Calendar Class of May 21, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

The apricots on the back terrace have ripened early this year, as Spring began a few weeks early this year in general, so the girls had a bountiful harvest today. According to this very helpful website, apricots are supposed to be a JUNE fruit in Italy, but the warmer weather in April and May sped them along to our bowl. One of my all-time favorite breakfasts in summer is peaches with cream. Today, we diced up ripe apricot and drowned them in fresh cream. The tarter taste of apricots is a delightful contrast to the smooth, sweet cream. I'm still looking forward to ripe Michigan peaches this summer, but Italian apricots are a delicious substitute. There are three main varieties of apricots in Italy. I believe our tree is a scillato, which is the kind you will find inside the typical cornetto con albicocca at any Italian bar at breakfast time.

Liturgical: Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

John 15:1-8

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

Sanctoral: Cristóbal Magallanes and Companions, Mexico (July 30, 1869-May 25, 1927; Companions d. between 1915 and 1937)

Every martyr realizes how to avoid execution, but refuses to pay the high price of doing so. A clear conscience was more valuable than a long life. We may be tempted to compromise our faith while telling ourselves that we are simply being realistic, dealing with situations as we find them. Is survival really the ultimate value? Do our concrete, daily choices reflect our deepest values, the ones that allow us to “tick” the way we do? Anyone can imagine situations in which being a follower of Jesus is easier than the present situation. Saints remind us that our daily choices, especially in adverse circumstances, form the pattern of our lives.

Human: Birthday of Albrecht Durer (painter) – 1471, Alexander Pope (poet) – 1688, Henri Rousseau (painter) – 1844

Roman history on this day:

• The festival of Vedovus (other names: Vediovis, Vedius, Veiovis, Vendius) was celebrated. Vedovus was the god of death, swamps and volcanic movements; sometimes compared to King Di Manes. He was considered to be the opposite of Jupiter. In art, Vedovus was depicted as a young man carrying arrows in the company of a goat. The festival was also celebrated on January 1 and March 7.

• 120 BC – Aurelia Cotta, mother of Julius Caesar, was born. Her husband was the praetor Gaius Julius Caesar the Elder, with whom she had three children: Julia Caesaris Major, Julia Caesaris Minor and the well-known Gaius Julius Caesar. Pliny the Elder tells us that Julius Caesar would come to the world thanks to c-section. The fact is that Caesar’s mother died in 54 BC, 10 years before her son’s death, and, according to the law, this operation was used when a pregnant woman had died. Roman law forbade the burial of a pregnant woman without taking her fetus out of her womb. This name derives from the word caedere, which means to cut.

• 293 AD – Emperor Diocletian and his companion in the West, Maximian, appointed Galerius the Caesar, beginning their tetrarchy.

  Here's the historical context explaining why Diocletian thought it necessary to create the tetrarchy.

Natural: How Trees Are Hitched to the Universe

Explore the underground network that sustains the life of the forest, one sapling at a time.

Italian: Guarigione (recovery)

Quote: "We are used to calculating things – and at times it is necessary – but this does not apply in love! The way in which this “wasteful” sower throws the seed is an image of the way God loves us. Indeed, it is true that the destiny of the seed depends also on the way in which the earth welcomes it and the situation in which it finds itself, but first and foremost in this parable Jesus tells us that God throws the seed of his Word on all kinds of soil, that is, in any situation of ours: at times we are more superficial and distracted, at times we let ourselves get carried away by enthusiasm, sometimes we are burdened by life’s worries, but there are also times when we are willing and welcoming. God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom. This is how he loves us: he does not wait for us to become the best soil, but he always generously gives us his word. Perhaps by seeing that he trusts us, the desire to be better soil will be kindled in us. This is hope, founded on the rock of God’s generosity and mercy...

Dear brothers and sisters, in what situation of life today is the Word of God reaching us? Let us ask the Lord for the grace always to welcome this seed that is his Word. And if we realize we are not a fruitful soil, let us not be discouraged, but let us ask him to work on us more to make us become a better terrain."

--Pope Leo XIV from his first catechesis as pope from today's general audience

Full text here.

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