Via Crucis in Rome...

Some things are passed on father to son. This lucky kid's parents get it and hats off to them.

Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) in Rome...

This historic cross was used by St. Philip Neri and is now kept over a side altar in the Roman Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini.

Devotion to the 5 Holy Wounds of DNJC...

Notice here the five holy wounds of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Instruct your kids this afternoon at 3 p.m. to have a devotion to the holy wounds and tell them, too, about the hidden shoulder wound of Christ, from the bitter weight of the cross.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shalt be. World without end. Amen.

Pray five Gloria Patri at the hour of mercy and let them see that you believe.

The Good Friday Cross: how it's done...

Rather than using pins or duct tape, this is how it's done in Rome with ribbons. The cross then sits into a stand atop the altar.

FSSP in URBE: Holy Thursday (Giovedì Santo)

Just a taste of Maundy Thursday in Rome.

Holy Thursday in Rome (Giovedì Santo a Roma)

Hear the rattle (clapper in the usa) instead of the bell...

The Altar of Repose: how it's done in Rome...

FSSP in URBE.

Holy Thursday in Rome: the altar of repose...

Every Holy Thursday in Rome it's always a treat to make a quick visit to lots of churches after Holy Mass to see the decorated altar of repose in each open church. One of the best is this altar seen here at S. Maria dell'Orto in Trastevere.

From the Port of Rome: the Via Crucis...

A famous Good Friday Via Crucis is that held in Civitavecchia, 70 km northwest of Rome.

Fr. Reggie Foster: the update...

Tonight was a fabulous dinner party in Trastevere and you just never know who you might meet while in the Holy City.

Yours truly found himself in good company while enjoying drinks and fine conversation with friends and doctors from Fattebenefratelli. Before long the conversation turned to Latin and the world's greatest living latinist, Fr. Reggie Foster (a.k.a. Regg-Dogg Knight as the wrap song goes)!

Then came the surprising moment when the one doctor exclaimed that he is Fr. Reggie Foster's M.D. from the I.C.U. on Tiber Island and that he's an atheist and that he belives that Fr. Reggie's life having been saved was miraculous, all things considered.

Then it turned out that the doctor and I had met before, last January, and so I invited him to the Rome FSSP Triduum celebrations and he said that he will gladly come.

And the Reggie update?

He said that Reggie is a miracle case, that he's doing much better and that soon they will decide if he will be moved to a temporary rest home to continue his long road to recovery. He also said that Reggie is being served beer in the hospital.

The Vatican Council: on abortion...

The one or two living people who have taken the time to read (all of) Vatican Council II can tell you that at more than one point does the Council warn of such ills as abortion, euthanasia, contraception, terrorism, etc. and Humanae Vitae is in large part just a review:

"Furthermore, whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or willful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where men are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the Creator."

-Vatican Council II: Gaudium et Spes, 27.

Rome pro-life posters and vandalism by the left...

Make no mistake: this battle is spiritual.

Know what Satan demands: human sacrifice.

Know how to stop it: pray and fast and vote pro-life.

Consecrated Virgins: the Spouse of Christ...

"Especially you, consecrated virgins, in a world where egoism and the search for pleasure would become law, be the guardians of purity, unselfishness, and piety. Jesus, who has given to conjugal love all its plentitudes, has also exalted the renouncement of human love when this is for the sake of divine love and for the service of all."

-Closing Messages of the Council, 1965.

American babies of Rome graduate students...

These cute kids live in Italy while their parents of great courage study the sacred sciences in Rome: dogmatic theology, scripture, philosopohy, etc.

Welcome to Rome as a graduate student during this historic German pontificate and study canon law, theology, philosophy, communications, bioethics, etc.

Vatican Museums: spring flowers...

Photo taken yesterday to bring joy to all.

This photo is dedicated to Deb et al.

Latin from the Rome school...

Such a blessing to walk into school each morning reading these holy words atop the main entrance.

Una squadra d'eroi: witness to the nations...

The holy presbyterate is the world's greatest fraternity. No priest needs an introduction to another priest. A gift and mystery, it is a life of great joy where one is kept very busy doing the Lord's work.

Rome scenes to cheer up your day...

Rome view: the arch...

The Romans invented the arch.

Rome student life: the books read...

If you want to understand Islam, consider reading the Summa Contra Gentiles.

Rome Quake of '09...

Somebody wrote to ask if yours truly died in the quake today. No, but thanks for asking.

However, everybody in Rome felt the trembling at night and it even woke up all my clients at around 3:30 a.m., as they shared on the morning tour.

Two Rome books to know...

If you have an interest, parts of these two might be good for you. Fantastic reading by the sea on the long summer days.

A fun Rome store for kids cloths...

I Vippini
Abbigliamento per Bambini
Via Fontanella di Borghese, 65

It's like a store from sixty years ago with lovely seasonal dresses for babies and little girls all made in Italy.

Best place in Rome for fish...

Hosteria del Pesce
Via di Monserrato, 32
Just down the street from the Venerable English College
www.hosteriadelpesce.net

Rome student lunch: cheap and quick...

FYI: Rossosapore, a franchising pizzeria, is seen all over now, but they have a "drive-thru" at Torre Argentina and it's cheap and fabulous food.

Rome Catering Services for ordinations or weddings...

Elle Kappa: www.ellekappa.com

XXIV World Youth Day in Rome today...

A big reason why I am still a Catholic today was because of my mum signing me up for the World Youth Day 1993 in Denver. It changed my life.

Friday night I saw Cardinal Stafford in his fedora on the Via Giulia and I wanted to thank him for that great event which helped to mold me into the Catholic man I am today.

If you want your kids to stay Catholic, get them to a WYD which can help, in part. Plan early and get your kids to the Madrid WYD in 2011 (plan early!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Youth_Day_2011 and

http://www.jmj2011madrid.com/.

Palm Sunday in Rome...

Italians really know how to braid palms. Such artistry seen in Catholic countries!

Warriors for the cause: arise...

What monastic tonsure looks like as seen today...

French Catholics in Rome.

ROMANITAS soccer t-shirt...

Somebody should make this into a Catholic t-shirt with the added words: SVMMORVM PONTIFICVM 07.07.07.

Lost Rome: the old papal gardens of the Quirinale Palace...

A rare look as photos of these old papal gardens just don't exist and the gardens are closed to the public. These gardens are surprisingly extensive and are attached to the old papal summer palace on the Quirinale Hill.

One of the best things I ever did while in Rome was the two times in my life I got into the palace and gardens with rare VIP tours. In the palace we saw the truly magnificent chapel where Pius IX was elected Pope (the ceiling is tremendous!) as well as the old throne room which in recent years had the throne and its backdrop torn out (sometime after the war).

See a map of Rome and you'll have an idea of how large the gardens are. While in the gardens I had but one thought: such a pity this was stolen from the Popes in 1870!

While there one can even feel a breeze, as on the top of the Palatine or Vatican Hills, coming from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The view of Rome and St. Peter's from the Quirinale Palace is out of this world. The loss of the palace and its gardens was a major loss for the Church and Her Popes.

What the Epistolarium and Evangeliarium look like...

Super rare today, these are treasures of great value and a must for any parish with Sung Mass in the Usus Antiquior.

Of all that can be said of the liturgical renewal of the sixties, it was a titanic loss when (they) did away with the the sung Epistle and sung Gospel at High Mass.

This proved to be a major wound to our Western liturgy (spirituality).

Catholic student life in Rome: a glimpse...

Evan got a great flat with this fabulous view of the Vatican City. Then somebody gifted him with one-hundred Tuscan cigars so this is how we now spend our Sunday afternoons after the Papal Angelus!

The glorious cappello romano...

"Elegante."

Pius XII: voice of peace...

Go back to the source documents and see who was calling for peace and no war in 1939, etc.

Free Latin prayer booklets available in Rome...

This pastor gets it and is teaching his faithful the prayes of the Church in their own vernacular and in the Church's Latin.

Get your free copy at Rome's Basilica of Sts. Ambrose and Charles on the Via del Corso.

Battle of Lepanto...

In Rome's Villa Borghese park can be seen this statue of Marc Antonio Colonna.

He is buried underneath the floor of the Roman Basilica of the Ss. Apostoli next to the Palazzo Colonna.

Join the Facebook Lepanto page:
http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=2324683342&view=user#/group.php?gid=2324683342

St. Vincent Pallotti: incorrupt in Rome...

San Salvatore in Onda at the Ponte Sisto.

Via Crucis in Rome with Litany of the Saints

Tonight in Rome: hope you like it!

Relics of Pius X...

From S. Teresa on Rome's Corso d'Italia, a lovely "modern" church.

Rome traditions: sign in Latin...

Yes, there is a Catholic language and yes, it is Latin and yes, this is a good thing and no, there is nothing wrong with this.

Catholic Africa: hope of the Church...

The good guys: support them...

Ruskij Sion has posted an interesting article about a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic priest, whom I have had the pleasure to meet at University in Rome, and the “untold story” about his battle against corruption within his religious Order in Ukraine.

See here: http://ruskij-sion.blogspot.com/.

Fr. Gregory Hrynkiw is a devote religious that has given his life to serve Christ within the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. He is also a scholar and theology professor, who continues to labour joyfully in Christ’s vineyard.

If you feel called to support this good priest, whose life has been twice threatened, please contact him at:

Fr Gregory Hrynkiw
127 Morrison Drive
Yorkton, Saskatchewan
S3N 4A7
Canada

Lolek the Great: IV years later...

Four years ago tonight John Paul the Great passed away.

Please pray for the repose of his soul.

We were there when it all went down.

Oremus!

Usus Antiquior in Rome: every Sunday...

This is the Rome Church of San Giuseppe a Capo Le Case located near the Spanish Steps (on Via Francesco Crispi at Via di Capo Le Case).

Holy Mass is celebrated here every Sunday and Holy Day at 11.00 a.m. The celebrant is the famous Mons. Ignacio Barreiro Caràmbula, director fo the HLI Rome office.

Orthodox clergy in the Holy City...

Of course everyone has the personal "right" of migration, which is not to be impugned (cf. VII: G et S, 65) and there are now many millions of Third World Immigrants in the Italy and Europe of today. But the danger is that very few of these immigrants are Christian.

Clergy shoes seen in Rome...

The Church enjoins Her clergy to always look their best, and this can include shoes, too!

Visit a clerical shop in Rome and get a pair for your pastor (195 euro is a bit much, but they do last for years if saved just for the divine cult).

"Keep yourselves unsullied, you that have the vessels of the Lord's worship in your charge."

-Isaiah 52:11

Papal Vestments: seen on Pio IX...

From Rome's old Propaganda Fide...

Carmel in Rome...

Catholic custom: what the old tonsure looks like...

Damask print as seen in Rome...

Credence table from Rome's Milanese Basilica of Sts. Ambrose and Charles.

A note about liturgical renewal...

"Nine out of ten of what we call new ideas are simply old mistakes."

- G. K. Chesterton

Read this urgent story (more soon)...

See and link here: http://ruskij-sion.blogspot.com/.

We have to support the good guys.

How it's done even today: the new altar frontal...

This is how it's done, friends, as seen in Rome (FSSP IN URBE).

A dear friend, Maurizio, made a trip down to the Naples area (Caserta) to the silk factory Manifattura Negri (silk manufacturers founded by Charles III Bourbon) in the village of S. Leucio. This F.S.S.P. pattern was proposed and commissioned and this is the final product as seen on a new antependium.

Yes, it can still be done!

Spring flowers in E.U.R. ...