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In a press announcement issued by the Studio ESSECI press office, authorities have discovered lost pieces of the Golden Tree of Lucignano, a grandiose reliquary created by the famous Sienese goldsmith, Gabriello d'Antonio.The reliquary is considered one of the finest masterpieces of Italian goldsmithing, which is a morphological tripartition (roots, trunk, foliage) and contains the metaphor of the life of Christ in the three different phases: origin, passion, and glory.Measuring 2.70 metres in height, it was created in two stages between 1350 and 1471 from gilded copper, silver and enamel, and features branches decorated with coral, crystals and miniatures on...

Italian archaeologists have unearthed 24 beautifully preserved bronze statues in Tuscany believed to date back to ancient Roman times. The statues were discovered under the muddy ruins of an ancient bathhouse in San Casciano dei Bagni, a hilltop town in the Siena province, about 160km (100 miles) north of the capital Rome. Depicting Hygieia, Apollo and other Greco-Roman gods, the figures are said to be around 2,300 years old. One expert said the find could "rewrite history". Most of the statues - which were found submerged beneath the baths alongside around 6,000 bronze, silver and gold coins - date to...

White Double THE DOMINICAN ORDER, which, yesterday, presented a rose to our Risen Jesus, now offers him a lily of surpassing beauty. Catharine of Sienna follows Peter the Martyr:—it is a coincidence willed by Providence, to give fresh beauty to this season of grandest Mysteries. Our Divine King deserves everything we can offer him; and our hearts are never so eager to give him every possible tribute of homage, as during these last days of his sojourn among us. See how Nature is all flower and fragrance at this loveliest of her Seasons! The spiritual world harmonizes with the...

A conservative student at Siena College is facing a disciplinary hearing after he posted 600 flyers around campus of an email in which a professor called conservative students “miserable” to work with. The "Notice of Charges" accuses Zachary Butler of actions that "adversely [affected] the health, welfare, and/or safety” of campus community members "or the name and/or reputation of the College."

Tuscan 'Excalibur' Mystery to be Unearthed By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News The Sword in The Stone March 1, 2004 — Archaeological digging might soon unveil the mystery surrounding a sword buried in a Gothic abbey in Tuscany, Italian researchers announced. Known as the "sword in the stone," the Tuscan "Excalibur" is said to have been plunged into a rock in 1180 by Galgano Guidotti, a medieval knight who renounced war and worldly goods to become a hermit. Built in Galgano's memory, the evocative Gothic abbey at Montesiepi, near the city of Siena, still preserves the sword in a little chapel....

Tuscany's Excalibur is the real thing, say scientists Rory Carroll in Rome Sunday September 16, 2001 The Observer The sword of St Galgano, said to have been plunged into a rock by a medieval Tuscan knight, has been authenticated, bolstering Italy's version of the Excalibur legend. Galgano Guidotti, a noble from Chiusdano, near Siena, allegedly split the stone with his sword in 1180 after renouncing war to become a hermit. For centuries the sword was assumed to be a fake. but research revealed last week has dated its metal to the twelfth century. Only the hilt, wooden grip and ...

I happened across this enlightening quote by St. Catherine of Siena, a Dominican saint and mystic, from The Catholic Church and Homosexuality. I thought it would benefit you to read it. This makes perfect sense to those of us who know about natural law, but is utter foolishness to those who are perishing. I believe that as the Church understands mental disorder more, it will become more clear how weak Satan is in his attacks against the mind, whether in regard to same-sex attraction or something like Bipolar Disorder. Satan fools us into believing that we should be focused on...

Italian magistrates investigating losses at Banca Monte dei Paschi say the mushrooming scandal has taken a dramatic turn, with political fallout that threatens to rock the country’s elections next month and upset eurozone plans for a banking union. “The situation is explosive,” said Tito Salerno, head of the prosecuting team in Siena, describing the fast-moving events at Italy’s third-largest bank as extremely grave. The Milan bourse tumbled 3.4pc and yields on 10-year Italian bonds spiked 15 basis points to 4.31pc as the political scandal widened. Monte dei Paschi (MPS), the world’s oldest bank dating back to 1472, is under investigation...

Mats Lewan of Ny Teknik, the Swedish tech magazine at the forefront of reporting on Rossi’s eCat has an interesting article this morning. It notes the disparity between the recent pronouncement by Defkalion GT’s Alexandros Xanthoulis dissociating the Hyperion from Rossi’s eCat. According to the publication, back in August 5, 2011, Xanthoulis said the following over the phone: “Let’s say I have the formula of Rossi, but I’m not saying it officially. My scientists found a way to make it. They need three months.” Rossi has been consistent in his assertion that they have nothing despite the company’s public stance...

Why would any Catholic college welcome a radical pro-abortionist?

Italy's glamorous tourism minister scored a spectacular own-goal by suggesting the banning of Siena's "Palio" horse race, one of the country's most famous traditions which dates back centuries.

The Siena Research Institute asked 238 presidential scholars to rank each president from 1 (best) to worst (43) in nineteen different categories, plus one overall ranking. A complete list of the rankings is here. Before peering inside the numbers, let us remind ourselves that the presidential “scholars” Siena polled are academic, intellectual scholars, which are, of course, the best kind of scholars to have. So, with this in mind, who do you think came in worst? No, it wasn’t George W Bush—he was fifth from the bottom—it was Democrat Andrew Johnson, a man who, it must be admitted, would make...

April 29, 2006 Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church Psalm: Saturday 18 Reading 1Acts 6:1-7 As the number of disciples continued to grow,the Hellenists complained against the Hebrewsbecause their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said,“It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men,filled with the Spirit and wisdom,whom we shall appoint to this task,whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayerand to the ministry of the word.”The proposal...

May 20Spiritual Bouquet: Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. St. Matthew 11:28SAINT BERNARDINE of SIENAFranciscan Missionary Preacher(1380-1444)One day in the year 1408 the great apostle Saint Vincent Ferrer suddenly interrupted his sermon, to declare that there was among his hearers a young Franciscan who would be one day a greater preacher than himself, and who would be placed in honor by the Church before himself. This unknown friar, who would be canonized only six years after his death, was Bernardine, then 28 years old. Of noble birth, he had spent...

April 29, 2005Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church Psalm: Friday 20 Reading IActs 15:22-31 The Apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole Church,decided to choose representativesand to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas,and Silas, leaders among the brothers.This is the letter delivered by them:"The Apostles and the presbyters, your brothers,to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Ciliciaof Gentile origin: greetings.Since we have heard that some of our numberwho went out without any mandate from ushave upset you with their teachingsand disturbed your...

ROME - Anti-terrorism police arrested the Algerian cleric of a mosque and four Tunisians Sunday in a crackdown authorities said was aimed at preventing an al-Qaida-linked cell from sending suicide attackers to Iraq (news - web sites). The suspects were seized in pre-dawn raids in three cities in the northern Tuscany region, Genoa's Police Chief Oscar Fiorolli said. Genoa, a northern port city, began the investigations that led to the arrests. The suspects allegedly belonged to a cell of Ansar al-Islam, an organization based in northern Iraq with links to al-Qaida, Fiorolli told the Associated Press in Rome in a...