Fr. Z's Blog

Original Notes from :

In this PODCAzT I dissect the Pentecost Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus, also used during the Octave of Pentecost in the traditional Roman calendar.

I give you some background on what a sequence is, what an octave is and then we start drilling.

First we hear the Latin text and a good translation.   Then see start looking at the structure of the prayer.

That is when things get interesting.  I found a few things I had never noticed.

087 09-06-03 Veni Sancte Spiritus – The Pentecost Sequence dissected [The link probably won’t work… but there is the old page from 2009]

Booklet for the Mass

Many priests observe the anniversary of their ordination at this time of year. It is a common time for ordinations, probably because Ember Days were common times for ordinations and Ember Days fall during the Pentecost Octave.

In any event, today is my turn.  Today is my anniversary of ordination, 35 years ago, by St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica.  That might make me a 2nd class relic.

When this date rolls around, I usually say to myself:

“Well… I made it this far.”

And so begins the 35th year.

On 26 May 1991, the Feast of St. Philip Neri, it was also Trinity Sunday.

It is a wonderful synchronicity that The Parish™ in Rome to which I am so attached, is both the place of St. Philip Neri’s great work and also in honor of the Most Holy Trinity.

It was a perfect Roman May day.

I got up that morning, ate breakfast, said my prayers, and walked alone across town to the basilica, where I entered through the main doors with the rest of the crowd. After that, however, I went to the right, to the nave near the Pietà, where we ordinands vested and waited for the Holy Father. My family members came separately from a different part of town. They had special tickets which brought them very close to the altar.  St. Theresa of Calcutta was there, just in front of where my folks sat.

Since we were 60 in number, and from many countries, the basilica was absolutely jammed with people from all over the world who had come for the ordinations, probably some 50k.

You have not experienced the Litany of Saints until you have heard it sung by that many people in a space like that.

I arranged for my grandmother, a convert to Catholicism in her 80’s, to receive Communion from the Holy Father, St. John Paul.

I often wonder what happened to the other men with whom I was ordained. I only knew a few of them personally, since I had been at the Lateran University with them.

It was the first year that the Iron Curtain was raised a bit.  A few men were permitted out Romania to come to Rome to be ordained by the Pope. There were some Opus Dei guys ordained with us.  Another of the group was John Corapi of the SOLT group, though I didn’t know him at the time. Pray for him.  One priest was ordained for the Archdiocese of Southwark in England. I know that one fellow is now a bishop in Haiti.

This day, especially when I review some of these videos and think about what has happened between then and now, underscores the fact that God doesn’t choose men who are worthy. He chooses those whom it pleases Him to choose.

I ask for your prayers today and in an ongoing way for my cares, my health, and my future.  Pray for canceled priests.

And please, in a special way, pray for the late mother of a priest, my own.

The sermon from the Mass. The sermon is in Italian and the text is HERE.

I really miss him.

Here are some excerpts from the broadcast of the ordination, which was on national television in Italy.  We have the interrogation, litany and the prayer (form).

Imposition of hands.

Liturgically busy day, just as it was in life.  I’m getting behind.  By the end of the day, I’m…. ugh.

The Roman sun rose at 5:39.

The Roman sun set at 20: 36.

In the Curia the Ave Maria Bell is in the 21:00 cycle.  However rang on my phone app while we were having supper last night.    Such a great app.

Along with being the 145th day of the civil calendar, it was the Feast of Mary Mother of the Church, of St. Gregory VII, Venerable Bede and Maria Maddalena de Pazzi.

Jammed.

I read the new encyclical.  It is not without problems.   There are some inconsistencies in it, demonstrating that it was a committee work (they all are now) but also that the editor wasn’t very good.  I was disappointed at the overriding anthropocentric turn and the seeming watering down about abortion as being “gravely wrong” rather than “intrinsically evil”.   I don’t see how the Church’s “just war” doctrine can be thinned out into “outdated”, given the fact that states have a right to defend its citizenry at several levels and that force must be used to end obvious evil.  I’m reminded of Francis once saying that there should never be bombing and then soon after saying that the allies should have bombed to train tracks to the concentrations camps.   As a Latininst, I note that who ever worked on this does understand the impact of “novae” in “res novae” as seriously negative in connotation (not neutrall) and that the name of the document Quadragesismo anno is throughout called Quadragesima anno.  Really?   It is fun to see Tolkien quoted, but one wonders if the author of that section realizes that Gandalf is a fictional character.   I also wonder if the contributor to the theme of Nehemiah knew that the workers rebuilding the walls were also armed.  Also, how did Nehemiah, who essentially engaged in ethnic cleansing and the disfigurement of those who married outsiders as a paragon of synodality?   I could go on.

However, there were some interesting passages and some fair warnings about unbridled use of AI by those who are not responsible to anyone else.   And yet, the encyclical, if I got this right, suggests strong oversite by the state.  Oh?  China?

Enough of that.  Many people will look at this in the next few days.  Will it succeed in the view of authentic experts in the Church’s social teaching as being integrated into that body?   It is economically a little thin, for example.   I really didn’t like the suggestions about redistribution.  Who is supposed to do that?

Friends, including The Great Roman™ and The Great Roman Wife™ with Midwest Travelers™ and I sought to fend off death by starvation.

Great salad.

That’s grated bottarga.

Goodies.

Really good steak tartare.

Black mates in 4.

On Pentecost Sunday, the son broke the Roman horizon at 05:40. The setting therefore was at 20:35. The lengthening of days produces these lovely long evenings of light found only here.

The Ave Maria Bell has shifted into the 2100 cycle for the Curia. However the stupendous Ave Maria Clock app rings it according to the solar calculation, as does the timer at The Parish™.

In addition to being Pentecost, it was the Feast of Mary “Auxiliatrix” as well as of St. Vincent of Lerin (+450) who gave us an important “guardrail” about doctrine.

Moreover, it was the official Day of Prayer for the Church in China. I find that having that on the Curia calendar to smack of hypocrisy.

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – WHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc…  And now I have to maintain my late-mother’s place until that get’s sorted.  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.

Here’s something amusing.

The Wizard of Oz turns 87 this year, and back in 1998, critic Rick Polito wrote what might be the greatest one-line TV listing ever for TCM. pic.twitter.com/dRoktVzMAw

— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) May 22, 2026

I’ve been socializing a lot in these last few days in Rome.  Here are a couple of food shots.

An eggplant parmigiana appetizer which served as a great course by itself.

This is at home, my “pane di Lariano” from Roscioli.  However, there are many restaurants in the area around the Campo de’ Fiori now that get their bread and pizza dough from Roscioli.

Kitchen staff filling zucchini flowers before they are deep fried.

Speaking of deep frying, these are breaded and fried anchovies.  TERRIFIC.  They wound up being the best thing that night at La Carbonara.  It’s an old war horse of a place, but they are a bit uneven.  One day great, another…”meh”.

From the restaurant upper window.

About a half hour before Mass at the church was filling up.

The sun did it’s thing during the sermon for a couple of minutes before swinging away.  In the right place at the right time.   A nice Pentecosty pic.

After Mass I had the chance to chat with some nice people who made the effort to come not only for Mass but also the meet me.  Thanks.

White to move and mate in 4.

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

In Acts 2 Peter addressed the crowds and unfolded to them the ramifications of what had been done to Christ and the consequences of his Resurrection in the light of the descent of the Holy Spirit like illuminating tongues of fire.

The darkness of their minds and hearts was dispelled as their eyes were opened and they saw and they stepped into the light of the Light from Light.

At Easter man was redeemed by Christ.  At Pentecost the redeemed were claimed by the Spirit.

The Collect for Pentecost Sunday sings as follows:

Deus, qui hodierna die
corda fidelium Sancti Spiritus illustratione docuisti:
da nobis in eodem Spiritu recta sapere,
et de eius semper consolatione gaudere.

This ancient prayer, from at least the time of the Liber sacramentorum Gellonensis and probably older, survived the Consilium’s expert scalpels to live in the Novus Ordo only as the Collect for a Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit. It is also recited after the Veni Sancte Spiritus.

That sapio (infinitive sapere) means firstly “to taste, savor; to have a taste or flavor of a thing”. Logically, it is extended to “to know, understand a thing”.  It is often paired in literature with the adverb recte, “rightly”, when wisdom is indicated.  Think of the English word “insipid” (the sap- shifts to sip-) for something without flavor as well as a person without taste or wisdom.  A homo sapiens is someone of “good taste”, who knows the savor of life, as it were.  Sapiens is thus connected with Greek sophos, or “wise”, or “sage” which is also a savory herb.  Sapientia, “Wisdom”, is a figure for the Holy Spirit as well as the greatest of His Gifts.  The Holy Spirit, Parácletus, is our Counselor, leading us rightly, and He is Comforter, bringing us consolation.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O God, who on this day
taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit,
grant to us, in the same Spirit to know/savor things that are right,
and always to rejoice in His consolation.

That hodierna die connects this oration directly with similar language on Easter, showing the continuity between them.  Haec est dies quam fecit Dominus!

I love that play of meanings in sapere.  We know and we savor what we know. We relish what is right.  We taste and see.  Savvy?

O taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him (Ps 34:8).

The theme of sight is also thrilling within the Collect.

The Holy Spirit brought illustratio to the “hearts of the faithful”.

The Apostles were believers but the multitudes there, around the Temple precincts during the festival of Shevuoth, were not.  They came to believe from preaching.  They became part of the fideles as their hearts were illuminated by grace from the Holy Spirit and teaching from Peter informed their minds.  The illumination received allowed them to savor and savvy even deeper the words Peter preached.  In ancient rhetoric descriptive speech brought vivid images to the “eyes” of the listeners.  This vivid presentation, such as what Spirit-breathed Peter thunders – in the Temple – imparts evidentia (note the root – vid– “to see”) in his argument, illustratio (note the root – lux – “light”).  They had to know something before they could believe it.  As they were illuminated, they believed.  When they believed, they then understood the deeper meaning of what Peter explained and, with the movement of grace, they became believers in the deeper sense.  As we hear in Acts 2, they were “added”.  There is an Augustinian concept expressed in Latin, nisi credideritis non intelligetis… unless you will have first believed you will not understand.

With illustratione ringing in your ear, we are then struck consolatione.  Consolatio is the Third Person of the Trinity, just as He is Illustratio. The Gospel reading today say in John 14:26s:

Paráclitus autem Spíritus Sanctus, quem mittet Pater in nómine meo, ille vos docébit ómnia … But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything….

In the Latin Vulgate the Lord calls the Holy Spirit the “Paraclitus”, from the Greek parákletos (para “beside” + kaleo “call”), which is Counselor, Advocate, one who stands by you and intercedes.   In Matthew 2:18 and 5:4 we have two uses of the passive form of the same verb ????????. Both times, the context is mourning.  The meaning is ‘to be comforted’. The Hebrew equivalent of parakletos, menahhem, means “comforter”.   The RSV version translates parákletos as “Counselor”.  The KJV says “Comforter”.   Parákletos is a multi-layered term and title.   Across many different translations, “Comforter” is strongly represented.  English “Comforter” is rooted in Latin fortis, “strong”.  That points to the role of the Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.   A “Counselor” or Advocate” makes you and your case stronger.  The Spirit of Truth is the Strengthener, the Fortifier.  Hence, it was to the advantage of the disciples that the Lord should depart and the Fortifier Comforter Advocate would come!   It is to our advantage that we can be confirmed with the Holy Spirit as so many are at this time around Pentecost.

You would do well in this grace-filled time of the Octave of Pentecost, to make a review of the effects of the Sacrament Confirmation.  There are good points in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as many other venerable and still useful compendia.  I’m certain that you will find them both illuminating and consoling

My heavens… my days in Rome are numbered, unless I change my flights.  Another double post.  I’m getting slammed.  And I am bone weary.

Sunrise: 5:4…

Sunset: 20:3…

A… yeah yeah… 20:45

Welcome Registrant:

Dom Anselm Marie

Yesterday was the Feast of St Cristóbal Magellanes Jara, a victim of the anti-Catholic regime during the Cristeros rising.

Imprisoned for a crime he did not commit because of his Catholic faith, St Cristóbal Magellanes Jara was heard to cry out from his cell: “I am innocent and I die innocent. I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood… pic.twitter.com/PEkQ30dJbN

— Catholic Truth Society (@CTSpublishers) May 21, 2026

I find it interesting that Leo signed the decree for the beatification of SPANISH martyrs just before he goes to SPAIN and one of the WORST governments in the EU. Heh.

Meanwhile…

Vatican II ?? Springtime SUCCESS

????? ? Dance Mass ??
No Latin Mass for you Schismatic ??pic.twitter.com/BtJB7YWHHL

— AdVoluntasTua ?????? ?? ?? ? (@AdVoluntasTua) May 20, 2026

On my way the morning to get myself a treat for supper!   The sky was/is impossibly blue.

I went to the fishmonger. But what did I get?

Just around the corner from the fishmonger there is a little shop, a Tabac, where you get the usual things that you get in those places. It is also an Amazon pick up point for packages, FWIW. I stopped and bought a post card for a correspondence chess game I am playing. (While in Rome, we are sending photos of our cards for obvious reasons.). The guy in this shop, P.za Pollarolla, across also from a favored restaurant, Elle Effe, is a really nice fellow and the card was .50. But there’s more…

There there’s a little shop in the rather narrow street that lets out from Campo de’ Fiori into the Piazza Farnese, the Via dei Baullari, next to a decent restaurant which has changed hands last year. The guy is this shop is a rude as the other is nice and he charged 1.50 for a card.

Plus, there’s a sign. When I was in there, two guys came in after and he shouted, “Can’t you read?!?” This fellow is a jerk. Go to the other place for postcards… or anywhere.

At my regular fruit and veg stand I couldn’t help but get some apricots along with garlic and parsley (for the treat).

Still life, with keys.

My treat.

They are purging (more).

In Bucharest, Round 7 is today. Firouzja dropped out because of his injury. Hard to blame him. However, Keymer picked up a full point because of the forfeit. Yesterday, Wesley and MVL drew… darn it. Today So plays Anish Giri. Van Foreest will get a point from Firouzja. Doesn’t quite seem fair.

Black mates in 4.

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