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About this blog…
“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
- Chicagiensis_Indianapolitana on A ‘Cri de Coeur’ from the heartland: “With the rather stark difference between +Bp. Schneider’s letter and +Card. Sarah’s letter, a few observations. Let us first leave…”
- Ave Maria on A ‘Cri de Coeur’ from the heartland: “It is the enemy of souls that wants to suppress a valid Mass.”
- FRLBJ on A ‘Cri de Coeur’ from the heartland: “Totally agree with Cri de Coeur. There is no subsitute for that old time religion. We must polititely express ourselves…”
- Ages on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “A minor thing, probably a setting change, but I liked that the desktop version home page previously showed the full…”
- WVC on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “@JonPatrick – I agree – it’s as bad as when they change the layout or swipe function on your smartphone…”
- WVC on Daily Rome Shot 1559: “@TonyO – at the rate we’re going, they’re going to start announcing automatic excommunication for anyone who says anything mean…”
- amenamen on Daily Rome Shot 1560: “Black must keep White King in check, lest White Queen threatens: Bf7+, Kh7 (or Kg7) Qg8# So, Black forces these…”
- Fr. John Zuhlsdorf on Daily Rome Shot 1560: “Black to move and mate in 4. [NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t…”
- revueltos67 on Daily Rome Shot 1559: “White to move and mate in 4 1) Rc8+ Rd8 forced 2) Qxf7+ Kh8 forced 3) Qg8+ Rxg8 forced 4)…”
- JonPatrick on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “I am glad you are not changing the blog’s design. There is nothing I hate more that going to a…”
- kelleyb on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “Father Z earns the GOLD star today!”
- TonyO on Daily Rome Shot 1559: “Monsignor Breis Pereira de Maceió, Archbishop of Maceió (Brazil), has declared excommunication for any priest who celebrates or any faithful…”
- Fr. John Zuhlsdorf on 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”: “Smarticus Pantsicus!”
- Longinus on “The bread was fresh and was good. The cheese was not and was excellent.”: “The dolce is heavenly, especially with a bit of Tuscan acacia honey on it.”
- The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds.
St. John Eudes
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“Until the Lord be pleased to settle, through the instrumentality of the princes of the Church and the lawful ministers of His justice, the trouble aroused by the pride of a few and the ignorance of some others, let us with the help of God endeavor with calm and humble patience to render love for hatred, to avoid disputes with the silly, to keep to the truth and not fight with the weapons of falsehood, and to beg of God at all times that in all our thoughts and desires, in all our words and actions, He may hold the first place who calls Himself the origin of all things.”
- Prosper of Aquitaine (+c.455), De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio contra Collatorem 22.61
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“He [Satan] will set up a counter-Church which will be the ape of the Church because, he the devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the anti-Christ that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. In desperate need for God, whom he nevertheless refuses to adore, modern man in his loneliness and frustration will hunger more and more for membership in a community that will give him enlargement of purpose, but at the cost of losing himself in some vague collectivity.”
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Fr John Zuhlsdorf
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- “The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual.”
- C.S. Lewis
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frz AT wdtprs DOT comAs for Latin…
"But if, in any layman who is indeed imbued with literature, ignorance of the Latin language, which we can truly call the 'catholic' language, indicates a certain sluggishness in his love toward the Church, how much more fitting it is that each and every cleric should be adequately practiced and skilled in that language!" - Pius XI
"Let us realize that this remark of Cicero (Brutus 37, 140) can be in a certain way referred to [young lay people]: 'It is not so much a matter of distinction to know Latin as it is disgraceful not to know it.'" - St. John Paul II
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Recent Posts
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 1st Sunday in/of Lent 2026
- Daily Rome Shot 1561
- “And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse…”
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 13: Monday in the 2nd Week in Lent – “Everything became clear to me.”
- A ‘Cri de Coeur’ from the heartland
- 2 March – Blog Maintenance & Migration Day – DONE! “Cleanup in aisle 2,5,6…7…9…”
- Daily Rome Shot 1560
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 12: 2nd Sunday in Lent – Benedict XVI from Lent of sad 2013
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 11: Ember Saturday 1st Week in Lent – “Know Thyself!”
- On this Ember Friday we are 38 days out from Easter. What does the number 38 mean to St. Augustine?
- “The bread was fresh and was good. The cheese was not and was excellent.”
- Daily Rome Shot 1559
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 10: Ember Friday 1st Week in Lent – “Ego te absolvo” is your sure guarantee!
- Two items worthy of your precious time
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 09: Thursday 1st Week in Lent – Law and Order
- WDTPRS – Collect of Ember Wednesday of Lent (TLM & Novus)
- Daily Rome Shot 1558
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 08: Ember Wednesday 1st Week in Lent – The Four Preachers
- Daily Rome Shot 1557
- Brief summation of Bp. Schneider’s appeal to Pope Leo about the SSPX
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 07: Tuesday 1st Week in Lent – Against the wicked
- Daily Rome Shot 1556
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 06: Monday 1st Week in Lent – Bonds
- From “The Private Diary of Bishop F. Atticus McButterpants” – 26-02-18 – Ashes
- ASK FATHER: Why are Sunday “of Lent” in the Novus Ordo and “in Lent” in the TLM?
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 1st Sunday in/of Lent 2026
- Daily Rome Shot 1555
- LENTCAzT 2026 – 05: 1st Sunday of Lent – ANGELS!
- Daily Rome Shot 1554
- Card. Müller: a canonical solution for the SSPX
Let us pray…
Grant unto thy Church, we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that She, being gathered together by the Holy Ghost, may be in no wise troubled by attack from her foes. O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people making supplication unto Thee,and turn away the scourges of Thine anger which we deserve for our sins. Almighty and Everlasting God, in whose Hand are the power and the government of every realm: look down upon and help the Christian people that the heathen nations who trust in the fierceness of their own might may be crushed by the power of thine Arm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
PLEASE RESPOND. Pretty pleeeease?
The "sign of peace" during Mass in the Ordinary Form...
- I dread it as it approaches and think of ways to avoid it. (36%, 9,555 Votes)
- I tolerate it. (35%, 9,195 Votes)
- I hate it so much I won't go to Mass where it is done. (12%, 3,205 Votes)
- I like it and am happy to do it. (11%, 2,955 Votes)
- I don't care one way or another. (6%, 1,696 Votes)
Total Voters: 26,606
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Should the Bishops of the USA have us return to obligatory meatless Fridays during the whole year and not just during Lent?
- Yes, and I think this is very important. (81%, 15,546 Votes)
- Yes, I guess so. (9%, 1,716 Votes)
- No, I hesitate about such a move. (5%, 900 Votes)
- No, this would be a really bad idea. (3%, 511 Votes)
- I don't care. (2%, 431 Votes)
- What's penance? (1%, 152 Votes)
Total Voters: 19,255
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I walked into a building once. Although, I don’t think that is what you are talking about.
It’s a game, apparently.
I was for quite a while, and then it got old.
geotagging type game if I recall.
I just started playing 3 weeks back. I like it. It gets me to explore new places, and to find hidden gems in places I’ve been to.
Given my experiences with technology of late, the mind boggles at the prospects of how such a game like that would play out if I and my “smartphone” were involved. For the time being I am content with the Ingres who also went by the name(s) Jean-Auguste-Dominique.
Sorry to threadjack, but may I ask for your prayers for a safe trip? I am traveling 2500 miles by bus to home from a conference on the 4th of July and it could be very dangerous for me because of a medical condition.
Thanks,
The Chicken
[Crossing the road?]
Oh, don’t be chicken. :) Prayers said.
I would rather regress, but I digress.
Need to see a podiatrist, non?
I looked into this game one time, but I read in a review that you have to be careful because some of the other players get really competitive. As in, they will harass you if they think you are doing better than them and will find out your location and phone number to harass you. I think there is even a large section of the game’s forum dedicated to being able to report people who are harassing you. It just seemed like too much risk for too little fun, especially since I live in a very small town and there probably wouldn’t be much connection to the game here.
Trains are much better, Masked Chicken, if at all possible.
Godspeed!
Karl
Ingress is Skynet.
Holy bus rides, Chicken! Praying for your safe travels. I don’t think I’ve ever asked Archangel Rafael to intercede on behalf of the health of a chicken…perhaps we should ask Saint Francis as well, just to cover all the basis :)
Prayers for your safe journey home, Chicken!
Thanks, all for the prayers (it’s 2 1/2 days on several buses and because of my medical issue, this might be my last long trip on a bus or any mode of long distance transportation). I realize that there are weighty matters for someconferences to discuss, but the conference I just attended had a plenary panel by four computer artists from Pixar and the director of the Comic Arts Museum. I should have asked them to make me a star in their next movie. The Adventures of The Masked Chicken…has potential for box office gold, don’t you think? Also, apparently, if you have the 5-HTTPR gene, you have increased smiling tendencies. We had lively discussions on the logic of humor and Robert Mankoff, the cartoon editor for the New Yorker is a regular attendee – he even presented a paper on computer classification of his cartoon caption contest. Yeah, those were some serious matters :)
The Chicken
Safe travels, Chicken. S. Raphaël Archangele, ora pro nobis!
I was a casual player for nine months before walking away from the game last fall. It was very fun, but a waste of time and gas. The target audience for a game of this sort is a single guy in his 20’s; someone with no family life whatsoever. Once you have family responsibilities, playing something like this will be taxing. That is the primary reason I left. My conscious would always remind me there were other more important things too be dealing with, and I felt a bit guilty for playing. I tried to only play when I had to leave the house for errand running anyway, but it still felt wrong to me.
Yes, there are some hardcore, competitive players just as there is with any game. I never had any problems during the time I played.
If you start playing, remain solo. Most cities have groups and if you get involved with the group, they will pressure you into becoming more active. That is a bit of a regret of mine. There were a few instances where I drove out of my way to get portals only because my fellow teammates were nagging me to.
Things they call “augmented reality”, eh? Telescopes and Microscopes and spectral transducers (like infra-red cameras) might well be augmented reality.
Have you in prayer today, Chicken. Twenty five hundred miles by bus is scary for sure. Nine hundred ten behind the wheel of my car kicked me into atrial fibrillation (for the first time ever) last April, so it’s planes and trains only for me going forward.
Dear Chicken – praying for you and wishing you a safe journey. Here is a lovely prayer composed by Ven. Zita for journeys asking for the assistance of three Archangels:
“Sancte Gabriel cum Maria, Sancte Raphael cum Tobia, Sancte Michael cum omni cælesti hierarchia, adsistis nobis in viam.”
http://www.beatification-imperatrice-zita.org/pages/english/spirituality/devotion-to-angels-and-saints.php
@Chicken!
OMG!
2500 miles by bus?!!!!!!
You might not live long enough to finish that trip even without a medical condition!
How many days/weeks is it supposed to take?
(And for that trip to remain on schedule all the way to the end of it would require a miracle or 2….or 3!)
Keeping you in prayer today, Chicken. May Our Lord accompany you along your journey.
Dear Chicken, maybe you could take some steroids and grow eagles wings – you would be home in a couple of hours :-)! No?
“Dear Chicken, maybe you could take some steroids and grow eagles wings – you would be home in a couple of hours :-)! No?”
Maybe, but I would have to listen to, “On Eagles Wings,” going through my head the whole time. That might be worse than the bus trip :)
I have to miss Mass, today, because, if the bus get in on time, it will be 11:35 pm :( I think this is covered by penance, though.
The Chicken
Yes. I started playing a long time ago. Most play now is extremely casual: while somewhere for something else, or as a waypoint target for going on walks.
It was rather nice for discovering interesting things: pieces of art (mostly outdoor statues), historical markers/items, and memorials that would have otherwise been passed over. Much of this happened when I had to travel often for work.
Love Ingress.
My twins only sleep in the car so when I take them for their naps I’ll play(I don’t do it when driving). Also love to go into NYC , always tons of portals there.
I’m back from the bus trip. I have no idea what time zone my body is in, however. I got in at 2:45 am and have to get up at 5:30 am for Mass. Thanks, all for the prayers.
The Chicken