Calendar Class of February 15, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

This little skull received more visitors yesterday than all the rest of the days of the year combined. It is the skull of St. Valentine, of course, held in a reliquary in a side chapel in Santa Maria in Cosmedin, one of my favorite churches in Rome. It is an annual pilgrimage I take with Valentina, to celebrate her onomastico. This year, we made the pilgrimage in the company of the ladies of Villa Magnolia, and we all began the mini retreat at the Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, another Roman martyr who "died for love."

Liturgical: Saturday of the 5th week of Ordinary Time

You turn us back to dust,

and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”

For a thousand years in your sight

are like yesterday when it is past,

or like a watch in the night.

You sweep them away; they are like a dream,

like grass that is renewed in the morning;

in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;

in the evening it fades and withers.

So teach us to count our days

that we may gain a wise heart.

Psalm 90

Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections today.

Sanctoral: The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Claude de la Colombiere (1641-1682), a Jesuit priest, was the first to believe in the mystical revelations of the Sacred Heart given to St. Margaret Mary in Paray le Monial Convent, France. Thanks to his support, St. Margaret Mary’s superior also believed, and propagation of the devotion to the Sacred Heart was started.

It is also the commemoration of St. Onesimus (c. 90), the former slave who is mentioned in St. Paul's Letter to Philemon as the slave of Philemon in Colossae, Phrygia, who ran away.

Also commemorated are Sts. Faustinus and Jovita (d. 120), two martyrs of Brescia, in Italy, where they are the patrons of the city. A late account of their martyrdom makes them two brothers, one, Faustinus, a priest, and the other, Jovita, a deacon.

Our Lady of Paris is one of the names given to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The devotion to Our Lady, in Paris, dates back to the first century and is thought to be related to St. Paul's travels around France at that time. The statue of Our Lady of Paris can be venerated in Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral. Our Lady has a beautiful dress and a crown on her head as symbols of royalty. She is holding her son Jesus Christ. Jesus has a ball in his hand representing the earth because Jesus is the Savior of the world.

Human: In Roman history today

Lupercalia was celebrated, which was a holiday in honor of Faunus or the primary old italian god of the shepherd, Lupercus, who used to guard their sheep against the wolves. The festival was to be established by the mythological figure Evander. The cult of Faunus – a Roman deity, half a man, half a goat – played a big role during Lupercalia. There was a Roman legend connected with Faustulus, a shepherd who would find twins (Romulus and Remus) in a wolf’s lair and take them to his home, where they were to be brought up by his wife, Akka Laurentia. The festival was celebrated in the Lupercal cave on the Palatine, where, according to belief, the legendary founders of Rome, the twins Romulus and Remus, were fed by a she-wolf. Then the sacrifices of two goats and a dog were offered, and the priests called Luperci, dressed only in the skin of a freshly killed goat, circled the Palatine hill and struck passers-byes (februa) from the skins of sacrificial animals. Childless women were particularly subjected to be beaten, which was supposed to guarantee fertility, and to others encountered – the purification of the stain and blemish of the past year. Luperci’s practices were to introduce a new element to the human body, strengthening the life and creative forces.

The feast of Februa was also celebrated today as a cleansing and purification festival that gave rise to the name of the month (e.g. in English).

Natural: Celebrating Februa with a February Full Body Detox

Italian: 9 Ways to Say “Get well soon!” in Italian

Quote: "Where there is love, there is life." —Mahatma Gandhi