Stirring Up Christmas: The Italian American Podcast Unveils the Yule Pot

Back in 1966, New York’s WPIX gave fireplace-deprived apartment dwellers a gift of pure comfort: the Yule Log, a flickering hearth loop that warmed the room without ever throwing a spark. Today, the Italian American Podcast carries that spirit into our homes with a new tradition—the Yule Pot.

A looping video of a gently simmering sugo—gravy, sauce, whatever your family called it—cooks low and slow and steady for hours, paired with over six hours of uninterrupted Italian and Italian American Christmas music. No ads, no chatter—just the steady, bubbling rhythm of a saucepan and the songs that once filled our parents’ and grandparents’ kitchens each December.

For those who remember Christmas dinners at Nonna’s, or who simply crave the warmth of simpler times, the Yule Pot is more than ambiance—it’s nostalgia, comfort, family, and continuity served up in the old way, slow and steady.

This season, put on the Yule Pot, fill the room with the scent of memory, and let Christmas simmer.

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Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Jersey City, New Jersey

Simple Pleasures: Granata Presente in Little Italy

Just spotted a U.S. Salernitana 1919 sticker in Little Italy—a flash of granata pride in the heart of New York City. Even here, far from the Stadio Arechi (or in this case, Switzerland), the Salernitani quietly leave their mark.

New Book — To Look Upon Naples is to Die

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

• To Look Upon Naples is to Die by Alessandro Musone

Publisher: Independently Published
Publication date: December 3, 2025
Paperback: $20.00
Kindle: $9.99
Language: English
Pages: 225

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Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at Corpus Christi Church in South River, New Jersey

Gaudete Sunday, Naples, and the Holy Sepulcher

The beautifully decorated sanctuary
at Our Lady of Peace Church

Back home from upstate, I attended the Latin Mass in Brooklyn on a snowy Gaudete Sunday. The schola both opened and closed with the famous Neapolitan song Santa Lucia—presumably in honor of the recent Feast of Saint Lucy—rather than O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, the hymn traditionally associated with the Third Sunday of Advent. The substitution was unexpected but not unwelcome; Naples has a way of asserting itself liturgically as well as culturally.

After Mass, I traveled to Manhattan, walking past Central Park transformed by the morning snowfall into a true winter wonderland, and made my way to the Frick Collection. There, I finally viewed To the Holy Sepulcher: Treasures from the Terra Sancta Museum (October 2–January 5). The exhibition features more than forty rare objects donated by Catholic monarchs and Holy Roman Emperors to Jerusalem, preserved and used ever since by the Franciscan friars who maintain the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Photography was prohibited.

Among the most striking works was the monumental Neapolitan silver Resurrection from 1736, depicting Christ rising from the tomb. The anonymous Neapolitan sculptor who made this relief may have based it on designs by the great Avellinese painter Francesco Solimena (1657–1747). Its size and intensity stayed with me long after leaving the gallery.

From there, I headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the annual Angel Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche. A twenty-foot spruce rises in the Medieval Sculpture Hall, decorated with angels and figures from eighteenth-century Naples, set before the Spanish choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid.

With some extra time, I explored the Fanmania exhibit and was pleasantly surprised to find several fans from nineteenth-century Europe decorated with images of Vesuvius erupting. Once again, Naples was everywhere—singing, sculpted, and unmistakably alive.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, December 14th, the Feast of Sant’Agnello di Napoli

(Above & below) Central Park, transformed into a winter wonderland

(Above & below) One Hundred Seventh Infantry Memorial by Karl Illava
(1896-1954) in Central Park along Fifth Avenue at 67th Street

The Resurrection, 1736, Silver, Naples, Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem.
Photo courtesy of the Frick Collection

Model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, 18th century, olive and pistachio wood, mother-of-pearl, camel bone, Palestinian Craftsmen

(L) Marine Nymph, bronze, after Stoldo Lorenzi. (R) Bust of Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Third Duke of Alba, bronze, 1571, by Jacques Jonghelinck

Angel Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche

(L) St. Mary Magdalene, limestone with traces of paint, ca. 1500-1525, French. (R) St. Roch, oak with paint and gilding, early 1500s, French, Normandy

(Above & below) Details from the Angel Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche

(L) St. George and the Dragon, carved ca. 1475, wood, gilded and painted, attributed to Hans Klocker (Austrian, act. 1474-1502). (R) St. George and the Dragon, limewood with paint and gilding, South German, Swabia, ca. 1460-70

Donor Figures: King, Queen, and Prince, marble with traces of paint and gilding, carved and painted about 1350, French

Folding fan with a representation of the 1806 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, ca. 1815, opaque watercolor on parchment; mother-of-pearl with spangles, Italian

Fan design with views of Mount Vesuvius and the Tomb of Virgil, 1779, opaque watercolor on parchment, Italian

Fan with depictions of Spanish folk costumes, early 19th century, hand colored lithograph with gold leaf; ivory, sequins, silver gilt, enamel, mother-of-pearl, silver luster paper, metal, Spanish

(L) Dios la perdone: Y ere su madre, plate 16 from Los Caprichos, 1799, etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828). (R) Two Gentlemen and a Lady, late 1850s—early 1860s? Pen and brown ink, brush and watercolor, over graphite with touches of red chalk, Constantin Guys (French, 1802-1892)

(L) Seated woman playing with a fan, ca. 1726, printed ca. 1920. François Boucher (French, 1703-1770). (R) The Toilet, 1878, lithotint, with scraping and incising, on a prepared half-tint ground; second state of five, James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903)

Elvira, 1867, Countess Virginia Oldoini Verasis di Castiglione (Italian, 1835-1899), gelatin silver print, 1940s, Pierre-Louis Pierson (French, 1822-1913)

Photo of the Week: Nymphaeum Decorated with Mosaics at Pompeii

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Jersey City, New Jersey

Light in the Winter Pines: Keeping the Feast of Santa Lucia

My pouch of sacramentals, including the
tiny eyes ex voto I carry for Santa Lucia

Exáudi nos, Deus, salutáris noster: ut, sicut de beátæ Lúciæ Vírginis et Mártyris tuæ festivitáte gaudémus; ita piæ devotiónis erudiámur afféctu. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sáecula sæculórum.

This year, I kept the feast of Santa Lucia di Siracusa, Virgin and Martyr, alone upstate beneath the bare branches and the pale winter sky. A small candle—no more than a trembling flame in the cold—was enough to mark the day, its fragile glow recalling the Queen of Light, who once carried brightness into the darkest corners of the world. The stillness around me felt older than the trees, and the flame seemed to waver between this world and another, as though the forest itself were holding vigil.

Letting the hush of winter draw me inward, I sat in quiet meditation. In that solitude, gratitude rose for graces received—for the Light-Bringer once interceded on my behalf when I injured my eye at work many years ago.

As dusk deepened and the candle burned lower, the woods dimmed to silver and blue. I offered a final prayer, simple and sincere, before letting the darkness reclaim the clearing. Walking back through the snow, the day settled quietly in my heart—a gentle radiance carried home. And there, waiting on the stove, was a savory bowl of cuccìa that had been simmering for hours—a humble feast to honor her light and warm me through the night. Santa Lucia, ora pro nobis.

Harken unto us, O God our Savior, that as we rejoice in the festival of blessed Lucy, Thy virgin and martyr, so we may be instructed by the affection of pious devotion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, December 13th, Feast of Santa Lucia di Siracusa

Remembering King Carlo di Borbone

b. Madrid, 20 January 1716 - d. Madrid, 14 December 1788

In memory of Carlo di Borbone, King of Spain, first Bourbon Duke of Parma, first Bourbon King of Naples and Sicily, we pray for the happy repose of his soul. Viva ‘o Rre!

Eternal rest grant unto His Majesty, 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

Neapolitan Presepio at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scaife Gallery 5 on view through Jan. 11, 2026

Since 1957, the Carnegie Museum of Art has marked the holiday season with the Neapolitan presepio. A centuries-old tradition in Naples and southern Italy, the presepio is an elaborate nativity scene recreated with miniature figures arranged in a detailed panorama of 18th-century life in Naples. Handmade by artists in the Royal Court of Naples between 1700 and 1830, the presepio includes superbly modeled humans, animals, angelic figures, and architectural elements.

Carnegie Museum of Art
4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Click here for more information.

The Ides of December: The Feast of Santa Lucia

On the Ides of December, the Feast of Santa Lucia, the forest upstate lies hushed beneath its veil of snow. The trees stand in ranks, stark and enduring. In such stillness, the soul is drawn away from the noise and given the room to withdraw from the world and orient itself toward the true Light. Santa Lucia, ora pro nobis.

Remembering Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, Holy Roman Emperor

Statue of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen sculpted by Emanuele Caggiano in a niche on the western facade of the Palazzo Reale di Napoli in the Largo del Palazzo Reale, Naples. Photo by New York Scugnizzo

In memory of Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (26 December 1194—13 December 1250), King of Sicily, Stupor Mundi—the Wonder of the World—we pray for the happy repose of his soul. Viva ‘o Rre!

Eternal rest grant unto His Majesty, 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

Remembering the Warrior Prelate, His Eminence Cardinal Fabrizio Dionigi Ruffo

b. San Lucido, Calabria, 16 September 1744 – d. Napoli, 13 December 1827

In memory of His Eminence Cardinal Fabrizio Dionigi Ruffo, the great counter-revolutionary hero who liberated the Kingdom of Naples from Franco-Jacobin tyranny, we pray for the happy repose of his soul.

Eternal rest grant unto His Eminence, 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

Commemorazione del Pio Transito di Francesco II di Borbone

Città di Arco (Tn)

Solemn Advent Vespers at Saints Cyril and Methodius Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut

Fr. Louis Scurti Presents the History of the Presepio at the Italian American Museum

The Italian American Museum cordially invites you to a slide-show presentation and talk by Fr. Louis Scurti on the history of the presepio (Nativity scene). Fr. Scurti will trace its origins—from St. Francis of Assisi’s first presepio in 1223—to the creation of the “Fontanini” presepio he recently donated to the Museum, now on display.

Saturday, December 13th at 2:00 pm

$15 per person (includes admission to the Museum's current exhibitions)

Italian American Museum
151 Mulberry Street
New York, NY 10013

Click here for tickets

New Music — Scarlatti: Christmas at the Bethlehem of the West - Music from Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

New music that may interest our readers.

• Scarlatti: Christmas at the Bethlehem of the West - Music from Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome performed by Carlotta Colombo, Giulio Prandi, Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri

Label: Arcana Records
Release Date: July 16, 2025
Audio CD: $20.99
Number of Discs: 1

Available at Amazon.com

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New Books — Learn Neapolitan (3 Books)

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

• Learn Neapolitan for Beginners: A Complete, Easy & Fast Language Learning Guide to Grammar, Essential Vocabulary, Everyday Phrases & Conversations for English Speakers by Ahmet Neseli

Publisher: Independently published
Publication date: October 21, 2025
Paperback: $12.99
Kindle: $6.99
Language: English
Pages: 170

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• 20 Neapolitan Short Stories for Beginners: An English-Neapolitan Dual-Language Book for Easy Reading and Learning by Ahmet Neseli

Publisher: Independently published
Publication date: October 6, 2025
Paperback: $12.99
Kindle: $6.99
Language: English
Pages: 158

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• Learn Neapolitan with Parallel Text Short Stories for Beginners: 20 Captivating Bilingual English–Neapolitan Tales with English Pronunciations for Easy & Fast Neapolitan Language Learning by Ahmet Neseli

Publisher: Independently published
Publication date: November 19, 2025
Paperback: $12.99
Kindle: $6.99
Language: English
Pages: 142

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Listing does not imply any endorsement

Fourth Sunday of Advent at St. Michael's Church in Staten Island, New York

Why the Witcher Left Me Cold and Elric of Melniboné Still Burns Like Witchfire

I recently picked up Heavy Metal #2, Variant
Cover A — Featuring Elric by Gerald Brom

While sick in bed with a cold for a couple of days, I took the opportunity to binge-watch The Witcher, a streaming series I’d heard both praise and condemnation for. Itching for a “new” sword-and-sorcery tale to disappear into, I found myself, halfway through season two, wondering why I didn’t simply return to old favorites—Excalibur, Conan the Barbarian, or The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Still, somewhat invested—and clearly weakened and confused by my sickness—I chose to see it through, foolishly hoping the show would improve. In hindsight, it was a poor decision on my part.

Assured by hardcore fans that “the books are way better” (a refrain I also heard from Harry Potter cultists—I did not like those movies, by the way), I found myself even less inclined to invest precious time reading Andrzej Sapkowski’s stories. Instead, the show—admittedly due to superficial similarities—nudged me toward something far richer: a desire to re-read Michael Moorcock’s Elric Saga, a dark-fantasy childhood favorite that shaped me as deeply as J.R.R. Tolkien, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Robert E. Howard.

For those who don’t know, Elric of Melniboné is doom made flesh—the last, sickly emperor of a languishing empire, sustained by drugs until he binds himself to Stormbringer, the runesword that drinks souls and feeds him stolen vitality; an antihero in the truest sense. Albino, red-eyed, frail as parchment yet terrifying in sorcery, Elric wanders a dying world as both savior and scourge.

A tragic figure, he is a philosopher-king born into a race of decadent sadists, cursed with a conscience they never had. His victories leave ash, his morality damns him, and his Black Blade—his greatest strength—hungers for those he loves. Yet there is a stark beauty in him: a lone, pale figure against apocalyptic skies, wrestling with fate itself. In an age of disposable fantasy protagonists, Elric still feels dangerous, lyrical, and alive.

Considering how atrocious most film and television adaptations have become, I am genuinely relieved no studio has yet sunk its claws into Elric. The list of butchered sci-fi, fantasy, and sword-and-sorcery properties grows longer every year. While not all recent adaptations are disasters—Nosferatu, Frankenstein, Hellboy—these successes are rare flashes of integrity amid the slop the industry churns out.

If anything, revisiting Elric reminds me that some worlds are better left on the page, untainted—where the imagination can still conjure storms worthy of Stormbringer.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, December 10th, Translation of the Holy House of Loreto 

Messa per la Pace

In Napoli

Il Portastendardo di Civitella del Tronto (n. 54 - Dicembre 2025)

Brindisi Borbonico

In Caserta

Rorate Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church in East Northport, New York

Celebrating the Sixth Annual Sanfedisti Feast of San Nicola di Bari in Brooklyn, New York

Following Latin Mass Sunday morning, members and friends of the Fratelli della Santa Fede (aka Sanfedisti) gathered at Amunì Ristorante (7217 3rd Avenue) in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to celebrate the 6th Annual Feast of San Nicola di Bari with the commemoration of Sant’Ambrogio and Santa Burgundofara.

Some twenty-five partygoers were treated to another fantastic multi-course Sicilian repast by Chef Vincent Dardanello. On the menu this year were fresh cavatelli with a traditional Sunday ragù, replete with fall-off-the-bone pork ribs, hot and sweet sausages, and braciola di cotenna di maiale. We also enjoyed homemade crepe-style manicotti, caponata, arancini, carduna, and carciofi fritti. We finished our festive gathering with digestivi, assorted nuts, fruit, fennel, café, and pastries.

Heartfelt thanks to our dear friends from the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George, San Rocco Society of Potenza in NYC, the Brooklyn Latin Mass Society, the Italian Mass Project, the Holy Name Society of the Shrine Church of St. Bernadette, and the Angus Dei Knights of Columbus Council 12361 for joining us in the festivities.

Special thanks to Professor David DiPasquale for exhibiting selections from his Liber Mysteria and generously donating an original drawing for the raffle.

As always, it was a great joy to celebrate our faith and culture together. Evviva San Nicola di Bari!