courtesy of wikipedia
Every day in Italy is dedicated to a Saint but today August 10th is one of the more well known saints days. It is the Saints Day for San Lorenzo - Saint Lawrence who died on this date in Rome on this day in 258 having been born in Hispania, now Spain in 225.
According to Wikipedia he is one of the more popular Italian Saints his name is now connected with the meteoroid shower, or shooting stars that should hopefully be visible in the night sky on or around this date. The shower is often known as 'The Tears of Saint Lawrence'
History says that he was grilled to death hence the connection as the patron saint of butchers, cooks and chefs. Wikipedia also says that he is the patron of librarians, having worked in this profession myself this came as a surprise!
The Perseid Meteor Shower has been watched for over two thousand years and is generally visible from mid July each year reaching a peak of activity between August 9th and the 14th. This year apparently is a good one for viewing due to the moon still being in its first quarter. The best time to view is the few hours just before dawn, so I doubt I will be lucky enough to see any but my eyes will certainly be raised skywards this evening.
All over Italy this evening and for the next few nights people will be watching the night sky in the hope of seeing a falling star as the Italians also call this night La Notte dei Desideri - The Night of Wishes. Romantics that they are they will wish upon a falling star, originally in memory of Saint Lawrence.
Photo from(Ansa)courtsey of Corriere della Sera.
For those of you that can read in Italian, or maybe are even interested enough to use a Translation service there is an article published in today's Corriere della Sera La Luna aiuta la notte di S.Lorenzo about this special day.
La Notte dei Desideri... how lovely. I am such a romantic at heart. This is right up my alley.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post Lindy. Diane
ReplyDeleteOh! Thanks for reminding me! We'll have to lie on our lounge chairs out in the backyard tonight and watch the sky.
ReplyDeleteWe live in an area that has too many lights to get a good view of the sky; however, sometimes the sky is exceptionally clear during the time of a meteor shower and I will get up before day break, get a cup of coffee and go sit outside to see whatever might come by. I have also been known to go back to sleep and not to wake up until the sun hits my face or a neighbor wakes me.
ReplyDeleteLinda, wishing you many beautiful stars! Love your blog and thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHugs!
I remember watching shooting stars last year.. we did spot one each.. but that was all. :-(
ReplyDeleteHope you see a lot of them! Very cloudy in Amsterdam, alas!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone, glad this post caught the interest of all you romantics. Just off to sit outside and watch the night sky with a glass of wine. The meteor shower is supposed to be visible for the next few nights so if we don't get lucky tonight there is always tomorrow :)
ReplyDeletePam - As a new follower welcome and thanks for following, it is a pleasure to share a little of our life here with you all. I hope to be able to visit your blog soon.
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My cousin Lorenzo in Buenos Aires will like to read this! I forwarded your post to him (with your allowance I hope?), hoping it will arrive there and make him smile. I will watch out tonight of course, too! Have a wish in mind even!
ReplyDeleteAngela - Of course not I am delighted you want to share, especially as he is called Lorenzo. It is also possible to just send him the link to the article if it has not reached him already.
ReplyDeletehttp://lindyloumac.blogspot.com/2010/08/notte-di-san-lorenzo.html
I really enjoyed this post. Of course, I knew about the meteor shower, but not the connections to the Saint or La Notte dei Desideri. It makes the event much more romantic. (Of course, we'll have clouds.)
ReplyDeleteCarol - The Perseid Meteor Shower is visible for a few successive nights, so hopefully they will not be all cloudy ones. Don't forget to make a wish if you do see a shooting star.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing San Lorenzo's connection with the Perseids. I knew little about it. We have a very clear day and night ahead so look forward to watching the show. I already saw one shooting start this morning and of course made a wish!
ReplyDeleteGeorgianna - Hope your wish comes true. The connection is an interesting one and so typically Italian:)
ReplyDelete