Jo Walton, St. Zenobius, and Me: Joyful and Triumphant

Rerunning this piece because the sentiments still apply no matter when my birthday falls in the liturgical calendar. I am delighted to have made St. Zenobius's acquaintance, especially via Jo Walton.

• Common attributes: Bishop
• Occasional attributes: Florentine red fleur de lis, flowering tree
• Patron saint of: Florence
• Patron of places: Florence
• Feast days: May 25
• Most often depicted: Standing around with other saints, resurrecting somebody
• Close relationships: St. Ambrose, St. Eugene and St. Crescentius
• Relics: Florence, Santa Reparata crypt

Saint Zenobius was the first bishop of Florence. He supported St. Ambrose in battling the Arian heresy. He brought several people back from the dead, and his relics resurrected a dead elm tree. He used to be buried in San Lorenzo in Florence, but was later moved to Santa Reparata/the Duomo.

Saint Zenobius is one of these cases of an early Christian who did a good job and was pious and therefore got to be a saint just for that, without getting martyred or founding a giant order or anything. I support this, but it means his primary role was in Christianizing Florence and putting it on the map, so he is not and never will be particularly beloved outside his native town.

Photo and text: Ex Urbe blog

(where there is much more about St. Zenobius ... and also St. Reparta!)

My road to St. Zenobius is a long and fascinating one. At least to me.

A long, long time ago (in 2015!), Scott and I had our first guest on A Good Story is Hard to Find. We were thrilled to talk with Br. Guy Consolmagno, Vatican Astronomer, about his book selection, Among Others by Jo Walton.

A few years ago Scott was at a local con and met Walton, telling her about our degree of connection and thoughtfully sending me a signed copy of her new short story collection, Starlings.

I've got to admit it is a bit off-putting to read an introduction where the author spends so much time talking about how everyone agrees she just can't write a decent short story. So I did put it off for a while. Finally I bravely flipped open Starlings and landed on the first page of Joyful and Triumphant: St. Zenobius and the Aliens. It is told by St. Zenobius and blew me away with how accurately it portrayed sainthood, God ... and the point of the whole thing. (You can read it here.) While I was reading her Brother Guy connection floated in the back of my mind. I figured that she'd just naturally get this right and she really, really did.

Interestingly, about the time I read this story I realized that my birthday this year will be on a Friday. And after Pentecost. So Easter will be officially ended and it will be back to meatless Fridays for us. I've been rueing this since we always go out to eat in celebration — so I looked up saints whose days are on my birthday, thus justifying fried chicken (my traditional birthday choice).

Now there are saints for every day of the year. But if I'm looking to get around the rules then I seriously study the saint I find. I've got to have a real connection otherwise I've just got to put up with those rules. No freebies.

Who did my eye fall on first out of the long, long list? Of course. St. Zenobius. Who I didn't really know was a real saint. Just thought Walton made him up.

I feel as if this was a long way to go for him to wrangle an introduction, but I also feel as if that is what he did.  Looking around recently I saw that there is a much better known saint on May 25, St. Bede. But that's not who stepped up and shook my hand, after using all the things I love to get my attention.

I love the saints who fought against the Arian heresy. It went on so long and was so pervasive that I feel as if it is like the waves of secularism that are battering faith these days. And that's what St. Zenobius did. He was close to St. Ambrose, who I admire so much. Any friend of St. Ambrose is a friend of mine.

Now when I lift that piece of chicken, it will be with true admiration for a great saint!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

It is Mom's birthday. This is the second year she is with us so we can enjoy celebrating the day together.

I'm not making a Sunflower Cake but odds are good that I will be making her a chocolate cake of some sort. She's requested a chocolate cake with orange frosting and that is a divine combination.

I put the sunflower cake picture because Mom loves sunflowers (as do I). And that's perfect, actually because thinking of Mom's birthday makes me think of how many we celebrated when I was growing up in Kansas. One of my fondest memories is of sunflowers everywhere. The scene below is typical of what you'd see driving through backroads through the open country. It is thanks to Mom that I have my enduring love of nature, flowers, and wildlife of all sorts. That's a gift you can never say thank you enough for.

Happy birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Scout, the most patient dog in the world

What with the pandemic and all, we're having Hannah's birthday catered. As you can see!

Hannah actually chose Chocolate Mousse for her celebration so I'm breaking out The Silver Palate Cookbook which has stood me in good stead for Lime Mousse and Pavlovas.

Hannah's our tree loving, animal loving, sweet girl who is smart as a whip, funny, generous, and thoughtful. No wonder we love her so much. We just can't help ourselves! Though how she got to be a married lady expecting her first baby in November ... well, I do remember how but somehow those years just breezed by. She's been a blessing and a treasure through all of them.

Happy birthday, dear Hannah.

Cake by Cake Couture by Tina
Do you live near Cebu City? That's where Tina is. Get one of her cakes!

Happy Birthday, Rose

The Roses of Heliogabalus by Alma-Tadema

Our celebration won't be quite on the scale (or style) of the one pictured. Though I do approve of their liberal enjoyment of roses.

Our own Rose is worthy of such a party though I think it would have to be a surprise party. We're going to have a modest, at home celebration with take out and a Cafe Latte Gingerbread Cheesecake (trying out an intriguing Mary Berry recipe).

We're so happy that Rose is here with us and not in L.A. We felt that way before the corona virus situation and it is doubled and redoubled now. Our lives are brighter thanks to her sense of humor, common sense, gardening, cooking, and (especially) Bollywood movie selections. Happy Birthday, Rose!

Happy Birthday, Tom!

You may recognize this from last year. When Tom got that look on his face (see below) I reminded him of last year's ice cream sundaes and his look changed to one of amazed delight. Sometimes repetition is a wonderful thing. Done and done.

Tom always gets this look on his face when I ask him for a decision about something like this. What kind of cake does he want for his birthday? (His 66th birthday! So I'm willing to go all out — or to enlist Rose's help in doing so.)

It's the look of someone who ... though he has tons of imagination otherwise ... has no imagination when it comes to birthday cake. This is a problem I cannot relate to.

My mission — fulfill the dream that he can't come up with.

You can see the answer. When someone gives up ice cream for Lent year after year, because it is the most perfect food they can imagine — well it doesn't take much imagination to come up with a substitute for birthday cake (not a thing I'm ever going to need to do for myself, but Tom got a big smile on his face when I suggested it).

So sundaes it is! I've got four kinds of ice cream (66th birthday, after all!) - vanilla, milk chocolate, coffee, and white chocolate raspberry swirl. Chocolate sauce. Butterscotch caramel sauce. Toasted pecans. Whipped cream. And maraschino cherries because ... it's not a sundae otherwise. (Though Tom feels otherwise. I tell you, I do not understand this guy sometimes.)

Also I have many gifts, chosen with great difficulty because he's the kind of guy whose whims begin at $2,000. The way it is with a lot of people attracted to tech and cars and so on.

Happy, happy 66th birthday, Tom! We're gonna use the big bowls tonight - in your honor!

Happy Birthday, Dear Tom

This doodle looks like it would be the scene for a wonderfully romantic birthday evening, doesn't it?

Perfect for Tom (and me) then!

Tom has chosen Strawberry Shortcake. Ok. To be honest, I suggested it (knowing his tastes) and he liked the idea so much that he never bothered trying to think of anything else.

I made an actual, honest-to-goodness sponge cake (leavened only with egg whites) and will be seeing how Nigel Slater's tip works about a touch of raspberry heightening strawberries' flavor. With freshly whipped cream, of course!

Perhaps I should say the above Google looks perfect for a celebratory evening since we will not be alone.

Hannah will be joining us before that for dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant and then for the ... presents! Rose will be chiming in from the West Coast also ...

Yet Again ... We Celebrate the Third Most Important Day of the Year

I say this every year, but that's just because it is always true. First is Easter, then is Christmas, then is ... my birthday!

Some people ignore their birthdays or don't want much fuss made. Not me. Everyone in the household knows it too. (To be fair, they all regard their birthdays to be the third most important day of the year.)

You notice that only Jesus trumps this day for me ... so then imagine the place He holds to overcome a lifetime of "most important day of the year" before I became Christian.

Hannah showed the proper spirit several years ago when she was filling out a job application on Sunday and asked me what the date was. Then she answered her own question with, "Oh, wait. It must be the 22nd because I know Wednesday is the 25th." Yep, just like Christmas. All other dates are figured around this one.

We'll go to Fireside Pies ... and then home ...

In past years I have flirted with other desserts than cake ... Strawberry Tart as I made a couple of years ago, not even Tiramisu as last year (which was tempting) and Amazing Chocolate Pie (albeit made with real whipped cream).

This year, Tom nobly has thrown himself into the breech, proving once again how much he loves me. There is a local bakery, Stein's, which is a place of legend. I remember once, many years ago, at a party having some of the most delicious, homemade seeming lemon layer cake. It came from Stein's. We'll see if they have it available now, these many years later. Stein's isn't close but this is where husbandly dedication comes in as he rearranges his schedule to get there.

Also I love the fact that this is also St. (Padre) Pio's birthday. I still remember the sense of joy and light-heartedness that I received while reading a biography of him. It was a photo of him with his head thrown back laughing that first made me notice him. I thought, "Now there is someone I could talk to..."

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

And it is the Venerable Bede's saint day which is also very cool. You will never read a better death than that of the Venerable Bede.

On the Tuesday before Ascension Day he was decidedly worse : a swelling appeared in his feet. Nevertheless he continued to dictate cheerfully, begging his scribe to write quickly, for he did not know how long he might last, or when it might please his Maker to take him. That night he lay awake, giving thanks alway. The next morning he urged the
brethren to finish writing what they had begun, and when that was done, at nine o'clock, they walked in procession with the relics of the Saints the origin of our "perambulation day," according to the custom of the time. One stayed with him while the others were thus engaged, and after a time reminded him that there was still a chapter to finish, would it weary him to be consulted about it ? " Get out your pen and ink," was Bede's reply, " and write fast, it is no trouble to me."

[...]

Even on the day of his death (the vigil of the Ascension, 735) the saint was still busy dictating a translation of the Gospel of St. John. In the evening the boy Wilbert, who was writing it, said to him: "There is still one sentence, dear master, which is not written down." And when this had been supplied, and the boy had told him it was finished, "Thou hast spoken truth," Bede answered, "it is finished. Take my head in thy hands for it much delights me to sit opposite any holy place where I used to pray, that so sitting I may call upon my Father." And thus upon the floor of his cell singing, "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost" and the rest, he peacefully breathed his last breath.

Once Again ... It is the Third Most Important Day of the Year

I say this every year, but that's just because it is always true. First is Easter, then is Christmas, then is ... my birthday!

Some people ignore their birthdays or don't want much fuss made. Not me. Everyone in the household knows it too. (To be fair, they all regard their birthdays to be the third most important day of the year.)

And I must say that this year is atypical because I keep forgetting it is my birthday, only to have friends and wellwishers surprise me with birthday wishes. What could be nicer than that?

Nothing!

You notice that only Jesus trumps this day for me ... so then imagine the place He holds to overcome a lifetime of "most important day of the year" before I became Christian.

Hannah showed the proper spirit several years ago when she was filling out a job application on Sunday and asked me what the date was. Then she answered her own question with, "Oh, wait. It must be the 22nd because I know Wednesday is the 25th." Yep, just like Christmas. All other dates are figured around this one.

No cake this year ...  or Strawberry Tart as I made a couple of years ago, not even Tiramisu as last year (which was tempting), but Chocolate Pie which for  struck me a few days ago as just the thing. I saw an interesting technique in Cooking Light, of all places, where you combine 3 ounces of melted chocolate with the chocolate crumbs for the crust and then freeze it. The logic is that it holds together better and (PLUS!) is more chocolatey. Rose is going to make it for me ... with real milk, not fat-free, as per their recipe.

Oh, and real whipped cream. Not that hydrogenated, ersatz fat-free Cool Whip they are calling for either. It IS a birthday, after all! And real whipped cream is so simple ... a little heavy cream, a bowl, a whisk, and a little powdered sugar. (Just because I love to share ... did you know that if you use powdered sugar in whipped cream that the cornstarch in it stabilizes the cream? So go ahead and spread it on that chocolate pie ahead of time if need be. It'll work.)

Also I love the fact that this is also St. (Padre) Pio's birthday. I still remember the sense of joy and light-heartedness that I received while reading a biography of him. It was a photo of him with his head thrown back laughing that first made me notice him. I thought, "Now there is someone I could talk to..."

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

And it is the Venerable Bede's saint day which is also very cool. You will never read a better death than that of the Venerable Bede.

On the Tuesday before Ascension Day he was decidedly worse : a swelling appeared in his feet. Nevertheless he continued to dictate cheerfully, begging his scribe to write quickly, for he did not know how long he might last, or when it might please his Maker to take him. That night he lay awake, giving thanks alway. The next morning he urged the
brethren to finish writing what they had begun, and when that was done, at nine o'clock, they walked in procession with the relics of the Saints the origin of our "perambulation day," according to the custom of the time. One stayed with him while the others were thus engaged, and after a time reminded him that there was still a chapter to finish, would it weary him to be consulted about it ? " Get out your pen and ink," was Bede's reply, " and write fast, it is no trouble to me."

[...]

Even on the day of his death (the vigil of the Ascension, 735) the saint was still busy dictating a translation of the Gospel of St. John. In the evening the boy Wilbert, who was writing it, said to him: "There is still one sentence, dear master, which is not written down." And when this had been supplied, and the boy had told him it was finished, "Thou hast spoken truth," Bede answered, "it is finished. Take my head in thy hands for it much delights me to sit opposite any holy place where I used to pray, that so sitting I may call upon my Father." And thus upon the floor of his cell singing, "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost" and the rest, he peacefully breathed his last breath.

Happy Birthday, Dear Tom!

He's so hard to shop for but at last I found this lovely doodle and piñatas are for birthdays, so it is perfect!

Tom has chosen not to have me make a cake, for a variety of reasons, but mostly because he loves profiteroles so much and never gets them. I have made them before and they are, believe it or not, very simple to make. However, in the interest of a busy weekend, we are lucky to have wonderful whipped-cream filled versions from the Central Market.

This photo is from Oui, Chef, where they are filled with ice cream, but he would tell us that whipped cream is equally as good, isn't it? Oui, chef!

Now I must go wrap gifts!

Google Doodle for Rose's Birthday

Just because I thought she'd find it amusing.

Happy Birthday, sweetie!

Happy 21st Birthday, Hannah!

Where has the time gone?

From adorable little one to confident young woman ... all the time together has been a blessing to us. Even the tussles! Especially her gentle, loving spirit and sharp, intelligent humor (as evidenced in this superheroes series).

We will be going to Newport's for sophisticated seafood and for that all-important marker of being a legal adult, a cocktail in public.

I'm making a Doboschtorte, her favorite cake.

We're so happy that she is here with us this year and not already at college! (And we miss Rose, who is already in Chicago and we wish could be here with us for the celebration.)

I'm am repeating this viewing of the things she loves best, slightly updated ... simply lots and lots o' critters. (Don't just pick these up and pass them on, please. Click through on the links to check permissions, some of which I have obtained personally for this blog alone.)

Happy birthday , Hannah!

Cat Closeup

Owl

Goose

Colt

Mallard in Flight

Brown Hare

Pelican

Dinner Guest

Crystal River Heron

Hawk Landing

Pink Dolphin

Geese