New Book: Stories from Pentamerone

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

• Stories from Pentamerone by Giambattista Basile

Publisher: Independently published

Publication Date: February 26, 2021

Paperback: $26.99

Language: English

Pages: 376

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Photo of the Week: The Madonna Addolorata at the Chiesa dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo in Naples

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Photo of the Week: Dead Christ at the Chiesa dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo in Naples

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Celebrating the Feast of San Giuseppe in Brooklyn, New York

We erected a small St. Joseph's
Table by the front window

Members and friends of the Fratelli della Santa Fede (Brothers of the Holy Faith) returned to Amunì Ristorante (7217 3rd Avenue) in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Friday evening to celebrate the Feast of San Giuseppe. Chef Vincent Dardanello outdid himself again and treated us to a veritable abbondanza of delicious Sicilian fare, including the perfectly cooked pesce spada alla griglia and alici fritte.

Having given up meat, eggs and dairy for Lent, revelers made the most of the solemnity and partook of some cheese, eggs (in the rice balls) and of course the pastries. However, despite the dispensation, we still insisted no meat be on the menu.

Special thanks to our friends at the Italian American St. Joseph Society of New Orleans, the San Rocco Society of Potenza in New York City, and the Madonna della Neve Society of Williamsburg, Brooklyn for joining us. It is always a great joy to celebrate our faith and culture together. Evviva San Giuseppe!

La Tavola di San Giuseppe

Tony made his world famous pane di San Giuseppe

Guests were given blessed prayer cards, medals and packets of lucky fava beans

A good time was had by all

Caponata

Carciofi fritti

Mixed seafood salad

Arancini

Fried anchovies

Insalata di finocchio

Eggplant parmigiana

Sautéed greens with pine nuts

Pasta con sarde with toasted breadcrumbs

Pasta alla Norma

Stuffed calamari

Grilled swordfish

Sfingi

Zeppole and sfingi di San Giuseppe

Salvatore, Stephen and Lucia

Tony and Loreto

Pamela and Raffaele

Vinny and Elena

Isaac, Andrea "BTB", Francesco "il gatto nero" and Frank

Happy Twelfth Anniversary

Twelve years and a million and a half visitors is a modest milestone in terms of the internet, but for us it is truly a joyous occasion. Hopefully we have another twelve in us, though the way things are going lately this may not be totally up to us. While I don’t want to overstate our influence or importance, I certainly don’t want to underestimate the vindictive pettiness of our adversaries. The fragile Jacobin mindset is hateful and malicious, and unable to cope with any dissent from their twisted worldview. Hell bent on world domination, any and all opposition to their malevolent designs, no matter how seemingly insignificant or small, must be rooted out and extirpated in the name of progress.  

Preparing for the worst, we’ve been backing up our material in case we fall victim to the online purge currently baby-proofing the web for the ridiculously sensitive and intolerant masses. Who knows, we just may have to start up an old-school samizdat style journal similar to the underground fanzines we use to publish back in high school with nothing but a typewriter, photocopier and a desire to be heard. 

Online censorship aside, we also have to contend with a growingly hostile environment. The steady decline of New York City into an unlivable hellscape makes it harder and harder to gather in public with family and friends. Fear of crime, overcrowding, skyrocketing costs, and crumbling infrastructure were issues before the COVID meltdown, now the draconian lockdown, partisan politics, and government incompetence has made it virtually impossible for us to do more than have a few small scale celebratory dinners and (excluding the unjustified period of church closures) attend the Traditional Latin Mass together.

Naturally, all plans to reboot our book and chess clubs or start new stamp and fencing clubs are on hold for the foreseeable future. To the best of our ability we are trying to maintain our religious and charitable endeavors, including spiritual warfare, the corporal works of mercy and heroic acts of charity. As for the blog, we can’t make any promises. We will continue to write and publish for as long as we like or until our technocratic overlords jettison us down the proverbial memory hole.

A big heartfelt thank you to all our loyal readers and contributors, even the lovable nitpickers who help keep us on our toes. Your support and prayers are greatly appreciated and inspire us to do better. God bless you all.

 ~ Giovanni di Napoli, March 21st, The Feasts of Bl. Maria Candida of the Eucharist and San Benedetto da Nursia

New Book — Elionor of Sicily, 1325—1375: A Mediterranean Queen of Two Worlds

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

• Elionor of Sicily, 1325—1375: A Mediterranean Queen of Two Worlds by Donald J. Kagay

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Publication Date: June 9, 2021
Hardcover: $139.99
Language: English
Pages: n/a

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Photo of the Week: The Sepulcher of Jesus Christ Inside the Basilica della Madonna dei Martiri in Molfetta

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Live Dangerously

Overnight Eucharistic Adoration at the
Shrine Church of the Holy Innocents in NYC

When nothing in society deserves respect, we should fashion for ourselves in solitude new silent loyalties. ~ Nicólas Gómez Dávila

I was recently asked by a concerned reader if everything was okay with me because I haven’t written about Mass in awhile. Assuring him all is well and that I still attend the Traditional Latin Mass regularly, I’ve been devoting my time to Lenten prayer and works of mercy, so I haven’t (until now) really had the chance to write all that much about anything. Considering how scandalous things have been with the Church these days I honestly can’t blame him for thinking something was wrong, but the reality is I belong to a really good parish and, if anything, Church, prayer and my myriad devotions are the main reasons why I’m getting through these downright awful times. 

On the other hand, I’m not sure how my secular friends and family (at least the normal ones) are coping with the current state of affairs, especially after the appalling events of the so-called “summer of rage” and contentious election. Everything they were taught to believe and hold dear has been utterly debased and adulterated. What a shock it must be to suddenly come to the disquieting realization that one’s precious state religion (i.e. democracy), with all its chimeric tenets (freedom of speech, equality, etc.), is a golden calf worthy of derision and scorn. 

As world-weary as I am, even I’m amazed at the level of open corruption and decadence, and how feeble the resistance is. In fact, things are so bad that even with my faith if I didn’t already have a healthy distrust of the government, an animus towards politicians, and a fundamental antipathy towards democracy dating back to my youth, I’m not so sure I would be able to temper my passions.

Our progressive lords and masters aren’t even trying to hide it anymore; like pigs in slop, they are reveling in their iniquity. All the institutions (legacy media, Hollywood, big tech, education, and the financial oligarchs, not to mention the corrupt political class and a complicit and feckless church hierarchy) are waging relentless psychological warfare on the populace with an incessant barrage of politically correct claptrap and woke agitprop. One cannot turn on a computer or television without being inundated with fake news and virtue-signaling gobbledygook. The dystopian future we feared has arrived in all its discordant glory. I know it’s a cliche, but we really are witnessing the actualization of George Orwell’s 1984. Big Brother is watching you.

I belong to the opposition party, which is called life. ~ Honoré de Balzac

Before someone accuses me of taking sides let me be clear, I don’t trust or like either political party. As far as I’m concerned, both the Dems and the GOP are shameless crooks and reprobates. Neither represent or speak for me. This is not open to debate.

Believe me, I get no pleasure or morbid satisfaction watching the country implode in real time; but really, who didn’t see all this coming? About thirty years ago I predicted these United States would break up in fifty years. I was thoroughly mocked for it at the time, but I still stand by that prediction. Reality is on my side. Our moribund civilization is in the process of rapid and steady decline, and I believe without a return to the Faith this is irrevocable. It is plain to see that the system is broken and we do not live in a sane society or a free country. How long before the soft totalitarianism of cancel culture, censorship and social engineering turns into the hard variety with gulags, guillotines and firing squads? 

With all pretenses of a legitimate government gone, we practicing Catholics will soon have to worry about a lot more than toppled statues and desecrated churches. Don’t kid yourself, tough times lie ahead of us and unless we discipline and harden ourselves in preparation there will be hell to pay. The future belongs to the ascetic and heroic; a servile and gelded existence awaits the cowards and eunuchs.

Take solace, we are not without realistic and tenable options. First and foremost we should concentrate on the things that are in our control and we can change. Strive to live a noble life, ovoid sin and practice virtue. Prayer, fasting and penance must take precedence. Support like-minded groups and individuals that support our values. Exercise, study, keep our traditions and folkways, and most importantly raise a God-fearing family. What can be more rebellious today? 

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Faith, family and community need to be our priorities if we are to someday overcome the disordered demoniac consciousness currently infecting all aspects of society. In a more civilized time this was all considered sane and healthy behavior, now it’s deemed extreme and dangerous by the unhinged miscreants in charge. Bound by duty and love of God, I choose to live dangerously! Viva Cristo Re!

~ Giovanni di Napoli, March 10th, Feast of the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste

New Kindle: Kingdom of the Two Sicilies: The Time Traveler's Guide

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

• Kingdom of the Two Sicilies: The Time Traveler's Guide by Louis Mendola

Publisher: Trinacria Editions

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

Publication Date: May 1, 2021

Kindle: $12.00

Language: English

File size: 3900 KB

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Photo of the Week: The Sepulcher of Jesus Christ Inside the Basilica della Madonna dei Martiri in Molfetta

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Masses for the Repose of the Soul of HRH Prince Don Ferdinando Maria di Borbone delle Due Sicilie

HRH Prince don Ferdinando Maria
di Borbone delle Due Sicilie

On Saturday, March 20th Masses will be offered for the repose of the soul of the late Grand Master of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George, HRH Prince don Ferdinando of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, on the 13th anniversary of his death.

Priests of the Order are asked to offer Mass on that day, or if impossible the nearest available day, for the repose of the soul of Prince Ferdinando, all of the late Grand Masters, and all the deceased Knights and Dames of the Order, particularly remembering those of the American Delegation.

All knights and dames, in turn, are asked to pray for our deceased confratelli and consorelle.

• Tentative. Alhambra, CA: St. Therese Church, 1100 E Alhambra Road. 9:00 am.

• Brooklyn, NY: St. Francis of Paola Church (Divine Mercy Parish), 219 Conselyea Street. 5:00 pm.

• Chicago, IL: Shrine of Christ the King: 6401 S Woodlawn Ave. 11:00 am.

• Tentative. Houston, TX: Annunciation Church: 1618 Texas Ave. 8:00 am.

• Tentative. Lantana, FL: Holy Spirit Church: 1000 Lantana Road. 9:00 am.

• Newark, NJ: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church: 259 Oliver Street. 4:00 pm.

• New Orleans, LA: Old St. Patrick Church: 724 Camp Street. 8:00 am.

• Roswell, GA: Epiphany of Our Lord Church: 2030 Old Alabama Road. 5:30 pm.

• Sulphur, LA: Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church, 1109 Cypress Street. 8:00 am.

• Washington, DC: St. Mary Mother of God Church, 727 5th St NW. 10:30 am.

Source: Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George American Delegation

New Books (March 2021)

New titles that may be of interest to our readers. Both are available at Amazon.com

• The Hamilton Letters: The Naples Dispatches of Sir William Hamilton by John A. Davis and Giovanni Capuano

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Publication Date: January 28, 2021

Paperback: $32.73

Language: English

Pages: 272

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• Vindication of Admiral Lord Nelson's Proceedings in the Bay of Naples by Jeaffreson Miles

Publisher: Independently published
Publication Date: February 25, 2021
Paperback: $4.95
Language: English
Pages: 49

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Photo of the Week: Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in the Duomo di Salerno

Photo by Andrew Giordano