28 September - There are no Stupid Questions

Wanna bet?

Today is (I am informed) National Ask A Stupid Question Day.

Go for it.  Be bold.  You know you want to.  Might have to hustle a bit though.  The media pretty much has the monopoly on stupid questions these days.

"Did Jesus have a wife?"

"Isn't Obama the greatest thing since sliced bread?"

"Will the Pope's butler be burned at the stake like Galileo?"

"If I read it on the Internet, is it true?"

"If I set up a poll and only ask those people who are likely to agree with me, and then publish the results that 99% of Americans think like I do, does that mean they do?"

"If my pet boa gets out of what I was sure was a secure domicile, should I tell the people in charge of the dorm?"

"What if it's just a garter snake?"

and on... and on....

So celebrate like crazy.  Ask all those questions that you know are stupid.  Ignore the rolling eyes and shaking heads.

This is the day to do it.

And this is the uniform of the day.... 

8 September - Nativity of the Blessed Virgin

Weather – As the weather is on the day of Mary’s birth, so it will be for four weeks.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I found a French hymn in honor of Our Lady’s birthday in a 19th century almanac, but there is no further information, so I don’t know how old it is:

Au point du jour dans nos divins concerts,

Chantons le nom de la Sainte Marie,

Et consacrons à elle nos de chants divers

Pour que chacq’un l’announce et le publie,

Et que personne ne jamais oublie

Le jour natal de la Mere de Dieu,

Nous sur la terre chantons aujourdui,

De meme que les Anges dans les cieux,

Le lever d’une étoile glorieuse.

O Rayon du Matin, Lune du Soir

Vierge éspousèe, mere de Dieu piuse,

Lampe au pecheur ecarté de l’espoir.

Nous vous chantons de Anges souveraine,

Apres Jesus, vous serez notre appui,

Et de nos coeurs serez seule la Reine,

A nous conduire à la gloire avec lui.

For Lady Day, here is a story that I enjoy from the Golden Legend :

There was a widow who had a son whom she loved tenderly, and that son was taken by enemies and put in prison fast bound.  And when she heard thereof, she wept without comfort, and prayed unto our blessed Lady with right devout prayers that she would deliver her son.  Finally she saw that her prayers availed her not, and entered then into the church where there was a carved image of our Lady, and stood before the image and reasoned with it in this manner, saying: “O blessed Virgin, I have prayed often to thee for my son that thou shouldst deliver him, and thou hast not helped me, his wretched mother.  I prayed also to thy Son to help me and yet I feel no fruit. And therefore like as my son is taken from me so shall I take away thine, and set him in prison in hostage for mine.”

And in saying this, she approached near and took away from the image the Child that she held in her lap, and wrapped it in clean clothes and shut it in her chest, and locked it fast right diligently, and was right joyful that she had so good hostage for her son, and kept it much diligently. 

And the night following, the blessed Virgin Mary came to the son of the same widow, and opened to him the door of the prison, and commanded him to go thence, and said to him: “Son, say to thy mother that she yield to me again my Son since I have delivered her son.”  And he issued and came to his mother, and told to her how our blessed Lady had delivered him, and she was joyful, and took the Child and came to the church and delivered Him to our Lady, saying: “Lady I thank you, for ye have delivered to me my son, and here I deliver to you yours again, for I confess that I have mine.”

[This is right up there with stories of people who, if their prayers are not answered, will turn the statues of their family saints to face the wall like naughty children.  Yes, they may seem pagan and superstitious, but to me they speak of people who believe in the communion of saints - that the saints are not some lofty personages sitting on clouds, far away and out of earshot, their holiness like a curtain dividing them from the Church Militant.  Rather, the Church Triumphant is part of the family, and dealt with as such.  The woman in the story above talked to Our Most Blessed Lady, Queen of Heaven, as one mother to another, and in much the same voice of one mother saying that the other mother has kept her son too long, and it's time to send him home.  I like that.]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 Artwork:

"Birth of the Virgin", Anna Brownell Jameson, Legends of the Madonna (1867), p. 147.

“St. Anne and the young Mary”, Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity (1896), p.8.

“Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, The Golden Legend (1489)

SEPTEMBER

Next him September marched eke on foot;

Yet was he heavy laden with the spoil

Of harvest’s riches, which he made his boot,

And him enriched with bounty of the soil;

In his one hand, as fit for harvest’s toil,

He held a knife-hook’ and in th’other hand

A pair of weights, with which he did assoil

Both more and less, where it in doubt did stand,

And equal gave to each as justice duly scanned.

                                                                                        Spenser

"The name comes from the Latin septimus, "seventh," because under the ten-month calendar, and afterwards under the reckoning which made March the beginning of the year, September was the seventh month. After July and August (originally Quintilis, "fifth," and Sextilis, "sixth") had been so named in honor of Julius Caesar and Augustus, several Roman Emperors sought to give their names to September, but in this case the innovation did not survive.  Julius Caesar gave September thirty-one days in his revision of the calendar, but it was subsequently reduced to thirty days by Augustus, who changed the length of all the months after August in order to give his titular month the same length as July."

"The Saxons called September Gerstmonath, or Barley-Month, this crop, from which their favorite beverage was brewed, being then gathered. It is still called Herbstmonat, or Harvest Month, in Switzerland. The harvest-moon comes in this month, being the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox.  For several evenings the moon rises near sunset, thus enabling the harvesters to extend their day's work." William Shepard Walsh, Curiosities of Popular Customs, p. 873 (1898).

Marry in September's shine

Your living will be rich and fine.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astronomy for September: The full moon this month, on the 29th, is known as the Harvest Moon.

Shine on, shine on Harvest Moon, up in the sky…

Autumn arrives at 10:49 am on September 22^nd with the equinox.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ember Days: September 19, 21, and 22

Novenas for September

Exaltation of the Holy Cross       begins 5 September

Vincent de Paul                           begins 18 September

Michael the Archangel                begins 20 September

Holy Angels                                 begins 20 September

Thérèse of Lisieux                       begins 22 September

Francis of Assisi                          begins 25 September

Faustina Kowalska                      begins 26 September

Our Lady of the Rosary               begins 28 September

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weather for September

Based on the 12 Days of Christmas: Clear skies and high winds.

Based on the first 12 days of January: Sunny and chilly, with some stiff breezes.

Based on the Ember Days: Rain.  Rainy in the morning, rainy in the evening, rainy at suppertime…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weather Lore for September

September blow soft,

‘Til the fruit's in the loft.

As September, so the coming March.

When September has been rainy, the following May is generally dry; and when May is dry, the following September is apt to be wet.

A wet September means drought for next summer, famine, and no crops.

and

Heavy September rains bring drought.

on the other hand

Rain in September is good for the farmer, but poison to the vine-growers.

and 

September rain is good for crops and vines and much liked by the farmer.

[I think it depends on how much and how heavy the rain]

If the storms of September clear off warm, all the storms of the following winter will be warm.

If a cold spell occurs in September and passes without a frost, there will be no frost until the same time in October.

Thunder in September indicates a good crop of grain and fruit for the next year.

Thunder in September means snow in February and March and a large crop of grapes.

There are generally three consecutive windy days about the middle of September.

9/1 - Fair on September 1st, fair for the month

9/6 - As the weather is on the 6th, so it will be for the next four weeks.

9/8 - As the weather is n the day of Mary's birth, so it will be for four weeks.

9/9 - If it is fine on St. Gorgonius' day, it will continue fine for forty days.

         If it rains on St. Gorgonius' day, there will be much bad weather in October.

9/14 - No rain on Holy Cross, no rain for six weeks [which is a good thing while we are still harvesting]

          If dry be the buck's horn on Holyrood morn,

          'Tis worth a kist [chest] of gold;

          But if wet be seen ere Holyrood e'en,

          Bad harvest is foretold.

           If the hart and the hind meet dry and part dry on Rood Day fair,

           For six weeks, of rain there'll be nae mair [no more].

           There are generally three consecutive windy days about the middle of September.

9/15 - September 15th is fine six years out of seven.

9/19 - If on September 19th, there is a storm from the south, a mild winter may be expected.

[If on September 19th, there is a storm from the south, it is liable to be a hurricane]

9/20-22 - September 20, 21, and 22 rule the weather for October, November, and December.

9/21 - St. Matthew's day bright and clear

           Brings good wine in the next year.

           St. Matthew

           Brings the cold dew.

           On St. Matthee,

           Shut up the bee.

           After St. Matthew you will not see many fine days.

           A south wind on September 21st indicates that the rest of autumn will be warm.

9/22 - If there is clear weather on St. Maurice's day, heavy winds will rage in the following winter.

           The first three days of any season rule the weather for that season.

           As the wind and weather at the equinoxes, so will they be for the next three months.

            If the weather is quiet for the week before the autumn equinox and the week after, the temperature will continue higher than usual into the winter.

            As the equinoctial storms clear, so will all storms clear for the next six months.

             Winds that blow in the daytime near the equinox generally hush towards evening.

9/29 - On Michaelmas day, the heat leaves us.

           If St. Michael brings many acorns, Christmas will cover the fields with snow.

           At Michaelmas, if the wind be low

           Look out for frost, if not for snow.

           A dark Michaelmas, a light Christmas.

           If it rains on Michaelmas, it will rain up to Christmas.

           As many days old as the moon is on Michaelmas day, so many floods shall we have after. [This year, the moon will be 15 days old on Michaelmas.  That’s an awful lot of floods.]

            If Michaelmas day be fair, the sun will shine much in the winter, though the wind at the northeast will frequently reign long and be very sharp.

             If there is a gentle rain on St. Michael's day, we can expect a mild winter; but if there is a thunderstorm, the winter will have heavy winds.

             St. Michael’s rain does not stay long in the sky.

            If it does not rain on St. Michael and on St. Gallus (October 16), a dry Spring is indicated for the next year.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Farming and Gardening:

The Passion Flower long has blowed

To betoken us signs of the Holy Rood           (Sep 14)

The Michaelmas Daisy, among dead weeds

Blooms for St. Michael’s valorous deeds.     (Sep 29)

September rain is good for the crops.

Preserve your fodder in September and your cow will fatten.

9/1 - St. Giles finishes the walnuts.

9/14 - It was traditional to go nutting today. 

           On Holy Cross Day

           Vineyards are gay.

9/21 – St. Matthew’s rain fattens pigs and goats.

9/29 - Pick your blackberries before Michaelmas.  The Devil passes his hoof over them (or does something nastier) and scorches them today.

Cassell’s Illustrated almanac 1871 for September:

Flowers.—Sow hardy annuals, for bloom in the following year. Clarkias, nemophilas, gilias, &c., are well suited for this purpose. Collect and dry your flower seeds, labeling them, when necessary, with height of the plants and color of the flowers. Look to your edgings of box, &c., which may now be repaired or replaced. Begin the planting of snowdrops, narcissus, &c.

Vegetables.—Hoe weeds from all parts of the vegetable garden. Thin out turnips, winter spinach, and all crops that are sufficiently forward. Gather articles for pickling and preserving, and remove all kinds of decaying or useless vegetation. Take up potatoes, and store away those intended for seed, first drying them in the sun.

Fruit.— Strawberry runners may still be planted. Old raspberry canes should be cat down, leaving only the new wood. Cut back gross shoots from wall-fruit trees of all kinds. To tell whether fruit is thoroughly ripe for picking, raise it gently with the hand, when the stalk will leave the tree at once if it is in fit condition.

The 1817 Almanac advises the farmer to “Plant Liquorice Roots about two Feet asunder, in rather moist Earth.  Set Artichokes, and sow Seeds for Winter Herbs.  Sow Wheat and Rye.  Cut Quicks towards the End of the Month.  Plant Evergreens.

Sow Parsnips and Carrots in a free open Air, and rather most Soil.

Remove and set Slips of Flowers.  Set Rows of Strawberries and Barberries.

Gather Fruits as they ripen, on a dry Day, and lay them up carefully.  Prepare Ground for planting.”

====================================================

ARTWORK

September. Engraving by Samuel Williams. William Hone, The Everyday Book and Table Book, (1838), p. 1146

September. Hunting – Pasturing Swine. Engraving based on an 11^th century manuscript. William Walsh, Curiosities of Popular Customs (1898), p. 874

=============================================================

31 August - Blue Moon

Astronomy: Today we are treated to a Blue Moon, which the Old Farmer’s Almanac calls the “Full Red Moon”, and others call the Fruit Moon or the Corn Moon or that bright thing which makes sky watching so difficult.

However, it is argued that the term as used for today’s full moon is not quite correct because a real ‘blue moon’ is the third moon in a season with four moons, and even though August has two full moons, the full moon today is the third moon of the season and there won’t be a fourth, the September full moon coming after the autumnal equinox… and there you are.

Well, the Widow is always on the side of the correct (she still has arguments with people over when our current millennium started), but she is also on the side of tradition, even a tradition that is only 66 years old.  So call it a Blue Moon if you like.

How better to welcome it but by sipping on a BLUE MOON cocktail?

This is the classic cocktail (at least classic to my 1960 cocktail book):

     “1½ ounces dry gin

       ¾ ounce Crème de Yvette

      Stir well with cracked ice and strain into a 3-ounce cocktail glass.  Add the twist of a lemon peel and drop into the glass.”

(If Crème de Yvette or other Crème de Violette liqueurs are not available, you can always fall back on the beautiful blue of Curaçao drinks.)

There are two schools of thought about the ingredients of the original cocktail, both citing Hugo Ensslin’s 1917 book “Recipes for Mixed Drinks” as their source.   One of them published a recipe not much different from the above, while the other, the proprietor of a delightful blog called “Cold Glass”, says that it was gin topped with Bordeaux and has a glorious red color.

Since this month’s second full moon can be called the Full Red Moon, I think that’s perfect.

Vintage Printable

29 August - Decollation of John the Baptist

Today is the second feast of St. John the Baptist, that of his beheading.  My own take on the story is here.

"Watch where you're putting that thing!"

Over the years there have been learned disputes and disquisitions that this festival day originally commemorated the finding or gathering of his relics, particularly his head or the finger which had pointed to Christ when he said “Behold the Lamb of God”, and that it was called Festum Collectionis Sancti Johannis Baptistae.  At some point, they aver,  ‘Collectionis’ was corrupted to ‘Decollationis’, and thus became the commemoration of his beheading.

Of course it might have been the other way around and Decollationis might – through clerical error – have become de collectionis.  Bad spelling is nothing new.

The Golden Legend (13^th century) makes everybody happy by saying that the day was established for four causes: “First, for his decollation; secondly, for the burning and gathering together of his bones; thirdly, for the invention and finding of his head; and fourthly, for the translation of his finger and dedication of the Church.  And after some people this feast is named diversely, that is to say, decollation, collection, invention, and dedication.”  It then goes on to discuss each cause at length.

Be that as it may, at least from the 10^th century and probably a few centuries before, today has been dedicated to the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sometimes artists depicted the beheading by having John stick his head out of his prison door or window (or like the image above, up through the floor from his cell)

Headsman: “Yo, Johnnie-boy, der’s a lady here wants to talk wi’ youse.

John B obliges, looking out of the window or door, and THWACK!  And the rest you know.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And what became of the other principal actors of this drama?  The story is that some years later, around AD 39, Herodias convinced Herod Antipas (against his better judgment) to go to Rome and seek the title of king.  Unbeknownst to either of them, her brother Agrippa (since it was likely his crown they were seeking) sent letters to Caligula claiming that H. A. had made treaties of friendship with the rulers of Persia and had stockpiled arms in various cities preparatory to leading a rebellion against Rome.  Herod’s answers to a few casual questions about the battle-readiness of the area under his control convinced the emperor that Agrippa was right, and H. A. was sent into permanent exile, either to Lyons (France) or to Spain.*  Herodias was given the option of staying in Rome or Judea with the rest of the family, but she chose to stay with her lover in Lyons or Spain, “and there ended their lives miserably.”

*According to Sir William Smith: “She accompanied Antipas into exile to Lugdunum, probably… Lugdunum Convenarum, a town of Gaul, on the right bank of the Garonne, at the foot of the Pyrenees, now St. Bertrand de Comminges, on the frontier of Spain.”  Dictionary of the Bible, 1868.

A more satisfying legend, one that could grace a horror movie, is that Herodias died “when she held the head between her hands… but by the will of God the head blew in her visage, and she died forthwith.”

Dancing Salome, the daughter of Herodias and Herod II (aka Herod Philip) married her father’s half-brother, another Herod Philip, better known as Philip the Tetrarch.  Talk about inbreeding!  Herod II, Philip the Tetrarch, and Herod Antipas (Salome’s step-father) were sons of Herod the Great (he of the Holy Innocents Massacre) by different mothers.  Herodias (Salome’s mother), Herod of Chalcis, and Herod Agrippa I (who put to death the Apostle James) were children of Aristobulus, another son of Herod the Great.  Herodias married her uncle Herod II, had Salome, and left him for an adulterous liaison with another uncle, Antipas.  Keeping it in the family, Salome married her paternal uncle/maternal grand-uncle. 

(I wonder if any of them played dueling psalteries?)

Philip the Tetrarch, after some ambitious building and rebuilding projects, died in his new city of Cesarea (Philippi) in AD 34.  Salome then married her cousin Aristobulus, king of Chalcis and Armenia Minor, and had three sons: Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus.

Legend desired that she die a horrible death for her crime and so claimed that she drowned or was swallowed alive by the earth or fell through an icy pond and was appropriately decapitated by the ice.  She probably died of full living, being somewhere in her late 40s or 50s.

Both Herodias and Salome have asteroids named after them.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Artwork:

Rogier van der Weyden,  Saint John Altarpiece (right panel), 1455-1460.

Dutch woodcut, Golden Legend, 1489

Unknown artist and title.  I call it "Oh 'eck!"

28 August - Charlie McCarthy; Charles Cocktail

Today in 1938 on the Charlie McCarthy Show (radio), Ralph Dennis, the Dean of the School of Speech at Northwestern University awarded an honorary degree of Master of Innuendo and Snappy Comeback to Charlie McCarthy, seen here in a candid moment.  Among other things, the award stated that he was “…churlish in behavior, acid in conversation, wooden-faced in all relationships, and thus in many respects a typical product of higher education in America.” [so true]

(If you are too young to remember Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, read about them here in a 1995 Old Time Radio article by Read G. Burgan, and on Wikipedia.)

This was not the first time a degree was awarded to a dummy. 

It certainly wasn’t the last.

No one ever claimed there was anything honorable in honorary degrees.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To celebrate Charlie’s M.A. (or M.I.S.C.?), enjoy a CHARLES COCKTAIL:

1 ¼ ounces Sweet Vermouth

1 ¼ ounces Brandy

1 dash of Bitters

Stir well with cracked ice and strain into a 3-ounce cocktail glass.

A few of those and you too will have sawdust for brains.

26 August - For my sister

Lordy, lordy, looks who's....

Nope, she's long past that.  She's goin' for the gold!

(the other candles are hiding in the back)

Happy birthday, sis.  Welcome to the golds.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weather - Tradition says that it always rains today. [tradition is in the Caribbean today]

The last Sunday of the month indicates the weather for the next month [we started with a little fog this morning, but it is now bright sunshine, clear blue skies, and enough of a breeze to make sitting on the porch the object of the day]

Speaking of which...

There will be as many snows in the following winter as there are fogs in August [one so far]

So many August fogs, so many winter mists [one so far]

On the other hand...

A fog in August indicates a severe winter and plenty of snow [so it looks like that one snow is going to be a doozy]

Observe on what day in August the first heavy fog occurs, and expect a hard freeze on that same date in October [preparatory to the severe winter]

25 August - Saint Genesius

“…at Rome, St. Genesius, martyr, who embraced the profession of actor while he was yet a Pagan.  One day he was deriding the Christian mysteries in the theatre in the presence of the emperor Diocletian; but by the inspiration of God he was suddenly converted to the faith and baptized.  By the command of the emperor, he was forthwith most cruelly beaten with rods, then racked, and a long time lacerated with iron hooks, and burned with fire-brands.  As he remained firm in the faith of Christ, and said: “There is no king besides Christ.  Should you kill me a thousand times, you shall not be able to take Him from my lips or my heart,” he was beheaded, and thus merited the palm of Martyrdom.”

Actors have never been considered virtuous people, perhaps because their vocation relies on lying and fraud, i.e. they represent themselves to be what they are not. Even in Rome, they were a despised class of foreigners and former slaves, and since their performances could include [as it does today] sexual acts onstage or off, it is no wonder that they were barred from decent (and hypocritical) society.  That they tended to be of the roving sort – bands of players moving about the countryside – classed them with other vagabonds and tramps. Father Alban Butler describes their milieu as “… the stage, the most infamous school of vice and the passions, and the just abhorrence of the holy fathers of the church, of all zealous pastors, and all sincere lovers of virtue.”  [That was in 1866, and Hollywood and all its Babylonish women hadn’t even been thought of.]

Father Butler continues: “Among other entertainments prepared for him [Emperor Diocletian], those of the stage were not neglected…one of the players took it into his head to represent, in a ludicrous manner, the ceremonies of the Christian baptism, which could not fail to divert the assembly, who held this religion, and its mysteries, in the utmost contempt and derision.” [Sound familiar?]  According to the story, Genesius, who had informed himself of the Christian rites in order to more effectively deride them on stage, acted the part of a mortally ill man wanting baptism; he and the other actors went through the entire ceremony, up to and including arresting the new “Christian” and hauling him before the emperor sitting in the audience, who was prepared to play his part in the comedy and condemn the new Christian to untold torments [audience participation is nothing new.]

But something happened to Genesius when he jestingly spoke his lines, “I am resolved to die a Christian, that God may receive me on this day of my death, as one who seeks his salvation from flying from idolatry and superstition.”  God took him at his word, and Genesius went through the ‘baptism’ with all the sincerity of a new convert before a true priest.  When he stood before Diocletian, the words were not from the script but from his heart, “…Wherefore, I advise you, O great and mighty emperor, and all ye people here present, who have ridiculed these mysteries, to believe, with me, that Jesus Christ is true Lord; that He is the light and the truth; and that it is through Him you may obtain the forgiveness of your sins.”

People don’t like it when you deviate from the script.  Nor, when they are out for an evening’s entertainment, do they want to be preached at.  The emperor returned to the script and condemned the new Christian to untold torments.   The audience was amused.

A 9^th century English martyrology says of him: “… he was first a certain emperor’s mima, that is jester, and sang loose songs before him and danced obscene dances.  At last he began to read the divine scriptures and received baptism.  When the emperor tried by threats to convert him again to paganism, he said, ‘As I received baptism, I saw that God’s angel stood there and had in writing all the sins I ever committed before; he blotted them all out and extinguished them in the bath of baptism.’  For this, the emperor ordered him to be beheaded.”  And so he was, circa 303 AD.

He is the patron, of course, of actors, clowns, comedians, dancers, entertainers, and of all who make their livings by stage-craft.  There is a Confraternity of St. Genesius devoted to praying for all those in the theatrical arts (and if the scandal sheets are correct, there is a lot of prayer needed!)  By association, he is a patron of prostitutes, since actresses and prostitution were pretty much synonymous.

He is also the patron of lawyers and barristers, perhaps because of their courtroom theatrics, or perhaps conflating him with Saint Genesius of Arles, a notary of that city, who “refusing to record the impious edicts by which Christians were commanded to be punished, threw away his tablets publicly, and declared himself a Christian.  He was seized and beheaded, and thus attained to the glory of martyrdom through baptism in his blood.”  His feast is also today.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Artwork:

Comic Mask, Roman mosaic, Indianapolis Museum of Art

Giovanni Battista Poza, c1591. Baptism of St. Genesius (detail). Church of Santa Susanna, Rome.

24 August - St. Owen; Periwinkles Forestiere

Weather –As Bartholomew’s Day, so the whole autumn.

If Bartelmy’s day be fair and clear, Hope for a prosperous autumn that year.

St. Bartholomew brings the cold dew.

If it rains this day, it will rain the forty days after.

Thunderstorms after Bartholomew’s Day are more violent [compared to what?]

If the morning begins with a hoar frost, the cold weather can be soon expected and a hard winter.

St. Bartholomew’s mantle wipes dry all the tears that St. Swithin can cry.

Yesterday was the last of St. Swithin’s Forty Days and the weather should be more settled now.  Should be. On the other hand:

June, too soon;

July, stand by;

August, it must;

September, remember;

October, all over…

                                                         (rhyme for hurricane months)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Today we celebrate…

The apostle St. Bartholomew, who preached the Gospel of Christ in India.  He passed thence into the Greater Armenia, where, after converting many to the faith, he was flayed alive by the barbarians, and beheaded by order of king Astyages, and thus he terminated his martyrdom.  His sacred body was first carried to the island of Lipara, then to Benevento, and finally to Rome in the island of the Tiber, were it is venerated by the pious faithful.

and

At Rouen, St. Owen, bishop and confessor.  Saint Ouen (died 683) was the bishop of Rouen, France, for forty-four years. Prior to that, he had served as chancellor to the Merovingian king Dagobert I, in company with Eligius (Eloi), another devout servant of the king. The two became good friends.  

Ouen is believed to have compiled the Salic Law [which among other things kept women and their descendents from inheriting the French crown, and contributed to such conflicts as the Hundred Years War].  After the death of the king, both Ouen and Eloi considered themselves free to pursue other vocations, and when Ouen was consecrated bishop of Rouen in 640, Eloi was consecrated bishop of Moyon.

Ouen worked hard to eradicate the pockets of paganism in his diocese, in between which he gave the ruling monarchs his expertise in diplomacy.  He wrote the life of his friend Eligius, before succumbing to an illness contracted on his last diplomatic journey.

The Saint-Ouine fair that was held in the spring in Brittany was familiarly known as the Periwinkle Fair (from the large amounts of periwinkles for sale) and as the Whistle Fair (from the large numbers of whistles and other noisemakers available to those who just love to make noise).  The fair was held in St. Malo until a fire destroyed much of the town in the 16^th century, whereupon it was moved to the island of Grand Bé, where a chapel devoted to St. Ouen was frequented by wives praying for the safe return of their seafaring husbands and turning the chapel cross to the quarter whence the wind should come.

So in honor of Saint Owen of Rowen, let us enjoy periwinkles.

Periwinkles are like snails.  It takes a tidy few to make a mouthful.  At St. Ouine’s fair, they were sold in large bowlfuls, and that is what it would take to make a decent meal.  Unfortunately, the work needed to produce a decent meal or even a decent mouthful is enough to discourage those who are not dedicated escargot-philes.   This is very, very SLOW FOOD.

Caveat: If you find your periwinkles along our northeastern shores, pay attention to warnings about safe days to harvest shellfish.  In the Smallest State, we have to put up with our neighbor to the east pouring their sewage into the local waters, and occasionally the shellfishing is banned. 

To prepare, bring periwinkles to a boil in salted water and boil briskly for about 20 minutes.  Drain.  Pick them out of their shells.  Now you can

• dip them in garlic butter (accompanied with a good bread and a good wine)
• use them as you would clams in a sauce for pasta
• use them in PERIWINKLES FORESTIÈRE

Saute 24 mushroom caps (or broil them) until soft.  Fill each cap with a couple or a few unhoused periwinkles (how many is left up to you). 

Whip ½ cup of sweet butter until soft, then add 1 crushed garlic clove, ¼ cup of finely chopped parsley, and a dash of salt and pepper (to taste).  Place a pat of the butter mixture on the periwinkles, and then broil until the butter is melted and the mushrooms are hot.

The recipe says that it serves 4, which means six mushroom caps per diner.  Add salad, bread, wine, beer, and good company.  Makes a fine dinner, I reckon.

16 August - Saint Roch

In France, near Montpelier, the demise of blessed Roch, confessor, who by the sign of the cross, delivered many cities of Italy from an epidemic.  His body was afterwards transferred to Venice, and deposited with the greatest honors in the church dedicated under his invocation.

Today is the feast of a very popular early-renaissance saint, Roch, patron of those who languish in prisons (which a lot of people did) and of the hospitalized sick (which a lot of people were), and invoked against pestilence and plague and skin problems (from which a lot of people suffered).  He was born into a well-to-do family of Montpellier, France, and seemed marked from birth (with a red cross on his chest) for a life of sanctity. As a young man, he was left a vast patrimony which he distributed among the poor, and leaving the administration of his lands to the care of his uncle, put on the garb of a pilgrim and set off for Rome. 

On the way, he found a plague raging in Aquapendente, and stayed to help nurse the victims (possibly he had some knowledge of medicinal remedies, or perhaps he had done volunteer work as an orderly or candy-striper).  The sick were said to be healed merely by his prayers, or by the sign of the cross, or by his shadow as he stood over them; when the plague ceased, the grateful townspeople attributed it to his intercession.

For years he traveled from one plague-ridden town to another, serving in the hospitals and bringing comfort and healing to the victims. While in Piacenza, he contracted a new and unknown infection, which caused a horrible ulcer to break out on his thigh. Unwilling to disturb the inmates of the hospital with his moans of pain, he removed himself to a place outside the city.  A small dog, either belonging to himself or to a kind-hearted man called Gothard, stayed with him, going each day into the city and returning with a loaf of bread.  Gothard (or an angel) found Roch in the woods and cared for him until he was well enough to return to his home in Montpellier.

By that time, he was so changed that even his own uncle did not recognize him.  The time being one of insurrections and wars, in which every stranger was viewed with suspicion, he was thrown into prison as a spy, where he stayed for five years until his death.  A paper was found next to his body with the writing: “All those who are stricken by the plague, and who pray for aid through the merits and intercession of Roch, the servant of God, shall be healed.”  Now, finally, everyone knew who he was and buried him with due solemnity.

Word of this spread, enhanced by the cessation of plague when Roch was invoked. 

Enter the devout body-snatchers.

Venice, that great commercial city on the Adriatic, unloaded infections at their wharves along with the treasures of the world, and felt that the relics of such a saint would be mighty useful. Since they were already adept at ‘transferring’ relics from their original resting places (having previously rescued the body of St. Mark from Alexandria), this was child’s play. The holy pirates, under the guise of pilgrims, stole the remains of Saint Roch from his tomb, and installed them in the new church of San Rocco.  No word on how the Montpellierites felt about that.

He is also the patron of dogs (for obvious reasons) and of tile-makers – at least Parisian tile-makers who settled in the area of a church dedicated to Roch on the Rue St. Honore and took him for their patron.

He is usually depicted in his pilgrim’s weeds, showing the ulcer on his thigh, and accompanied by his dog.

15 August - Assumption

Weather: On Saint Mary's Day, sunshine brings much good wine. 

[Which is especially enjoyed in my backyard on a lazy August afternoon.]

If the sun shines on Mary's day, that is a good token, and especially for wind.

Rain on St. Lawrence is late but good            (August 10)

Rain on Assumption is also late but good     (August 15)

But if St. Bartholomew rains, slap him!         (August 29)

[once the harvest begins, we need dry weather.  A late rain can mildew the plants in both field and barn]

Farming and Gardening:

When Mary left us here before,

The Virgin's Bower begins to blow;

The Holy Queen of Heaven gives us the first nuts.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Today is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven – another joyous festival of the Church.

Hail, O Queen of Heaven!

Hail, O Lady of Angels!

Root and Gate from whom the world’s Light was born;

Rejoice, O Glorious Virgin,

Fairest of all who are fair.

Farewell, most beautiful maiden,

And pray for us to Christ.

V. Allow that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin.

R. Against thy enemies give me strength.

Let us pray: Grant us, O merciful God, strength against all our weakness; that we who celebrate the memory of the holy Mother of God, may by the help of her intercession rise again from our iniquities.  Through the same Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is also known as Festum Herbarum or the Feast of Herbs.  Traditionally, herbs, grains, and other useful plants are blessed today.

Naogeorgus, in what the author of the Perennial Calendar calls his “churlish and ill-timed raillery” had much to say about the feast of the Assumption:

“The blessed virgin Mary’s feast has here its place and time,

Wherein departing from the earth, she did the heavens climb;

Great bundles then of herbs to Church, the people fast do bear,

The which against all hurtful things, the Priest does hallow there.

Thus kindle they and nourish still, the people’s wickedness,

And vainly make them to believe, whatsoever they express;

For sundry witchcrafts, by these herbs are wrought, and diverse charms

And cast into the fire, are thought to drive away all harms,

And every painful grief from man or beast, for to expel,

Far otherwise than nature, or the word of God does tell.”

The ‘witchcrafts’ to which he refers are the subsequent uses of the plants in the daily lives of the faithful.  John S. Stokes, Jr., in his article, “The Blessing of Mary Gardens as Holy Places” says, “Among the most important of Plant blessings were those at the time of harvest, beginning with those on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, on August 15th.  On this feast the first fruits of healing and life-sustaining herbs, grains and other plants were brought to Mass by the faithful tied in Assumption Bundles, and placed on the altar in special processions. Then, after blessinq during the Mass ceremony, they were taken home for reservation as blest holy objects for use - much as palm fronds blessed and distributed on Palm Sunday are used today.”

Some of the uses in Naogeorgus’s time (16^th century) would, no doubt, resemble superstition, such as placing blest St. John’s Wort around an infant’s cradle to protect it from being stolen by fairies or burning petals of blest flowers during a thunderstorm.

[Don’t feel smug.  There are still people today who believe that the positions of the planets and the stars – as seen from earth – have the ability to regulate daily human activity, and won’t make a move without checking ‘their’ horoscope.]

But the reason for blessing them goes deeper than mere superstition. “Through the blessings bestowed upon them, their misuse is atoned for, their healing power enhanced, and their growth commended to God's protection."  According to Stokes, these should be, “placed in prominent positions in home or workplace - as a focus for prayers for protection from evil spirits and as reminders to prayers for physical and spiritual healing and well-being.”

Not even Naogeorgus could object to reminders for prayers.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A study made in the southeastern tip of Poland lists the plants which go into Assumption Bouquets and the beliefs surrounding their uses.  The author photographed several such bundles, which might give you an idea for your own bouquet.

Lithuanian tradition says that if you don’t hold herbs in church today, the devil will give you his tail to hold instead.  For more Lithuanian customs, see "Herbal Holyday – August 15."

In “Travels through Sicily, Malta, and Lipari’, a certain Mr. Howel facetiously described how the festival was celebrated in 18^th century Messina:

“An immense machine of about 50 feet high is constructed, designing to represent Heaven; and in the midst is placed a young female personating the Virgin, with an image of Jesus on her right hand; round the Virgin 12 little children turn vertically, representing so many Seraphim, and below them 12 more children turn horizontally, as Cherubims; lower down in the machine a sun turns vertically, with a child at the extremity of each of the four principal radii of his circle, who ascend and descend with his rotation, yet always in an erect posture; and still lower, reaching within about 7 feet of the ground, are placed 12 boys, who turn horizontally without intermission around the principal figure, designing thereby to exhibit the 12 Apostles, who were collected from all corners of the earth, to be present at the decease of the Virgin, and witness her miraculous assumption. This huge machine is drawn about the principal streets by sturdy monks; and it is regarded as a particular favour to any family to admit their children in this divine exhibition, although the poor infants themselves do not seem long to enjoy the honours they receive as Seraphim, Cherubim, and Apostles; the constant twirling they receive in the air making some of them fall asleep, many of them vomit, and several do still worse!"

[Southern Italians are so exuberant in their celebrating]

Go thou and do likewise.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Artwork:

Bartolome Esteban Murillo, 1670.  The Assumption of the Virgin.  Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Woodcut of the Assumption from The Golden Legend, 1489.