STATIONS OF THE CROSS – Audio from Fr. Z

Here are some of my audio projects of the Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross.

I am redoing them with my new podcast setup.

I’ll be adding some that I’ve done, so watch this post.

And remember to GO TO CONFESSION!

With this devotion you can gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions of confession and Communion within a few days of the work and detachment even from venial sin.  From the Handbook of Indulgences:

63. Exercise of the Way of the Cross (Viae Crucis exercitium)

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful, who make the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross.

The gaining of the plenary indulgence is regulated by the following norms:

  1. The pious exercise must be made before stations of the Way of the Cross legitimately erected.

  2. For the erection of the Way of the Cross fourteen crosses are required, to which it is customary to add fourteen pictures or images, which represent the stations of Jerusalem.

  3. According to the more common practice, the pious exercise consists of fourteen pious readings, to which some vocal prayers are added. However, nothing more is required than a pious meditation on the Passion and Death of the Lord, which need not be a particular consideration of the individual mysteries of the stations.

  4. A movement from one station to the next is required.

If the pious exercise is made publicly and if it is not possible for all taking part to go in an orderly way from station to station, it suffices if at least the one conducting the exercise goes from station to station, the others remaining in their place.

Those who are “impeded” can gain the same indulgence, if they spend at least one half an hour in pious reading and meditation on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For those belonging to Eastern Rites, among whom this pious exercise is not practiced, the respective Patriarchs can determine some other pious exercise in memory of the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ for the gaining of this indulgence.

If these recordings are helpful to you, please say a prayer for me.

For priests, especially, try The Way Of The Cross For Priests from the Benedictines of Silverstream Priory.  HERE.  Would you consider getting copies of this for your priests where you are?  Lay people: pray it for priests.

These podcasts are now provided by my Federated Computer! You can get one too by clicking the link.  Have a web presence?  Save lots of money and get away from corporations who mine your data.

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LENTCAzT 2026 – 17: Friday in the 2nd Week in Lent – The slow martyrdom of virtue – CORRECTED

A 5 minute daily podcast to help you in your Lenten discipline.

When I recorded this, I initially said it was Wednesday, which show you how scrambled I am these days. I corrected in the intro. The rest was correct.

We hear about San Vitale, the Roman Station. Card. Bacci takes a cue from St. Ambrose and expatiates about different martyrdoms, of bloody death and of the virtuous life.

Yesterday’s podcast – HERE

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Blog issues after the migration

There are problems after the migration to a new server.

Some things got broken.

One thing that will affect you readers is that all my CONTACT FORMS are not working.

This is a serious problem for me and I am trying to figure out how to fix it, but I just don’t understand well enough how things work.

I’m not sure if registration is working or not.

Also, a lot of images were lost or are buried because the image addresses changed.

And something is wrong with the comment form.

UGH.

With the passing of my mother, and all that that entails, now this too.

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Daily Rome Shot 1564 – Madness

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HEREWHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, and now also my late mother’s place.  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.  

Utter madness…

Utterly cool…

Superlatively cool…

Unquestionably cool…

White to move and mate in 4. HERE

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LENTCAzT 2026 – 16: Thursday in the 2nd Week in Lent – Dives et Lazarus

A 5 minute daily podcast to help you in your Lenten discipline.

We hear about the beautiful and ancient Santa Maria in Trastevere, the Roman Station. Fr. Troadec pries open the Gospel reading for today about the Rich Man and the Beggar who have quite different endings.

Yesterday’s podcast – HERE

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A Roman Station, Saintly Parallels, a Prayer over the People, and a Painting by Raphael

For the Roman Stations during Latin there are often reasons why particular readings were chosen for particular places. The ancient compilers of the Roman Mass formularies – back to the 7th c. and likely before – did not usually arrange these texts randomly. They often created connections between the station church and the readings proclaimed there.

So why this Gospel at the Station of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere?

During her life Cecilia prayed that her spiritual god-children, Valerian and Tiburtius, would be enthroned in heaven. Her prayer was granted—but through martyrdom. In the Gospel from Matthew 20, Salome, the mother of James and John, asks Christ that her sons might sit on thrones in His kingdom. The Lord does not reject the desire for glory, but He immediately reveals the cost: “Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?” Both apostles would indeed suffer. James would be martyred, and John would endure his own share of suffering, including his ordeal at the Latin Gate in Rome, true martyrdom.

Thus the Gospel resonates with Cecilia’s story.

Why the Lesson?

The reading comes from Esther. In early missals the prayer in this passage was sometimes attributed to Esther rather than to Mordecai. If we follow that older attribution, Esther becomes a figure of the Church, like Cecilia, interceding for her people who fast and humble themselves before God.  If we take the text as Mordecai’s prayer, he stands as a figure of Christ pleading for the salvation of his people, much as Daniel did last Monday. Either way, the prayer would have struck a deep chord in Rome when these Lenten formularies took shape. In the seventh century the people of the city faced famine, plague, and invasion. Their cry for divine mercy was urgent and immediate.

Consider also the Prayer over the People:

Deus, innocéntiæ restitútor et amátor, dírige ad te tuórum corda servórum: ut, spíritus tui fervóre concépto, et in fide inveniántur stábiles, et in ópere efficáces.

O God, restorer and lover of innocence, direct the hearts of Your servants toward You, so that, filled with the fervor of Your Spirit, they may be found steadfast in faith and rich in good works.

This prayer asks for two things: innocence and perseverance. Both are needed in times of trial.

I think this prayer may have inspired the configuration of saints in Raphael’s painting of the Ecstasy of St. Cecilia.

Cecilia is traditionally shown as the patroness of sacred music. In Raphael’s painting the musical instruments lie broken or discarded at her feet, the organ out of sorts slipping from her hands. Earthly music has fallen silent. Her gaze is lifted toward the harmony of heaven, which she is about to enter through martyrdom.

Around her stand four saints: Paul with his sword, John the Evangelist head inclined as at the Last Supper, Augustine in episcopal vestments, and Mary Magdalene with her jar.  John looks at Augustine, who looks back: Augustine wrote magnificent commentaries on the Gospel of John and the Letters.  Paul contemplates the instruments on the ground as if thinking about the clanging cymbal.  Mary looks out towards us to draw us into the painting as participants and to question us.

Paul and John represent innocence preserved; Augustine and Mary Magdalene represent innocence recovered.

All four testify to the same lesson: constancy and perseverance in the path that leads to God.

O God, restorer and lover of innocence, direct the hearts of Your servants toward You, so that, filled with the fervor of Your Spirit, they may be found steadfast in faith and rich in good works.

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Daily Rome Shot 1563 – 2nd class relic SHOE

Near Campo de’ Fiori, in the Via dei Giubbonari, you see a plaque recounting that Bl. Pope Pius IX, strolling about in the City – as he often did – ran into a priest bringing Viaticum to a dying man. The Pope went with him and was at the dying man’s bedside and himself gave the man last rites.

On 28 March 1851
Pope Pius IX
meeting by chance the Viaticum
followed along.
He crossed this threshold
and the Family of Vincent Cacace
was visited and blessed by the Savior of the World
and by His Vicar on Earth.

Bl. Pius IX was a member of the Archconfraternity founded at Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims and Convalescents. So am I. He was the last Pope ever to visit the church. Pius himself came to wash the feet of pilgrims, which is one of the works of the Archconfraternity. The Parish still preserves the gremial or apron that Pius uses when he washed feet.  I like to think that the day he met that priest with Viaticum, he was coming from Ss. Trinità which is quite near.

Here is a shoe of Pius IX which was acquired by The Parish™.  The World’s Best Sacristan™ called today and sent photos.   Popes had several kinds of shoes or slippers, silk for liturgy, velvet for the Apostolic Palace, and leather for walking about outside.

This is the type of shoe Pius IX would have been wearing when he met with that priest bringing Viaticum.

An Italian noble, when Pius died, asked the Secretary of State for some memento relic of him. It came with authentication paper from the Secretary of State at the time of Pius’ death.

The Parish™ will want to do some restoration and perhaps also a more fitting was to display it.

I invite anyone who would like to participate to contact me using this form HERE.  The names of those send a contribution with be recorded on a special letter to be placed together with the authentication papers permanently.

 

Speaking of a Pius Pope…

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LENTCAzT 2026 – 15: Wednesday in the 2nd Week in Lent – We will account for our time

A 5 minute daily podcast to help you in your Lenten discipline.

We hear about Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, the Roman Station. Card. Bacci really gets after us about how will view our use of our fleeting time when out own time comes.

Yesterday’s podcast – HERE

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Daily Rome Shot 1562

One of the “Talking Statues”.

Today’s Wordle: 4

Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HEREWHY?  This helps to pay for health insurance (massively hiked for this new year of surprises), utilities, groceries, etc..  At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful. With the added expenses I now have with the passing of my mom, I’m doubly grateful.

And this…

It ain’t ZedNet.

Mate in 4. It’s white’s move. HERE

Interested in learning?  Try THIS.

The wonderful nuns of Gower Abbey, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, have a great 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.

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LENTCAzT 2026 – 14: Tuesday in the 2nd Week in Lent – The gateway to salvation

A 5 minute daily podcast to help you in your Lenten discipline.

We hear about Santa Balbina, the Roman Station. Fr. Troadec has an amazing reflection on two kinds of people.

Yesterday’s podcast – HERE

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