Calendar Class of April 22, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

This evening at the Domus Australia an Easter party and end-of-semester celebration was organized by the gracious rector, Fr. Joseph Hamilton. Following the Mass that preceded the party, I visited the side altar of St. Peter Chanel, where prayers for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis were being offered under this impressive processional statue of Our Lady. While it remains a festive season for the Universal Church, the festivity has been somewhat tempered throughout Rome by these somber reminders of the passing of the Pontiff.

Liturgical: Tuesday of the Easter Octave

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.

John 20:11-18

Sanctoral: Adalbert of Prague, (956 – April 23, 997). My saint of the year! He is honored with a side altar in one of my favorite places in Rome, St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island, which was originally named the church of St. Adalbert. I also very much appreciate the beautiful Basilica of St. Adalbert in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Human: Birthday of Queen Isabella I of Spain – 1451 (coincidentally, today my guests and I visited the church that Isabella and her husband Ferdinand II commissioned in Rome- San Pietro in Montorio). Long ago, I visited their tombs in the splendid city of Granada, Spain.

Birthday of J. Robert Oppenheimer (physicist) – 1904

U.S. Proclamation of Neutrality issued – 1793

Natural: Earth Day is April 22 of every year. Back on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans—10% of the U.S. population at the time—protested to bring attention to the very concerning environmental issues of the day, including oil spills, dangerous smog levels, and rivers that were so polluted that they literally caught fire. Today, Earth Day is one of the biggest civic and community events in the world and is celebrated through action to protect and restore the planet, from joining a park cleanup to joining a climate or carbon initiative to taking part in the world’s largest citizen science initiative. See more about Earth Day activities.

Italian: Lacrima (tear)

Mozart's "Lacrimosa" from his Requiem in D Minor-- magnificent.

Quote: "The distance is great from the firm belief to the realization from concrete experience." -- Queen Isabel I of Spain