Fr. Z's PODCAzTs

Fr. Z's PODCAzTs

By Fr. John ZuhlsdorfReligion & SpiritualityChristianity
Download on the App Store

Fr. Z's PODCAzTs episodes

  • The Advent Vespers Hymn – ‘Conditor alme siderum’ or ‘Creator alme siderum’
    At Vespers during Advent we priests recite (or ought to) a hymn entitled Conditor alme siderum. This is perhaps from the late 6th or early 7th c. In Pope Urban VIII's revision of the hymns of the Roman Breviary in 1632, the Advent hymns were greatly altered and this hymn was no exception. The revised hymn, Creator alme siderum, is very different piece. In the Liturgia horarum original hymn has since been restored:
    Conditor alme siderum,
    aeterna lux credentium,
    Christe, redemptor omnium,
    exaudi preces supplicum.
    Loving Creator of the stars,
    eternal Light of believers,
    O Christ, redeemer of all,
    hear the prayers of supplicants.
    Qui condolens interitu
    mortis perire saeculum,
    salvasti mundum languidum,
    donans reis remedium,
    You, greatly suffering with us
    that the cosmos was perishing from the ruin of death,
    saved the weakened world
    giving a cure to the condemned,
    Vergente mundi vespere,
    uti sponsus de thalamo,
    egressus honestissima
    Virginis matris clausula.
    while the evening of the world is verging toward us,
    as a Bridegroom having come forth from the chamber, the most virtuous
    enclosure of the Virgin Mother.
    Cuius forti potentiae
    genu curvantur omnia;
    caelestia, terrestria
    nutu fatentur subdita.
    At whose powerful might
    All things are bent down at the knee,
    things celestial, things earthly,
    things subdued making their profession with bowed head.
    Te, Sancte, fide quaesumus,
    venture iudex saeculi,
    conserva nos in tempore
    hostis a telo perfidi.
    In faith we beg You, O Holy One,
    You the Judge of the world about to come,
    guard us in this era
    from the weapon of the teacherous enemy.
    Sit, Christe, rex piissime,
    tibi Patrique gloria
    cum Spiritu Paraclito,
    in sempiterna saecula. Amen.
    O Christ, most merciful King,
    let there be glory to You,
    and to the Father with the Consoler Spirit
    forever and ever. Amen.
    Here is one poetic translation for the restored, but ancient, text:
    Creator of the starry height,
    Thy people's everlasting light,
    Jesu, Redeemer, save us all,
    Hear thou thy servants when they call.
    Thou, sorrowing at the helpless cry
    Of all creation doomed to die,
    Didst save our lost and guilty race
    By healing gifts of heavenly grace.
    When earth was near its evening hour,
    Thou didst, in love's redeeming power,
    Like bridegroom from his chamber, come
    Forth from a Virgin-mother's womb.
    At thy great Name, exalted now,
    All knees in lowly homage bow;
    All things in heaven and earth adore,
    And own Thee King for evermore.
    To thee, O Holy One, we pray,
    Our Judge in that tremendous day,
    Ward off, while yet we dwell below,
    The weapons of our crafty foe.
    To God the Father, God the Son,
    And God the Spirit, Three in One,
    Praise, honor, might and glory be
    From age to age eternally.
    Alternate Third Verse:
    Thou cam'st, the Bridegroom of the bride,
    As drew the world to eventide;
    Proceeding from a virgin shrine,
    The spotless Virgin all divine.
    Somewhere along the way, the Gregorian chant melodies for many hymns were adjusted, usually by French speakers, and you can hear the influence of French even on the melodies, for the syllabic emphasis shifted around. Today's hymn is a good example. In the case of Conditor alme siderum, the melody was adjusted in such a way that the second syllable of Conditor receives an emphasis that it did not have before Vatican II.
    "But Father! But Father! So what?!??" you say while drumming your fingers. "What difference could that make??? Aren't you being too picky? It's because YOU HATE VATICAN II!"
    Friends, where you place the syllabic emphasis changes the meaning. Perpend.
    There are two verbs in Latin that can give us the word spelled Conditor: condo, condere results in cónditor while condio, condire produces condítor. The verb condo, condere, condidi, cónditum, “to bring, lay or put together” in the sense of “establish, build, construct, compose, describe” and, strangely, “hide” is never to be confused with condio, condire, condivi, condí­tum: “to put fruit in vinegar, wine, spices, etc., to preserve, pickle”. Our English word “condiment” comes from condio. BEWARE! This gets confusing because since “to lay up”, as in to pickle or preserve, can also be expressed by condo! There is a connection between the words.
    Incautious people might sing the Vespers hymn in such a way that we lift our hearts and minds to the merciful Pickler, rather than the merciful Creator. The inattentive singer of vespers sings us an image of a cosmic cook sealing stars into Ball jars or sprinkling fresh herbs through the heavens.
    Let's play with this a while. We can even learn something about how the ancients ate.
    M. Porcius Cato (234-149 B.C. - the “Elder” or the “Censor” to distinguish him from his homonymous grandson), in his no nonsense work about running a farm called De agri cultura (called variously De re rustica), wrote: oleae conduntur [condo] vel virides in muria… (muria… think of Muriatic Acid) which means “green olives persevered/laid down in salt brine.” Remember, I said condo can hit from both sides of the plate.
    Also in De agri cultura XVII we find the same Cato’s descriptive chapter entitled Oleae albae quo modo condiantur [condio]… “how light colored olives are to be preserved”. Important stuff in Italy even today. Moreover, in his Natural History, C. Plinius Secundus (A.D. 23-79 – who died perhaps from poisonous gases in Stabiae about 16 km from the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius while trying to get good and close... hah... never a good idea), also called Pliny “the Elder” (to distinguish him from his nephew C. Plinius Caecilius Secundus “the Younger” Pliny (A.D. 62-113) - who described early Christians and their liturgical worship in his letters to the Emperor Trajan and who actually wrote the description of Vesuvius’ eruption at the request of the historian C. Cornelius Tacitus) says: vitis ipsa quoque manditur decoctis caulibus summis, qui et condiuntur [condio] in aceto ac muria, describing the cooked tendrils of grapevines flavored with vinegar and salt brine. Yum.
    We need to know all of this just in case during Advent we are called upon to sing the great hymn Cónditor Alme siderum...O Nourishing/Kind Maker of the Stars.
    Anyway, here is a nourishing poetic translation:
    Creator of the stars of night,
    Thy people’s everlasting Light;
    Jesu, Redeemer, save us all,
    And hear thy servants when they call.
    Thou, grieving that the ancient curse
    Should doom to death an universe,
    Hast found the med’cine, full of grace,
    To save and heal a ruin’d race.
    Thou cam’st, the Bridegroom of the Bride,
    As drew the world to evening-tide;
    Proceeding from a Virgin shrine,
    The spotless Victim all divine.
    At whose dread Name, majestic now,
    All knees must bend, all hearts must bow
    And things celestial thee shall own,
    And things terrestrial, Lord alone.
    O thou, whose coming is with dread
    To judge and doom the quick and dead,
    Preserve us, while we dwell below,
    From ev’ry insult of the foe.
    To God the Father, God the Son,
    And God the Spirit, Three in One,
    Laud, honour, might, and glory be
    From age to age eternally. Amen.
    I wonder sometimes if people have the slightest clue what has been lost to us, even on the level of literature and Western culture. Is it really possible to read classics of Western literature without a working knowledge of the Church's mighty liturgical texts? I don't think so. What would someone ignorant of the Church's Latin liturgy make of this passage from Jean Jacques Rousseau's Confessions (Book 3 - 1728-1731)?
    "I have always preserved an affection for a certain air of the Conditor alme Syderum, because one Sunday in Advent I heard that hymn sung on the steps of the cathedral (according to the custom of that place) as I lay in bed before daybreak. Mademoiselle Merceret, Madam de Warrens' chambermaid, knew something of music; I shall never forget a little piece that M. le Maitre made me sing with her, and which her mistress listened to with great satisfaction. In a word, every particular, even down to the servant Perrine, whom the boys of the choir took such delight in teasing. The remembrance of these times of happiness and innocence frequently returning to my mind, both ravish and affect me.
    Other than that, Rousseau was a real jerk.
    A century earlier, during the humanism of the Renaissance Pope Urban VIII (Barbarini) revised many hymns for the Breviarium Romanum in 1623, including this one, to the point that it is pretty much a different hymn. It seems this version didn't make it to France for Rousseau to hear. Compare and contrast.
    Creator alme siderum,
    aeterna lux credentium,
    Iesu, Redemptor omnium,
    intende votis supplicum.
    Qui daemonis ne fraudibus
    periret orbis, impetu
    amoris actus, languidi,
    mundi medela factus es,
    Commune qui mundi nefas
    ut expiares, ad crucem
    e Virginis sacrario
    intacta prodis victima.
    Cuius potestas gloriae,
    Nomenque cum primum sonat,
    et caelites et inferi
    tremente curvantur genu.
    Te, deprecamur ultimae
    magnum diei Iudicem,
    armis supernae gratiae
    defende nos ab hostibus.
    Virtus, honor, laus, gloria
    Deo Patri cum Filio,
    Sancto simul Paraclito,
    in saeculorum saecula.
    You don't need much Latin to know that that is pretty different.
    These hymns are pretty interesting, aren't they?
    __________
    Years ago I made a couple of podcasts in which I dissected the hymn for Vespers during Advent, Conditor or Creator alme siderum, in both the Vetus Ordo of the Roman Rite and the Novus Ordo.
    I give a rapid and brutally literal translation and sing the hymns so you can hear the differences.
    124 11-11-26 - Advent EF and OF hymns for vespers compared
    https://zuhlsdorf.computer/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/11_11_26.mp3
    13 min
  • Rome 24/10 – Day 39-40: Open! Says me.
    Over Rome the sun brought new light at 06:51.   That light will greatly diminish at 16:57.
    The Ave Maria is really in the 17:15 cycle but the Vatican calendar still gets it wrong at 17:30.
    Today is the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the Mother Church of the City and of the World.  It is the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome.
    For this days, Lord, I give you praise and thanks.
    Breakfast with The World's Best Sacristan™ and The Parish Priest™.
    This is something new at The Parish™.
    The General Postulator of the Carmelites as confirmed that this manikin came from the Carmelite Monastery in Lisieux and that it was used by St. Thérèse the Little Flower.
    It was a nice surprise to see this connection to St. Thérèse in the sacristy of The Parish™.
    Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links.  US HERE – UK HERE  WHY?  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.
    Welcome registrant:
    friendindeed
    Clams last night.   This is after several hours of purging in sea salt water.
    https://wdtprs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/img_8419.mp4
    https://zuhlsdorf.computer/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/img_8420-3.mp4
     
    Sant' Andrea after visiting the fishmonger.
    I stopped and thanked St. Joseph for something.  Thank you, St. Joseph.
    In churchy news...
    Bells sounded from the belfry of the basilica of Notre Dame in Paris on November 8, for the first time since the cathedral was ravaged by fire on August 19, 2019. https://t.co/z98vx1pEhb
    — Father V (@father_rmv) November 8, 2024
    Nice people! Great service!
    At the National Catholic Register, Ed Pentin has a piece about why the Walking Together about Walking Togetherity was silent about the Traditional Latin Mass. Even though there is a demographic sinkhole opening up under the Church in developed countries precisely because of the choices of her pastors for the last 50+ years, and even though (still) small communities of more traditional Catholic are burgeoning, ... no! no! ... don't talk about it! [FINGERS IN EARS AND HUMMING] "Not listening!"
    Honestly, you would think they'd rather have a smoking crater than a happy parish with the TLM and young families active in the Church.
    The canonization process of a Pakistani Catholic boy who sacrificed his life to prevent an Islamist suicide bomber from entering a crowded church moves forward.
    The Vatican has approved the diocesan inquiry into the martyrdom of Akash Bashir, a 20-year-old Catholic who… pic.twitter.com/MY0lD75OIG
    — Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) November 9, 2024
    In chessy news... HERE
    (White mates in 2)
    1 min
  • Rome 24/10 – Day 37: Wherein Fr. Z rants
    Morning sun movement became visible at 06:47. It will disappear from view at 17:00.
    Thank you for this day, Lord.
    The Ave Maria rings at - according to the errant curial calendar - 17:30. But that's wrong.  It should now be in the 17:15 cycle.
    On this dies non I said a Daily Requiem for Poor Souls. As a matter of fact, I just got that intention yesterday, so I brought it to the head of the line.
    The Requiem Mass is so beautiful with the Dies Irae.
    Quaerens me, sedisti lassus:
    Redemisti Crucem passus:
    Tantus labor non sit cassus.
    Welcome registrants:
    TomasDelRio
    marcolajolla62
    The tail end of some "premium content" sent out to Roman Donors. I am so grateful to them.
    https://zuhlsdorf.computer/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_8333.mp4
    In churchy news...
    Catholics voted for the President-elect over VP Harris by a margin of 56% to 41%. pic.twitter.com/8tV5NoneZg— Father V (@father_rmv) November 6, 2024
    In Florida the abortion amendment was defeated! HERE I know that a great many churches - and there are a lot (of different kinds, splinters) - had NO! signs out.
    The late, former Exorcist of Rome, Fr. Gabriel Amorth, said that demons try to possess politicians. HERE Well... duh! Shall we talk about leaders in the CHURCH?
    At National Catholic Register, there is a piece about the mainly American (I think) phenomenon of moving priests so often, allowing a man to be pastor for maybe 12 years and then shoving him out. HERE In the Latin Church's Code of Canon Law, can. 522 says,
    Can. 522 - Parochus stabilitate gaudeat oportet ideoque ad tempus indefinitum nominetur; ad certum tempus tantum ab Episcopo dioecesano nominari potest, si id ab Episcoporum conferentia per decretum admissum fuerit.
    So...“A pastor must enjoy/have stability and therefore is fitting that he be appointed for an indefinite period of time”. However, in the next part: “He can be appointed by the diocesan bishop only for a specific period if the conference of bishops will have permitted through a decree.”
    The clear intent of the law is that pastors, "the parish priest", in normal circumstances have a long time in his parish.
    Most of the priests I talk to think this appointment for 6 years, with another 6 possible years is terrible. They are just getting into the place and they get moved. When they get to baptize the children of the children they baptized... then they've gotten settled. Will some have other opinions? Sure. Are parishes different from each other? Sure. Are there bad fits that have to be adjusted? Sure. But you get the idea.
    Most priests I know think that this term limiting of pastors is also a dodge that bishops use so they don't have to work things through with pastors who are perhaps "troublesome" for them. They just wait them out and move them.
    Most priests I know think that moving priests so often over time gives people the idea that the priest isn't really in charge. They come and go. The lay staff is the stable element.
    Therefore, there is no "father" in the parish. This is also part of a war on men and boys, which manifests also in the sanctuary.
    Take a look at that piece.
    At a substack called WM Review, there is a provocative piece about whether or not, because of the change to the rites of ordination after the Council, we will have validly consecrated bishops in the future.
    This question comes up once in a while because it is an important issue and there were significant changes to the rites of ordination of priests and of bishops under Paul VI.  The changes to the ordination for priests were concerning enough that John Paul II in 1990 put things back into the rite that Paul VI took out.  Rites should make explicit exactly what they are supposed to do.   For example, the post-Conciliar Book of Blessings has "blessings" that don't explicitly bless things with a constitutive blessing (as opposed to an invocative blessing).  The forward to the Book of Blessings states that it is trying to eliminate the distinction.   Change the rite, you just might change the effect.   And WE ARE OUR RITES.  How we pray impacts what we believe and, hence, how we live, and vice versa in a complete intertwined loop of influence.
    The rites of ordination were significantly changed after Vatican II, so it is entirely normal that one might wonder about them.
    HOWEVER... in view of the ordination of priests the late great Michael Davies wrote a book called Order of Melchisedech: A Defence of the Catholic Priesthood - US HERE  Davies tackles the changes to the rites after the Council, pointing out the problems.  However, he argues that the rites DO ordain validly despite the changes.   That said, he also brings up the issue of the intent of the ordaining bishop.   Folks... I am working from my memory about Davies' book, which I read a long time ago.   If I put my foot wrong there, please correct me.  Davies argues (I think) that so long as the bishop has the correct theology of priesthood, ordination, etc., then the rite is just within the bounds of valid.  However, if over time the theology of priesthood and ordination is eroded through modernist machinations - and believe you me that is EXACTLY what they tried to do to us in seminary in the 1980's! - then all bets are off.   In any event, the WM Review pieces comes down on the side of invalidity.  I don't agree.
    However, this is a question that will not go away easily.   Why?  I mentioned my seminary in the USA.  I did two years of hard time at the hell-hole that was the Saint Paul Seminary in the late 80's.  I finished in Rome.  However, we were not to use the word "priest" (which we called "the P word"), because we are all "ministers", some ordained and some non-ordained.  In our class which was supposed to be on Priesthood and Eucharist, but which was called something like Ministry and Symbol, we were told, that - I am not making this up -
    "when the ordained minister says the words of institution [not consecration] over bread and wine no real change takes place - they become a symbol of the unity of the community gathered there in that moment."
    Yup.  Really.
    How many things are wrong with that?
    I objected.  I asked how that jived with transubstantiation.  The heretic priest - who left the priesthood to shack up with a female seminary faculty member after celebrating the invalid marriage ceremony of disgraced musician David Haas - replied that the Church no longer teaches transubstantiation.   I asked when that happened.  Vatican II.   I asked why Paul VI, after Vatican II, wrote in his 1965 encyclical Mysterium fidei said the opposite and that we have to use "transubstantiation".  He became furious.  He said I was locked up in irrelevant Aristotelean categories, blah blah blah.  I responded: "I grew up Lutheran.  Even Lutherans believe more than you."   Soon after, the rector had a heart attack.  This heretic became rector.  He threw me out the next day.  It was after that, on the advice of a priest friend, that I pray to the Little Flower St. Thérèse for help.  The next day I received signs of roses all day long.  That night, the Auxiliary Bishop (now a retired Archbishop) called me with the news that I was not being thrown out.  (This is why I have a wreath of roses on my chalice.)
    But did you get what that heretic said?  For him, the Eucharist symbolized, but not in a real way, the unity of the community (not the Body Blood Soul Divinity of Christ), gathered there (just localized) in that moment (not in an enduring way such that you would reserve it in a tabernacle).   That's worse than Rahner's bizarre ideas about sacraments celebrating pre-existing realities!
    But that's not all!   What danger could these heretic jerks have had for the knowledge and faithful of future priests and future bishops?
    Channeling his inner Schillebeeckx, there are no priests in the sense of sacramentally ordained.  The community calls forth presiders for their "eucharist" (see above for what he believed about eucharist!) who embody who the community is.  As the community changes, or the one called forth changes, that person returns to the assembly and another is called forth to preside.
    THAT's what we got in seminary in the 1980's.
    So ... is there any reason ever to wonder about the intention of some men who were formed for priesthood in those years?
    Yes.  However, those notions I wrote above are so weird, so far out, that very few men indeed would buy them and remain a priest for any length of time after ordination.  Very few.  And it would be unlikely that men believing that complete crap would be made a bishop.
    It certainly has happened that there were some - maybe now are - some bishops with such  screwy ideas.  I have in mind one in the Amazon.... and I don't mean my wish list.  But are there bishops who have zero connection to authentic Catholic theology of priesthood and ordination. It would have to be demonstrated to me with solid proofs and not just claims because the bishop is ... sub-optimal in some ways.
    Jesus founded our Church.  Jesus will take care of our Church.  That doesn't mean that the Church will survive "woke" in the USA or in the Amazon or in Rome!   It means that Jesus will maintain the Church in some form with valid sacraments - valid Holy Orders - no matter what is inflicted on her from without or from within. Christus vincit!  Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
    In chessy news... HERE
    From Paul VI's  Mysterium fidei.  My emphases:
    REASONS FOR PASTORAL CONCERN AND ANXIETY
    9. There are, however, Venerable Brothers, a number of reasons for serious pastoral concern and anxiety in this very matter that we are now discussing, and because of Our consciousness of Our Apostolic office, We cannot remain silent about them.
    False and Disturbing Opinions
    10. For We can see that some of those who are dealing with this Most Holy Mystery in speech and writing are disseminating opinions on Masse
    2 min

About Fr. Z's PODCAzTs

From the publisher's feed

Audio from Fr. John Zuhlsdorf of Fr. Z’s Blog (wdtprs.com): short daily 5-minute podcasts for Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter (ADVENTCAzT, CHRISTMASCAzT, LENTCAzT, PASCHALCAzT), live Traditional…