Rome 24/10 – Day 19: Review of the “Ave Maria Bell”

It was cloudy this morning so I didn’t see the rising of the sun at 07:25.  It is also cloudy this afternoon, which bodes not well for a sighting of the setting at 18:24.   The Ave Maria is ringing at Ss. Trinità at the solar time, rather than in the Roman Curia cycle of 18:45.

I was asked again about the Ave Maria Bell.  The question is “What is the Ave Maria Bell?”    I wrote about that in greater detail HERE.

In short, the Ave Maria Bells signals the end of the “religious” day and the beginning of “religious” night.  It is rung in the ball park of 30 minutes after sunset.  Usually the Ave Maria was rung in a way not dissimilar to how the Angelus is rung…  3x… 4x…5x… 1x.

If the Ave Maria rings at, say, 19:00h (7PM), then 18:00h (6PM) would be the 23rd hour of the day and 19:00 would be the 1st hour of the new day’s “evening and morning”.   In Roman churches, Vespers were usually sung about an hour before the Ave Maria Bell.  Hence, in the example above, at about 18:00 at the 23rd hour.

It’s all tied into a different way of calculating the hours of the day.  It also ties into the old Six Hour Clocks, you can still see around Rome.  The Six Hour Clock influenced the recitation of the Angelus at 06:00 – 12:00 – 18:00.

In the Roman Curia, Cardinals who were Prefects (the offices of the Congregations had/have throne rooms, btw) and other “pezzi grossi” around the place would receive visits for an hour after the Ave Maria. An hour after the Ave Maria was rung to signal the change of religious days, another bell was struck to denote the 1st hour of the new day.

The Ave Maria could follow the sun, and ring precisely one half hour after sunset.   So, following the sun strictly, the solar Ave Maria would ring at 18:54.   To simplify this for the Curia – ’cause who had watches, right? – they adopted 15 minute cycles.  We are in the 18:45 cycle now.  Actually we are in the 17:45 cycle, which lasts from 13-22 October.  BUT… there’s the “ora legale” here, the European “daylight savings” in force which moved the hour hand forward.   On Sunday 27 October “ora legale” is over and we will turn our clocks back to normal.  On that day we will be in the Curial Ave Maria cycle of 17:30 (22 Oct – 4 Nov).

Had enough yet about the Ave Maria Bell?   ‘Cause there is also a tie in with military practice of beating the “retreat” at the end of the day, in French “Retraite”, the day’s bookend to “Reveille”, for changing sentries and raising and lowering the colors.  On US Naval installations, for example, “colors” sounds at sunset.  This practice, while practical, originally flowed from the call to recite the Angelus, the Ave Maria, during the Crusades.

That said… today I sent out a “premium content” video to my Roman Donors to whom I am so grateful.

For them and for this day, thank you, Lord.

Self-explanatory.

Well… not quite.  In Rome there is a custom, especially among the young, to seek out maritozzi in the wee hours.  These sweet critters probably go back to ancient Rome. The name “martizzo” derives from the Latin word for “husband”. Men would bring these to prospective brides who would then call the giver “maritozzo”. The creative pastry conveyor might hide something inside, like a ring… just to break a tooth, I suppose. Or maybe to curry favor? No curry in these, however.

There’s always something more, right?

On the way to Mass before sunrise.

In churchy news… my text group has been musing about Mastro Titta.  Maybe its all the “walking together” that spurred this, I don’t know.

A bunch of damn fool women attempted “ordination” to the priesthood (perhaps it would have worked for Moloch’s clergy) on a boat – that again! – on the Tiber River which runs through Rome.

Get this from the France 24 site:

Dressed in a white robe with a rainbow stole, the 68-year-old Frenchwoman acknowledged her ordination was unauthorised by the Vatican, where a month-long summit on the future of the Church concludes next week.

No matter, said Rocher, who is transgender.

Transgender… so… wait… it was really a MAN being “ordained”?  With some women?

It just gets stranger.

In any event, there was only a woman pretending to be a bishop there, so nothing happened except something profoundly embarrassing.

And that boat on the river thing.   They think because they are on a river they are somehow outside of any ecclesiastically governed location.  Stupid.

Mastro Titta would have made a comment were he available.  Alas, he passed away in 1869.

This is sort of churchy, in that it shows something of the zeitgeist of the Left (also inside the Church):

Audience member shouts: “Jesus is Lord” at Kamala Harris Rally. Kamala responds, “Oh, I think you’re at the wrong rally…”pic.twitter.com/4PHXAMg2Oz

— @amuse (@amuse) October 18, 2024

The smaller one?  I’ll wager there were several times the number of people at the other rally.

And…

A new report on 10 Bishops China is persecuting from @HudsonInstitute. Pray their Names.@CardJosephZen, Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin, Bishop Augustine Cui Tai, Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo, Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin, Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen, Bishop James Su… pic.twitter.com/EX9xCnl1kp

— Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone (@ArchCordileone) October 18, 2024

In chessy news…

(White to mate in 2)