Calendar Class of August 19, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

My lists may not be the most exciting subject for a snapshot, but to me this image is a thing of beauty. With local schools beginning the Fall semester this week, I felt it was time today to post a visual reminder of our routines, goals, and study subjects. Of course, having friends over for lunch, especially when they bring their own homemade meatballs, is always a welcome interruption, and sometimes the best learning experiences are the unscheduled kind. We describe our educational philosophy as contemplative and Providence-led, and, if I am attentive enough, each day brings its own unplanned lessons. That was certainly the case today. This morning Cordelia asked me to read to her from The Complete Book of the Garden during our morning cuddle time (excerpted in today's quote), and Valentina actually wanted to perform a scene from Much Ado About Nothing for our guests after lunch. "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and life," said Charlotte Mason. I have taken that advice to heart and have shaped our home atmosphere and created our routines around the things we want to understand at the deepest level through daily immersion. The categories we research in order to create this blog are fundamentally about understanding our identity as human beings, stewards of the Earth, Catholics, and aspiring saints. These studies in turn shape our interests and activities, which I describe as the universal vocations of Christians-- gardeners, cooks, storytellers, and saints. Sometimes, a simple meal with friends and family can be a way of pursuing these lofty goals through just saying grace, sharing homemade dishes and conversation, and entertaining one another with some homespun theatrics.

Liturgical: Tuesday of the 20th Week of Ordinary Time

Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,  that his glory may dwell in our land. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.

Psalm 85:9, 11-12, 13-14

The Church dedicates the month of August to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is a dogma of the Catholic faith that Mary is the Immaculate Conception; that is, in preparation for the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity in her womb, she was conceived without the corruption of sin through the foreseen and infinite merits of her Son, Jesus Christ. Over the centuries, as saints and theologians reflected on how Mary pondered and treasured the sacred events from the life of Christ in her holy heart, as attested in Scripture, her pure heart was recognized as something to be imitated. Devotion to Our Lady’s purity of heart began to flower—so much so that in the 17th century, St. John Eudes promoted it alongside the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotion rose to a new level after the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, when Mary revealed an image of her Immaculate Heart to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco.

Sanctoral: John Eudes (November 14, 1601 – August 19, 1680)

How little we know where God’s grace will lead. Born on a farm in northern France, John died at 78 in the next “county” or department. In that time, he was a religious, a parish missionary, founder of two religious communities, and a great promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

"We are missionaries of mercy, sent by the father of mercy, to distribute the treasures of mercy to those in need."— St. John Eudes

"Undertake courageously great tasks for God's glory, to the extent that he'll give you power and grace for this purpose. Even though you can do nothing on your own, you can do all things in him. His help will never fail you if you have confidence in his goodness. Place your entire physical and spiritual welfare in his hands. Abandon to the fatherly concern of his divine providence every care for your health, reputation, property, and business; for those near to you; for your past sins; for your soul's progress in virtue and love of him; for your life, death, and especially your salvation and eternity—in a word, all your cares. Rest in the assurance that in his pure goodness, he'll watch with particular tenderness over all your responsibilities and cares, arranging all things for the greatest good."

—St. John Eudes

Human: National Aviation Day

Ever since 1939, August 19 has been celebrated as National Aviation Day, the legacy of a presidential proclamation first made by Franklin D. Roosevelt to celebrate the birth date of civil aviation pioneer Orville Wright. Together with his brother Wilbur, the Wrights are credited with inventing, building, and flying the world’s first successful airplane. Specifically, Orville Wright piloted the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air machine with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Although not the first to build experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls which truly made fixed-wing powered flight possible. Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio, while his partner and older brother, Wilbur Wright, was born on a farm near Millville, Indiana. Today, National Aviation Day celebrates the history and development of aviation.

Ancient Rome--- Vinalia Rustica was celebrated. That day the harvests of grapes, vegetables, and the time of nature’s fertility were celebrated. During the holidays, gardens, markets and vineyards were devoted to the oldest form of Venus – Venus Obsequens. The goal of the holiday was to ask Jupiter not to bring storms, hail, heavy rain, or floods before the grapes mature. In addition, he was asked about when the best time to harvest would be. On the same day, Venus was venerated as the goddess of vegetation and gardens. Venus was venerated as the patron of the so-called of profane wine (vinum spurcum), which was consumed every day. During the holiday, a young lamb (agna) was sacrificed.

295 BC – the temple of the goddess Venus was consecrated next to Circus Maximus.

14 AD – in the town of Nola in Campania at the age of 77, the Emperor Augustus died. His last words: Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit.

Five hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts – 1692

In a battle off Nova Scotia, the USS Constitution earned the nickname Old Ironsides and sank the British frigate HMS Guerrière – 1812

Farmer Gail Borden obtained a patent for his process for condensing milk – 1856

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 5, a space menagerie. Two dog passengers, Belka and Strelka, became the first living organisms recovered from orbit – 1960

Natural: Why Am I So Tired All the Time? 9 Surprising Causes of Fatigue (and How to Fix Them)

Italian: Via Lattea (Milky Way)

Book of the Day: The Storm Book by Charlotte Zolotow

Quote: "Gardens are our private refuges, where we can satisfy our need for beauty, tranquility, and achievement. They are worlds of nature that we help to create; tending plants, we share with the sun, the rain, and the soil the task of transforming an area of earth into leaf and blossom. The successful gardener--the one who reaps a bounty of these satisfactions--understands basic principles, and can adapt himself to changing conditions. He need not be an expert. But he should glean from experts the knowledge that will guide him."

--Reader's Digest Complete Book of the Garden