Calendar Class of April 29, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

This is the most popular place to be today in Rome- inside the glass case containing the body (not the head; that part's in Siena!) of St. Catherine of Siena. Ever since discovering that her feast day is April 29, the day my Dad died, I've made sure to attend her feast day Mass in the place where her mortal remains rest, Santa Maria sopra Minerva. As it turns out, this was my Dad's favorite church in Rome (unsurprisingly, considering that it's the only Gothic church left standing in Rome and he was rather gothic himself). It is also located just next to the hotel he stayed in when in Rome in the 1950s-- the Albergo Minerva (re-opened just two weeks ago after extensive renovations). We left our prayers for the repose of our loved ones' souls in the hands of St. Catherine, then went over to the rooftop wine bar to celebrate life. The Mass itself was high drama; my Dad would have loved it. As we rushed to the green front doors of the basilica, a huge gust of wind came sweeping in, preparing a path for the thunderstorm following it. Thunder rolled ominously without as Cardinal Schonborn delivered a lengthy homily within. Afterwards we found our way out of the church past the floor tomb of Fra Angelico, into a back street. The storm had passed, leaving behind it a luminescent world, made even more magical by the fading Golden Hour sunlight.

Liturgical: Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

John 3:7b-15

Sanctoral: Catherine of Siena (March 25, 1347 – April 29, 1380)

The value Catherine makes central in her short life and which sounds clearly and consistently through her experience is complete surrender to Christ. What is most impressive about her is that she learns to view her surrender to her Lord as a goal to be reached through time.

Catherine ranks high among the mystics and spiritual writers of the Church. In 1939, she and Francis of Assisi were declared co-patrons of Italy. Pope Paul VI named her and Teresa of Avila doctors of the Church in 1970. Her spiritual testament is found in The Dialogue.

Human: The Dies Natalis of Russell Amos Augustine Kirk- 1994

Natural: Dark Matter! Did Most of the Universe Go Missing?

Italian: Erba (grass)

Quote: "We have all been given our little vineyard, but the way in which we cultivate it is of great importance for the prosperity of our neighbor's vineyard... In fact all our vineyards are a part of the Lord's great vineyard, the Holy Church, and we are all bound to work here too."

--St. Catherine of Siena