Monthly Archives: January 2015

There is a Light and It Never Goes Out

St Genevieve

NINTH DAY of CHRISTMAS:
St. Genevieve’s Day

We are in the midst now of a more contemplative period within the Twelve Days of Christmas. Yesterday we remembered St. Macarius, or St. Macaroon the Confectioner, and tomorrow we remember a few other saints (four of them, to be exact). Today, though, this Ninth Day of Christmas is given to the Feast of St. Genevieve, who is sacred to Paris, where she lived in the fifth century as a nun. She saved the city from an attack by Attila and his Huns in 451. This she did through fasting and prayer, encouraging the residents of the city to join her. And around 475, she founded Saint-Denys de la Chapelle in Paris, which stands today as part of the Basilica of St. Denis.

There are no particular customs associated with the Feast Day of St. Genevieve, nor this Ninth Day of Christmas (as well as the day that follows) and my theory is that this more contemplative time within the Christmas revels is here by design. We need some time for quiet and for reflection, and the most proper way to celebrate this Ninth Day of Christmas, I think, is with stillness and candlelight. St. Genevieve is another of the midwinter saints typically associated with light: she is often seen holding a candle, and the story goes that the devil time and again would blow out her candle as she went to pray at night, so as to thwart her. Genevieve, however, was able to relight her candle without need of flint or fire. And so she is another of the light bearers in midwinter’s darkness. Thirteen days on the other side of the solstice, already light is increasing as we begin the journey toward summer’s warmth once more in the Northern Hemisphere. The light of St. Genevieve promises to never be snuffed by the darkness.

 

Image: St. Genevieve by an unknown artist, 17th century. [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons.

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St. Macaroon

St_Macarius_of_Egypt

EIGHTH DAY of CHRISTMAS:
St. Macarius’s Day

This Eighth Day of Christmas is given to the Feast of St. Macarius of Egypt, who was no fun at all. He is a fourth century saint from Alexandria who lived the latter part of his life as a hermit in the desert, eating only raw vegetables on most days. On special days, he ate a bit of bread dipped in oil.

Prior to his ascetic ways, though, Macarius was a confectioner, and so he is known as a patron saint of cooks, confectioners, and pastry chefs. His day could have gone either way, and the tradition for the Eighth Day of Christmas may very well have been to eat raw vegetables and talk to no one, but this is Christmastime, and folks are in a festive mood. Luckily, it is Macarius the Confectioner who gets our attention on his feast day, and tradition would have us enjoying something sweet for his day. Macarius the Confectioner certainly brought a bit of happiness to the people of Alexandria who ate his candies and confections, and today we ask him for a bit of that happiness once more.

Over the years, St. Macarius has developed a nickname, which comes from a combination of his former profession and the fact that his real name is not an easy one to pronounce for some folks. And so he has become known also as St. Macaroon. . .  which makes him a lot less ascetic and a lot more grandfatherly, perhaps. On this Eighth Day of Christmas, St. Macaroon and I encourage you to find happiness and sweetness in life.

 

Image: St. Macarius of Egypt, from an old Ukranian codex. [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons.

 

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Your January Book of Days

Jan15NewYear

It’s a new month and a new year, and here’s your printable Convivio Book of Days calendar for January 2015. Like Janus, the Roman god that gives January its name, we do a lot of looking back and looking ahead in January. We’ve been celebrating Christmas and midwinter since the end of December, but we begin January with New Year’s Day and the second half of the Twelve Days of Christmas. And at the end of the month, we get to sing “Auld Lang Syne,” which many of us sang on New Year’s Eve, all over again, for it is Burns’ Night on the 25th, celebrating the great Scottish poet Robert Burns, who penned that song we know so well.

There is some question in my head each year about St. Distaff’s Day. I have some sources that list the day as a moveable holiday, while other sources––sources I put more faith in––set it at January 7 each year. St. Distaff is one of the folk saints; not a real one based on the life of a real person. St. Distaff’s Day, rather, is part of the series of little known but important celebratory January holidays that ease us back into ordinary time once Christmastide has passed after January 6. St. Distaff’s Day marks the day that women went back to their household tasks, especially spinning. Soon after comes Plough Monday, when the men returned to work on the farms, and Copperman’s Day, a big day for us printers.

We wish you the very best for this new year. A thousand blessings upon you and those you love. Wes Hel!