#Charterhouse Accountants

[bestrecruitmentagencyindubai]

Finding the Best Recruitment Agency in Dubai: Your Key to Unlocking Success

In Dubai’s bustling job market, selecting the best recruitment agency can be a game-changer for both employers and job seekers. As a global business hub, Dubai offers numerous opportunities, but navigating its competitive landscape requires expert assistance. The best recruitment agency in Dubai plays a pivotal role in connecting top talent with leading organizations and ensuring job seekers land their dream roles. This article explores why the best recruitment agency in Dubai is crucial and highlights some of the top agencies that excel in this vibrant city.

Why Choose the Best Recruitment Agency in Dubai?

Choosing the best recruitment agency in Dubai offers several key

benefits:

Efficiency and Speed: The best recruitment agency in Dubai streamlines the hiring process, allowing employers to quickly find the right candidates and reduce time-to-fill for job openings. Access to Top Talent: Agencies with a strong reputation in Dubai have extensive networks, giving employers access to a pool of highly qualified candidates who may not be reached through traditional job postings.

Expert Guidance: The best recruitment agency in Dubai provides valuable market insights, such as salary trends, industry demands, and talent availability, helping both employers and job seekers make informed decisions.

For job seekers, the best recruitment agency in Dubai can offer:

Exclusive Job Opportunities: Access to roles that are not advertised publicly, providing a competitive edge in the job market. Career Support: Professional advice on resume writing, interview preparation, and career development tailored to the Dubai job market.

Personalized Matching: A focused approach to aligning job seekers with roles that suit their skills, experience, and career aspirations. Top Recruitment Agencies in Dubai Here are some of the best recruitment agencies in Dubai, known for their exceptional service and expertise:

Michael Page Michael Page is often cited as the best recruitment agency in Dubai. With a global footprint and a strong local presence, Michael Page specializes in various sectors, including finance, engineering, and technology. Their deep understanding of the Dubai job market and tailored recruitment strategies make them a top choice for both employers and job seekers.

Hays Hays is a leading recruitment agency in Dubai with a reputation for excellence. Known for its specialization in industries such as construction, IT, and healthcare, Hays offers comprehensive recruitment services. Their extensive network and expertise in Dubai’s job market ensure they effectively match high-quality candidates with top employers.

Adecco Adecco is a major global staffing firm with a significant presence in Dubai. The agency provides recruitment services across a range of industries, including administrative, engineering, and finance. Adecco’s innovative recruitment practices and broad network help connect businesses with the right candidates and job seekers with premier job opportunities.

Robert Half Robert Half stands out for its focus on accounting, finance, and IT recruitment. Their Dubai office is renowned for its rigorous candidate vetting process and dedication to quality placements. Robert Half’s specialized knowledge and commitment to finding the best talent make them one of the leading recruitment agencies in Dubai.

Charterhouse Charterhouse is a prominent recruitment agency in Dubai, particularly known for its executive search and mid-level recruitment services. Specializing in sectors such as finance, legal, and marketing, Charterhouse provides tailored recruitment solutions that address the specific needs of clients. Their deep local market knowledge and personalized service set them apart as one of the best recruitment agencies in Dubai.

How to Select the Best Recruitment Agency in Dubai To find the best recruitment agency in Dubai that suits your needs, consider the following:

Industry Focus: Choose an agency with expertise in your specific industry to benefit from their targeted knowledge and connections. Network Reach: An agency with a broad network can offer access to a larger pool of candidates or job opportunities.

Reputation: Research the agency’s reputation through client testimonials and online reviews to gauge their reliability and effectiveness. Tailored Service: Opt for agencies that provide customized services and take the time to understand your unique requirements and goals.

Maximizing Your Recruitment Agency Experience

To make the most of your partnership with a recruitment agency, maintain clear and open communication. Employers should provide detailed job descriptions and insights into company culture. Job seekers should clearly articulate their career goals and preferences. Regular feedback and updates will help ensure the agency aligns with your needs and delivers the best outcomes.

Conclusion

In Dubai’s competitive job market, partnering with the best recruitment agency is a strategic advantage that can significantly enhance your hiring or job search success. Agencies like Michael Page, Hays, Adecco, Robert Half, and Charterhouse are recognized for their expertise, extensive networks, and commitment to excellence. By selecting the best recruitment agency in Dubai that aligns with your specific needs, you can effectively navigate the job market and achieve your career or business objectives.

[normally0]

Banco: Investing in Knowledge at Charterhouse

At Charterhouse School, the term "Banco" refers to the homework done after supper in the evening. This unique term encapsulates more than just a time for study; it symbolizes a structured and dedicated period of intellectual pursuit and discipline, reflecting the school's emphasis on rigorous academic preparation and time management.

Metaphorically, "Banco" represents the notion of a bank or reserve of knowledge. Just as a bank safeguards and manages financial resources, "Banco" time at Charterhouse is a period where students invest in their intellectual capital. It is a deliberate effort to build up their reserves of understanding, skills, and knowledge, which they can draw upon in future academic and life endeavors.

Furthermore, the evening timing of "Banco" suggests a period of reflection and consolidation. After the day's activities and classes, students have the opportunity to review and integrate what they have learned, reinforcing their comprehension and mastery of subjects. This aligns with the idea of a bank’s end-of-day reconciliation, where all transactions are balanced and accounted for, ensuring accuracy and stability.

"Banco" also highlights the value of consistency and routine in academic success. Just as regular deposits into a bank account accumulate over time to create wealth, regular and disciplined study sessions build a strong foundation of knowledge. This routine instills a sense of responsibility and self-discipline in students, teaching them the importance of regular effort and perseverance.

The communal aspect of "Banco" time, with students working alongside their peers, fosters a sense of solidarity and mutual support. It mirrors the social function of banks as community institutions that support collective growth and development. This shared experience can enhance motivation and create a supportive learning environment.

In essence, "Banco" at Charterhouse is a metaphorical investment in education, reflecting the importance of routine, discipline, and reflection in the learning process. It symbolizes the accumulation and safeguarding of knowledge, much like financial assets, preparing students for future academic and personal success.

#Charterhouse #Banco #HomeworkTime #StudyRoutine #AcademicDiscipline #InvestInKnowledge #EducationTraditions #LearningCulture #StudentLife #BritishEducation

[peergrowth]

List of Top 10 Executive Search Firms in Dubai 2023

Dubai's fast paced commercial enterprise panorama demands top notch executive skills, and to bridge this gap, executive search companies play a pivotal position. Here's a curated listing of the top 10 government search firms in Dubai 2023, with a unique mention of Peergrowth.

Peergrowth

A rising big name in Dubai's government search panorama, Peergrowth stands proud for its revolutionary method. They specialize in connecting high growth startups and agencies with high quality executive expertise, contributing to the area's dynamic business surroundings.

BAC Middle East

A stalwart inside the location, BAC Middle East gives executive search services throughout diverse industries. Their team's in-depth marketplace knowledge and huge network make them a go to choose for each client and executive level applicants.

Nadia Executive Search

With over 3 decades of experience, Nadia Executive Search stands proud for its customized approach. They concentrate on connecting high caliber experts with executive roles in diverse sectors.

Hays Executive

Hays Executive leverages its international reach to carry top-tier executive skills to Dubai's thriving commercial enterprise ecosystem. Their industry focused groups make sure tailored solutions for executive degree placements.

Inspire Selection Executive Search

Known for its comprehensive executive search solutions, Inspire Selection Executive Search caters to the particular requirements of its customers. Their dedication to excellence has earned them a strong popularity inside the marketplace.

Charterhouse Executive Search

Charterhouse is a distinguished participant in executive search, aligning skilled leaders with agencies's strategic wishes. Their cognizance of quality and customized carrier units separate them apart in Dubai's aggressive marketplace.

Robert Half Executive Search

Specializing in finance and accounting, Robert Half's executive search division is a force to be reckoned with. They join businesses with top executive expertise, contributing to the achievement of various industries.

Stanton Chase

Stanton Chase's worldwide presence extends to Dubai, where they offer executive search offerings with a focus on leadership roles. Their validated methodologies and industry understanding cause them to depend on partners for executive placements.

Cornerstone International Group

Bringing a worldwide angle to government search, Cornerstone International Group's Dubai workplace focuses on C suite placements. Their client centric approach ensures tailor made solutions for government recruitment..

Heidrick and Struggles

Heidrick and Struggles is a worldwide executive search company with a large footprint in Dubai. Known for its information in top level placements, the company contributes to shaping leadership teams throughout industries.

Peergrowth : Redefining Executive Search Firm in Dubai

In the dynamic landscape of Dubai's commercial enterprise ecosystem, Peergrowth emerges as a distinctive participant, redefining the norms of executive search. Here's a closer look at what sets Peergrowth aside

Innovation and Agility

Peergrowth brings a clean attitude to executive search through embracing innovation and agility. In an era wherein commercial enterprise landscapes evolve swiftly, Peergrowth adapts its strategies to meet the precise wishes of high growth startups and businesses, showcasing a dedication to staying ahead of the curve.

Startup Focus

One of Peergrowth's great strengths lies in its specialization in connecting high growth startups with quality executive expertise. Recognizing the particular requirements of startups, Peergrowth tailors its executive search services to align with the dynamic and fast paced nature of the startup surroundings.

Strategic Partnerships

Building on the philosophy of collaboration, Peergrowth fosters strategic partnerships with each customer and executive level applicants. By informing the desires and aspirations of its partners, Peergrowth ensures that each government placement is a strategic suit, contributing not only best to the achievement of the individual however additionally to the overall increase of the enterprise.

In conclusion, these top list of executive search firms in Dubai are instrumental in shaping the management landscape of the metropolis. Whether companies are in search of visionary leaders or executives are navigating profession transitions, these corporations play a critical role in bringing the proper talent to the right place. As Dubai keeps to evolve as a global enterprise hub, the known how and services supplied with the aid of these executive search companies emerge as increasingly more crucial for driving success in the corporate realm.

Source: https://peergrowthdubai.blogspot.com/2023/12/list-of-executive-search-firms-dubai.html

[heartofstanding]

A similar interpretive problem is posed by Henry VI's elevation to sainthood. Henry was venerated as a miracle-working martyr almost immediately following his death and his tomb, first at Chertsey Abbey then at Windsor, became a popular destination for pilgrims. In attempting to have Henry VI canonized to bolster his own fedgling dynasty, Henry VII appropriated the popular cult, he did not invent it. Henry's status as à saint has been taken as evidence that he must have been conspicuously pious, indeed holy, during his life and chat this, in turn, helps to explain many of his failings as a king. Henry was a devout, well-intentioned ‘saintly muff’ more suited to the monastery than to ruling a kingdom. However, such an approach fails to take into account wider patterns of saint-making in late-medieval England, whereby high status men, such as Edward II, Thomas of Lancaster and Archbishop Richard Scrope, who suffered violent death, were frequently claimed as martyrs and miracle workers, regardless of the quality of their piety when alive. Henry also slotted neatly into the well-established ranks of the English king saint. As Wolfe pointed our, the evidence from Henry's life does not suggest that his religiosity was deemed particularly striking or out of the ordinary at the time. Arguably, Henry V made rather more substantial demonstrations of distinctive pious and spiritual interests chan his son. This problematizes treatment of Blacman's narrative of Henry's saintly virtues (probably written in the early 1480s) as an accurate account of the king's conduct and demeanour in life. Blacman did know Henry personally, having been a fellow at Eton from 1443 to 1454, and may have acted as an unofficial spiritual advisor or confessor to the king. Later in life Blacman joined the Carthusian order and lived at Witham Charterhouse in Somerset from the mid 1460s until his death about twenty years later. It may be that, in writing his account, Blacman sought to explain Henry's disastrous reign by revealing that his public failings as a king stemmed from his spiritual and moral integrity as a man; again, the idea that he was 'too good' to be a king. Blacman's text presents Henry as a model of lay piety and, in so doing, he drew on established hagiographic tropes of high status lay male sanctity as established, for example, by the lives of Louis IX of France (canonized 1297) and Elzéar of Sabran, count of Ariano (canonized 1371). This does not mean that the text bears no relation at all to the 'real' Henry and should be dismissed as evidence for anything other than Henry's posthumous cult, any more than we should entirely disregard the opinions of his Yorkist opponents. But it is unwise to perceive an innate quality to the idea of Henry as either hopeless boy-puppet, or unworldly saint.

Katherine J. Lewis, Kingship and Masculinity in Late Medieval England (Routledge, 2013)

[lawrenceop]

HOMILY for Christ the King (EF)

Col 1:12-20; John 18:33-37

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the canonisation in 1970 of the forty martyrs of England and Wales by Pope St Paul VI, in St Peter’s Basilica. Today, we recall the heroic sacrifice and brave witness to the truth of forty of our countrymen, from the Prior of the London Charterhouse, St John Houghton, executed at Tyburn in 1535, to the Welsh Jesuit St David Lewis, executed in 1679. Over the course almost 150 years, hundreds of faithful Catholics from every walk of life in English society were executed by the State, martyred for their refusal to allow the State to interfere with the fundamental rights of the Church.

For as Pope Pius XI said in 1925 when he instituted today’s annual feast of Christ the King: “[The Church] has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state; and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power.” (Quas primas, 31) The Church and her bishops may, of course, prudently choose to co-operate with the State, but only if this does not hinder the mission and raison d’être of the Church, which is to lead souls to Christ through the preaching of the Gospel in its fullness, and through the faithful administration of the Sacraments of salvation.

For, beautiful and valuable and precious though our life and our friendships in this present lifetime are, today’s feast, and the deaths of the martyrs remind us of an often forgotten truth in our secularised world. We live, ultimately, not for this life and its joys and pleasures, but rather, all of this present life, whether it be long or short, is a preparation for the life of the world to come; this life on earth is that short time given to us in God’s providence during which we learn to forsake sin and, by the grace of Christ, we hope to increase in charity, so that we can become true citizens of God’s heavenly Kingdom. So, on the wall of his cell in the Tower of London St Philip Howard scratched these words: “Quanto plus afflictionis pro Christo in hoc saeculo, tanto plus gloriae in futuro”; ‘The more suffering for Christ in this life, the more glory in heaven’. Fittingly then, in 2020, on this feast day of Christ the King, do we recall the witness of these faithful servants of Jesus Christ who would deny their worldly earthly kings rather to forsake Christ the true and universal King. Hence St Thomas More famously said that he died “the king’s good servant, but God’s first.”

The Church, therefore, must always point beyond this world, and call humanity to serve God’s kingdom, to repent of sin and prideful error, and so to be saved by Christ the King. Thus, commenting on today’s Gospel, Pope Pius XI said: “Before the Roman magistrate [Christ] declared that his kingdom was not of this world. The gospels present this kingdom as one which men prepare to enter by penance, and cannot actually enter except by faith and by baptism, which, though an external rite, signifies and produces an interior regeneration. This kingdom is opposed to none other than to that of Satan and to the power of darkness. It demands of its subjects a spirit of detachment from riches and earthly things, and a spirit of gentleness. They must hunger and thirst after justice, and more than this, they must deny themselves and carry the cross.” (Quas primas, 15)

The forty martyrs who we especially remember today exemplify the ultimate self-denial and carrying of the Cross that is demanded of us Christians. This group of English and Welsh Martyrs, just a small representation of the hundreds executed during the so-called Reformation, is composed of 13 diocesan priests (or secular clergy), 3 Benedictines, 3 Carthusians, 1 Brigittine, 2 Franciscans, 1 Augustinian, 10 Jesuits and 7 members of the laity, including 3 mothers. And all of them sacrificed everything for the sake of the Holy Mass and the Sacraments; for the unity of Christ’s Church in communion with the Pope; for the sake of the sacred Priesthood through whom we receive the Sacraments; and for the sake of Christ’s teaching on the sanctity of marriage and family life. Therefore, in our times and in our country, we honour these holy men and women, and we show ourselves to be their friends, if we love what they love. So, let us love the Mass and the one holy Catholic and apostolic Church; love the Holy Father and pray for him; love your clergy, pray for them and uphold them with care and help; love your husband, your wife, and as a family bear witness to the love and joy of the Gospel. For as Pope Francis says: “The triune God is a communion of love, and the family is its living reflection.” (Amoris lætitia, 11) The Christian family, therefore, bears witness as a vestige of the Holy Trinity; the presence of the loving God at work among us, extending the reign of Christ one household at a time. Therefore, enthrone Christ in your homes, in your families, and in your own hearts.

What does this entail? Pope Pius XI said, Jesus Christ “must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls”. The forty martyrs, again, demonstrate the consequence of being given over to the reign of Christ: we would be willing to die for the truths of the Gospel; willing to give up sin and to behave and act in ways that please God; willing to work and suffer in order to uphold the Kingdom of God in our world, while labouring to defeat the lies and falsehoods of the Enemy. However, it is most noteworthy in the accounts of their lives and their final words that the forty martyrs of England and Wales did all this without rancour or bitterness or anger or hatred. Instead, they spoke with humour, serenity, and humility, always acting with charity. For this is the genuine sign that Christ is their King. Let it be so for each of us too, especially in these difficult and polarised times. Hence Pope Pius XI said: “in a spirit of holy joy [let us] give ample testimony of [our] obedience and subjection to Christ.” For, as Pope Francis says, “we all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress.” (Evangelii gaudium, 6) It is a joy that flows from a childlike confidence and trust in God’s love, in the victory of the Risen Lord Jesus; a joy that springs from a firm faith in divine Providence.  

This is the joy of the martyr, of the subjects of Christ the King, for they know that, at the end, all of creation, all human history, all time and creatures shall fall “under the dominion of Christ. [And] in him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society.” (Quas primas, 18) Hence Pope Pius XI, reflecting on the set-backs and seeming defeats that the Church has endured, and on the crises caused by persecutions and martyrdoms, gave witness to his trust in God’s Providence and his Kingship. He said: “the admirable wisdom of the Providence of God, who, ever bringing good out of evil, has from time to time suffered the faith and piety of men to grow weak, and allowed Catholic truth to be attacked by false doctrines, but always with the result that truth has afterwards shone out with greater splendour, and that men's faith, aroused from its lethargy, has shown itself more vigorous than before.” (Quas primas, 22)

My brothers and sisters, such is the time we live in: we witness the daily rise of anti-clericalism, the burning of churches and the destruction of Christian statues and images; doctrinal confusion and laxity, and the corruption of morals in every strata of society, and so on. And yet, with great confidence in the triumph of Gospel truth; with faith in the victory of the Lamb that was slain (as we recalled in today’s Officium); and with hope in the universal Kingship of Jesus Christ over the hearts of men and women, we can repeat in our time these words of St Robert Southwell, the Jesuit priest who was caught ministering in London. Shortly before his martyrdom at Tyburn he said: “It seems to me that I see the beginning of a religious life in England, of which we now sow in seeds of tears, that others hereafter may with joy carry in sheaves.”

May the joy of acknowledging Christ as King reign now in our hearts, and may God’s all powerful grace convert the hearts of our England and Wales, and all nations. As we prayed in today’s Collect, may “all the families of nations… be brought under the sweet yoke of [Christ’s] rule.” Amen!

[tinyshe]

‘We crush the head of the serpent when we scorn and trample underfoot the glory of the world, the praises the vanities, and all the other pomps of pride.’

Bl. Marie of The Incarnation

Also known as Madame Barbe Acrie.         1566 – 1618

She was born Barbe Avrillot on February 1st 1566 and baptised the next day.  Her father, Nicholas Avrillot, was accountant general in the Chamber of Paris and chancellor to Queen Margaret of Valois.  Her mother, Marie Lhuillier was also from the upper class of Parisian society.   Barbe was educated by the Franciscan nuns of Longchamp.  The girls were taught to read and to sing and they joined in most of the Divine Office with the nuns.  Barbe always felt drawn to religious life but in obedience to her parents’ wishes she married Pierre Acarie in 1582.  He was a rich young man from Parisian high society but he was also a committed Catholic.  They had six children and Barbe proved to be an excellent wife and mother.

After the birth of her second child Barbe read some words of St. Augustine which made a great impression on her, ‘He is indeed a miser to whom God is not enough’.  It was after this that she began to have mystical experiences, which worried her a great deal at first, but gradually she gained more control and could be resting in God at the same time as she was involved with her family or her other works.

Barbe’s husband Pierre Acarie became an active member of the Catholic League which opposed the Huguenots and although he never joined in the violent activities of some of the members, when Henri IV took possession of Paris, he, like many others in the League, was ordered to leave the city.  However, he was able to choose his place of residence and went to the charterhouse in Bourgfontaine.   Unfortunately his zeal for his faith had outstripped his prudence and he had recklessly lent money to other members of the League.  As Pierre was 45 miles from Paris, Barbe found herself faced with sudden debts and had to hand over most of her possessions to pay them off.  She sent her four eldest children away to school and the two youngest to stay with relatives while she went to stay with her cousin Mme Bérulle mother of the future cardinal, who was then a student at the Sorbonne.He was nine years younger than Barbe and although they already knew each other they grew closer and found mutual support and encouragement, as each became more completely dedicated in their spiritual paths.

Barbe never criticised her husband for his reckless ways and her love for him never faltered in spite of all the hardship he had caused her. She travelled the 45 miles to  Bourgfontaine to see him.  While there he was captured by bandits and she raised the ransom to free him and also arranged his transfer to the Chateau at Luzarches, which was much closer to Paris.  There she was able to see him far more frequently until on returning from one of these visits her horse stumbled and left her with a broken hip. The next year she fell on a step and fractured her thigh, and a third fall of a similar nature followed soon afterwards. These accidents caused her to remain lame for the rest of her life.  Meanwhile, after many legal struggles she had sorted out Pierre’s affairs and soon afterwards the family was reunited in their old home.

Barbe became known all over Paris for her great charity to the sick and poor. Her works were many and varied, among other things she opened a refuge for prostitutes who wanted to make a new start in life and she made vestments for missionaries.

By the beginning of the seventeenth century the Acarie home was a gathering place for clergy and devout laity alike.  Many came to ask Barbe’s advice.  She always accommodated clergy who wanted to stay for convalescence after an illness. Her cousin, Cardinal Pierre Bérulle, was a frequent visitor, others included St. Francis de Sales, who was Barbe’s spiritual director for a short time, and St. Vincent de Paul. High society ladies, including Mme. Jourdain, Mme de Bréauté and others who later became Carmelites, were also visitors to the Acarie household.

In 1601 Abbé de Brétigny’s translation of Ribera’s life of St. Teresa was published.  After Barbe had begun reading this St. Tesesa appeared to her and told her that God had chosen her to found Carmels in France.   Barbe consulted with her friends and advisers but they felt that the time was not right and advised her to abandon the idea or at least leave it aside for a time.  She tried to do that but eight months later St. Teresa appeared to her again and assured her that the difficulties would be overcome. Barbe approached the Duchess of Longueville asking her to be the foundress which in fact meant financing the project and also getting the necessary letters patent from the king.  She eventually succeeded in this and Barbe persuaded her friends and advisers to support her.  St. Francis de Sales wrote to Pope Clement VIII to obtain his permission to found monasteries of Discalced Carmelite nuns in France under the jurisdiction of secular clergy as there were no Carmelite Friars in France at that time.  They all considered it essential to bring nuns from Spain who had known St. Teresa, so that the French Carmels would be authentically Teresian.   Gradually the difficulties were overcome as St. Teresa had predicted.   The Pope sent authorisation for the new monastery which was built  in Paris and Barbe gathered a group of future postulants together. Abbé de Brétigny travelled to Spain to bring back Spanish Carmelites who had known St. Teresa, but he was initially refused, so he called on Barbe for advice, she sent her cousin, Pierre de Bérulle to help him and together with some ladies of the nobility they returned with six of Teresa’s best nuns including Anne of St. Bartholomew and Anne of Jesus.  Two Spanish Carmelite friars accompanied them and gave the habit to the first French novices. The Spanish nuns all went to the newly built Paris Carmel in 1604 but more foundations followed and Barbe was much involved in those at  Pontoise in1605, Dijon in 1605 and Amiens in1606. By the time of her death 12 years later there were fourteen Carmels in France.  Barbe’s three daughters all became Carmelites. Among the young women Barbe had gathered together to train as future Carmelites she found that some  clearly did not have a Carmelite vocation, yet they were dedicated women sincerely seeking to serve God.  It occurred to Barbe that they would make excellent teaching sisters, so she set about founding the Ursulines in Paris convinced that if girls were taught their faith well they could reform morality in the country, as most of these girls would go on to be mothers and would pass on the teaching to their children.

Very soon after her husband, Pierre Acarie, died in 1613,  Barbe settled her affairs and asked to enter Carmel as a lay sister, she wanted to go to the poorest monastery and entered at Amiens where her eldest daughter was sub-prioress.  She took the name Sr. Mary of the Incarnation and made her solemn profession on April 8th  1615, but her health had deteriorated a great deal.  She only lived five years after Pierre’s death.  Barbe was sent to the Carmel at Pontoise,  as the superiors thought it might be beneficial for her health, but she died there on the Wednesday of Easter week, April 18th 1618. Sister Mary of the Incarnation was beatified on June 5th 1791. Her Feast Day is kept on April 18th  in Paris and in the Carmelite order.

text source

[scotianostra]

On February 20th 1437 King James I was murdered in Perth.

As Kings go, James I and his immediate family had arguably the worst of bad luck, he was never meant to be King, his brother, David was first born but their uncle, Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany kidnapped him and he died in suspicious circumstances, apparently of starvation,Albany was cleared of all blame by a general council, which found that 'by divine providence and not otherwise, it is discerned that he departed from this life.'

James was then about nine years old was dispatched to France by his father Robert III, en-route the young Prince was seasick and the ship was forced to land on the English coast where pirates captured it and delivered James to Henry IV of England. His father, who was of ill-health throughout his rein, died shortly afterwards.

And so James began his rein as King in captivity, albeit treated very well and afforded all the trappings a royal guest would expect, except he was guarded and unable to return to Scotland. He spent 18 years with the English Court seeing three Kings of England, by his release in 1424 Henry VI was ruler. With that his return to Scotland did not go down well the ransom of £40,000 was raised through higher taxes and hostages from noble families were exchanged as part of the ransom added to that James was know to have accompanied Henry V to France and fought against Scots who were there as part of The Auld Alliance, despite this he was admired by some and was said to have excelled at sport and was appreciative of literature and music. Unlike his father and grandfather, he did not take mistresses but had many children by his wife, Queen Joan. The King had a strong desire to impose law and order on his subjects, but applied it selectively at times.

James exerted his authority with preemptive attacks on some of his nobles beginning in 1425 with his close kinsmen the Albany Stewarts resulting in the execution of Duke Murdoch and his sons. In 1428 James detained Alexander, Lord of the Isles, while attending a parliament in Inverness. Archibald, 5th Earl of Douglas, was arrested in 1431, followed by George, Earl of March, in 1434. The plight of the ransom hostages held in England was ignored and the repayment money was diverted into the construction of Linlithgow Palace and other grandiose schemes.

With all this the vultures were circling during the Royal Families extended Christmas holidays at Perth's Blackfriars Friary and on the evening of February 20th James I was resting in his nightgown and furry slippers, playing chess with his wife, Queen Joan, and their friends, when the assassins arrived around midnight.

It is known that at least one of his inner circle, the chamberlain Sir Robert Stewart, was in on the plot and excused the guardsman and loosened the bolts on the abbey doors, as he got word of the mob’s approach. An account of the day, given by Queen Joan following the raid and transcribed from Latin by historian John Shirley, described the “great noise...and great clattering of harness and men armed, with great sight of torches.” Leading the pack was the “false and traitorous knight” Sir Robert Graham, who supported the Albany Stewarts over the King. James I fled for cover with his wife and friends running for the chamber doorway, where the King urged them to stay.

The King, according to the account, tried to smash windows to enable their escape but they were too strongly soldered with lead for them the break. James I was “ugly astonished” and grabbed iron tongs from the fire side before “mightily” bursting up a plank of the chamber floor and dipping down to conceal himself, James thought he could escape under tennis courts but found the way blocked, this was his own doing as he was annoyed at losing tennis balls and had the way barred. The assassins - armed with "swords, axes, glaves, bills" burst in as he was climbing from under the floorboards back into the room. Unarmed and still in his nightgown, the King fought back, holding two men by their throats and cutting his hands as he tried to grab their knives. He was eventually overpowered.

The King died in a pool of his own blood with 16 wounds in his chest and many more on other parts of his body, the account added. Sir Robert Graham, is said to have screamed after his death: 

"I have thus slayne and delivered yow of so crewel a tyrant, the grettest enemye that Scottes or Scotland might have."

Some have cast doubt on the version of events as told by Queen Joan with claims she hyped the heroism of the King.

James I was buried within the grounds of Perth Charterhouse, but the priory was destroyed, like many other Scottish treasures,  in the reformation a century after his death and now no-one is exactly sure where his grave is.

A stone monument at the corner of Perth's King Street and Hospital Street marks the fact he is buried somewhere in the area..

[neilmobile]

TO REMAIN accountable to myself about reading more in 2020, here is what I read in 2019, following my delightful system of bolding for good, italics for not so good:

1. Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders

2. A Moment in the Sun - John Sayles (Maybe I read fewer books last year because this thing was 900 pages long? It was okay)

3. Horrorstor - Grady Hendrix

4. Us Conductors - Sean Michaels

5. Murder in the Bayou - Ethan Brown

6. The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy - Paul Myers

7. The Beastie Boys Book - Michael Diamond and Adam Horowitz

8. Manhattan Beach - Jennifer Egan

9. Magnificent Ambersons - Booth Tarkington

10. Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

11. Democracy - Joan Didion

12. No Longer Human - Junji Ito

13. Alice Munro - View from Castle Rock

14. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

15. Charterhouse of Parma - Stendahl

16. The Mimic Men - VS Naipaul

17. Are You Ready for the Country - Peter Doggett

18. Little Bird - Darcy Van Poelgeest

19. Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

20. The Memory Police - Yoko Ogawa

21. Helter Skelter - Vincent Bugliosi

22. The Old Man and the Gun - David Grann

23. The Distant Mirror - Barbara Tuchman

24. Washington Black - Esi Eduygan

[ultra-charterhouse-blog]

Tax Returns and Going Digital https://www.charter-house.net/news/charterhouse-blog/archive/article/2019/January/tax-returns-and-going-digital We are fast approaching a tax return deadline - 31st January 2019. It is a time of year when accountants are busy and individuals that do leave it late are under pressure! No one wants to pay a lateness fee to HMRC.

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 18 February – Blessed John of Fiesole/Fra Angelico O.P. (1387-1455)  Born in 1387 in Vicchio di Mugello near Florence, Italy as Guido di Pietro – he died on 18 February 1455 in the Dominican convent in Rome, Italy of natural causes.   He was known to contemporaries as Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (Brother John of Fiesole) and Fra Giovanni Angelico (Angelic Brother John).   In modern Italian he is called il Beato Angelico (Blessed Angelic One);  the common English name Fra Angelico means the “Angelic friar”.   In 1982, Pope John Paul II proclaimed his beatification in recognition of the holiness of his life, thereby making the title of “Blessed” official.   Fiesole is sometimes misinterpreted as being part of his formal name but it was merely the name of the town where he took his vows as a Dominican friar and was used by contemporaries to separate him from others who were also known as Fra Giovanni.   He is listed in the Roman Martyrology as Beatus Ioannes Faesulanus, cognomento Angelicus—”Blessed Giovanni of Fiesole, surnamed ‘the Angelic’ “.   Patron of Catholic Artists.

Fra Angelico was an Early Italian Renaissance painter described by Vasari in his Lives of the Artists as having “a rare and perfect talent”.

Early life, 1395–1436 Fra Angelico was born Guido di Pietro at Rupecanina in the Tuscan area of Mugello near Fiesole towards the end of the 14th century.   Nothing is known of his parents.   He was baptised Guido or Guidolino.   The earliest recorded document concerning Fra Angelico dates from 17 October 1417 when he joined a religious confraternity or guild at the Carmine Church, still under the name of Guido di Pietro.   This record reveals that he was already a painter, a fact that is subsequently confirmed by two records of payment to Guido di Pietro in January and February 1418 for work done in the church of Santo Stefano del Ponte.   The first record of Angelico as a friar dates from 1423, when he is first referred to as Fra Giovanni (Friar John), following the custom of those entering one of the older religious orders of taking a new name.  He was a member of the local community at Fiesole, not far from Florence, of the Dominican Order; one of the medieval Orders belonging to a category known as mendicant Orders because they generally lived not from the income of estates but from begging or donations.   Fra, a contraction of frater (Latin for ‘brother’), is a conventional title for a mendicant friar.

According to Vasari, Fra Angelico initially received training as an illuminator, possibly working with his older brother Benedetto who was also a Dominican and an illuminator. The former Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence, now a state museum, holds several manuscripts that are thought to be entirely or partly by his hand.   The painter Lorenzo Monaco may have contributed to his art training and the influence of the Sienese school is discernible in his work.   He had several important charges in the convents he lived in but this did not limit his art, which very soon became famous. According to Vasari, the first paintings of this artist were an altarpiece and a painted screen for the Charterhouse (Carthusian monastery) of Florence; none such exist there now.

From 1408 to 1418, Fra Angelico was at the Dominican friary of Cortona, where he painted frescoes, now mostly destroyed, in the Dominican Church and may have been assistant to Gherardo Starnina or a follower of his.   Between 1418 and 1436 he was at the convent of Fiesole, where he also executed a number of frescoes for the church and the Altarpiece, which was deteriorated but has since been restored.   A predella of the Altarpiece remains intact and is conserved in the National Gallery, London, and is a great example of Fra Angelico’s ability.   It shows Christ in Glory surrounded by more than 250 figures, including beatified Dominicans.

The Last Judgement and  The Transfiguration shows the directness, simplicity and restrained palette typical of these frescoes. Located in a monk’s cell at the Convent San’ Marco and intended for private devotion. 

San Marco, Florence, 1436–1445   In 1436, Fra Angelico was one of a number of the friars from Fiesole who moved to the newly built convent or friary of San Marco in Florence.   This was an important move which put him in the centre of artistic activity of the region and brought about the patronage of one of the wealthiest and most powerful members of the city’s governing authority, or “Signoria” (namely Cosimo de’ Medici), who had a cell reserved for himself at the friary in order that he might retreat from the world.

It was, according to Vasari, at Cosimo’s urging that Fra Angelico set about the task of decorating the convent, including the magnificent fresco of the Chapter House, the often-reproduced Annunciation at the top of the stairs leading to the cells, the Maesta (or Coronation of the Madonna) with Saints (cell 9) and the many other devotional frescoes, of smaller format but remarkable luminous quality, depicting aspects of the Life of Christ that adorn the walls of each cell.

In 1439 Fra Angelico completed one of his most famous works, the San Marco Altarpiece at Florence. The result was unusual for its time. Images of the enthroned Madonna and Child surrounded by saints were common, but they usually depicted a setting that was clearly heaven-like, in which saints and angels hovered about as divine presences rather than people. But in this instance, the saints stand squarely within the space, grouped in a natural way as if they were able to converse about the shared experience of witnessing the Virgin in glory. Paintings such as this, known as Sacred Conversations, were to become the major commissions of Giovanni Bellini, Perugino and Raphael.

San Marco Altarpiece

The Vatican, 1445–1455 In 1445 Pope Eugene IV summoned him to Rome to paint the frescoes of the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament at St Peter’s, later demolished by Pope Paul III.   Vasari claims that at this time Fra Angelico was offered the Archbishopric of Florence by Pope Nicholas V and that he refused it, recommending another friar for the position.   The story seems possible and even likely.   However, if Vasari’s date is correct, then the pope must have been Eugene IV and not Nicholas, who was elected Pope only on 6 March 1447.   Moreover, the archbishop in 1446–1459 was the Dominican Antoninus of Florence (Antonio Pierozzi), canonised by Pope Adrian VI in 1523. In 1447 Fra Angelico was in Orvieto with his pupil, Benozzo Gozzoli, executing works for the Cathedral.   Among his other pupils were Zanobi Strozzi.

From 1447 to 1449 Fra Angelico was back at the Vatican, designing the frescoes for the Niccoline Chapel for Nicholas V.   The scenes from the lives of the two martyred deacons of the Early Christian Church, St Stephen and St Lawrence may have been executed wholly or in part by assistants.   The small chapel, with its brightly frescoed walls and gold leaf decorations gives the impression of a jewel box.   From 1449 until 1452, Fra Angelico returned to his old convent of Fiesole, where he was the Prior.

Death and beatification In 1455, Fra Angelico died while staying at a Dominican convent in Rome, perhaps on an order to work on Pope Nicholas’ chapel.   He was buried in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

When singing my praise, don’t liken my talents to those of Apelles. Say, rather, that, in the name of Christ, I gave all I had to the poor.

The deeds that count on Earth are not the ones that count in Heaven.

I, Giovanni, am the flower of Tuscany. — Translation of epitaph

The English writer and critic William Michael Rossetti wrote of the friar:

“From various accounts of Fra Angelico’s life, it is possible to gain some sense of why he was deserving of canonisation.   He led the devout and ascetic life of a Dominican friar and never rose above that rank;  he followed the dictates of the order in caring for the poor;  he was always good-humoured.   All of his many paintings were of divine subjects and it seems that he never altered or retouched them, perhaps from a religious conviction that, because his paintings were divinely inspired, they should retain their original form.   He was wont to say that he who illustrates the acts of Christ should be with Christ.  It is averred that he never handled a brush without fervent prayer and he wept when he painted a Crucifixion. The Last Judgement and the Annunciation were two of the subjects he most frequently treated.”

The Crucified Christ

Pope John Paul II beatified Fra Angelico on 3 October 1982 and in 1984 declared him patron of Catholic artists.

“Angelico was reported to say “He who does Christ’s work must stay with Christ always”.   This motto earned him the epithet “Blessed Angelico” because of the perfect integrity of his life and the almost divine beauty of the images he painted, to a superlative extent those of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”— St Pope John Paul II

(via AnaStpaul – Breathing Catholic)

[weston-hcs]

Ohh sorry for the confusion! I meant that I'd like to know more about the weston houses in general, yeah, what they're like.

Original ask: Ngl as a fan of Harry Potter, the house system of Weston intrigues me. Got any hcs for them? I love having lore discussions lol

I mean, if you don’t mind this being as ‘headcanony’ as my other asks, I’d like a moment to just talk about public schools in general and discussion on these points made. That’s in the lower half of this ask.

The houses also have secondary names, named after the saints. While St. George is the patron saint of the school, the other houses are named by St. Boethius (Red House), St. Isidore (Blue House), St. Sebastian (Green House), St. Cecilia (Purple House). The names didn’t stick because they were a mouthful and Christianity began to see it’s decline.

The distaste against other houses isn’t as apparent until someone from another house tries to get into a dorm. When seen around campus however, people can get along just fine. Partnerships between the houses usually end up as Red House and Green House and Purple House and Blue House, which will mean that they won’t see that house as a threat but the other two are.

There’s tons of clubs and academic societies. This is the main place where students from other dorms will see each other since everything else - classes, dinner and accommodation - is divided in such a way for ease. Red House students frequent the music rooms and theatres a lot to join the Purple House. Blue House students often tutor the Green House students in one of the shared classroom spaces too, and in return - though mostly the younger students - the Green House kids will play sports with them.

Each house has it’s own story attributed to them with moral values deep within them. Red House speaks of moral virtue and the fluctuation of fate. Blue House talks about the pay off of learning and forgiveness. Green House’s story revolves around sticking to one’s beliefs and Purple House portrays a story of the rewards and woes of passion. To be fair, this story is only ever told once to the new students, but it’s at least remembered because the Prefects really do know how to tell a story.

The boys don’t really take much account into the rest of the dorm staff - the only ones who really matters are the house masters and dames. Of course, they’re more scared of the house masters, but less so are they like that towards the dames. Rather, the dames are the ones the boys usually go to instead - they’re much better at holding conversations.

This half is about what actual British public schools are like regarding the house system. Weston has been said to be mostly conceptualised off of Eton so this will be referred to a lot.

Houses will vary in sizes. Usually, most schools will have four or five houses. Eton has 25 houses which is actually really just based off of the lodgings - from what I believe. 

The mentioned saints used St. Boethius, St. Isidore, St. Sebastian and St. Cecilia are all saints I thought that would be fitting for the houses. Respectively, you have the patron of statesmen, the last scholar of the ancient world, the saint of athletes and soldiers and finally one of the few women named in the canon of the mass and patroness of musicians.

The fag system, though portrayed in Black Butler as just a way for older students to manipulate younger students, is still used somewhat today. The practice isn’t really common today but instead other schools like Charterhouse have “fathers” that show new students around the school.

Interhouse competitions vary in popularity. Now, you’ll have competitions for pretty much everything in school. Eton has rugby and rowing, Charterhouse has cross-country and pretty much all schools have a sport that is really focused on. 

Houses will have a house master, as filled in by Sebastian in the series. They would also be helped out by a dame, a second in command. The name for this varies in a lot of schools but Eton uses the word dame. Their jobs are pretty similar but, at least from what I know, the dames are easier to talk to since they have less responsibilities and therefore more free time.

[isabellemerrystudiopractice]

Robert Graves

Robert Graves was a war poet, translator of classics and novelist. During his long life, he wrote over 140 works including an autobiographical account of his time in the First World War – Goodbye to All That.

Robert Graves was born in Wimbledon 24 July 1895 to middle-class parents. His father was a school-master and his mother from an upper-class German family.

He was educated at a series of preparatory schools before gaining a scholarship to Charterhouse. Though an excellent student, life at Charterhouse was tough; he was relatively poor but outspoken; he was also teased for his German connections. In response, he gave an impression of eccentricity and took up poetry and boxing. One of his schoolmasters was George Mallory, who gave Robert an interest in both contemporary literature and mountaineering.

On the outbreak of war in 1914, Graves joined the army, enlisting in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He was one of the first poets to publish ‘realistic’ war poetry documenting the life of trench warfare.

Trench stinks of shallow buried dead Where Tom stands at the periscope, Tired out. After nine months he’s shed All fear, all faith, all hate, all hope.

– Robert Graves “Through the Periscope” (1915)

He suffered from shell shock and a dreadful fear of gas attacks. He recalls how he would later be affected by loud bangs or any unusual smell throughout the rest of his life. In 1916, he was badly wounded by shrapnel in the Battle of the Somme. His wound was so bad, he was recorded as having died from his wounds. However, against the odds, he survived but spent the rest of the war in England.

He was close friends with other war poets such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon; his relationship with Sassoon developing into a close romantic involvement.

In 1919, he was posted to Northern Ireland. However, on contracting the dreaded Spanish influenza he fled to England, without official demobilisation. However, luck was on his side because at Waterloo station, he met a demob officer who had the official papers to discharge him. He also survived the flu; this was the third time he had survived a close encounter with death – Flu, his war wound, and a childhood bout of double influenza.

After the end of the war, Graves was fragile both emotionally and physically and relied on the support of his wife Nancy. But, slowly he recovered and was able to take up a place at St John’s College, Oxford studying English.

He published several best selling books, such as Lawrence and the Arabs – a successful biography of his Oxford friend T.E.Lawrence. In 1929 he published a book ‘Goodbye To All That‘ an account of trench warfare and the difficulties of adjusting to life after the war. He writes about his experience of returning from the front.

England looked strange to us returned soldiers. We could not understand the war madness that ran about everywhere, looking for a pseudo-military outlet. The civilians talked a foreign language; and it was newspaper language.  (ch. 21)

‘Goodbye To All That‘ is a stark account of the reality of trench warfare and includes second-hand accounts of German prisoners of war murdered after surrendering. This honesty and openness led to criticism from some quarters.

He also published several classical interpretations of classical poetry, such as The Greek Myths. He took greater liberty with translations trying to capture the poetic spirit rather than a strict translation.

Towards the end of his life, he suffered from a frail memory and stopped writing. He died from heart failure on 7 Dec 1985, aged 90. He was the last surviving war poet, commemorated at Westminster Abbey just a month before his death.

Information from -

https://www.biographyonline.net/poets/robert-graves.html

[political-fluffle]

Superyachts and private jets: spending of corrupt super-rich revealed - Guardian

Groundbreaking analysis finds £300bn of suspect funds funnelled through the UK

The multimillion pound spending habits of corrupt members of the global super-rich – including 421 luxury homes, three superyachts, seven private jets as well as elite private school fees and even hovercraft – have been revealed in a groundbreaking analysis of more than 400 money laundering and corruption cases.

Research by Transparency International, an anti-corruption campaign group, found more than £300bn of suspect funds have been funnelled through the UK banks, law firms and accountants before being spent on a £1m Cartier diamond ring, masterpiece art works from Sotheby’s, and a £50,000 Tom Ford crocodile-skin jacket with matching crocodile-skin handbag from Harrods.

The suspect cash – which often comes from corrupt officials’ embezzlement of hundreds of millions of pounds from poor countries’ state coffers – was also found to have been spent on a £200,000 Bentley Bentayga driven by the 22-year-old son of the former prime minister of Moldova. His father, Vlad Filat, had been sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in the “theft of the century”.

In its forensic analysis of more than 400 global bribery, corruption and money laundering cases in 116 countries, Transparency International’s At Your Servicereport found 582 UK firms or individuals had helped rich people bring suspect funds into the country.

The money was paid through some 17,000 shell companies, 1,455 of which were registered to at the same serviced office above a wine bar in Birmingham.

“We’ve known for a long time that the UK’s world-class services have attracted a range of clients, including those who have money and pasts to hide,” said Duncan Hames, director of policy at Transparency International UK. “Now, for the first time, we have shed light on who these companies are and how they have become entangled in some of the biggest corruption scandals of our time. This should act as a wake-up call for government and regulators, and deliver much-needed reforms to the UK’s defences against dirty money.” (...)

Almost £3m was funnelled to private schools, including Charterhouse, Harrow and Lancing College. In 2010 alone Charterhouse, in Surrey, which describes itself as “one of the great historic schools of England” received £300,000 of funds linked to the Troika Laundromat scheme to move £3.5bn out of Russia, according to the report.

British universities, including the London School of Economics, the University of York, the University of St Andrews and University College London, were paid more than £500,000. The payments all came from shell companies with bank accounts at institutions that have since closed owing to mismanagement and money laundering failings, the report said. (...)

Large fees were paid to an educational consultant from funds linked to the Troika Laundromat scheme, which helps parents gain places for their children in top private schools. (...)

[septembersung]

The first martyrs were Carthusian monks, who died in May 1534. John Houghton, the prior of the London Charterhouse, had celebrated a Mass to the Holy Spirit with other Carthusians, seeking enlightenment after Henry VIII asked them to acknowledge that he alone was supreme head of the English church. An eyewitness wrote this account of the Mass: "Suddenly there came from heaven—all of us heard and wondered—a pleasant sound like the voice of a gentle breeze, charming our outward ears as with a sweet breath, and then gently striking them with a softly whispered murmur." Interpreting this as a sign from God, Houghton and his companions told the king they could not obey him. They were condemned to death and hanged on May 4. Houghton’s arm was nailed to the gate of the London Charterhouse. Tyburn’s shrine includes a portrait of Houghton by the Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbaran depicting him holding his heart. The story goes that Houghton cried, "Good Jesus, what will you do with my heart?" as the hangman ripped it out. He and the other monks are also commemorated on a pane of stained glass at St. Etheldreda’s Church.

Witnessing Houghton depart for the gallows was perhaps the most famous of all the martyrs, St. Thomas More, who was nearing the end of a fourteen-month imprisonment when he saw the Carthusians taken to Tyburn from the tower. More said to his daughter, "See how the blessed fathers go to their deaths as cheerfully as bridegrooms to a marriage." Within months More, too, would die for his faith.

[gironeagle]

Dashing Mister, Scheming Sister

This story is one that lead to: a happy marriage, a big family, an untimely death, and a mobile widow with her brood in tow. My grandfather was a successful and handsome businessman, he owned and ran five men’s clothing stores in central Italy that stretched coast to coast. My father told me that he sold everything a man could wear, excluding one or two items, that by Italian tradition were relegated to other clothiers. Through the fog of my memories I believe the other items were shoes, and hats. The few pictures that we have of our grandfather Gennaro, silver process photographs by the look of them, show him dressed impeccably and well fitted. He had nearly the perfect frame, as does my dad, brother (RIP), and my son. Their short but light boned frames always look dashing in suits; my frame, by comparison,  looks tank-ish or Jurassic Park-ish in a suit.

Gennaro Ferro (last name means iron, atomically FE) was from the Torre Annunziata (Annunciation Tower) section of Naples (Napoli) on the west coast. One of the stores he owned was in the city of San Severo in Foggia province, on the east coast. In his travels between east and west he befriended a family called the Perna’s, and especially one of the sisters, with who he had a very lively friendship. Upon arriving in San Severo, he always made it a point to visit the Perna Household, to eat with them, laugh & chat, and to be held in great esteem by them. It was during these visits that the friendship between Gennaro and one of the Perna sisters started to develop into something that looked like a love-match. He asked the Perna family repeatedly to take a trip to the west coast and to visit him at his family home about 20 minutes from Pompei. He extended the invitation many times, these would have been escorted visits of course, if any of the Perna sister went to Torre Annunziata it would have been in the company and under the supervision of my great grandparents, Nicola Perna or his wife Costanza Giuliani (in Italy women keep their last names).

One fateful day my great grandfather decided to take up Gennaro’s offer to visit the west coast, and to bring his daughter with him. Did he bring his daughter Ermenegilda, Ines, Argia, or Delia? No, he brought his youngest daughter Eva, and the reason for this follows. You see, of the sisters it was Delia that had formed the friendship with Gennaro, but Delia was the second oldest and she was very wise. Delia knew that her friendship with Gennaro was a good thing but it was best left as a friendship. So, Delia conspired, with or without the knowledge of her father Nicola, to send Eva to Torre Annunziata instead of going herself. As my mother explained, Delia had a fine mind and made good decisions, and she was a kind of family leader. A note about the family sons, although they don’t figure heavily in this account. It wasn’t until her third and fourth child that Costanza had sons Luigi and Francesco, and her youngest child was also a son Adamo. Great grandfather Nicola had a sense of humor, so he named his last two children Adamo and Eva (Adam and Eve).

The trip to the west coast went as well as could be expected. Gennaro whisked his guests around the many sights of Naples, besides the ruins of Pompei there are Mount Vesuvius, the royal palace (Palazzo Reale di Napoli), the Amalfi Coast (la Costiera Amalfitana), Egg Castle (Castel dell'Ovo) and the Charterhouse of St. Martin (Certosa di San Martino) museum to name a few. Also, as possibly only Delia expected, Gennaro and Eva fell in love. Their marriage was very fruitful as Eva bore eight children, two of those met infant or toddler aged deaths, but six grew to adulthood in this order: Nunzio, Guido, Nicola, Umberto, Francesca, and Fortuna. The saddest part of the story is upon us, Gennaro had amassed a small fortune during his life, but he also smoked heavily (often with Ivory and other fancy cigarette holders) and his hard work wore him out. Nonno Gennaro died in his early to mid-forties leaving Nonna Eva to raise six children by herself. There was no government welfare back then in Italy, but this was not a tragedy, because there was “family” welfare. My father described the way they spent a few years here, and a few years there, with relatives opening up their homes. As for my grandfathers’ money, it was given over to an Uncle to look after as women didn’t handle money back then. Under the control of our uncle, a man that I met as a kid and that my father bore no ill will toward, the money was squandered. My dad looked at it philosophically, with that money he may never have had to work for himself and become the successful father of five that he grew to be.

Of the six Ferro kids four came to America, while Nunzio and Umberto lived their lives in Italy. Today the second oldest Guido (my Dad) and Fortuna (the youngest) are all that remain. I have vivid and colorful memories of my equally vivid and colorful Uncles, Aunts and extended family. They were larger than life to me and funnier than any comic. They loved their wives, husbands and families; and collectively the Ferro six loved us all. What a life it was when we were near them and they spoke their mix of Napolitano and Foggiano dialects. They often cracked each other up telling stories of the old days. We all listened intently, and today I strain through memories to recall their stories. For this account I relied heavily on a scan I made of Zia Franca’s handwritten notes of family names. Because of them these stories get written and one realizes that it’s great to be part of something so great.

[afroinsider]

PAC To Prosecute Companies Owing GBC

PAC To Prosecute Companies Owing GBC

Some of the defaulting institutions and companies include Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD); National Road Safety Commission (NRSC); Rlg company; Milicom Ghana; CharterHouse; Stratcom Africa; Fine Herbal Centre; Regent Uni

The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) has given a two-week ultimatum to state and private institutions and companies to settle…