Another must blog: Beatvs Est...

Here's a great new blog from our Rome confrere, Erik.

It's called Beatus Est - see it and link to it and enjoy it!

The posted photos of the new chapel at Thomas Aquinas College carry great hope and promise: http://beatusest.blogspot.com/ .

Saluti da Roma, carissimo!

Church banners: how it's done in Rome...

When many of us think of banners in church we have this freak image of the tacky "hippie" banners we used to see in our home parishes back when we were kids.

But this is how it's done in Rome, or was more commonly seen in Rome. The extras count and they take a little extra work. This is where archconfraternities come into play as well as (authentic) lay participation.

These are "requiem" banners and they were put up in the sanctuary for All Souls Day at the Rome FSSP parish, Santissima Trinita' dei Pellegrini.

Virtus in infirmitate perficitur...

The weak chosen. We are all weak. Peter was weak.

Peter, the rock, the firm one!

Lift the needy into your prayers. Lift the popes into your prayers. Pray for them daily.

Who gets best dressed?

At any event somebody has to get the best dressed award. At papal liturgies today, it's "Il Bello."

Edna: born during the reign of Leo XIII...

Supercentenatians are fun!

Edna Parker just died on Wednesday in Shelbyville, Indiana at the age of 115! Please pray for her soul.

She was born on April 20, 1893 in Indiana and got married in 1913. She never drank or smoked. She even lived to see her own great-great-grandchildren. Edna, please pray for us!

Maria de Jesus of Portugal, who was born Sept. 10, 1893, is now the world's oldest living person, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

AP photo from the Internet.

What is wrong with this picture?

He is the rock. Meanwhile, discount store values and discount store trappings: today it's all about IKEA and Wall-Mart and the epiphany of world Calvinist worship.

This photo was taken at a Franciscan parish in Rome. The ordinary postconciliar flux of causes and effects is well known to everyone and needs no rant here.

St. Dominic's first way of prayer was to humble himself before the altar as if Christ, signified by the altar, were truly and personally present and not in symbol alone. This is why the altar is of stone, this is why it is permanent and this is why the tabernacle is fixed to it.

The next time you find yourself before a cardboard altar such as this do penance and pray these words: Ventus et mare obediunt ei (The wind and sea obey Him).

From the Ligurian: Happy Thanksgiving!

As our old Russian language professor once said in good old Folwell Hall: "Happy Gobble-Gobble Day!"

Folwell Hall brings back memories. I wasn't the only one to have studied languages in it's hallowed walls: the famous Fr. Z. studied there, too. The main level is lined with Italian marble. An omen?

Today the kids all take Swahili or Vietnamese or Hmong or Turkish, but our advice is this: take Latin and take it for years!

http://www.geo.umn.edu/courses/1001/campus/pages/folwell/folwell.htm

The throne: how it's done in Rome...

Every Cardinal has a "titular church" in Rome. This is how the throne is done as seen at S. Cecilia in Trastevere.

Know how it's done in Baroque Rome and bring it to your corner of the world. See how easy it is? Now go replicate it!

Catholic Austria: Latin lives...

September of 2007: it rained the whole time, but sure was historic!

And they say there's problems in the Church today?

The human element will always be. Sin abounds. Get this as a Christmas present for everybody you know.

It is the ultimate Catholic history book: Triumph by H.W. Crocker III.

Goes good with a fireplace, slippers and a glass of Southern Comfort.

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780761516040.html

Open letter to the SSPX...

It's the Pauline Year. Expect great things. The B16 has asked Rome students in particular to read The Letter of Paul to the Romans. Why do Catholics never read the Bible?

In chapter eleven Paul calls himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles" (cf. verse 13) and just before he writes of some not having "full inclusion" (cf. verse 12).

Some boast of not having full inclusion. In fact, many do. The Orthodox come to mind.

Taking the line of Thomas, I don't share my own voice, but that of an authority:

"But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. You will say, 'Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.' That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree. Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written."

-Romans 11:17...

Catholic lapel pin: buy them and wear them...

Last summer at a night market on a beach promenade near Rome I got this pin for a couple dollars. Wish they still made them like this.

Anybody own a company that makes lapel pins? I'd be happy to mail you this one for it to be replicated for the Catholic world.

In any event, this Christmas buy your own Catholic lapel pin and wear it often: http://www.leafletonline.com/catalog/ProductSearch/QBasicSearchResults.aspx?SearchType=_QUICK_SEARCH&Keyword=lapel%20pin&&Page=7

Catholic Australia Ordinations: in Canberra...

Tom, nice job on the photos!

Continued graces from the WYD: http://thomasperegrinus.blogspot.com/

Pius XII Exhibit at the Vatican...

Great to see his famous old American (Remington) electric shaver, his famous old Italian typewriter and this never before seen painting from the private collection of Pius XII (Bavarian artist, 1917).

Pro-life push from Rome...

Support HLI for their outstanding labors in Rome and the world:

http://www.hli.org/.

Thanksgiving in Rome...

Some have asked about the new Castroni on Via Nazionale, 71.

In short, it's a fine addition to the Castroni family. They'be been open only two months.

Just across the street from San Vitale. The whole basement is international food.

Tonight yt (yours truly) got the last cranberry sauce - sorry! Stuffing, too.

Note to families: if you have a relative living abroad you're supposed to mail him or her a giant parcel early November with all the Thanksgiving musts.

Note to liberals: why say tradition doesn't matter when Thanksgiving without stuffing in a turkey just wouldn't be any more than a Solemn Pontifical without a gremial!

LIFE photos of Vatican life...

Gregor, many thanks for your keen eye!

LIFE has some wicked (many never before seen) color photos up of old Vatican liturgies. Click here and see the galero:
http://images.google.com/images?q=galero&q=source%3Alife

Alipius, a picture says a thousand words!

Where to stay while in Rome...

Via our good friend Deb...

Residenza San Pantaleo and see their site here:

http://www.residenzanavonafirst.com/index-eng.html

Rome Church of S. Cecilia in Trastevere

Nov. 22, 2008: Just another little taste of the splendor of Holy Rome - simply enchanting!

Rome Feast of San Clemente

Friday, November 21, 2008: Here's just a tast of what it's like in Rome...

Angelus in Florence, Italy

Catholic culture lives: the crash and peal of bells in the autumn air for the six p.m. Angelus!

Notice first the Cardinal's Palace, then the Baptistry and lastly the Cathedral and famed Bell Tower.

Find it all in Catholic Italy.

Eritrian Orthodox Liturgy in Rome

Sunday, November 23, 2008 in Rome.

Rome Feast of S. Cecilia...

Just a taste. On the universal liturgical calendar Nov. 22, for Latin rite Catholics, is the feast of St. Cecilia (typical edition of the Roman Missal).

The music here is what is special. The Mass was by G.P. da Palestrina (Exsultate Deo, etc.) and the choir was the "Pueri Cantores" of Rome.

The Comune of Rome gave in homage the chalice as a gift which was presented by Rome's new mayor.

Mass was sung by His Eminence Tomas Card. Spidlik over the tomb of S. Cecilia.

Study in Rome: the Angelicum...

Thomism, anybody? Study what you enjoy and get a degree for it in the Holy City. See their site here: www.angelicum.org .

From the Lateran: Pietro Cardinal Gasparri...

Many have a devotion to Pietro Card. Gasparri. He was a giant in Vatican diplomacy and a big name in the Vatican, even today.

This photo was taken in the Lateran Archbasilica. Enjoy the nice Latin carved in the polished marble.

Pietro Card. Gasparri, pray for us!

Study in Rome: the Lateranense...

Study in Rome at the Pope's University, the Lateran. This is where the famous Fr. Z. studied back in the day. If you have an interest, study bioethics there. See their site here: http://cms.pul.it/index .

Study in Rome: the Antonianum...

In Italy ones sees lots of Franciscans. Study with them in Rome at their Pontifical University, the Antonianum.

See their site here:

http://www.antonianum.ofm.org/

French soldiers again take Rome...

These young guys attend a military academy somewhere in France. They sometimes appear in Rome with their chaplain at papal events at the Vatican. Nice to see this nineteenth century splendor again even today.

The Senate and the People of Rome...

New Prince and Grand Master: Knights of Malta...

This is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet in your life. Meet His Most Eminent Highness Fra' Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Most Humble Guardian of the Poor of Jesus Christ.

You never know who you might meet in Rome. Yesterday night at S. Cecilia in Trastevere the new (and excellent) mayor of Rome walked by and we got to shake his hand and exchange a word outside the church before Holy Mass. And then today to mee the new Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta just made for another fabulous day in Holy Rome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta

Pastors: take the lead from Rome...

San Clemente, San Benedetto in Piscinula and Santa Cecilia.

And It takes a pastor to do it. So decorate and arrange your altar, pastors. It is our custom to have six candles on the gradine the altar is attached to. So? Let's reverence and cherish our Roman customs. Make the effort and point to this as the explanation.

German glory from Catholic Munich...

This photo is from a book I got while still in high school entitled Statio Orbis (volume one) published in 1961. Would be great if somebody in Germany could get into all the old photo archives from the glorious 1960 Eucharistic Congress in Munich and scan all those wicked old photos for the Internet world. The future Pope was there.

Paulus pp. VI...

The world says more Freud and Marx, but we know the true answer is more tiara, more biretta and more moiré!

Throne of Pius X now used by Benedict XVI...

A-h-h, the browns (and avocado greens) of the seventies! When many of us were born at that time this brown was in (at that time it was the apposite color).

But times change and sometimes, as they say, things work slow in the Vatican. Ma per carita, can somebody just kindly ask Archbishop Harvey to just kindly get some crimson velvet and get this mother reupholstered subito vi prego!

Papal Audience Hall: Sala Clementina...

Sorry to soccer moms of the world! These are just interesting images coming from the magnificent papal audience hall, the Sala Clementina.

Interesting shots of the triple crown tiara...and the benignant mother who has just given birth "sprays" others who are not her children with her milk as a symbol of charitableness (benevolence) charity given in a benevolent manner, etc.

In a similar manner one often sees an image of "charity" who nurses a child who is not her own.

Francesco Pacelli: DNA of Pius XII...

Meet Prince Francesco Pacelli, "Principe Pacelli." He's a nice guy and a great grandnephew of Pius XII. He speaks up to defend his own uncle, Pius XII. In a lettere di adesione (preface) to the new Vatican book on Pius XII he wrote a worthy tribute in honor of the wartime Pontiff of Peace.

Today he's the de facto representative of the Paceill family to the Catholic world. In the Rome white pages there's about one-hundred Pacelli family members. One of them is even now famous for being on Italian "reality" TV, Ascanio. Then there's Prince Marcantonio and this guy who is our personal favorite, Prince Francesco.

We support you Prince Pacelli and we thank you for your fine words in tribute to Pius XII, of blessed, holy and happy memory. Pio XII: santo subito!

Pius XII Rome Conference: the Papal Audience...

It was a proud moment! After the private papal audience we got our photo taken next to the papal throne (this one belonged to Pius X)!

Even as a little kid I had dreamed of entering the famed Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace. It had taken me this long. As a boy I used to look at old black and white photos of Pius XII in the same room and it was one of my ambitions from that age to enter the same Clementine Room.

In Italy some people somtimes ask me how I got interested in the Faith as a kid. My answer is simple: once I got my hands on a photo book of Pius XII. It changed my life.

I had never seen such splendor or wonder - anywhere. It was the eighties, in America.

We had an old parish library which had already been ignored and forgotten for years. But providence led me there one day as the door was unlocked. My mother brought me in to greet or meet a friend there and as a kid, I was bored and saw on the lowest shelf a big book with big pictures.

I still remember the moment as I reached for that book and took it home and have it to this day. The library was soon after cleaned out and the books disposed of. But that book changed my life - it was photos of Pius XII.

Thank You, Jesus!

Pius XII Rome Conference: the Papal Audience...

A private papal audience was granted on Saturday, November 8 to all conference participants in the Vatican's Sala Clementina. In this way the Pope honored both Pius XII, his many fans and all conference participants. For over ten minutes he spoke of the greatness of Pius XII, of blessed memory. It was a proud moment for all of us.

FYI Rome liturgy news...

News flash...

Monday, Dec. 8
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
10 a.m. Solemn Pontifical Mass
at Ss. Trinita' dei Pellegrini in Rome
will be celebrated by George Card. Pell of Sydney Australia.


Sunday, Nov. 30
First Sunday of Advent
4 p.m. Solemn Pontifical Mass
at S. Maria degli Angeli e Martiri in Rome
will be celebrated by Dario Card. Castrillon Hoyos of the Pont. Com. Ecclesia Dei.

Prayers requested...

This is my cousin Sarah who was in an auto wreck. Please pray for her and for her family. Many thanks!

http://sarahleebenefitfund.blogspot.com/

From Rome: the right fascia...

Catholic splendor!

Moderns think that everything must be or is regulated by law, but they're wrong.

In Rome it's different and in fact much more fun: here there's custom (which is unwritten law). And, too, there are many splendid liturgical perogatives in the Diocese of Rome. Anywho it's all harmless: buckled shoes and tassels from the old days never hurt anybody! Like grandma always said: "Don't count pennies."

But, when you special order your fascia with tassels, make note of the two seperate styles here: one is a point reaching the tassel while the other is the round reaching the tassel. Take note as you have to tell them how you want it when you place the order (as per Don Juan).

Under the Roman sun: we love hats on ladies...

Italian fashion from the sunny streets of Rome!

From the East: another good blog...

See this blog and link to it:

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

Read about, know and love the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

De Magistris il Grande...

Cardinale subito! Born in 1926, this guy has been walking the streets of Rome in his Roman cassock and collar since the forties. Be inspired!

Pius XII: stole pattern in his honor...

Clergy who have stayed at the casa del clero near to the Vatican recognize this stole from the sacristy. Likely circa 1940s, great to see it still being used.

Greek Orthodox Sisters at S. Maria Maggiore...

Jansenism or not, they sure have a nice habit!

A.D. 2008: as seen in holy Rome...

You sweet and lovely sisters (Indian and Swiss) are awesome and we love you guys - be blessed!

Habanos in Rome: the Sunday stroll...

Eternal Rome. Many thanks to Monte Cristo Habana and to Hilary Jane Margaret White.

Writings of Pius XII: republish them...

He loved Holy Russia. Is this not evidence?

Pius XII wrote letters to the world. He was always writing. It was the World War and the Cold War. A time for a tempered (fit) diplomacy and he passed with flying colors.

Answer his call and support Catholics in Russia with a financial gift: www.vladmission.org .

Tomb of Pius XII: bring back the altar...

Take note of the flowers! This is the tomb of Pius XII perhaps circa 1959 or '60 or even later.

Just after he was entombed here they put up this portable altar so that clergy and faithful alike could worship as close to his holy corpse as possible.

Please pray and fast that somebody at the top will return such an altar for Holy Mass to be read here again each morning - the fans of Pius XII are many.