A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
I am right now standing at one of my favorite places in Rome, the fields surrounding the catacombs of San Calisto. While the others are exploring under ground in the darkened crypts, I am soaking up the last hour of daylight on the shortest day of the year. O Oriens, O Dayspring!
Liturgical: Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.
Mt 5:13-19
Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections today.
Today is the Fifth of the O Antiphons, O Oriens (O Radiant Dawn/O Dayspring/O Morning Star). It is the Sun, the Redeemer, whom we await. "I am the light [the sun] of the world" (John 8:12). Christ is the light of the world because of the faith which He has infused into souls. He has enlightened the world by His teaching and by the example of His life. In the crib, in Nazareth, on the cross on Calvary, in the tabernacle of our churches, He answers the eternal questioning of the benighted soul.
Sanctoral: Today the Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Peter Canisius (1521-1597), who was born at Nijmegen, Holland, at the very time that Luther began to rebel against the Church and St. Ignatius Loyola was laying the foundations of the Jesuit Order. After studying the arts, civil law and theology, St. Peter joined the Jesuit Order and was ordained a priest in 1546. He is noted especially for the following services to the Church: he defended the Catholic faith against the Protestants; by preaching, writing, founding colleges and seminaries, he caused Catholic life to flourish; he rendered invaluable services to the ecumenical Council of Trent; he wrote many catechisms which were translated into twelve languages in his own life time. He died in Fribourg, Switzerland.
Human: In the Northern Hemisphere, today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It's officially the first day of winter and one of the oldest-known holidays in human history. Anthropologists believe that solstice celebrations go back at least 30,000 years, before humans even began farming on a large scale. Many of the most ancient stone structures made by human beings were designed to pinpoint the precise date of the solstice. The stone circles of Stonehenge were arranged to receive the first rays of midwinter sun.
Some ancient peoples believed that because daylight was waning, it might go away forever, so they lit huge bonfires to tempt the sun to come back. The tradition of decorating our houses and our trees with lights at this time of year is passed down from those ancient bonfires. In ancient Egypt and Syria, people celebrated the winter solstice as the sun's birthday. In ancient Rome, the winter solstice was celebrated with the festival of Saturnalia, during which all business transactions and even wars were suspended, and slaves were waited upon by their masters.
The Writer's Almanac edition today.
Natural: The winter solstice is one of the two times each year that the Sun is at its farthest point from the equator and appears to stand still. The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol, or “Sun,” and stitium, or “stoppage.”
Italian: Ancora vs Di nuovo – What’s the difference?
Quote: Henry David Thoreau said: "In winter we lead a more inward life. Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts, whose windows and doors are half concealed, but from whose chimneys the smoke cheerfully ascends."
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