A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
My Art and Architecture of Rome students' final project is the creation of their own coat of arms, including a motto in Latin. This semester one of the students asked me if I had created my own and surprisingly, I haven't! I'll be sure to join them next semester and the motto pictured above, which I have frequently reflected upon in the church of San Pietro in Montorio (including on this Holy Thursday), is what I will use. If I have translated the Latin words in the correct order, it reads "Both life and death are sweet to the Good." It is a more uplifting memento mori than most and expresses what may be the key to lasting happiness in this world-- the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness that transforms bitterness into sweetness, and leads us eventually to the ultimate Good, communion with God.
Liturgical: Thursday of Holy Week, "Maundy Thursday "
Station Church: San Giovanni in Laterano
Sanctoral: John of Capistrano, Kingdom of Naples +1456 You have to read this story! Saints have the most dramatic lives.
Human: All the history of the day from Wiki; Old Farmer's Almanac round-up
1384-- It was a good day for cats in England. King Richard II condemned the eating of cats as a culinary option.
Natural: The ingredients and traditions of a Jewish Seder Meal
Quote: Mandátum novum do vobis dicit Dóminus, ut diligátis ínvicem, sicut diléxi vos. "I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34)
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