Calendar Class of September 24, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

Carpe Flamma! Variety is the spice of life, as the saying goes, and what better way to experience it than through trying different culinary traditions, both in terms of ingredients and in presentation. Yesterday we had the opportunity to experience the Japanese Habachi tradition, or Teppanyachi, when we visited my Aunt Marie in Muskegon. My favorite part of the presentation was the egg juggling act, which I intend to master, or get egged in the process.

Liturgical: Wednesday of the 25th Week of Ordinary Time

But now for a brief moment favour has been shown by the Lord our God, who has left us a remnant, and given us a stake in his holy place, in order that he may brighten our eyes and grant us a little sustenance in our slavery.

Ezra 9:5-9

Feast of Our Lady of Ransom: St. Peter Nolasco (12th c.) was inspired to establish a religious order for the ransom of Christians from Muslim captivity. On August 1, 1218 the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Peter Nolasco along with his confessor, St. Raymond of Peñafort, and to King James I of the Kingdom of Aragon to verify the Divine inspiration of this mission. Word of the Marian apparition soon spread to the entire kingdom. The new religious foundation, called the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy (the Mercedarians), was established and approved by Pope Gregory IX. The order worked to raise money to ransom Christians who had been captured and enslaved by Muslims, and to offer themselves, if necessary, as payment for their release. A feast was instituted under the title of Our Lady of Ransom and observed on September 24, later extended to the entire Church.

The Memorial of Our Lady of Walsingham was reinstated to the liturgical calendar in England in 2000. The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter is entrusted to Mary under this title. This feast day celebrates the shrine in Norfolk, England, which was a popular medieval pilgrimage site. In 1061, the lady of the manor of Walsingham, Richeldis de Faverches, was instructed by a vision of the Virgin Mary to build in her village an exact replica of the house in Nazareth in which the Annunciation had taken place. The original house was destroyed by Henry VIII, but by 1897 the chapel was reconstructed and pilgrimage was restored both for Anglicans and for Catholics. On March 29, 2020, England was rededicated as the “Dowry of Mary” with Our Lady of Walsingham being the central Marian devotion around the rededication.

Sanctoral: St. Gerard Sagredo (980–1046 A.D.) was born in Venice, Italy. From an early age he desired to dedicate his life to God, and as a young man became a Benedictine monk. He first served as abbot at a monastery in Venice, but left to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While passing through Hungary he met the Hungarian king, St. Stephen, who asked him to stay in his country to evangelize and minister to his people. St. Gerard agreed, and was named Bishop of Csanád and the royal tutor of the Hungarian prince. He ministered tirelessly among the Hungarian people and helped to convert the whole country to Christianity, for which he is called the "Apostle of Hungary." After the death of King St. Stephen there was a pagan uprising against the Christians, and St. Gerard was martyred for the faith along with two others. His death took place on a hill in Budapest which is now named after him; according to one tradition he was placed in a barrel lined with spikes, and rolled down the hill. He was declared a saint in 1083 by Pope St. Gregory VII. St. Gerard Sagredo is the patron saint of Hungary.

Human: 15 AD – Emperor Vitellius was born, who was the ruler in the so-called the Year of Four Emperors. The reign of Vitellius was characterized by great extravagance in the area of palace life. He always feasted. He ate at least three times a day: breakfasts, dinners, supper and feasts. He often vomited so he could eat more and more. One of the records was a feast with 2 000 of the finest fish and 7 000 pieces of different birds. Vitellius wanted to live more extravagantly than any ruler before him. The Golden House, built by Nero, full of ornaments and splendor, he found poor. It was calculated that during his short reign about 900,000,000 sesterces on the personal luxuries of the ruler was spent.

• 1180 With the death of Manuel I Komnenos, the last Byzantine Emperor of the Komnenian restoration, the Byzantine Empire begins its terminal decline

• 1493 Christopher Columbus embarks on his second expedition to the New World, setting sail with a fleet of 17 ships

• 1789 US Federal Judiciary Act passes, creating a six-member Supreme Court

• 1869 Black Friday: Panic on Wall Street after investors Jay Gould and James Fisk attempt to corner the gold market

Natural: How to Live Seasonally: Tips for Health, Happiness, and Eating With the Seasons (Every time we enter a new season, we need these reminders!)

Italian: Felpa (fleece / sweatshirt)

The word felpa in Italian comes from the old French felpe. It is used to indicate, not only a sweatshirt or hoodie, but also the fleece from which it is made.

Reflections on Time: "Reclaim Your Time"-- How to Stop Overthinking & Start Living a More Meaningful Life with Oliver Burkeman (The SEASONAL approach to living is put forward as a solution to chronic overwhelm)

Quote: "We are all human, we are all flawed and finite, and we are all in the same boat." --Oliver Burkeman