A Quiet Rediscovery of Time: Ernst Jünger’s The Sandglass Book

Sandglasses in a friend's art studio

Time simply accumulates in depth.
~ Ernst Jünger

As a longtime admirer of Ernst Jünger, I was immediately intrigued by this recent translation of The Sandglass Book (released March 25, 2026). I purchased and downloaded a Kindle copy to my device without hesitation.

Having read only the introduction and first chapter thus far, I can already say it captures what has long drawn me to Jünger: a reflective engagement with time, memory, and the inner life as shaped by them. His reflections move from the concrete to the symbolic, touching on images such as Melencolia I and Saint Jerome in His Study, both by Albrecht Dürer, in which the sandglass becomes part of a deeper contemplative world.

The prose moves deliberately, inviting the reader to slow down and consider what modern life tends to rush past.

Rodica Buzescu’s translation is clear and attentive, preserving the contemplative tone while making the text accessible to an English-speaking audience. It unfolds naturally, allowing the reader to arrive at its insights on their own.

If the opening is any indication, this is a work to be read patiently and returned to often. I couldn’t wait to share it.

The Crowned Stillness and Hidden Fire of May

Salve, Regina

May arrives not with struggle, but with fullness. What March prepared and April awakened, now stands revealed. The earth is no longer tentative; it has committed itself to life. Growth is no longer a promise, but a fact.

Where earlier months demanded endurance, May requires attention. It is easy to mistake abundance for permanence. The Church, in her order, dedicates the month to the Blessed Virgin, placing all this fullness under her maternal and watchful presence.

At the beginning, the memory of St. Joseph the Worker remains close at hand. Labor, so often unseen and uncelebrated, is affirmed as a path of dignity. Creation itself continues through work—quiet, steady, and ordered.

Soon after, Our Lady of Fatima enters the month like a warning carried on light. Her message is not gentle sentiment, but a call to repentance and vigilance. Even in a season of flowering, there is no release from responsibility.

Midway through, Constantine the Great stands as a figure of transformation. With him, the faith steps from shadow into public life. Power and belief meet uneasily, reminding us that triumph in the world always carries risk alongside promise.

By the end of the month, the Queenship of Mary crowns what has been growing all along. Authority here is not seized, but bestowed. It is the fulfillment of obedience, the elevation of humility into sovereignty.

May does not struggle like February or reckon like March. It reveals, crowns, and brings all things, in their fullness, under Our Lady's mantle.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, April 30th, Feasts of Santa Caterina da Siena and Beato Benedetto da Urbino 

Saints of the Day for May

(L-R) St. Joseph the Worker, the Madonna Incoronata, and St. Joan of Arc 

May is the month the Church dedicates to the Blessed Virgin Mary, setting it apart as a season of particular devotion, when the faithful turn with greater attention to honor her, seek her intercession, and contemplate her role in the mystery of redemption.

• The first Sunday in May is the Feast of Santissimo Crocifisso Padre di Grazia
• The first Sunday in May is the Feast of the Madonna di Setteporte
• The second Sunday in May is the Feast of San Liberato Martire
• The last Saturday of May is the Feast of the Madonna delle Milizie di Scicli
• The Monday following Pentecost Feast of the Madonna Avvocata
• May 1 — Festa dei Serpari — Feast of the Snake Handlers
• May 1 — Feast of St. Joseph the Worker
• May 2 — Feast of Sant’Atanasio il Grande
• May 3 — Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross
• May 3 — La Festa di I Tri da Cruci — The Feast of the Three Crosses
• May 3 — Feast of the Madonna di Castello
• May 4 — Feast of Beata Sandra Sabattini

• May 4 — Feast of Santa Monica
• May 4 — Feast of San Floriano di Lorch
• May 4 — Novena to Our Lady of Fátima
• May 5 — Feast Day Sant'Angelo Martire
• May 5 — Feast of the Blessed Martyrs of Motril
• May 5 — Feast of San Nunzio Sulprizio
• May 6 — Feast of San Giovanni a Porta Latina
• May 8 — Feast of the Apparition of San Michele Arcangelo
• May 8 — Feast of Blessed Luigi Rabatà
• May 8 — Feast of Sant’Agazio Martire
• May 8 — Traditional May 8th Supplica — Petition to the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii
• May 9 — Feast of San Gregorio Nazianzeno

• May 10 — Feast of the Three Saints: Sant'Alfio, San Filadelfo and San Cirino
• May 10 — Feast of San Cataldo
• May 11 — Feast of San Francesco de Geronimo

• May 12 — Feast of San Filippo d’Agira
• May 13 — Feast of the Madonna di Fátima
• May 14 — Feast of San Bonosio
• May 14 — Feast of the Beato Simeon Maria Cardon
• May 15 — Feast of San Liberatore
• May 16 — Feast of St. Simon Stock
• May 17 — Feast of Santa Restituta
• May 17 — Feast of San Pasquale Baylon
• May 18 — Feast of San Venanzio di Camerino, Martire
• May 19 — Feast of Santa Pudenziana di Roma
• May 20 — Feast of San Bernardino da Siena
• May 21 — Feast of the Madonna Della Fontana
• May 21 — Novena to Santa Giovanna d’Arco
• May 21 — Feast of San Costantino il Grande
• May 22 — Feast of Santa Rita da Cascia
• May 23 — Feast of Sant’Eframo di Napoli
• May 23 — Feast of Beata Maria Crocifissa del Divino Amore
• May 24 — Feast of Blessed Mario Vergara
• May 24 — Feast of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice
• May 25 — Feast of San Gregorio VII
• May 26 — Feast of San Filippo Neri
• May 26 — Feast of the Madonna dei Miracoli
• May 27 — Feast of St. Bede the Venerable
• May 28 — Feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury
• May 29 — Feast of Saints Cuono and Conello
• May 29 — Feast of Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi
• May 30 — Feast of Santa Giovanna d’Arco
• May 30 — Sfilata dei Turchi e Festa di San Gerardo La Porta — Parade of the Turks and the Feast of Saint Gerard
• May 30 — Feast of San Ferdinando III, King of Castile and León
• May 31 — Feast of Santa Maria Mater Domini
• May 31 — The Queenship of Mary

Saint John Before the Latin Gate at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco, California