Il Portastendardo di Civitella del Tronto (n. 56 - Febbraio 2026)

Lent with the Emperor

The Blessed Karl von Habsburg Symposium V

Saturday, March 7, 2026 (8:00AM–5:00PM)

Renaissance Dallas North Hotel
1590 Lyndon B Johnson Freeway
Dallas, TX, 75234

Fifth Gathering:
• Conference
• “Dinner with the Speakers”
• Singles Social Event

It could be said that the last few years of Bl. Karl’s life was one long ‘Lent’.

Ten speakers from several US states and foreign countries will look deep, each in a different way, into how an emperor and a Catholic navigate through personal difficulties, societal disorder, and into personal, interior triumph.

MAKE A PILGRIMAGE TO THE EMPEROR’S LENT—2026

Discover the richness and benefit of a Good Lent– strength and perseverance in troubling times–Kaiser Karl’s way.

JOIN THE HUNDREDS FROM DOZENS OF STATES & EVEN FOREIGN COUNTRIES WHO WILL ATTEND

Click here to Attend

Mulberry Street Serenade: Patrizio Buanne Back in Little Italy

Patrizio showing his Two Sicilies pride

Ran into our friend Patrizio Buanne at E. Rossi’s in Little Italy, New York, last night during the American leg of his world tour. Tourists drifted past, unaware that one of Naples’ great modern crooners was inside catching up with friends over conversation.

More: https://patriziobuanne.net/en/home_en/

Novena to San Leone Luca di Corleone

San Leone Luca, ora pro nobis

Pray the novena for nine consecutive days, February 20th through February 28th, in preparation for the feast celebrated on March 1st. Evviva San Leone Luca di Corleone!

Glorious St. Leolucas of Corleone, beloved Patron, you served God in humility and confidence on earth. Now you enjoy His beatific vision in heaven. You persevered till death and gained the crown of eternal life. Remember now the dangers, confusion, and anguish that surround me and intercede for me in my needs and troubles, especially...

(Mention your need here...).

Amen.

St. Leolucas of Corleone, Pray for us.

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...

New Book — Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike: Volume 2

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

• Diodoros of Sicily: Bibliotheke Historike: Volume 2, Books 16-17: The Rise of Macedon under Philip II and the Conquests of Alexander III (the Great) by Phillip Harding

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Pub. Date: May 31, 2026
Hardcover: $115.00
Softcover $32.99
Language: English
Pages: 448

Read description

Click here to see more books

Listing does not imply endorsement

The Sun Steed and My Father

Patriae Moderatur Amore [1]

It has been some time since I last went horseback riding, so when the opportunity arose, it stirred a flood of memories. As far back as I can remember, if there was a horse within sight, my father would lift me into the saddle, no matter where we were. His love of horses was steadfast, equestrian in his very nature. His first real job was as a stable boy at the Kensington Stables near Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

He would often recall how he lingered too long at the stables before finally rushing home for dinner, leaving no time to bathe. My grandfather ran his table with military punctuality. Seated to his right, still reeking of horses, he barely had time to settle before my grandfather would say, “You stink,” and send him to his room without supper. An aunt would quietly bring him food later.

If a horse appeared on television, everything stopped. We had to watch. I cannot count how many times I sat through Hidalgo.

Proud of his Neapolitan ancestry, he loved that Napoli’s ancient emblem was a rampant black stallion on a golden field—Il Corsiero del Sole, the “Sun Steed.” The horse, long associated with the city, symbolized vitality and sovereign strength. Tracing its origins to antiquity, a colossal bronze horse once stood in Naples, traditionally associated with the Temple of Neptune—symbolizing the unpredictability of the sea and protection from earthquakes.

In the Middle Ages, the horse became linked to the legend of Virgil, who in Neapolitan lore was regarded as a magician and protector of the city. It was said that he fashioned or enchanted the bronze horse as a talisman guarding Naples and its stables from harm. Thus, the ancient monument passed from pagan symbol into medieval legend, its power recast but not forgotten.

The horse also appeared on early Neapolitan coinage and civic imagery and was later connected—symbolically rather than heraldically—to the Aragonese rulers of Naples in the fifteenth century. Over time, the image evolved, but the figure of the horse endured as a sign of independence and power. In my father, it was no symbol at all but simply who he was.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, February 18th, Feast of St. Bernadette Soubirous

Notes:

[1] Patriae moderatur amore appears beneath Filippo Palizzi’s 1877 depiction of an unbridled horse in the fields beneath Vesuvius, evoking Il Corsiero del Sole. The phrase may be translated as “He is guided by love of the fatherland.”

Remembering Francisco Elías de Tejada

Madrid, Spain, 6 April 1917 – Madrid, Spain, 18 February 1978

In memory of the “Forgotten Master,” Francisco Elías de Tejada y Spínola Gómez, Carlist philosopher and historian, we pray for the happy repose of his soul.

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

Celebrating Martedì Grasso

Focaccia Barese

On the eve of Lent, we celebrated the end of our indulgent Carnevale season with a special Martedì Grasso—Fat Tuesday—celebration. The evening was filled with cheerful excess—a luxurious homemade feast followed by lively games and lots of laughter late into the night.

As is our tradition, since we forgo meat, dairy, and eggs during the Great Fast, our final meal was a conscious feast of all three: rich dishes, generous servings, and no holding back.

Now, feeling satisfied and thankful, we turn our thoughts toward the desert. Through fasting, abstinence, and penitence, we begin the long journey toward the glory of Christ’s Resurrection at Easter. We wish you a blessed and meaningful Lent. ~ Giovanni di Napoli

Pomodori secchi e nodini

Affettati e formaggio

Crocchè di patate, polpette di ricotta, and arancini

Melanzane grigliate sott'olio

Peperoni arrostiti sott'olio

Manicotti

Polpette

Cotoletta alla Milanese

Cupcakes

Michela Musolino at the Corazón Cultural Arts Center in Topanga, California

The Passing of Antonino Zichichi and Franco Torpino di Santasilia

In the span of a day, two figures of cultivated Italian life passed from the scene — Antonino Zichichi in Sicily and Franco Torpino di Santasilia of Naples — leaving behind distinct yet complementary legacies of intellect and tradition.

Antonino Zichichi

Professor Antonino Zichichi, nuclear physicist and founder of the Centro Ettore Majorana in Erice, died on February 9, 2026. He was 96.

Born in Trapani, Sicily, on October 15, 1929, Zichichi studied at the University of Palermo before embarking on a distinguished international career. In the 1960s, he conducted significant research at Fermilab in Chicago and at CERN in Geneva, contributing to the development of subnuclear physics during a decisive era.

In 1963, he founded the Centro Ettore Majorana in Erice, naming it for the Sicilian theoretical physicist from Catania. The center became home to the International School of Subnuclear Physics and a meeting place for scientists from around the world. Zichichi later served as president of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, president of the European Physical Society, and president of the World Federation of Scientists. In 1973, he co-founded World Lab with the American physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi, an organization supporting scientific development in emerging nations.

In later years, Zichichi was among those physicists who publicly affirmed belief in God as Creator, writing several works addressed to a broad readership, including Scienza ed emergenze planetarie (1993), Perché io credo in Colui che ha fatto il mondo (1999), and L’irresistibile fascino del Tempo (2000).

Asteroid 3951 bears his name.

Franco Torpino di Santasilia

Franco Torpino di Santasilia, Neapolitan Marquess, engineer, and devoted custodian of aristocratic culinary tradition, died February 10, 2026, in Marrakesh following complications from a fall. He was 91.

Born in Naples on January 18, 1935, Torpino graduated in physics from the University of Naples in 1960 and worked as a thermal nuclear engineer at the Centrale Elettronucleare del Garigliano for ENEL and General Electric between 1964 and 1971. He later held executive positions at Gruppo Piaggio and Gruppo Giglio.

Inspired by his mother, Duchess Leopoldina Caracciolo di Castagneto, he cultivated a lifelong devotion to the aristocratic cuisine of Naples. In his homes in Naples, Rome, and Morocco, he became known for gatherings that celebrated the ceremonial depth of southern Italian hospitality. His tables welcomed figures from the Italian and international establishment, including members of the Agnelli and Marzotto families, alongside diplomats and public officials.

In 1988, he published La Cucina Aristocratica Napoletana, later republished in 2017, and I primi: 35 ricette ispirate alla Cucina Napoletana di Corte, works that framed cuisine not merely as gastronomy but as inheritance, identity, and culture. He was a member of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, the American Institute for Food and Wine, and the International Association for Culinary Professionals, and organized numerous conferences dedicated to Neapolitan culinary history.

~ By Antonio Isernia

Photo of the Week: The Fontana della Pigna in the Pinecone Courtyard, Vatican

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

Thursday Night Holy Hour and Mass at the Oratory of St. Josaphat in Bayside, New York

Days of Remembrance in Gaeta: A Look at the 165th Anniversary of the End of the Siege of Gaeta (1860-61)

Photos courtesy of 1° Reggimento Re

Feast of St. Gabriel Possenti at the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in Raritan, New Jersey

Looking Back at Rodin

Bellona, bronze, modeled 1879, cast 1925 by the foundry Alexis Rudier

Lately, I seem to be on a bit of a Rodin kick. Having already returned to older photographs from the Rodin Museum, it seemed natural to do the same with images from past visits to the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I only wish I’d had a camera back in 1997, during the Hands of Rodin exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum—my first encounter with The Kiss in marble, and one that has stayed with me ever since.

Bellona, bronze, modeled 1879, cast 1925 by the foundry Alexis Rudier

(L) The Thinker, bronze, modeled 1880-1881, cast 1924 by the
founder Alexis Rudier. (R) The Crouching Woman, modeled
1881-1882, cast 1925 by the foundry Alexis Rudier

The Age of Bronze, bronze, modeled 1875-1877,
cast in 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Details: The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884-1895,
cast 1919-1921 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Details: The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884-1895,
cast 1919-1921 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Details: The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884-1895,
cast 1919-1921 by the founder Alexis Rudier