#saint mark

Venice 2025: PortadellaCarta

A detailed view of the Porta della Carta (Paper Gate), the ceremonial entrance to the Doge's Palace. Considered a masterpiece of the Venetian Gothic style, serving as the link between the palace and St. Mark's Basilica.

The Lion of Saint Mark: Directly above the gateway is a prominent sculpture of a winged lion—the symbol of Venice—kneeling before Doge Francesco Foscari. This symbolizes the Doge's devotion to the state.

The Ornamentation: The gate is framed by highly decorative pinnacles and intricate stone tracery. Above the main window, there is a circular bust of St. Mark himself.

Allegorical Figures: Flanking the entrance are four statues housed in niches, representing the cardinal virtues: Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, and Charity.

The Gateway: The dark, arched passage leads into the courtyard of the palace, where the Giants' Staircase can be seen peeking through the background.

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the desert. 

 He remained there for forty days, during which time he was tempted by Satan.

He lived there among the wild beasts, while the angels ministered to him.

Mk. 1:12-13

There have been various spring festivals among our Acadian ancestors, all of which remain highly agricultural. These celebrations remained regional well into the 20th century in some Acadian parishes, though nowadays we can observe them with our present community experience. Though Claude Dupont doesn't describe these at length, and they remain just as a passing phrase or two in his calendar, I still found them lovely.

The festival of the little birds (la fête des petits oiseaux)

In Memramcook, New Brunswick, well into the 1940s, this festival had the goal of protecting seeds from being devoured by the birds in the field. A priest would be charged with chasing away the birds in the field. It was celebrated around Saint Mark the Evangelist Day (April 25th). On that day, the priest would bless the seeds that were about to be sown into the ground. Folklore says that the resulting crops would thereby be blessed by the saint. To mark this day yourself, you can pray to Saint Mark on behalf of your little seedlings you’re planning for your garden. You can build a new scarecrow for your garden, make fence charms to keep birds off of your garden beds, so many lovely activities. Even a simple protection charm would be lovely for this day! It's also the time of year where many birds come back to our lands, notably, the Canada Goose. Sugar-making season is now over, and life is reappearing more vivaciously by the day. And by April 25th, I can't help but include this, "all you need is a light jacket."

The festival of snows (la fête des neiges)

This festival often occurred when winter dragged its heels well into May and they just wanted it gone! There are some years in Saguenay, and of course, on the East Coast, where snow indeed stays on the ground well into May. My great-grandmother would sometimes only start her garden in June, when the ground has sufficiently thawed. You would need to pray for divine intervention by spending a quiet day inside and praying actively. If you find that there is a snowfall on the first of May, you are in luck! The first snowfall of May is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and if you collected it, you would have May Water (Eau de mai), which would be consecrated by Mary and able to heal eye soreness and ailments. If you also find yourself near a wayside cross on your journeys, make sure to leave behind some flowers to Mary.

Black & White Photography #96

Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Basilica

©️ 2026 HURM Photography

Today is Saint Mark (Sant Marc), who is the patron saint of the shoemakers and other jobs that work with leather. On this day, it used to be typical to make these currutacos biscuits in the shape of outer socks (escarpins) and take them to be blessed.

An outer sock (escarpí) was the thick sock that was worn between the stockings and the shoes with certain kinds of shoes.