Fr. Z's Blog | Formerly entitled: "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" – Clear, straight commentary on Catholic issues, liturgy and life by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬)

DAILY ROME SHOT 936 – CATANIA!

Posted on 9 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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No, CATANIA! is not a cheer like WAKANDA! It should be.

Some images from The World’s Best Sacristan™ who was in Catania in Sicily for the great feast of St. Agatha.

It’s sort of a “Rome Shot” since St. Agatha is in the Roman Canon.

A sample of images.

Alas, the videos are not horizontally oriented, but I got them to work.

Thanks to The World’s Best Sacristan™!

This morning I am watching a new chess event which is heavily Magnus-based. It is a small invitational with 8 players at a super luxury spa-resort in N. Germany. It is called the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge. This is classical format Fischer Random 960, which they call “Freestyle” because most people don’t know what that means. Of course if they don’t know that, they also don’t know what “freestyle” means. The idea is that the pieces on your 1st rank are in a non-classical position. The king has to be between the rooks and the bishops have to be on different colors, there are 960 possible arrangements. That means that the players can’t prepare as they do in regular chess and just blitz out the opening. Usually Fischer Random is played with a short time format. This is longer. Quite a few great players think that 960 is the future.

The coverage… welllll…. right now, there are lots of glitches. They are trying but they don’t have their act together, technically. Changing scenes is catching commentators by surprise on hot mics. Board views are scrambled. They’ll figure it is. I like seeing Peter Leko, always good. Tanya Sachdev… easy on the eyes and knows her chess, but her voice could etch glass. When she is commenting on a game, on concrete positions, she is better, but when she goes into “moderator” or “MC” mode, she is intolerable, repeating what everyone else says and ratcheting up her vocal weapon.

The players have bright jackets in different colors and double cuffs, no tie. The details of drawing the lot for the position number was reminiscent of some of the TV you see in Europe, painful. Thank you Miss Angola for the draw, but what on earth was that other gal there for and what was she wearing?

Overall, they are attempting to have a different look, perhaps edgy, perhaps elegant (fail). Maybe they consulted Puer, Firouzja, who has pretenses in fashion and design.

In the background, during their technical problems, one hears a male voice with an Indian accent.

At the end of the event I expect a bollywood number.

Meanwhile, white to move and mate in 3.

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

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

Ceterum censeo Alirezam delendum esse.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Catania, St. Agatha | 4 Comments

DAILY ROME SHOT 935

Posted on 8 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Photo from The Great Roman™

Welcome registrant:
Typasius

Magnus Carlsen won the Chessable Masters after pasting Alireza Firouzja in the Grand Final Reset of Division I. The Boy had two wins in a row and a draw in game 4 to set up a rematch. In the Reset, Carlsen struck first and went on to destroy Firouzja 2-0.

Meanwhile, white to mate in 2.

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

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

Interested in learning? Try THIS.

Ceterum censeo Firouzja esse delendum.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | 4 Comments

A new Zorro and a new Ecclesiological Paradigm

Posted on 8 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

When in Middle School I took Spanish (the third language I was studying at the time along with German and Russian – because at the time we were at a High School with Russian), our teacher nicknamed me Zorro, no doubt because of my name.

There is a new series called Zorro.

How to describe?

Apart from the dubbing, which is sort of like the Holy See Press Office and L’Osservatore on a normal day…

It seems that there is now a “spirit of Zorro” which was released from the body of the previous Zorro who was a Mexican Indian when his body was burned -with all due Pacha rites, it was bestowed with the help of a rather mottled zorro (fox) spirit guide on a young Spanish blue-eyed blond who looks like a cross between Chris Pine Kirk and a Hitler Youth Poster.

The action… the costumes are great.

It is well… original but woke Batman meets Spaghetti Western, channeling moments and camera angles from The Patriot.

It is ecclesiologically up to date. There is an angry woman in it who wants to be Zorro. No. Really. She stole his black suit and beat him up. She is native American. Therefore she’s good at Kung Fu.

I haven’t figured out the angle yet ’cause she’s the bad guy right now. Girl. It. Them. And.. who’s bad, anyway?

So, we have an active Zorro and a contemplative Zorro. It’s ecclesiologically up to date.

One of them is in his hathhhsiana (I think the series in made in Granada), but he get’s out and around. The other is from the southern hemisphere peripheries. She wants to make a mess. And she has a cool make up. Dialogue paint. The stripe on her face tells you she is different … sort of.. but not in a like male female way… under the mask.

Angry fem Kung fu Mexi-Cali face-stripe Zorro, channeling her inner modern Bat Man.

And the Captain trying to catch him is named: Monasterium.

What hangs in the balance is the fate of California.

Also, I noticed that when the dialogue is in Chinese, I can get about half of it. That means that it is rudimentary Mandarin, and therefore an indication that there might be a certain country’s money involved… though it is made in Spain. In one episode, the Chinese victim girl escapes Zorro’s protection with Tornado, but Tornado comes back. Zorro, knowing Chinese proverbs, cites “the horse knows the way”… as in “lao ma shi tu… an old horse knows the way”.

Zorro’s Tornado is no doubt wise, and knows that it has to be this way.

Eclessiologically it’s up to date with original woke Batman and Tarrantino camera angles.

I did not keep up with my Spanish.

The series, so far, lacks only, “My name is Diego de la Vega. You killed my father!”

Finally, Tornado is … beautiful.

Really finally, I liked it when he carved the Z in the forehead of the slimy rapist and said, “I’ll be back.

PS: The evil Governor wears a vest of paisley.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | 6 Comments

ASK FATHER: Chess? You are a heretic! A Council denier!

Posted on 7 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

You have a lot of stuff about chess on your Catholic blog. But chess is not a Catholic game. It was condemned by the Church. Why do you have so much about something that was condemned? Even if you say that it isn’t condemned now, it was. If it was, there must be something wrong with it.

Such blinkered rigidity. Such backwardism. Such small-group ideology.

It is widely known that THE Council … Lateran IV of 1215 condemned clerics playing games of chance like chess along with watching mimes, hanging out in taverns, and wearing pointed shoes.

Let’s be clear about this. Chess is not a game of chance. It was a game of chance waaaay back when dice were used in the game. Because of the dice, chess was considered a game of hazard, which were forbidden. However, dice are not used in chess now. Hence, chess is not a now a game of hazard, so the canon doesn’t apply.

“But Father! But Father!”, defenders of the Letter of the Council will reply, “You are a denier of Lateran IV! You must immediately renounce chess and all its empty promises, because YOU HATE LATERAN IV!”

Nay, rather, I respond, I am deeply imbued with the SPIRIT of Lateran IV. I do NOT wear shoes with pointed toes. I detest mimes, as one does. I loiter not in taverns. I don’t play games of chance. Well… I do play cribbage once in a while.

That canon was clearly penned by someone bound in rigid cultural taboos which viewed chess as something ugly and unacceptable, fearing it because there were laws against it. Card. Kasper would tell them that while we can’t say that the Fourth Lateran Council was “wrong”, today it has to be read through lived experience. Expecting clerics not to play chess is an impossible ideal. There must be discernment.

There must not only be discernment, there must be accompaniment. Clerical chess players are misunderstood. Those backwardist taboo mongers shouldn’t tell us what to do! Chess playing priests could wind up being the most marginalized group in the Church if this Lateran IV canon is implemented without dialogue and discernment. Chess playing priests should be at least tolerated if not accepted. There are new ways of viewing chess now. It is a game that is played and also not a game that is played, and playing can be understood as something not vertical or horizontal, but rather tangential and parabolic, divaricated and typifying.

Furthermore, we must also be open to variants, which are also viewed through the lens of taboo: 3-way and 4-way chess… even duck chess!

Embracing the Spirit of Lateran IV, when clerical chess games spontaneously spring up, clerical chess players should be praised, not as a pair of opponents, but as spontaneous individuals seeking to find their way in the tangles of the 64 square.

St. Teresa of Avila, Patroness of Chess Players, pray for us.

Posted in "But Father! But Father!", Lighter fare, SESSIUNCULA | 24 Comments

YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS

Posted on 7 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

PLEASE use the sharing buttons! Thanks!

This time of year, close to Christmas, is a time of joy. Not everyone, however, has joyful news. Some experience serious challenges.

In your charity would you please take a moment look at the requests and to pray for the people about whom you read?

Continued from THESE.

Let’s remember all who are ill, who will die soon, who have died recently, who have lost their jobs, who are afraid.

I get many requests by email asking for prayers. Some are heart-achingly grave and urgent.

As long as my blog reaches so many readers in so many places, let’s give each other a hand. We should support each other in works of mercy.

If you have some prayer requests, feel free to post them below.

You have to be registered here to be able to post.

In your kindness continue prayers for my mother, who has been diagnosed with something grave and incurable.

Posted in PRAYER REQUEST | Tagged Your Urgent Prayer Requests | 13 Comments

7 February: Bl. Pius IX, Pope – and a ramble

Posted on 7 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Martyrologium Romanum has this entry for 7 February:

16*. Romae, beati Pii papae Noni, qui, veritatem Christi, cui ab imo adhaesit, plane proclamans, multas instituit sedes episcopales, cultum beatae Mariae Virginis promovit et Concilium OEcumenicum Vaticanum Primum ascivit.

You will notice from the photo that the effigy of the Pope has a red camauro, the cap trimmed in ermine that John XXIII and Benedict XVI used on cold days.

The vesture of Popes has shifted over the centuries. For example, they didn’t always wear white. They wore martyrial red.

There are conflicting theories about how the pope wound up garbed in white. Some think that Bl. Innocent V, pope for a few months in 1276, kept his white Dominican habit. Others think that it was Pius V, 1566-72, who kept his white Dominican habit. Either way, it seems that Dominicans were involved.

Would I like to see popes in red? No.

What I would like to see is the proper use of traditional papal garb and vestments, which demonstrates humility and shows respect for the office and God’s people.

There is, by the way, a nickname, the Red Pope, for the head of Propaganda Fidei, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Back in the day, this was an extremely powerful position, especially because of the massive funds the head of Propaganda controlled and the territories he governed. The “red” here refers to the color of the cardinal’s garb.

However, another “Red Pope” could be the late, great Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, whom some claim was the real pope, truly the one elected in 1958. The story is that Siri was elected as Gregory XVII but because of massive resistance his election was somehow reversed and John XXIII was elected. The Siri Theory is the foundation of the claims of some sedevacantists. Other sedevacantists disputed the 1903 election of Giuseppe Sarto as Pius X. That conclave originally, or nearly so, elected Card. Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro. Back in the day, it was possible for secular powers to influence conclaves. When Rampolla was elected, or nearly so, the Card. Prince-Archbp. of Krakow exercised Franz Joseph’s, the Emperor of Austria’s, veto. One of Pius X’s first official acts was to abolish the veto right, the ius exclusivae, which was the prerogative of the Catholic monarchs of France, Spain, Austria, and the Holy Roman Emperor and exercised through a cardinal of royal blood. This veto had been used against papal candidates some dozen times during the 17th-19th centuries.

These days, there is discussion about the validity of the conclave of 2013.

Let’s just say that had Siri been elected things would have been very different, as they would have under Rampolla. Had Benedict not resigned, things would have been very different.

Posted in Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged Bl. Pius IX | 7 Comments

DAILY ROME SHOT 934

Posted on 7 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Photo from The Great Roman™

Chessables Masters: Alireza “Delendus” Firouzja is slated to play Magnus Carlsen today. I sometimes happily cheer for Magnus’ opponents. Not today. In Divison 2 Vincent Keymer has prevailed over Levon. But Levon beat Bok. It’s Keymer and Levon Aronian again in their final.

Meanwhile, BLACK to move and mate in 3.

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

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

Interested in learning? Try THIS.

If you have any kind of web presence, it’s time to consider

Federated Computer

Really. Take a couple minutes to see what it is and consider what it means.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | 4 Comments

DAILY ROME SHOT 933

Posted on 6 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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.

Priestly chess players, drop me a line. HERE

Interested in learning? Try THIS.

If you have any kind of web presence, it’s time to consider

Federated Computer

Really. Take a couple minutes to see what it is and consider what it means.

The wonderful nuns of Gower Abbey, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, have a new disc and digital download:

Tenebrae at Ephesus

US HERE – UK HERE

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.

Alas, in the Chessable Masters, Firouzja defeated Nepo to become 1st Loser. He will play Magnus on Wednesday. GO MAGNUS!

Speaking of losers. I lost every game of rapid today at OTB. I tried some edgy attacks and, as is typical, missed something.

Ceterum censeo Firouzja esse delendum.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | 2 Comments

5 February: St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

Posted on 5 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today is the feast of St. Agatha, a virgin martyr and saint of the Roman Canon.

Agatha was martyred in Sicily in about 251 during the time of the Emperor Decius and her tomb is at Catania.

In Rome there is a lovely little church dedicated to her, Sant’Agatha de’ Goti in the Suburra zone, which is the titular church of Card. Burke. There is also a town of the same name down near Naples which used to be the seat of a diocese of which St. Alphonsus Liguori was bishop. And the de’Goti does not refer to the Goths, either the tribe or the weird eye-makeup crew. It refers to a noble family from Gascony that were the locum tenentes.

Holy legend says that, despite her vow of virginity, Agata was pursued by a powerful man and eventually subjected to humiliations and tortures, including the cutting off of her breasts. She is a patroness of women who have been abused and also for breast cancer patients.

There is a beautiful little book available…

With Glory and Honor You Crowned Them: The Female Martyrs of the Roman Canon by Matthew Manint

US HERE – UK HERE

We should increase our devotion to the martyrs, especially those of the Roman Canon.

We should increase our USE of the Roman Canon. Yesterday I posted about a video interview by Larry Chapp with Bp. Conley of Lincoln about liturgical matters. They agreed that we should get rid of Eucharistic Prayer II and return to greater use of the Roman Canon in the Novus Ordo. Of course this isn’t an issue in the Vetus, is it.

There are going to be hard days ahead, therefore.

Oremus.
Deus, qui inter cétera poténtiæ tuæ mirácula étiam in sexu frágili victóriam martýrii contulísti: concéde propítius; ut, qui beátæ Agathæ Vírginis et Mártyris tuæ natalítia cólimus, per eius ad te exémpla gradiámur.

Let us pray.
O God, Who among other wonders of Your power have given the victory of martyrdom even to the gentle sex, graciously grant that we who commemorate the anniversary of the death of blessed Agatha, Your Virgin and Martyr, may come to You by following her example. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Posted in Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged Roman Canon | 3 Comments

DAILY ROME SHOT 932

Posted on 5 February 2024 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Anyone want to take a crack at the Latin?

Meanwhile, in the Chessable Masters (an online tournament with different divisions and a large field) Magnus has reached the Final in Division 1. He lost a game to Denis Lazavik, half Magnus’ age, whom we shall keep an eye on, but prevailed in the end 2.5 to 1.5. In the game Denis won, he had black and he had to scramble in the endgame with only 10 seconds. In the lower bracket Nep beat Fedoseev and Puer beat Martinez. In Division 2 Levon and Vincent Keymer have come to the top. In 3, Grischuk and Sarana.

Meanwhile, white to move and mate in 2.