• Helping Preserve Another Great Collection (Part 1)
June 22, 2024
Helping Preserve Another Great Collection (Part 4)
Feast of San Paolino di Nola
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| San Paolino di Nola, ora pro nobis |
Prayer to San Paolino
O Lord, You made Saint Paulinus renowned for his love of poverty and concern for his people. May we who celebrate his witness to the Gospel imitate his example of love for others. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Remembering "il Bosso," Ruggero I d’Altavilla, Gran Conte di Sicilia
In memory of Roger I of Altavilla (1031 — 22 June 1101), Grand Count of Sicily, we pray for the happy repose of his soul. 
Roger I of Sicily at the Battle of Cerami in 1063 by Prosper Lafaye
Eternal rest grant unto His Excellency, 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
June 21, 2024
Helping Preserve Another Great Collection (Part 3)
Also see:
Feast of San Luigi Gonzaga
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| San Luigi Gonzaga, ora pro nobis |
O celéstium donórum distribútor, Deus, qui in angélico júvene Aloísio miram vitæ innocéntiam pari cum pœniténtia sociásti: ejus méritis et précibus concéde; ut, innocéntem non secúti, pœniténtem imitémur. Per Dóminum.
June 21st is the Feast of San Luigi Gonzaga (1568-1591), Jesuit Ascetic and Mystic. San Luigi died in Rome caring for plague victims. Patron saint of Catholic youth and students, he is also invoked against contagious diseases. In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Latin and English. The accompanying photo, courtesy of Andrew Giordano, was taken at the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista in Matera. Evviva San Luigi Gonzaga!
Prayer
O God, the dispenser of heavenly gifts, Who in the angelic youth Aloysius didst combine wonderful innocence of life with penance, grant to his merits and prayers that we, who have not followed him in his innocence, may imitate his penance. Through our Lord.
Novena to Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli
O God, in Blessed Gennaro you gave us an outstanding example of compassion and service to the poor. We humbly ask you that, by imitating him and by the help of his prayers, we may believe more fully in your healing presence, bear the suffering of sickness in this life without wavering, and come with joy to the peace of heaven. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
* Prayer reprinted from A Life of Blessed Gennaro Maria Sarnelli: Redemptorist (1702-1744) by Francesco Chiovaro, C.SS.R., Liguori Publications, 2003
June 20, 2024
Ponderable Quotes from ’The Tasks of Nobility’ by Oswald Spengler
From a speech given at the German Day of Nobility in Breslau on 16 May 1924.*
"The revolution destroyed almost everything that was a prerequisite for successful politics. Above all, this includes the social and political structure of the nobility as an organic stratum within the nation. Every large country has domestic and foreign policy tasks to fulfill, which require the existence of a unified class that thinks, feels, and acts in a unified manner, without which a consistent solution to these tasks cannot be guaranteed. Where this layer is lacking, high politics very soon becomes entirely dependent on the presence of very talented individual personalities. In Germany, this superstructure has been shaken to the core by the revolution—it is probably the most disastrous result of the upheaval. If the revolution dissolved the army, it can be rebuilt; a lost position of power can be reconquered; but the body of a people wounded from within is very difficult to heal, even if the shattering of society has not led to the dissolution of its leading stratum." [p. 67]
"If we look at the world situation today, which since the World War has been driving towards final decisions with increasing speed, we recognize that of all the peoples, the one whose leading class has superior capabilities will ultimately win the race. Whether the army has been destroyed, whether the economy has been shattered, whether foreign possessions have been lost or fallen away, all this is of secondary importance to the question of whether the leader, the backbone of the nation, has remained capable. If the Romans were ultimately able to cope with all their opponents and the Imperium Romanum was a Roman one, they owed it neither to the intelligence in the forum nor to the mere training of their legions, but to the class of old families who, even after Cannae and after the civil wars of Marius and Sulla, upheld the political tradition and were superior to the Carthaginians and Greeks in terms of foresight." [pp.69-70]
"Although the “soil of the homeland” is the basis of a healthy folkdom and especially of a healthy nobility, it must not be the horizon of political considerations." [p. 70]
* Reprinted from Pessimism: Political Essays by Oswald Spengler, Imperium Press, 2024]
Feast of San Giovanni da Matera
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| San Giovanni da Matera, ora pro nobis |
Subject to numerous celestial and infernal visions, he eventually settled at Pulsano after an apparition of the Blessed Mother inside the Cave of San Michele on Monte Gargano in Apulia instructed him to build an abbey there. His reputation for holiness attracted many followers and obeying her wishes the Basilian monks established the Abbazia di Santa Maria di Pulsano on the ruins of an old pagan temple.
A great wonderworker, many miracles have been attributed to the holy man, including bilocation. According to tradition, a group of friars working in the forest a day's walk from the abbey were set upon by a pack of baying demons. Out of nowhere their white-clad abbot appeared and rained terrible blows down on the foul fiends, forcing them to flee. Once the threat was over San Giovanni was gone. The next day, when the friars returned to the abby, they found their master busy with his tasks. When they recounted what had happened and thanked him, the Saint took no credit and attributed the miracle to the will of God.
Another story tells of the expulsion of evil spirits terrorizing a group of nuns at a nearby monastery. It would seem San Giovanni's saintly reputation proceeded him because his presence alone was enough to drive the spooks from the convent and send them scurrying back to the infernal pits whence they came, never to return.
San Giovanni died of fever at the Monastero di San Giacomo in Foggia, Apulia on June 20, 1139. Originally interred at the abby, in 1177 Pope Alexander III had the Saint's sacred remains moved to the Abbazia di Santa Maria di Pulsano. His relics were translated again in 1830 to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria della Bruna e di Sant'Eustachio in Matera.
In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to St. John of Matera. The Accompanying photo, courtesy of Andrew Giordano, was taken at the Chiesa San Pietro Caveoso in Matera. Evviva San Giovanni da Matera!
Prayer to St. John of Matera
Lord, amid the things of this world, let us be wholeheartedly committed to heavenly things in imitation of the example of evangelical perfection You have given us in St. John. Amen.
Feast of San Silverio
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San Silverio, ora pro nobis
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O Regem tuum, Pastor ætérne, placátus inténde: et per beátum Sylvérium Mártyrem tuum atque Summum Pontíficem, perpétua protectióne custódi: quem totíus Ecclésiæ præstitísti esse pastórum. Per Dóminum.(1)
June 20th is the Feast of San Silverio, Pope, Martyr and protector of the island of Ponza. San Silverio is also the co-patron of Frosinone (FR) and Scerni (CH), where he shares his patronage with Sant’Ormisda and San Panfilo di Sulmona, respectively. In celebration, I'm posting a Prayer to San Silverio. The accompanying photo was taken during the 2014 Columbus Day Parade on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Evviva San Silverio!
Prayer to San Silverio
O Glorious San Silverio, pastor of the Universal Church and hero of the Faith, you were blessed with the courage to die in witness to Christ and the Gospel. Through your example, may we be filled with the courage to profess our faith in Jesus Christ, and to serve Him with generosity in our neighbor. Amen.(2)
(1) O Eternal Shepherd, do Thou look favorably upon Thy flock, which we beseech Thee to guard and keep for evermore through the blessed Silverius Thy Martyr and Supreme Pontiff, whom Thou didst choose to be the chief shepherd of the whole Church.
(2) Prayer courtesy of the San Silverio Society of Dover Plains, New York. For more about the society visit http://sansilverioshrine.org
Prayer to San Silverio
O Glorious San Silverio, pastor of the Universal Church and hero of the Faith, you were blessed with the courage to die in witness to Christ and the Gospel. Through your example, may we be filled with the courage to profess our faith in Jesus Christ, and to serve Him with generosity in our neighbor. Amen.(2)
(1) O Eternal Shepherd, do Thou look favorably upon Thy flock, which we beseech Thee to guard and keep for evermore through the blessed Silverius Thy Martyr and Supreme Pontiff, whom Thou didst choose to be the chief shepherd of the whole Church.
(2) Prayer courtesy of the San Silverio Society of Dover Plains, New York. For more about the society visit http://sansilverioshrine.org
Happy Summer!
Bliss
Golden days of summer, facing the sun,
facing the sea, delighted, and content.
Days spent eavesdropping on the wind,
mindful of words whispered in secret.
Words I'd unravel; listening, alone,
for the voice of the world, the nothing beyond,
alone, while my nimble heart took flight
for untold trysts and destinations.
Perhaps for the very edge of the world,
where Our Lady of the Mariners
trims white roses in the morning.
And to find myself here, again, eyes
like a boy's, quick and bright, seeing, upon
the lace of waves, roses ride to shore...
(Translated by Anthony Molino)
June 19, 2024
Feast of Beata Elena Aiello
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| Beata Elena Aiello, ora pro nobis |
June 19th is the Feast of Beata Elena Aiello, Virgin, Foundress, Mystic and Stigmatic. Born into a pious family on April 10, 1895 in Montalto Uffugo, Cosenza (Calabria), she joined the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, but was forced to leave before taking her final vows due to her poor health.
Diagnosed with stomach cancer, she was miraculously cured after receiving visions of St. Rita and Our Lord Jesus Christ. On Friday, March 2, 1923, while meditating on the Passion, she received the stigmata, Crown of Thorns, and the bloody sweat of Gethsemane for the first time. She would bear these mystical gifts each Friday of Lent for the rest of her life.
With renewed vigor Blessed Elena returned to the congregation (the date is uncertain) and began her apostolate, offering religious instruction to the local children. Founding a new congregation, the Minim Sisters of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, she also established several institutes for orphans, including a high school for young girls who left the orphanage.
Blessed Elena died on June 19, 1961 in Rome where she had gone to open a new house. Beatified in Cosenza on September 14, 2011, she is invoked against stomach cancer. In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to Beata Elena Aiello in Italian. Evviva Beata Elena Aiello!
Preghiera
Trinità Santa, ti ringraziamo per aver donato alla Chiesa la Beata Elena Aiello, tua serva fedele, segnata nel corpo e nello spirito dalla Passione di Cristo tuo Figlio. Seguendo la via minima del Vangelo ha fatto risplendere il mistero del tuo amore per gli ultimi ed i poveri. Consacrandosi a Te ha confidato unicamente nella tua Provvidenza. Concedici, per sua intercessione, la grazia che imploriamo … e di vederla presto annoverata nel numero dei tuoi Santi. Amen
June 18, 2024
Helping Preserve Another Great Collection (Part 2)
Helping Preserve Another Great Collection (Part 1)
Feast of San Calogero
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San Calogero, ora pro nobis
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Prayer to San Calogero
O glorious San Calogero, turn your gaze to us and hear our prayer. You have been sent by God to radiate in Sicily the light of the Gospel. You served with penance to seek God in the solitude. You taught the way of salvation and virtue. All call upon thee miracle worker, because by your intercession God gave speech to the dumb, health to the sick, hearing to the deaf and sight to the blind. Save us from danger and grant the graces we ask of you. Amen
Feast of Sant’Efrem di Nisibi
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| Sant'Efrem di Nisibi, ora pro nobis |
June 18th is the Feast of Sant’Efrem di Nisibi (St. Ephrem of Nisibis), fourth century Deacon, Mystic and Doctor of the Church. He is the patron saint of spiritual directors. In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to St. Ephrem. The accompanying photo was taken at St. Ephrem Church (929 Bay Ridge Pkwy.) in Brooklyn, New York. Evviva Sant’Efrem di Nisibi!
Prayer
O glorious Saint Ephrem, harp of the Spirit, filled with compassion for those who invoke you, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection and to make your prayer mine:
O Lord, Master of my life, grant that I may not be infected with the spirit of slothfulness and inquisitiveness, with the spirit of ambition and vain talking.
Grant instead to me, your servant, the spirit of purity and of humility, the spirit of patience and neighborly love.
O Lord and King, grant me the grace of being aware of my sins and of not thinking evil of those of my brethren. For you are blessed, now and ever, and forever.
V Most holy Saint Ephrem, pray for us
R That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be.
Feast of Santa Marina Vergine
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| Santa Marina, ora pro nobis |
June 18th is the Feast of Santa Marina, Virgin of Bitinia (Bithynia). Widely venerated throughout Southern Italy, she is the principal patroness of Filandari (VV), Polistena (RC), Casole Bruzio (CS), Ruggiano (LE), Santa Marina Salina (ME), Santa Marina di Milazzo (ME), and Cumia Inferiore (ME), among others. She is also venerated on July 17th in memory of the translation of her holy relics to the Chiesa di Santa Maria Formosa in Venice. In celebration, I’m posting a Prayer to Santa Marina in Italian. The accompanying photo was taken at the 2014 Feast of Santa Marina in Inwood, Long Island. Evviva Santa Marina!
Preghiera a Santa Marina
Salve, o Marina vergineche avvinta al Redentore
soffristi il disonore
con tacito pudor.
Di santo ardore sfolgora
il nostro cuore triste
che per amor di Cristo
sopporti ognor dolor.
Pura innocente vergine
per gli altri penitenti
con la tua fiamma ardente
purgasti L'altrui error.
Sia gloria nell'empireo
al santo Genitore
al Figlio e all'Amore
in cielo, in terra ognor.
June 17, 2024
Rediscovering ‘Rediscovering the Ancient World on the Bay of Naples, 1710-1890’
It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. ~ Umberto Eco (1932-2016) [1]
As someone who prides themselves on having an extensive collection of books relating to Southern Italy, I’m always pleasantly surprised to stumble across a tome I don’t already own or I haven’t read. Somehow Rediscovering the Ancient World on the Bay of Naples, 1710-1890 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2013), a beautifully illustrated monograph on the early excavations of ancient sites in Campania and their global influence in the 18th and 19th centuries, has eluded me until earlier today, when I chanced upon a copy at my local used bookstore and greedily snatched it up.
Or so I thought. While shelving the book at home, I realized that I already owned a copy. Knowing how driven I’ve been in amassing my collection over the years, part of me was not totally surprised, but I have to admit I’m more than a little confused about how I could have no recollection of it. Leafing through the pages at the store I remember thinking this is going to be a great read, which makes it all the more perplexing.I’m not saying I don’t have unread books, there are plenty in my stacks I’m saving to read one day, but the difference is I remember that I have them (I hope). This uncharacteristic lapse has got me wondering how many others there may be in my possession that I have forgotten and need to rediscover.
Recounting my gaffe to a friend over the phone, instead of assuring me that it is sometimes normal to forget such "trivial" matters, he questioned the size and purpose of my library. Paraphrasing the author Umberto Eco, I explained to him that to me books are so much more than a commodity. Like with medicine, it is always better to be fully stocked and prepared than not, and way more advantageous to have access to the right “dose” (book) when it's needed.
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| My Blue Heaven theatrical release poster |
"My name is Tod; that's Italian for something extra special." ~ Steve Martin as Tod Wilkinson, My Blue Heaven
Instead of returning the book to the store like a normal person, I plan on keeping both copies in case I want to read it more than once—just kidding. For those who may not know, this is a reference to a joke from one of my favorite Mafia spoofs, My Blue Heaven (1990), starring comedian Steve Martin as Vincent Antonelli aka Tod Wilkinson. [2] I recently rewatched the film and it still tickles my funny bone.
In all likelihood, we’ll end up raffling the book off at one of our upcoming events, but in the meantime, I'm going to start reading my original copy and scour my collection for other unread and forgotten treasures.
~ Giovanni di Napoli, June 16th, Feast of San Palerio di Telese
Notes:
[1] “It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.
"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!
"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity.” ~ Umberto Eco
[2] Arrested for possession of stolen books, Tod's quick-witted excuse for having multiple copies in the trunk of his car was that he may want to reread the book.
Photo of the Week: The Venus Callipyge
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| The Venus Callipyge, Roman, 1st or 2nd century BC. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. Photo by New York Scugnizzo |
June 16, 2024
Novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague for the Nine Days Preceding the 25th of Each Month (16th–24th)
2. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the sufferings of the most holy Virgin and St. Joseph on that long and weary journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. I offer Thee the sorrows of their hearts at not finding a place wherein to shelter themselves when the Saviour of the world was about to be born. Glory be to the Father, etc.
3. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the sufferings of Jesus in the manger where He was born, the cold He suffered, the swaddling clothes which bound Him, the tears He shed, and His tender infant cries. Glory be to the Father, etc.
4. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the pain which the Holy Child Jesus felt in His tender body when He submitted to the rite of circumcision. I offer Thee that Precious Blood which then for the first time He shed for the salvation of all mankind. Glory be to the Father, etc.
5. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the humility, mortification, patience, charity and all the virtues of the Child Jesus; and I thank Thee, and I love Thee, and I bless Thee without end for this ineffable mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. Glory be to the Father, etc.
V. The Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
Let us Pray
O God, whose only-begotten Son was made manifest to us in the substance of our flesh, grant, we beseech Thee, that through Him, whom we acknowledge to have been outwardly like us, we may deserve to be renewed in our inward selves. Who lives and reigns with Thee forever and ever. Amen.
Source: Devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague, TAN Books, 1990
Happy Birthday Princess Beatrice di Borbone!
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| HRH was born in Saint-Raphaël, France on June 16, 1950 (Photo courtesy of Napoli Capitale) |
Happy Father's Day!
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| Requiescat in pace |
My Father Never Left...
My father never left
the last mouthful in the plate
and didn’t throw away half a cigarette, ever.
I do, times have changed
and so have sayings…
as for instance:
tell me who your father is
I’ll tell you who you are.
and didn’t throw away half a cigarette, ever.
I do, times have changed
and so have sayings…
as for instance:
tell me who your father is
I’ll tell you who you are.
Pàtemo nun lassava
'o muorzo d''a crianza dint' ô piatto
e nun jettava 'a meza sigaretta, mai.
I' si, 'e tiempe só ccagnate
e 'nzieme 'e ditte càgneno...
tanto pe' mme n'ascì:
'e chi sì ffiglio, dimme
e te dico chi sì.
June 15, 2024
Celebrating the Feast of Sant’Antonio di Padova in New York City
Food stands were selling traditional Italian street fare, but (as is our custom) we had our celebratory meal (pasta alla Genovese) at nearby Song ‘e Napule. For dessert, we returned to the fairgrounds for some late-night zeppole. Evviva Sant’Antonio!
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