Pope Francis

Once again the social media has shown its ignorance by not reading completely what the popes write in their encyclicals. They write from what they have heard in summaries or reviews and they take one sound bite and take it out of context. They think that everything can be condensed into a tweet. Great theological and philosophical thoughts and ideas are not tweetable!! I remember when students would use cliff notes instead of reading the whole literary work in college and they missed the beauty and profundity of the message. I have read the encyclicals of the last three brilliant popes and though they have different styles, they and all the other popes have never deviated from faith and morals of the church. Pope Francis is essentially saying that we need to help the poor by feeding them but also to teach them how to feed themselves. It is like the African proverb that says:“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. 
Catholic missionaries do this all around the world. They build wells so that people have clean water; they teach the poor to farm; they educate women so that they can earn a living and not be slaves of human trafficking; they help to educate people on Aids; they help Christians all over the world who are being persecuted and the ways in which they help the poor is endless. I do not see the U.S. government standing up these days for human rights and for human dignity and for religious freedom. Who is the communist or socialist I ask?

 Pope Francis is a beacon od HOPE to me and to our oppressed brothers and sisters around the world! Congratulatons to him on being named " Person of the Year" by Time magazine. Pope Francis truly deserves it!

Femininity and what I absolutely love about my Catholic Faith

I never had a quest to understand the meaning of my feminine identity in light of my catholic faith and a culture shaped by modern feminism. My Italian upbringing and my quasi-perfect mother solidified in me an unwavering, unswerving view of what authentic femininity was. It was naturally manifested in my mother's daily words, deeds, and actions. As I learned about my faith through the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I already intuited as an Italian little girl that families were supposed to be extensions of the Holy Family's love. I found love and inspiration from my mother's selfless giving to me and later, grace and inspiration from Mary, the mother of God who would intercede for me to Jesus. Secular feminists were never appealing to me. I was never confused over the sexual liberation or fidelity, professional success or family, marriage or pleasure and lastly, freedom or responsibility. Love and liberation were not tied for me ever. In fact, what I would ultimately discover is that true liberation would come from my surrender to love sacrificially as Christ did on the cross. In other words, I learned to surrender completely to God and to give with reckless abandon to my family as well as to others because of my great examples culturally and spiritually. Unfettered freedom was just a trap and a way for Satan to lure modern women under the guise of equal rights for women to subjugated slavery. My mother may have been a slave but she was a slave of God through her own volition. I recall that St. Paul exhorts us to be slaves of Christ, to imitate his sacrificial love and that is exactly the kind of love that refracted from my dear mother onto me throughout my childhood. My father was very exemplary of sacrificial love, too but my mother's feminine, maternal love nurtured me more because of our kindred female and mother-daughter relationship. My parents were not educated in the sense of formal education or through reading scripture because they could hardly read but they embodied Jesus in how they lived their daily lives. They had more wisdom, knowledge, and common sense than many erudite scholars I know today. My femininity is a large part of who I am as a person and I thank my dear mother from the bottom of my heart for being such a beautiful feminine role-model to me. You never tired in loving us as Mary loved her Son.


"Love knows no fatigue"
   St. Augustine

 Patron Saint for authentic femininity is Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat ( 1779-1865) May 25th

I, on the other hand through my Catholic and public , formal education cultivated a true love for my faith through frequent daily mass, love of contemplative prayer, reading of scripture and spiritual books, reciting of the rosary and other devotional prayers and going to adore, thank, praise, and petition my Lord and Savior at Eucharistic Adoration. I would come to realize later in life the incredible gifts and graces that I would receive through the beauty of my Catholic Faith, its church and most importantly, through its founder, our Lord, King, and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love everything about the Catholic Church. In order of importance for me, Here is what I love  about my Catholic faith:

-  Jesus Christ (God-Man), His humble Nativity, his humiliating Crucifixion and His glorious Resurection for Man's eternal salvation;

-  The Eucharist, the most beautiful gift  my spiritual daily nourishment (My Heaven on Earth with Jesus truly present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in communion with all the angels and saints). Such a beautiful gift from God to us! It is truly as great theologians say, "the source and summit of our faith." Perpetual Adoration is one of the greatest gifts we have in the Catholic Church next to the Eucharist. I can go to Perpetual Adoration at any time ( 24 hours a day) to be with Jesus. An awesome gift!  I am so humbly thankful to Jesus for His living bread that is His flesh that is truly present when I receive Him in Communion. Jesus said, " Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you."This is not symbolic, this is literal language!

-The Blessed Virgin Mary ( La Madonna) is the perfect Mother of God and of us all. She has always helped me when I pray to her to intercede for me to the Lord as our Lady of Lourdes especially during my trials and tribulations in a world that is imperfect and always helping me to draw closer to Jesus, to love Him, serve Him, and imitate Him. She guides me to be closer and in union with God. God used my family member's tumultuous pregnancy and Mary's example to teach me to truly love others, to truly forgive others, and to truly love and trust my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to ultimately surrender completely to accepting His will. 

- The Communion of Saints through their heroic love and faith in God who guide me through their illustrious example of sacrificial love of God( Fathe, Son and Holy Spirit).
St. Francis of Assisi, St. Joseph, St, Anthony of Padua, St. John -Paul the Great, St. Francis Selos, St. Clare, St. Padre Pio, St. Jude Thaddeus, St. Gianna Mola, St. Gerard, and the list is endless of the saints who help me daily.

-Reciting my nightly rosary when I can before I fall asleep from exhaustion always gives me peace and a tremendous sense of HOPE because nothing is impossible for God. God used a difficult pregnancy in my family and Mary's example to teach me how to truly love and trust my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to surrender completely to accepting His will. Through my brokenness and through the miraculous birth of my first beautiful grandson I did not marvel that God transformed my life so radically but I humbly thanked Him for having done so. My faith was never shattered, never doubted, just tested and triumphant.

I don't know what I would have done or who I would be today without the guidance, counseling, and teaching by the Catholic Church with the Pope, its bishops, priests, and religious such as sisters, nuns, brothers, and missionaries. These holy and beautiful mentors who imitate Christ taught me to do the same.

The Mass ( its liturgy and Sacrifice of Calvary - This is home for me where Jesus is truly present in me where heaven and Earth meet, where I truly feel at peace. I love to be able to go to daily mass especially when I am worried or broken. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass reminds me to love sacrificially as Christ did on the cross. When I leave the mass, I am reminded to live the mass in my daily life. It strengthens me by the power of God's grace in me after receiving Him in Holy Communion.

The Beatitudes of Christ on Mount Olive - These are radical tenets that our Lord gave us for imitating His compassion or Caritas to my fellowman. "Love one another as I have loved you." 
I am asked to love God and my neighbor but more radically, to love my enemy as I love myself!
A tremendous shift from the old covenant to the new covenant of Jesus Christ. Very difficult to do but very satisfying once you learn how to humble yourself to do it.

The Cross- The only God in history who became incarnate both human and divine! Christ gives us spiritual trials in our souls for those who love Him so that they can learn to love Him more. In catholic school I was taught what my mother and father did in their life which is to unite our sufferings with the sufferings of Jesus. The cross also taught me to always forgive as Jesus did. "To err is human but to forgive is divine." Christ said to his Father on the cross: "Forgive them for they know not what they do."  La migliore vendetta e il perdono ( The best vendetta is  forgiveness) is what my Papa would always say. If we imitate Christ in loving and forgiving our enemies, we get closer to Him and closer to Caritas ( Perfect Love as in Christ's Passion).
We become strong, hopeful and compassionate from our suffering and uniting it to Jesus' suffering on the cross. Catholics call this redemptive suffering. 

For all the above reasons I absolutely love my Catholic Faith! It provides me with joy and peace through good as well as bad times.

The Easter Parade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYac9O3GYTM

Watching the old classic film of Easter Parade with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland with the most memorable song of the film entitled, "In your Easter Bonnet" brought me back to reminisce nostalgically about my own wonderful Italian childhood celebrations of Easter, What a joyous time of year not parading down Fifth Avenue but down the ordinary sidewalk of my cozy house on the northwest side of Chicago. My new Easter outfit "with all the frills upon it". would be laid out all ready for me to don on Easter Sunday beginning with my pastel colored, lace trimmed spring dress accompanied by Easter accoutrements of white gloves, white dress shoes and  matching white purse and ending with the piece de resistance...my white feminine Easter Bonnet with pastel colored ribbons that always matched the color of my dress. I would get up very early on Easter morn because I couldn't wait to put on my new spring outfit carefully selected by my loving parents for Easter Sunday. My dear mother would help me get dressed while she was preparing a sumptuous Easter dinner. I don't know how she managed it all so flawlessly. Mamma would take out the many pink-sponged rollers in my hair and make my curls eventually accentuate the bonnet I would be donning on the glorious and most festive day of the year. She would make sure that every part of the Easter ensemble on me was perfect to the eye. I also fondly remember putting on my cherished beautiful 24 carat gold Italian jewelry that my parents bought in Italy just before we came to the United States. The end result of all the meticulous and loving care that my mother gave me Easter morn made me feel like a beautiful princess as I proudly came down our basement stairs to leave for the most important day of the year liturgically for my catholic and Italian family." I  could write a sonnet" about my Easter bonnet because  it was such a wondrous and magical as well as beautifully spiritual time of one of the most memorable times of my childhood life growing up Italian. Easter always made me feel happy and hopeful and it continues to do so for it reminds me more and more each year that my greatest joy is knowing that God loved me so much that He gave his only Son so that I may have eternal life. La piu bella speranza che abbiamo in questo mondo! The most beautiful hope that we have in this world!

My Italian Childhood

As a little girl I was treated like a princess by my loving Italian father and mother. I felt like the center of their world. They made me feel immensely loved and so secure. My world was protected from ugliness, violence, or sadness. My parents truly gave me a beautiful, good, and protected childhood. Though I did not have much materialism such as toys, trendy clothing, vacations, and other pleasurable children's activities, I nonetheless, have extraordinary warm, fuzzy, and beautiful memories of my  Italian childhood in America. I will always cherish these childhood memories with nostalgia because I literally had no anxieties or worries because my parents loved me so much and provided so generously for all of my needs. I must say however, that although I was always put on a pedestal by my dear, loving parents, I was also disciplined by them with great love which eradicated the possibility of my ever getting too spoiled. I felt utterly safe, utterly loved and utterly taken care of because Papa and Mamma were always present in my daily life during my entire youth. My father worked every day from Monday to Friday but he always came home by 5:00 pm and we always had dinner together. My mother never had a job outside of the home and lovingly took care of my every need as a child, adolescent, and young adult.. She prepared three meals a day for us and never missed a day except the day when in my freshman year of high school, she abruptly found out that her beloved father in Italy had passed away whom she had not seen since our coming to America in 1956. When I was in elementary school at St. Tarcissus I remember coming home for lunch every day from school followed by a totally delicious and nutritious home-cooked supper together with the family. Everything Mamma made was made from scratch from her soups, pastas,gnocchi, risotto, polenta, breads, pizzas, vegetable dishes, fish and meat dishes to desserts such as biscotti, plum dumplings or crepes. I marvel now at all the dishes that she lovingly and laboriously made for us every day. True Sacrifice! Even as a child, deep down I always honored, loved, and deeply respected my parents for the beautiful human beings that they were and for all of the sacrifices that I knew they had made for me. Yet,  I was incognizant of the fact that my Mamma was always  my role-model of true femininity,womanhood and motherhood that modern femininity would be telling me to renounce. Yes, I did go out into the attractive modern world and I did all the things my dear Mamma was not able to do but in the end, I always would hold dear to all that I learned from my exceptional Italian Mamma.  I learned more from her than from all of the knowledge I amassed from my college degrees.What I learned from Mamma, especially from her deeds rather than from her words, would ultimately mold me into the wife, the mother, and the woman I am today.  St. Francis told his followers to "preach at all times and if necessary, use words.....that describes my mother to the tee! I think that my dear mother and father through their foundation of their catholic faith tried to essentially emulate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph who served each other and others with humanity and dignity. My parents tried valiantly to serve each other and to serve their children with humanity and dignity. I will forever be grateful to God for the blessing of having them as my parents!  Today at mass my dear husband and I heard the gospel of St. Paul in which he tells us to be slaves of the Lord and not to sin because in serving the Lord, we will truly be free. In thinking of my self'giving Mamma and Papa who served us with charity, I can better understand this very difficult concept of being slaves for the Lord.  Pope John Paul II in his encyclical on the dignity of woman states that "Christ, the "Servant of the Lord", will show all people the royal dignity of service, the dignity which is joined in the closest possible way to the vocation of every person."  This was most assuredly the vocation of my loving parents who are now deceased. May eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them.  Rest in peace, Papa e Mamma. Vi voglio tanto bene e vi ringrazio di cuore!

Dante

“… I am one who takes note when inspired by love, and in the very way that it dictates within me, so I go shedding meaning.” Dante was nine years old when he first saw Beatrice Portinari, who was a few months younger than he and lived close to his home in Florence. From that moment, he wrote, “love ruled my soul.” Beatrice was to marry Simone de’ Baedi, a wealthy banker, and it is improbable that she ever knew of Dante’s admiration for her. As for Dante he married Gemma Donati, by whom he had four children. Nontheless, it was his platonic love for Beatrice…”the woman of my mind,” as he described her---which was to be the inspiration of his life and work. After her death in 1290 at the age of twenty-five, Dante composed the Vita nova , a collection of poems interlaced with commentary, in which he told the story of his ideal love.Most famous of these poems is the sonnet  “Tanto gentile e tanto onesto pare.”an excellent example of dolce stil nuovo poetry. Beatrice is portrayed not as a human being but as an angel whose presence on earth is a miracle. The love she inspires is a spiritual bliss, one conveyed to a man’s heart through his eyes, excluding even the remotest implication of physical contact.

T.S. Eliot praised Dante’s “visual imagination” and his gift for making the “spiritual visible.”

Not only does Dante create new poetic forms but he established the Italian language as a significant rival to Latin for the writers of his time. His influence on English writers extends all the way from the Middle Ages to the 20^th century.

Bella Fiume

Here is a song that a dear friend of mine, Francesco sent me entitled "Bella Fiume".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chNWkxuCU6E

 Fiume no longer exists and is called Rijeka but my heart now has recaptured it through so many ways in this tecnologically advanced modern world we live in but it was through my wonderful daughter and her graduate studies in this area of history that I have been truly able to relive my parents' past. At Middlebury and at U. of Chicago my daughter  found so many incredible documents. It has been such a deeply moving and nostalgic experience for me. It is amazing how I have come to find this treasure of my past that is called Fiume now that I am retired ( well, somewhat).  I was able to read a novel called "Il Vento di Terra Perduta" (The Wind of the Lost Land) that my daughter lent me and I cannot describe to you all the memories and emotions that it conjured up in me. Those who know me well know that I have always said that it is in giving that we receive ( which I say every day in San Francesco's prayer). It is so true. Through my daughter's studies I have uncovered my true identity.  When I hear my canzoni fiumane ( my song of the past in my fiumano dialect) I am home. I just wanted to share this song with you because it is so much a part of who and what I am all about. I am so thankful to my friend, Francesco for sharing this song with me and to my daughter for all of her arduous and passionate work in my Italian family's history. Francesco is my brother Enzo's friend who came to America with us after we became expatriated. I so very much want to go on the Adriatic cruise that sails every year to remember our lost lands and our lost Italian brothers and sisters who were tragically massacred during World War II. Maybe one day soon. The song deeply captures this people's love of life as we call it "Allegria" or "joie de vivre". My dear Mamma e Papa' continually taught me to love this beautiful life given to us by God, to be cheerful and strong, and to never lose SPERANZA! It has been a lesson for me that will be forever indelibly imprinted in my soul.

Sharing a nostalgic moment with those who know me well. La Vita E Bella!
PS Nel video si puo vedere il bellissimo palazzoe dintorni del passato della mia cara famiglia.

Dorina

Caritas

.

 When I was taking a course on the Divine Comedy for the third time at age 33 after being married with three beautiful children and in the midst of two aging and ailing parents, my father who would soon have a stroke that would paralyze him on thr right side and my mother who was in the middle stages of Alzheimers, it was at this crossroad of my life that I was truly beginning to understand what Dante was saying in the greatest epic poem of all time, the Divina Commedia which would ultimately become for me a reflection of the Good News of Christ. My class was every Wednesday night and even though my dear father had just had his stroke and hospitalized, I felt the need to attend this class even more for my survival. I was working full-time teaching Italian as a high school teacher, raising three children with my dear husband, taking a grad class on Dante, taking care of my Mamma with Alzheimers on the weekends and suddenly having to contend with my dear Papa's debilitating stroke. People would often tell me to join a support group but my support or life line came from my faith, my family, and from the hopeful messages that I was receiving from Dr.Mastrobuono’s Dante Studies class ( which initially came from Dr. Trovato, my most favorite professor from Northwestern, my alma mater for my MA in Italian).  The love I experienced through my Catholic faith, my Italian family, and my study of Dante spelled out one, incontrovertible form and definition of love that was called CARITAS!  All these types of love were inextricably linked. The more I would imitate Christ’s love for us, the more I would become who I was meant to be. Through this beautiful lesson of what love really is, I found peace, joy, and HOPE in my life. Through my studies of Italian literature as an MA graduate student at Northwestern with Dr. Trovato and through my biblical studies as a catechist at my Catholic church, I clearly began to understand how Faith and Reason go hand in hand. The love I was going to have to give and continue to give in my life that would cause me to have an internal conversion was God’s sacrificial love or “Caritas”. I was going to have to place others before my own needs and wants.

My esteemed professors of the Divine Comedy reached me in a very personal, intellectual, and spiritual way that spoke to me in a very intimate way at that very challenging and difficult time in my life. I truly was becoming an adult capable of unremitting compassion ( caritas) and generous humanity at this time confronting the mortality of my parents’ as well as anticipating my own. This work of sublime poetry from the 13^th century was more relevant to me than any modern writing had ever been. It demonstrated that the human condition never changes and that morality never changes because at the core we are born to love and be loved as God so loved the world that He gave his only Son so that we may be saved and have life both here on this earthly kingdom of God as well as eternal life in heaven after we die. “Caritas” is what I so beautifully not just learned and understood but experienced so deeply in my mind, heart, and soul.  I truly learned how to love sacrificially and charitably. I experienced my parents’ love all my life and my husband’s and children’s love through our marital covenant but it was not until I experienced the suffering of my parents that  I truly learned how to love. Through  great literature and through magnanimous professors who could explain and exemplify spiritual love so beautifully and coherently to me was I finally able to understand as well as verbalize what love is.

I wish I could have more eloquently told my two esteemed professors how much their teachings of Dante meant to me, saving me in all senses of the word, changing me forever, and to this day, continuing to give me HOPE in a world that wants to give us despair.

Dr. Trovato’s son sums up so beautifully what his father was to him and to students like myself.

“yes, my dad was many things to many people, and to me he was a moral beacon. a guide by which i could look into the darkness and see the light shining bright and continuously pointing in the right direction. today his light shines bright on the horizon. it is there for all of the people he touched throughout his life. it is there for us.”

I heard Dr. Trovato give one of his last lectures on Dante in the twilight of his life and soon after he died in 2009 but his teachings on Dante and anecdotal stories of his own life will always nourish my heart, mind, and soul. He will always be one of the greatest mentors and most loving human beings I have ever known. How privileged and blessed was I to have had Dr. Trovato as my Italian Professor. He was a beacon of God’s light that emanated from his face, from his teachings, and from his deeds as a good and humble human being. He lived what he taught and what he taught was beautiful, good, and true. What I pieced together was Scripture, Faith, Reason, and Familial Love in a masterful literary work whose central theme of “Caritas” would change me forever .

Someone else who truly enlightened me on Dante was Pope Benedict  XVI. Herewith  attached is a preface he wrote for his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. It says so eloquently what  I have intuited from  my experiences of Caritas ( God is Love) through my sufferings and joys that came and continue to come through loving others as Christ loves us. Perfectly!  I can only love perfectly by loving Christ and loving others as I love Him.  In this way we can love God, know Him, and serve Him by serving our fellow man, especially the poor, the disenfranchised, and the persecuted in our world. In this way we are truly free, at peace, and in harmony with God’s plan for us.

I cannot possibly put into a few pages all of my spiritual and philosophical thoughts, insights, messages, and discoveries that profoundly affected me from my study of Dante with Dr. Trovato and Dr. Mastrobuono. I would also like to say that my vast appreciation for my Dante studies could not have maturated without the maturation of my Catholic Faith and Scripture.  

In the following preface of Pope Benedict’s Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est ( God Is Love) he begins to  speak of Dante in his encyclical  on the theme of Love in a way that expresses in words  so perfectly what I know or have intuited so perfectly in my heart. I would encourage everyone to read this preface and encyclical to begin the reading of the Divine Comedy. I encourage you because the vision and comprehension of “Caritas” will transform you as it transformed me. I was able to see God’s luminous face and God’s  charitable heart through this long journey of faith and Dante studies.

“The strength of "Caritas" depends on the strength of faith of all its members and collaborators.  

The spectacle of suffering man touches our heart. But charitable commitment has a meaning that goes well beyond mere philanthropy. God himself pushes us in our interior to alleviate misery. In this way, in a word, we take him to the suffering world.  

The more we take him consciously and clearly as gift, the more effectively will our love change the world and awaken hope, a hope that goes beyond death.”

( Pope Benedict XVI)

( This writing today is another example of HOPE that I continually discovered and continue to discover in my studies of Italian).

http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/867/Why_Love_is_the_Theme___Benedict_XVI.html

 

Rick Santorum

Today I listened to Rick Santorum talk to Jeannette Benkovic, host of EWTN's "Women of Grace". 
Rick and Jeannette inspired me and so I wanted to go to my blog that focuses on HOPE. Rick and the show of "Women of Grace" makes me feel hopeful about the future of our country and of our families. Rick Santorum was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2012. 

 In June, 2012 Rick Santorum began Patriot Voices, a grassroots and online community of Americans committed to promoting faith, family, freedom and opportunity. During his presidential run, Rick spoke passionately about his belief that strong families help produce a strong economy.  Rick and his lovely wife, Karen have 7 children and their youngest daughter, Isabella was born with a condition called Trisomy 18.   Bella’s miraculous life has only strengthened Rick and Karen’s belief in the dignity of each and every life. Rick wants to repeal Obamacare because it is government driven. Rick was the most successful as a government reformer in our history as he served in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate. He wrote the New York Times best seller, It Takes a Family. As a person who values each and every person Rick wrote and passed legislation that outlawed the heinous procedure known as Partial Birth Abortion as well as the "Born Alive Infants Protection Act," the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act," and the "Combating Autism Act" .Today on the "Women of Grace" program Rick was  promoting films that he is helping to produce as a CEO of Echolight Studio. Rick said that he wanted to promote the good, the true, and the beautiful. I agree with Jeannette that Rick is a magnanimous and audacious but humble man. "We can't hide our light under a bushel ....we have to put it on the nightstand". Rick needs to provide for his family but most importantly,he said that we need to build faith and family through inspirational and entertaining films that both children and adults can view together. Don't miss his awesome Christmas movie coming out in November, The Christmas Candle!

"For too long, Hollywood has had a lock on influencing the youth of this country with a flawed message that goes against our values. Now, we can change that," said Rick. I can't even watch TV or most films today and I am so glad that someone like Rick Santorum is taking the lead in trying to change the flawed culture of Hollywood films. Bravo Rick! 

Italians...adjectives please.

As I was teaching a lesson of adjective agreement to my Italian 101 class I decided to also teach a cultural lesson concurrently. I asked the students to share some adjectives that are associated with Italians. The typical adjectives came through from the hyperbolic Italian stereotypes we see on TV or in movies.

For example, one could say that in general Italians were olive skinned and small from the immigrant population of Italians who came to America in the early twentieth century but as we travel today to Italy we see a diversity of complexions and sizes of the Italian people from all over its peninsula and islands.

As a great observer of the Italian people through my extensive travels to Italy in the last forty years I  have always loved to watch them in action in their outdoor living rooms as I like to label their piazzas or at home in their actual "salotti".  First and foremost, what is stridently visible is the way Italians carry themselves and how they dress. Italians love beauty and take great pride in dressing impeccably and confidently. I personally think that it is not so much what they wear as how they feel as they are wearing it. I also think that the confidence comes deep from within and not so much from the exterior of their bodies. This revelation that I made a long time ago about this phenomenon of the Italian people goes hand in hand with the way Italians demonstrate their love so outwardly and so passionately toward their children. Their love for their children and their joy at being with them is what makes them self-confident. Their animation comes from the maternal and paternal love they receive growing up. The demonstrative love and affection children are given in Italy I think contributes to making the child feel a great sense of self-worth that he or she is made in the image and likeness of God and therefore is precious in every way. This godly love that the parents,family, and society express to a child is what in my estimation makes the child feel consequently so self-confident and passionate. This passionate nature then expresses itself through their magnificent facial expressions, body language, and hand gestures which in turn makes them look as I said, VERY self-confident.

Gli Italiani sono sicuri e disinvolti.

( to be continued)

Columbus Day Reflections

I am watching the Columbus Day Parade in Chicago on TV and I am so proud of my Italian heritage.. I see so many of my Italian students there! I just love what the coming of Columbus to America represents. Through my studies of Italian, I continually learn to appreciate all of the Italians’ and Italo-Americans’ contributions to our modern society: free market-economics, the security of the rule of …law, a unique sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, spendid art and music, exquisite food, a philosophy grounded in reason, modern science and aboveall, a sense of sacredness of all human life with a special respect and love for women. Christopher Columbus may be a controversial figure to some but what is undeniable is that through the persistance and vision of this Genovese sailor, his dream came true and it transformed the world. I am so proud of Josette Weber, a great woman in the Italian community who was the Grand Marsahll and who epitimizes the charitable HEART of so many of the Italo-American people, companies and organizations represented at the parade. May we as Italians and Italo-Americans continue to foster the importance of faith, family,community, tradition, and charity. La vita e bella! Happy Belated Columbus Day to all! It’s wonderfult o see so many people embrace the Italian heritage of Chicago!

La Passeggiata

As I drive everywhere in my car to go to work or to run errands as an American, I often nostalgically reminisce how my brethren in Italy use their legs or a bicycle as their means of transportation to get to work or to shop for their daily purchases of staples. Italy is known as “Sunny Italy” so the beautiful radiance of ”il Sole” together with shorter distances and high fuel prices makes it understandable why Italians walk rather than drive to their daily destinations. More interesting, however, is the fact that Italians love to take walks without a truly set destination, affectionately called “La Passeggiata”, a stroll or promenade. The stroll just leads you naturally to an epicenter ( the main Piazza of the town) where Italians will find, others like themselves congregating to do “Il Dolce Far Niente” ( the sweetness of doing nothing) which ironically ends up being an array of the most enjoyable pasttimes in life that one can do which are beautifully and richly simple in nature. I say simple only because the backdrop has been set for centuries by great, talented luminaries who built, sculpted, painted, and created the beauty by which one is surrounded in what I call the outdoor living rooms of Italy. All the senses are aroused …by the buzzing of cheerful, animated Italians’ voices as they chat with one another…. by the heavenly aromas that waft from the pasticcerie or salumerie….by the delectable foods such as “un gelato alla nocciola con panna” or “un cappuccino e cornetto” that make your taste buds burst with indescribable flavor fit for the gods or… by the many attractive “vitrine” that display that “made in Italy” look of a product that exudes quality, creativity, and aboveall, classic beauty. The eye is truly bombarded and captivated by virtually hundreds of extraordinary images of people, places, and things that makes you curiously interested to keep on watching. Italians have a love affair with “La Bellezza” ( Beauty) from the time of Antiquity and from the time of Christianity, especially with their admiration of the Human Body. They also love to be “In Compagnia” ( in the company of others). Thus, “La Passeggiata”, a slow-paced stroll where one can see and talk to: ”bellissime”, feminine women “a braccetto” (arm in arm) , ”bellissimi”, meticulously dressed young and middle-aged men, ”bellissimi”, older gentlemen in charming sweater vests and suits discussing politics at a caffe’ in front of the “Catedrale”, and last but not least, ”bellissimi bambini” that are like magnets attracting those who pass by, coupled with, “la bellezza” of the art, sculture, architecture, food, and objects by which the Italians are surrounded in their outdoor living room of the “Piazza” makes the daily stroll such a necessity and delight! Alla Prossima, Dorina

Parmigiano

People always say that Italian cuisine is simple but the reality I think, is that it is simple because so many other Italians have painstakingly made quintessential Italian ingredients that elevate an Italian dish to a heavenly experience. To illustrate this point one would only have to think about a simple dish of homemade “Tagliatelle” which are crowned with the “indisputable King of cheeses” and then, becomes a glorious and unforgettable experience of the palate. I love “the indisputable King of cheeses” as Mario Batali describes so beautifully the Italian cheese of Parmigiano Reggiano. It takes two years of hand-on work, hard work to age this cheese to perfection. This cheese is made in Parma in the region of Emiglia Romagna. This region is known as the gastronomic heart of Italy. No wonder Bologna is called besides “La Dotta” ( the Learned One)… ( for the oldest university of Europe ( 1088) “La Grassa” (the Fat One) because of its exquisite foods such as Aceto Balsamico (Balsamic Vinegar) from Modena, Tortellini ( fresh, stuffed pasta that looks like Venus’ navel) or its many delicious deli cuts such as Mortadella and Prosciutto from Parma. When I was in Bologna for many Italian exchanges with my students from Lyons Township High School, I would love to look at the massive wheels of this divine cheese in the “vitrine” of the “salumerie” o “latterie” that would pop-up as I would take my evening strolls ( passeggiate) and would end up in the center of the city in Piazza Maggiore with the Basilica of Saint Petronius (the patron state of Bologna) and the lovely Fountain of Neptune. The incredible buttery and nutty aroma of this cheese would entice me to go eat any fresh pasta dish with Bolognese sauce and of course, topped with “Il buonissimo Parmigiano” at a marvelous “trattoria bolognese.” I remember once while I was there with my wonderful students, I had the best pasta dish ever with a spectacular, former student of mine, Ann Marie Moran who took me to a trattoria she had found while she was studying at the University of Bologna at that very time. I will never forget that encounter with her. What a cherished memory for me that it was!To be taken by a special student like Anna Maria that you formerly taught who now knew the Italian language and culture and Bologna so well and who was studying there because she had a beautiful experience during her high school exchange to Bologna was one of the best memories of my teaching career! I was so proud of her! But to get back to the story, the pasta dish with the Parmigiano Reggiano was “Straordinario” or as we say in English…Out of this World! So, to sum up, Italian Cuisine is simple only because there are so many Italian ingredients that are made with great care and love that have been handed down to us as part and parcel of Italian tradition that desires to produce quality and not quantity! Cooking Italian dishes is simple only because we are able to buy and use in our cooking Italian food products of great genius! Buon Appetito! Alla Prossima, Dorina

Saint Valentine’s Day

Saint Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and it reminds me of my lessons in Italian class that dealt with this saint and with the topic of “Love”. My unit on Italian Courtly Love Poetry coincided with the feast day of Saint Valentine which is also linked with Italian beginnings (the persecutions of the early Christians in Rome ). I would have my students give their personal definition of love and we would then read Italian courtly love poetry by Cavalcanti, Guinizelli, and of course by Dante Alighieri. ( These poets were called the Dolce Stilnovisti/ the Sweet New Stylists). I would start with Dante’s sonnet, Tanto gentile e tanto onesta ( Vita Nuova) and finish at the end of Italian IV AP with Dante’s Divine Comedy. The students would wrtie an Italian imitative courtly love poem or a modern version of this theme and they would always be spectacular. My young proteges amazed me with the quality of the maturation of their thoughts on the subject of love. By the end of the unit my students understood what true spiritual love ( Caritas) was. They understood that God is love and that for amorous love to be perfect it needs to imitate God’s love. My poetry unit would begin with the Sicilian School to the Florentine School, then to the Bolognese School and end with an introduction to the genius epic poem of Dante Alighieri, the Divine Comedy in order to illustrate the evolutionary process of man’s christian concept of love. Materialistic troubadour poetry associated with wine and pleasure transforms itself into chivalrous and courtly love and then to doctrinal and philosophical love and finally with Dante, elevates itself to spiritual love. Love becomes associated with a gentle and noble heart ( il cuor gentil) and not with noble standing in society. What a revolutionary idea that Dante incorporates and instills in western civilization! Both men and women begin to be given the dignity they so deserve from the Middle Ages onward even if man has always had struggles with this nascent idea in Dante’s sublime work. Dante was influenced by Saint Francis of Assisi and this new finding gives me great solace because as those of you who know me, also know tha I have a great admiration and love for this great saint as well as poet. It always then, befuddles me when some or most modern historians call this period the Dark Ages. How ironic is it that this dark age gave way to one of the greatest luminaries of all time…DANTE whose extraordinary christian ideas transformed modern western society in many ways. Though the secular media would have us believe that these ideas are archaic, my students for the last thirty-five years have always proved to me by their own original poems on love that Dante’s concept of “Caritas” is profound irrefutable and immutable truth for all time. Once again, a lesson imbued with “Speranza”. I will truly miss teaching this beautiful unit on Italian literature. Alla Prossima, Dorina

Italian Neorealism

As I mentioned in my first post that one of my principal mantras in life that comes from teaching Italian is “Speranza” ( Hope). I just viewed A beautiful Italian film called ” La Fuga degli Innocenti“/ The Escape of the Innocent (2004) on La Rai last week which reminded me of the several neorealistic Italian films that I used in my AP Italian IV classes throughout the years at Lyons Township High School such as Roberto Rossellini’s Roma, Citta Aperta / Open City (1945) or Vittorio De Sica’s Ladri di Biciclette/Bicycle Thief (1948). Neorealism is a movement in Italian cinema with a veristic style that began with Luchino Visconti’s Ossessione / Obsession(1942) who is considered the father of Italian neorealistic cinema. Neorealistic films have the following characteristics: ■Authentic settings in black and white ■Melodrama ■Realismo ( Verismo) ■Music that is powerful and serious ■Contrast of the tragic with the comic ■Episodes of Humanity ■Real persons, not always actors ■Dramatic scenes ■Instructional scenes ( that teach life lessons) ■ Ugliness of life not hidden We all like films that entertain us but sometimes, there are pedogogical films like neorealistic ones that do not just make us cry or laugh but that teach us profound life lessons from real occurences in human history. Both la Fuga degli Innocenti and Roma, Citta Aperta remind me of another mantra of mine that my father and mother taught me from my Italian and catholic upbringing: From the bad comes the greater good ( Dal male viene il bene). The existence of God is always questioned in these films that portray man’s inhumanity and brutality toward his fellowman. But in the end, the presence of God is finally visible through people who love completely and sacrifice their lives for the greater good of humanity. The Italian film I viewed on La Rai (The Escape of the Innocent) is about Joseph, a Jewish elementary teacher and other Italians ( both fascists and partisans) who help a group of abandoned Jewish children escape persecution during World War II. This is one of the most powerful films I have seen in a long time. Though this film and neorealistic films alike are difficult to watch, they continually teach us lessons of hope and humanity and that in the midst of evil, there is always good and there is always God. The final scene of the film is extraordinary with the last, poignantly repeated words of Joseph, “For the love of God!!!” ( Per l’amore di Dio) that bring salvation to Joseph, to the children, and to all , both in the physical and spiritual sense of the word. It must be said that this film moved me tremendously as someone who was born in a refugee camp after World War II in Novara in Piedmont after my parents fled from their home in Fiume in Venezia Giulia, fearful of being killed by the communists because they were Italian and catholic. When I say the Pledge of Allegiance or when I sing the National Anthem, I truly feel their impact in the recesses of my heart, mind and soul. Freedom and our rights and responsibilites as human beings are inextricably linked. Never take your freedom as Americans for granted! Let us as citizens of the United States protect and guard this precious freedom that we still have. We have the right and the responsibility to fight for our moral principles and for social justice. Let us always be vigilant toward this end. This cultural lesson on Italian neorealistic cinema that I taught throughout my high school teaching career in Italian IV AP reflects once more “SPERANZA!” Alla Prossima, Dorina

Italians and Food Continued

I would like to continue to talk about Italians and Food. Besides freshness, quality of food and taste, a deeper aspect to the Italian food tradition is deeply rooted in religion. At Christmas and Easter, Italians celebrate with some basic dishes, breads, dessert, and wines that capture Italy’s Judeo-Christian roots and its rich history with the Catholic Church especially. The concept of breaking Bread as symbolic of the Sacrifice of the Mass is part and parcel of the breaking of the bread and the drinking of wine in daily life as well as in a more grand scale for Natale and Pasqua. Preparation of meals for these religious holidays is not only a tradition involving family and taste but a fundamentally spiritual one as well. Many Italian traditions are deeply rooted in Catholicism. Devotion to one’s family is one of those traditions. Family is connected to the concept of the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We [Italians] try to emulate that love in our familial lives. We equate love for family with Christ’s love for humanity, a love that sacrifices and endures for those we love. Consequently, mothers like my dear mother worked very hard every day to prepare a beautiful meal for us from scratch with love and sacrifice. The careful and time-consuming process of preparing food now becomes a kind of reenactment of Christ’s sacrifice and love for us. These religious principles are deep at the heart of Italian identity. Therefore, in my cultural lessons on Italian food, I always highlight that modern-day fast food is deleterious to society on many different levels. Italian food identity is cultural, historical, spiritual, and even philosophical in nature: Everyday life is filled with our cultural gastronomic identity. It is a ritual for us that is very important. We have to eat together as a family all the time. We need to eat wholesome food for our bodies that we respect as temples of God. We therefore, demand that our food be fresh, the best quality, with the eating of many fruits and vegetables every day. We do not generally like fast food for the many reasons I have just described. We revert to the ancients and humanists and then by the Judeo-Christian values and then by Renaissance man’s quest for exquisite eating which Catherine De Medici spread to France and then to the rest of the western world. Our cuisine is treated as an Art. It is connected to family and therefore, it is very individual. Each family has its own recipes that reflect Italian culture in very complementary ways. Italians have wonderful casual trattorias that are divine but they also have elegant fine dining in restaurants, but what makes eating such an Epicurean delight is the charm and warmth of the Italians as they serve it because the desire to share it so animatedly is what people remember about them so vividly. Traditions surrounding food and cultural identity are inseparably linked at the most basic level for most Italians. Italians also value and take pleasure from carefully prepared food. We as Italians are very social beings and we love pleasurable things; and good food is one of the best pleasures in life for us when prepared with love and care. Producing quality food is an important duty of the woman in the Italian household and is one that she takes a high amount of pride in. Today, men as well participate in this very important aspect of life. My husband does a nice job to help in this area of our marriage and family life. Will Fast food threaten Italian tradition and cultural identity? For me, fast food is a small threat because Italians will always, to some extent retain their love for tradition and for family that is connected with eating if [they] remember that the breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine at the table is a spiritual act that reminds us of the sacrifice of the mass. If Italians can look to the past and hold onto their traditions as only they can do, fast food will not disturb the Italian identity in the long run. If, however, the Italian people ignore their traditions and cultures, their identity is destined to be twisted by the epidemic of fast food, as so many other cultural identities already have been. I have been so blessed to receive and experience my loving parent’s traditions and values “A Tavola” and I hope to continue them with my family and share them with all who come my way. Alla prossima, Dorina

Italian food and memories

Growing up Italian as a first generation Italian I experienced the connection with food and faith-filled events. Perugina chocolate and Easter, Italian breads and pizzas on Fridays, expresso and biscotti in the mid-afternoon with friends during Christmas and Easter time, fish dishes on Christmas Eve, daily fruit, nuts, figs, and dates on a long table that my Papa built in the basement, and most notably, the sumptuous Sunday dinner, tangibly different and special on the Lord’s Day every single week are just a few of these examples. These memories carry with them many lessons of good, fresh, wholesome food connected with our faith and family. My Mamma would say, ” A Tavola” to call my five brothers and I to the table and that is where we learned to be served and how to serve others with love. A Presto, Dorina

Hello world! Reflections of a retired teacher

Ciao Tutti, My resolution for the New Year is to write a blog at least once every week on teaching Italian and how it relates to me regarding how to live a good life. I taught Italian at the high school level for 37 years. Now, after festively celebrating my retirement, I find myself wanting to reflect on what teaching Italian has meant to me. During the last year of teaching, my students would often encourage me to write a book about my thoughts on life through the lens of Italian language, literature and culture. And so when one of my students wrote me an email stating that she started a Blog for me in order to help me write down my thoughts, I decided that I would give it a try. I would like to thank Liliana for her inspirational words to me and for setting up a blog for me. As I taught my Italian curriculum for the last time this past school year, it clearly and emphatically dawned on me that the theme of “Hope” ( Speranza) was repeated over and over again in my didactic units of the study of Italian language and its culture. So, today I would like to dedicate this writing to my family and my former students of Italian at Lyons Township High School who made that word come alive in my teaching and in my own personal life. “We are a people of hope, since God has won the definitive battle against evil, Satan and sin through Jesus’death on the cross. “ (Alan Schreck) Signora Dorina

 Today I would like to express that the most important characteristic of Italian Cuisine is ”Freschezza” ( freshness). Italians love to eat food that has just been prepared. Therefore, it must be fresh and immediately served without preservatives. For this reason, Italian food is simple in the sense that it does not have to have many ingredients or a complex preparation. I have vivid memories of eating various foods in Italy for the first time that conjure up in my mind amazing fragrances and tastes. I will never forget the first time I ate an “Insalata Caprese” in Naples. The fresh tomatoes and mozzarella were sublime! So, today after many, many years of preparing food for my family, the most important aspect of my meals for my family is “Freschezza”! Using this rule I have made my family happy and most importantly, healthy! Buona Giornata! Alla Prossima! Dorina