The first nativity scene was the living one by St Francis
We are in the Christmas period with its the nativity scene. Traditionally, nativity scenes were animated. They have an 'inventor', St Francis of Assisi, who re-enacted the Nativity in a cave in Greccio, immediately after his return from the Holy Land. A Franciscan pontiff, Nicholas IV, commissioned Arnolfo di Cambio to create the first inanimate nativity scene.
Caravaggio’s Nativity, a masterpiece stolen by the mafia
On the night between 17 and 18 October 1969, a magnificent Nativity painted by Caravaggio was stolen from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo. Despite the efforts of investigators, who took statements from various mafia defectors, all trace of the painting (estimated value €35 million) has been lost. The painting, depicting the birth of Jesus, impresses with its realism.
- THE RECIPE: STUFFED CAPON MILANESE STYLE
Notre Dame or Disneyland? French identity at stake
The contested restoration of Notre Dame in kitsch-Disneyland style is affecting the electoral campaign. Zemmour and French intellectuals, including non-Catholics, see the protection of Notre Dame as an opportunity to defend Christianity and French identity. The dispute is no longer between secularists and Catholics, since the defenders of tradition also include secularists, agnostics, Protestants and Jews, while Macron and the progressive French clergy have sided with those who want to "deconstruct". But the project conceals the goal of deconstructing everything: nation, gender, and family. This is a risk that the entire West runs.
"Science says so": a materialistic and anti-scientific cult
"Science says so": this is just one of several phrases that have become common usage in recent years. From a scientific point of view, there is no such thing as 'science', rather there are scientists. Scientists, precisely because they adopt a scientific method, are always ready to question themselves. Scientists are humble by nature, and an assertion is only scientific if some time in the future it can be proven false. Since the time of Bacon, however, there has been an idea of science replacing religion as the explanation for everything. And it is this view that prevails, both among communists orphaned of communism, and among Christians who consider themselves 'liberal'.
Rocco, God’s brave servant among the plague victims
The charism of Saint Rocco, whom God sent among the plague victims, fell ill with the plague but recovered miraculously. He was humble to the end, even during the five years he spent imprisoned on a false charge of spying. He is the patron saint of the infectiously ill and invalids.
The image of the Divine Mercy will relive in new paintings
Eleven Polish painters have been invited to paint images of the Merciful Jesus as part of the project “Paint Catholicism anew”. It is not about making copies of Kazimirowski and Hyla's paintings stress the organisers. The artists, by following the indications Saint Faustina wrote in her Diary, albeit with their own individual sensibility, are required to create new paintings for worship.
Missionary Peter Chanel, protomartyr of Oceania
He had been passionate about the missions since he was an adolescent. He became a priest, but for years he was unable to fulfil his desire to leave. He succeeded after joining the Marists, going as a missionary to the island of Futuna. He cared for the sick, baptised dying children, and converted many to Catholicism. He was killed for his faith, becoming the protomartyr of Oceania.
- THE RECIPE: FISH SALAD FROM FUTUNA
