A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
A long, dusty road- the via Aurelia- connects the city of Rome to the Tyrrhenian Sea. Less than an hour from the busy capital you can find sleepy beach towns such as Santa Marinella, where locals and a few late season tourists soak up the last few days of swimming weather. My little mermaids feel most at home in the water, so we took a spontaneous, short trip out to the town where we once lived before they were born. Bombed during WWII, only remnants of its "Liberty Style" golden age still survive. Once named Punicum (which means pomegranate) during the Etruscan era, it was renamed Santa Marinella after a community of Middle Eastern monks emigrated here around 1000 AD, created a village, and spread the cult of Saint Marina. Marina the saint is only related to the word "mare", or sea, by spelling, but, I am sure, as a port and fishing town, the name was adopted also for its association with the sea.
Liturgical: Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire. Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. Yet all good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands.
Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon: What Do You Ask God For?
Fr. Plant's Homily: The Eye of a Needle
Sanctoral: According to the previous liturgical calendar (1962), today is the feast of St. Edward (1003-1066), called the Confessor, was the grandson of St. Edward, king and martyr, and became king of England at the age of forty-seven. As king he was noted for his gentleness, humility, detachment and angelic purity. He preserved perfect chastity in his wedded life. So little was his heart set on riches that he freely dispensed his goods at the palace gate to the sick and poor. His reign was one of almost continuous peace. The people were prosperous and ruined churches were rebuilt. All spoke affectionately of the wise measures of the "good King Edward."
Human: The Fontinalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome on this day. It was a festival in honor of springs and the god Fons, during which fountains were decorated with flowers and the flakes were thrown into the water. In Italy, summer often brought drought, hence the Romans counted on the providence of their god, who would send regular rains and provide a good harvest.
54 AD – on the night of October 12 and 13, the emperor Claudius died as a result of Agrippina’s order to poison him with mushrooms. Her son from the first marriage, Nero, who was adopted by Claudius, came to power. The new ruler announced that he would limit his power only to military affairs and restore full competence of the Senate and consuls.
Natural: Did the sun appear to "dance" on this day in 1917? An estimated 70,000 people in Fatima, Portugal thought so. This event has come be known as "the miracle of the sun."
Italian: Gettare la spugna (to throw in the sponge / towel)
Quote: “…Pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, for she alone can be of any avail.”
--Third Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima – July 13, 1917
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