Calendar Class of April 9, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

In a big, busy city like Rome, choosing one street over another can produce a whole new set of unexpected experiences. Today after school, I decided to take Cordelia up the broad boulevard via della Conciliazione instead of the shorter road home. That's how we happened upon the most beautiful dog I've ever seen (no offense, Odin). Those dramatic black "eyebrows "! Fortunately, he was as friendly as he was handsome and we were able to get lots of photos, which encouraged many other passerby to do likewise. The delighted Italian owner stood patiently by while the paparazzi flocked around his husky. It created many smiles and friendly conversational exchanges that otherwise wouldn't have happened in such a touristy, anonymous milieu.

Liturgical: Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Mass readings and Gospel reflections

Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin."

John 8:31-42

Sanctoral: Saint Casilda of Spain, +1050

Her father was a Muslim leader in Toledo, Spain, in the 10th century. Casilda was a devout Muslim but was kind to Christian prisoners. She became ill as a young woman but did not trust that any of the local Arab doctors could cure her. So she made a pilgrimage to the shrine of San Vicenzo in northern Spain. Like so many other people who made their way there—many of them suffering from hemorrhages—Casilda sought the healing waters of the shrine. We’re uncertain what brought her to the shrine, but we do know that she left it relieved of illness.

In response, she became a Christian and lived a life of solitude and penance not far from the miraculous spring. It’s said that she lived to be 100 years old. Her death likely occurred around the year 1050.

Human: Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles – 2005

193 AD – Roman legions proclaimed Septimius Severus the new emperor. After a few years of civil war, he defeated his competitors: Didius Julius, Pescennius Niger, and Clodius Albinus. He started a new Roman-Syrian dynasty (Severan).

Natural: Wild Violets Are Edible! Discover Their Benefits and Uses

Italian: Rottame (wreck / piece of junk)

Quote: "Men cannot improve a society by setting fire to it: they must seek out its old virtues, and bring them back into the light." --Russell Kirk