23rd of 25! Could be better, could be worse. . .

Eric Sammons at The Divine Life has tallied the top 25 most subscribed-to Catholic blogs on Google Reader. The results:

(1) What Does the Prayer Really Say?: 4841
(2) Whispers in the Loggia: 4685
(3) Charlotte Was Both: 3053
(4) Conversion Diary: 1817
(5) New Advent Blog: 1429
(6) Creative Minority Report: 1248
(7) Patrick Madrid: 1173
(8) Standing on my Head: 1156
(9) The Hermeneutic of Continuity: 1053
(10) Damian Thompson: 954
(11) Rorate Caeli: 933
(12) The New Liturgical Movement: 892
(13) Ask Sister Mary Martha: 867
(14) Mere Comments: 811
(15) Catholic and Enjoying It!: 796
(16) Ignatius Insight Scoop: 749
(17) By Sun and Candlelight: 712
(18) Catholic Cuisine: 648
(19) The Shrine of the Holy Whapping: 643
(20) Testosterhome: 638
(21) Happy Catholic: 607
(22) The Crescat: 573
(23) Domine, da mihi hanc aquam!: 521
(24) Shower of Roses: 481
(25) Wildflowers and Marbles: 474

See the list of the Top 200 Most Popular Catholic Blogs over at my main website.


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Two more pics

For Moniales. . .per a request!

Fr. Alfred Wilder, Thomist philosopher-theologian of the Southern Dominican Province.  Fr. Wilder presided at the conventual Mass this morning for the last time in his 37 year teaching career here at the Angelicum.  He is headed back to the U.S. this summer.

Santa Croce. . .

Unexpected discovery:  the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, a.k.a. Opus Dei U.

Helpful signs for Santa Croce students. . .

A quick guide to the local fauna.

Advertising Opus Dei style!

At the Campo

A wide selection of coral jewelry available at the Campo.

Arciconfraternita S. Maria Dell'Orazione E Morte, (Confraternity of St Mary of the Oration and the Dead)Indirizzo:

A stone etching on the outside of the church above, a place to put donations for candles for the dead.





















Another etching with a slot for donations.

On to Campo de Fiori!

Fr. Benedict appears to be in a subjunctive mood for our outing.

The Largo Argentina. . .part of the ruins of Pompey's grand theater and market complex. 

Foundation of one of the temples in the Largo Argentina ruins. 

Church of St Barbara. . .this is supposed to be the site where the Senators murdered Julius Caesar on the steps of Pompey's new Senate House.

Market day at the Campo de Fiori.  This is where you wanna be if you like to cook with fresh ingredients.

The campo's notorious ex-Dominican friar and heretic, Giordano Bruno.

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Israelis are damned by the Left. . .no matter what they do.  So, they should ignore the predictable whining and moral equivocating and protect themselves. 

Why is planning for the pope's trip to the U.K. in Sept in such a mess?  Could it be that the "Spirit of Vatican Two Peace Bong Hipsters" the bishops' conference has running the show would rather the Ole Geezer just stay in Rome?

Oops. . .Elena Kagan's paper trail is exposing her to be anything but the Judicial Blank Slate B.O. is presenting her to be. 

Is it legal to videotape police officers while they are doing their job?  Yes, it is.  Just don't let your film making interfere with an arrest.  I think good cops would welcome the scrutiny b/c it helps them keep their depts. clean.

Climate Science's Bad Rep:  ". . .climate science is facing reputational meltdown similar to the Roman Catholic church's over allegations of child abuse and the British parliament's following the scandal over MPs' expenses."  Sorry.  Not buying the comparisons.  First, Catholics have always freely confessed that we are limited beings constantly struggling with sin and failure.  Second,  everyone expects politicians to be money-grubbing ego-maniacs.  However, Global Warming Cultists have been anything but humble in their preaching and unexpectedly greedy for tax dollars. 

Ten Strange Texts

More Legal Firearms = Less Violent Crime. . .so says the FBI. 

Unpacking and debunking some of the persistent myths dramatized in the new film, Agora.   I've seen the movie and it is exactly what we've come to expect from contemporary pagan portrayals of Christians in history.  Christians are anti-intellectual, anti-art/music, anti-science, anti-female, blahblahblah. 

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More Turista pics (links added)

Duh?  I think you know this one.

Constantin's Arch right next to the Coliseum.

The Capitoline Museums

Church & State: The V.E.M. and Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli

Il Turista (links added)

I played tourist today. . .here are just a few of the pics I took:

Down the Salita del Grillo toward the via Cavour.  The wall on the right is one of the walls of Trajan's Market.

Vespasian's Forum of Peace.  They still use the inside of this structure for concerts.  To the right of this structure is the Basilica of Cosmas and Damian.

Guess. . .?

Part of the Old Roman Forum

Statue at the Capitoline Museums.

Trajan's Column with St Peter on top

Fishy Background

Who's that fishy in the window. . .of your laptop? One of the sample pics that came with the Window's OS.

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Yet more pics

Proof that I can clean my desk!

(NB.  This pic has been up for almost 12 hrs and I've not rec'd one appreciative comment from Scuba Becky, MightyMom, or my Lovely English Lady Friend!  What's a friar gotta do?  Mop the floor?!!)

University building for deans' offices and classrooms. 

Two Angelicum students heading off to take exams. . .

A few more pics

The Priory Chapel at the Angelicum

Pics from Angelicum's Eucharistic Adoration

Inside SS. Domenico e Sisto for Adoration after the 2010 annual Eucharistic Procession.

Nuns enough for ya?  Adoration after the Procession.

(Pic credit:  Fr. Benedict Croell, OP)

More Rome pics

 The Angelicum's courtyard. . .the trees on the right are orange trees.

The Angelicum's backyard. . .which is really an orchard:  orange, lemon, apple, pear, etc.

Rome Pics

I went down to the V.E.M. this morning to watch the National Day parades. . .but it was too crowded to see anything. 

So, I snapped a few pics.

This is La Chiesa dei Santi Domenico e Sisto. . .and the entrance to the Angelicum.  I had just missed getting our resident gypsy, Maria, in the pic.

Coffee Bowl Browsing

President Thin Skin:  "In Obama's eyes, he is always the aggrieved, always the violated, always the victim of some injustice."  What else could he think given that his entire career has been one long series of exceptions being made by guilty white liberals? 

Even Mother Nature is weary of his speechifying.

Alternative narratives to the "Evil Israeli Soldiers Slaughter Innocent Peace Activists" meme being pushed by the lefty media.  Some commentary on this P.R. disaster.  Predictable condemnations of Israel.

What if the euro/E.U. collapses?  What would it mean for the U.S.? 

Oops!  An inconvenient truth about the anti-illegal immigrant law in AZ. . .CA citizens support it.

Licensing journalists?  An idea that only Big Brother could love.  Watch the MSM fall all over themselves loving this idea.

A hole to the center of the Earth?  Is this the doorway through which the Apocalyptic Hordes of Zombies will shamble? 

Yea, that was my reaction too!

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