Fuoco Fatuo

The Will-o’-the-Wisp and the Snake (1901) by Hermann Hendrich.

A Symbolist interpretation of the fuoco fatuo

The other evening, I mentioned in passing that I had not seen a single firefly this year. It was a casual observation, spoken with quiet disappointment, and the conversation soon drifted to more pressing matters.

Last night, during an evening passeggiata, a friend quietly led me away from our usual route toward the old church cemetery. She offered no explanation. Only when I peered through the iron fence did I understand.

The tombstones shimmered beneath hundreds of lightning bugs, their tiny lanterns flickering through the darkness like a host of wandering souls. There were more lights among the graves than stars above. For a moment, the cemetery became a place of enchantment, and every firefly seemed a will-o’-the-wisp—fuoco fatuo—wandering silently among the dead.

I turned toward my friend. The smile on her face said everything.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, July 1st, Feast of the Most Precious Blood

Among the Ruins of a Republic: An Afternoon in the American Wing

Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851, oil on canvas, Emanuel Leutze

With the Semiquincentennial of These United States fast approaching, I recently found myself feeling especially patriotic and made a brief excursion to the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In truth, I was looking for any excuse to spend a few hours in the company of good art, revisiting old favorites, reconsidering familiar works, and discovering something new along the way.

Often critical of the government, its corrupt political factions, and the ideologies that increasingly dominate public life, I still love this country and remain grateful for the inheritance it has given us. For all our divisions and shortcomings, there remains much that is worthy of admiration and preservation.

The American Wing offers a reminder of that inheritance. Its paintings, sculptures, furnishings, and decorative arts bear witness to a civilization confident in beauty, craftsmanship, permanence, and higher ideals. They reveal a people who believed art should elevate, instruct, and inspire rather than merely provoke or entertain.

Sadly, the museum itself has not remained entirely immune to the fashionable ideological tendencies of our age. I have come to abhor the Met’s practice of placing contemporary works alongside acknowledged masterpieces in an attempt to create a “conversation.” Such experiments are better confined to the Modern Art galleries.

The pairing of Kay WalkingStick’s Thom, Where are the Pocumtucks (The Oxbow) with Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow was a particularly striking example. Standing before the two works, one is struck by the immense difference separating a master from a lesser talent. The result was less a dialogue than a demonstration of how far our artistic standards have fallen. Rather than “enriching” Cole’s achievement, the juxtaposition only made his genius more apparent.

Walking through those galleries, I could not escape the feeling that we are living amid the ruins of a saner civilization. The artistic achievements remain, preserved behind glass and gilded frames, while many of the assumptions that produced them have faded from public life. Yet perhaps that is why museums matter. They remind us not only of what once was, but of what might still be recovered.

As the nation approaches its two hundred and fiftieth year, the American Wing stands as a quiet testament to the best of our inheritance and to the enduring possibility that beauty, memory, and gratitude may yet help guide us forward.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, July 1st, Feast of the Most Precious Blood

My Bunkie, finished 1899, oil on canvas, Charles Schreyvogel

On the Southern Plains, 1907, oil on canvas, Frederic Remington

Repose, 1895, oil on canvas, John White Alexander

Across the Room, ca. 1899, oil on canvas, Edmund Charles Tarbell

(L) Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau), 1883-84, oil on canvas, John Singer Sargent. (R) A Rose, 1907, oil on canvas, Thomas Anshutz

La Pêche (Fishing), 1901-4, oil on wood panel, Thomas Wilmer Dewing

(L) George Washington, carved after 1844, marble, Hiram Powers.
(R) George Washington, ca. 1782, oil on canvas, James Peale

(L) Thomas Jefferson, 1788, oil on mahogany, John Trumbull.
(R) Antislavery medallion, Stoke-on-Trent, ca. 1787, jasperware,
Josiah Wedgwood and William Hackwood

(L) Abraham Lincoln (Standing Lincoln), cast 1911, bronze, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. (R) Victory, cast ca. 1914-16, bronze, gilt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens

(L) California, carved 1858, marble, Hiram Powers.
(R) A Young Mother, cast ca. 1906, bronze, Bessie Potter Vonnoh

The Babes in the Wood, carved 1851, marble, Thomas Crawford

(L) Descending Night, cast by 1917, bronze, Adolph Alexander Weinman.
(R) Standing Torso of a Woman, cast ca. 1909, Paul Wayland Bartlett

Scratching Her Heel, 1921, bronze, Alexander Stirling Calder

(L) Seated Torso of a Woman, cast ca. 1909, bronze, Paul Wayland Bartlett.
(R) Pavlova, 1916, bronze, Alfred David Lenz

(L) Daphne, carved 1854, marble, Harriet Goodhue Hosmer.
(R) Peace, ca. 1998, marble, William Ordway Partridge

(L) Diana, this cast, 1928, gilt bronze, August Saint-Gaudens.
(R) Fragilina, 1923, marble, Attilio Piccirilli

Mexican Girl Dying, this carving, 1848, marble, Thomas Crawford

(L) Cleopatra, this carving, 1869, marble, William Wetmore Story.
(R) The Libyan Sibyl, this carving, 1861, marble, William Wetmore Story

(L) Ruth Gleaning, this carving, 1856 or 1856, marble, Randolph Rogers.
(R) Evening, this carving, 1891, marble, Fredrick Wellington Ruckstull

(L) Clytie, this carving, 1872, marble, William Henry Rinehart.
(R) Medea, this carving, 1868, marble, William Wetmore Story

Awaiting Werwulf

Few films have me genuinely counting the days, but Robert Eggers’ forthcoming Werwulf is one of them. Judging from the trailer alone, it promises everything I enjoy in a horror film: darkness, dread, folklore, superstition, and that wonderfully macabre atmosphere Eggers has made his signature. It looks unsettling in all the right ways.

A longtime fan of Robert Eggers’ work, I especially enjoyed Nosferatu. It was beautifully crafted, genuinely eerie, and refreshingly willing to embrace the Gothic without apology. If Werwulf captures even a fraction of that same haunting power, opening day cannot come soon enough.

Of course, there may be another explanation for my enthusiasm. As someone of Irpinian ancestry, perhaps I am simply answering an ancient call. After all, the ancient Hirpini took their name from the Oscan word for “wolf,” and later tradition associated them with wolf-men. Maybe this is nothing more than blood memory stirring beneath the surface—or perhaps my inner lupumanare has caught the scent of another Robert Eggers masterpiece.

Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius at St. Mary of Mt. Virgin Church in New Brunswick, New Jersey

Blood and the Heights of Summer

Santa Rosalia, San Pantaleone, and
Madonna del Carmine, orate pro nobis

July does not awaken like April,
Crown like May,
Or stand watch like June.
It endures.

Beneath the blazing sun,
Amid harvests yet to come,
It calls for constancy,
Sacrifice, and trust
In the providence that sustains

    all things
Through the heat of the season.

July stands beneath the full authority of summer. The hesitations of spring are long gone; the fields, forests, and vineyards have committed themselves entirely to the season. The sun reaches its zenith, and with it comes both abundance and endurance.

The month opens with the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ on July 1st. The devotion recalls the price of redemption and the mystery of sacrifice at the heart of the Christian faith. In a season marked by outward vitality, the feast turns the soul toward the source from which all true life proceeds.

On July 15th, the Church honors Santa Rosalia, the hermit of Palermo. Withdrawn from the world during her life, she became one of Sicily’s most beloved patrons after her intercession was credited with delivering the city from plague. Her memory reminds us that holiness often works unseen, hidden from the world until necessity reveals its power.

The following day brings the Feast of the Madonna del Carmine. For centuries, the Brown Scapular and the protection of Our Lady of Mount Carmel have offered consolation to the faithful. Her feast unites contemplation and devotion, calling Christians to remain steadfast amid the distractions and uncertainties of earthly life.

Near the month’s end, July 27th commemorates San Pantaleone, physician, martyr, and one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Remembered as a healer of both body and soul, he stands among those saints whose charity was inseparable from their faith. In several places, most notably in Ravello, his dried blood miraculously liquefies on his feast day. The miracle recalls the enduring bond between sacrifice and sanctity, bringing the month full circle from the Feast of the Most Precious Blood with which it began.

July begins and ends with reminders of blood freely given—of sacrifice, witness, and redemption.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, June 30th, Feast of Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli

Happy National U.S. Postage Stamp Day!

In honor of National U.S. Postage Stamp Day, I am sharing a first-day cover and blocks of Spanish stamps commemorating the Carlist statesman and political thinker Juan Vázquez de Mella.

Saints of the Day for July

(L-R) Sant'Enrico II, Madonna delle Grazie, and Santa Veronica Giuliani

July is the month traditionally dedicated by the Church to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, whose feast is celebrated on July 1st.

• First Sunday in July is the Feast of the Madonna Immacolata
• Second Sunday in July is the Feast of the Madonna Degli Infermi
• Last Sunday in July is the Feast of San Leucio d’Alessandria
• July 1 — Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
• July 1 — Feast of St. Junipero Serra
• July 1 — Feast of San Nicasio Camuto de Burgio
• July 2 — Feast of the Madonna della Visitazione
• July 2 — Feast of the Madonna delle Grazie
• July 4 — Feast of Sant’Ulrico di Augusta
• July 4 — Feast of Beato Piergiorgio Frassati
• July 5 — Feast of Sant’Antonio Maria Zaccaria
• July 6 — Feast of Santa Domenica di Tropea
• July 7 — Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
• July 7 — Feast of San Panteno di Alessandria

• July 8 — Feast of San Procopio di Cesarea di Palestina
• July 8 — Feast of Santa Elisabetta of Portugal
• July 9 — Feast of San Pancrazio di Taormina
• July 9 — Feast of Santa Veronica Giuliani
• July 10 — Feast of Santa Rufina and Santa Seconda
• July 11 — Feast of St. Oliver Plunket
• July 12 — Feast of Santa Veronica
• July 13 — Feast of Santa Trofimena di Minori
• July 13 — Feast of St. Mildred of Thanet
• July 14 — Feast of San Marciano di Frigento
• July 15 — Feast of San Pompilio Maria Pirrotti
• July 15 — Feast of Santa Rosalia (Il Festino)
• July 15 — Feast of Sant’Enrico II
• July 15 — Feast of Beato Bernardo II di Baden, Il Cavaliere Angelico
• July 16 — Feast of the Madonna del Carmine
• July 17 — Feast of the Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne
• July 18 — Feast of San Camillo de Lellis
• July 18 — Novena to San Pantaleone Martire
• July 19 — Feast of San Vincenzo de’ Paoli
• July 19 — Feast of Sant’Arsenio il Grande
• July 19 — Feast of Saints Giusta and Rufina
• July 20 — Feast of Santa Margherita di Antiochia
• July 20 — Feast of Sant’Elia Profeta
• July 21 — Feast of San Lorenzo da Brindisi
• July 21 — Feast of Sant’Alberico Crescitelli
• July 22 — Feast of Santa Maria Maddalena
• July 24 — Feast of Blessed Martyrs of Daimiel
• July 24 — Feast of the Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Guadalajara
• July 24 — Feast of Beata Mercedes del Sacro Cuore
• July 24 — Feast of Beato Saverio Bordas Piferer
• July 24 — Novena to Sant'Alfonso Maria de Liguori
• July 25 — Feast of San Giacomo il Maggiore
• July 25 — Feast of San Cristoforo Martire
• July 26 — Feast of Sant’Anna
• July 26 — A Prayer in Memory of Blessed Fr. Jacques Hamel
• July 27 — Feast of San Pantaleone

• July 28 — Novena in Honor of the Transfiguration of Our Lord
• July 28 — Feast of Santi Martiri Nazario and Celso
• July 29 — Feast of San Lupo di Troyes
• July 30 — Novena to the Fourteen Holy Helpers
• July 30 — Novena to San Ciriaco di Roma
• July 31 — Feast of Sant’Ignazio di Loyola
• July 31 — Portiuncula Indulgence for the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels

Sixth Sunday After Pentecost at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Jersey City, New Jersey

Between East and West: Finding Both Lungs of the Church

Christ Pantocrator, Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily

For over a decade now, I have been a regular attendee of the Traditional Latin Mass. Its silence, reverence, and sense of sacred continuity have long nourished my spiritual life. Yet over time, I found myself increasingly drawn to the Christian East.

I had attended Byzantine and Melkite Catholic Divine Liturgies before, appreciating their beauty and ancient traditions, but only recently was I able to arrange my schedule in such a way that I could regularly participate in both the Latin and Byzantine rites each week. Far from creating a conflict, I have found that each deepens my appreciation for the other.

The Traditional Latin Mass impresses upon the soul the transcendence of God through sacred silence, ritual precision, and the contemplative spirit of the Western monastic tradition. The Divine Liturgy, by contrast, immerses one in a world of chant, iconography, and the language of the Church Fathers, constantly drawing the faithful toward the mystery of theosis and participation in the divine life. Together, they reveal different facets of the same Catholic faith.

Perhaps this attraction should not surprise me. As a son of Southern Italy, I come from a land that has long stood between East and West—the Occident and the Orient. Both have left their mark upon the Mezzogiorno. The mountains of Calabria, the coasts of Sicily, and the villages of Apulia once echoed with both Latin and Greek prayers. Even today, traces of that inheritance remain.

Having now made room for both in my spiritual life, I have come to appreciate more deeply the inheritance they share and the spiritual riches each continues to offer.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, June 29th, Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

Pope Leo XIII on Wealth, Poverty, and Virtue

Portrait of Pope Leo XIII,
ca. 1878, Fabio Cipolla

"...The true worth and nobility of man lie in his moral qualities, that is, in virtue; that virtue is, moreover, the common inheritance of men, equally within the reach of high and low, rich and poor; and that virtue, and virtue alone, wherever found, will be followed by the rewards of everlasting happiness. Nay, God Himself seems to incline rather to those who suffer misfortune; for Jesus Christ calls the poor "blessed";(20) He lovingly invites those in labor and grief to come to Him for solace;(21) and He displays the tenderest charity toward the lowly and the oppressed. These reflections cannot fail to keep down the pride of the well-to-do, and to give heart to the unfortunate; to move the former to be generous and the latter to be moderate in their desires. Thus, the separation which pride would set up tends to disappear, nor will it be difficult to make rich and poor join hands in friendly concord."

Reprinted from Rerum Novarum: Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on Capital and Labor, May 15, 1891, www.vatican.va

An Afternoon at Coney Island

Entrance to the Scream Zone with the iconic Steeplechase Face 

For old times’ sake, a few friends and I spent the afternoon at Coney Island. It had been years since we’d gone together, and it felt good to revisit a place that held so many memories.

With the ocean breeze cutting through the summer heat, we strolled the historic boardwalk, watched the waves roll in, and took in familiar landmarks like the Parachute Jump and the legendary Cyclone. We also stopped by the Coney Island Museum, whose exhibits preserve the rich, wonderfully eccentric history of one of New York’s most iconic seaside destinations. Later, we enjoyed drinks at the Freak Bar, where the spirit of old Coney Island—with its carnival atmosphere and sideshow traditions—still lingers.

No visit to Coney Island would be complete without a stop at Nathan’s Famous for a couple of hot dogs and fries.

In memory of my late uncle, and to keep his favorite joke alive, I performed it for my friends. Before ordering, I asked the young lady behind the counter whether she had frog legs.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Good,” I said. “Then hop over there and get me a couple of hot dogs.”

My friends laughed, and for a brief moment it felt as though my uncle were there with us. Some traditions—and some jokes—are simply too good to retire.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, June 28th, Feast of St. Irenaeus

The legendary Cyclone roller coaster

Deno's carousel

A closer look at the beautifully carved horses

The Wonder Wheel

A view from the Pat Auletta Steeplechase Pier

(L) The Parachute Jump. (R) A seagull perched on a
lampost along Pat Auletta Steeplechase Pier

A view of the surprisingly empty beach from
the Pat Auletta Steeplechase Pier

I still miss the New York Cosmos

A mural of a mermaid

The Coney Island Museum was well worth a visit.
Unfortunately, photography of the exhibits was not permitted.

The iconic Steeplechase Face seems to be everywhere at Coney Island

Antique Steeplechase Face buttons

Vintage signs inside the Freak Bar

An old box of Bonomo’s saltwater taffy on display

(L) Vintage playbill advertising performances by Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Ray Walker, Jimmy Durante, Helen Twelvetrees, Mae West, and other stars of the era. (R) Photograph of Madam Tirza (the stage name of Leona DuVal), the trailblazing burlesque performer whose famous “Wine Bath” act entertained audiences at Coney Island from 1940 to 1953

Vintage painted carnival pins once used in a classic knockdown game

A cluttered wall behind the bar, covered with
an eclectic assortment of Coney Island memorabilia

Illuminated sideshow signs, including one for Princess Alena, the “Gorilla Girl”

The Original Nathan's Famous, founded in 1916

Nathan's Famous hot dogs and fries

Nathan's Famous deep-fried, battered frog legs

The legendary Williams Candy Shop, serving Coney Island since 1941

(L) A table inside the Freak Bar featuring the iconic Steeplechase Face. (R) Some of the many delicious sweets in Williams Candy Shop