News Editions of The Triumph of Death, The Flame and The Child of Pleasure by Gabriele D’Annunzio

New and forthcoming titles that may be of interest to our readers. All are available at Amazon.com

• The Triumph of Death by Gabriele D’Annunzio

Publisher: Independently published

Publication Date: August 21, 2021

Paperback: $8.99

Language: English

Pages: 292

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• The Triumph of Death by Gabriele D’Annunzio

Publisher: Mint Editions

Publication Date: February 15, 2022

Hardcover: $20.99

Paperback: $9.99

Language: English

Pages: 316

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• The Flame by Gabriele D’Annunzio

Publisher: Mint Editions

Publication Date: June 21, 2021

Paperback: $11.99

Language: English

Pages: 226

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• The Flame by Gabriele D’Annunzio

Publisher: Alpha Editions

Publication Date: March 16, 2022

Hardcover: $16.99

Paperback: $13.12

Language: English

Pages: 218

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• The Child of Pleasure by Gabriele D’Annunzio

Publisher: Mint Editions

Publication Date: February 15, 2022

Hardcover: $18.99

Paperback: $11.80

Language: English

Pages: 270

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Friday of Sorrows

Madonna Addolorata, ora pro nobis

The Friday before Palm Sunday is the Friday of Sorrows, a prelude to Holy Week and a solemn remembrance of the Blessed Mother’s grief and desolation at the foot of the Cross. In commemoration we're posting a prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows by St. Alphonsus Liguori. The accompanying photo of the Madonna Addolorata was taken in the basement chapel at St. Athanasius Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Ave Maria.

Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows

I compassionate thee, O most sorrowful Mother! Thy heart was pierced with a sword of grief when Simeon foretold to thee in the Temple the ignominious death and the desolation of thy Divine and most dear Son, which thou wast destined one day to witness. By the great anguish of thy suffering heart, O gracious Queen of the universe, impress upon my mind, in life and in death, the sacred Passion of Jesus and thine own sorrows. Amen.

Meridiunalata XXIX: Int'A Sti Lágreme Toje by Cav. Charles Sant'Elia

Reprinted from Cav. Charles Sant'Elia's Meridiunalata/Southernade, an evocative bilingual (Neapolitan/ English) collection of poetry written between 1989 and 2010.*

Int'A Sti Lágreme Toje

Int' a sti lágreme toje

Veco sulo nu dimane,

Vuosche frische senza fine

E sciumme ca scórreno

Sott'a nu sole

Ca fa accréscere 'a recóveta.

Int'a sti lágreme toje

Nun nce ponno stá

'A malincunía e 'a fracetumma 'ajere,

Fummo 'e speranza ca se ne va,

Gulíe ca nun fanno chiù durmi,

L'amaro rummaso int' 'e vene.

Int'a sti lágreme toje

Nce stanno assaje cose

Ca nu juorno nce putéssemo dícere,

Quatto síecule mise nziemme

Dint'a n'abbraccio ca sape sulo mo,

Nu viento sciuscianno 'accopp'a l'onne 'argiento.

In These Tears Of Yours

In these tears of yours

I see only a tomorrow,

Cool forests without end

And rivers that run

Beneath a sun

That makes the harvest increase.

In these tears of yours

There can not be

The melancholy and rottenness of yesterday,

Smoke of hope that fades,

Longings that don't let you sleep,

The bitterness left in the blood.

In these tears of yours

There are many things

That one day we could say to each other,

Four centuries put together

In an embrace that knows only now,

A wind blowing atop the silvery waves.

* Self-published in 2010, Meridiunalata/Southernade is a treasury of poems gleaned from Cav. Sant'Elia's previous collections (Nchiuso dint''o presente, 'A cuntrora, and 'O pino e l'éllera), which were circulated among friends in New York City and Naples. Special thanks to Cav. Sant'Elia for allowing us to reprint his poetry and translations.

Commemorating First Friday and the Centenary of the Death of Blessed Emperor Karl I of Austria

Portrait of Blessed Karl I of Austria
and Gebetsliga Prayer Book

Bl. Emperor Karl and SG Empress Zita are the spiritual Monarchs of all who hold even now to what they lived and died for: The Blessed Sacrament, the Rosary, the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. Altar, Throne, Subsidiarity, Solidarity, and Christendom. Imperium et Libertas! ~ Charles A. Coulombe, Twitter, 22 March 2022

Joining in solidarity with the pilgrims at Funchal on the Isle of Madeira and all the other commemorations around the world for the centenary of the death of Blessed Emperor Karl I of Austria (1887-1922), the Fratelli della Santa Fede broke our Lenten fast Friday evening with a modest memorial dinner and a few biers at the Schnitzel Haus, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn’s only authentic Bavarian/Austrian restaurant. 

A relatively new devotion to our circle (only about six years), we prayed the Novena from the Gebetsliga Prayer Book published by the Emperor Karl League of Prayer for the nine days leading up to the memorial. The Emperor's principal feast day is celebrated on October 21. It is shared with his wife Servant of God Empress Zita (1892-1989), in memory of the imperial couple’s wedding anniversary.

A rare break from my stringent "salad" sandwiches during Lent (literally a small baguette or roll with lettuce, olive oil and lemon juice), I realized too late that the schneckenpfäennchen (broiled snails) was served in a garlic-herb butter. Having given up all meat, eggs and dairy for Lent, I will offer my unwitting gaffe up to God and make an act of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Otherwise, the dinner, drinks, and fellowship were very enjoyable.

Often referred to as the “Emperor of Peace” or “Peace Emperor,” Blessed Karl is often called on for world peace. He is also invoked by husbands, fathers and married couples, as well as against suffering and persecution. Borrowing Herr Coulombe's salut, Imperium et Libertas! Blessed Karl of Austria, ora pro nobis.

O God, through the adversities of this world You led Blessed Karl from this earthly realm to the crown reserved for him in Heaven. Grant through his intercession that we may so serve Your Son and our brothers and sisters, that we may become worthy of eternal life. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen

Jumbo "Lent" brezeln (pretzel) with red cabbage and sauerkraut

Schneckenpfaennchen (snails crusted in garlic-herb butter)

Raeucherforelle (boneless smoked trout filet onions & horseradish-apple sauce)

Rheinische Muscheln (Rhineland style mussels
in saffron-garlic white wine broth)

Hacker-Pschorr Münchner Dunkel and Raderberger Pilsner on tap

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen and Köstritzer Schwarzbier

Participants wore their Gebetsliga pins

We raffled off copies of Charles Coulombe's Blessed Charles of Austria (TAN Books, 2020) & Holy Hour of Reparation to the Sacred Heart (CMJ Books, 2001)

The dining hall is festively bedecked with old-fashioned bier steins, flagons, lithographs, and ornate circular bas relief plaques.

Happy Birthday Princess Camilla di Borbone!

HRH was born in Rome, Italy on April 5, 1971
Photo courtesy of Real Casa di Borbone

Happy Birthday Princess Camilla di Borbone — Two Sicilies, Duchess of Castro and Dame Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George! May God almighty bless you with a life full of joy and happiness. May you always find favor in His eyes. Peace be upon you. Auguri!

Celebrating First Saturday and the Feast of San Francesco di Paola with Pizza and Paulaner

Paulaner on tap at the Schnitzel Haus

Sadly, for the third year in a row, our Annual Feast of San Francesco di Paola Pizza and Paulaner Party was called off. The previous two were due to Covid restrictions and Good Friday, respectively. This year we cancelled because of our memorial dinner for the 100th anniversary of the death of Blessed Emperor Karl I of Austria. Thinking it would have been an imposition to have people come out two nights in a row, we chose the centenary over the yearly fête.

As with the previous two feasts, I still intended to keep the observance alive and celebrate privately. However, Build Back Better struck again and I was unable to find any Paulaner on the store shelves this year. Giving up all hope, San Francesco (or perhaps the Blessed Emperor) had other plans. At the Blessed Karl dinner on Friday I unexpectedly discovered that the bar actually had Paulaner bier on tap—so I knew where I was going Saturday night. 

Good pizza, like good beer, is a gracious gift from God

As for the pizza part of the celebration, I went beforehand to nearby Amunì ristorante for some sfincione. Unable to eat meat, eggs or dairy for Lent, I enjoyed the delicious Sicilian style pizza with tomato sauce, toasted breadcrumbs, and anchovy. 

Besides the fact that I enjoy an occasional German bier, the reason we drink Paulaner is because it was first brewed in Munich by the Order of Minim, an order of mendicant friars founded in 1435 by San Francesco in Calabria. The name Paulaner itself is derived from Paola, the town in Calabria where our glorious patron and wonderworker was born. Why we eat pizza presumably needs no explanation. Evviva San Francesco di Paola!

Photo of the Week: Relics of San Corrado di Baviera in the Cattedrale Santa Maria Assunta, Molfetta, Apulia

Photo by Andrew Giordano

Ripabottoni, Molise Honors Native Son Constantinian Knight Grand Cross Cav. Dr. Pietro Ramaglia

Flyer for the celebration
Photos courtesy of Nicola Tamilla

March 31, marked 220 years since the birth of Cav. Dr. Pietro Ramaglia, professor, clinician, anatomist, pathologist, diagnostician, personal doctor of King Ferdinando II, councilman of the city of Naples, and director of the celebrated scientific magazine Il Morgagni. He was born in Ripabottoni, Molise in 1802. A true scientist of our land, he created in the Hospital of Loreto Mare a museum of anatomical pathological pieces. Among the few existing during that era in Europe, the museum was greatly appreciated by the foreign doctors who frequently visited Naples. 

Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta

Dr. Ramaglia was an advocate of a “diagnostic method,” the basis of modern medicine, which was described and published by his disciple, Dr. Domenico Capozzi. His most important work, Notomia topografica, was published in 1840. An indispensable companion for surgeons and clinicians in need of knowing the regions in which to operate on, it was the first text on the subject printed in Italy. 

The church's sanctuary and high altar

In celebration of his birthday, the town of Ripabottoni honored him with a solemn Mass in the splendid Parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta. The Mass was concelebrated by Bishop, Mons. Gianfranco De Luca, the parish pastor Don Gabriele Tamilia, and the vice-pastor, Father Antonio.

Bishop, Mons. Gianfranco De Luca

Most Rev. Don Mauro Colarusso, Cav. di Grazia Ecclesiastico and Chaplain of the Abruzzo-Molise Delegation of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George, and Cav. Gianfelice Mucciaccia were in attendance. Dr. Ramaglia was a Knight of this Order, having been invested with this honor in 1859 by King Francis II for the treatments carried out on his late father, King Ferdinando II.

Dr. Gabriella Paduano

Mons. De Luca fondly recalled the figure of Dr. Ramaglia as a man who throughout his whole life lived as a true Christian. He knew no vanity; he aided those who lacked means; he dedicated every Thursday to the treatment of the poor; and he never accepted compensation for treatment to doctors or medical students, thus doubling attention and appointments for other sick patients.

Most Rev. Don Mauro Colarusso, Cav. di Grazia Ecclesiastico
and Chaplain of the Abruzzo-Molise Delegation of the
Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George

The Mayor, Orazio Civetta, underscored the honor of Ripabottoni at having given rise to the illustrious scientist. He was not ambitious, but rather he was humble and worked only towards the purpose of helping science. A beautiful soul, he is the St. Giuseppe Moscati of our Molise.

Cav. Gianfelice Mucciaccia

Many administrators of neighboring communes attended, sensitive to the history and culture of our land. “Forming a team, overcoming provincialisms, which are always harmful, which result in clientelism, one may achieve positive objectives for our depopulated boroughs,” said Bishop De Luca.

Memorial wreath with portrait of Cav. Dr. Pietro Ramaglia

Dr. Gabriella Paduano, a historian and native of Ripabottoni, also spoke at length to the participants about the life and work of Dr. Ramaglia. Dr. Paduano together with Don Gabriele Tamilia, the organizers of the event, are nearing publication of a book on the Ripese scientist, through attentive research of documents in large part never before published, which are preserved in the State Archives of Naples. 

~ By Dr. Gabriella Paduano

New Book: The Unrepentant Catholic's Cautionary Calendar

New title that may be of interest to our readers. Available at aroucapress.com

• The Unrepentant Catholic's Cautionary Calendar (Companion Volume to the Collected Works) by Dr. John Rao

Publisher: Arouca Press

Publication Date: March 14, 2022

Hardcover: $22.95

Paperback: $15.95

Language: English

Pages: 170

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The Centenary of the Death of Blessed Emperor Karl I of Austria

Blessed Karl I of Austria, ora pro nobis

Beatification Prayers*

God our Father, through the gift of Blessed Emperor Karl You have given us an example to follow. In extremely difficult times he performed his burdensome tasks without ever losing his faith. He always followed Your Son, the true King.

He led a humble life, sincerely loving the poor and giving himself heart and soul to the search for peace. Even when his life was in danger he trusted in You, putting his life in Your hands. Almighty and Merciful God, by the intercession of Blessed Emperor Karl, we pray that You may give us his unconditional faith to support us in our most difficult situations, and the courage to always follow the example of Your only Son.

Open our hearts to the poor, and strengthen our commitment for peace within our families and among all peoples. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

* * *

O Blessed Emperor Karl, you accepted the difficult tasks and burdensome challenges that God gave you during your life. In every thought, decision and action you trusted always in the Holy Trinity. We pray to you to intercede for us with the Lord our God to give us faith and courage, so that even in the most difficult situations of our earthly lives we may not lose heart, but continue faithfully in the footsteps of Christ. 

Ask for us the grace that our hearts may be moulded into the likeness of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Help us to work with compassion and strength for the poor and needy, to fight with courage for peace in our homes and in the world, and in every situation to trustingly place our lives in the hands of God, until we reach Him, as you did, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

* Courtesy of the Emperor Karl League of Prayer

Ponderable Quote from "The Ruling Class" by Gaetano Mosca: Causes of Socialism

Gaetano Mosca
April 1, 1858—Nov. 8, 1941
Sicilian jurist and philosopher

There is no denying that a man's ability to maintain the standard of living to which he has been accustomed, and especially a sense of security for the morrow, are conditions that are indispensable to a certain well-being. But it is no less true that many other elements, objective and subjective, figure in individual happiness. The man who has a kindly disposition and a well-balanced temperament may be far more nearly satisfied with life than another man who has more wealth than he, and a better social position. The very fact that the world generally recognizes that the former has been inadequately rewarded may, along with the inner approval that he gets from his own conscience, contribute not a little to his greater felicity. 

Other doctrines, other beliefs, have found themselves confronted with the grave and tormenting problem of life, in which the just and the good often succumb while the unjust and the wicked triumph. But the solutions they have found have been different from the solutions that socialism proposes. The Stoics realized that they could not banish unhappiness from the world. They therefore taught their disciples to endure it bravely. Unable to promise everyone the enjoyment of material pleasures, they urged even those who were in a position to enjoy them lavishly to scorn them. The same scorn of material pleasures and of the joys of the flesh we find in Christianity in its early days, and in all its moments of fanaticism. Exaggeration of that tendency may lead to a sort of mysticism, which sometimes alienates noble characters, souls that are predisposed to self-sacrifice, from the world and from life. Such teachings are not only morally higher; they are also more practical than the diametrically opposite teachings of socialists in general. These latter are likely to result in a lowering, momentary at least, of some of the noblest sentiments in human nature. Socialists are not the first to have preached equality and to have aspired to absolute justice in the world. But equality and absolute justice can be preached by urging toleration, mutual indulgence, brotherly love; and they can be preached by appealing to hatred and violence. One may bid the rich and the powerful to look upon the poor and unhappy as their brothers; and the poor and unhappy can be made to believe that the rich and powerful are their enemies. The first line was followed by Jesus, the Apostles, and St. Francis of Assisi, who said to the rich, "Give!" The second is followed by the majority of present-day socialists, who describe the pleasures of the rich as the product of the sweat of the poor man's brow and implicitly or explicitly say, "Take!" Such substantial differences in method can only lead to significant differences in practical results.

Reprinted from The Ruling Class by Gaetano Mosca, p.309-310, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1939

Photo of the Week: The Dead Christ Supported by the Angels in the Chiesa di Santo Stefano in Molfetta

Photo by Andrew Giordano

New Book: The Serpent Coiled in Naples

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

• The Serpent Coiled in Naples by Marius Kociejowski

Publisher: Haus Publishing

Publication Date: September 20, 2022

Hardcover: $27.95

Language: English

Pages: 506

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