What we did on our summer vacation

This summer four of us made a 'grand tour' of Europe and the UK. I had a couple of invitations to visit friends across the Atlantic, and at a colleague's suggestion, Hannah and I took along two members of the Peters family and split hotel costs. It was a remarkably congenial arrangement. Robert Peters has spent several previous summers in European countries learning various languages, and this summer he was brushing up his Italian in Rome while looking into lodging accommodations for doctoral studies at the Augustinianum Institute next year; so, being sufficiently fluent in Italian, he served as our 'Cicerone,' or guide, while in Rome, ordering our meals in restaurants, etc. His sister, Theresa has studied Arabic and noticed when we arrived in Malta she understood many of the words in Maltese, since the language is largely a combination of Italian and Arabic. All-in-all, it was a terrific arrangement, and we couldn't have asked for better traveling companions. (Pictures of all of us are linked in the descriptions of our time in Rome and at Harlaxton Manor in the UK below.)

Blog issue resolved!

After many attempts at unsuccessfully trying to resolve the blog problem, our good friend Alex Begin immediately identified the problem as the background image, which was taking forever to load. I'm still not sure what changes Google made to it's Blogger program that triggered this sudden slow down; but the issue is resolved. The background is now a simple white, but the blog loads immediately and will allow continued posts. So Deo Gratias. Thanks also to Christopher Blosser for his many related tips, which helped perfect the new format.

Home safe

Thanks to those of you who offered a Hail Mary (or more) for our safety during our three weeks of travel. We are home again, safe and sound; and as wonderful as other places may be that one may visit over the course of vacation travels, coming home is always wonderful.

I will post a brief resume of our travels with some personal impressions in the next few days.

Thanks again!

Pertinaciously yours,
PP

Reduced summer schedule

For the next three weeks, I will be on a reduced summer schedule at this blog. I intend to do my best to keep abreast of things and to keep up with the regularly scheduled Latin Mass schedules and Tridentine Community News. But I will doubtless post less frequently.

Orémus pro invicem

In case you were wondering

HERE is the reality in which I daily live my life (see below); and I post this because I sometimes get the impression that at least some readers may sometimes received the wrong impression from the tone of many of my posts.

I recently posted the following on Facebook (yes, I sometimes descend into that nefarious pit of hell to preach to the prisoners inside). Just in case you were wondering ...

The Catholic Faith is just so utterly BEAUTIFUL !!! There are so many disturbing things in the Church and in the world that I sometimes need to stop myself and let people know that the ultimate reality in which I live is so untroubled, peaceful, and saturated by God's grace that they would probably be surprised, in view of my frequent laments.

Post-op results: Deo gratias!

I just returned from my post-op appointment to have my eye patch removed and meet with my surgeon to examine the results of the procedure. I am delighted to report that as soon as the patch came off, I could see with perfect clarity. Even without my glasses: 20/20 vision with no obstructions. I couldn't be more grateful.

Some who have had this or other procedures warned that there could be considerable post-operative pain, capable of being managed only with narcotics. Happily, I experienced absolutely no pain -- nothing requiring even a Tylenol. The only minor discomfort was occasional unscratchable itching beneath the eye patch, which, thankfully, is gone today.

I want to heartily thank all of you who have offered prayers and intercessions on my behalf. No prayer goes unanswered, no matter what results one may have; but I am pleased that God in His mercy was willing to indulge me, yet again, with this undeserved blessing. Thank you, one and all.

For anyone interested in the gory details of the procedure, HERE is a video of the same procedure being performed. Don't lose your appetite over it!