A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
Valentina made this artistic arrangement for her butternut squash soup, one of the most anticipated autumnal dishes. At this time of year, as the temperatures plummet, the girls are embracing their inner hobbit nature and savoring the flavors of Fall before returning to still-unbearably-hot Rome. It is this short window of opportunity that makes these natural pleasures so pleasant. Would we still crave pumpkin spice lattes if they were available all year round? I think not. Seasonal living is delicious, and the more natural, healthier way for human beings to eat, exercise, sleep, think, and celebrate. So, bring on the pumpkins!
"We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently."
Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections today.
Sanctoral: The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Regina (Reine) (d. 286). She, after undergoing many cruel torments, was beheaded for the faith at Aliza. Aliza was formerly a large town called Alexia, famous for the siege which Caesar laid to it, now a small village in the diocese of Autun in Burgundy. Her martyrdom happened in the persecution of Decius, in 251, or under Maximian Herecleus in 286, as different Martyrologies disagree. She is honored in many ancient Martyrologies. Her relics are kept with great devotion in the neighboring abbey of Flavigni, a league distant, whither they were translated in 864, and where they have been rendered famous by miracles and pilgrimages, of which a history is published by two monks of that abbey. —Butler's Lives of the Saints
St. Cloud (Clodoald) (522-560) is also commemorated today. He was a grandson of King Clovis of the Franks and the youngest son of King Clodomir of Orleans. He and his brothers were raised by their grandmother St. Clotilda, Queen of the Franks. Two of his brothers, Theodoald and Gunther, were slain at the ages of ten and nine by their uncle Clotaire, king of the Franks from 558-561. Clodoald survived by being sent to Provence, France. There he became a hermit and a disciple of St. Severinus. He remained at Nogent, near Paris, retired there, and led a community of holy brothers by his example. The town of Saint Cloud grew up around the monastery.
Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, France +1853
Human: Birthday of Queen Elizabeth I of England – 1533, Grandma Moses (painter) – 1860, poet Isabella Gardner - 1915; death of Gregory Mcdonald – 2008; Google Inc. was founded– 1998
70 AD – Titus Flavius, son of the emperor Vespasian, captured and ravaged Jerusalem during the Jewish uprising.
355 AD – the emperor Claudius Silvanus was murdered when he went to the chapel. He was a usurper of a Frankish origin who appeared in Gaul and competed for full power with Constantius II for 28 days.
The Writer's Almanac edition today:
It was on this day in 1927 that the first successful television image was demonstrated, by the inventor Philo T. Farnsworth. Farnsworth was a Mormon farm boy from Utah, and he grew up in a log cabin. When the family moved to a house in Idaho, Farnsworth was amazed that the house had electricity — he had never seen it before.
Natural: Edith Eleanor McLean was the first baby to be placed in an incubator– 1888
Quote: "Progress"
I did not just drag and drop.
I did not just haul a burden so heavy
that my hands, arms, and shoulders
gave way
and I had to let it go.
Neither did I just browse.
I did not get on my hands and knees
and join the gentle cows
to slowly sample
whatever the open field had to offer.
Instead, I sat here at my desk
manipulating a mouse
which is not, in fact, a mouse
and I searched
for something on the web
that is not, in fact, a web.
And isn't this how we move forward:
with horsepower for jet engines
and candlepower for light bulbs
we take what we understand from one era
to describe
what we don't
in the next.
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