Liturgical: Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
Bishop Barron's homily: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7gZTURkbLk
Fr. Geoffrey Plant's homily: Wise men from the East. Homily for the feast of the Epiphany, Year B. (youtube.com)
From Barcelona, Spain; Dominican; founded the Order of our Lady of Mercy for the Ransom of Captives (Mercedarians) with St. Peter Nolasco; Chaplain, Penitentiary, and Confessor of Pope Gregory IX.
Human: Pope Francis baptized 16 infants in the Sistine Chapel today; Orthodox Christmas; Distaff Day in England (back to work day for women at the spinning wheel)
Natural: The annual blessing of the water on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord in the Maronite church today
The gloom of a gray day and the comfort of Earl Grey tea
Quote: “The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, and the fruit of service is peace.” St. Teresa of Calcutta
Vocabulary: Bamboozle- to deceive by trickery; to cajole by confusing the senses; to hoax; to mystify; to humbug
Today's Carpe Diem Snapshot: Madonna del Silenzio-- a new mentor for the new year
Have you ever heard of Our Lady of Silence? I hadn't either until introduced to her recently by my good friend Ashley. Now (as these things tend to go) I bump into her image everywhere. Life is funny that way, and full of little ironies.
At this time last year, the same Ashley inquired of me whether or not I intended to continue making daily Calendar Class videos, as I had done in 2022. I replied that 2023 would be a less active year, more a year of contemplation. In a sense it was, as soon after, illness set in for Cordelia and many quiet days of prayer were then spent in the hospital.
Perhaps it was a preparation for 2024 and my introduction to Our Lady of Silence. Shortly before the New Year, I woke up unable to speak- I had lost my voice entirely! Fortunately, I had already planned to begin this blog and still had plenty to "say" through writing. It's been over a week now that I've been croaking out sounds like a frog, certainly not capable of producing videos. And so, I began writing again, and have rediscovered how much I enjoy this medium and how the practice has increased my powers of observation and articulation. Living in- and silently being attentive to- the moment is certainly a Carpe Diem approach to life.
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