... may God deliver you from every disease of the throat, and from every other illness. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I probably said those words 500 times this past Sunday.
The feast of St. Blaise, an optional memorial on the universal calendar of the Roman Catholic church, is (optionally) celebrated on February 3rd every year - except when, as was the case this year, the date happens to land on a Sunday, which always outranks a memorial. In years like this one, the memorial to St. Blaise is skipped until next year.
But at our parish, we didn't skip it; we just sort of added it onto the Sunday festivities. We took it upon ourselves to offer the traditional blessing of throats at the end of each mass. In fact, we did it twice: the final blessing at the end of mass took the form of the St. Blaise throat blessing. And then, after mass ended, the priest and I, and a couple of lay ministers, stayed at the foot of the altar with two candles wrapped in ribbon (albeit the candles were not lit as shown in the photo I attached - are they insane?). We invited people to come forward to get their throats individually blessed. Well, to be accurate, it's not really their throats being blessed, it's the entire person, and I'm not sure it's really a blessing as much as an invocative prayer. But we call it a "throat blessing", and I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones.
Now - when it comes to items like arriving at mass on time and staying until the end, our faith community probably isn't the ideal for which all parishes should strive. We have our fair share who wander in late, and our fair share who wander out early. Personally, I don't have a conniption over that sort of thing, but there are people that do. A person sitting in a car in the parking lot, watching all the late arrivals and early exits, might conclude that the piety of our community is a little shaky.
But if that's what they conclude, they didn't see the stampede to the front of the church after mass this past weekend. There were a few people who left without getting their throats blessed - but there weren't many. The lines were long at the two masses at which I served, and you could just tell, by looking at people's faces as I administered the blessings, that it meant a lot to them.
One lady came up with big dangly hoop earrings, and I nearly - not quite, but nearly - skewered both of them with the candles.
Catholics are a sacramental lot. We like the concrete. We like getting palms on Palm Sunday and ashes on Ash Wednesday. And we like getting our throat blessed. I'm glad our parish offered it, even if the persnickety liturgical types are pursing their lips because, after all, the optional memorial is superseded by a Sunday.
Jim, you are right about us being a sacramental lot. My husband helped bless throats for the school kids on Friday, and then for Saturday eve and 3 Masses on Sunday. EMHCs can administer ashes, but only priests and deacons can give blessings. Even though Father gave a general blessing for those who wanted to leave, just about everybody stayed for the individual blessing.
ReplyDeleteIt occurs to me that for things such as the blessing of throats, ashes, and palms, there are no pre-conditions to meet. You don't have to be in "good standing", you don't even have to be Catholic (though I assume most are.)
Yikes, about the lit candles! Glad you didn't use them. They didn't even do that back in the old days when I was a kid. Though one of my friends who is the same age said they did in her hometown. Just looks like a disaster waiting to happen. I would have been so freaked out as a kid (I would be freaked out now!)
At work, back when I worked in an office, once there was an incident: this particular company purchased a birthday cake for every employee on his/her birthday, and the manager would light candles and lead a procession of employees to the birthday person's desk (usually while s/he was on the phone with a client) and everyone would sing happy birthday, after which an impromptu birthday-cake party would ensue at the worker's cubicle.
DeleteSo one time, one of the women at the impromptu gathering, who apparently had a lot of 'product' in her hair, turned her head, and somehow one of the lit candles on the birthday cake caused her hair to catch fire. I'm told it was quite a conflagration - it must have been really frightening. A VP who was there had the presence of mind to douse her hair with a cup of coffee or water bottle or some such.
We had a little incident one time when a server got a candle too close to some holiday decorations. Fortunately it was quickly extinguished. And was an object lesson not to get so carried away with decorating that it becomes a fire hazard.
DeleteYeah, we had it. The hip new young priest likes it.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's good news that you have a hip new young priest!
DeleteMeh. He grew up in this area, so if you have deep roots here and are Czech/Slovakian, I guess it's great.
DeleteFather has to do double duty between our parish, which is officially now a chapel and satellite of the larger congregation about 7 miles away.
We have a priest in residence, but he has been on hospice for years (literally). He does what he can, but weekday masses and confession at the local parish are frequently cancelled without notice. It's fine by me for him to stay at the rectory in comfort and for us to support him, but I wish he would give up trying to maintain a schedule, poor man.
New priest is doing weekday masses and confession at the big parish, and trying not to step on toes. Interesting to watch the power play between him and our Church Ladies, who, we heard, had a private welcome dinner for him, inviting their partisans, who did not include us.
Raber, who is past pres and now secretary of the Men's Club, is happy that Father has started coming to meetings and offering suggestions. The other guys not so much, especially since they are gearing up for Fish Fry Season, and all the frayed tempers and political factions that exposes.
Not sure you can get a real feel for any new priest until you've been to confession, though.
Doesn't sound quite kosher to have a private welcome that only some are invited to. Isn't the whole idea of a wecome for a new priest that it's supposed to be a public thing?
DeleteIt's tough being a newcomer when there's factions like that, but eventually he's going to have to deal with the politics.
No, Katherine, the whole idea is for the Church Ladies to "get their hooks into him," as one of the old geezers put it to me.
DeleteFactions are everywhere. I can scarcely believe that priests and deacons don't get info on handling them as part of their training.
Thought: Jesus returns in the Second Coming. Church Ladies corral Him into a dinner fast. No telling what He'll do otherwise.
DeleteHahaha! That's about it. He needs guidance and orientation before he just goes off half cocked and starts listening to just anybody!
DeleteI didn't know it was optional but we had it. Love it.
ReplyDeleteMy wife, who desperately needed the blessing, was home in bed, coughing. I, who usually need it, was at my post, having a conniption over people who come late. We use a counter (for reasons known only to the pastor), and I always say that if I double the number on the counter when we close the doors from the narthax to let the opening procession process without people joining in to find a seat, that number will be doubled when I stop counting during the homily. On a recent week the numbers were 124 and 249. As you can see, I am right. For last Sunday, though, we had 333, and at least 330 hung around long enough to get their throats blessed. The number was way up either because folks who usually go to the 5:30 p.m. Mass wanted to be home for the Super Bowl kickoff or because we were giving something away, i.e., the blessing.
ReplyDeleteAsh Wednesday and Palm Sunday both top Easter and Christmas. Ashes palms, even special blessings, bring them in. But not on time.
Tom, your parishioners' rather flexible entrance and exit times makes me think of what I hear about Orthodox congregations. My late brother in law had some relatives who were Syrian Orthodox. He and my sister visited that church occasionally. She said that only the devout old people stayed for the whole Mass, which was two hour-ish. The rest of them came late and left early.
DeleteDear departed friend was a Melkite. There really is no clear start and stop time. Some people like to be there for the consecration, which occurs before Mass and seems to be treated as a separate service. Some people leave after communion.
DeleteMaybe what we need is a Melkite service. I am convinced -- since the days when we did the Easter Vigil in different buildings -- that many Catholics think the Mass is only the consecration and communion, and they simply try to skip the boring parts -- everything else. I suggested pulling the order of the Mass out of a hat before each Mass so people who come late can't be sure if they missed the consecration or communion and have to stick around through all the readings and the homily, in any order, only to find out that they did miss what they came for, indeed. Pastor told me the idea will never fly with devoted liturgists.
DeleteTom, hope your wife is better soon! Flu here is now at peak, so I am in semi-quarantine mode. I got the shot, but still considered immune suppressed, so will not be going to theaters, restaurants, church, etc. until end of March or so. It makes me a little stir crazy.
DeleteI've had a lousy winter. Some nondescript febrile virus got me in November and some kind of cold for 2 and a half weeks in January. I guess if you get a flu shot, you get everything else. Quarantine isn't a bad idea. Netflix helps.
DeleteStanley, I bring you chicken and spaetzle soup in spirit! Meantime, I wear gloves all the time and switch them out frequently so they're always clean. I wash hands every time I pass a bathroom. And I carry some of those little alcohol wet wipes in my purse in case I have to touch something. I guess I should re-up for Netflix. I haven't found anything on Prime I like (that's free) since "The Romanoffs." I have been listening to podcasts and knitting a lot. And feeding birds. I haven't had my yearly bout with bronchitis for a couple of years now.
DeleteAh, Spaetzle and anything sounds good, Jean. Sounds like you have the germ defense at DEFCON 1 and down pat. Please hang in there and stay healthy until Spring.
DeleteYeah, spaetzle! Yesterday morning one of the regulars caught me and said my wife has to take ginger tea. I replied that she is using tea with lemon and tea with honey and tea with honey and lemon, but the regular insisted: Ginger tea or suffer!
DeleteAnd some people spend thousands of dollars to go to med school.
Oh, God. Be a cancer patient, and you are a sitting duck for people who think they know better than your doctors. I cannot count the number of times people have told me my chemo is going to kill me, or that they have some "natural" cure they can sell me. The cannabis oil people are the worst. These dimwits are worse than the illness.
DeleteI knew little about St. Blaise, but here is a nice bio. As Jim noted, he can be asked to heal various ailments: https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/the-feast-of-st-blaise.html
ReplyDeleteRe: St. Blaise - I've always remembered this feast day, as it was my mother's birthday as well. This year was the 109th anniversary of her birth.
ReplyDeleteRe: different cultural experiences as white American Catholics. I don't even know what spaetzle is (i'm guessing a form of pasta, but maybe potatoes? I'll google it), but I would be happy to try it, as I love homemade soup.
I am not familiar with many ethnic Catholic traditions, with the exception of Mexican. I have heard that there is a traditional Italian parish in downtown DC that does something big for someone's feast day, I don't know it. None of the parishes I am familiar with in the DC area are dominated by an ethnic group. I have never in my life - childhood in California or adulthood in DC metro area - heard of a parish fish fry. Barbeques - yes - hamburgers and hot dogs. But never a fish fry. Pancake suppers before Ash Wednesday are popular too. (Why pancakes for Shrove Tuesday? Anyone know?)
Although my childhood parishes in California were lily white, they were not dominated by any ethnic group - simply a Catholic parish, not a Polish Catholic parish, or German Catholic parish, or Irish Catholic parish, or Italian Catholic parish etc. But it was also NOT a Mexican Catholic parish. The Mexican Americans had their own parishes. Nevertheless, we lived closely enough with the Mexican community to not only grow up loving a lot of their food, but also their music and dancing, their colorful weddings, the quinceañera celebrations for the daughters, and, of course, piñatas at birthday parties.
Re: People coming and going in Melkite services. Since I live in a majority Jewish community, as mentioned a number of times, I have attended Jewish Sabbath services a number of times also. The first time I was amazed that everyone just came and went, and often conducted private conversations in the aisles or standing in their rows of seats before going in or out. I was also fascinated by the discussions led by the rabbi after the "readings". He or she would read, and would give what we would call a homily, but shorter than Catholics homilies in general. Then the rabbi would invite questions and discussions - give and take that was absolute fantastic. I loved it.
Gramma made spaetzle. You press noodle batter (eggs and flour) through the holes in a sieve directly into bubbling soup or broth. I use my potato ricer.
DeleteYou can also sieve them into bubbling water. Then drain and slather with butter. Or use them in goulash.
The local parish here started as an ethnic Czech parish, though not sure why, as nobody still spoke Czech as a first language, and there is still a Czech-speaking parish a few miles north and another one 10 miles east.
When I sold herbs at the farmers market, I had a lot of catnip that I sold in dollar bunches. Several Czech ladies, who spoke little English, used to buy me out. When I asked if they had cats, they replied "tea!" They seemed thrilled to find it.
Never heard of a fish fry? No, you have never lived in the Midwest. It's a time-honored tradition when people gorge themselves on huge fish dinners on Lenten days of abstinence.
At a restaurant in Bayreuth, Germany, for lunch, I spied Käsespätzle on the menu. German "macaroni" and German Cheese with German beer. Oh, heaven on earth.
DeleteThanks, Jean.
ReplyDeleteI've never had goulash either. I've heard of it but am not sure if it's a soup or a stew or...? More googling.
So, fish fries are only during Lent. Makes sense. What about pancake suppers on Shrove Tuesday? Are those popular in the midwest? I've heard of a couple of churches here having pancake suppers all during Lent, on Fridays. Maybe copying the Lenten abstinence from meat tradition but without the fish!
Around here, pancake suppers are for Protestants.
DeleteThe Episcopalians are the pancakers.
DeleteBut fish fries have been the Fridays of Lent wherever I have been in Holy Mother. Except Trenton, where Friday was for pencil points -- a meatless pasta over which you had to have grown up with it to swoon.
In Milwaukee, vast mounds of fish were accompanied by vast pitchers of beer. In Florida, not so much vastness with the fish and only cans of beer. I don't know, maybe the cost of cod has gone through the roof.
The first goulash recipe that came up in the search calls for soy sauce. Guessing it's not a traditional recipe!
ReplyDeleteIt's a stew. Although my mom's recipe, when I was growing up, while not calling for soy sauce, also wasn't what one would consider authentic; the three main ingredients, as I recall, were ground beef, elbow macaroni and Campbell's Tomato Soup. The real stuff, as served by Chicago restaurateurs who should know whereof they cook, consists of stewable beef and paprika, and, I think, sour cream.
DeleteThe soy sauce may not be as inauthentic as we'd first assume; I think it's used in a lot of recipes, whether Asian or otherwise, to accentuate the umami (i.e. the meatiness in the flavor profile).
Our Episcopal priest was Hungarian, and he liked my goulash. He said there is no "authentic" goulash recipe. Like most peasant food, everyone makes it a different way, depending on what they have in hand. I always feel free to "doctor up" recipes.
DeleteYeah, maybe the sour cream is Stroganoff and I'm mixing up my Central European peasant cookery.
DeleteNo, mine had sour cream in it.
DeleteAnne, around here the Knights of Columbus have pancake breakfasts from time to time, but I don't think necessarily only around Shrove Tuesday or Lent. But they also have fish fries on Fridays during Lent. Our parish has a pancake breakfast on a Sunday during Advent, and Santa also is there (don't ask).
ReplyDeleteI've never really belonged to an ethnic parish, but I've always belonged to parishes full of people with strong ethnic ties/roots/identities. Maybe part of that is that Chicago is a pretty ethnic place, at least among Catholics. Of my own ethnic heritages (which are multitudinous), only the Flemish runs strong enough to count for anything - all of my other ancestors came over during the 19th century or earlier. But I've never belonged to a Flemish parish, or even lived in a town with a Flemish neighborhood. Even Chicago, which prides itself on being a patchwork of ethnic enclaves, doesn't have a Flemish community that I've ever heard of.
So yesterday was St. Agatha's feast day. She is the patron saint of Sicily, and they celebrate her with these traditional pastries. I'm not Sicilian, but thought it was interesting. I guess they sell the pastries in New York City, maybe in Chicago too. Omaha does a Santa Lucia festival, but not St. Agatha that I know of. She is also the patron saint of any suffering from breast cancer.
ReplyDeleteThose pastries made me want to say ouch!
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