a disappointment.
I found an opinion piece stating that bishops should not quiz confirmands about any fundamentals of the Catholic Faith. You know, old, backward stuff like, “What is a sacrament?” and “Who are the three persons of the Trinity?”.
You laugh. Don’t. I was in a midwestern suburban parish and I was given the chore of checking on the preparation of confirmands. These were, essentially middle school and high school kids. The results were terrifying. Worse was the 1st Communion prep, which elicited a response from a boy about the Eucharist: “You mean that piece of bread thing?”
At Fishwrap, Confirmation seems to be about feeling good.
It is a liturgy, a moment in which we ask the Holy Spirit to come down and fill the hearts of the confirmands. Creating a situation which causes them to enter in with anxiety or worse undermines their ability to experience that.
Construing confirmation as a kind of culminating exam also demeans all of the prior work that the confirmands have done.
The old formula “fill the hearts of your faithful” is the from the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, which has unfathomably rich vocabulary – in Latin – when properly understood. In the antiphon and the oration the Latin word for “heart” is used twice, especially in “light” (illusratio) of the rational soul (recta sapere). We ask the the hearts (minds, intellect which under the operation of the will seeks to understand and, in knowing and understanding, seeks the more in love and be in the union of peace with the beloved) be enflamed with the Spirit, which is the Spirit of Love and of Truth (which has content).
Also, these days there is great interest in doing things the way that ancient Christians did, provided that it doesn’t involve anything “traditional”. Hence, those being prepared for sacraments have to jump through lots of hoopy stages and endure being sent out during Mass etc. Never mind that in ancient times there were exorcisms and scrutinies. Yes, they were expected to know something.
When I was brought into the Church, I was expected to know things. And I did. When I was ordained, I was expected to know things, and I was grilled by various Roman profs on many theses we had to prepare. It is reasonable to expect that we know the Faith. You can’t love what you don’t know. You can’t pass on what you don’t know either. As my old pastor used to say: Nemo dat quod non ‘got’!
When I was brought into the Church, the old pastor delayed confirming me because he thought it would be better for me to be confirmed by a bishop, in this case a former pastor of the same parish who had retired from being the first bishop of New Ulm, a lovely man, Bp. Alphonse Schladweiler. He quizzed me, a little, and slapped me too, and rightly so.
Anyway, there is a funny story about old Schlady and a confirmation during which he quizzed. At a confirmation he once said, in his booming voice, “Now children, the bishop has been asking you questions. Do you have any questions for the bishop?” Always dangerous. One lad piped up, “What’s a Monsignor?” The priest at the place was a Monsignor. Without missing a beat the old bishop said “Why, sonny, a Monsignor is the cross that hangs around the bishop’s neck!”
There’s a lot more to say about Confirmation and about Monsignors.
Were you quizzed? Were you slapped? Do you have recollections of your Confirmation?
Today is the Feast of St. Giovanni Battista de Rossi, who was at Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome (my adoptive parish). He was entombed beneath the altar of one of the side chapels for a long time, until a church was built on the periphery of Rome. His body was translated. However, the side chapel and tomb are still sacred and relics, by the fact that the saints body was there.
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White to move and mate in 2. There’s more than one way to skin the black king.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
At my adoptive parish in Rome, where St. Philip Neri estabished the historically important Archconfraternity of the Pilgrims and Convalescents, it is time for the Triduum before the Saint’s feast day, 26 May. Therefore, the Litany of St. Philip is sung and the prayer penned by Card. Baronio is recited.SS
If you want to follow along and participate at a distance, use the booklet in this zip file. HERE
Another Octave ramble which might have a couple of surprises.
Back in the day, 5th c or so, Pentecost was enriched with an Octave, thus extending the festal character of the great feast. For a while they were bumped.
In the 11th c. St. Pope Gregory VII, Hildebrand*, reinstated them while keeping the festive tone of the Octave.
If the Octave of Pentecost can be abolished for the Novus Ordo calendar, it can be reinstated, just as John Paul II reinstated “Prayers over the people” during Lent.
If the Ember Days can be de facto suppressed through lack of interest and ignorance, they can be reinstated through education and pursuit.
Oh Lord, please send us another Hildebrand?
Consider what Gregory VII’s approach to “Eucharistic consistency” (or is it “Eucharistic coherence”…) might be.
Consider what Gregory VII would do about prelates who waffle on morals, who do nothing about schlock worship, etc.
Today’s Roman Station is St. Mary Major, the place traditionally for scrutinies of candidates for ordination. Ember Saturdays were traditionally days for ordinations.
If I had my way, we would call some back for scrutinies! In my day in Rome, before ordination to the diaconate and to the priesthood we had pretty thorough “scrutinies”. We went around a big room from table to where there was a priest scrutineer who would interrogate us about the material of which he was an expert. These guys were usually professors from the Pontifical Universities.
Because this is an Ember Day, we have, first, two readings from Acts 2 and Acts 5, with a “Flectamus genua” for good measure, and then a Gospel pericope from the Bread of Life discourse in John 6.
Acts 2 relates the descent of the Holy Spirit and then Peter’s preaching with the conversion of many. Peter talks about the wonders people will see.
Acts 5 opens with the sad case of Ananias and Sapphira. Later the Apostles are imprisoned, but angels let them out. When the big shots started to freak out, Gamaliel counseled patience to see if what the Apostles were doing was from God. In this reading, the Apostles work many signs, many cures. Even Peter’s shadow cured. Many believed.
A few points spring to mind, in no special order.
First, Gamaliel counseled patience. If what the Apostles were doing was from God, it would endure and produce good things. If it was not, that would become clear.
Would that today our Whatevers High Atop The Thing would have even a hair’s breadth of such wise patience when it comes to something that really doesn’t need to prove itself because it already had a track record of centuries.
The Vetus Ordo has a track record and the Novus Ordo does not. Rather, the Novus Ordo’s incipient track record isn’t that impressive.
Ratzinger said, way back in the day, and I’ve been saying this for decades, that the two rites (that’s what they are, let’s not kid ourselves) should be freely offered in the best way, most faithful way possible, side by side. People will show us the way forward.
But … progressivists, you see, the catholic Left, liberals (from the Latin “free”, meaning for a liberal you are only “free” to agree with liberals), are afraid of freedom when it comes to that which stands as a bulwark against erosion of doctrine and – wait for it – morals. There is nothing to fear from the Vetus Ordo and the people who want it, unless, that is, you fear large, happy, devout families with many children who participate in the life of the Church, which they love.
Second, Peter’s shadow healed. This struck me as I said Mass in the presence of relics.
The association with holiness, and with the mediated power of Christ, is so mighty that it can effect miracles of healing. A part of a saint’s body or a possession that was a often used and decorous (such as clothing, a writing pen, a holy image or book, a rosary or chalice), and appropriate object which come into contact with them, are considered relics. Miracles can be effected through them. Peter’s shadow healed!
The power of mediation should ever be in our minds. John was the voice and Christ the Word. “He who hears you hears me”. “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven…”. The priest says, in persons Christi, “This is my Body…”.
Next, Peter’s shadow healed because of his association with and commissioning by the Lord, Light from Light. It is vitally – in the literal sense of that word – important to stay close to the Light source. Holy Church is a Light house for us, as well as the Barque it directs. The farther we get from the light source, the weaker it gets and and fuzzier the shadow or beam. TRADITION keeps us close to the light source. Hence, Tradidi quod et accepi.
To attack Tradition is to attack Christ and His Church. It is suicidal to attack within the Church those who are attracted to Church’s Tradition.
In addition, the Mass texts today shift to different themes. Pentecost and Monday and Tuesday (before Ember Days) all contained protection from harm by the enemy.
Something about the Descent of the Spirit has always twitched at my mind. Acts 2:1 says “they were all together in one place”. But there were quite a few believers at the time, at least 120. All in one place? The upper room wasn’t big enough. BUT… this is the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot!
They were not in the Upper Room. They were in the TEMPLE.
Males were to go to the Temple for the Shavuot – Pentecost – spring harvest festival celebration involving the wave offerings in the Temple of the harvest fruits, loaves baked from the first sheaves. The Temple was certainly “big enough” for all the disciples. And that is where they were! Acts 2:2 says a wind came (the Holy Spirit) and “filled the house”, Greek oikos. Oikos can be house, of course, but it can also mean any building, including the Temple, the house of God (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46; John 2:16f, (Isaiah 56:5, 7); cf. Luke 11:51; Acts 7:47, 49).
Remember what we read at the end of Luke 24:50-53 and the account of the Ascension of the Lord?
Then [Jesus] led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
They were continually in the Temple. Why? Among other reasons, Shavuot. When Acts says they were in the “house”, they were in the Temple. Jewish festivals looked back to historical events and they looked forward to something yet to be fulfilled. Shavuot looked back to the descent of God on the mountain in the fiery presence cloud, shekinah, when God gave the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. Shavuot looked forward to the return of the fiery “presence cloud” to the Temple which had departed with the destruction of the first Temple. That’s Pentecost: Shavuot fulfilled. The first fruits this time being the 3000 baptized.
What happens after the mighty wind and tongues of fire? A huge crowd hears Peter’s sermon. Where was that? In the Temple. When did it take place? At 9:00 in the morning. Remember the line about drunkenness?
This was the 3rd hour of the morning and the time of the tamid, the sacrifice of the first of the two daily lambs.
To baptize all those people they would have needed a place with a lot of water. There was such a place nearby, pools for ritual cleansing before going to the Temple.
I am reminded of Ezekiel 6:26:
“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
A new SPIRIT I will put within you. I will take away this TEMPLE of STONE and give you a TEMPLE of FLESH.
This took place in the Temple which lost the glory cloud of fire of the presence of God. The presence of God as fire returns and settles not in the Holy Holies where the Ark was, but rather on the New Ark, Mary and on the Apostles and, through baptism in the hearts of the new believers, new Temples of the Holy Spirit.
In the Introit of today’s Mass we pray: “O God, when You went forth at the head of Your people, making a passage for them, dwelling in their midst…” A reference to the fire cloud that led the people.
In the Collect we pray something that echoes that image of the guiding freedom-bringing fire: “May the Paraclete Who proceeds from You, enlighten our minds, we beseech You, O Lord, and guide us to all truth, as Your Son has promised.”
In the Second Collect, remember it is an Ember Day with two first readings, we get this. See if it doesn’t bind together my thoughts, above:
Grant, we beseech You, almighty and most merciful God, that the Holy Spirit may come to dwell in us, graciously making us a temple of His glory.
*Coincidently, today, 22 May, is the same day in 1073 when Gregory, who was Rome’s archdeacon at the time he was proclaimed Pope first by popular acclaim and then due election, was ordained to the priesthood. In that year 22 May was the feast of Pentecost.
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In chessy news… not much. Our OTB club played against another town’s OTB club yesterday. We won, by two matches. I lost to a very strong player and fought my way back from a losing position for a draw.
Click and join!
At chess.com I read that for “Titled Tuesday” (a weekly online tournament including only players with titles like International Master, Grand Master, etc.) Faustino Oro with 9.5 outperformed world #1 Magnus Carlsen, #2 Fabiano Caruana and #3 Hikaru Nakamura who all had 9.0. Faustino is 10 years old.
White to move and mate in 2.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Tuesday in the Octave of Pentecost. Another little ramble.
The Octave has Roman Stations. As the last two days honored St. Peter at churches bearing his name, one would expect now that St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles should be acknowledged with a trip to St. Paul’s outside the walls. However, because – as I can attest at the very moment I am writing this – it is blazing hot in the sun at this time of year – the Station was fixed at the important St. Anastasia, a church of the imperial court in the Greek and Byzantine section of the City near the markets and below the Palatine Hill.
The Octave was developed in Rome when there was strong Greek, Byzantine presence. So, it makes a measure of sense that the Introit would be from a Greek apocryphal book 4 Esdras.
In Acts 8 we read that Saul was still ravaging the Church, even going house to house and dragging people off to prison. Deacon Philip, in Samaria, was preaching and exorcizing and healing: remember that curing illness went hand in hand with exorcism. Philip baptized, but it was necessary for Apostles, Peter and John, to come to confer the Holy Spirit.
This is when a certain Simon tried to buy the power to confer the Holy Spirit, thus giving rise to the term “simony” for the selling and buying of spiritual goods. Then in Acts 8 Deacon Philip gets a directive from an angel to go find the Ethiopian Eunuch, thus giving rise to the great image found in the traditional blessing of vehicles. Thereafter, Philip gets whipped away by the angel to Azotus, bringing chapter 8 to a close.
Notice that yesterday Mass ended with a prayer for protection against the fury of enemies. The chapter of Acts we hear from today doesn’t begin with the first verses, but people knew their Scripture well. They knew what was going on in Acts 8 and that Saul was ravaging the Church.
We just learned that Nigeria Muslim terrorists killed over 50 people in an attack on a church during Mass on Pentecost Sunday.
As bad as that is, what is worse is the active erosion by priests and bishops of the church in the belief and practice of sound Christian morals on the part of their flocks. It is one thing to slay the body. It is another to endanger the soul.
Good shepherds?
Curiously, there is a good shepherd parable in the Gospel. In the traditional lectionary for Mass, there are various “Shepherd Masses”, as it were, and they pop up around the beginning of new seasons, for example, Monday after the 1st Sunday of Lent, Second Sunday after Easter, third Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel today is from John 10.
Our Lord says today, ““Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber;…”
I can’t help but think that those who put together the ancient Lectionary (0f the Vetus Ordo Mass) knew the context of Acts 8 and Simon and his “simony”. The Gospel concludes with the ominous: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Again, the emphases on an enemy at this happy time of the Octave.
The Collect today:
Adsit nobis, qu?sumus, Dómine, virtus Spíritus Sancti: quæ et corda nostra cleménter expúrget, et ab ómnibus tueátur advérsis.
Let the power of the Holy Spirit be present within us, O Lord: that It may graciously cleanse our hearts and guard us from all adversaries.
Guard us.
That’s what a good shepherd does. A good shepherd protects the sheepfold, gives them good water, good pasturing for nourishment.
Before Christ ascended He said He would send not just an advocate, a parakletos, but another parakletos. A parakletos is someone who stands by you, protects you under fire, counsels and guides, in fact shepherds you through perils. Christ is the 1st parakletos and the Holy Spirit is 2nd, showing how the work of the Trinity is present in each of the Persons, though for our understanding it is “teased out”.
Pray for an abundant outpouring of the parakletos on your priests and bishops, perhaps even to covert the hearts and illumine their minds so that they leave their enervating appearance of action in the Church and move to concrete work consonant with the Tradition handed down to us by true men of action in our forebears. Pray for a softening of the rigidity of hatred for the ways of our forefathers especially in liturgical practice.
Once in the thousands, there are still some 500 “maddonelle” in the City.
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I played OTB in a rather informal tournament against another club. Our club won, in spite of my best efforts. Brief bragging rights, I guess. We will have to travel to them next time.
Meanwhile, white to play. Mate in 2.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
In chessy news, you may have heard of chess boxing (a round of boxing and then chess between rounds). Now there is chess bull riding. Chess bull riding is not bullet with trash talk. Well… there isn’t actually chess bull riding yet, but there ought to be. It seems that in a recent publicity spot, a couple of bull rivals were shown playing chess.
I don’t know how it would be possible to combine rodeo and chess, but I’d watch. I have loved rodeo since I was a little shaver.
These cowboys are on chess.com, it seems. So am I and so should you be! Use my link.
Let’s have a look at the Collect for today’s Mass of Pentecost Monday.
COLLECT (1962MR): Deus, qui Apostolis tuis
Sanctum dedisti Spiritum:
concede plebi tuae piae petitionis effectum;
ut, quibus dedisti fidem, largiaris et pacem.
I found this prayer in the 8th c. Liber sacramentorum Gellonensis.
I like that elegant splitting of Spiritum Sanctum with dedisti.
Our trusty Lewis & Short reminds us that effectus, us, (efficio) means basically “a doing, effecting; execution, accomplishment, performance; with reference to the result of an action, an operation, effect, tendency, purpose”. Blaise & Dumas offers that effectus has to do with the “realization of a prayer”.
LITERAL VERSION: O God, who gave the Holy Spirit to Your Apostles,
grant to Your people the realization of their dutiful petition,
that you may bestow also peace
upon those whom you have given faith.
What immediately jumps into my mind are the references to peace in the ordinary of the Mass and also in the moderm form for sacramental absolution.
Allow me to stretch to a connection, in view of the Roman Station.
Christ is our Lord and Liberator. After His Ascension he sent our Counselor and Comforter.
Together, under the eternal aegis of the Father, the Son and the Spirit bring us from bondage to freedom, anxiety to peace. We need not fear our judgment.
This is accomplished through the ministry and mediation of the Church.
As a People who are members of Christ’s Body the Church we approach God’s mercy with a sense of filial duty, petitioning both the immediate effect of Christ’s merits and also the long-term effect of heavenly peace.
In the words of the Church’s worship, Christ Himself strikes from our limbs the heavy chains of our oppression.
This is true “liberation theology”. This is a cause of tears of joy.
Meanwhile, for another kind of tears, in the Novus Ordo today it is back to green. No Octave of Pentecost.
You know the now infamous story of Paul VI, which a friend of mine dubbed the
That story has made the rounds, with embellishments. I’m the source of that anecdote, recounted to me in Rome many years ago by a former papal MC, whose word I have no reason to doubt.
There today in the Novus Ordo an optional Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church. Here is what we find at the at Vatican News for Pentecost Monday. You can’t make this up.
These are the vestments which some of YOU readers commissioned for Ss. Trinità in Rome.
All set up and ready for the priests in the mornings of the Octave of Pentecost.
Thank you again to
TP, MR, SS, KA, ML, AT
I hope for action shots, with the altars full.
Through May 27, save up to 25% see more below
In chessy news, Magnus Carlsen emerged victorious at Casablanca Chess 2024 with Hikaru Nakamura, followed by former champ Viswanathan Anand and Bassem Amin. In other news, water is still wet. The format was interesting. It wasn’t interesting enough to hold my attention for more than a couple games in each day, not because the idea of the tournament wasn’t interesting, but mainly because one of the commentators was wasn’t interesting. Danya Naroditsky was the strong member of the team, with some humor and anecdotes and something in the voice which implied that he cared. The highly talented Jan Gustafsson was as laconic and mellow as Tania Sachdev is verbose and irritating. Mind you, this has nothing to do with their chess knowledge! It’s their delivery. If those who produce these streams to entertain fans… and that’s their goal… they should take that into account. This new event needed an A team.
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Meanwhile, white to move and mate in 2.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
With Memorial day a week away, to quote James Taylor, “summer’s here… I’ve got my cold beer…”. I recommend the beer from the monks of Norcia only a little chilled, not super cold like American beer (too cold… and you can’t taste it… which might be the point). Norcia beer, three kinds, is spectacular.
Meanwhile, I am preparing for an informal tournament between clubs from neighboring towns. What to do?
Reactions to Harrison Butker’s commencement speech abound. Today there are couple of note.
First, at Crisisis a piece by Paul Kengor: “Hell’s Fury for Harrison Butker” subtitled: “If you’re sick of the bullying thugs of cancel culture, then stand with Harrison Butker. Now they’re coming for Butker. Next, they’ll come for you.”
The target audience for the speech, after all, was Catholics. Frankly, the speech ought to have elicited a shrug from non-Catholics who should view it as none of their business. But to the angry intolerants of cancel culture, everything and everyone is their business. Your business is their business. They will follow you, hound you, monitor you. They accept no dissent; they destroy those they disagree with. They howl. They start howling the moment they crawl out of bed and make coffee and flip open their laptop. They look for guys like Butker to destroy.
I can attest that this is active within the Church as well.
Next, there is pure gold from Anthony Esolen at The Catholic Thing: “A Much-Needed Kick in Kansas”
This line was great…
Of course, Butker suggested only what Chesterton suggested long ago, to the effect that modern women rose up and said they would no longer be dictated to, and promptly became stenographers.
And there are these posers…
Why do we shrug at an 80-hour work week shared between husband and wife, leaving the neighborhood a ghost town for most of the day, all through the year? Where is the multitude of child-rich and happy households with no one at home to see to the needs of the body, let alone to make the freedom of childhood possible? What do we gain from this evisceration of local life, and the institutionalization of small children?
UPDATE:
I can’t not add this. Replace Butker with a female kicker! No, really! What could go wrong?
NEW: The Kansas City Star is calling on the KC Chiefs to fire Harrison Butker and hire a female kicker after Butker advocated for traditional values during a speech.
The opinion piece quickly notified readers that this was “not a joke” and “not unrealistic.”
For this mighty Feast of Pentecost we first scrabble after some context to enrich our participation. The sacred liturgical celebration of the mysteries of our salvation make us present to them and them to us. Sacramental reality is not inferior to sensible reality. Indeed, it embraces and elevates it and us, it transforms us. In the strongest sense possible, we are our rites. Therefore, we are never deeply content without deepening content, which includes context, even from the depths of history.
Meanwhile, in Casablanca where we wait… and wait… and wait… there were results from Round 1. This is an interesting “variant” tournament wherein players start from positions in historic games. In the first game, with the position of move 11 in the 1889 Chigorin v. Steinitz, Carlsen (won) v. Vishy and Nakamura (won) v. Amin (players from 4 continents). Round 2 was move 11 in Game 10 of the Xie Jun vs. Alisa Galliamova Women’s World Championship Match in Kazan/Shenyang in 1999, Amin v. Carlsen (draw) and Nakamura v. Vishy (draw). Round 3, move 12 in the 14th game of the 1985 Karpov-Kasparov match Amin v Vishy (draw) and Nakamura v Carlsen (won).
To demonstrate what a prodigious visual memory these guys have, Carlsen said:
“The last game looked very similar to Karpov-Kasparov games from the second match, and I seemed to remember that Garry’s knight ended up on g4 and maybe h2. But that was about it. The first game I thought it has to be a Steinitz game since he’s the only one who plays like that. Probably against Chigorin, as they had a World Championship match in 1889, and there were a lot of Evans Gambits. The second one, I had no clue!”.
There is also a video of Carlsen identifying games from single positions. Scary.
Three more rounds today.
Meanwhile, thanks to the kind but anonymous “A reader” who sent gift cards for Panera, which is virtually the only way I will buy their good but over-priced fare. Why is this a thing? We play OTB at a Panera. Gratias tibi persolvo.
Nice people! Great service!
Interim, motus ad lusorem cum militibus albis pertinent. Scaccus mattus, scilicet mors regis, duobus in motis veniat.
NB: Detineam explicationes in crastinum, ne vestrae interrumpantur commentationes.
Meanwhile, Chess House has a 20% off sale going on. CODE: S6296
Suggestion: If you travel or know someone who does, you might have a look at this: HERE This is a spiffy travel set, remarkably compact and light (13.4 oz), with wood pieces, magnetized, extra queens, and a leather-backed folding 9″ board! It is in a small pouch that fits in the bottom of my backpack when I am on the move.
It is interesting to root around at Chess House and see what they have. May you can help to start a parish chess club!
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Yes, at The Parish™ preparations are being made for the Feast of St. Philip Neri (which is also my anniversary). How I wish I could be there. And now I, too, am a member of the Archconfraternity, the first priest invested who isn’t ex officio for who knows how long.
Welcome registrant:
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NB: At Chess House right now through May 20 20% off with coupon S6296
White to move and mate in 2.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
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.
Speaking of a Triduum, and speaking of Benedictine nuns, he wonderful nuns of Gower Abbey, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, have this disc and digital download:
These are the RESPONSORIES of Tenebrae for all three days of the Triduum. They are, arguably, the most beautiful chants of the entire liturgical year. So, it isn’t Holy Week or even Lent… so what?
In chessy news, there is talk that the World Championship could be held in Singapore. I hear Singapore is interesting.
Also, I note that several readers, including at least one priest, has signed up for chess.com using my link. Thank you.
There is a new thing going on in Casablanca. A tournament with a chess variant. Players will rapid games from positions of historical games. Present shall be, Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and former world champ Viswanathan Anand.
I await the results! And wait… and wait… and wait….
At The Catholic Thing there is a piece about Catholic demographics. The writer uses new information from the Pew Research Center. As he says, the results are shocking but not surprising. You can imagine the highlights. Self-identifying “Catholic”, down. Mass attendance, down. Support of abortion, up. For those attending Mass at least once a week, reverse the numbers.
One interesting bit is the observation that the Catholic core of these USA seems to be shifting to the South from the Northeast and Mid-West.
I note this passage:
But Burge points to a bright spot. Or at least, to a reprieve in the bad news. The portion of Catholics who say that their religion is “very important” in their life and who attend Mass at least weekly has not changed much in 15 years. Roughly a quarter of American Catholics – 23-25 percent – fall into this category.
If I were a bishop, I’d want to know a lot more about that slice of my flock and why they are the way they are. What are the conditions most conducive to promoting and maintaining a deep and abiding practice of the faith? What are the habits of living – at home, school, work, prayer, in the community – that help make such integrity of faith and practice possible? And how do we make such habits of life more easily accessible to more people?
I know a sector of the Church which is vital, young and committed. Hey! Let’s persecute them!
All the questions raised in the piece can be answered with a simple fact: the Church screwed up her sacred liturgical worship. It has been a downhill slide into the demographic sink hole every since.
We are, collectively and individually, all bound to fulfill the duties of the virtue of Religion. Justice governs what we owe to human persons. Religion governs what we owe to divine Persons. The primary act we owe to God is worship. We fulfill this individually, in smaller groups like families parishes, and in larger groups like dioceses and the whole Church. Screw up the Church’s formal sacred liturgical worship, the quintessential way by which we collectively fulfill Religion, and everything else will be screwed up too. It is shocking but not surprising that the demographic sink hole is yawning, that Catholics support evils along societal trends.
We are our rites. Change the rites, you change the “us”.
As the demographics change, I suspect a few groups will remind fairly strong in their identity, including converts, charismatics (who aren’t these days as goofy as they once were), and traditionalists. These groups will have to find each other as the numbers and institutions of the Church collapse. There will be frictions at first, but something amazing could emerge from the contact.
Now, more than ever, we all have to stand up for each other… in the manner described by Benjamin Franklin.
Finally, I recommend, again, an important book.
The Faith Once For All Delivered: Doctrinal Authority in Catholic Theology is a daring selection of essays by prominent orthodox Catholic scholars recently published by Emmaus Academic Press.
The book includes a Foreword and Introduction written by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, and an Afterword authored by Robert Cardinal Sarah. The book is edited by Father Kevin Flannery, SJ.
The essays in the first part of this collection seek to answer the question, “What went wrong with Catholic theology since the Second Vatican Council?”
Following a brief account of the movement in modern theology from its philosophical basis in Kant and Hegel to the nouvelle théologie and later progressivist theologies of the twentieth century, the writings of Karl Rahner, Walter Kasper, and Bernhard Häring are treated as representative of principal problematic trends, and the concept of heresy is surveyed as it has been understood in the past and as it operates in the Church today.
The essays in the second part indicate the way forward for Catholic doctrinal and moral theology, examining and distinguishing the orthodox use of the sources of theology of magisterial teachings, the deposit of faith in its development, the “sense of the faithful” (sensus fidelium), Sacred Scripture, and Church councils and synods.
Edward Feser’s treatment of the Magisterium is deeply instructive and challenging to the present pontificate. The same is true of John Rist’s masterful commentary on contemporary heresies. These essays are especially valuable in debunking the current German synodal way and stand as a warning about the upcoming Synod on Synodality.
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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
Gregg the Obscure on Pentecost Thursday: No joy in “dustville”: “At least one of your readers (a) reads these things and (b) lived a block off Ventura Boulevard quite near…”
jaykay on Pentecost Thursday: No joy in “dustville”: “Sportsfan: no, it was never inside the walls. Burials weren’t permitted within the walls of cities. Hence, St. Paul was…”
A.S. Haley on Daily Rome Shot 1027: “Too many choices for White; almost all of them block chances for a mate in 2. This one, however, seems…”
ABORTION PILL RESCUE NETWORK
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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What are “tratti di corda”? It sounds like, maybe, “lashes”. Nope. This is also known as “strappado”. They tied your hands behind your back and then suspend you by the wrists, which results in dislocated shoulders. They could add additional weight. It would last about an hour. This form of punishment is still used today as a torture.
Second, Peter’s shadow healed. This struck me as I said Mass in the presence of relics.
Fr. John Zuhlsdorf on Pentecost Thursday: No joy in “dustville”: “Reseda does not extend as far south as Ventura Boulevard – that would be Encino Tom Petty was unavailable for…”
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