Art, Food and the air of Rome. Curated by Lucy Gordon
By Mother Martha In 1300 Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first ordinary Jubilee, or Holy Year, with the Papal Bull, “Antiquorum Habet Fida Relatio.” Since then, they have taken place either every 50 or every 25 years. 2025’s Holy Year is the 27th. It began on Christmas Eve 2024 and will last through Epiphany, January 6, [...]
The Vatican has approved the “emergent spirituality” of Medjugorje in recent pronouncements. The Apostolic Visitor appointed by Pope Francis talks about why By Christine Mugridge* Map with tourist sites in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Nazareth, the young “pre-teen” was caught by surprise during her time of prayer through the greeting of the heavenly [...]
To begin walking in the Spirit can require a "learning curve" By Marcellus Allen Roberts* “I was in prison and you visited me,” (Mt. 25:36) A priest says Mass for inmates inside a prison. Unfortunately, Catholic priests comprise only 13% of all prison chaplains across the US. During the COVID lockdown, the George Beto [...]
Exercising the courage of the children of God By Marcellus Allen Roberts* Peter Martyr Enjoins Silence, by Fra Angelico, c.1441 (fresco inside a monk’s cell), Museo di San Marco, Florence, Italy A mysterious figure stands in the foreground of a fresco in the Museo di San Marco in Florence, Italy. Fra Angelico’s genius is [...]
The Eyes of the heart and the darkness within By Anthony Esolen* Sermon on the Mount by Henrik Olrik, Altarpiece from St. Matthaeus Church in Copenhagen, Denmark Suppose you are attending a concert, and you are listening to an intricate work of musical genius, such as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. You are expecting to hear [...]
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 the [...]
By Lucy Gordan The Altar of Calvary before being sent to Florence for Restoration (Courtesy of Brother Stéphane Milovitch) Brother Stéphane Milovitch (Courtesy of Terra Sancta Museum) The 109 spectacular masterpieces on display until January 8, 2025 at the Marino Marini Museum in Florence chronicle more than five centuries of sacred art. [...]
By Mother Martha On July 31, UNESCO proclaimed the Via Appia, or Appian Way, Italy’s 60th World Heritage Site. Running about 500 miles from Rome south to Brindisi and lined with cypresses and umbrella pines, the Via Appia was begun in 312 BC by its namesake, the blind Censor Apppius Claudius Caecus, for military reasons. Nicknamed [...]
Scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, triptych, Constantinople, crimson ivory, late 10th century. In the central panel is the model used, from Giotto on, in the iconography of the nativity, both in the East and in the West What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, who for our sake hast appeared on [...]
By Mother Martha The ancient Romans were the world’s first gourmets. They owe their obsession with food, at least in part, to fellow citizen Marcus Gabius. Better known as Apicius, he was a wealthy decadent epicure who in the first century wrote De Re Coquinaria (Concerning Culinary Matters), the world’s first cookbook. He specialized in [...]
