Buon Capodanno Bizantino! Happy New Year to Our Byzantine Brethren!

In the Byzantine Rite September 1st is the beginning of a new liturgical year. For centuries, Byzantine civilization flourished in Southern Italy until being absorbed by the dominant Latin population. However, pockets of the Divine Liturgy and old cultural traditions still exist today and, in some cases, they continue to grow and thrive again.

Harking back to its Imperial roots, Amalfi and neighboring Atrani commemorate Byzantine New Year with a two day medieval themed festival, extolling the past glories of the ancient maritime Republic. Beginning on the eve on August 31st, revelers will partake in a series of popular amusements and entertainments, including music, local delicacies, fireworks and, of course, the grand procession of Knights and Ladies in period costumes (corteo storico rievocativo) reenacting the bygone investiture of the new Magister di Civiltà Amalfitana. 

In celebration, I’m posting prayers for the Beginning of the Church Year from Byzantine Catholic Prayer for the Home. They are meant for private use. Pictured is my WWI Byzantine Cross Combat Rosary from Rugged Rosaries. Buon Capodanno Bizantino!

Troparia

Troparion of the lndiction Tone 2 You spaced the seasons and the years on Your Own authority, so bless the beginning of this New Year, O Creator. Preserve our authorities and our state in peace, O Lord, through the prayers of the Theotokos, and save us.

Kontakion of the lndiction Tone 2 Christ our King Who dwells on high, bless the beginning of this new year. For You are the One Who set the seasons and the years. You are the One Who made both night and day. Protect our authorities, our state and our people, and keep them at peace, O merciful Lord. 

Stichera
Glory be...now and ever…O Eternal Word and Son, together with the Holy Spirit, Creator + and Maker of all things visible and invisible, bless the beginning of the year, keep in peace all the faithful, through the prayers of the Theotokos and all Your saints. 

Views from the Far North: Friends' Journey Through Iceland

Leif Erikson monument in front of Hallgrímskirkja Church, Reykjavik

Friends recently returned from Iceland and shared photographs from their journey through that strange and beautiful northland. Their images reveal a landscape that seems almost primordial: immense waterfalls plunging through black rock, glaciers stretching toward distant mountains, erupting geysers, volcanic fields, dramatic rock formations, lonely roads, and native wildlife beneath vast skies.

(Above and below) Traditional Icelandic turf houses

(L) Monument to Snorri Sturluson. (R) Geothermal pool and
doorway to tunnel thought to be linked to Sturluson's house

Búlandstindur mountain

(L) Strokkur Geyser. (R) Dynjandi Falls

Dynjandi Falls

Seljalandsfoss Falls

Dynjandi Falls

Stuðlagil Canyon

Basalt columns

Icelandic horses

Puffins

Arctic fox

(L) Raven. (R) Seal

Blue ice

(L) Reynisfjara. (R) Hvitserkur

Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach

Garðar BA 64

Presentazione del libro Insigne Real Ordine di San Gennaro di Alfonso de Ceballos-Escalera e Fabio Cassani Pironti

Drawn to the Sphinx

Aeolipile (steam blower), South German, Augsburg, or Bohemian, Prague (Czech Republic), ca. 1590-1600, bronze with dark patina, silver

After re-visiting the Della Robbia exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I first meandered through the nearby Northern Renaissance Gallery, then found myself among the antiquities of Greece and Rome. Along the way, I was drawn again and again to the figures of the Sphinx.

Winged, beautiful, and deadly, the offspring of Orthus and the Chimera (or, in some traditions, of Typhon and Echidna) belongs to that shadowy realm where beauty and terror become inseparable. An enigmatic creature of ancient Hellas, her riddle meant revelation or death. It is little wonder that artists and poets found her irresistible.

As I wandered through the museum halls, it felt as if I were passing through a dream where sacred mysteries, strange creatures, and intimations of death converged. The Sphinx seemed perfectly at home there, silently guarding the threshold between beauty and oblivion.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, August 30th, Feast of Santa Rosa da Lima, the Holy Martyrs of Salerno, and San Fiacrio

Intended to be filled partway with water through an opening in the sphinx's headpiece and then heated, this mysterious vessel releases pressurized steam through a pin-sized hole between her lips. If blown over glowing coals, the steam can create a flammable gas composed of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, so that the sculpture appears to spit fire just like the mythological sphinx

Marble capital and finial in the form of a sphinx, Greek, Attic, ca. 530 B.C.

Marble stele (grave marker) of a youth and a little girl, Greek, Attic, ca. 530 B.C. Inscribed on the base: To the dead Philo and Me [...] the father erected (this) monument, and together the dear mother...

Limestone Sphinx, Greek, Attic, ca. 550-525 B.C.

(L) Marble sphinx on a cavetto capital, Greek, Attic, ca. 580-575 B.C.
Inscribed on the plinth: I am the monument of [ ]linos.
(R) Sphinx stand, Greek, Attic, red-figure, ca. 520 B.C.

Nenfro statue of a winged lion, Etruscan, ca. 550 B.C.

Several statues of this type, made from nenfro, a kind of volcanic stone used
extensively at Vulci, depict winged lions and sphinxes. These were set up to
protect the entrances to subterranean chamber tombs covered by a tumulus
(earthen mound). They often appear in pairs and represent the Etruscan
response to a long tradition of guardian figures stretching back to
ancient Egypt and the Near East

Photo of the Week: Statua di Augusto, Via Cesario Console, Napoli

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

Regina Pacis Academy Monthly Traditional Latin Masses in Norwalk, Connecticut

Il Portastendardo di Civitella del Tronto (n. 62 - Agosto 2026)

Simple Pleasures — A Long-Overdue Re-Bagging

Re-bagging and boarding my old comic books has been on my to-do list for longer than I care to admit. What I imagined would be a simple after-dinner task quickly turned into a multi-evening trip down memory lane. It was impossible to replace the old bags without stopping to flip through them, admire the art, or reread a story I had nearly forgotten.

The diversion has been a welcome bit of escapism, even if progress has been slower than expected.

The Decollation of St. John the Baptist

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist,
ca. 1876, Gustave Moreau (1826-1898)

On August 29th, the Church commemorates the Passion of St. John the Baptist, the beheading of the voice that cried out in the wilderness.

John had rebuked Herod Antipas for his unlawful union with his niece and sister-in-law, Herodias, and for this he was cast into prison. At Herod’s birthday feast, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, danced before the court and so pleased the ruler that he rashly promised to grant whatever she desired. Prompted by her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist upon a platter.

I have always been struck by the terrible contrast of the scene: the revelry of the palace and the solitude of the prison, the weakness of Herod and the steadfastness of John. One man possessed a kingdom yet could not master himself. The other possessed nothing, not even his freedom, yet remained unafraid to speak the truth.

The sword silenced the herald of Christ, but it could not silence what he had proclaimed. Evviva San Giovanni! 
 
~ By Giovanni di Napoli, August 28th, Feast of Sant’Agostino di Ippona

New Book: History of the Young Francesco II of Naples

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

• History of the Young Francesco II of Naples by Romualdo M. De Velazquez

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Pub. Date: August 5, 2026
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Feast of Sant'Ermete di Roma

Sant'Ermete di Roma, ora pro nobis

August 28th is the Feast of St. Hermes of Rome, Martyr. Although few details of his life can now be established with certainty, the antiquity of his cult is well attested. According to the testimony of Pope St. Damasus, Hermes came from Greece and became a Roman citizen, where he suffered martyrdom for the name of Christ.

His body was buried in the Cemetery of Basilla along the Via Salaria Vetus. A basilica was later built over his tomb, which became a place of pilgrimage for the Christians of Rome. St. Hermes is invoked against possession and mental illness.

The accompanying photo comes courtesy of Father Eugene Carrella. The holy card is part of Father Carrella’s impressive collection of religious artifacts. Evviva Sant'Ermete di Roma!

In celebration of his feast, we offer this prayer:

O God, who didst give to blessed Hermes, thy martyr, strength and constancy in his sufferings: grant, by his example, that we may despise, for the love of thee, all that this world esteems great, and be afraid of none of its terrors. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Dreaming Into the Woods

Into the wood, into the wood inside, let it go
~ Roma Amor, Into the Wood

By day, New York City drowns the soul beneath glass, concrete, deadlines, and endless noise. By night, its towers glow like electric monoliths, illuminating a weary civilization that mistakes perpetual motion for life. One walks among millions and yet remains profoundly alone.

Beneath the starless canopy, the city seems incapable of silence. Even in the darkest hours, its lights burn and its machinery hums. Yet amid that tumult, I sense another realm, not a place of comfort, but of freedom.

Jünger understood that the forest is not merely a landscape but a condition of the soul. Long before one flees outward, one must withdraw inward. The first forest is entered without taking a single step.

Perhaps that is why I don't dream of cottages or pastoral tranquility, but of primeval woods where forgotten paths disappear beneath twisted oaks, Cyclopean stones rise from the moss, and eagles wheel above verdant valleys. Every shadow hints at something ancient and forgotten.

The metropolis demands conformity, while the forest—indifferent, austere, and uncompromising—demands character.

I return each morning to elevators, meetings, flashing screens, and crowded trains. Outwardly, nothing has changed. Yet in my mind I see roots cracking the pavement, while vines steadily climb toward the water towers and spires. The forest has already begun its reclamation, not of the city, but of the soul. Until then, I continue dreaming into the woods.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, August 27th, Feast of San Baccolo di Sorrento

Paula Gambra Mariné, Carlist Leader, Dies in Segovia

Paula Gambra Mariné, a prominent member of Spain’s Carlist movement and head of the Margaritas of the Comunión Tradicionalista, died in Segovia on August 25th, the Feast of St. Louis IX, King of France.

Born into a family deeply rooted in the Carlist tradition, Gambra Mariné devoted herself to the ideals and apostolate of the Comunión Tradicionalista. As leader of the Margaritas, she carried forward a tradition of Catholic faith, service, and fidelity that has long distinguished the movement.

We ask the faithful to offer prayers for the repose of her soul.

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

The Gorgon of Pompeii in New York City

Mosaic with head of Medusa within a shield design,
Roman, second half of the 1st century BC

From the floor of one of Pompeii’s grandest houses, the terrible face of Medusa once stared upward. Created in the second half of the first century BC for the House of the Citharist, the mosaic depicts the Gorgon surrounded by black-and-white scales and kantharoi, that is, drinking vessels.

Unearthed and removed during excavations in 1867, the mosaic entered the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. It is now on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

To the Romans, Medusa was not merely the monster slain by Perseus. Her fearsome visage possessed apotropaic power, believed to repel evil and protect the household from harm. The mosaic survived successive renovations until Vesuvius buried Pompeii in 79 AD. More than two millennia later, Medusa’s forbidding gaze continues to fulfill its ancient purpose.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, August 26th, Feasts of Sant’Oronzo di Lecce and San Gianuario Martire

Brief Excerpt from Patriotism and Nationalism by Rafael Gambra Ciudad

Patriotism is a natural sentiment, deeply rooted in the human spirit, which springs, in a certain way, from the divine precept to honor and love one’s parents, the most readily and spontaneously observed of all commandments. If it does not exceed its true nature, patriotism is also a fulfillment of the precept to love one’s neighbor, that is, those who surround us, those who are nearest to us; a way of feeling oneself in communion with others, a sentiment opposed to individualism, one that enables us to live within a collective tradition and to love the common faith that permeates and gives it life. Natural affection for one’s fatherland is, in itself, an instinctive and, because it is born of love, unifying sentiment; in every case, an open sentiment which, unlike irrational and closed passions, cannot give rise to negative attitudes or hatred.

Translation by the editor. Originally published as “Patriotismo y Nacionalismo” in Cristiandad, no. 160 (1950), and later reprinted in Eso Que Llaman Estado (Madrid: Ediciones Montejurra, 1958), p. 178.

Celebrating Santa Rosalia in Bensonhurst

Santa Rosalia, ora pro nobis

Tuesday evening, we joined the crowds in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, for the 52nd Feast of Santa Rosalia, the beloved patroness of Palermo. Our first stop was the shrine dedicated to la Santuzza, located on 18th Avenue between 71st and 72nd Streets, where we offered prayers and made a donation before setting out to enjoy some of the Palermitana-style street fare that remains one of the great attractions of the feast.

We indulged in arancini, stigghiola, sfincione, baked iris, zeppole, and gelato (zuppa inglese), a veritable taste of Palermo in the heart of Brooklyn. With beautiful weather, the feast was alive with the sights, aromas, and flavors of Sicily, offering another welcome opportunity to celebrate Santa Rosalia and the traditions carried from Palermo to Brooklyn generations ago. Evviva Santa Rosalia!

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, August 25th, Feast of Santa Patrizia di Costantinopoli

The outdoor chapel on 18th Avenue, between 71st St. and 72nd St

Arancini

Sfincione

Stigghiola

Zeppole

Iris

Zuppa inglese