Prayers for Fr Foster

My former teacher and latinist sui generis Fr Reggie Foster is not doing well, according to Fr Zuhlsdorf:

Fr. Reginald Foster, famous American Carmelite Latinist who works for the Holy See, continues to have serious health problems, ever since his fall last June. He has basically been bed ridden ever since that incident. What follows is the latest.
Yesterday (Saturday) he was taken from his monastery to the Fate bene fratelli hospital on the Tiber Island. Shortly after arriving, he suffered some kind of seizure and was put in intensive care. At first they diagnosed it as pulmonary embolism and they did not expect him to survive. Now they say it was NOT an embolism, but apparently his spleen ruptured and the ensuing rush of fluid in his body caused temporary heart failure.

Ladaria as Secretary at the CDF

I was delighted to learn of the appointment of Fr Luis Ladaria as Secretary of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. I had the privilege of being his student on a number of occasions and he sat on the Examining Commission for my STL degree. John Allen has an excellent article on him and it's hard to disagree with the overall conclusion. Ladaria is one of the finest theologians to have taught in the Greg in recent years, and his popularity testifies to his gracious and genial personality. Allen notes:

It was impossible to find anyone who doesn't seem fond of Ladaria on a personal level -- for his work ethic, his scholarly achievement, and his warm disposition.

What I did this afternoon...

I dropped by the Gesù and saw the Pozzi altarpiece in action [video]. That's 17th century technology at work!