Buon Ferragosto! Ferragosto, August 15,

Buon Ferragosto!
Ferragosto, August 15, is one of the most important Catholic holidays, because it's the day that the Virgin was Assunta in Cielo, in other words transported directly to Heaven to be with her son, Jesus, and also to look after those of us still here on Earth. As is the case with many other Christian holidays, Ferragosto goes back further and has Pagan origins, which in this case are multiple. On the one hand, in 18 BC the Roman Emperor Augustus declared that all of the month of August would be dedicated to the Feriae Augusti, a series of festivals and celebrations; the most important was held on the 13th, and was dedicated to Diana, the Goddess whose task it was to oversee the woods, the phases of the Moon, and Maternity. The services, which were celebrated in Diana's temple on the Aventine, was one of the few occasions in which Romans from all walks of life, masters and slaves alike, mingled freely, and the women, who made offerings to the Goddess throughout the year in the hope that their labor would be safe and happy, offered prayers to Lucina, the guise Diana assumed when she was acting as protectoress of Labor
A MENE NESTO PREKO 60 MIN DELI OD ZASLUZENOG GODISNJEG ODMORA

--------