A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
You all are already aware that I am a bit of a lunatic, a lover of all things lunar, and therefore won't be surprised that I am posting yet another photo of the rosy full strawberry moon of June reflected in the lake. Lots more info on this below, including a poem by Poe.
Liturgical: Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
"The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be."
Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections for today.
Sanctoral: Aloysius Gonzaga, Jesuit, +1591. His sanctuary in Italy, a place of pilgrimage. Some relics are also kept in the splendid Baroque church of Sant' Ignazio in Rome. Although not a scientist himself, many of Gonzaga's Jesuit brothers were, including Fr. Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian priest who is credited as the father of the Big Bang Theory. The anniversary of his death was yesterday in 1966. Tonight, as you gaze at the enormous full moon, you might be able to make out a few of the over 30 craters that are named after different Jesuit astronomers, honoring their significant contributions to science.
Human: World Music Day and my all-time favorite "moon song"; National Indigenous Peoples Day (Canada); 70 AD – restoration of the Capitol began in Rome, as some part of the buildings (including the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus) burned in 69 AD, during the civil war between Vespasian and Vitellius.
Writer's Almanac for June 21
Natural: A very special full strawberry moon tonight! Also called the Berries Ripen Moon by some Native American tribes, and the Honey Moon or Mead Moon in parts of Europe. June was traditionally the month of marriage and is even named after the Roman goddess of marriage, Juno. Following marriage comes the “honeymoon,” which may be tied to this alternative Moon name! A month's supply of honey was a traditional gift for newlyweds in some European countries in the Middle Ages. More on this soon, with a recipe.
Italian Word of the Day: Ruvido (rough / uneven)
Etc.: Here is a summer-themed article on the stoic concept of the virtue of justice, among other virtues.
Quote: At midnight, in the month of June,
I stand beneath the mystic moon.
An opiate vapor, dewy, dim,
Exhales from out her golden rim,
And softly dripping, drop by drop,
Upon the quiet mountain top,
Steals drowsily and musically
Into the universal valley.
The rosemary nods upon the grave;
The lily lolls upon the wave;
Wrapping the fog about its breast,
The ruin moulders into rest;
Looking like Lethe, see! the lake
A conscious slumber seems to take,
And would not, for the world, awake.
All Beauty sleeps!—and lo! where lies
Irene, with her Destinies!
--Edgar Allen Poe, from "The Sleeper"
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