Calendar Class of June 18, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

My friend Maria, pictured to my left above, provided our Carpe Diem moment last night when we ran into each other at a local restaurant and she shared a bottle of rose wine with the members of the Ladies Literary Society of Rome. The lovely lady Charlotte, at the head of the table, gifted us with a presention on the book featured in the new "Book of the Day" category below.

Liturgical: Wednesday of the 11th Week of Ordinary Time

2 Corinthians 9:6-11

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

Pope Leo XIV's Wednesday Audience Catechesis today.

Sanctoral: Saint Gregory Barbarigo, +1697

At the age of 19, he joined a group of diplomats sent to help during peace talks at the end of the Thirty Years’ War. He was not yet a priest, but he made a strong impression on Church leaders. His time in diplomacy taught him about the world and the importance of good leadership.

St. Marina the Monk , Lebanon +5th Century

Marina has a most unusual and fascinating story. She may have given her name to Santa Marinella, the seaside town not far from Rome where Tony and I first lived. There are many mysterious connections with ancient Lebanon, largely lost to history.

Human: The United States declared war on Great Britain – 1812

Napoleon’s troops were defeated at Waterloo (present-day Belgium) – 1815

Natural: Introducing Biotec, my friend Maria's natural enzymes company, making Italian bread and wine healthier and tastier!

Italian: Gattonare (to crawl / to stalk)

Book of the Day: The Catholic Revival in English Literature by the late Fr. Ian Kerr. Here is a second in memoriam piece.

Quote: "The Church is not prison but liberation. It is the way of escape—from the cell of the self, from the solipsist nightmare, from the grubbiness of materialism, from the overwhelming fact, in every age, of sin and sorrow."

-- Fr. Ian Kerr