Feast of San Giovanni Bosco

San Giovanni Bosco, ora pro nobis

January 31 is the Feast of San Giovanni Bosco, priest and founder of the Salesians. Known affectionately as Don Bosco, the renowned “Apostle of Youth” is the patron saint of schoolchildren, apprentices, juvenile delinquents and educators. In celebration, we’re posting of prayer to St. John Bosco. The accompanying photo is my makeshift shrine dedicated to the saint. Evviva San Giovanni Bosco!

Prayer to St. John Bosco

O glorious Saint John Bosco, who in order to lead young people to the feet of the divine Master and to mould them in the light of faith and Christian morality didst heroically sacrifice thyself to the very end of thy life and didst set up a proper religious Institute destined to endure and to bring to the farthest boundaries of the earth thy glorious work, obtain also for us from Our Lord a holy love for young people who are exposed to so many seductions in order that we may generously spend ourselves in supporting them against the snares of the devil, in keeping them safe from the dangers of the world, and in guiding them, pure and holy, in the path that leads to God. Amen.

HRH Princess Elisabetta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Requiescat in Pace

Her Royal Highness Princess Elisabetta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Württemberg

Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George

February 2, 1933 - January 29, 2022

Requiescat in pace

It is with much sorrow that we ask you in your charity to pray for the repose of the soul of Her Royal Highness, Princess Elisabetta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Württemberg, who entered Eternal Life on Saturday, January 29, 2022 at the age of 88.

Princess Elisabetta, the widow of H.R.H. Prince Antonio of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1929-2019), was received as a Dame Grand Cross of the Constantinian Order on March 27, 1958.

Her Royal Highness was born the Princess Royal of Württemberg, as the daughter of H.R.H. Prince Philipp Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, and H.R.H. Archduchess Rosa of Habspburg-Lorraine, Princess of Tuscany, Archduchess of Austria.

We express our sincere condolences to our Grand Master, H.R.H. Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and the entire Royal House, especially Princess Elisabetta's children: T.R.H. Prince Francesco, Princess Maria Carolina, Prince Gennaro and Princess Maria Annunziata, of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

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.

IHSV

Source: Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George - US Delegation

Photo of the Week: Palazzo Reale di Napoli

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Remembering Papal Zouave Philippe Marie Jean de Vassal-Cadillac

Philippe Marie Jean de Vassal-Cadillac

Born on August 14, 1850, Philippe Marie Jean de Vassal-Cadillac joined the Papal Zouaves in February 1868 at the age of 18. He was promoted to Sergeant in November 1869. 

The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in July, 1870 led France to enact a conscription. Jean was one of those conscripted so he was forced to resign from the unit in August 1870.

Jean became Sergeant Fournier in the French Mobiles and was then promoted to Lieutenant in the 119th Line Infantry Regiment.

During the 2nd Battle of Dijon on December 18, 1870, he received two gunshot wounds and was seriously injured. Never truly recovering, he died in Angers on January 28, 1873.

The above portrait comes from my personal collection and once belonged to the Vassal-Cadillac family.

Archduchess Maria Theresa

On the back is an additional portrait of the Countess of Chambord Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, the wife of legitimist French King, Henry V.

I also have Jeaan's Papal Zouave Manual Prayer Book. Page 117 is circled which includes a prayer of thanksgiving after Communion and instructions on how to receive an indulgence.

Below is the translation.

ACT OF KINDNESS    

The tenderest and most generous of friends! what could now separate me from you, after you have given me such touching proof of your love? Ah! I renounce with all my heart what had taken me away from you; and I propose, with the help of your grace, to fall no more into faults which have so often afflicted your heart. 

Papal Zouave Manual prayer book

Those who, after going to confession and after receiving Holy Communion, recite the following Prayer before an image of the Crucifix, can gain a plenary indulgence and deliver a soul from purgatory.  (Pius VII, April 10, 1821.)

O good and sweetest Jesus, before Thy face I humbly kneel, and with all fervour of soul I pray and beseech Thee to vouchsafe to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope, and charity, true contrition for my sins, and a most firm purpose of amendment; whilst I contemplate with great sorrow and love Thy five Wounds, and ponder them over in my mind, having before my eyes the words which, long ago, David the prophet spoke in his own person concerning Thee, my Jesus: Foderunt manus Meas et pedes Meos; dinumeraverunt omnia ossa Mea.*

Five Paters and five Aves are then said, for the ordinary intentions of the Holy Church, to receive the plenary indulgence.

By Brendan Cassell (Papal Zouave History @PapalZouaveUS)

* They dug My hands and My feet; they numbered all My bones.

Remembering Henri du Vergier, Comte de la Rochejaquelein

The Death of Henri de La Rochejaquelein by Alexandre Bloch

"Friends, if I advance, follow me! If I retreat, kill me! If I die, avenge me!" ~ Henri du Vergier de la Rochejaquelein

In memory of Henri du Vergier, Comte de la Rochejaquelein (30 August 1772 – 28 January 1794), Généralissime of the Catholic and Royal Army during the wars in the Vendée, 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

The Francone Princes of Ripabottoni in the Contado di Molise

A new and unique study of the Neapolitan nobility and Molise has been published by researcher Gabriella Paduano and parish priest Don Gabriele Tamilia: I Principi Francone nel Contado di Molise, with a preface by the Bishop of Trivento Mons. Claudio Palumbo and Dr. Francesca Carnevale of the University of Molise. This book, rich in fresh research and analysis offers an engaging new look at the intersection of the grand Southern nobility, eighteenth century art patronage, local genius and creativity and education in the Molise region, and the centuries long rapport not only between the princely Francone family which greatly loved the land of Ripabottoni, but also the complex and cyclical relationship between the Molisan province and the capital Naples. Scholars, specialists and laymen alike will enjoy this well documented work, with thorough bibliographical notes and many original photographs and copies of documents.

Il principe Paolo Francone

Paduano and Tamilia take the reader deep into the origins of this vanishing world and the men and women of the Kingdom of Naples and later the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, who left a lasting mark in Italian history. Since the unification of Italy, the ancient Contado di Molise has unfortunately been relegated to the status of a little known rural region, picturesque and full of millennia of antiquities, but which suffered from depopulation and little investment. Indeed the region was quickly placed into the Abruzzo region and was later made its own region in 1963. Ironically, the region has become appreciated mainly by foreign tourists and some returning emigrants and expats who have begun to reinvest in it. Within this largely unknown region, features the Terra di Ripa, the “Land of Ripa," which has become even less known to outsiders. Equally ironic, given the small territory has produced per capita more numerous notable people than larger areas. It has produced not only members of one of the greatest noble families in Italy, but also great scholars, artists, poets, and doctors such as Cav. Pietro Ramaglia, one of the court physicians to King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. Its artists and artisans were frequently in demand in the city of Naples to decorate the great townhouses and villas of prominent Neapolitans. Its merchants and laborers built great fortunes in the Americas.

Cardinale Tommaso Ruffo

Ripabottoni, whose name has changed over the centuries (in former times it was variously referred to as “Ripa Gottorum,” “Ripalibottuni,” and “Ripabrettone” 1), often simply referred to as “Ripa,” is a small town in the modern province of Campobasso, Molise. Ripa was for millennia a commercial center and crossroads of transhumance and numerous ancient fairs such as the horse-trading fair. The town and surrounding country fiefdom passed to the Francone family, who so loved it and invested in it and its people, renamed it Ripafrancone and obtained royal approval to elevate it from a marquisate to a principality and to have their predicate title changed to “Princes of Ripafrancone.” This was no mere act of vanity. It solidified the noble family’s dedication to the well-being of the town, fostering charity, patronage and opportunity for the area. The fiefdom previously belonged to the Castropignano, Avalerio, di Capua, Carafa and Acquaviva families, who over the centuries fortified the area and curated its industries, including grain trading, horse trading, silk works and several private schools and school masters.

Ritratto di mons. G.A. Tria,
Vescovo di Larino

The Francone are one of the oldest families of the Neapolitan nobility and were members of the Seggio di Montagna in Naples, traditionally the Seggio of the provincial lords (the noble Seggi being the ancient Parliament of the Kingdom). Indeed, the Seggio was formerly known as the Seat of Francone because it convened in their palace. The roots of the Francone are lost in time, and one genealogy ascribes their descent from a Gaulish king around the year 500. In any case they were clearly prominent consistently since the 1300s and have intermarried with the most prominent families in the Kingdom of Naples and some from abroad. In the 1400s Oliviero Francone, the Baron of Taurisano, was one of King Ladislao of Durazzo’s generals and his sister Andronica was the wife of Skanderbeg. Gian Giacomo Dell’Acaya, the Engineer General of the Kingdom under Emperor Charles V was a Francone via his mother Maria Francone. 

Francesco Solimena, “San Michele Arcangelo”,
Chiesa di S. Maria Assunta, Ripabottoni (Cb)

The Francone held feudal possessions in Salcito, Torella del Sannio and Pietracupa as well as Ripa and maintained a palace in Naples. The Francone were loyal to the cadet branch of the House of Anjou and their ancestors are well documented since the 1300s.  As other great feudal families in the Molise region fell into decline, others such as the Francone expanded and acquired more feudal lands. The branch of the Francone which were affirmed barons in the Terra d’Otranto, settled in Molise in the 1600s and dominated Ripa. Francesco Francone sought to reside mostly in Salcito and establish a baronial court life focused in Molise rather than Naples. Francesco later amplified the ancient baronial castle of Ripa into a modernized palace which became the princely seat of the family in the Molise countryside. His first born son Don Paolo Francone became his heir and the Prince of Ripa in 1742 and resided there with his wife Ippolita Ruffo di Bagnara e Castelcicala, of the famous noble Calabrian family which produced two well-known cardinals and which played a major role in the Kingdom for generations. Four of their ten children were born in Ripa. Tommaso Maria Francone became Bishop of Umbriatico and Archbishop of Manfredonia, and his son Giuseppe Antonio Francone became Minister of the Order of Malta. Gennaro Clemente Francone served as bishop in Cosenza, Gaeta and Troja.

Mons. Gennaro Clemente Francone,
Arcivescovo, prima di Cosenza,
poi di Gaeta, infine di Troia

Paolo Francone was known to be a free-spirited young man with a taste for luxury, but he was a gifted intellectual who went on to pursue poetry, theology and philosophy and charitable and entrepreneurial work. He published his own lyrical poetry and translated Descartes’s works from French. He personally frequented the philosopher Giambattista Vico and Saint Alfonso Maria de’ Liguori. He also oversaw archeological digs in Ripa and environs.

Prince Paolo and Princess Ippolita had a particular devotion to Saint Michael and sponsored paintings of the Saint and a chapel and hermitage dedicated to Saint Michael Archangel outside the town of Ripa (devotion to Saint Michael has deep roots in the Molise and overlapping Capitanata region of Puglia). The also build a chapel to Saint James. With Monsignor Tria they also established a small monastery of nuns in Ripa. The relic of Saint Rocco, co-patron of Ripa, in the main Church of Santa Maria Assunta, was likewise donated by Prince Paolo. Don Giacomo Francone, the titular Bishop of Sidon (Lebanon), who resided in the Palazzo Francone in Ripa authenticated the relics of Saint Faustus, Saint Venerandus and Saint Modestus which are all contained in the Church built by Prince Paolo.

Mons. Tommaso Francone,
dipinto conservato nel Museo
Diocesano di Manfredonia (Fg)

Paduano and Tamilia take the reader back in time through an examination of Prince Paolo Francone, one of the greatest exponents of the family. A published poet and devout Catholic, Prince Paolo and his wife Ippolita Ruffo di Bagnara e Castelcicala built the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, which was designed by his friend Ferdinando Sanfelice, also a member of the old Neapolitan-Molisan nobility. Prince Paolo and Sanfelice were also friends with Mons. Giovanni Andrea Tria, who authored the noted work Memorie storiche civili, ed ecclesiastiche della Città e Diocesi di Larino published in Rome in 1754. The Prince brought native Ripese artist Paolo Gamba into contact with the famed studio of the great Solimena, and Gamba lovingly decorated the new Church in Ripa. In fact, Don Paolo and his friend Ferdinando Sanfelice studied painting under Francesco Solimena when they were boys.

Sadly after centuries of glory, the Francone family became extinct after Giovanni Francone, the last Prince died, and survived indirectly in its last heirs, the Caracciolo di Torchiarolo family as the estates and titles passed to his nephew, the son of his sister Maria Imara. With the advent of modernity and evolving economic and political pressures upon the old nobility, the property and estates in Ripa were put up for auction in 1844 on the eve of Italian unification. Within a few decades much of the real estate was purchased by emergent bourgeois families, including the ancient baronial palace itself in Ripa. In the new environment patronage of the arts and schools ceased and courtly life and commerce disappeared, relegating the region to rural obscurity and increasing poverty. The two chapels built by the Francone were destroyed, and as occurred in many places, the territory witnessed armed clashes between royalists and Garibaldi supporters during the Piedmontese occupation, and the first mass emigration to large cities as well as to foreign countries began.

Corpo di San Crescenzo, chiesa Santa Maria Assunta, Ripabottoni (Cb)

This is truly an unicum in studies which offer a window into the true history of the Molise region and its rapport with the greater world. Making this work yet more compelling is the fact that is the product of thousands of hours of research conducted in person by Paduano and Tamilia not only in Ripabottoni, but also in the state and diocesan archives in Larino, Campobasso and Naples, at their own expense without any commission or sponsorship to do so. It is an act of love for their native land and the culture and faith that have sustained it for centuries. This dynamic team has presented their work in Ripabottoni on July 17, 2021 in the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, fittingly given the important works created by Paolo Gamba and other native artists under the patronage of the Francone, was to present the book in the Maschio Angioino in Naples in January 2022, but had to postpone due to pandemic conditions. The two are looking forward holding such a ceremony later in 2022. This work is an invitation to revisit and rediscover a heritage and legacy which was suppressed and obfuscated for such a long time.

About the Authors:

Gabriella Paduano was born in Molise in Termoli (CB) in 1976, after graduating high school she earned a degree in Modern Letters with a major in art history at the Università G. D’ Annunzio di Chieti. The subject of her degree thesis was  La pittura del 500 nel Molise [“Sixteenth Century painting in Molise”], her adviser was the well-known art historian Prof. Daniele Benati.

She is a specialist in the management of cultural heritage, through a masters degree, of the European Union and Molise Region.

She has worked for a communications firm with various responsibilities, and was a journalist at the  Il Tempo newspaper, and as a museum operator at the Museo del Quadrilatero in San Salvo, the Museo delle Genti di Abruzzo, the Museo di Arte Contemporanea Macte in Termoli.

An expert on local history and the art of her own region, she was also a guide for artistic itineraries in Molise and Abruzzo, she also has organized cultural events, such as the Gaeta sea fair I Sanniti e il mare [“The Samnites and the Sea”] nel 2016 and San Rocco in Arte [“Saint Rocco in Art”] in Ripabottoni in 2021. She has also participated in dialect poetry contests, having won first place. 

She currently teaches Italian language and literature.

In 2021 she published with Don Gabriele Tamilia the history book I Principi Francone nel Contado di Molise, Campobasso, Palladino Editore.

She is preparing with Don Gabriele Tamila, the publication of a book on a key figure in the history of Italian medicine, Cav. Dr Pietro Ramaglia  (Ripabottoni 1802-Napoli 1875), a doctor at the Bourbon court, clinician at the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Naples, and founder of topographic anatomy.

She is also organizing a museum at the Parish of  Santa Maria Assunta in Ripabottoni and a photographic exhibit in the Cappuccilli palace of Ripabottoni.

Don Gabriele Tamilia was born in Ripabottoni (Campobasso) 10 February 1943, and was ordained a priest in the Church of S. Maria Assunta in Ripabottoni 3 August 1968 by Archbishop Loris Capovilla, Secretary of Pope John XXIII. 

He is pastor of the parishes of Provvidenti, Casacalenda, Morrone del Sannio and Ripabottoni; rector of the diocesan Santuario della Madonna della Difesa in Casacalenda; and regional assistant for Abruzzo and Molise of Azione Cattolica and of the Professori Cattolici del Molise. 

He teaches history, philosophy, psychology and pedagogy, Italian, Latin, and geography in the state high schools. He is Professor of Philosophy and Theology in the Istituto di Scienze Religiose of the Dioceses of Termoli-Larino and of Campobasso; and Professor of Theology in the Department of Medicine and Surgery of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore “Agostino Gemelli.” 

Fr. Tamilia is also the founder and director of the bulletin “L’Informatore Parrocchiale;” founder, president and editorial director of the television broadcast which serves Molise and part of Abruzzo; and freelance journalist of the Ordine Nazionale dei Giornalisti del Molise.

His religious oriented hobbies are: founder and director of a folkloristic group, of a polyphonic choir with a small orchestra, author and director of theater plays.

~ By Cav. Charles Sant’Elia

Notes:

1 Several other variations exist as well, and much has been written about the descriptive designations added to “Ripa”. It appears to have been first mentioned in the famous Norman catalogue of territories and other documents from the 1100s. The area has yielded Greek and Roman artifacts and was continuously inhabited for millennia.

Essential Bibliography/Further Reading

Gabriella Paduano and Gabriele Tamilia, I Principi Francone nel Contado di Molise, Ripalimosani, Editrice Lampo, 2021

The Bronze Doors of the Maschio Angioino

Detail from the Battle of Accadia showing King Ferrante with his knights
Photos by New York Scugnizzo

The bronze doors at the main portal of the Maschio Angioino (Angevin Keep)[1] in Naples chronicle the victory of King Ferrante d’Aragona (Ferdinand I of Naples) over Jean d’Anjou, Duke of Lorraine, and the rebel barons in 1462. Adorned with decorative frames and medallions, the detailed bas-relief panels depict the war’s most significant battles.

Ferrante is ambushed at Calvi

The "Mars-mighty" King and his attendants fight off the attackers

The door's top two panels recount the failed attempt on Ferrante’s life by the traitorous Prince Marino Marzano and his henchmen at Calvi. The assassins escaped, but their poisoned dagger was discovered. Inscriptions in Latin read: “The prince with Jacopo and the deceitful Deifobo; they simulate a conference so that the king may be slain” and “The Mars-mighty king, more spirited than famous Hector, probed with his shining blade, that the plot might perish.”[2]

The Battle at Accadia

Ferrante is victorious and the Angevin take flight

The middle scenes show the Aragonese victory over the Angevins at the Battle at Accadia in Puglia accompanied by the text “The Trojan Ferrante conquered the enemy in the field as Caesar conquered Pompey at Oechalia.” [ibid]

The Battle at Troia

Ferrante's triumphal entry into Troia

The bottom panels depict the Battle at Troia in Puglia and concludes with the inscription: “Troia gave rest to our side, and an end to the labor, in which place the enemy shed much blood and was routed.” [ibid]

The original doors can be found inside the Museo Civico di Castel Nuovo

The original bronze doors made by Guglielmo Lo Monaco circa 1474-75 can be found inside the Museo Civico di Castel Nuovo in Naples. Curiously, an iron canon-ball is embedded in the bottom left panel. 

Decorative device with ermine and Ferrante's motto Probanda,
meaning tried, tested, approved or most worthy [ibid]

Apparently after the sack of Naples in 1495 by King Charles VIII of France, the doors were hauled off as booty. During the return march through hostile territories, the French were set upon by the Holy League, a multi-state alliance formed by Pope Alexander VI to counter French ascendancy in Italy. Though Charles and the bulk of his army were able to escape, his ships laden with the spoils of war were captured off the coast of Genoa and the damaged doors were returned to Naples.[3]

Two examples of the ornamental motifs that adorn the frames

Maschio Angioino, or Angevin Keep (also called Castel Nuovo), Napoli

~ Giovanni di Napoli, January 13, Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Bibliography/Notes: 

[1] The Maschio Angioino, also known as the Castel Nuovo (New Castle), is a Medieval castle founded in 1279 by King Charles of Anjou (Charles I of Naples). The Aragonese triumphal arch and cenotaph were added in the fifteenth century by King Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfonso I of Naples, Alfonso V of Aragon and Sicily). It is located next to the port in Naples.

[2] Collecting Art in the Italian Renaissance Court: Objects and Exchanges, Leah R. Clark, Cambridge University Press, 2018

[3] Bronze Door, Comune.napoli.it

Further Reading:

• The Aragonese Arch at Naples, 1443-1475, George L. Hersey, Yale University Press, 1973

Photo of the Week: San Paolo on the Facade of the Basilica di Santa Lucia a Mare in Napoli

Photo by Andrew Giordano

A Look at the Third Annual King Louis XVI of France Memorial Dinner

Revelers with flags of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

Domine salvum fac Regem et exaudi nos in die qua invocaverimus te. Gloria Patri et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.[1]

Portrait of King Louis XVI of France

For the third year in a row, members and friends of the Fratelli della Santa Fede (Sanfedisti for short) broke bread in memory of His Majesty Louis XVI, King of France and Navarre. Like last year, our fête was held at Joe’s of Ave U (287 Ave. U) in Gravesend, Brooklyn, but instead of doing it on the day (Jan. 21) we moved the dinner up from Friday to Thursday so guests could eat meat. As is our custom, we included several nearby memorials in our opening prayers and toasts.[2]

Warmly welcomed by Paolo, Caterina and the rest of the friendly and attentive wait staff, our party were treated to another amazing meal replete with Sicilian specialties, including panelle, cavolfiore alla palermitana and purpittuni (polpettone), a delicious meat roll stuffed with ham and peas, smothered in a mushroom gravy. As always, our edacious appetites were sated.

I would be remiss if I didn't thank the guys for including my birthday in the festivities. It was a fun night and your kindness and generosity was greatly appreciated, mille grazie. Vive le roi!

Mista polpo e calamari

Vongole al forno

Caponata

Panelle speciali

Arancini speciali

Lasagna and meatballs

Cavolfiore alla palermitana

Linguine marinara

Pollo alla Milanese

Stuffed meat roll with mushroom gravy and potatoes

It never gets old (that is until my 56th birthday).
The candles on my ricotta cheesecake were transposed

Profiterole

I got some nice Two Sicilies swag for my birthday

I also got a couple of interesting books by the
old Vorticists Wyndham Lewis and Ezra Pound

Notes: 

[1] Lord, save the King, and hear us when we call upon thee. Glory to the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning and is now, and it shall be, for ever without end. Amen.

[2] The Feast of San Catello (Jan. 19), Feast of San Sebastiano (Jan. 20), Feast of Santa Maria Cristina Brando (Jan. 20), Feast of Sant’Agnese (Jan. 21,) and the Feast of San Domenico di Sora (Jan. 22); the death of Queen Maria Sophia of the Two Sicilies (Jan. 19); the birthday of King Carlo III of Spain (Jan. 20); and the death of Charles I of England (Jan. 30).

Feast of St. Marianne Cope

St. Marianne Cope, ora pro nobis

January 23rd is the Feast of St. Marianne Cope (1883-1918), Virgin, Missionary, and Professed Sister of Saint Francis. She is invoked against leprosy. In celebration, we're posting a prayer to St. Marianne Cope. The accompanying photo was taken at St. Francis Church (308 Jefferson St.) in Hoboken, New Jersey. Evviva St. Marianne Cope!

Prayer to St. Marianne Cope

Lord Jesus, you gave us your commandment of love of God and neighbor, and identified yourself in a special way with the most needy of your people, hear our prayer. Faithful to your teaching, Saint Marianne Cope loved and served her neighbor, especially the most desolate outcast, giving herself generously and heroically for those afflicted by leprosy. She alleviated their physical and spiritual sufferings, thus helping them to accept their afflictions with patience. Her care and concern for others manifested the great love you have for us. Through her merits and intercession, grant us the favor which we confidently ask of you so that the people of God, following the apostolate, may practice charity towards all according to your word and example. Amen.

Feast of Santa Maria Cristina dell'Immacolata Concezione

Santa Maria Cristina Brando, ora pro nobis

Love of God and of neighbor are two branches that are connected to the same trunk. The love of God gives life to the love of neighbor; and this, in turn, nourishes love towards God. – Santa Maria Cristina

January 20 is the Feast of Santa Maria Cristina dell'Immacolata Concezione (née Adelaide Brando, b. Naples 1856 - d. Casoria 1906), Virgin, Religious, and Foundress of the Sisters, Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (le Suore Vittime Espiatrici di Gesù Sacramentato). In celebration, we’re posting a prayer to Santa Maria Cristina Brando composed by Fr. Antonio Rungi in Italian. Evviva Santa Maria Cristina Brando!

Preghiera a Santa Maria Cristina Brando

Anima, eminentemente eucaristica, Santa Maria Cristina Brando, mi rivolgo a te, in questo momento, per ottenere da Dio la grazia di cui necessito per la mia ed altrui salute. Davanti al Santissimo Sacramento dell’Altare hai trascorso la tua breve vita, in una preghiera incessante e sentita, gustando la dolcezza dell’amore eucaristico che ha riempito il tuo cuore di anima consacrata alla sua gloria. Dal cielo, ove ora godi per sempre della visione beatifica della Santissima Trinità, insieme a Maria, la tua e nostra madre dolcissima, proteggi il popolo che ricorre a te fiducioso per avere il conforto nell’ora della prova. Insegnaci, o anima santa, ad amare con tutto il cuore e la mente il tuo dolce Gesù, nel santissimo sacramento dell’altare, divenendo adoratore perenne di Lui, nelle chiese di tutto il mondo e nel volto sofferente di tanti nostri fratelli e sorelle. Ti chiediamo di proteggere dal cielo i bambini, i giovani, gli anziani e soprattutto gli ammalati, tu che hai assaporato il patire in ogni momento della tua vita. Santa della gioia eucaristica, rivolgi il tuo sguardo d’amore verso i religiosi di tutto il mondo perché, sul tuo esempio, siano testimoni della gioia perenne. Dal tuo amato Gesù ottieni  al nostro tempo giorni di pace e di serenità, perché nessuno sulla terra possa temere le tenebre del male morale, personale e sociale, ma sperimentare solo solidarietà tra tutti gli esseri umani. Amen.