Congratulations Benevento! Le Streghe Returns to Serie A

With yesterday’s 1-0 victory over Juve Stabia, Benevento Calcio won promotion into Serie A for only the second time in the club’s history. Le Streghe, or the Witches, as they are affectionally known, earned their place in Italy’s top-flight by dominating their opponents with a staggering plus 41 goal differential (GF:56, GA:15). With only seven games remaining, Benevento (76 pts) have a 24-point lead over Crotone (52 pts), the next closest rival. Joining Napoli and (hopefully) Lecce as representatives of the South in the 2020-21 Serie A campaign, we wish them all the best and much success. Forza Benevento!

Photo of the Week: Reliquary Bust of Sant’Andrea Apostolo inside the Duomo di Amalfi

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Feast of the Madonna del Perpetuo Soccorso

Our Lady of the Passion, ora pro nobis

June 27th is the Feast of the Madonna del Perpetuo Soccorso, or Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Originating in the Byzantine East, devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help was spread in the West by the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or Redemptorists. Enshrined over the high altar in the Chiesa di Sant’Alponso di Liguori in Rome, the icon is one of the most recognizable images of Our Lady. Replete with symbolism, many miracles have been attributed to the glorious icon. In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The accompanying photo of the Our Our Lady of Perpetual Help bye-altar was taken at the Shrine Church of the Holy Innocents (128 West 37th St.) in Manhattan. Evviva Madonna del Perpetuo Soccorso!

Prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help

O Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary. What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name. Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you. Amen.

New Book — Mezzogiorno Mistaken: The Top 10 Myths About Southern Italians

New title that may be of interest to our readers. Available at Amazon

• Mezzogiorno Mistaken: The Top 10 Myths About Southern Italians by John De Luca

Publisher: Independently Published
Publication Date: May 20, 2020
Paperback: $9.95
Language: English
Pages: 134

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Infant Jesus of Prague Chaplet

O Infant Jesus, Whose truth enlightens the
darkness of our heart, have mercy on us

On the 25th of every month, devotees of the Divine Infancy should pray the Chaplet of the Infant Jesus of Prague, which includes three Our Fathers and twelve Hail Marys in celebration of the Holy Family and the first twelve years of Our Lord’s childhood. The Chaplet was composed by Venerable Sister Marguerite Parigot of the Blessed Sacrament (March 6, 1590—May 24, 1660), a Discalced Carmelite nun with a strong devotion to the Christ Child. Pleased with the devotion, Our Lord revealed Himself to Sister Marguerite and promised special graces to all who piously recite the Chaplet. In 1855 Pope Pius IX granted an Indulgence of 300 days, applicable to the Poor Souls in Purgatory, for its devout recitation.* 

In celebration, I’m posting the Infant Jesus of Prague Chaplet. The accompanying photo was taken at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Newark, New Jersey.

Infant Jesus of Prague Chaplet

Divine Infant Jesus, I adore Thy Cross and I accept all the crosses Thou wilt be pleased to send me. Adorable Trinity, I offer Thee for the glory of Thy Holy Name of God, all the adorations of the Sacred Heart of the Holy Infant Jesus.

(3x) “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us” and pray The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)

(12x) “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us” and pray The Angelical Salutation (Hail Mary)

Holy Infant Jesus, bless and protect us. Amen.

* www.sistersofcarmel.com

Around the Web: La Brigantessa by Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli

Reprinted from Calabria: the Other Italy

What’s the next best thing to visiting a place? Reading about it. While I would have loved to have been able to follow through with my Calabria tours this past spring, the lockdown gave me the opportunity to catch up on a few books that had been waiting patiently on my shelf. Amongst them, La Brigantessa by Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli.

La Brigantessa

The book’s dramatic cover sets the tone for this historical novel set in Southern Calabria during the period of Italian Unification. The story takes place in 1862, a tumultuous time, particularly difficult and tragic for the Italian South. For the average visitor to Italy or the casual reader, the Risorgimento can be confusing when one hears of the victories of Giuseppe Garibaldi and sees statues of him up and down the peninsula, but then becomes aware of a negativity clouding the subject. The novel presents the dichotomy between the south’s initial support of Garibaldi and the subsequent delusion with the outcome of the political movement that favored the north. Continue reading

Celebrating Saint John’s Eve

San Giovanni, pray for us

“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30)

While the dregs of society continue to burn, loot and destroy, members of the Fratelli della Santa Fede (Brothers of the Holy Faith) celebrated the Vigil of the Birthday of St. John the Baptist with a traditional San Giovanni bonfire to ward off evil spirits and honor the light-bearer before Christ.

Customarily a night of betrothal (St. John is invoked for good marriages) and moonlight bathing to help cure spiritual and physical ailments, we simply enjoyed some good company, Lacryma Christi wine and a little ballo di San Giovanni (St. John’s Dance) around the fire.* Evviva San Giovanni!

The prayer and hymn used in our solemn celebration were obtained from catholicculture.org.

Prayer:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.
Lord God, almighty Father, the light that never fails and the source of all light, sanctify + this new fire, and grant that after the darkness of this life we may come unsullied to you who are light eternal; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.

The fire is sprinkled with holy water; after which the clergy and the people sing the following Hymn: Ut queant laxis

1. Ut queant laxis resonáre fibris
Mira gestórum fámuli tuórum,
Solve pollúti lábii reátum, Sancte Joánnes. 

2. Núntius celso véniens Olýmpo
Te patri magnum fore nascitúrum,
Nomen, et vitae sériem geréndae
Ordinae promit. 3. Ille promíssi dúbius supérni,
Pérdidit promptae módulos loquélae:
Sed reformásti genitus perémptae
Organa vocis.

4. Ventris obstrúso récubans cubíli
Sénseras Regem thálamo manéntem:
Hinc parens nati méritis utérque Abdita pandit.

5. Sit decus Patri, genitaéque Proli
et tibi, compare utriúsque virtus,
Spíritus semper, Deus unus, omni
Témporis aevo.
Amen.

1. O for your spirit, holy John, to chasten
Lips sin-polluted, fettered tongues to loosen;
So by your children might your deeds of wonder
Meetly be chanted.

2. Lo! a swift herald, from the skies descending,
Bears to your father promise of your greatness;
How he shall name you, what your future story,
Duly revealing.

3. Scarcely believing message so transcendent,
Him for a season power of speech forsaketh,
Till, at your wondrous birth, again returneth,
Voice to the voiceless.

4. You, in your mother's womb all darkly cradled,
Knew your great Monarch, biding in His chamber,
Whence the two parents, through their offspring's merits,
Mysteries uttered.

5. Praise to the Father, to the Son begotten,
And to the Spirit, equal power possessing,
One God whose glory, through the lapse of ages,
Ever resounding.
Amen.

P: There was a man sent from God.
All: Whose name was John.

Let us pray. God, who by reason of the birth of blessed John have made this day praiseworthy, give your people the grace of spiritual joy, and keep the hearts of your faithful fixed on the way that leads to everlasting salvation; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.

Prayer Source: Roman Ritual, The, Complete Edition by Philip T. Weller, S.T.D., The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee, WI, 1964

* For more information about the local customs of St. John's vigil in Naples see Becoming Neapolitan: Citizen Culture in Baroque Naples, John A. Marino, John Hopkins University Press, 2011

Happy Birthday Princess Maria Carolina!

HRH was born in Rome, Italy on June 23, 2003

Photo courtesy of Real Casa di Borbone

Happy Birthday Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon Two Sicilies, Duchess of Calabria and Palermo! May God's love and affection be with you always! Auguri Altezza Reale!

Photo of the Week: Cristo Re in the Chiesa Madre di S. Maria dell'Olmo, Castelmezzano

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Feast of San Giovanni da Matera

San Giovanni da Matera, ora pro nobis

June 20th is the Feast of San Giovanni da Matera (St. John of Matera), Benedictine Monk, Mystic, Hermit, Abbot and Wonderworker. Born circa 1070 in Matera, San Giovanni spent much of his life traveling around the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria (mainland Southern Italy), Sicily and the Holy Land in search of a religious house that best suited his strict and austere asceticism.

Subject to numerous celestial and infernal visions, he eventually settled at Pulsano after an apparition of the Blessed Mother inside the Cave of San Michele on Monte Gargano in Apulia instructed him to build an abbey there. His reputation for holiness attracted many followers and obeying her wishes the Basilian monks established the Abbazia di Santa Maria di Pulsano on the ruins of an old pagan temple.

A great wonderworker, many miracles have been attributed to the holy man, including bilocation. According to tradition, a group of friars working in the forest a day's walk from the abbey were set upon by a pack of baying demons. Out of nowhere their white-clad abbot appeared and rained terrible blows down on the foul fiends, forcing them to flee. Once the threat was over San Giovanni was gone. The next day, when the friars returned to the abby, they found their master busy with his tasks. When they recounted what had happened and thanked him, the Saint took no credit and attributed the miracle to the will of God.

Another story tells of the expulsion of evil spirits terrorizing a group of nuns at a nearby monastery. It would seem San Giovanni's saintly reputation proceeded him because his presence alone was enough to drive the spooks from the convent and send them scurrying back to the infernal pits whence they came, never to return.

San Giovanni died of fever at the Monastero di San Giacomo in Foggia, Apulia on June 20, 1139. Originally interred at the abby, in 1177 Pope Alexander III had the Saint's sacred remains moved to the Abbazia di Santa Maria di Pulsano. His relics were translated again in 1830 to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria della Bruna e di Sant'Eustachio in Matera.

In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to St. John of Matera. The Accompanying photo, courtesy of Andrew Giordano, was taken at the Chiesa San Pietro Caveoso in Matera. Evviva San Giovanni da Matera!

Prayer to St. John of Matera

Lord, amid the things of this world, let us be wholeheartedly committed to heavenly things in imitation of the example of evangelical perfection You have given us in St. John. Amen.

Napoli Defeat Juventus in Cup Tie

Graphic courtesy of Gennaro De Crescenzo

Congratulations SSC Napoli for your much deserved victory over bitter rivals Juventus in yesterday’s Coppa Italia Final. Played behind closed doors at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the southern giants won the prestigious trophy 4-2 on penalties, thanks to goals by Lorenzo Insigne, Matteo Politano, Nikola Maksimovic, and Arek Milik.

While strong defending and phenomenal keeping by Gianluigi Buffon kept the scoreline clean during the match, it was ultimately Napoli’s Alex Meret’s heroics against Paulo Dybala (and a Danilo howler) during the shootout that gave the Partenopei their sixth Coppa Italia victory.*

After a disappointing start to the season under Carlo Ancelotti, new coach Gennaro Gattuso deserves a lot of praise for turning this team around. Still competing in the Champions League and with a lot of ground to make up in Serie A, we expect this great result to help inspire Napoli for the remainder of the season.

More than a brief respite from the ongoing world crises, Napoli’s triumph also symbolically gave us a Bourbon victory over the Savoy, that is to say a Southern victory over the North. Sure, it doesn’t make up for 150 years of colonization, emigration and discrimination, but at the very least for a day we got to stick it to Juve. Forza Napoli Sempre!

* Napoli last won the tournament in 2014 against Fiorentina.

Around the Web: Vendée Radio — Mr. Luis Infante Interview: Carlism

Mr. Luis Infante is political secretary of S.A.R. Don Sixto Enrique de Borbón and a prominent figure in the Comunión Tradicionalista (contemporary Carlist movement). In this interview he introduces the great Carlist counter-revolutionary movement specifically to anglophone listeners. He explains its main tenets, the reasons for its longevity and it's past and current defense of Spain and the Catholic city.

Listen to the podcast: Mr. Luis Infante Interview: Carlism

New Books: Stories for the Years

Forthcoming title that may be of interest to our readers. Available at Amazon.com

• Stories for the Years by Luigi Pirandello

Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication date: August 5, 2020
Hardcover: $30.00
Language: English
Pages: 352

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Novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague for the Nine Days Preceding the 25th of Each Month (16th–24th)

1. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and for the salvation of the whole world, the mystery of the birth of our Divine Redeemer. Glory be to the Father, etc.

2. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the sufferings of the most holy Virgin and St. Joseph on that long and weary journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. I offer Thee the sorrows of their hearts at not finding a place wherein to shelter themselves when the Saviour of the world was about to be born. Glory be to the Father, etc.

3. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the sufferings of Jesus in the manger where He was born, the cold He suffered, the swaddling clothes which bound Him, the tears He shed, and His tender infant cries. Glory be to the Father, etc.

4. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the pain which the Holy Child Jesus felt in His tender body when He submitted to the rite of circumcision. I offer Thee that Precious Blood which then for the first time He shed for the salvation of all mankind. Glory be to the Father, etc.

5. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the humility, mortification, patience, charity and all the virtues of the Child Jesus; and I thank Thee, and I love Thee, and I bless Thee without end for this ineffable mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. Glory be to the Father, etc.

V. The Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.

Let us Pray

O God, whose only-begotten Son was made manifest to us in the substance of our flesh, grant, we beseech Thee, that through Him, whom we acknowledge to have been outwardly like us, we may deserve to be renewed in our inward selves. Who lives and reigns with Thee forever and ever. Amen.

Source: Devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague, TAN Books, 1990

Happy Birthday Princess Beatrice di Borbone!

HRH was born in Saint-Raphaël, France on June 16, 1950
Photo by New York Scugnizzo

Il Regno would like to extend our warmest birthday wishes to Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice di Borbone delle Due Sicilie, Dame Grand Cross of Justice and Grand Prefect of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George. May God continue to shower you with all the blessings you truly deserve. Auguri Altezza Reale!

Photo of the Week: San Vito in the Chiesa Madre di S. Maria dell'Olmo, Castelmezzano

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Compra Sud — La Bottega delle due Sicilie

Let's support those who keep our traditions and folkways alive.

Contact: www.bottega2sicilie.net
www.bottegaborbonica.net
http://stores.ebay.it/bottega2sicilie
e-mail: bottega2sicilie@libero.it

Around the Web: Historian Charles A. Coulombe Discusses Blessed Karl, A Saint for Our Times

Watch podcast: Scutum Fidei [ENG] - Blessed Karl, a saint for our times - guest Charles A. Coulombe

Novena and Consecration to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Sacro Cuore di Gesù,
Chiesa di San Ferdinando, Napoli

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

O most holy Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore Thee, I love Thee and with a lively sorrow for my sins, I offer Thee this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to Thy will. Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in Thee and for Thee. Protect me in the midst of danger; comfort me in my afflictions; give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, Thy blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Within Thy Heart I place my every care. In every need let me come to Thee with humble trust saying, Heart of Jesus help me. Amen

The Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart attributed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials, and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee. 

I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be Thou, O Most Merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited. I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite Goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee. 

I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite Goodness, grant that my name be engraved upon Thy Heart, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of Thy devoted servants. Amen.

New Music — Alessandro Scarlatti: Il Martirio Di Santa Teodosia

Forthcoming music that may be of interest to our readers.

• Alessandro Scarlatti: Il Martirio Di Santa Teodosia performed by Thibault Noally and Les Accents

Label: Aparte
Release Date: July 10, 2020
Audio CD: $21.98
Number of Discs: 1

Available at Amazon.com

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Around the Web: Karen Haid, Author of "Calabria The Other Italy" Featured on "Untold Italy" Podcast

Let’s take a trip to the deep south of Italy. To the toe of the boot where not so many visitors to Italy venture. Such a shame. Calabria is the southern most region on Italy’s mainland and it has a fascinating and ancient past, incredible beaches and beautiful mountains to explore. Guest Karen Haid lived in the region for several years and wrote a book Calabria: The Other Italy about her time there. She joins Untold Italy to share her insider knowledge.

Listen to Episode #024: Getting to Know Calabria the Other Italy

Photo of the Week: Fountain of Neptune in Napoli

The Fontana del Nettuno. Photo by Andrew Giordano

Around the Web: A Return to a Sane World: The Manifesto of the Legitimist Alliance

Reprinted from www.thewarforchristendom.com

The time would come for the first stroke of the consecrated sword, piercing the darkness like a lightning flash. For this reason individuals have the duty of living in alliance with others, gathering the treasure of a new rule of law… – Ernst Jünger, On the Marble Cliffs (1939)

In the aftermath of the great fratricidal war which tore humanity between the extremes of chaotic anarchy and base inhuman subservience, there emerged men and women of great moral clarity, heroic action, and concern for the future of a world scarred by unspeakable horrors. Offering belief in the rule of the Natural Moral Law as a light to a fragmented and benighted world, these Legitimists provided a compelling vision of the Common Good, and though their work is largely dismissed and abandoned today, it is not forgotten. This manifesto is an invitation to all men of good will to join in an alliance for the preservation of the rule of Natural Law, and the restoration of the state and society in proper relation to it, informed by our perspective sub specie Æternitatis, that we never place our hope for paradise in this world but in Eternity. In this dark and chaotic yet fateful night of modernity let us go forth ensigned by an eight-pointed star, representing the light of our eight fundamental and eternal principles, Authority, Faith, Responsibility, Restoration, Tradition, Truth, Freedom, and Nobility through which we seek the Highest Good and ultimate End of Man in political society. Continue reading

Feast of St. Boniface

St. Boniface, ora pro nobis

June 5th is the Feast of St. Boniface, Benedictine Monk and Martyr. My devotion to the Apostle of the Germans evolved in recent years due to frequent visits and time spent in prayer by his shrine in the peaceful Oratory Church of St. Boniface (109 Willoughby St.) in Brooklyn, New York. My prayers and supplications to the great Saint grew exponentially in 2019 during the disquieting and shameful Pan-Amazonian Synod in Rome, and like Alexander Tshugguel, Michael J. Matt, and other Traditional Catholics around the world, I ardently embraced St. Boniface as a patron Saint of the Counter Revolution. In celebration, I’m posting the collect prayer to St. Boniface. The photo was taken at the Oratory Church of St. Boniface before the 2019-20 renovations. Evviva St. Boniface!

Prayer to St. Boniface

May the Martyr Saint Boniface be our advocate, O Lord, that we may firmly hold the faith he taught with his lips and sealed in his blood and confidently profess it by our deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Feast of San Filippo Smaldone

San Filippo Smaldone, ora pro nobis

June 4th is the Feast of San Filippo Smaldone, the “Apostle of the Deaf.” Born in Naples on July 27, 1848, San Smaldone was ordained a priest on September 23, 1871. Devoting his life to helping deaf-mutes, the blind, orphans, and abandoned children, he founded a school for the deaf in Lecce, Apulia in 1885. The religious women he trained to help tend the impaired would go on to form the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Hearts. He also founded the Eucharistic League of Priest Adorers and the Eucharistic League of Women Adorers to help support his special ministry. San Filippo Smaldone is the patron saint of the deaf, the mute, and people with heart conditions. In celebration, I'm posting a prayer. Evviva San Filippo Smaldone!

A Prayer to San Filippo Smaldone

Dear St. Smaldone, in your earthly life you were a model of charity. Your love for those with disabilities especially the deaf brought you the beloved name “Apostle of the Deaf.” In your heavenly home please intercede for us here on earth that we may see Jesus in those hardest for us to love. Take our hand and gently guide us on the surest way to salvation. We humbly ask that you place our petitions before the Sacred Heart of Jesus. [Mention your needs here...] Amen.

Feast of San Francesco Caracciolo

San Francesco Caracciolo, ora pro nobis

June 4th is the Feast of San Francesco Caracciolo, patron saint of chefs and protector of Naples. In celebration, I'm posting a prayer to Saint Francis Caracciolo. The accompanying photo was taken at Saint Joseph's Church (40 Spring Street) in Lodi, New Jersey. Evviva San Francesco Caracciolo!

Prayer to Saint Francis Caracciolo

O God, You have manifested your love in the priest Saint Francis Caracciolo by making him an adorer of the Eucharist, a preacher of Your divine love, an apostle to the poor, the sick and the sinners. Grant, we implore you, that we may imitate his love for Jesus in the Eucharist, and spare no effort to work for the salvation of our brothers and sisters, always for the greater glory of the risen Christ. Through the intercession of Saint Francis, we ask you to inspire many young men and women to follow Christ totally in the the spirit of prayer, penance and zeal for the building of your kingdom here on earth, Amen.

Observing Whit Embertide

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Even though Ember Days are no longer required by the post-Conciliar Church, the faithful should still observe these penitential days of devotion for spiritual enrichment, inner renewal, and as a means of reparation for our sins. A corruption of the Latin Quatuor Tempora, which means “four times,” Ember Days are three days of prayer, fasting and charity set aside four times a year to give thanks to God for the fruits of the earth, to practice abstemiousness, and almsgiving.

The quarterly observances, which correspond to the changing seasons, are kept on the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following the Feast of St. Lucy in Winter (Advent Embertide); the week after Ash Wednesday in Spring (Lenten Embertide); after Pentecost Sunday in Summer (Whit Embertide); and after the third Sunday in September in Autumn (Michaelmas Embertide).

An ancient tradition, Ember days are believed to have arisen from the early Church’s sanctifying of the old Roman agricultural festivals of sowing and harvesting (i.e. the feriae sementivae, feriae messis, and feriae vindimiales). Though probably older, the Liber Pontificalis (Book of Popes) ascribes a law ordering the fast to Pope Callixtus, who died in 222. In addition to focussing on God’s gifts of nature, they are traditionally popular days for the Rite of Ordination of priests and prayers for the poor and forgotten Souls in Purgatory. Due to the fertility aspects, Ember Days are also ideal for married couples to pray for lots of children and their safe delivery.

In celebration, I’m posting the anthem and prayer for Embertide from Blessed Be God: A Complete Catholic Prayer Book by Very Rev. Charles J. Callan, OP., S.T.M. and Very Rev. John A. McHugh, OP., S.T.M (Preserving Christian Publications, 2010). The accompanying photo of a painted ceramic depicting a grape harvest was taken in Vietri sul Mare, Salerno.

A Prayer for Embertide

Ant. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all He hath done for thee.
V. Lord, Thou hast been our refuge.
R. From generation to generation. 

Let us Pray
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that as year by year we devoutly keep these holy observances, we may be pleasing to Thee both in body and soul. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

New Music: Composers from the Neapolitan School

New and forthcoming CDs that may be of interest to our readers.

• Nicola Porpora: Dalla Reggia di Flora performed by Cristina Grifone and Musica Perduta

Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: January 3, 2020
Audio CD: $9.99
Number of Discs: 1

Available at Amazon.com

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• Francesco Durante: Requiem in G Minor performed by Carlo Centemeri and Astrarium Consort

Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: April 3, 2020
Audio CD: $9.99
Number of Discs: 1

Available at Amazon.com

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• Salve Regina: Leo, Pergolesi, Porpora performed by Federica Napoletani and Ensemble Imaginaire

Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: April 3, 2020
Audio CD: $9.99
Number of Discs: 1

Available at Amazon.com

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• Domenico Scarlatti: Complete Piano Sonatas 4 performed by Christoph Ullrich

Label: Tacet Records
Release Date: May 8, 2020
Audio CD: $17.15
Number of Discs: 2

Available at Amazon.com

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• Domenico Cimarosa: Requiem in G Minor performed by Adriana Kucerova

Label: Naxos
Release Date: July 27, 2020
Audio CD: $11.99
Number of Discs: 1

Available at Amazon.com

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Feast of Sant'Annibale Maria di Francia

Sant'Annibale, ora pro nobis

June 1st is the Feast of Sant'Annibale Maria di Francia (b. Messina, 1851—d. Messina, 1927), founder of the Rogationists and the Daughters of Divine Zeal. Co-patron of Messina, Sicily, he is popularly known as the “father of orphans and the poor” owing to his evangelization and many charitable works, including the founding the Anthonian Orphanages in 1882. In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to St. Hannibal. Evviva Sant'Annibale Maria di Francia!

Prayer to St. Hannibal

O Saint Hannibal, full of heavenly love, during your life here on earth, you lived faithfully according to the interests of the Heart of Jesus. You followed His Divine Command to pray for holy vocations to His Church, and dedicated your life for the poor and the little ones. Intercede for us that we may be blessed with an abundance of priestly, religious, and lay vocations in the Church. Inflame our hearts with your love that we may become holy and edifying modern day disciples of Christ. I pray to you to obtain for me from God the necessary grace, which I ardently desire... (Mention here your petitions) Bless me, 0 Saint Hannibal, and my family that we may all live together in unity, peace, and love. Grant, through your intercession, the graces of which your devotees are in great need. May all be for God's glory and the greater good of our souls. Amen.

Photo of the Week: Palazzo Reale di Napoli

The Royal Palace of Naples. Photo by Andrew Giordano