Calendar Class of March 20, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

La Primavera Romana al Foro Romano! The pinks, purples, yellows, and greens were in full bloom under a blue sky for class today at the Colosseum, Palatine Hill (my favorite), and the Roman Forum. We came, we saw, we savored the beautiful first day of Spring. Besides the flowers and the bees, we saw a plethora of history and architecture. Captured within the frame here from left to right are the Basilica of Maxentius, the Basilica of Santa Francesca Roman (the patroness of our program), the Archeological Museum of the Forum, the Arch of Titus, and the edge of the Colosseum.

Liturgical: Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Thus says the LORD:

Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,

who seeks his strength in flesh,

whose heart turns away from the LORD.

He is like a barren bush in the desert

that enjoys no change of season,

But stands in a lava waste,

a salt and empty earth.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

whose hope is the LORD.

He is like a tree planted beside the waters

that stretches out its roots to the stream:

It fears not the heat when it comes,

its leaves stay green;

In the year of drought it shows no distress,

but still bears fruit.

More tortuous than all else is the human heart,

beyond remedy; who can understand it?

I, the LORD, alone probe the mind

and test the heart,

To reward everyone according to his ways,

according to the merit of his deeds.

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Sanctoral: The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. John Nepomucene (1340-1393), priest of Bohemia, martyred by King Wenceslaus IV because St. John refused to break the seal of confession. He was tortured and thrown into the Moldau River. It is said that a strange brightness is said to have appeared above the spot where he drowned, so his body was found and withdrawn from the water and interred.

Human: The Black Death-- 1345 Conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, thought by scholars at the University of Paris to be the "cause of the plague epidemic" known as the Black Death. Actual cause was the bacterium yersinia pestis spread by fleas, rats and other animals.

World Storytelling Day! 2025 theme - Deep Water

43 BC – the Roman poet Ovid, was born. He belonged to the younger generation of Augustinian artists. He became famous for his Amores and the tragedy Medea (15 BC). Then in year 2 AD appeared Ars amandi (The Art of Loving) in three books, which was a frivolous textbook about flirting and love. In 8 AD he was banished from  Rome to Tomis on the Black Sea (Romania), where he spent the rest of his life. The reasons for the exile are not entirely clear.

Natural: Happy Spring, officially! Today is the Spring Equinox

The first day of spring 2025 is on Thursday, March 20, 2025, at 5:01 a.m. EDT (2:01 a.m. Pacific). For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this is marked by the arrival of the spring equinox (otherwise known as the “First Point of Aries”).

Traditionally, we celebrate the first day of spring on March 21, but astronomers and calendar manufacturers alike now say that the spring season starts on March 20 in all time zones in North America. Yet spring equinox marks the official start of the spring season. Fun fact: In 2024, spring fell on March 19—the earliest first day of spring in 128 years!

Italian: Fiamma (flame)

Quote: Love’s gentle spring doth always fresh remain.

— Venus and Adonis, William Shakespeare