A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
Surprisingly early this morning, Joseph split this pile of wood, both for fun and fuel, as the nights are quickly becoming chilly and long. Fires in the fireplace may be the best trade-off for the loss of sunlight. Although we've lived in the Eternal City the vast majority of our family life, we are not city people. Having access to our own wood and a bonfire pit is a real luxury for city dwellers that we just took for granted during our thirteen years of farm ownership. These first fall fires always remind me of this poem:
Autumn Fires
Robert Louis Stevenson
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
Brothers and sisters:
Have among yourselves the same attitude
that is also yours in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and, found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections today.
Sanctoral: Historically the Church has celebrated the Feast of the Holy Relics. Relics are objects connected with a saint, e.g., part of the body or clothing or something the person and used or touched and are venerated by the faithful.
Saint Peter Chrysologus, Italy (c. 406 – c. 450)
Human: Election Day (United States)
By an act of Congress in 1845, the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November was designated Election Day for future presidential elections. The first such election took place on November 7, 1848. Whig Party candidate Zachary Taylor won out over Democrat Lewis Cass and Free-Soil candidate (and former president) Martin Van Buren. Taylor’s running mate was Millard Fillmore, who became the nation’s 13th president on July 10, 1850, upon Taylor’s untimely death. Learn more about Election Day.
1605: Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes attempts to blow up King James I and the British Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot. The plot is discovered, and Guy Fawkes is caught, tortured, and later executed along with seven others. Celebrated ever since as Guy Fawkes Day, his effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, accompanied by fireworks.
Natural: Fall has finally arrived in Rome and the wool blankets have been distributed! Still sunny in the afternoons, November nights have grown chilly. Here's what to expect if you will be visiting this month.
Italian: Panetteria (bakery)
Quote: "Quite likely, it was Saint Peter Chrysologus’ attitude toward learning that gave substance to his exhortations. Next to virtue, learning, in his view, was the greatest improvement to the human mind and the support of true religion. Ignorance is not a virtue, nor is anti-intellectualism. Knowledge is neither more nor less a source of pride than physical, administrative, or financial prowess. To be fully human is to expand our knowledge—whether sacred or secular—according to our talent and opportunity." -Franciscan Saint of the Day
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