Faith · Observations · People · Rome

Pope Francis's first homily of 2022 was delivered at the obligatory festal Mass of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, which closes the Christmas octave

Not so long ago, 1 January was not a feast of the Mother of God. The Orthodox will grasp this perfectly: the Dormition of the Theotokos falls in August, her Nativity in September, the Protection of the Theotokos in October, and her Entry into the Temple in November. So what

Faith · Observations · Society · Rome

The first papal homily of 2022 took as its theme the humility of the newborn Jesus and his trust in his Blessed Mother, given the poverty and uncertainty in which he was born, and urged us to fill our hearts with love rather than fear

Thus does God come: without so much as a cradle! With what feeling must Mary, knowing that she would bear a son who would be called the Son of the Most High and who was destined for the throne of his forefather David, lay her child, the infant Saviour, in

Faith · Society

Pope Francis condemned violence against women on 1 January 2022

How much violence is directed against women. Enough! To hurt a woman is to insult God. Pope Francis, 1 January 2022

NB! · Observations · Humour

Me, trying to keep up with the times

Archive · Cinema · Observations · Nature

Hand pruning of a tree in the late 19th century and Sofia Coppola’s film “The Virgin Suicides”

Saw this tree and was reminded of Sofia Coppola's 1999 film "The Virgin Suicides". If you haven't seen it, consider it a recommendation for the holidays. The photograph shows the pruning of a tree at the end of the nineteenth century. This is no

NB! · Cinema · People · Pop Culture

On 1 January, three weeks short of her hundredth birthday, Betty White, star of The Golden Girls, died

On 1 January, three weeks short of her hundredth birthday, Betty White, star of The Golden Girls, died. She began her career as early as 1939, in the series The Merry Widow. Rest in peace

NB! · Monarchies · Mores · Society · Humour

Peter I Tries to Plant European Ways in God-Guarded Little Mother Russia

NB! · Observations

Happy New Year! 🎊🎆🎄🎈

Archive · Art · Observations · Mores · Paris · Humour

“La vie parisienne” cover of 1919 with a bouquet, champagne and a cigarette

La vie parisienne 1919. These days this influencer would be holding a bouquet of fir branches and a little glass of champagne with a plastic lid, and as for the clothes, the look is perfectly contemporary. Though sitting on a table is a sin, of course: it is no accident

Coming Up · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Humour

The Queen's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, home to works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Claude (Gellée) and Van Dyck, will show canvases by Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the few women artists of her time to win renown

The Queen's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, home to works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Claude (Gellée) and Van Dyck, will show canvases by Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the few women artists of her time to win renown. The Italian painter enjoyed the patronage of Charles I,

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations · Humour

Michelangelo's Torment of Saint Anthony looks as though the song from the cartoon "Three Bogatyrs" is playing: "Carried off, oh, carried off, carried off somewhere I've been"

NB! · Observations · Ethnography

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