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Take your pick. Any of northern Italy’s “lake region” lakes are not going to disappoint. Not even one of the smallest of the lot, the often-overlooked Lago di Orta.  Tiny Lake Orta lies furthest west of Italy’s famed lakes, the understudy to the grand dames of Lake Maggiore, Lugano, and Como. Like her well-known counterparts, Lake Orta is a heavenl...

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As the 48th annual Italian Mass concluded on Sept. 1, 2024, a new tradition was born. For the first time, a procession of faithful led a statue of Saint Lucy from the Cathedral of Saint Peter about a block away to Courthouse Square in downtown Scranton, to kick off the third day of La Festa Italiana. “We’re all about tradition,” Chris DiMattio, La...

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When you think of Lake Village, you might think of the Delta and agriculture. But thanks to an updated version of a beloved book and a new documentary, many people are learning more about the history of Italian culture in what was once known as Sunnyside. Libby Olivi Borgognoni, 89, the daughter and granddaughter of Italian immigrants who labored a...

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He was a most unlikely Civil Rights leader. Father James Groppi was an immigrant’s son, the eleventh of 12 children who grew up behind the family’s grocery store in the Italian section of Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood. Early in his priesthood, Groppi made a trip to Selma, Alabama, that stirred his conscience. The young cleric came back determin...

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Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour cleverly hidden at the intersection of religion, art, science, food, and politics. This is an open thread where we can share our thoughts and comments about the day. Let’s talk about the gods in the Roman city of Pompeii. Pompeii began as a settlement of small fishing and agricultural communities. In 80 BC...

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Researchers in Italy announced a new discovery regarding a linen cloth some believe was a burial shroud for Jesus Christ. The team examined a sample from the Shroud of Turin and determined that it could be 2,000 years old, Newsweek reported, citing a study published in the journal Heritage. Scientists inspected this ancient cloth using a method kno...

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Three times each year the faithful of Naples pray for “the Miracle of the Blood” on the first Sunday in May, on Sept. 19 when they celebrate their patron saint San Gennaro and again on Dec. 16 which is the anniversary of the 1631 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. During these sacred events prayers are offered for the blood in San Gennaro’s reliquary to l...

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It was with great joy that Fr. James Mayer, O.de M., Pastor of St. Rocco parish and school in Cleveland, blessed the newly placed building cornerstones on June 5, as major, campus-wide construction projects near completion. School students and staff were on hand to celebrate this important milestone. Thanks largely to a generous donation from Tom J...

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The Santa Lucia Festival is celebrating 100 years in Omaha this year. The cultural event that highlights Italian-American history and heritage begins Aug. 1. This year, the festival committee is leading an effort to gather 500 new pairs of athletic shoes for children whose families might not be able to afford such an expense. Boxes of new sneakers...

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The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish will celebrate the 131st anniversary of its devotion to the Blessed Mother on July 14. Festivities will begin with a 7:30 a.m. Mass in English and a 9 a.m. solemn Mass in Italian, followed by a procession with the statue of the Blessed Mother to a noon field Mass. A procession through the streets of the parish af...

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