This year, the PP has put a note about it in the parish newsletter, and on the website. This is "A Good Thing" - as Leutgeb would say (with capital letters) - as I do believe we should get as many blessings as possible through the year. They were, after all, put there for a reason. Life revolved around the Church, and the Church, in her turn, reflected life in the cycle of the liturgical year.
I just read, courtesy of the inimitable Fr. Z, that there is a blessing of wine which is traditionally carried out after Mass on the Feast of St. John.
Unfortunately, Mass was this morning at 10am. I was there, but, not knowing about the blessing of wine, I didn't have any with me. I shall add it to my little list for next year...
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A quick list of other Blessings...
Blessing of Gold, Incense, Myrrh (Epiphany)
There are blessings for Candles for Candlemass / St Blaise
Blessings of Eggs and Lamb for Easter
Blessings of herbs (Assumption)
The link below has many of the blessings but there were many local customs.
http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/48-blessings-for-special-days-and-feasts.html
:-)
You missed out the blessing of throats on the Feast of St. Blaise (one of my personal favourites!)
In Switzerland, on New Year's morning, there's a custom for writing the new date above the front door as follows, with a stick of chalk that has been blessed:
+ [i.e., a cross in the middle]
20 C + M + B 12
This stands for 'Christus Mansionem Benedicat', although the popular notion is that the letters stand for the names of the Kings, i.e, 'Caspar + Melchior + Balthasar'.
Rather nice!
Yes, Delia, but the Catholic custom is to do it with the chalk blessed on the Epiphany (that's what Fr. Tim put in the newsletter piece that I linked to), so on the Epiphany rather than New Year's Day...
I am in Switzerland at the moment and we will not be getting the blessed chalk until Epiphany, when I will be back in England to sing the relevant parts of the Blessing of the Epiphany Water at St. Bede's Church.
I think the blessing should be done on the Vigil so the water and chalk are ready for the day.
Getting back to St. Blaise, I do like the idea of blessing
wine that day, purely for medicinal purposes of course!
I grew up with many customs like the chalk on the door and did it with my little family. We had many customs from Bohemia, Moravia, and Luxembourg which our Celtic neighbors did not have. We not only did the chalk on Jan. 6th, but gifts on Dec. 6th. We did not do Santa in my own family, as the Christ Child brought this gifts, a Czech custom. We also put straw in an empty manger all Advent and if we were bad, we had to take the straw out. Straw is an important Eastern custom, reminding all of the Bread of Life, born in the Village of Bread, Bethlehem. I think the Protestant Reformation in England destroyed home customs which were probably shared all over Europe, or at least variations thereof. We also celebrated Name Days of our patron saints. The list is long, but what fun we had. We had a special punch for the martyrs during the Christmas octave as well, but I cannot remember the details. I think it was St. Stephen's Punch, with whiskey. The entire time of feasting went on until right after Candlemas, Feb. 2nd, which in the old days, started the Big Fast. I am glad to have had some many things in my life to carry on. However, it looks like these things are being rediscovered.
We did the blessed chalk on Epiphany. Czech and Luxembourg background.
I think I must have got it wrong - must be Epiphany rather than New Year's Day in Switzerland. Sorry!
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