Tables set at night and sweets for the dead. Prayers, chrysanthemums, and cemetery visits. This is how the commemoration of the dead is celebrated in Italy and around the world.

We are all familiar with the traditional commemoration of the dead, celebrated every year on 2 November, the day after All Saints’ Day. From a young age, many of us may have seen our families bustling between chrysanthemums and moments of prayer, and we were almost certainly taken to the cemetery, which is never as crowded as it is in the unexpected chill of the first days of November. When we asked why we had to do this, the answer, which sounded mysterious and somewhat sinister to our young ears, was: “It’s the Day of the Dead.”

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All Saints’ Day

Looking for a particular Saint? More products for each one.

In reality, the Commemoratio Omnium Fidelium Defunctorum is a very important event for the Catholic Church, which counts it among its Solemnities – one of the most significant liturgical celebrations, especially after the liturgical reform of the Roman Rite initiated by the Second Vatican Council. Previously, if 2 November fell on a Sunday, the Commemoration of the Dead was moved to the following day, as Sunday always took precedence.

As the name suggests, the Commemoration of the Dead, or the Day of the Dead, serves to remember the deceased – not only our loved ones, relatives, or friends we’ve lost. On this day, which is a celebration despite its sorrowful appearance, prayers are offered for the souls of all the dead, helping with their potential passage through Purgatory. It is, in fact, a Solemnity of Byzantine origin, rooted in the truth of faith in the Apostles’ Creed, particularly in the communion of saints. This belief holds that Christians are not to be seen as individuals, but as integral parts of the mystical body of the risen Jesus Christ, in the remission of sins, allowing access to the Kingdom of Heaven, and in the Resurrection of the flesh, where at the end of time, all the dead will rise and souls and bodies will reunite. Indeed, the final part of the Creed reads:

I believe in the Holy Spirit, 

the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, 

the forgiveness of sins, 

the resurrection of the body, 

and life everlasting. Amen.

But at the heart of the Commemoration of the Dead lies the hope and deeply human desire to embrace our deceased loved ones again one day. For believers, death is just a transition – the beginning of a loving and faithful wait that will reunite us in the ultimate encounter with those we love.

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Funeral products

Cremation urns for ashes, lights, plates and applications for cemeteries, flower vases.

The liturgical colours for this celebration are purple and black.

Since the Commemoration of the Dead requires prayerful preparation, from 24 October, people may begin to recite the Novena for the dead.

And what about the chrysanthemum? Known in other countries as the sixteen-petalled daisy, this peculiar flower blooms right at this time of year. It is a short-day plant, meaning it flowers when the days grow shorter, and the hours of darkness exceed nine per day.

It is also interesting to note how, over the centuries, the Day of the Dead has taken on various characteristics, often blending with pagan and folkloric traditions of the countries reached by the Catholic Faith. Traditions around the world vary greatly, such as the picturesque Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexican culture, where graves are decorated with flowers and gifts, food, toys, and even alcohol are placed upon them. In every household, an altar for the dead is set up, and families await their deceased relatives to visit those still living.

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Chasuble in pure Tasmanian wool with double twisted yarn

This liturgical chasuble is made in Italy in a workshop that has years of experience producing beautiful, high quality traditional products.

The History of the Day of the Dead

When did Italy begin celebrating the Day of the Dead on 2 November?

The last days of October and the first of November have always been considered propitious for the dead and thus dedicated to celebrations in their honour. This preference stems from the belief that the Great Flood occurred at this time of year.

According to the Byzantines, however, the commemoration of the dead should take place between late January and early February, on the Saturday before *Sexagesima* Sunday, two weeks before Lent, around sixty days before Easter.

St Augustine urged the faithful to pray for the dead not only on the anniversary of their death but also on other dedicated days.

In 998, Abbot St. Odilo of Cluny, a key figure in the Cluniac reforms of the Benedictine order, introduced several innovations, including that after Vespers on 1 November, the bells of Cluny Abbey should toll for the dead. The following day, he celebrated mass offering the Eucharist pro requie omnium defunctorum – for the souls of all the dead. From then on, the Day of the Dead was fixed on 2 November.

Celebrations of the Day of the Dead in Italy

There are many Italian traditions associated with the commemoration of the dead. In Sicily, the festival has its roots in pre-Christian rites and the Roman cult of the Lares, the ancestral spirits who watched over and protected the gens and the familia. On the night of All Saints, the dead are said to visit the homes of their relatives, leaving gifts for children along with the traditional sweets for the dead: *frutta di Martorana* (marzipan fruits), *pupi di zucchero* (sugar figurines), and biscuits called “bones of the dead”.

In Puglia, as in Mexico, people believe that on All Saints’ night, the dead return to visit their relatives and friends. Thus, the table is set for them with bread, water, and wine. In some areas, pumpkins are carved, like the Halloween tradition, and children receive sweets and gifts left for them by deceased relatives in stockings hung around the house. The table set for the dead can also be found in parts of Trentino, Piedmont, and Valle d’Aosta, while in the province of Cremona, beds are prepared for the dead.

In some areas of Lombardy, people make sure the returning dead have water to drink, leaving fresh water for them, while in Friuli, bread and a lit candle are left.

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LED votive candle with red flickering light

This light lasts 60 days thanks to the LED technology.

In Tuscany, there is the tradition of the Ben d’i morti: those who have lost a loved one give food to the needy. Young children wear the sfilza, a necklace of boiled chestnuts and apples, but in the past, the ben dei morti was a mix of beans, chestnuts, and dried figs, given to children going door to door, just like today’s trick-or-treaters. Remember that children dressed as ghosts represent the souls of the dead, asking for gifts and remembrance. In Sardinia, children go from house to house with faces smeared with charcoal, asking for sweets and dried fruit while chanting, “Seus benius po is animeddas” (we have come for the souls) or “mi das fait po praxeri is animeddas?” (will you give me something for the good of the souls?).

In some regions, people not only visit the cemetery to bring chrysanthemums and pray but also to eat, just as they do in Mexico. In particular, fava beans, always considered a sacred food and thus suitable for funeral ceremonies and banquets, are eaten. In Liguria, dried fava beans called bacilli are prepared, along with boiled chestnuts (balletti). There are also many fava-shaped sweets, such as the stinchetti dei morti in Umbria.

The Day of the Dead Around the World

In addition to Italian customs, there are many fascinating traditions for the Day of the Dead worldwide. Aside from the aforementioned Mexican Día de los Muertos, which is so unique that it has been recognised by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, there’s the grand Creole carnival in New Orleans, America’s most haunted city due to its long-standing tradition of witchcraft and voodoo. In Ireland, the Celtic Samhain, which has evolved into Halloween and was exported to America, is still widely celebrated. Large bonfires are lit to ward off bad luck and evil spirits, people dress as monsters, pumpkins (once turnips) are carved, and the dead and spirits are honoured.

In contrast, celebrations in the East are quite different. In Thailand, Boon Para Wate takes place between June and July, featuring three days of torch-lit parades, music, and dancing, but also moments of prayer, meditation, and reflection. In China, Qingming (Tomb-Sweeping Day) is celebrated from 4 to 6 April, during which the whole family gathers to clean the graves of their ancestors, consuming only cold food as lighting fires is forbidden.

In Guatemala, All Saints’ Day and the Day of the Dead are marked by the building of enormous kites during the Festival de Barriletes Gigantes.

Christmas is the time of Nativity and an ancient and ever-present tradition. Here are the questions and answers on how to set up a Nativity scene in your home

There is no Christmas without Nativity scenes. This is a reality. Especially for believers, for those who live this Feast not only from the point of view of family traditions and unrepeatable atmospheres but also animated by faith, by the sense of wonder and expectation that is repeated every year, in the commemoration of the birth of Jesus, the Nativity scene takes on a spiritual value that goes beyond a simple custom handed down over time. Nothing is left to chance when it comes to how to set up a Nativity scene, whether it is a DIY Nativity scene or a purchased one: which characters cannot be missing and how they should be arranged, where to place it, when to build it and how much to disassemble it, and so on.

Here is a series of questions and answers to understand how to build a Nativity scene in your home, to celebrate the Nativity even more faithfully.

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Nativity scene accessories

Useful accessories to make and personalize your Nativity scene.

When was the first Nativity scene made?

In a previous article, we mentioned the first Nativity scene of Saint Francis. It was 1223 and the poor man of Assisi, returning from Rome where the Pope had confirmed the Franciscan rule, stopped along the way in Greccio, a small village near Rieti. Here some caves reminded him of his trip to the Holy Land and inspired by this vision he decided to set up the first Nativity scene in history, to show the locals what the birth of our Lord had been like, in a cold cave, heated only by the breath of an ox and a donkey that breathed into the manger in which he had been laid. Thus was born the first living Nativity scene, which immediately attracted a crowd of faithful gathered on Christmas night to celebrate the birth of Jesus and receive the Eucharist.

When is the Nativity scene made?

Tradition has it that the Nativity scene will be set up by mid-December, then during the time of Advent. Usually many take advantage of 8 December, when the Immaculate Conception of Mary is celebrated, taking advantage of the holiday. In some areas, however, the Nativity scene must be ready by 29 November, when the Novena of the Immaculate Conception begins. There’s actually no rush, as long as you’re ready for 25 December. Of course, if you are going to build your own homemade Nativity scene, you should move in time and maybe help yourself with one of our agile guides on how to make a DIY Nativity scene.

Where to place the Nativity scene in the house?

When thinking about how to set up a Nativity scene, the first thing to think about is where we plan to make it. There are endless solutions, more or less imaginative, Nativity ideas of all sizes and for all pockets, from a room dedicated to a walnut shell! In principle, for a medium-sized domestic Nativity scene, with purchased or homemade elements, you should choose a central position concerning the house, but, at the same time, that does not create impediments to the normal course of daily life, such as the living room or the kitchen. We will then have to take into account the presence of small children or animals, and then choose a space that can be protected and made inaccessible. Finally, we will have to consider lighting, whether natural or artificial.

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Nativity lights and lamps

All for the nativity scene lighting and lighting effects for the DIY crib.

Why make a Nativity scene?

As we have already explained, the Nativity scene is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. In practice, for Christians, it expresses all the will to renew at every Christmas, year after year, century after century, the miracle of the incarnation of Christ who became man on a cold winter night to bring hope and salvation to humanity. This is and remains the true meaning of the Nativity scene, beyond the folkloric contaminations, the influences brought by popular devotion, which have also further enriched this tradition of a spiritual and religious yearning that involves adults and children and recreates every year a climate of expectation and wonder in the houses and places of worship where Nativity scenes are set up.

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Nativity sets

In this department you will find many different types of Nativity sets.

Why was the Baby Jesus born in a stable?

The accounts about the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke and that of Matthew do not specify where Jesus was really born, whether in a cave, a hut, or a stable.  Luke only speaks of a manger, where the Holy Child would have been deposed immediately after birth. We also know that Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem to fulfil his duties regarding a census called by the Emperor, and this while Mary, his wife, was pregnant. Since they could not find lodging for the night, and since Mary had arrived at the moment of childbirth, the two would find refuge in a place where the animals were placed for the night, which in the Palestine of the time were indistinctly stables or wooden buildings resting or even carved into the rock. So regardless of a hut or a cave, the really important thing is the presence of the manger. In fact, the true meaning of why Jesus was born in such a humble place lies precisely in the will of the evangelists to place His coming away from the palaces of power, from the places where kings and tetrarchs and emperors established the destiny of men. Jesus was born on a cold night and as soon as he was born he was laid in a manger, he became flesh and blood in the most humble of contexts just for us, to save us from evil and sin, to bring us the hope of eternal life. This is also why Saint Francis decided to commemorate this miraculous event by having his Nativity scene set up by simple people for simple people.

Which characters should not be missing?

All the characters of the Nativity scene have a particular and unique meaning, especially when we talk about the Neapolitan Nativity scene with its many characters. But some figurines of the Nativity scene just can’t be missing:

• Joseph and Mary, archetypes of the Father and the Mother, symbols of submission to the divine will;
• the ox and the donkey that warmed the Child with their warm breath;
• the shepherds, a symbol of humanity that welcomes the birth of Jesus;
• the Magi, who symbolise the three ages of man and the three continents known at that time, and who with their gifts recognise the divine (incense), human (myrrh) and royal (gold) nature of Jesus.

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Neapolitan Nativity Scene

All the figurines of this department are entirely handmade in Naples.

Where to place the Nativity scene?

The cave or hut of the Nativity must occupy a prominent place in our Nativity scene since it is the fulcrum around which the entire scene is gathered. Inside the hut, we will then have to arrange the manger destined to welcome the Child Jesus in the centre, with the Virgin Mary on the right of Jesus (therefore on the left for the beholder), and Saint Joseph on the left (on the right for the beholder). This predominant role of Mary is linked to Marian theology, for which she is the Mother of Jesus and Mother of the Church.

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Nativity Scene figurines

Here you can find Nativity scene figurines of different sizes, shapes and materials.

How should the figurines be positioned?

The arrangement of the figurines of the characters of the Nativity scene depends a lot on personal taste and also on geometric issues. If we want to create a Nativity scene on several planes, with different depths, we will have to put the largest figurines in front of us and put them smaller as we go towards the bottom, to give a sense of perspective realism. As for the tradition and symbolism of the characters, the shepherds and peasants with their herds, which symbolise the faithful, are usually placed to the left of the hut of the Nativity, together with the animals, a symbol of sacrifice. The Magi will arrive instead from the right.
At the top of the scene will be Gabriel, the Angel of the Annunciation, along with any other angels, and the comet star, guide of the shepherds and the Magi in Bethlehem, but also a point of union between heaven and earth.

When do you add Baby Jesus?

Tradition has it that the Child Jesus is placed in the manger at midnight on 24 December, the night of Christmas Eve. It should be placed by the youngest child in the house, or the oldest person. Alternatively, you can place the figurine of Jesus in the manger from the beginning, covered with some paper or cloth, and discover it on the night of Eve.

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Child Jesus with drape h 30 cm

The statue is created out of resin and hand painted.

What does the comet star symbolise?

The comet star in the Nativity scene probably corresponds to a real astronomical phenomenon that took place in the days immediately before or after the birth of Jesus. Perhaps a conjunction of planets, a particularly bright constellation, or Halley’s comet. Leaving aside scientific explanations, in ancient biblical prophecies the star was the symbol of the coming of the Messiah, and his presence in the sky on the night of Jesus’ birth would confirm his identity, especially for the Magi who, knowing these prophecies, set off precisely following the star. But even the shepherds were attracted by the shining star to the hut where the Holy Child had just been born.

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Shooting Star, 12 cm Original Nativity model, in painted Valgardena wood

Shooting Christmas Star in painted Valgardena wood.

When do the Magi arrive in the Nativity scene?

The Magi arrived at the Bethlehem hut on 6 January, the twelfth night after Christmas, according to tradition, and it is on this date, which coincides with the Epiphany, that they must be placed next to the hut of the Nativity. According to the Gospel of Matthew, they set out long before the birth of Jesus, leaving the East for Jerusalem to worship the “King of the Jews” promised by the prophecies and announced by the appearance in heaven of a dazzling star.

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Three Kings, 3 nativity figurines, 12cm Moranduzzo

These nativity figurines are part of the Moranduzzo collection.

How should the Magi be arranged?

The Three Kings must be positioned to the right, for the viewer, concerning the hut of the Nativity, as well as St. Joseph and the donkey. In many cases, they are brought gradually, on their mounts, and then they are gradually brought closer to the cave until they are placed in front of the manger on the evening of the Epiphany.

What do the Magi bring as a gift?

The Magi bring as a gift gold, incense and myrrh, symbols respectively of the royal nature of Christ (gold was a very precious material reserved for kings), of His sacred nature (incense was burned to honour the gods) and of His human nature (myrrh was used to perfume the body and hair of men, as well as to prepare the dead for burial).

When do you remove the Nativity scene?

When do you disassemble the Nativity scene? Traditionally, it should be removed on 2 February, Candlemas Day, which celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple and would be the true end of the Christmas holidays. In fact, Mary could not have accompanied her Child to the Temple in Jerusalem first, because according to Jewish law, a woman who gave birth to a male child had to wait 40 days, before she could enter Time and purify herself.

Mary, Mother of God, Perpetual Virginity of Mary, Immaculate Conception, Assumption of Mary into Heaven. The four Marian dogmas have been narrating a story of love, salvation, and hope for all mankind for centuries.

We often hear about dogmas, those absolute and indispensable truths revealed by God, which every Christian must believe as part of their faith. Although the Greek term dógma or dokein, from the verb δοκέω (dokéō), originally meant “to seem,” it was almost immediately used to denote “decree” in legal language and later “doctrine” in religious contexts. Thus, for the Church, dogma is not an option or a point of view, but an indisputable principle that underpins the faith and belief of an individual and the community of believers to which they belong.

In the early centuries of Christianity, the Greek and later Latin Church Fathers used the term dogma to indicate what is required for Christian faith and practice, and subsequently, the word came to be identified with the Doctrine of the Gospel itself. In the medieval period, it was replaced by the synonym articulus fidei (article of faith). From the Council of Trent (1545-1563) onwards, also in opposition to the assertions of the Protestant Reformers, the term began to be used to indicate a truth of faith, a rule sanctioned by Christ and transmitted by the Apostles, and as such, incontrovertible. From the 18th century, dogma took on its current meaning of doctrinal formula, and with the First Vatican Council (1868) came the precise definition of: “authentic proclamation by the Magisterium of what is contained in the Scriptures.”

Dogmas have been compiled in the Catechism, and there is a strong link between them and the Magisterium of the Church, which is the custodian and interpreter of them. Through the Magisterium, the Church can also establish new dogmas, which are not true additions but clarifications and interpretations useful for addressing certain circumstances, including historical ones. The difference between the deposit of faith, the revelation of all the truths taught to the Apostles by Jesus, entrusted to the Church to safeguard and transmit, and dogma, the proclamation by the Church of the content of the faith, has also been established.

Thus, today we understand dogmas as revealed truths of faith by God, transmitted by Jesus to the Apostles, and then handed down by the episcopal college, the successor of the apostolic college, under the aegis of the Pope (ordinary Magisterium); or definitions expressed by the Pope with an ex Cathedra statement, not debated in any council, in the name of the principle of papal infallibility (extraordinary Magisterium).

The first dogmas, enunciated in the first seven Ecumenical Councils (between 325 AD and 787 AD), concern truths about God, the Trinity, and Jesus Christ, and require our unconditional assent and total obedience:

– God is one and threefold

– Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son of God, begotten

– Jesus Christ is true God and true man

Other dogmas were then proclaimed over the centuries, such as the existence of Purgatory (1439-1563), Transubstantiation (1215), and Papal Infallibility (1870), totaling 44 pronouncements collected in 8 thematic grades.

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The Trinity of Rublev

Screen-printed icon reproducing the Holy Trinity of Rublev, the monk who became famous for his pictures inspired by the Holy Scriptures.

What are Marian Dogmas?

Marian dogmas deserve a separate discussion. For the Catholic Church, Mary of Nazareth is:

– Mother of God (Theotokos)

– Ever Virgin (Aeipárthenos)

– Full of grace, filled with God’s grace (Kecharitoméne) and preserved intact from any stain of original sin

– Assumed into heaven, body and soul (Kóimesis, immersed in the sleep of death)

These definitions of the Virgin translate into the four Marian dogmas recognised by the Church:

– Mary, Mother of God

– Perpetual Virginity of Mary

– Immaculate Conception

– Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

These truths were not invented by the Church over the centuries but were drawn from Sacred Scriptures and thus adhere to the requirements needed for a truth to be considered a dogma.

There are also other Marian truths recognised by the extraordinary Magisterium of the Church, even if not solemnly proclaimed, which see the Madonna endowed by Divine Will with the mission of Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate, playing a fundamental role in the history of salvation. In general, we can say that Marian dogmas are of primary importance in the Christian formation of every believer, as Mary has always represented the ultimate intermediary between God and mankind, and as such, all the gifts of grace given to her represent a promise of hope and salvation for each person.

Here is the explanation of the four Marian dogmas:

Mary, Mother of God

As the mother of Jesus, who is God, according to the dogma of the Trinity, Mary is the Holy Mother of God. This dogma was recognised and proclaimed as early as 431 AD, during the Council of Ephesus, the third ecumenical council, and was the first truth officially recognised by the Church. It represents the first and most significant contact Mary had with God, at the moment when she accepted the mission that the Almighty had prepared for her. Mary, the daughter of God, could not generate her own Creator, but she contributed with her flesh and life to bring Jesus into the world, the human incarnation of the Word, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. As is the case with most dogmas, references to the Madonna as the true mother of Jesus, who is also referred to with divine attributes, are found in the Sacred Scriptures. The assertions of Christ’s divinity and Mary’s divine maternity are inevitably consequent. Already in 325 AD, Mary is defined as Theotokos, “Mother of God.”

The recognition of the divine maternity of Mary, the most holy mother of God, was against the heresy of those who, recognising only the humanity of the Word, saw the Madonna as the mother of Christ but not the mother of God. For the Church, the two natures of Jesus, divine and human, are perfect and united in a single person. From the Second Vatican Council onwards, Mary’s maternity becomes central to the concept of the promise of salvation, due to her role not only as a mother but also as a teacher and spiritual support to Jesus throughout His life and mission.

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Madonna with the Baby basrelief

A wooden basrelief depicting Mother Mary who embraces Jesus.

Virginity of Mary

The Council of Constantinople in 553 AD decreed the Perpetual Virginity of Mary. The significance of this dogma is twofold: it represents Mary’s absolute and perpetual bodily integrity, but also the virginity of her soul, united to the Lord in the most sacred and pure of bonds. The Madonna never ceased to be a virgin, even though she conceived a child and gave birth to him in pain, like all women. But all this happened through the power of the Holy Spirit, without physical corruption; indeed, at the moment Mary conceived and gave birth to Jesus, she was so consecrated to God that she was even more pure, even more chaste. Therefore, although a mother, she can embody more than any other woman an ideal of purity and chastity. In traditional iconography, the perpetual virginity of Mary, virginitas ante partum, in partu, and post partum, is represented by three stars adorning her cloak.

Immaculate Conception

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated by the Church on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, establishes that, although conceived and born of mortal parents (Saint Anne and Saint Joachim), the Virgin Mary was born pure, never tainted by original sin, unlike all other men and women. Proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854 with the bull Ineffabilis Deus, this dogma not only signifies the absence of original sin in Mary but also her being full of grace, the only creature conceived, born, and lived in total love of God, in the fullness of His will, to which she entrusted herself completely. God’s great plan of Salvation passes through the Immaculate Conception, as Mary was created from the beginning of time to fulfill her role as the mother of Jesus.

Assumption of Mary

Unique among the Apostles and all the Saints, and in unity with Her Son Jesus, Mary was taken up to Heaven, body and soul, a messenger of hope for all humanity, pure among the pure. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven is a dogma solemnly proclaimed on 1 November 1950 by Pope Pius XII, who exercised the prerogative of papal infallibility, and is celebrated each year on 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. In many ways, this dogma represents the fulfilment and culmination of the previous Marian dogmas. Mary ascends to Heaven because she is the Mother of God, because she is the Ever-Virgin, because she is Immaculate. She ascends to Heaven primarily because of her unique and special bond with Jesus, for her role as Co-Redemptrix where He was Redeemer. Her ascent to Heaven celebrates the redemption of humanity, drawn into sin by one woman, Eve, and elevated to the grace of Paradise by another woman, in the triumph over sin and death willed by Christ for all humanity. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception declares Christ’s victory over sin through His mother, while the Assumption signifies His victory over death. It serves as a reminder and a call for all Christians to remember that our earthly experience is merely a passage, that we are destined to survive and be resurrected in soul and body, when the Time comes, just like the Mother of Jesus. And this hope transcends every other mystery.

What are foot bath salts for, and what substances give relief to tired legs and swollen feet?

What could be better than a nice relaxing foot bath, especially when in the evening you find yourself with swollen feet and tired legs after a day spent standing up to work? Or maybe the fatigue in the legs is due to excessive physical exertion, or even a pathology? Whatever the origin of the disorder, a foot bath for swollen feet is an easy and inexpensive remedy to reduce swelling, defaticate the legs and reactivate circulation, especially when combined with cold water sponges. In any case, the foot bath is a small gift for our feet, to repay them for the hardships of the day, to apologize for forcing them into tight and heavy shoes. Dedicate ourselves for a moment to them, let them breathe and pamper you with some natural remedy. Moreover, this practice has been widespread and appreciated since ancient times.

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Natural Remedies

All the items are 100% natural and they are made in the herbal laboratories.

But what is a foot bath? Very simple: is to dip your feet in a basin of warm or warm water and leave them to soak. Depending on the benefit we want to get we can then add salt, bicarbonate, vinegar, essential oils, or special products, such as foot bath salt. The feet should be left immersed in water for at least 15-20 minutes to get a good result.

By placing stones or balls on the bottom of the bowl you can add to the foot bath the effect of reactivating the circulation. Alternating hot and cold water baths is also an excellent way to reactivate circulation and reduce swelling of the feet: immerse your feet for ten minutes in a basin full of hot water, then pass them for a minute under cold running water, then back into the bowl and vice versa, 3 times.

Let’s see how to deflate the feet and what can be all the recipes for an effective foot bath for swollen and tired feet.

What to use to make a foot bath

Water obviously comes first. It is important that it is not too hot, because it could dry the skin and promote the onset of frostbite. Adding a little milk to the foot bath water we will get softer and more hydrated feet, while a glass of white vinegar or the juice of two lemons will fight sweat and bad smell.

White vinegar also relieves tired feet, reduces heel cracks, and also combats fungus and infections. Coarse salt and baking soda help to deflate and cool feet, ankles and legs.

Lavender or chamomile essential oil or even dried flowers will have a beneficial effect on mood, as well as dissolve tensions and deflate the feet.

The podological salts of Camaldoli on Holyart

In addition to natural remedies in our store, you will find a wide selection of natural cosmetics and products of monasteries useful for your foot bath. The ideal aim is to create your own beauty and wellness routine for your feet and legs, perhaps using products specially created in the Camaldoli Monastery. You can start with a foot bath with the Balsamic Toning Foot Salts and continue with a nice massage with the Foot Cream of the Camaldolese monks or the Foot Cream of Camaldoli.

The Podological Salts of Camaldoli for example are unsurpassed to give relief to your feet especially if they are tired and swollen. Produced by Camaldolese monks contain essences of Menthol, Eucalyptus and Hypericum that not only perfume the water for the foot bath with a pleasant balsamic aroma but above all give a sense of well-being and freshness to the feet. The effect will be wonderfully stimulating, relaxing and strengthening.

For a truly complete treatment, it is advisable to follow the foot bath with a good massage made with the Camaldolesi Monks’ Foot Cream, refreshing and deodorant, which prevents excessive sweating of the feet and gives a sense of well-being.

Also the Leg and Foot Cream of Camaldoli is an excellent cosmetic product for outdoor use. Made only with natural ingredients and herbs, it is a wellness and beauty treatment for legs, ankles and feet, and fights swelling, fatigue and heaviness.

It also soothes and eliminates small problems of varicose veins and capillaries, but not only: it has a draining, refreshing and invigorating action.

If you have problems with small calluses and calluses, finally apply the Camaldoli Drops, an unbeatable emollient balm to eliminate calluses.

Camaldoli Foot-bath. Podiatric balsamic salts (250 gr)
Buy on Holyart

Camaldoli Foot Cream (100 ml)
Buy on Holyart

Camaldoli Legs and Feet Cream (150 ml)
Buy on Holyart

Camaldoli Drops (30 ml), essential oil
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Carlo Acutis, the millennial saint who dedicated his short life to Jesus and helping the poor and needy, reminds us how much we need saints in the modern world.

When we talk about saints, we are used to imagining them all having lived long before we were born. Since childhood, we have seen pictures depicting them dressed in long robes, tunics, and sometimes armour, immortalised by great masters of painting on canvases and frescoes, sculpted in marble and wood by excellent sculptors and skilled craftsmen, or simply handed down to popular devotion on holy cards and sacred depictions by unknown artists who died centuries ago. But there are also modern saints, such as Carlo Acutis, the millennial saint beatified in October 2020, a boy like many others passionate about computers (one of his attributes is a personal computer…) active on social networks like all his peers but driven by a rare vocation and religious fervour.

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Tapestry for small picture 50×40 cm Carlo Acutis

Tapestry representing Blessed Carlo Acutis, made in Italy.

Carlo loved Jesus; he saw in the Holy Eucharist his Highway to Heaven, and considered the Madonna the “only woman in my life“. A boy who spent his free time going around the city to bring hot meals and comfort to the homeless or serving in soup kitchens for the poor. And he prayed; Carlo prayed a lot, reciting the Holy Rosary every day. Very young, while his peers engaged in decidedly more carefree interests, he organised a travelling exhibition dedicated to Eucharistic Miracles worldwide in collaboration with the Institute of St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr, which has travelled and still travels worldwide as The Exhibition of Eucharistic Miracles of Carlo Acutis. Blessed Carlo Acutis died too soon, too young, and we can only wonder what this exceptional boy would have done if he had only had more time. He has been proposed as the Patron of the Internet, and even in this recognition, we realise how much our modern world still needs saints, men and women capable of living Faith and immersing themselves completely in the human and spiritual experience for themselves and all of us.

The Story of Carlo Acutis

The biography of Carlo Acutis will never require a very thick book to be collected. Yet, there is so much in the life of this special boy that in the few years he was given to live, he managed to leave an indelible mark not only on the lives of those fortunate enough to know him but also on the thousands of people who have only heard of him. Born in London to parents from the upper-middle class of Turin, he grew up in Milan, where he attended school, graduating from the Classical High School. From a young age, he manifested a great love for Jesus and an intense spirituality that led him to obtain his First Communion at just seven years old. While his friends idolised boy bands and football players, his idols were Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the shepherd children of Fatima, Saint Dominic Savio, the youngest non-martyr Catholic saint and pupil of Don Bosco, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, the patron saint of youth, and Saint Tarcisius, a Roman martyr and patron saint of altar servers, killed as a boy by his pagan peers because he made himself available to bring the Eucharist to imprisoned Christians.

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Statue in resin Saint John Bosco and Saint Dominic Savio 30 cm

Statue of Saint John Bosco and Saint Dominic Savio in painted resin.

The life of Carlo Acutis was made up of the same things that make up the life of any boy: school, friends, affections, passions. And among his passions was, above all, God, which he lived with the freshness of his age but also with impressive awareness and rare maturity. Even when in 2006 he fell ill with fulminant leukaemia at only 15 years old, he offered his suffering to the Pope and the Church. He died in just three days and was buried in the cemetery of Assisi, to be moved a year later to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Sanctuary of the Spoliation, where he rests today.

His beatification process began in 2013, and on 5 July 2018, Carlo was declared venerable by Pope Francis.

The Miracle of Carlo Acutis

The canonisation of Carlo Acutis required a miracle, and the miracle was recognised. It concerns the healing through the intercession of little Matheus, a six-year-old Brazilian boy. The child, suffering from a severe pancreatic malformation, had the opportunity to touch a piece of the pyjama worn by Carlo shortly before he died and stained with his blood. The boy prayed to Carlo to help him get better, and subsequent tests showed that his pancreas had returned perfectly healthy. The Medical Council of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recognised the miracle through intercession, and on 10 October 2020, Carlo Acutis was declared a saint in his beloved Assisi.

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Medal of Carlo Acutis, polished 925 silver and colourful yarn

This medal is an elegant representation of the Blessed Carlo Acutis.

We too can ask for the intercession of the young saint by reciting the Novena to the Venerable Carlo Acutis for nine days:

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I thank
You for all the favours and graces You have
enriched the soul of Blessed Carlo Acutis during
his fifteen years spent on this earth, and for
the merits of this beloved Angel of Youth,
grant me the grace that I ardently ask of You… (followed by request)

Modern Saints

We mentioned some young saints when talking about Carlo Acutis and the need we still have today for contemporary saints who make the world a better place. Well, besides Carlo, there are other saints beatified in recent times, such as the young José Sánchez del Río, a boy killed by a government officer during the Cristero War that took place in Mexico between 1926 and 1929 against the restrictive policies imposed on religious freedom by the government. José refused to renounce his Catholic faith and died for it. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and canonised by Pope Francis in 2016. Also, Oscar Romero, a Salvadoran Catholic archbishop, was killed by death squads for condemning the government’s violence and was proclaimed a saint by Pope Francis in 2018. Charles Eugène de Foucauld, a French religious who dedicated his life to studying the Tuareg culture and died during an attack by bandits in the desert in the fort he built to defend the defenceless population, was proclaimed blessed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and canonised by Pope Francis in 2022.

Three times a year the blood of Saint Gennaro, martyr and patron of Naples, is miraculously melted. This is what makes this miraculous event so special

The two blood vials attributed to San Gennaro and kept in the Cathedral of Naples (also called Duomo di San Gennaro) have been for centuries at the centre of a cult that is covered with legend and renewed every year on the Saturday preceding the first Sunday in May, on 19 September and 16 December, Dates when the blood of the Holy one miraculously returns to liquefaction. The miracle of San Gennaro is expected and celebrated every year with uncontrollable enthusiasm and warmth by the devotees, Who on all three occasions crowd to witness the miracle and see the blood-containing shrine of the precious relic, which is exposed to their devotion in the days after the miracle.

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Satue of St. Januarius 40 cm

Satue of St. Januarius 40 cm, made of fibreglass and hand-painted.

The Blood of San Gennaro story

A relic that has had a long and adventurous history, as adventurous was the life of the saint, born in Naples in the third century A.D. Became bishop of Benevento, he was able to win the love of Christians and the respect of pagans. Saint Gennaro died during the persecution of Diocletian against Christians. He went to visit his friend Sosso, a deacon in the Christian community of Miseno and was imprisoned by judge Dragonio, proconsul of Campania, together with friends, the reader Desire and the deacon Phaistos. Three other men were imprisoned just for daring to protest the judge’s decision: Procolo, deacon of Pozzuoli, Eutiche and Acuzio. Condemned to be eaten by lions (or bears) in the amphitheatre of Pozzuoli, Dragonio commuted his sentence to beheading, He was aware of the support and sympathy that Gennaro and his friends enjoyed among the population. Popular devotion has explained this change with the story that the beasts would kneel before the Saint refusing to harm him. On 19 September 305, San Gennaro and his friends were beheaded.

The cult of the relics of Saint Gennaro began long before his sanctification, which took place in 1586. Before that date, devotional pilgrimages had already begun to his burial in the Catacombs of San Gennaro, where his remains were transferred from the tomb of Agro Marciano in the fifth century. The Neapolitans turned to the saint, especially on the occasion of the earthquakes and eruptions of Vesuvius and their increasingly frequent visits made it necessary to enlarge the catacombs.

The Cathedral of Naples was also built on the remains of a church erected by Bishop Stefano I during a particularly violent eruption, in 512 A.D., when the prelate invoked San Gennaro to protect the citizens. Within this church the bishop Stefano placed the skull and two blood vials of San Gennaro, saving them from the plunder that the Longobardi would have accomplished in 831, Taking away the saint’s bones. The bones were then found in 1492, and joined to the skull and two vials, In the meantime, they had been arranged in a sumptuous silver bust made by Charles II of Anjou in 1305. Today the treasure of San Gennaro is kept inside the Chapel of the Treasury, in the Cathedral, and the ampoules in a coffer commissioned by Roberto D’Angiò.

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St. Januarius bust resin golden details 20×10.5 cm

The statue is made of resin, a material that is better than PVC in terms of definition of lines and details.

The liquefaction of the blood of San Gennaro

The first liquefaction of the blood of San Gennaro would have occurred during the transfer of his relics to Naples. Bishop Severo met a woman named Eusebia along the road and in her presence the blood of the saint contained in two small ampoules melted. Although the first historical document mentioning the exhibition of vials dates back to 1389, it is certain that it took place already a long time ago.

Recognized by the church as a prodigious phenomenon, Not a miracle, the melting of the blood of San Gennaro has been the subject of scientific studies and refutations to show how it is possible to reproduce chemically the phenomenon with methods already known in antiquity. In particular, the study of CICAP (Italian Committee for Claims on the Paranormal) in the 1980s concluded that it is attributable to thixotropy, a physical phenomenon that causes some substances that occur in the solid state to become more liquid if subjected to mechanical stress. The ampoule with blood of San Gennaro is But no official denial about the prodigious nature of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Gennaro has ever been made.

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Saint Januarius tapestry measuring 65x45cm

This tapestry is produced in Tuscany (Italy) with a modern Jacquard loom.

When the blood of San Gennaro dissolves

The Saturday preceding the first Sunday of May is celebrated the memory of the translation of the relics from Pozzuoli to Naples with a solemn procession, during which the bust and the reliquary containing the ampoules are carried through the city. At the end of the procession, the blood is liquefied.

On 19 September, the anniversary of the decapitation of the saint. On the high altar of the Cathedral of Naples are exposed the bust and relics and the archbishop overturns the case containing the ampoules of blood raggrumato, renewing the miracle. The molten blood is left for eight days to the devotion of the faithful, then put back in its place.

On December 16, the memory of the terrible eruption of Vesuvius in 1631 is celebrated with a new exhibition of the prodigious ampoules, On the occasion of which the Neapolitans saved themselves by invoking San Gennaro.

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Medal of Saint Januarius, enamelled zamak, 3×2.5 cm

Medal of gold plated zamak with and colourful portrait of Saint Januarius.