 |
| Beata Maria Cristina, ora pro nobis |
January 31, 2024
January 30, 2024
Celebrating the Feast of Beato Carlo Magno in Brooklyn, New York
 |
| This year's door prize was a copy of The Life of Charlemagne by Einhard |
 |
| Baked up-rite rigatoni |
 |
| Baked up-rite rigatoni |
 |
| Baked up-rite rigatoni |
 |
| Porchetta |
 |
| Porchetta |
Around the Web — The Papal Zouaves and the Counter-Revolution with Dr. John Rao (The Papal Zouave International Podcast)
www.Papalzouave.com
www.youtube.com/@PapalZouaveInternational
Also find them on X @PapalZouaveInt
Around the Web: A Saintly Queen
 |
| The Church of Santa Chiara, Naples where Blessed Maria Cristina is buried |
By Stuart Chessman
On Wednesday, January 31, a Mass will be celebrated on the feast day of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy – Queen of the Two Sicilies. The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George (of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) is of course a sponsor. But Fr. John Hunwicke has pointed out her connections with the house of Stuart and the Jacobite succession. A point of particular interest to me given my name!
From Fr. John Hunwicke’s Mutual Enrichment: Saintly Stuarts, from Blesssed Charles to Blessed Maria Christina
By a chance, January 31 is the memorial, optionally, in Naples, of one of blessed Charles’ descendants who was beatified on January 25 2014 in the Basilica of S Clare in Naples by Crescenzio Sepe, Cardinal Archbishop of Naples. Blessed Queen Maria Christina of Savoy was the daughter of Victor Emmanuel (de jure King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, 1819-1824) and sister of Maria Beatrice (de jure Queen Mary III and II of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, 1824-1840). Blessed Maria Christina was married to Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies, and mother of Francis, last King of the Two Sicilies before the Piedmontese usurpation. Her Eulogy describes her as ‘a prudent counsellor of the King and a true Mother of the poor and needy’. She was also a woman of great modesty, who by her influence prevented the use of the Death Penalty. She died in childbed when she was only twenty four. Here is her Collect, discovered by Fr Andrew Starkie, a learned priest of the Ordinariate.
Deus, qui in figura huius mundi beatam Mariam Christinam prudenti ardentique caritate decorasti et artificem in augmento Regni tui effecisti: tribue nobis, eius exemplo et intercessione; ut de vero amoris tui thesauro benefacientes accipere valeamus. Per. (O God, which in the figure of this passing world [I Cor 7:31] didst adorn [Isa 61:10] Blessed Maria Christina with a wise and burning charity, and didst make her a worker in the increase of thy Kingdom: grant to us, by her example and intercession; that by doing right [I Pet 2:15] we may be able to receive of the very treasure of thy love. Through. (This rendering takes account of the Italian version, which is not exactly the same as the Latin, and of the Italian Commentary which accompanied the texts.)
New Music — Mercadante: Quartets for Flute & Strings
Label: Dynamic
Release Date: October 7, 2023
Audio CD: $16.01
Number of Discs: 1
Available at Amazon.com
January 29, 2024
Days of the Blackbird and the Coming of Persephone
 |
| Mythological Scene with the Rape of Persephone, early 1680s, oil on canvas, Luca Giordano, The National Gallery |
"Nature, as such, has become extinct in our century. Only in the art of previous centuries do we discover, to our astonishment, that nature is not just a simple physics experiment operated by industrious little organisms." ~ Nicolás Gómez Dávila, The Authentic Reactionary
In Italy, the last three days of January (29th-31st) are known as I giorni della merla or the days of the blackbird. Rooted in folklore, it refers to a number of old legends about a family of blackbirds and the coming of spring. In the Anglosphere, it is often referred to as Italy’s cousin to Groundhog Day.
There are several variations of the fable, one of which recalls how the freezing birds petitioned St. Peter for warmth. Moved by their suffering, the great saint granted them three clement days so they could make provisions and survive the hardships of the remaining winter.
In another version, the month of January (once only 28 days long) was jealous of the birds singing, so he stole three days from his younger brother February to subject the poor creatures to more inclement weather. Originally the birds were white as snow, but after taking refuge in a chimney their plumage was forever turned black from the soot. Now they no longer have difficulty finding each other in snowstorms.
Sometimes January is replaced by the allegorical figure of the Apennines, a colossal stony giant who unleashes his wrath against the blackbirds with blistering winds and a torrential downpour of rain, sleet or snow.
The way the story was told to me, however, was quite different. While entertaining and imaginative, I get the impression these are later retellings of a much older tale from Magna Graecia.
According to legend, Hades, king of the underworld, fell in love with and wanted to marry Persephone/Kore, the goddess of spring and rebirth. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and harvest, she was captured while picking flowers in a field in Enna, Sicily. Emerging from a gaping black chasm on his golden chariot drawn by four horses, Hades carried off his bride back to his dark realm.
Learning of her daughter’s abduction, Demeter in her anguish caused all plant life to wither and die. Fearing life on Earth would soon disappear, Zeus quickly dispatched Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to the underworld and negotiated Persephone/Kore’s release.
Agreeing to allow her to return, Hades offered his new bride a pomegranate for luck. After eating four seeds (the number varies), she was speedily whisked away to see her anxious mother. However, having partaken of the sacred fruit she was now bound to the underworld and obligated to come back to her husband four months out of the year, thus the creation of the seasons. Now, the Earth gradually grows cold and barren when mother and daughter are separated and warm and bountiful when they are reunited.
Emerging from their nests as the weather changes, the blackbirds serve as cheerful harbingers for the long-awaited return of Persephone/Kore from the land of the dead to her mother Demeter each Spring.
It is said, that when the weather is mild on these three days, winter would continue well into February. If, on the other hand, the days are cold and biting, winter would soon come to a close. So, pay heed to the next three days dear friends and enjoy (if we are so lucky) the cheerful song of the blackbirds, because sooner or later, as the story goes, the queen of the underworld will return and in her train spring will arrive.
~ Giovanni di Napoli, January 28th, Feast of Sant’Agnese
There are several variations of the fable, one of which recalls how the freezing birds petitioned St. Peter for warmth. Moved by their suffering, the great saint granted them three clement days so they could make provisions and survive the hardships of the remaining winter.
In another version, the month of January (once only 28 days long) was jealous of the birds singing, so he stole three days from his younger brother February to subject the poor creatures to more inclement weather. Originally the birds were white as snow, but after taking refuge in a chimney their plumage was forever turned black from the soot. Now they no longer have difficulty finding each other in snowstorms.
Sometimes January is replaced by the allegorical figure of the Apennines, a colossal stony giant who unleashes his wrath against the blackbirds with blistering winds and a torrential downpour of rain, sleet or snow.
The way the story was told to me, however, was quite different. While entertaining and imaginative, I get the impression these are later retellings of a much older tale from Magna Graecia.
According to legend, Hades, king of the underworld, fell in love with and wanted to marry Persephone/Kore, the goddess of spring and rebirth. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and harvest, she was captured while picking flowers in a field in Enna, Sicily. Emerging from a gaping black chasm on his golden chariot drawn by four horses, Hades carried off his bride back to his dark realm.
 |
| The Return of Persephone, ca. 1891, oil on canvas, Frederic Leighton, Leeds Art Gallery |
Agreeing to allow her to return, Hades offered his new bride a pomegranate for luck. After eating four seeds (the number varies), she was speedily whisked away to see her anxious mother. However, having partaken of the sacred fruit she was now bound to the underworld and obligated to come back to her husband four months out of the year, thus the creation of the seasons. Now, the Earth gradually grows cold and barren when mother and daughter are separated and warm and bountiful when they are reunited.
Emerging from their nests as the weather changes, the blackbirds serve as cheerful harbingers for the long-awaited return of Persephone/Kore from the land of the dead to her mother Demeter each Spring.
It is said, that when the weather is mild on these three days, winter would continue well into February. If, on the other hand, the days are cold and biting, winter would soon come to a close. So, pay heed to the next three days dear friends and enjoy (if we are so lucky) the cheerful song of the blackbirds, because sooner or later, as the story goes, the queen of the underworld will return and in her train spring will arrive.
~ Giovanni di Napoli, January 28th, Feast of Sant’Agnese
January 27, 2024
Chateaubriand on Napoleon
 |
| Battle of Maida by Philip James de Loutherbourg |
"Bounaparte is a false great man: the magnanimity that makes heroes and true kings was lacking in him." ~ François-René Chateaubriand, On Buonaparte and the Bourbons
At a recent gathering of like-minded friends, the subject of Napoleon Bonaparte came up and a heated debate ensued. As might be expected, director Ridley Scotts’ 2023 historical drama starring Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon was mentioned and, not surprisingly, it was unanimously lampooned by everyone there who saw it. I have not seen the film myself, nor am I planning to any time soon.
Listening to our friend’s arguments, I’m inclined to believe his misguided enthusiasm for the Corsican emperor and military commander is based primarily on his “Italian” ancestry. Needless to say, we all felt differently. I continue to hold the opinion that simply being Italian isn’t enough to garner my support or praise for an individual. I’m sorry, even though I believe blood ties are important, they are not everything.
Not wanting to shout over the tumult, my limited contribution to the spirited exchange was briefly citing the estimated 100,000 Southern Italians killed during the Napoleonic invasions of the Kingdom of Naples in 1798 and 1806 and recounting Vicomte de François-René Chateaubriand’s harsh criticisms of Napoleon. A problematic figure himself, a few hardliners objected to me citing Chateaubriand. Not overthinking it, I just wanted to knock Napoleon, aka "The Devil’s Favorite."
Born to destroy, Buonaparte carried evil in his belly just as naturally as a mother carries her fruit: with joy and a kind of pride. He had a horror for the happiness of men. He said one day: "There are still several happy persons in France; these are the families who do not know me, who live in the country, in a chateau, with thirty or forty thousand pounds in rent; I will know how to reach them.' He kept his word. Seeing his son play one day, he said to a bishop who was present: "Monsieur Bishop, do you believe that this has a soul?" Everything that distinguished itself by a certain superiority appalled this tyrant. Every reputation bothered him. He was jealous of talents, of intelligence, of virtue. He did not even love the sound of a great crime, were this crime not his work. The most disgraceful of men, his greatest pleasure was to injure those who approached him, without thinking that kings never insult anyone because one cannot take vengeance upon them, without reminding himself that he spoke to the nation most delicate of its honor, and to a people formed by the court of Louis XIV and justly renowned for the elegance of its customs and the grace of its manners. In the end, Buonaparte was but the man of prosperity. As soon as the adversity that makes virtues shine touched this false great man, the prodigy vanished: in the monarch could be seen only the adventurer, and in the hero, the newcomer to glory.
[…]
Today, miserable man, we take you at your word and interrogate you with your own speech. “Tell us, what have you done with that France so brilliant? Where are our treasures, the millions of Italy, and of all of Europe? What have you done, not with one hundred thousand, but with five million Frenchmen, all of whom we knew, our parents, our friends, our brothers? This state of things cannot endure. It has plunged us into a hideous despotism. You wanted a republic, and you brought us slavery. We wanted the monarchy established on the bases of equality of rights, morality, civil liberty, and political and religious tolerance. Have you given it to us? What have you done for us? What do we owe to your reign? Who was it that assassinated the duke of Enghien, tortured Pichegru, banished Moreau, fettered the sovereign pontiff, seized the princes of Spain, and fought an impious war? You. Who was it that lost our colonies, destroyed our commerce, opened America to the English, corrupted our morals, took the children from our fathers, devastated our families, ravaged the world, burned more than a thousand villages, and filled the earth with horror for the name of the French? You. Who was it that exposed France to plague, invasion, dismemberment, and conquest? Again, you. Here is what you could not ask the Directory, and what we ask you today. How much more guilty are you than those men whom you found unworthy to reign! Should a legitimate and hereditary king have burdened his people with the least part of the evils that you have done to us, he would have imperilled his throne; and you, usurper and foreigner, you became sacred to us because of the calamities you poured out upon us! You will still reign amidst our tombs! At last we regain our rights through suffering. We will no longer adore Moloch. You will no longer devour our children. We want no more of your conscription, your police, your censors, your nocturnal executions, your tyranny. We are not alone; the whole human race accuses you. It demands vengeance from us in the name of religion, morality, and liberty. Where have you not spread desolation? In which corner of the world has a hidden family escaped your ravages? The Spaniard in his mountains, the Illyrian in his valleys, the Italian under his bright sun, the German, the Russian, the Prussian in their smoldering villages, all demand the return of their sons whom you have slaughtered, the tents, cabins, castles, and temples that you have burned. You have forced them to come and seek among us what you have stolen from them, and to find their bloody spoils in your palaces. The voice of the world declares you the most guilty man to have walked the earth, for it is not upon barbarians or degenerate nations that you have poured out so many evils, it is amidst civilization, in a century of lights, that you have wished to live by the sword of Attila and the maxims of Nero. Lay down your scepter of iron. Descend that pile of ruins you have made of a throne! We chase you out as you chased out the Directory. Go! if you can, for your only punishment, witness the joy that your fall brings to France, and contemplate, while crying tears of rage, the spectacle of public rejoicing!"
Notes
[1] Reprinted from Critics of the Enlightenment: Readings in the French Counter-Revolutionary Tradition edited and translated by Christopher Olaf Blum, ISI Books, 2004, pp. 25-27
January 26, 2024
Celebrating My "Double-Nickel" Birthday
 |
| Agnus Dei, ca. 1635-40, oil on canvas, Francisco de Zurbarán |
 |
| (L) Philip IV, King of Spain, probably 1624, oil on canvas, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez. (R) Margherita Gonzaga, Princess of Mantua, ca. 1606, oil on canvas, Frans Pourbus the Younger |
 |
| Wolf and Fox Hunt, ca. 1616, oil on canvas, Peter Paul Rubens and Workshop |
 |
| (L) The Calmady Children, 1823, oil on canvas, Sir Thomas Lawrence. (R) Don Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, ca. 1636 or later, oil on canvas, Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo |
 |
| Cassone with painted front panel depicting the Conquest of Trebizond, after ca. 1461, poplar wood, linen, polychromed and gilded gesso with panel painted in tempera and gold, attributed to workshop of Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso and workshop of Marco del Buono Giamberti |
 |
| (L) The Last Judgment, ca. 1436-38, oil on canvas, transferred from wood, Jan van Eyck. (R) The Adoration of the Magi, ca. 1475, oil and gold on oak, Heironymous Bosch |
 |
| Sunrise, ca. 1646-47, oil on canvas, Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée) |
 |
| (L) Chimneypiece (cheminée) ca. 1665-70, limestone, after a design by Jean Le Pautre. (R) Venus Giving Arms to Aeneas, 1704, terracotta, Jean Cornu |
 |
| Louis XIV, 1681, bronze medallion, François Bertinet |
 |
| Louis XIV in Allegorical Armor, ca. 1648, bronze medal, Michael Molart |
 |
| Philippe, Due d'Anjou, 1655, bronze medal, French |
 |
| One can never have too much poetry and art: (L) Selected Poems of Ezra Pound and (R) The Secret Armoire: Corot's Figure Paintings and the World of Reading |
 |
| I got new editions of some old favorites: (L) Mitra-Varuna by Georges Dumézil and (R) The Myth of the Eternal Return by Mircea Eliade |
 |
| The real surprise was getting books by two of my favorite sword & sorcery and sci-fi artists: (L) Den Volume 1: Neverwhere by Richard Corben and (R) Inksplosion: 150 Ink Drawings by Mike Hoffman |
January 24, 2024
'A Scolamaccarune (The Pasta Strainer) by Cav. Charles Sant'Elia
Nóbbele int''a sempricità,
Manco nu marcangegno,
Bona pe sciacquà 'a verdumma,
Pe sculà 'a scarola e 'e fasule,
Ma ancora cchiù nóbbele
P'appreparà 'e maccarune.
Int''a ogne cucina 'e stu regno,
Int''a casarella 'e muntagna,
Int''o vascio ncittà,
Pure abbuordo 'a varca e 'o bastimento,
Assiste 'a' cena 'e meliune.
Scola 'e pácchere, ‘e fusille, e vermicielle
E 'e maccarune 'e zite,
Se ne jésceno a migliara
P'addeventà timballe 'a távula riale
E lágane fora 'o' pajese.
Damma d’’a casa,
Senza sfuorgio, senza pompa,
Re, piscature e cafune,
Viecchie e gióvene
Senza ‘e tte
Nun mágnano.
Scolamaccarune mia,
Ancora cchiù nóbbele tu,
Quanno sì antica,
Nu poco sgarrupata e acciaccata,
Tenuta mman'a ciento nonne
E cincuciento nepute.
The Pasta Strainer
Noble in simplicity,
Not even a fancy gadget,
Good to rinse vegetables,
To strain escarole and beans,
But even more noble yet
To prepare maccheroni.
In every kitchen in this realm,
In the little mountain house,
In the city flat,
Even aboard boats and great ships,
It assists the dinners of millions.
It drains paccheri, fusilli, and vermicelli
And the ziti,
Turn out by the thousands
To become timballi on royal tables
And fettuccine out in the countryside.
Lady of the house,
Without flashiness, without pomp,
Kings, fishermen and farmers,
Old and young
Without you
Don’t eat.
My pasta strainer,
Even more noble are you,
When you are ancient,
A bit warped and dented,
Held in the hands of a hundred grandmothers
And five hundred grandchildren.
* Pictured: Detail of The Vestal Virgin Tuccia Proving Her Innocence (1608) by Jacob Matham after Bartholomeus Spranger, Philadelphia Museum of Art. The priestesses of Vesta, the ancient Roman goddess of the hearth, were required to remain chaste. When the priestess Tuccia was accused of breaking this requirement, she proved her virginity by carrying water in a sieve without spilling a drop.
Ponderable Quote from ‘Removing the Blindfold: Nineteenth-Century Catholics and the Myth of Modern Freedom’ by John C. Rao
The Individual and the Fullness of Sight
How does the individual come to know the truth about life, the truth about the world around him? He does so by understanding that the path to truth is through the Incarnation, which gives him the chance to see the world from the standpoint of the God Who created it. He does so by realizing that seeing the world with Christ's eyes involves recognizing the need for living life in submission to a network of bodies, a corporate society, all of which, natural and supernatural, are meant to cooperate in raising him to eternal happiness. He does so by grasping the fact that the truth about life cannot be reduced to intellectual formulas, for it has variegated contours answerable and appealing to the whole of his humanity, and must be "danced" into with a sense of joy, humility, humor, and mystery. He does so by admitting that the more deeply he plunges into that fullness of life in nature that is a consequence of desiring life in Christ, the more he will know, develop, and hence progress.
Yes, it is true that "the Incarnate Word did not teach reading or writing" and that it is "a profanation to say that the mission of the Son of God was a mission...of social benefit" Nevertheless, the sight that comes from Christ and in Christ through the desire of God to save individual souls has enormous direct and indirect social consequences. A civilization guided by sight of this sort will be led "to the height of greatness,” and "the legitimate consequences, not only for the individual but also for society, for happiness both individual and social, will be for us the highest that can be enjoyed on this earth.” Civilization in its most complete, harmonious sense, capable of extending itself to all cultures without violating their essences, bringing diversity from unity, was born "on Calvary at the foot of the cross" causing "social improvements which it would have been insane to presume possible under the heathens.”
Nothing is superfluous in this movement of all things, through men, in Christ toward Divine Light, because nothing is superfluous to God. When each section of nature plays its proper role, the subordinate submitting to its superior, the superior sacrificing itself, like the Lamb, for its subordinate, then the whole of the universe manifests its desire for restoration in God. But there is no completion of this movement here on earth, and even if there could be, for a moment, the possibility of sin would always leave it open to corruption once again. When the world is properly formed it understands better than ever the fragility of its situation before the end of time and the tremendous grace that consists in the constant supernatural assistance that comes from Christ to keep it in proper working order. It cultivates every part of nature and supernature to live as it should, but more especially it cultivates Christ, since it is only in, through, and in submission to Christ that its individual lords and stewards are divinized.
The Catholic world was once on the path to such a maturity. That world erected by the Revolution in modern times is not. For the Revolution decided that parts of the structure of things were dispensable, the Incarnation most of all. And it is precisely this assault upon God and Nature that fixed a blindfold over the eyes of insightful Catholic men and tried to change them into truly intransigent enemies of truth.
* Reprinted from Removing the Blindfold: Nineteenth-Century Catholics and the Myth of Modern Freedom by John C. Rao, The Remnant Press, 1999, pp.69-71
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
