Month: July 2022

St. Swithin's Day

When Swithin, the bishop of Winchester, England, died in 862, he was buried according to his wish, outside the cathedral in the churchyard, in a place where the rain from the eaves poured down. This request was reversed after his canonization, when clerical authorities tried to move his remains to a site within the church. According to legend, the heavens opened and there was a heavy rainfall—a show of the saint’s displeasure. This led to the popular belief that if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day, it will rain for 40 days; but if it is fair, it will be dry for 40 days. Discuss

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606)

Rembrandt is considered one of the greatest European painters. Early on, he displayed an interest in the “spotlight effects” of light and shadow that dominate his later paintings and began the studies of his own face and the more formal self-portraits that make up much of his painted and etched work. After moving to Amsterdam around 1631, he quickly became the city’s most fashionable portrait painter and a popular teacher. However, he went bankrupt in 1656. What had happened to his money? Discuss

Mehndi

Mehndi is a form of temporary skin decoration popular in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Henna paste—made from the leaves of a shrub native to these regions—is applied to the skin, typically on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. The decorated area is then wrapped to lock in body heat and create a more intense color, usually a reddish brown. Traditionally, mehndi adorns the skin of brides, and occasionally grooms, at their weddings. How long does the color last? Discuss

Football War Breaks Out in Honduras (1969)

The Football War was a four-day war fought between El Salvador and Honduras. Though political tensions between Hondurans and Salvadorans were the main factors contributing to the war’s outbreak, hostility between the two countries was further inflamed by rioting when they met during a qualifying round for the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Though short-lived, the war claimed thousands of lives and displaced several hundred thousand people. When did the two nations finally sign a peace treaty? Discuss

Tekakwitha Feast Day

The first Native American to be beatified, Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) is a venerated figure among both Catholics and Native Americans. Catholic churches hold mass on her feast day, during which congregants may offer prayers to God through her intercession. Among the North American churches and shrines, sites that have noteworthy feast day celebrations are the National Kateri Shrine in Fonda, New York, where she first encountered Christianity, and the Kateri Center at the Saint Francis-Xavier Mission at Kahnawake, Quebec, where she lived following her conversion. Discuss

Gertrude Bell (1868)

Bell was a British traveler, author, and one of the builders of the modern state of Iraq. After graduating from Oxford, she journeyed throughout the Middle East and, in World War I, placed her unmatched knowledge of Middle Eastern conditions and her fluent Arabic and Persian at the disposal of the British government. In 1915, she became the first woman appointed to the British intelligence service and later helped determine Iraq’s borders. Bell worked closely with what famous adventurer? Discuss

Glassblowing

Glassblowing is the art of shaping molten glass into a vessel by blowing air into it through a tube. Its processes have remained essentially the same since ancient times. Glass materials are fused at high temperatures, boiled down, skimmed, cooled several hundred degrees, and then blown. The manufacture of simple glass objects, like light bulbs, is now done by machines, but ornamental objects are still made using traditional methods. One key glassblowing tool is a “punty.” What is it used for? Discuss