Faith · Observations · People · Rome
Yesterday the 85-year-old Pope Francis I congratulated his predecessor and good friend, His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, on the 70th anniversary of his priestly ordination. Benedict is now 94; he lives in a monastery on the territory of the Vatican and prays unceasingly for the Holy Church.
Faith · Society · Pop Culture · Rome · Humour
Pope Francis I Strikes a Deal with Spider-Man on Reform of the Vatican. But seriously, the man in the Spider-Man costume is a genuine superhero: Mattia Villardita, who devotes all his free time away from work to visiting sick children, whom he delights by dressing up as popular
Faith · Observations · Rome · Humour
In his customary good spirits, the Pope not only handed out autographs to the eager crowd this morning, but gladly tried on a pileolus offered to him and exchanged the gift for his own papal zucchetto. No fuss, no fanfare, and most warmly. Pope Francis is love ❤️ ps Time was
NB! · Faith · Art
John the Baptist and the Lamb. José de Ribera
Faith · London · Heritage · People
The reliquary with the body of Saint John Southworth, one of the 40 martyrs of England and Ireland, is kept in the principal Catholic church of England, Westminster Cathedral. The priest John Southworth was executed in 1654 essentially for no more than being a Catholic and carrying on with his
Architecture · Faith · Monarchies · Heritage · Paris
Model of the Basilica of Saint-Denis, built in 1144 on the site of an older building dating back to the mid-fifth century. The construction of this church marks the birth of Gothic architecture. The model shows Saint-Denis with its reconstructed north tower, which was taken down for
Faith · People · Nature
9 June is the feast day of Saint Columba, one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, who lived in the 6th century. By and large, the most important thing you need to know about this much venerated Irish and Scottish saint is this: there exists a written mention of his
NB! · Faith · Geography · Maps · Observations · Humour
This map marks every European town whose name begins with the root Saint, "Holy" (in the national languages, naturally). One is tempted, of course, to say: France, Spain and Italy, pray for us
Faith · Art · Heritage · Rome
There are two Risen Christs by Michelangelo. The better known statue stands to the left of the high altar of the Roman church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The frenzied churchmen of the Baroque age fitted this sculpture with a hideous bronze loincloth, so as not to be embarrassed by
Faith · Books · Observations · Pop Culture
I heard Armstrong's "Let My People Go" on Radio Monte Carlo. It was Paul Robeson, however, who first performed this spiritual, and his voice came, in this connection, to be called divine. How many times have you sung along to these rhythmic bars without a thought
Faith · Ethnography · Humour
In principle, anyone at all might hatch from such an egg. The Slavs, for instance, had a deity of sorts: a house spirit and enricher that served people entangled with sorcery and brought them riches taken from other people. It was called the shkryatok, the khovanets or the rarasek, it
Faith · Books
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard,