Arthur Urbano

the first US pope is going to Turkey for Thanksgiving

BREAKING: Pope Leo has announced his first apostolic journey; he will visit Turkey from November 27 to November 30, with a pilgrimage to İznik for the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, and then to Lebanon from November 30 to December 2.

YouTube video by Drumeo Anika Nilles Performance - Drumeo Festival 2020

Rush has a new drummer, Anika Nilles m.youtube.com/watch?v=OOWM...

WATCH: 80 years ago today John Pastore was inaugurated as RI governor, a breakthrough for Italian Americans in politics; five years later, he was the first Italian American US senator

On tonight's newscasts we took a look back at his remarkable life and times - here's an excerpt

I'm not entirely convinced it's Jesus. Jesus iconography took a lot from philosopher imagery. So take this portrait from Constantinople. Show it to anyone today and they would say it was Jesus, but it isn't.

The 21st century is the negative image of the 20th.

OPUS SECTILE OF THE DOMUS OF PORTA MARINA, 385-388 CE. MUSEO DELLE CIVILTÀ This central alcove of the domus of Porta Marina is decorated in an extraordinary, indeed unique way. Instead of the figurative and geometric designs of the larger part of the hall, this area, which was found without a floor, has two registers. The lower one is composed of a small diagonal grid of mosaic that resembles a mosaic pavement without a discernable pattern. The upper, larger register imitates in opus sectile a brick structure with four arches at centre on the back wall flanked by two flat-topped sections. Behind, within, above, and below the giallo antico "brick" is a backdrop of marble "opus reticulatum", a style of construction that had ceased to be used long before this was made. This strange wall reminds me irresistibly of the opus mixtum tombs outside Porta Romana at the other end of Ostia's Decumanus Maximus. In the foreground is the magnificent pavement of the main hall.

#MosaicMonday once again draws us back to the #MuseodelleCiviltà in the #EUR in the south of #Rome to marvel at the #domus of #PortaMarina from #OstiaAntica, where a central alcove imitates humble brick and #tufo, complete with shadows, in costly #opussectile. #AncientBluesky 🏺

I love this display! It was the only thing that got me to visit EUR! (Then there's that opus sectile portrait on the wall -- is it Jesus or a philosopher, hmmm?)

Rant Secretary

Plus there is just so much to cover! Trying to get into all the weeds is counterproductive, so I just have to choose a few salient topics/themes and stick to those.

I find teaching Jesus in the context of Second Temple Judaism one of the most challenging sections of my Jewish-Christian relations course. Students are generally receptive to the idea, but find the details really challenging. It makes Jesus a little more unfamiliar to them.

@HHS_Jim Thank you @POTUS for your leadership. I call on vaccine manufacturers to develop safe monovalent vaccines to replace the combined MMR and “break up the MMR shot into three totally separate shots.”

There is no evidence that breaking up the MMR shot would make the immunization safer or more effective.

The reason why the acting CDC director wants to separate the MMR shot is to discourage people from getting vaccinated by creating larger hurdles.

Fire extinguisher next to a statue of Joan of Arc

Hell of a thing to put next to a statue of Joan of Arc. (h/t David Pilling)

"Brothers and sisters, those boats which hope to catch sight of a safe port, and those eyes filled with anguish and hope seeking to reach the shore, cannot and must not find the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination!"

Pope Leo XIV

The other day ma figghia asked me what I do when I go to school, so I gave her a run down of my typical day.

Tonight she re-enacted the whole thing for me. She went to her "classroom" and started "hello, students, let's take a break!"

I don't remember that part.

I'm still screaming

Catholics, are your homilists talking about the treatment of migrants and refugees today on what the Church marks as the 111th (!) World Day of Migrants and Refugees, or is it more self-help homilies about your troubles?

The tomb was designated the “Tomb of Cerberus” after the incredible mural of Hercules fighting the three-headed dog that guarded the underworld.

October 5: Apologies for the bad news, but today is one of the 3 unluckiest days of the year in the Roman calendar. Definitely let people know that the underworld opens up to the living today (mundus patet) and so you just can’t leave your house, especially to sail (also on August 24 & November 8).

Roman version of the rapture? 🤣

Google maps aerial view showing the location of the cathedral in Piazza Duomo.

Photo of the north facade of the church. There are three arched entrances in the center. A bell tower is on the right. Two circular domes. A small fountain sits in front. Photo: Nicholas Gemini on Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cattedrale_metropolitana_di_Santa_Maria_Assunta_(Catanzaro)?uselang=it#/media/File:Cattedrale_metropolitana_di_Santa_Maria_Assunta.jpg

Let's start at Catanzaro's cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta. It has two sets of entrances, on the facade and on the north face. Pope Callixtus II consecrated it in 1122, and more than 800 years later, another pope visited--John Paul II in 1984. It's currently closed for restorations.

Yes, I do want to save those files for later.

No, I will not actually look at them for several years.

The other day ma figghia asked me what I do when I go to school, so I gave her a run down of my typical day.

Tonight she re-enacted the whole thing for me. She went to her "classroom" and started "hello, students, let's take a break!"

I don't remember that part.

be well, Chapps

From https://www.who.int/europe/emergencies/situations/covid-19: “ On 5 May 2023, more than three years into the pandemic, the WHO Emergency Committee on COVID-19 recommended to the Director-General, who accepted the recommendation, that given the disease was by now well established and ongoing, it no longer fit the definition of a PHEIC. This does not mean the pandemic itself is over, but the global emergency it caused is – for now.”

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard “post-pandemic” since the WHO ended the emergency phase… I hope there are, or soon will be, studies of how that 2023 WHO statement got so quickly and widely mangled so public health can better guard against inadvertently feeding misinformation.

This is what courage looks like… and faithfulness.

Repost: @catholicarena

Google maps aerial view showing the location of the cathedral in Piazza Duomo.

Photo of the north facade of the church. There are three arched entrances in the center. A bell tower is on the right. Two circular domes. A small fountain sits in front. Photo: Nicholas Gemini on Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cattedrale_metropolitana_di_Santa_Maria_Assunta_(Catanzaro)?uselang=it#/media/File:Cattedrale_metropolitana_di_Santa_Maria_Assunta.jpg

Let's start at Catanzaro's cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta. It has two sets of entrances, on the facade and on the north face. Pope Callixtus II consecrated it in 1122, and more than 800 years later, another pope visited--John Paul II in 1984. It's currently closed for restorations.

this is so true. and so annoying. "hey, your neighbor down the street is getting their windows replaced, do you want them to?"

"Good for him. Get out of here!"

that's a big vent

Call for Papers!
Our 3rd annual student conference will be January 22-23. New, expanded program: Thursday evening begins with a reception & special lecture; parallel sessions run on Friday. Are you a student exploring graduate programs? We have travel funding for you! DM for info.

SeumasU : Online courses in Latin and Greek Visit the post for more.

two weeks to go until the new term of #SeumasU
I'm feeling excited and enthused about language teaching, which is a great thing!

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