Calendar Class of May 31, 2025

A Carpe Diem:

Today we had the ideal visitors to celebrate the Feast of the Visitation- the Puglia mother and daughter duo re-enacted, in their own style, Mary's hasty journey to visit her older cousin Elizabeth. To round out the Marian themes of May, we also enlisted one of our lovely students, Mari, to stand in as a life-size statue of Mary so that Cordelia could crown her. Fortunately for us, we had a professional singer, Marie-Therese, to lead us in "The Queen of the May." May, we will miss you and all your lovely, flowery traditions!

Liturgical: Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter, The Feast of the Visitation

Luke 1:39-56

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.

Here's some info on the historical background of today's feast.

Sanctoral: The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Aurelia Petronilla (1st century), who was guided in the Faith by St. Peter, the first pope. She died three days after refusing to marry a pagan nobleman, Flaccus.

Apparently, her relics are located within St. Peter's Basilica!

Human: The first Catholic cathedral in the United States was dedicated in Baltimore, Maryland. – 1821

The Great Clock (aka Big Ben) in London officially began keeping time. (On July 11, the Great Bell first struck the hour.) The 315-foot-high tower, part of the Houses of Parliament building, has no elevator; there are 334 steps to the belfry. The four quarter bells, or chimes, ring out every 15 minutes. The Great Bell tolls every hour. The minute hand measures almost 14 feet long. The clock mechanism weighs 5.6 tons, and is wound three times a week. The clock’s time is adjusted by changing the number of old pennies sitting on a shelf near the top of the pendulum. The tune played each hour is from the aria I Know That My Redeemer Liveth, part of Handel’s Messiah. – 1859

Natural: "There are more fine days than cloudy ones in the year." 

- Ovid, Roman poet (43B.C.-A.D.18)

Italian: 10 ways to say “I don’t care” in Italian

Quote: From Bishop Barron's Homily today:

The theo-drama is the great story being told by God, the great play being directed by God. What makes life thrilling is to discover your role in it. This is precisely what has happened to Mary. She has found her role—indeed a climactic role—in the theo-drama, and she wants to conspire with Elizabeth, who has also discovered her role in the same drama. Like Mary, we have to find our place in God’s story.