Photo of the Week: Duomo di San Corrado, Molfetta

Photo by Andrew Giordano

A Prayer for Peace in Europe

St. Vladmir and his sons, Saints
Boris and Gleb, orate pro nobis

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people and combatants in Ukraine and Russia. We pray for a quick end to the hostilities and that these United States have enough sense to stay out of the fratricidal conflict. May St. Josaphat, St. Nicholas, St. Andrew, and St. Vladimir the Great protect and watch over you.

A Prayer for Peace

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed, kindle in the hearts of all men the true love of peace, and guide with Your pure and peaceable wisdom those who make decisions for the nations of the earth; that in tranquility Your kingdom may go forward, till the earth be filled with the knowledge of Your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Cav. Grand Cross Nob. l'On. Alberto Lembo, Grand Inquisitor Emeritus, Requiescat in Pace

It is with much sorrow that we ask you in your charity to pray for the repose of the soul of our confratello, Cav. Gr. Cr. Nob. l'On. Alberto Lembo, Grand Inquisitor Emeritus of the Constantinian Order. Cav. Gr. Cr. Nob. l'On. Lembo was invested as a Knight of Grace in 1984, and became a Commander Jus Patronato in 1995. He was the Grand Inquisitor of the Order from 2016-2018*, becoming a Knight Grand Cross of Grace.

We extend our deepest condolences to his family.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

IHSV

* The Office of Grand Inquisitor was abolished by the Grand Master in December, 2018.

Source: Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George - US Delegation

Happy Birthday Prince Carlo di Borbone!

HRH was born in Saint Raphaël, France on February 24, 1963 
Photo courtesy of Cav. John Napoli

Happy Birthday Prince Carlo di Borbone – Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro and Grand Master of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George! We pray that your special day be filled with the glory and wonder of God’s abiding love, and may you feel His presence throughout the coming year. Peace be upon you. Auguri!

Around the Web — IAP 222: More Than Just Antoinette’s Sister: Queen Maria Carolina of the Two Sicilies with Author Diana Giovinazzo

Queen Maria Carolina of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies was one of the most fascinating, impactful and, unfortunately, forgotten women in the long story of Southern Italy. Thanks to the work of this week’s guest, Her Royal Highness is about to reclaim her rightful place in history!

Diana Giovinazzo is the author of Antoinette’s Sister, which tells the story of Queen Maria Carolina, the Queen Consort of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. This strong-willed Austrian princess took little time in making herself into the de facto ruler of her husband’s kingdoms, and over her nearly 50 years as Queen left a legacy so important, that it might actually be part of what led our ancestors to the United States!

The sister of the ill-fated Marie Antoinette, Maria Carolina’s story has never quite drawn the attention of her tragic sister yet, as we will discuss, her impact can still be seen today in the glorious Reggio di Caserta and the vast array of art and culture that she helped bring to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies before she was sent into exile by the French.

Diana reveals Maria Carolina’s story and shares why her legacy should be known by anyone interested in Italian history. We also discuss how Diana approaches historical fiction, what inspires her about the often overlooked Italian women at the center of her stories, and how writing for historical figures can be approached without imposing 21st century values.

It’s a revealing look at a fascinating woman who is finally getting her due!

Listen to podcast: IAP 222: More Than Just Antoinette’s Sister: Queen Maria Carolina of the Two Sicilies with Author Diana Giovinazzo

Photo of the Week: Chapel Inside the Chiesa di Santo Stefano in Molfetta, Puglia

Photo by Andrew Giordano

GianDomenico Primo and Enrico Fagnano to Discuss La Storia Dell'Italia Unita on Radio Ancora Italia

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18th from 10 PM to 12 PM

Vox, GianDomenico Primo and Enrico Fagnano talk about The History of United Italy. What really happened in the South after 1860.

Radio live again from the facebook page and youtube channel http://node-06.zeno.fm/1tmd4t6cxbruv...

La Storia dell’Italia Unita

VENERDI' 18 FEBBRAIO dalle 22.00 alle 24.00

Vox, GianDomenico Primo ed Enrico Fagnano parlano de LA STORIA DELL'ITALIA UNITA. Ciò che è accaduto realmente nel Sud dopo il 1860.

Radio Ancora in diretta dalla pagina facebook e dal canale youtube http://node-06.zeno.fm/1tmd4t6cxbruv...

………………………….

La Storia Dell'Italia Unita by Enrico Fagnano is available at Amazon.com

Publisher: Independently published

Publication Date: May 11, 2021

Paperback: $12.18

Language: Italian

Pages: 214

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New Book — Geographies of Myth and Places of Identity: The Strait of Scylla and Charybdis in the Modern Imagination

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

• Geographies of Myth and Places of Identity: The Strait of Scylla and Charybdis in the Modern Imagination by Marco Benoît Carbone

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Publication Date: February 10, 2022

Hardcover: $115.00

Language: English

Pages: 280

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Click here to see more books

Listing does not imply endorsement

New Book: Stories of Southern Italy

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

• Stories of Southern Italy by Ella Carr

Publisher: Everyman’s Library

Publication Date: September 6, 2022

Hardcover: $25.00

Language: English

Pages: 400

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Photo of the Week: Monument to Sant'Antonino Abate by Tommaso Solari in Piazza Tasso, Sorrento

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

New Book — Italian Women in Basilicata: Staying Behind but Moving Forward during the Age of Mass Emigration, 1876–1914

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

• Italian Women in Basilicata: Staying Behind but Moving Forward during the Age of Mass Emigration, 1876–1914 by Victoria Calabrese

Publisher: Lexington Books

Publication Date: January 26, 2022

Hardcover: $95.00

Language: English

Pages: 212

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New Music — Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti: Cantate Profane E Sonate

New music that may be of interest to our readers.

• Alessandro Scarlatti and Domenico Scarlatti: Cantate Profane E Sonate performed by Michele Andalo and Marco Farolfi

Label: Bongiovanni

Release Date: January 18, 2022

Audio CD: $16.99

Number of Discs: 1

Available at Amazon.com

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Photo of the Week: San Corrado di Baviera Figurine in the Basilica Madonna dei Martiri Museum in Molfetta

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Napule (Naples) Lost One of its Better Sons: Dr. Raffaele Bracale

Raffaele Bracale

Raffaele Bracale, Emeritus Teacher, Maestro, Expert Philologist, Poet of the Neapolitan Language and Heritage Passed 28 January

Raffaele Bracale was born in Naples in 1945 where he completed his studies and graduated in law. He worked for over twenty years for Banco di Napoli, the largest credit institution in the South and resigned in 1992 to commit himself more actively in the artistic field, ranging from painting to photography, from fiction to poetry and theater (until serious health problems forced him into inactivity). He collaborated with Neapolitan newspapers and magazines with articles about customs and has received certificates and awards in various national competitions both as a poet and as a painter, as well as a director and a theatrical author. For the theater, he has written, staged and performed half a dozen works for l'Applauso and then later for numerous other theater companies.

A writer of novels, books about gastronomy, and much more about Neapolitan language and heritage, Raffaele Bracale, was the inspirer, moral supporter and member of the Neapolitan Academy, (Accademia Napoletana) managed by Massimiliano Verde.

The Neapolitan Academy is a scientific group to teach and promote Neapolitan Language and Heritage. In 2017 Verde implemented with the approval of Dr. Raffaele Bracale the first course on the Neapolitan Language according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR), recognized by the city of Naples and then by academies, sociolinguists and professors from all over the world. The Accademia was in the USA in 2019 for a tour of conferences which included the UN in New York City to defend the cultural and social rights of Neapolitans according the Charter of Rights of the Child and the convention for human and cultural rights. This work aimed by Verde to address the suppression of Neapolitan in Italy often caused by a Lombrosian ideology against the southern people or Duosiciliani. Verde is an interlocutor for UNESCO's International Year of the Indigenous Languages for Neapolitan. 

Raffaele Bracale represented one of the most important cultural figures of the city of Naples, in Italy and abroad. He dedicated his entire life to the preservation, promotion, and protection of the Neapolitan language, especially for the new generations.

He leaves a wealth of studies, research of immense value for the defense of the Neapolitan identity. Recognition and condolences for his high cultural merit came to him from all over the world, from Spain (Real Academia de Cultura Valenciana) to Latin America (Red Internacional de Investigadores de Lenguas, Literatura y Educación), to the academic personalities from the University of Athens and other colleagues and friends of the Neapolitan Academy, including the greater community of Neapolitan origin in the USA.

Dr. Bracale was very loved by Neapolitans despite the frequent ostracism or simple disinterest of both local of national institutions. 

Dr. Raffaele Bracale, worked his entire life for the dignity, morality, universal value of the Neapolitan language and aimed for a process of cultural decolonization for the Neapolitan community.       

The Accademia Napoletana presented a note to commemorate him to UNESCO and promise to continue the studies of the Maestro. 

Raffaele Bracale lives!

~ By Prof. Massimiliano Verde

Ponderable Quote from ‘La Monarchia Tradizionale’ by Francisco Elías de Tejada

Translated from the Italian*

The Monarchy

Kingship is not something empty, as in doctrinal liberalisms, nor omnipotent as in totalitarian or absolutist constitutions. The monarch reigns and governs but within the limits imposed by fundamental or local laws. It is not possible for them to alter the legal organization of their peoples without the consent of the peoples themselves. He rules, yes, because he is king; but he reigns in the context of very specific laws.

On this level, the traditional monarchy is the only form of government in which the power of the ruler is truly limited, because the limits that mark his faculties do not consist in cold literature or dead doctrines, but in the fruitful social reality, anterior and distinct from the state itself. Where totalitarianisms and absolutisms see an additional instrument of their power and where liberals see emptiness, in intermediate and autarchic societies, the traditional monarchy is the only form of government where men can feel truly free.

* Capitolo Sesto, "La Monarchia Federative," La monarchia tradizionale, Francisco Elías de Tejada, Controcorrente Edizioni, 2001, p. 129-130

Bonus Photo of the Week for Candlemas: Fresco of the Presentation of the Lord in the Duomo di Salerno

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Ceiling fresco in the Duomo di Salerno painted by Belisario Corenzio depicting the Presentation of the Lord.

Prayer for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

All-powerful Father, Christ your Son became man for us and was presented in the temple. May he free our hearts from sin and bring us into your presence. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.