"The heavenly bread ends all symbols"

On this final Friday of Lent, as we prepare to turn the corner and enter Holy Week, meaning the Sacred Triduum is just around the corner, I can think of no better traditio than Pavarotti singing Panis Angelicus with Sting unplugged.

Oh, miraculous thing! The body of the Lord will nourish/The poor, poor, and humble servant/The poor, poor, and humble servant

A program note: While I have missed blogging here, it has been nice to take a little break. I have not been idle, however. My friend Stefania and I have completed the first-ever English translation of then-Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini's (later Pope Paul VI) 1962 Lenten pastoral letter to his diocese, the Archdiocese of Milan, which he composed in Rome where he was preparing for the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pensiamo al Concilio. Our translation appears on the website Conciliaria, which is dedicated to reacquainting, or acquainting, as the case may be, people with the Second Vatican Council. We translated the 63 section letter in seven 9 section installments. I encourage you to read this remarkable letter as we prepare to observe the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Council later this year: Pensiamo al Concilio:

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII


While I suggest visiting Conciliaria often and taking the time to read everything, along with Pensiamo, I highly recommend reading the 1962 pastoral letter written by Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger, archbishop of Montréal: Disunited Christians:

Part I
Part II