Feast of Blessed Nicholas Factor

Blessed Nicholas Factor, ora pro nobis

December 23rd is the Feast of Blessed Nicholas Factor (1520–1583)—priest, painter, and Franciscan whose life blended artistic talent with profound ascetic holiness. Born in Valencia on January 29, 1520, he showed early promise as a painter, training in the city’s artistic circles before discerning a religious vocation. He entered the Order of Friars Minor and was eventually ordained a priest, though he always considered himself unworthy of honors.

Within the Franciscan life, Nicholas continued to paint—only religious subjects, and always in a spirit of humility. His works were known for their spiritual tenderness rather than technical grandeur, and he viewed artistic acclaim as a temptation to pride. His true vocation was penance and spiritual counsel. He fasted rigorously, lived simply, and devoted himself to prayer, the sacraments, and service to the poor.

Nicholas became widely sought as a confessor and spiritual director, admired for his gentleness, discernment, and reputed mystical gifts. Contemporary accounts speak of moments of ecstasy, prophetic insight, and a deep devotion to Christ and the Virgin.

He died on December 23, 1583, after a life marked by visible holiness. His reputation endured for centuries, and he was beatified by Pope Pius VI in 1786. Today he is remembered in Valencia and throughout the Franciscan world as a model of humility, artistic dedication offered to God, and quiet, contemplative virtue. He is honored by many as a patron of painters.

Evviva Blessed Nicholas Factor!

In celebration of his feast, we offer this prayer:

Prayer to Blessed Nicholas Factor

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the examples of Blessed Nicholas Factor may effectually move us to reform our lives; that while we celebrate his feast, we may also imitate his actions. Look upon our weakness, almighty God, and since the burden of our own deeds weighs heavily upon us, may the glorious intercession of Blessed Nicholas protect us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Return to the Morgan: Familiar Masterpieces and Fresh Encounters

Virgin Mary Nursing the Christ Child, Hermeneia, in Coptic and Greek, written and illuminated by the Deacon Basili and his son Samouel, Egypt, Touton, 897-98

I returned to the Morgan Library and Museum to see Sing a New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life one final time before its January 4, 2026, closing—and found it even more compelling than on my first visit.

With more time than before, I revisited Weathering the Storm (on view through February 8, 2026) and took in the newly installed Individuality and Identity: Naming Sitters in French Portrait Drawings, an exhibition examining how nineteenth-century French portrait drawings shape individuality while exposing the fragility of identification and identity.

I also made a point to finally see the Renoir: Drawing exhibition, running through February 8, 2026. Not a fan, I was hoping to take a fresh look at the Impressionist giant; my perspective, however, remained unchanged—my reservations held. To be clear, my dislike has nothing to do with modern moral criticisms. I found the drawings mediocre at best, marked by weak composition and disproportionate anatomy.

I concluded the visit, as always, in J. Pierpont Morgan’s Library: the East Room, the Rotunda, the Librarian’s Office (North Room), and the West Room—Morgan’s Study—spaces that never fail to anchor the experience in quiet grandeur.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, December 22nd, Feast of Santa Francesca Saverio Cabrini

(L) Virgin and the Crucified Christ Intercede for Catherine of Cleves, Hours of Catherine of Cleves, in Latin, illuminated by the Master of Catherine of Cleves, The Netherlands, Utrecht, ca. 1440 (R) Triumphant Christ, Sacramentary of Mont-Saint-Michel, in Latin, France, Mont-Saint-Michel, ca. 1060

(L) Virgin and Child with Patrons, Cuerden Psalter, in Latin, England, Oxford, ca. 1270. (R) Scenes from the Life of Christ, single leaf from William de Brailes Psalter, England, Oxford, 1230-60

Massacre of the Innocents with Patron, Des Pres Psalter,
in Latin, Belgium, Liège, ca. 1290-1305

(L-R) David Slays Goliath and David and Bathsheba,
from the Crusader Bible, France, Paris, ca. 1244-54

Shipyard at Le Havre, 1831, oil on paper, mounted
on canvas, Jules Coignet, French, 1798-1860

Sunset on the Normandy Coast, ca. 1850, oil on paper,
mounted on canvas, Eugène Isabey, French, 1803-1886

(L) Portrait of Adolphe Marcellin, Defresne, 1825, graphite, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867). (R) Portrait of Madame Charles Damour, 1852, Graphite with white chalk, Théodore Chassériau (1819-1856)

(L) A Man of Tangier, 1832, watercolor over graphite, Eugène Delacroix
(1798-1863). (L) Pauline Villot in Algerian Costume, ca. 1833,
pen and brown ink, Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863)

Portrait of Jamila Bouzaglo, 1832, graphite, Château de
Chantilly, France, Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863)

The Great Bathers, oil on canvas, 1886-87, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

(L) Three Figures and Part of a Foot (Study for "The Great Bathers"), ca. 1886-87. (R) Splashing Figure (Study for "The Great Bathers"), ca. 1886-87 Red, white, and black chalk, with stumping, and black Conté crayon on tracing paper, mounted to canvas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

(L) Child with a Cat or Julie Manet, 1887, oil on canvas. (R) Young Woman Seated, 1909, oil on canvas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

(L) Female Nude, ca. 1890, pastel. (R) Seated Nude, ca. 1880, oil on canvas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

(L) Motherhood, 1885, red and white chalk on paper, mounted to canvas. (R) Motherhood, 1885 Oil on canvas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

(L) Seated Nude Seen from the Back, ca. 1885-87, red and white chalk on paper, mounted to board. (R) Seated Nude, ca. 1891, black chalk, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

(L) Kneeling male donor with his patron, St. William of Maleval, ca. 1467-70, oil on panel, Hans Memling (ca. 1440-1494). (R) Bust of Woman, marble, attributed to Gregorio di Lorenzo (ca. 1436-1504)

Napoli Crowned Supercoppa Italiana Champions

With a commanding 2–0 victory over Bologna, Napoli have lifted the Supercoppa Italiana, adding yet another prestigious honor to the club’s storied history. Displaying composure, quality, and championship mentality, Napoli controlled the match from start to finish, delivering a performance worthy of silverware. Congratulations to the players, staff, and supporters on a well-deserved triumph and a memorable night for the Partenopei.

Forza Napoli Sempre!

A Small Feast for Venerable Naples

Naples remembered in small tokens

He who doesn’t love Naples has yet to learn how to love life. ~ Anonymous

After Latin Mass on the 4th Sunday of Advent—the first day of winter—we marked the 2,500th birthday of Naples in the simplest way possible: together.

A small group of friends gathered for lunch at Amunì Ristorante, where parmigiana di melanzane and fresh spaghetti al ragù anchored our table. No speeches, no ceremony—just a shared meal in roisterous acknowledgment of storied Parthenope.

The lunch also doubled as our Christmas gathering. Modest Naples-themed gifts were exchanged. I received a copy of Pulcinella, The Mask and the Soul of Naples: An Illustrated Story of Myth, People, and Theatre (2025) by Davide D’Aniello, along with a small Neapolitan keychain—simple gifts, quietly in keeping with the occasion.

No matter how small the group or gesture, we make an effort to remember what matters. On the winter solstice, honoring our ancient capital felt especially fitting.

~ Giovanni di Napoli, December 21st, the shortest day

Spaghetti al ragù

Parmigiana di melanzane

Ponderable Quote from Textos de Doctrina Política by Juan Vásquez de Mella (II)

Juan Vásquez de Mella y Fanjul
(8 June 1861—18 February 1928)

This is why every man, even without realizing it and against his will, is a traditionalist, because he begins by being an accumulation of tradition. Let him strip himself, if he can, of what he has received from his ancestors, and he will see that what remains is not the same person, but a mutilated being who craves tradition as the complement of his existence. The most audacious revolutionary, who, in the name of an idealistic theory, formed more by fantasy than by reason, sets out to demolish the social edifice and pulverize even the foundation stones to erect a new one, if, before beginning the demolition, he pauses to ask himself who he is; if passion does not blind him, he will hear a voice speaking to him from the walls he threatens and from the depths of his soul: You are a condensed tradition that seeks to commit suicide; you are the last descendant of a dynasty of ancestors as old as humankind; no lineage is more ancient than yours. If even one link were missing in that chain of thousands of years, you would not exist; you want to overthrow a lineage of traditions, and yet you are partly a product of them.

You want to destroy a tradition in the name of your autonomy, and you begin by denying previous autonomies and disregarding those that will follow; in inaugurating your work, you want a tradition to continue against past traditions and against future traditions, proclaiming the sole truth of your own. Looking back, you are a parricide; looking forward, a murderer; and looking at yourself, a madman who believes he is destroying others when he is killing himself.

Great men are those who know how to preserve, in an intangible society, the heritage of tradition; those who not only preserve it, but also correct it; or those who, not content with preserving and correcting it, perfect and augment it. And the most traditionalist is not the one who merely preserves, but the one who, in addition to preserving, corrects, who adds and increases, because he better follows the example of the founders, not limiting himself to maintaining the existing legacy, but doing what they did: producing and extending their works through progress. That is why the greatest men in history are the most traditionalist; that is, those who leave behind nothing but tradition. Only the common man, who does not create, transmits nothing of his own, and often, without even knowing them, he repudiates the legacies of others. In short, individual autonomy is the solitude of isolation, breaking the social fabric of generations and abruptly interrupting, if its disruptive force is strong enough, the continuity of a people's life. Tradition is the family gathered around the same hearth, where men and flames are replaced, the flames lasting longer than the men.

Translation my own. Excerpt from a speech delivered at the Parque de la Salud in Barcelona, May 17, 1903; published in Juan Vásquez de Mella, Textos de Doctrina Política, Preliminary Study, Selections and Notes by Rafael Gambra, Madrid, 1953, pp.27-28.

Photo of the Week: Basilica di San Francesco di Paola in Napoli

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

Natale di Napoli: Celebrating 2,500 Years of the City of Parthenope

Ulysses and the Sirens, c.1909, oil on canvas, by Herbert James Draper

This year, as the winter solstice marks the return of light, Naples celebrates its 2,500th anniversary. Few cities possess such an unbroken continuity of spirit, culture, and memory. Fewer still carry their ancient inheritance with the dignity that Naples maintains.

December 21st, long regarded as the symbolic birthday of the city, binds Naples to the cosmic order the ancients revered—the turning point when darkness yields to the sun reborn. It is fitting that Neapolis, the “New City,” should claim its origins on a day once judged to lie beneath a fortunate star.

Founded in the mid–5th century BC, when the Greeks of Cumae established Neapolis beside the earlier settlement of Parthenope, the city was grounded from the beginning in beauty, measure, and reverence for the sacred. It emerged not merely as a settlement but as an inheritance to be guarded—a charge handed down from Greeks to Romans, and from Romans to the Christians who succeeded them.

Across twenty-five centuries, this inheritance has endured. While the modern world rushes toward rootlessness and forgetfulness, Naples remains anchored—loyal to its origins, faithful to the sacred, and protective of what was entrusted to it.

On this solstice, we honor a city that continues to remind us what civilization truly demands: continuity, fidelity, and devotion to higher ideals.

Buon Natale, Napoli—eternal Parthenope, jewel of the Mediterranean, and guardian of the ancient soul of the West.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, December 20th, Feast of San Vincenzo Romano

Happy Winter!

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The occasion signifies the coming increase of sunlight and the slow return of spring. In honor of this wondrous cycle I would like to share a poem by Cosimo Savastano (b. 1939 – Castel di Sangro, Abruzzo) from Dialect Poetry of Southern Italy: Texts and Criticism (A Trilingual Anthology) edited by Luigi Bonaffini, Legas, 1997, p.69.

The Kindling

Tied to the packsaddle, my love,
is the firewood, brought down from the mountain.
What hands will loosen the ropes
at dusk, once the north wind settles?

Tonight, we'll stoke the cinders
watch the swirl of sparks.
Hands locked, love rekindled,
spellbound, we will dream.
From the hearth my kindling will lord
over the house, filled with the scent of Christmas.

(Translated by Anthony Molino)

Christmas Mass Schedule at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Newark, New Jersey

Feast of San Vincenzo Romano

San Vincenzo Romano, ora pro nobis

December 20th is the universal feast of San Vincenzo Romano (1751–1831), the humble and devoted parish priest of Torre del Greco, near Naples. In his hometown and the Diocese of Naples, however, he is also celebrated on November 29th. Invoked against throat tumors, he is the patron of orphans, sailors, and Neapolitan clergy.

Born into a simple family, he felt the call to the priesthood early and was ordained in 1775. He spent his entire ministry in his native town, at the parish of Santa Croce, where he became known for his tireless work, simplicity, and deep love for the poor.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1794, devastating Torre del Greco, Romano became the moral and practical center of relief efforts. He organized aid for displaced families, comforted the wounded and grieving, and personally helped rebuild the ruined parish church—often carrying stones alongside laborers. His people later said he rebuilt not only their town but their hope.

He lived in deliberate poverty, visited the sick daily, educated children, and spent long hours in prayer before the Eucharist. His pastoral style—what he called his “method of charity”—was marked by presence, patience, and unceasing service.

San Vincenzo Romano died on December 20, 1831, beloved by his community, who regarded him as a saint from the moment of his passing. He was canonized in 2018 and is remembered as a model parish priest whose quiet holiness transformed an entire town.

Evviva San Vincenzo Romano!

In celebration of his feast, we offer this prayer:

Prayer to St. Vincent Romano

O God, light of the faithful and shepherd of souls, who set blessed Vincent in the Church to feed your sheep by his words and form them by his example, grant that through his intercession we may keep the faith he taught by his words and follow the way he showed by his example. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Simple Pleasures: Sicilian-Themed Postcards and Bookmarks at the Italian American Emporium in Little Italy, New York

Found a handful of Sicilian-themed postcards and bookmarks at the Italian American Emporium in Little Italy, New York.

New Book — Pulcinella, The Mask and the Soul of Naples: An Illustrated Story of Myth, People, and Theatre

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

• Pulcinella, The Mask and the Soul of Naples: An Illustrated Story of Myth, People, and Theatre by Davide D’Aniello

Publisher: Independently Published
Publication date: December 14, 2025
Paperback: $11.99
Language: English
Pages: 47

Read description

Click here to see more books

Listing does not imply any endorsement

Ponderable Quote from Textos de Doctrina Política by Juan Vásquez de Mella (I)

Juan Vásquez de Mella y Fanjul
(8 June 1861—18 February 1928)

Man reasons and, therefore, invents, combines, transforms, that is, progresses, and transmits to others the achievements of his progress. The first invention was the first progress; and the first progress, when transmitted to others, became the first tradition that began. Tradition is the effect of progress; but since it communicates it, that is, preserves and propagates it, it is itself social progress. Individual progress does not become social unless tradition embraces it. It is the torch that sadly goes out at its first glimmer if tradition does not take it up and lift it so that it may pass from generation to generation, renewing in new environments the brilliance of its flame.

Tradition is hereditary progress, and progress, if it is not hereditary, is not social progress. A generation, if it is the heir of previous ones, which transmit to it through hereditary tradition what they have received, can accept it and do what good heirs do: increase and perfect it, to communicate it improved to their successors. It can also squander the inheritance or repudiate it. In this case, it bequeaths misery or ruin, and if it has built something, destroying what came before, it has no right to expect the next generation, disinherited of the ruined patrimony, to accept what it has created, and it will likely be left with neither. 

This is because Tradition, if it includes the right of ancestors to immortality and respect for their works, also implies the right of subsequent generations and centuries not to have the inheritance of their predecessors destroyed by a rebellious intermediate generation. The savage autonomy of making a clean sweep of everything that came before and subjecting societies to a series of annihilations and creations is a kind of madness that would consist of asserting the right of the wave over the river and the riverbed, when tradition is the right of the river over the wave that stirs its waters.

Translation my own. Excerpt from a speech delivered at the Parque de la Salud in Barcelona, May 17, 1903; published in Juan Vásquez de Mella, Textos de Doctrina Política, Preliminary Study, Selections and Notes by Rafael Gambra, Madrid, 1953, p.27.

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.

Start Listening

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)