Principe Sforza Ruspoli: what a Catholic prince looks like...

Just another fabulous day in Catholic Italy.

Early this morning it was off with friends to visit Cerveteri, just north of Rome. We went for their patronal feast of St. Michael.

The mayor even met us where the famed tombs are north of the city to show our group a new Etruscan tomb which was just discovered and unveiled a few years ago. Then it was off to another tomb and then to lunch with Etruscan wine and a nap in the grass.

The highlight was to be the guest of Prince Ruspoli in his Cerveteri palace for a "Lectura Vergilii et Dantis." The prince is a really nice guy. Humble. He asked me in English what state I was from. He's even sometimes on television talk shows in Italy, always defending and introducing others to the ideal of "nobility." He's one of the good guys and is a fierce supporter of the papacy and any traditions of old.

Tiara of Pope Pius XI...

In 1922 this tiara was created for the newly elected Pope Pius XI. It was donated by the people of Desio, where he was born (near Milan). It's the good old days that some of us mancare.

Under the protection of angels...

Today is May 9th and for Russians that's victory day. This photo was taken in the Vatican City.
Ab Angelis Defensa
Kal Mart A D MCMXLIV
March of 1944

Catholic culture: make your own hosts...

These hosts were made in Rome by sisters. It's nice when the sisters or ladies from the parish altar and rosary society have host-making equipment and can make the hosts together as a special gift for Our Blessed Lord.

Civitatis Vaticanae...

This year the Vatican City State celebrates its 80th b-day.

What an episcopal throne can look like...

With so many having been torn out in recent years, it's a real treat to see these (rare as donkey feathers): top poto was taken in Athens, Greece and the bottom in Brindisi, Italy.

Eminent witness: the habit speaks...

From Rome's Tre Fontane, where St. Paul was martyred.

Catholic culture: the chapel veil...

Isn't she beautiful? Photo taken in a Rome church earlier this year.

Planned Parenthood International...

Catholic culture: the crucifix...

This is important, folks.

Every Catholic nest is to have a blessed crucifix on the wall (i.e. a common room, or in a grand room, or family or living room). And it always makes one proud to see the family crucifix placed in the most prominent place of all: above the mantle (or even in each bedroom, too).

Our youth are often ashamed or embarassed by the gospel and this is common and normal, today. But the Church expects parents to endeavor all the more not to be ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16) at exactly the point where it is foolishness to the world (1 Corinthians 1:18) and this will change the hearts of the kids.

Pray for the grace. The devil hates the cross as much as he hates the Holy Name.

American Benedictines near Rome...

Near Assisi is Norcia, where St. Benedict was born. Since the Holy Year 2000 there has been an American Benedictine community there.

See here and visit from Rome, Cascia or Assisi: http://www.osbnorcia.org/.

Giovani e Tradizione a Roma

May 5, 2009: Feast of Pope St. Pius V in Rome. Holy Mass celebrated in the Extraordinary Form in the Cappella Cesi of the Patriarchal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore by Fr. Vincenzo Nuara, O.P. of Giovani e Tradizione. The faithful sing Christus Vincit and the Regina Coeli before going to pray near the tomb of Pope St. Pius V.

Catholic music: teach your kids this one...

http://romaaeterna.jp/jpch/ch625.html

What is wrong with this picture?

A plastic altar? This photo was taken on the posh resort island of Capri.

This indigence is a pity as the era of liturgical vulgarization continues.

Pray and fast and do penance and teach your kids not to ever give Our Lord the bottom rung.

Hollywood: cogwheel of Satan...

Would something like this fly in Mecca or Jerusalem? Rule number one: you cannot bash Jews, gays or Muslims, but Catholics are fare game.

Christians: boycott this bunk and join here to fight back: http://www.catholicleague.com/.

Historian Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. has called Anti-Catholicism "the deepest-held bias in the history of the American people." (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Catholicism).

Incorrupt foot of St. Teresa of Avila...

From Santa Maria della Scala (located in the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere).

Blessed Giannetti Taigi (1769 - 1837)...

Tomb located inside the Roman Basilica di S. Crisogono in the neighborhood of Trastevere.

Catholic traditions: the street shrine...

Preserve traditions or birth them where they are not.

See Christ in the poor...

From S. Spirito in Sassia.

Catholic Rome: SINITE PARVULOS VENIRE AD ME!

Pope St. Pius V...

From Rome's Angelicum.

John Paul II in Rome: '46 - '48...

In November of 1946 the young Fr. Karol J. Wojtyla arrived in Rome to study. He was twenty-six, the war had just ended and it was his first time outside of Poland. For two years he studied at the Dominican Univeristy, the Angelicum. This commemorative plaque can be seen there.

Bad manners and good manners...

Traditionalist Catholics, like children or mental patients, are often rather perspicacious in their judgments of others (and this is not always a bad thing!).

However, it is not okay to trash talk the or a Pope. It is in poor taste and bad judgment to bash popes, living or deceased. If this is your problem then get smart and change. If you can't, then pray for the grace. Bitch all you want, but not about the popes.

As Job told one of his counselors: "If you and I were to change places, I could talk like you" (Job 16:4).

Giovani e Tradizione in Rome...

Yesterday, for the feast of Pope St. Pius V, the famous Father Vincenzo Nuara, O.P. of Giovani e Tradizione celebrated Holy Mass according to the Extraordinary Form in the Cappella Cesi of the Patriarchal Basilica of St. Mary Major.

Link here and support this youth movement: http://giovanietradizione.org/.

May 5: Feast of Pope St. Pius V...

From FSSP in Urbe.

This photo is dedicated to my nephew, Mark, who is another big fan of any pope named Pius!

Holy Russia: Cathedralis Sanctissimae Deiparae...

Acts 1.8: "Even to the very ends of the earth."

This is the old Latin rite Cathedral of the Most Holy Godbearer, located in Vladivostok, Russia. Not so long ago one third of the area of the earth was under the blow of the hammer and the cut of the sickle. Times have changed. By a miracle, this church survived the Revolution.

Seventeen years ago two American priests arrived to serve this parish and they remain there to this day. The only difference between them and so many other missioners is that they went and stayed, while so many others went and then left.

Support them in their fidelity and give here: http://www.vladmission.org/.

May 6: Swiss Guard Day...

Where to drink tea in Rome...

The English tea rooms at the Spanish Steps are great (only place in Rome to get a normal breakfast!) or any Chinese restaurant.

1968: when it all ended...

From the Pope:

"In 1967 we were still able to celebrate brilliantly the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Faculty for Catholic Theology at Tübingen; but this was the last celebration in the old style. At almost a moment's notice, there was a change in the ideological "paradigm" by which the students and a part of the teachers thought...almost overnight the existentialist model collapsed and was replaced by the Marxist...and the Marxist revolution kindled the whole university with its fervor, shaking it to its very foundations. A few years before, one could still have expected the theological faculties to represent a bulwark against the Marxist temptation. Now the opposite was the case: they became its real ideological center."

-Milestones by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, pp. 136-137.

To feed the fires of a vocation: the altar boy...

"I can never remember a time in my life when I did not want to be a priest. In the early teens my father would send us to work on one of his farms. I recall doing spring plowing, watching the young corn come up under my eyes; as I saw the rich dark soil turned over, I would say the Rosary begging for a vocation. I never mentioned my vocation to others, not even to my parents, although others often told my parents they thought that I would become a priest. Being an altar boy at the cathedral fed the fires of a vocation, as did the inspiration of the priests who visited our home almost every week. Not to be omitted was the Rosary, which was said every evening by the family before retiring."

-Treasure in Clay by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

What is wrong with this picture?

This drives me berserk. It's a known fact that once girls start serving the boys leave. If you don't know this then you don't know boys.

What is the purpose of an altar server? It's not that boys are more adroit at the altar, but that the boys serve to test a vocation to the Holy Priesthood.

With frenetic energy the typical chimera has made this an equality issue, but that's not what it's about. And wouldn't these cute little girls be great in a choir?

May 1, 2009: what it looks like at sunrise...

Where to buy classic church music in Rome...

This photo was taken in Rome's Ancora bookshop, located on the Via della Conciliazione. They have a great collection of church music on the main level and the blue Solesmes books are located upstairs.

You asked for the best view of St. Peter's and now you got it...

Passionist sisters...

In tribute to a fellow blogger: http://quantitativemetathesis.blogspot.com/.

Humanae Vitae...

"I believe that Humanae Vitae is one of the great tests of the Church in our times. We live in days of moral laxity, where there is shrinking from responsibility for rearing children and a love of carnal experience divorced from love of person. In that world where love and life are made discontinuous, Paul VI affirms the deep relatedness of one to the other."

-Those Mysterious Priests by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

Passionist fathers and brothers...

In the good old days when they used to profess, a crown of thorns was placed atop their head.

What they eat in Rome: the famous pork...

Famous pork from the Castelli Romani makes great sandwiches!

An eloquent witness: the priesthood is expiatory...

In the fetid atmosphere of today's streets, here we see the eloquent witness of the religious habit.
Eternal...

Roma Aeterna: a new Una Voce site...

Link here: http://roma-aeterna-una-voce.blogspot.com/.

Catholic culture: to cook a lovely family meal...

Here's the latest: a bit overcooked, but yours truly was a might proud to cook something this nice.

In Brindisi, where Virgil died, an old lady told me how to cook gnocchi with scampi and it's soooo easy, cheap and fun and this is all you need:

Scampi (cheap from the market at Civitavecchia),
gnocchi (cheap and easy and cook in two minutes),
mushrooms (funghi porcini),
oil,
garlic,
parsely,
tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Catholic culture: the Latin tomb...

We all have an appointed hour of rendezvous with death. Soon enough for all of us it will be over. Be ready, and have your tomb in polished Latin!

Pray in Rome, in Greek...

They will tell you that the Novus Ordo Missae is how early Christians prayed in the first years. However, if you really want to see how things were first done just take the time to visit this (or any other) Greek rite parish. It will change your life.

This is Rome's wonderful San Atanasio dei Greci (St. Athanasius of the Greeks) founded in 1583 by Pope Gregory XIII, located on Rome's fashionable Via del Babuino (near the Spanish Steps). Divine Liturgy is sung here every Sunday at 11 a.m. It is a magnificent experience.

If you're ever in Rome on a May 1st be sure to attend sung vespers here and the reception afterwards in honor of St. Athanasius, whose feast day is May 2nd.

Catholic culture: devotion to the boy Jesus...

From Rome's San Carlo ai Catinari: the faithful make a visit here to offer a special prayer for their kids and grandkids.

Christ had a heart: even three times he wept in the Scriptures. And kids? We will remember His treatment of children as He put His arms around them (cf. Matthew 19:14).

In Rome: graduate with a license in Thomism...

Earlier at Cana He said: "The Hour is not yet come."
Then, for the total giving He later said: "Father, the Hour has come."

If you're ready, move to Rome and begin the biennium programme for the license in Thomism at Rome's Dominican Univeristy, aka the Ange.

"Did we not feel our hearts on fire as He walked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32).

It's a real joy to study the sacred sciences and what better place?

Our Blessed Lord and His holy words...

"The ideal of spirituality is to be found in the first and last words of Our Lord's public life. The first word of His public life was: "Come" (John 1:39; Mark 1:17; Matthew 4:18). The last word was: "Go" (John 20:21; Mark 16:20; Matthew 28:19)."

-Archiep. Fulton J. Sheen, Ph.D.

http://www.archbishopsheencause.org/

EWTN in Italy: SKY Italia 965...

In Rome there's always Radio Maria and the BBC and Radio Vaticana...and EWTN on SKY Italia channel 965!

www.ewtn.com

Rome Procession (Grande Processione Per Le Vie Del Rione a Rome)

In honor of Santa Maria dei Monti in the Rione Monti neighborhood.

From Rome's Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna...

So real a Boniface VIII!

Join Facebook group page for FSSP Rome parish...

See here and join:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49681138675

What is wrong with this picture?

This photo was taken in a Rome church and sometimes it takes an abashed layman to complain.

Yours truly was stupefied to see this matchwood and carpet atop this gorgeous polished marble floor in a prominent Rome church. How can we disentangle this precious floor from this "obstruction"? What has been created here is an atmospheric disturbance in the antique floor plan.

It's a begrimed sight: besides blocking our view of the exquisite floor, this is the type of obstruction that causes floors to be pockmarked. Also, this part of the floor is meant to be the aperture of the sanctuary and so is not to be disturbed in this or any other fashion.

Unwittingly, a lot of this stuff came with the seventies and eighties, but now is the time to move on. The stratagem was to bring the altar out to the people, but in this instance it fell on its face. Thankfully, we have already breasted the high ground after the sixties and today is the time for us to move on along with the rest of the world. The much-vaunted "renewal" doesn't work with now dated ruses like this.

The art historian would be immensely satisfied to see this hulk taken out to the dumpster and to see the virgin floor returned to it's original shine as the original artists intended until they were countermanded in our own generation.

Dominican arms on processional banner...

From Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.

How to cross the street in Rome...

Cobblestones of the Holy City...

To some this simple photo will mean the world.

From Rome's Angelicum: Pope St. Pius V...

Happy May Day: Rome's spring tulips...

May 1st is a nice day for men to buy flowers for their wives and mothers.

Where to study in Rome...

Study under the shadow of the dome during this historic pontificate.

Get advanced degrees in canon law, theology, philosophy, social sciences, classical languages or library science or whatever.

Be a part of the new generation of Catholic intellectuals:

http://www.unisal.it/ (Latin and Greek studies)
http://www.patristicum.org/ (Patristics/Fathers of the Church)
http://www.pul.it/ (Theology and the like)
http://www.usc.urbe.it/ (Theology and the like and liturgical studies)
http://www.ateneo.org/ (Theology and the like)
http://www.pisai.it/ (Islamic studies)
http://www.teresianum.org/ (Spiritual theology)
http://www.seraphicum.org/ (Theology)
http://www.angelicum.org/ (Theology and the like)
http://www.unisal.it/ (Theology and the like)
http://www.antonianum.ofm.org/ (Theology)
http://www.urbaniana.edu/ (Missioners)
http://www.pfse-auxilium.org/ (Education)
http://www.piac.it/ (Archeology)
http://www.camillianum.com/ (Pastoral Theology)
http://www.claretianum.org/ (Theology)
http://www.unigre.urbe.it/ (Theology)
http://www.biblico.it/ (Scripture)
http://www.pul.it/ (Theology and the like)
http://www.alfonsiana.edu/ (Moral Theology)
http://www.marianum.it/ (Mariology)
http://www.universitaeuropeadiroma.it/italiano/html/ (Secular faculties)
http://www.vaticanlibrary.va/home.php?pag=sc_direttore (Library Science)
http://www.pio.urbe.it/ (Eastern Studies)
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia//institutions_connected/sacmus/index_it.htm (Sacred Music)
http://www.santanselmo.org/ (Liturgical studies)