Art, Food and the air of Rome. Curated by Lucy Gordon
Among many species, beauty is more important than life By Aurelio Porfiri* The Crowning of the Virgin by Catarino, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy I was very sad that day. I don’t know why I walked into a church near where I live. This church is an architectural jewel with a beautiful mosaic, known all [...]
By Mother Martha In almost all family-run trattorias in Rome and in southern Italy, when the restaurateur presents the bill at the end of the meal, he or she offers the guests a choice of digestivi. These are after-dinner drinks meant to help digestion. Many, like grappa from the Veneto and Friuli, Abruzzese centoerbe or Sardinian [...]
A unique Easter pilgrimage incorporates prayerful preparation before the feast By ITV staff The Upper Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy The Catholic Church designates the entire week before Easter as a “Holy Week.” It is a time to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Christ’s supreme sacrifice for our salvation, [...]
We aren't rigid; we just want something that works By John Byron Kuhner Yesterday I was present at a well-attended Mass in North Carolina. The Mass had many virtues. The congregation was welcoming. The music was not exactly high art, but most of the people sang. Every pew was full except for one on an aisle [...]
"You're here before your time," says the world to Jesus. "Get lost, and take your shabby followers with you." By Anthony Esolen A series of scenes depicting the Gospel story in which Jesus restores to sound mind a demon-possessed man. And behold, all the “ city came out to meet Jesus; and when they [...]
By Matthew Trojacek Pope Francis and Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, speak via video with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, then head of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, on March 16. Also pictured is Ukrainian Franciscan Father Marek Viktor [...]
Fr. Titus Brandsma, outspoken critic of Nazism, was killed by a lethal injection—and he converted the nurse who administered it By Andrew Rabel Titus Brandsma, a Dutch Carmelite, journalist and manager of the Catholic press at the time of the Nazi occupation, canonized at St. Peter's during the ceremony on May 15, presided over by [...]
By Peter Anderson Patriarch Alexy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, venerate the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan (Aug. 28, 2004 - CNS photo from Reuters) Anyone who has worked extensively in the field of ecumenical relations [...]
By Robert Wiesner The Paschal season has long been the time for Christians to reflect on just how dramatically the world changed with the resurrection of Christ. On the first Sunday after Pascha is celebrated the conversion of St. Thomas from disbelief to ardent faith. The following week sees the myrrh-bearing women astounded by the empty [...]
More than a century ago, Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson foresaw the rise of secular humanism, the contraction of the Catholic Church, and the coming of the Antichrist... By ITV Staff Editor’s Note: The passage below is from the novel Lord of the World, written by the English Catholic convert Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson (the son of [...]
