Daily Update: Wednesday, June 19th, 2024

Today is the Optional Memorial of Saint Romuald, Abbot (died 1027). In the secular world, today is Juneteenth National Independence Day and Juneteenth National Independence Day (Observed).

Daily Update: Tuesday, June 18th, 2024

We have no Saints to honor today, but on this date in 1812 An Act Declaring War between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Dependencies Thereof and the United States of America and Their Territories was passed by the United States Congress and signed by United States President James Madison, thereby beginning the War of 1812. This was the first time of eleven times that the United States has formally declared war on another nation or nations. And today is the anniversary of the baptism of my Kaboodle (2020).

Daily Update: Monday, June 17th, 2024

Since sunset last night, and until sunset tonight, is Eid-ul Adha, one of the major feasts of the Islamic calendar. There are no Saints to honor today, but on this date in 1775 the Battle of Bunker Hill took place during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War.

Daily Update: Sunday, June 16th, 2024

Today is the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Alleluia!), the Optional Memorial of Saint John Francis Regis, Religious (died 1640), and the Remembrance of Servant of God Sister Françoise-Thérèse (Léonie Martin), Religious (died 1941). In the secular world today is Bloomsday, the celebration of the day in Dublin, Ireland in 1904 on which the events of the great novel Ulysses by Irish writer James Joyce take place. Today is Father’s Day. And today is the anniversary of the death of Richard’s cousin Lele (2021). And starting at sunset today begins the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Daily Update: Saturday, June 15th, 2024

Today is the Optional Memorial of Saint Vitus, Martyr (died 303).

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

What if, once you died, you ended up in a sort of way station city, where you stay until the last person in the land of living who ever met you dies, at which point you disappear to whatever comes next? And what if a worldwide pandemic took out everyone in the world except for someone in literal isolation?  This is a novel that covers both ideas, and where the ideas meld together, and it makes for fascinating reading.

St. Peter’s Fair by Ellis Peters

This is the fourth book in the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Shrewsbury, in the England of the twelfth century. Cadfael lived a full life before becoming a monk, having been to the Crusades; he has now been a monk for some sixteen years, and is sincere about his faith, his obligations to the Benedictines, and his maintenance of the monastery herb gardens. However, his intellect is always piqued by mysteries, especially concerning young people. These are fun little mystery novels, and this one is a great introduction to the series. My first recorded reading of this book was in 2001, then again in 2002, and the next in 2010.