A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
According to the Coffee and Cream Cafe chalkboard, today is "National Find Your Inner Nerd Day." The guys and I couldn't resist the opportunity to ham it up (ok, I actually just coerced them!). If being a major bibliophile is today's definition of a nerd, we are happy to be guilty as charged!
Liturgical: Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections today.
Sanctoral: The Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the first canonized saint of the Western Hemisphere. St. Rose might also be considered a type of the special vocation of contemplative-in-the-world. Inspired by the example of St. Catherine of Siena, Rose became a Dominican lay tertiary and devoted herself to works of active charity while living a life of extreme austerity. She longed to evangelize the Indians, not at all discouraged by the thought that they would probably kill her. St. Martin de Porres and St. John Masias were among her friends. She died at the age of 31, praying, "Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase your love in my heart."
Human: the birthday of the absolutely fabulous Ashley Puglia Noronha!
This day in Rome:
Vulcanalia was celebrated, a feast in honor of Vulcan, the god of fire. At that time, other deities were worshiped: Maia, Hora and Ops. The temple of Vulcan in Rome was located in Forum Romanum on the Capitoline Hill. Vulcan’s shrine was also in Campus Martius. Interestingly, the Etruscan priests (haruspices) recommended to the Romans that the temple should always be outside the city limits.
79 AD– Vesuvius for the first time began to be active; on the day of the feast of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
30 BC– after a successful invasion of Egypt, Augustus condemned the older son of Mark Antony – Marcus Antonius Antyllus – and the only son of Cleopatra and Caesar – Caesarion, to death.
476 AD – the commander of the German mercenaries in the service of Rome, Odoacer, was proclaimed by the army “the king of Italy” (rex Italiae). Then 5 days later Orestes, the head of the Roman army and father of Romulus Augustulus – the last emperor – was captured and killed in Placentia. Then his son Romulus was deprived of power and exiled. This event is considered to be the end of the Western Roman Empire. Odoacer was an Arian, and in his youth he fought in Gaul, then in Noricum (today’s Austria), where he met with the monk Severinus, later a saint.
Natural: Phenology
The study of natural periodic events in the life-cycle of plants (and animals).
Italian: Birbone (naughty / dirty / roguish)
Quote: If only we would learn how great it is to possess divine grace and how many riches it has within itself, how many joys and delights. We would devote all our concern to winning for ourselves pains and afflictions, in order to attain the unfathomable treasure of grace.” --St Rose of Lima
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