A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
The other day happened to be Squirrel Appreciation Day, but every morning brings another opportunity to appreciate these aerial acrobats. Here's a video I captured this morning of some impressive rapid-fire eating skills. Any appreciation of squirrels must include a mention of Nutsawoo, the havoc-causing character from The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. Despite their cute antics, I highly doubt squirrels would make good pets, but I'm happy to be proved wrong.
Liturgical: Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.
Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections today.
Sanctoral: St. Angela Merici
The saint was born in 1474 in the diocese of Verona. Early in life she dedicated herself to Christ as His bride. After the death of her parents, she desired to live solely for God in quiet and solitude, but her uncle insisted that she manage his household. She renounced her patrimony in order to observe most perfectly the rule for Franciscan Tertiaries.
During a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1524, she lost her eyesight temporarily. Pope Clement VII, whom she visited in Rome, desired her to remain in the Holy City. Later she founded a society for girls, under the protection of St. Ursula; this was the beginning of the Ursuline Order. St. Angela's body rests in Chiesa di Sant' Angela Merici in Brescia, Italy. The original church (formerly called Sant'Afra) that housed her relics was destroyed during World War II on March 2, 1945. The present sanctuary was built over this destroyed church. Her remains are said to be incorrupt.
Human: Today is the birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born in Salzburg, Austria (1756). By the age of five, he was proficient at the violin and piano and had begun composing. In his short lifetime, he composed more than 600 works in almost every genre of the day. Joseph Haydn is said to have told Mozart's father, "Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name." He later wrote of Mozart that "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years."
On this day in 1302, the great Italian poet Dante Alighieri was exiled from Florence for his political sympathies. Dante was a leading supporter of the white Guelph party, which was opposed to extreme papal power. When the Black Guelph party seized power in Florence in 1302, they immediately expelled Dante from the city. He spent the next two decades wandering from place to place in northern and central Italy, estranged from his wife and kids and often living in poverty. His only solace during his exile was writing. He wrote his greatest work, The Divine Comedy, an epic poem about a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Just before his death, his children visited him in Ravenna; it was the first time he had seen them since he left Florence almost 20 years before.
The Writer's Almanac edition today.
Natural: The evening hours brought us a blizzard today, which is always exciting to watch from behind thick glass (though I did run out in it for a moment to take in the huge flakes). It's a good night to revisit the incredible, intricate beauty of the snowflake. With perfect timing, my friend Sheila just published this piece: "Snowflake" Bentley Saw What Others Missed: Can One Man’s Fascination with Snowflakes Inspire Wonder and Teach Us to Find Magic in the Everyday?
Italian: Sconosciuto (stranger)
Quote: "If you enjoy nature, you will enjoy life." --Valentina Assaf
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