Calendar Class of March 11, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

These gigantic green doors are more than just an impressive way to make an entrance, they symbolize the transferal of authority from the Roman government to the Roman Catholic Church, which, as Mary Beard concludes in her sweeping documentary on the Roman Empire, is the successor of Roman civilization. The bronze doors were created for the Curia Julia, the Roman Senate building in the Forum, under the reign of Domitian (reigned 81-96 AD) and transferred to the Lateran Basilica in 1660 by Pope Alexander VII (reigned 1655-67). Today the class went to the birthplaces of Christian Rome following Constantine's edict of Milan (313 AD)-- the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (originally the Basilica Heleniana, as it was the property of St. Helena), the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran (324- the first Constantinian basilica), the Lateran baptistry, and the Scala Santa.

Liturgical: Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

Psalm 34:4-5

I sought the Lord, and he answered me,    

and delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him, and be radiant;    

so your faces shall never be ashamed.

Sanctoral: The Roman Martyrology today commemorates the martyred priest, St. Eulogius of Cordoba, Spain (d. 859), who was slain by the Moors. A noted scholar of Scripture, Eulogius was arrested in 850 after writing Exhortation of Martyrdom for two young virgin martyrs, Flora and Mary, who were beheaded after refusing to abjure the faith. Released after a time Eulogius was named archbishop of Cordoba or Toledo. Before he could be consecrated, he aided Leocritia, a young Moorish woman who had converted to Christianity. They were caught and beheaded. Eulogius also wrote The Memorial of the Saints and an Apologia.

St. Sophronius (d. 638) is also included in today's Roman Martyrology. He was a simple monk who pursued a life of prayer and sacrifice first in the desert of Egypt, then near the Jordan River, then finally in the Holy City of Jerusalem. He was ultimately chosen to be bishop and Patriarch of Jerusalem in the early 7th century. He valiantly defended the true and full humanity of Christ in the face of the heresy of Monothelitism, which denied that Jesus had a human as well as a divine will. The year before his death in 638, he witnessed the capture of Jerusalem by the Muslims under the Caliph Omar. Several of his sermons and poems have survived until this day. St. Sophronius is one of the Fathers of the Church.

Human: 222 AD – in the pretorian camp, the boy emperor Elagabalus, Hierocles, a Greek slave and lover of Elagabalus, and Julia Soaemias, the mother of the emperor, were murdered by the soldiers. The slayers had had enough of madness, cruelty and perversions of their ruler. Alexander Severus then sat on the throne.

The birthday of Alice von Hildebrand, 1923. Here is the podcast dedicated to her- Lily.

Natural: A deadly Mt. Etna eruption began in Italy – 1669

Italian: Addirittura (even / really)

Quote: Lose an hour in the morning and you’ll be all day hunting for it.