ROME 23/05 – Day 16: Once upon a time….

Each day is just a little longer. The sun rose at 05:47 and will set at 20:27. The Ave Maria Bell ought to be rung at 20:45 right now. In a few days it will shift another 15 minutes to accommodate the longer day.

We are in Rogation Week, before the Feast of the Ascension, that mysterious feast without which we would be truly struggling.

In the mornings there is a procession at the parish, humble, but we pray for you and for many other things.

Yesterday, I was particularly aware of my benefactors.

Today a few other petitions made a significant impact.

Was there ever a time when these petitions were more needed earnestly to be prayed?

We are reminded that this is CHRIST’s Church and not the plaything of a few, no matter how exalted they themselves and others perceive them to be.

We are reminded that Orders are for ORDER and not for whatever the hell it is we have now.  We need to be united in CHRIST’s sacred religion which is impossible to be if we don’t know what it is!  Therefore, our tradition is a sine qua non for our unity and identity. Tradition has logical and chronological priority over whatever notions (which are things in a sewing basket, not the basis of serious governance) the forward-minded but continuity-retarded might come up with like the infamous Good Idea Fairy.

We are reminded that, while the Church will always have enemies, within and without, we must work to DEFEAT the Church’s enemies.  If they are the enemies of Christ’s CHURCH, they are the enemies of CHRIST what ever they wear.  They are the enemies of our souls, because in the Church we belong to Christ’s mystical PERSON.    There is no compromise with the Enemy of the soul.  There is only perseverance in rightly ordered governance in the Church’s sacred religion for the ultimate victory which is the salvation of souls.

For this we need order, tradition and courage.

For this we need “meno chiacchere – più processioni“.

Once upon a time… and NOW where tradition is maintained.

Again out with clerical friends for breakfast.  To whom goes that fresh squeezed OJ?

On the way to the Campo de’ Fiori for, fiori, and also something for lunch which you can’t get back in that other place.

At the bakery.  I didn’t get any of these, but it does my heart good to know that I could.

I did get some of this mortadella with black truffle to go with the pizza bianca I got at the bakery.

Meanwhile, here is a problem.  Not so tough, but interesting.

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

When Candela Francisco was six years old, her parents bought her a chess set for Christmas for $1.50 because it was the only gift they could afford!

Ten years later, Candela is the #womeninchess champion of the entire American continent! ????

This is what #chess is about! https://t.co/lvfNTDiXll pic.twitter.com/vc0rLtwpoT

— Women’s Chess Coverage (@OnTheQueenside) May 15, 2023

Great story.

Here’s another great story.

nce upon a time …Fr. Z readers all started to use his Amazon links when shopping online. US HERE – UK HERE Not only did they get their stuff, but Fr. Z got a small percentage of each purchase which meant that, over time, he would put a new roof on his house and continue to pay his health insurance because being cancelled sucks. The people were so happy using those links that they also remembered that wine gladdens man’s heart, and so they got wine from the monks of Le Barroux, in France, and beer from the monks at Norcia, in Italy. The monks were so glad from the income, because that meant they could maintain and build their monasteries where they pray in reparation for people out here in the world all the time.

The End.