A Final Blog: Looking Back–and Moving Forward

b.                 The start of a new year is a good time to follow the example of the Roman god Janus, whose two faces allowed him to look back to the past and ahead to the future. As 2022  begins, I  recall 2009, the year when LA BELLA LINGUA was published and when...

Celebrating Italy’s Good Witch

Long after many Americans have taken down their Christmas trees and packed away the decorations, Italians continue to celebrate. The final feast is l’Epifania, on January 6, which commemorates the arrival of i re magi, the three kings who followed the bright Christmas...

Christmas in Italy: Three Days of Feasting

Most families in Italy begin celebrating il Natale on the evening of December 24 (la vigilia di Natale) with a big dinner. Because Christmas Eve is a vigilia di magro (a day of abstinence on which the Catholic Church prohibits the consumption of meat), the centerpiece...

Christmas in Italy: The Nativity Scene

  Centuries ago, in 1223, San Francesco (Saint Francis), the charismatic friar of Umbria, wanted to bring to life the story of il natale di bambino Gesù  (the birth of Baby Jesus). In the little town of Greccio, he placed a manger in some straw and added a living...

Christmas in Italy: The Feast of Santa Lucia

In the dark of December parts of Italy light up to celebrate a saint whose name derives from the Latin lux or lucis for light (luce in Italian). Lucia was a young girl who lived in Siracusa on the island of Sicily in the third century. According to various legends,...