The Wondrous Exchange Between Divinity and Humanity – Part 5
Adoration of the Magi [PD-US-expired] Gentile da Fabriano (c. 1370-427) an Italian painter in the Gothic style who worked in central Italy, mostly in Tuscany. His best-known work is this painting from the Strozzi Altarpiece (1423), now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy By Pope Benedict XVI, Public Catechesis, January 4 2012, continued: It is […]
The Wondrous Exchange Between Divinity and Humanity – Part 2
Adoration of the Magi In Saint Etienne du Mont Church, Paris, France. It contains the shrine of St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. The church also contains the tombs of the great French writers, Blaise Pascal and Jean Racine. By Pope Benedict XVI, Public Catechesis, January 4 2012, continued: The first act of this […]
The First Martyrs, St. Stephen and the Holy Innocents
Photo of the altar inside St. Stephens Church, Assisi, Italy The day after Christmas is the Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr. This reminds us that the joy of Christmas is not unmixed with a certain sorrow. As the Feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28, also reminds us that the coming of Christ […]
The Wondrous Exchange Between Divinity and Humanity – Part 1
The Cestello Annunciation by Sandro Botticelli, Uffizi, Florence – [PD-US-Expired] Allesandro di Mariano di Vanni Filippi (c1445 – May 17, 1510) known as Sandro Botticelli, an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, belonged to the “golden age” of the “Florentine School” under the patronage of Lorenzo de’ Medici. Botticelli lived his whole life int he […]
The First Christmas Creche
The modern painting of St. Francis of Assisi in the scene of Nativity by unknown artist of 20. cent. in church, Convento de Capuchinos (Iglesia Santo Anchel) The first Christmas crèche was born from the spiritual intuition of St. Francis of Assisi: deeply impressed and moved by the humility of the Incarnation, on Christmas night […]
History of Marian Apparitions … Part One
Painting of the apparition of Our Lady of Knock -1879 (inside the Shrine at Knock, Ireland) During the Advent season, we reflect upon scripture readings that describe those individuals that prepared the way for Our Lord. We read the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel speaks with Mary about being chosen as the mother of Christ […]
What We Learned While Visiting the Churches of Sts. Prassedes and Pudentiana
Painting of St. Praxedes (depicted on the right) and St. Pudentiana (depicted on the left) hanging in the Church of St. Pudentiana, Rome, Italy Last May we blogged about the sister saints, Praxedes and Pudentiana, daughters of St. Pudens, a Roman senator converted by and baptized by St. Paul and shared information that we learned […]
Dedication of Archbasilica of St. John Lateran
It is the oldest and highest ranking of the four papal major basilicas, holding the unique title of “archbasilica”. It is the oldest public church in the city of Rome, and the oldest basilica of the Western world. It houses the cathedra of the Roman bishop,[3][4] and has the title of ecumenical mother church of […]
Life of St Charles
Photo above is of Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo (St. Charles Borromeo), in Carmel, California In our work here are ITV Pilgrimages, we take notice when certain saints seem to connect with more than one sacred place and have influenced other saints. Such is the case with St. Charles Borromeo whose feast day is […]
St. John of Capistrano and the Swallows
Above–bells at Mission San Juan Capistrano While preparing the 2020 California Missions pilgrimage, I noticed that the feast day for St John of Capistrano was on October 23 and that he was called the “Soldier Saint.” Upon a quick read of Wikipedia, it was discovered that John of Capistrano (Abruzzo, Italy) was famous as a […]