The annual day-long grind through one of Augustine’s works (or a substantial segment thereof) was, as usual, a bit of a grind, but there were also some positive things I took away from the weekend. First of all, I had the privilege of meeting a traditionalist Catholic graduate student in philosophy from another school, something that I don’t think I’ve done before. That meeting came about through the existence of this blog, which was also nice.

Second, on Sunday, I attended the indult in Albany (Troy, really) in historic St. Peter’s church. This was my first time to the indult in Troy, which is 3+ hours from Ithaca and so too far for Sunday travel. I was very impressed by their physical plant, if you will: if Mother Hubbard ever has the courage to give the place to the FSSP, they’ll inherit (as I imagine, since they’re adjacent to the church) a number of impressive stone buildings, besides the church itself, which is unwreckovated, has beautiful stain glass, marble pillars, and plenty of seating.

A very old priest (or so he appeared) said the Mass. Despite his age, he gave a clear, lucid homily on the physical reverence - I mean, genuflection - which we owe to the Blessed Sacrament. He also sung his parts of the Mass well. The Mass was a Missa Cantata sung by a very enthusiastic though not yet all there musically choir. The organ is good and has a tendency to make the floor of the whole building shake - something I very much like. The congregation was very much of an indult-stripe: as soon as the last verse of the recessional hymn finished, most of them bolted for the door. There were a number of mantilla-ed ladies, though the practice wasn’t universal. A number needed pointers on modesty in dress: several pairs of bare arms were in evidence.

The church was easy to reach from the interstate and there was ample parking right across the street from the church. The greeter, of whom I asked directions to the bathroom, was very kind; and after the Mass, there appeared to be two gentlemen across the street in front of the parish hall specifically for welcoming the Latin Mass parishioners into the hall. Apparently, they have a regular brunch there and a book of recipes used at these brunches was advertised for sale in the bulletin.

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I would love for someone to tell me when we will see an English translation of Stat Veritas - a title so Romano, so great - Amerio’s commentary on John Paul’s Tertio Millenio Ineunte. If even the in-crowd is getting interested in Amerio’s work, surely Angelus or Baronius Press can come up with some more Romano material to satisfy the hunger of his wild and fanatical disciples, a group which has exactly two members (as far as I know), Iacobus and Iosephus. If there are other readers of this blog who can amuse themselves for whole minutes on end by meditating on the coolness of the title, “Stat Veritas”, please speak up! Maybe we should start a Facebook group of those awaiting a translation. Or maybe I should simply become an educated person and learn how to read Italian.

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Shame on the Pope for failing to abolish Limbo! Really, how much trouble could it have been for him to send all those babies lolling about down there up into Heaven? Well, better luck for them next time around when the International Theological Commission reassembles.

(By the bye, before they reassemble, I hope that they spend some time with Amerio’s theological thought. The nonsense of the International Theological Commission on Limbo is, as it turns out, a perfect example of the rejection of Amerio’s “primacy of truth above love”.)