Today is the Optional Memorial of Saint Swithin, Bishop (died 862), and the Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor (died 1274), and today is also the birthday of my best friend Nedra in Tennessee (1959).
All that is known of Saint Swithin in history is that he was Bishop of Winchester, England, for the ten years before his death in 862. He was buried outside (apparently at his own request); legend states that when in 971 an attempt was made to move his remains inside the new Cathedral of Winchester, a heavy downpour occurred on the day set for the translation of his relics, and it continued to rain each day until an official decision was made not to move him indoors. (The legend is at variance with various 10th century writers, who recorded the translation of the remains with no weather phenomena in sight.) Weather lore has it that if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day, it will rain for forty more days. He is the Patron Saint of the weather, the County of Hampshire, England, and the cities of Winchester and Southwark, England. We also honor Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor (died 1274). Born in 1221 at Bagnoregio, Tuscany, as Giovanni di Fidanza, he is said to have received his cognomen of Bonaventure (“good fortune”) when he was cured from a serious childhood illness through the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi. Joining the Order of Friars Minor at age twenty-two, he studied theology and philosophy in Paris, becoming a Doctor of Theology in 1257 along with Saint Thomas Aquinas. That same year he was elected General of the Franciscan Order. In 1265 he was selected for the post of Archbishop of York; however, he was never consecrated and resigned the appointment in 1266. Bonaventure was instrumental in procuring the election of Pope Gregory X, who rewarded him with the titles of Cardinal and Bishop of Albano, and insisted on his presence at the great Council of Lyon in 1274. There, after his significant contributions led to a union of the Greek and Latin churches, Bonaventure died suddenly and in suspicious circumstances, with rumors that he might have been poisoned. A Doctor of the Church, he is the Patron Saint whose aid is invoked for stomach problems (somewhat ironically). Finally, today is the birthday of my best friend Nedra in Tennessee; although she was born one year after me, I tell her she must be older than me, because she is not only a grandmother, but a great-grandmother (1959).
I did my Book Devotional Reading, and on our way to work I also did my Internet Devotional Reading and said the Ninth and Last Day of my Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Once we clocked in, Richard was on Mississippi Stud; he was moved to the second Three Card Poker table, closed that table, helped to change Blackjack cards, was on a Blackjack table, then spent the rest of his day on the $5.00 Minimum Bet Blackjack table. I was the Relief Dealer for Mini Baccarat and Pai Gow, and also broke the Flop Poker table once at the beginning of our shift. On my breaks I continued reading The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.
On our way home I continued reading The Feud: The Hatfields & McCoys: The True Story by Dean King. Once home I did not eat my lunch salad, but read the morning paper, then got involved with my geneology. Richard was not feeling well, and went to bed at 2:30 pm. When Jeopardy! came on at 4:30 pm, I texted Callie, who said that the baby was very grumpy, and wouldn’t be good company tonight, so I told her we would try to go to D.I.’s next week; I then texted Michelle to let her know. I then ate Ritz crackers with peanut butter, and when I finish this Daily Update, I will go to bed.
Tomorrow is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel; it is also the birthday of my cousin Paul (1957). (When I was a very little girl I thought I had just one cousin from my Aunt Helen’s family named RichardChrisandPaul. This made perfect sense to me, as my favorite television show was MisterRodger’sNeighborhood.) We will work our eight hours at the casino, and I will continue to read The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri. After lunch I will go to the Adoration Chapel to do my Weekly Hour of Eucharistic Adoration, and then I will do my Daily Update and go to bed.
Our Friday Afternoon Parting Quote comes to us from Celeste Holm, American actress. Born in 1917 in New York City, New York, her father was a Norwegian businessman whose company provided marine adjustment services for Lloyd’s of London, and her mother was a portrait artist and author. An only child, she traveled often during her youth and attended various schools in Holland, France and the United States. She performed in many stage productions during high school, and studied drama at the University of Chicago before becoming a stage actress in the late 1930s. Holm’s first professional theatrical role was in a production of Hamlet starring Leslie Howard. She first appeared on Broadway in a small part in Gloriana (1938), a comedy which lasted for only five performances, but she soon had her first major part on Broadway in William Saroyan’s revival of The Time of Your Life (1940) as Mary L. with fellow newcomer Gene Kelly. The role that got her the most recognition from critics and audiences was as Ado Annie in the premiere production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! in 1943. After she starred in the Broadway production of Bloomer Girl, 20th Century Fox signed Holm to a movie contract in 1946. She made her film debut that same year in Three Little Girls in Blue, making a startling entrance in a “Technicolor red” dress singing “Always a Lady,” a belting Ado Annie-type song. In 1947 she won an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in Gentleman’s Agreement. She garnered Academy Award Nominations for Best Supporting Actress in Come to the Stable (1949) and All About Eve (1950), but decided she preferred live theater to movie work. In 1951 she was the replacement for the role of Anna Leonowens in the Broadway production of The King and I, and in 1952 she played Anna Christopherson in Anna Christie. She starred as a professor-turned-reporter in New York City in the CBS television series Honestly, Celeste! (fall 1954) and returned to the movies in 1955 with The Tender Trap, followed by High Society the next year. In 1965 she played the Fairy Godmother alongside Lesley Ann Warren in the CBS production of Cinderella. On Broadway in 1967 she replaced Angela Lansbury in the character of Mame Dennis in Mame. In 1970 and 1971 she was featured on the NBC sitcom Nancy, with Renne Jarrett, John Fink and Robert F. Simon. In the story line, Holm played Abby Townsend, the press secretary of the First Lady of the United States and the chaperone of Jarrett’s character, Nancy Smith, the President’s daughter. In 1973 she played the role of Aunt Polly in Tom Sawyer. She was often in episodes of television series (often as a guest star) in series such as Columbo, The Eleventh Hour, Archie Bunker’s Place and Falcon Crest. In 1979 she played the role of First Lady Florence Harding in the television mini-series Backstairs at the White House. In 1986 she first appeared on the ABC soap opera Loving in the role of Lydia Woodhouse. She played the role of Mrs. Hudson in Three Men and a Baby (1987), and appeared again in the ABC soap opera Loving as the second Isabelle Dwyer Alden from 1991 to 1992. Her last theater appearance was in Allegro in 1994. She last appeared as a regular on television in the CBS television series Promised Land (1996 through 1999), playing the character of Hattie Green for 67 episodes. Her last television appearance was in an episode of Whoopi in 2004. She was married five times, having two sons, one by her first husband and one by her third husband. On April 29th, 2004, her 87th birthday, Holm married her fifth husband, opera singer Frank Basile, age 41. Soon after their marriage, Holm and Basile sued to overturn the irrevocable trust that was created in 2002 by her younger son. The trust was ostensibly set up to shelter Holm’s financial assets from taxes though Basile contended the real purpose of the trust was to keep him away from her money. The lawsuit began a five-year battle with her sons, which cost millions of dollars, and according to an article in The New York Times, left Holm and her husband with a fragile hold on their apartment, which Holm purchased for $10,000 cash in 1953 from her film earnings, and which in 2011 was believed to be worth at least $10,000,000. Her last movie was College Debts, not yet released at the time of her death (died 2012): “We live by encouragement and die without it – slowly, sadly and angrily.”
From The Recamier 