Easter approaches once again, and as usual, it arrives at the far edge of a forty-six day cloud of confusion. At least for me.
Thinking back on it now, I’m not surprised that I found the entire season incomprehensible. I was baffled by far simpler things — carbon paper, reversible shirts, and those tiny cereal boxes that you could pour the milk directly into. Still, I went to Catholic school, always completed my religion homework, and attended Mass on a regular basis when I remembered to go. I should have had a better handle on the Easter story. But as with many other life events, I looked forward to the time when the holiday would be over, and I’d have another whole year to figure it out.
The trouble started with Ash Wednesday, an otherwise regular school day, except that we were expected in church early that morning. At some point, everyone would line up near the altar and the priest would dip his thumb into a pot of ashes and form a cross with it on our foreheads. On any other day of the year, a smudge on your face would have drawn ridicule, but on Ash Wednesday it was a sign that you were obedient and holy. After church, we all walked around school with good posture and heads held high, making sure to hold the gaze of nuns and priests long enough for them to spot the ashes. To be smudge-free on Ash Wednesday often demanded an explanation; at best, it attracted curious or disapproving looks.
And so began Lent, the seven-week period leading up to Easter. We were given small cans in which to collect nickels for the Catholic missions. The cans had a slot in the top, and a label on the side with forty blank squares. We were supposed to deposit a nickel each day and mark the boxes with an X. At the end of Lent we were to turn in the cans, now packed with two dollars in coins. In the early 1960s, that was enough money for a grandstand seat and a hot dog at Yankee Stadium, a sinful thought that never failed to escape my distracted little mind. Our return to school on the morning after Easter inevitably erupted into a frantic search for stray nickels, because by the third day the can had gotten misplaced, lost behind a jar of Ovaltine or a box of Brillo soap pads.
We were also urged to give up something for Lent, to abstain from a favorite food or activity as a way to acknowledge the enormous sacrifice Jesus made by dying on the cross. This was tricky. Back then, forty-six days took forever, which caused me to wonder why they called it a fast. More to the point, boldly declaring that you were giving up ice cream or television got you a nice dose of wide-eyed attention for a while, but after a couple of days nobody really cared anymore, and you still had to follow through with your promise. Changing your mind about what you were giving up for Lent was a complicated matter, we suspected, involving letters to the Pope, sanctification with incense, and special prayers that had to be chanted in Latin. And, of course, there was the possibility of burning in Hell for the rest of eternity. It was important to choose carefully, and to take the decision seriously. One year I gave up cabbage, and actually got away with it, but I think that was because everyone else was too busy designing bomb shelters and hoping to avoid nuclear annihilation, so thoughts of my immortal soul may have seemed less than pressing.
I recently learned that the Sundays in Lent weren’t considered part of the abstinence period. In other words, even if I had given up Milk Duds for Lent, I could have had them once a week. But that was the only break from the rule. If I went to the movies on a Saturday to see Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, say, or Mary Poppins, I’d be forced to forego the Milk Duds in favor of a Baby Ruth bar or bubble gum cigars — unless there was another loophole nobody had bothered to mention, such as some esoteric exemption that became activated during horror films or impossibly unbearable musicals.
Here’s a common question about Easter: Why does it sometimes fall in March and other times in April? Intellectual types who majored in religious studies often try to argue that it’s connected somehow to the Jewish festival of Passover, which in turn is based on the lunar cycle. But this is one of the few parts of the holiday I understand, so please allow me to correct the misconceptions. In fact, the Easter schedule is tied directly to the major league baseball schedule: If the St. Louis Cardinals are playing at home on opening day, the holiday lands in March. Otherwise, it’s delayed until April. And this is only fitting. After the long, lifeless winter of football and hockey, baseball is the ultimate symbol of rebirth.
What I didn’t like about Easter was that I was required to get dressed up, even beyond the nice clothes I always had to wear to church. No one could explain this to me. The people in my religion book walked around in robes and sheets. Why did I have to wear a suit?
However, the basket of candy made up for everything. I didn’t get the connection, and still don’t. Bunnies and eggs don’t seem to go together, any more than jelly beans and resurrection. But none of that mattered. All I knew was that on the afternoon of Easter Sunday, the forty-six days of Lent were finally over, and I could go back to thinking about the truly deep mysteries of life. Like, how did the milk stay in that little box of Cocoa Puffs? Why didn’t the Catholic missions send smaller cans and ask for forty dimes, instead? And when is Ghidorah vs. Mary Poppins coming out? I’d give up anything to see that.
shoreacres
April 4, 2012
And, as if to prove at least one of your points: The Cardinals and Miami Marlins will begin the season with the opening of Florida’s new ballpark on Wednesday, April 4. I thought the axis of the spiritual world had shifted at first, knowing that the Cards were opening the season. But no – that new stadium opening in Florida has kept things spinning as they should!
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
The nuns at my school always favored the St. Louis Cardinals (and the Los Angeles Angels), even though Yankee Stadium was just a few miles away. It was a nice coincidence when I discovered the Cards were opening the season this year. I couldn’t pass it up.
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VeggieSandwichGeneration
April 4, 2012
Last year I went to an Easter dinner at my cousin’s house. At some point the “shotski” was brought out. This consists of approximately four to five shot glasses glued to a snow ski out of which four to five people take a shot by lining up side by side and cooperatively pulling said ski towards your mouths. If that doesn’t say Easter, what does?
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
I wonder if the shotski is brought out to celebrate Christmas, too. And Thanksgiving. And Flag Day.
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Betty Londergan
April 4, 2012
Wow, Charles, I can’t believe you didn’t know the Sunday exemption Lenten rule — that was the ONLY thing that got me through … because my mom encouraged us to give up whole categories of things (chocolate, candy, soda) and with 7 brothers and sisters who were relentless monitors of whether you were staying true to your abstinence, there was precious little room for cheating. Oddly, I kinda liked Lent — I used to go to 6 a.m. Mass with my dad every day and that was the only time I got to be alone with him and even though he never talked to me (it was 6 a.m.) I felt especially holy and almost like an only child! Your writing is so vivid, it just brings back that time with such clarity and sweetness (what a brilliant strategy: giving up cabbage during the Cuban Missile Crisis) … I love it!!!
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patricemj
April 4, 2012
That’s a sweet image — you at mass each morning with your dad. I didn’t know about the Sunday exemption either. Then again, even though I was from a family of eight, my parents were not paying attention to what anybody gave up for lent. I think the spirit of lent was woven into our whole lifestyle – there wasn’t a lot to give up 😉
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
Betty, I know exactly what you mean when you talk about feeling especially holy. And how perfect that you could have that experience alone with your Dad. I wonder if you later told him about those memories.
Regarding the Sunday exemption: The Pope could have come into our classroom and explained the whole thing, and I still would have missed it. I was probably too busy hiding my baseball cards inside my desk.
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
Patrice, you could write an amazing post about that. Or have you already?
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The Sandwich Lady
April 4, 2012
Gosh this brings back memories. Wonder how all those pagan babies turned out. Wonderful post.
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
I have a feeling the pagan babies were just fine, Sandwich Lady.
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charlywalker
April 4, 2012
Yikes! You triggered my suppressed catholic childhood memories of fighting with the elastic band under my chin that would roll up and snap my nose, that secured the ridiculous Easter Hat my mother bought us every year to match the over sized hand-me down -from my too tall sister’s dress, accompanied by ecru gloves that faded from the ebb and flow of misused Tide, that I was forced to wear since I was the youngest of four…….
other than that…Loved this post Charles.
CW
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
It sounds pretty uncomfortable, CW. But you left out the part about all the kneeling and standing and sitting and kneeling and standing.
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charlywalker
April 5, 2012
those were called squat thrusts…..and I thank the nuns “clacker” for the toning of my thighs….
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Arlee Bird
April 4, 2012
I still recall that Easter morning of 1958 when we woke up to a lovely display of goodies and bunny decor and two nicely decorated chocolate crosses. They were quite tasty, but chocolate crosses? It still seems kind of strange.
Lee
Places I Remember
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
Chocolate crosses may seem strange now, Arlee, but you were probably eating them not too long after receiving communion. In that context, it may have made more sense.
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Ashley
April 4, 2012
One year I gave up chocolate (I was raised Baptist, but figured I’d join the party anyway because I liked the concept). That was the LONGEST 6 weeks of my life. I remember attacking the kids’ Easter baskets on Easter Sunday with a vengeance. This year I gave up fried foods. I’ve gained 2 pounds. Thank you, however, for enlightening this Baptist girl on the Sunday rule. I’ll have to remember it next year when I give up….um….skydiving or something 😉
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
You just reminded me that it was on an Easter Sunday when I learned that my cousin was Protestant. I don’t remember exactly what we were taught about the Protestants, but it didn’t sound good. And as with so many other things, it was hard for me to understand how my mother’s brother’s son could be part of a different religion.
Thanks for reading, Ashley.
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thethirtyyearoldme
April 4, 2012
One year, I decided I would take the New Years resolution approach and made a Lenten promise that would better me as a person. It was “To learn something new.”
My mom was not pleased.
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
Your mom would have preferred that you give up cookies for a few weeks? I think your idea sounds better — and would have long-term benefits. Imagine learning one new thing every day during Lent, and doing that every year.
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icedteawithlemon
April 4, 2012
There is so much I love about this post!
For one, Easter arriving “at the far edge of a forty-six day cloud of confusion”–even though I’m not Catholic and have never given up anything for any reason other than I wanted to (and therefore can’t fully appreciate your cloud), I still love your wording. And the admission that you “attended Mass on a regular basis when I remembered to go” made me laugh aloud!
“I recently learned that the Sundays in Lent weren’t considered part of the abstinence period.” Really? Why were you never informed of this before? (Or were you possibly just not paying attention when that important piece of information was being shared?) Just thinking of all the Milk Duds you missed out on over the years made me the tiniest bit sad for your little boy self.
And, of course, I whole-heartedly agree with you that “baseball is the ultimate symbol of rebirth.” Thank you for explaining to me Easter’s placement on the calendar, and I’m not at all surprised that my beloved Cardinals have something to do with it.
As for the requisite fancy clothes on Easter, even we small-town Baptists had to get dressed up for Easter Sunday–which I never minded so much. What I didn’t like was having to keep those starchy clothes clean and neat and properly sashed until the services were over–sheer torture!
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
Thanks for the great comment, Karen. I still don’t understand how I didn’t know about the Sunday exemption, but your guess that I simply wasn’t paying attention sounds right.
By the way, congratulations on being chosen to write a review of John Grisham’s latest novel, Calico Joe. Excellent job:
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icedteawithlemon
April 5, 2012
Thank you, Charles!
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patricemj
April 4, 2012
Lent. What a great topic and so topical 😉 From reading this I realize my family was not nearly as Catholic as yours. Except for the one hour a week when we went to church, I didn’t feel the presence of the faith pressing down upon me. This might sound odd, but as I read this I was reminded of how it felt to have the side of a priest’s thumb, covered in cool, slick ash, glide quickly across my forehead. As a young girl, that touch made an impression on me, literally. Looking back now, my sense is one of invasion. It wasn’t supposed to be personal, but oddly, for me it was.
Thank you for taking me back. This post makes me miss church with my parents, sitting on either side of me on a long, hard pew.
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
My memories are just the opposite, Patrice. I remember thinking how quick and impersonal the ashes ritual was, especially given the great emphasis that was placed on it every year in school. I guess there were so many of us, it became like an assembly line for the priest.
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patricemj
April 5, 2012
Yes, ours was assembly line like too; but I was shy and it felt weird to me to be smudged by a stranger.
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Arindam
April 4, 2012
I loved this one. Thanks for sharing something about which neither I am aware of nor I have ever experienced. Great post. 🙂
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bronxboy55
April 7, 2012
Thanks, Arindam. I’m sure some of it was impossible to relate to, so I appreciate your comment all the more.
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Carol Deminski
April 4, 2012
Ahhh yes, bunnies and eggs indeed. What you may be forgetting is that many Xtian holidays adopt (adapt?) aspects of pre-Xtian pagan ritual into their cannon. So at Christmas time, the good ol’ Christmas tree is actually a pagan symbol that’s been pulled in to do double duty. Pagans did (and for those who still practice Paganism, still do) celebrate the rites of Spring. The egg is a symbol of birth, new birth, etc, and the bunny is … well very cute, but I suspect it is also a symbol of Springtime (who else comes into the garden to munch on all those cute bright green shoots?)
Some of your readers are potentially doubting the veracity of my claim above. I can hear them now, the Christmas tree! Why, how dare she! 🙂
Last year, I visited Mexico. It’s a beautiful, and extraordinarily Catholic country. I went to San Pedro Cholula, which has an ancient pre-Christian pyramid (believe it or not, it’s the largest pyramid in the world, but it’s hard to see now because it is covered in dirt and grass…) Well, guess what is on the very tippity top of that ancient pyramid, used for ancient – definitely non-Christian rituals? That’s right: a church!
This is not a coincidence… but it did make for quite a climb to the top.
In any case, for those who celebrate, Happy Easter… just remember though, when you bite into that chocolate bunny, you are probably doing more to celebrate Paganism than anything else.
Carol
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bronxboy55
April 7, 2012
Thank you for your thoughts, Carol. I think all religions that spread enough to encounter other cultures adopted elements of those cultures, including parts of their religion. The result has to be a mixture of beliefs, and that may be why so much of this stuff seems incongruous.
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Marie M
April 9, 2012
I think both bunnies and eggs became symbols of Springtime and Easter because of their connections to fertility and new life, i.e., nature gearing up again and Easter’s resurrection. As an aside, do you know the origin of the word “Lent”? From http://www.dictionary.reference.com:
before 1000; Middle English, lente ( n ), Old English lencten, lengten spring, Lent, literally, lengthening (of daylight hours); cognate with Dutch lente, German Lenz spring
I love some of the word-related examples of acculturation, like that one. From a religious point of view, though, I’m less thrilled with others, like the origin of the word “Easter,” from the same source:
before 900; Middle English ester, Old English ēastre; cognate with German Ostern; orig. name of a goddess and her festival; akin to east
That etymology appears to me to be evidence not just of adoption/adaptation, but of wholesale co-optation–sad to say, a practice not restricted to Christianity, but common to other religions, political entities, and perhaps victors of all kinds. But interesting, nonetheless.
Thanks for the post!
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
And thank you for the elaboration, Marie. I’d always wondered about the origin of some of those terms, especially Lent.
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Michelle Gillies
April 4, 2012
Like Ashley, I was raised Baptist.
I was the little kid running around telling everyone they had dirt on their face.
Who knew?
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
I never really thought about it this way before, Michelle, but on that day, we looked at people without ashes as having something on their face. It was the lack of dirt that jumped out at us. The pressure to conform is a powerful thing.
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ptigris213
April 4, 2012
I love it! I was raised Catholic and went through all the nonsense you did, with the exception of the boxes for the nickels. We had small envelopes in which to place our Sunday mass ‘contribution” (nowadays we call it extortion). WHen you’re a kid getting a quarter for an allowance on Saturday, and you have to put a dime of that allowance in the envelope, it quickly teaches you where the Church’s priority lay: shaking kids down for dimes. And, as a way to enforce that extortion, you and all your classmates names were on a blackboard in your classroom, , and your envelopes and ”’donations”” were tracked. Thus, the Cavanaughs (a fecund and very rich clan of Irish Catholics) always had stars after their names, and the amount they’d donated, and the poor Polish kids attending the school had x’s after theirs (mine included) because we’d not donated.
I was raised Catholic, then I grew up.
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
It’s amazing how uniform most Catholic practices were, and yet there were strange anomalies like the one you describe. I’m sure that donations were tracked at our church, too, but it would have never been posted in the classroom for all to see. I can understand how upsetting and humiliating that must have been.
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buckwheatsrisk
April 4, 2012
Wow Easter sounds rather difficult in the Catholic faith. I was raised in a missionary church and i thought that was hard, although many of the rules and control came from my father…so what do you think of Easter now?
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
I can appreciate Easter as a time of renewal and rebirth. And while I don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus (or anyone else), I’m glad for the joy and comfort it brings to so many Christians.
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buckwheatsrisk
April 9, 2012
that’s awesome that you wrote about what can be such a heated subject! I love your writing!
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Carl D'Agostino
April 4, 2012
Yankees. Then God, church and salvation. You gotta have your priorities.
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
Actually, Carl, the Mets were my team, especially when they were really bad. Root for the underdogs: that’s pretty Christian, isn’t it?
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Sybil
April 4, 2012
Not sure who Ghidorah is, but I bet Mary Poppins could whomp his ass !
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
I’m not so sure, Sybil. Watch this:
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Margaret Reyes Dempsey
April 4, 2012
I did not know about that Sunday loophole. No fair!
I’ve always found the traditions of this holiday season bizarre. I think many miss the spirit of sacrifice and opportunity for self-improvement because of the very literal way they follow “the rules” as they have been presented by the “powers that be.”
For example, not eating meat on Friday…but going out for a lobster dinner with all the fixins at a fancy restaurant instead. No meat. 🙂
By the way, in case you didn’t get notification, I’ve awarded you the 7×7 Link Award. Yes, I know. Another award. This one was fun for me. It was a chance to look back at some old blogs. I know there are plenty of people who wouldn’t mind looking back at yours. If you’re interested, see the details at http://margaretreyesdempsey.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/7-x-7-link-award/
Happy Easter!
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one unaware of the loophole. And I agree that the intent can get lost among all of the rules and rituals.
Thanks for the award, Margaret. I’ll check it out.
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writingfeemail
April 4, 2012
*I’ve just smacked my forehead with my open palm.* I finally get it. All this time I thought Easter moved around for all the wrong reasons. Now it makes sense. I should have been checking the baseball schedule. Thanks Charles.
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
Glad to help, Renee. Thanks for the comment.
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Val
April 4, 2012
If it’s easter, where’s my chocolate egg? That’s what I want to know.
Great post, as ever, Charles. Trouble is, if I were to give anything up, it’d have to be chocolate easter eggs and, y’know… Hmmm..
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
The good news is that almost every holiday offers some reason to buy chocolate.
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Deanna
April 4, 2012
This brings me right back to my Catholic upbringing (youngest of nine mean anything to you?) and the ridiculous amount of time we spent in Church during the Easter season – Christmas paled in comparison. Besides Ash Wednesday there was Psalm Tuesday, and the one I really loathed was Good Friday, when the entire church lined up to kiss the feet of Jesus. Very hygienic. This all served to turn me into a happy atheist, so not a total waste of time.
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
Psalm Tuesday? I’ve never even heard of that. And did you have eleven people all getting ready for church at the same time? I’m having a hard time even picturing what that must have been like. I’m glad you survived it.
Thanks, Deanna.
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1of10boyz
April 5, 2012
Reblogged this on middlekingdom1of10boyz and commented:
A lighter look at Easter, that I can’t relate too, but my Catholic friends might get a laugh at. Happy Easter.
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
Thanks for the link, and I hope your readers will appreciate the post.
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Stacie Chadwick
April 5, 2012
Raised in a solidly Christian family (with Southern Baptist roots), I was always intrigued with all of the rites and rituals of Catholicism. I always hated drinking the warm, grape-juicy wine substitute every Sunday, but I never had to give up my Cocoa Puffs. Thank God. =)
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
Catholicism has always been big on spectacle, Stacie. In fact, it appeals to all of the senses, in its way. Okay, here’s another confession: I preferred Sugar Crisp to Cocoa Puffs. (I feel better now.)
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souldipper
April 5, 2012
Sounds as though you had the Stations of the Cross down pat…a no-mention is as good as a confession of total participation, isn’t it? 😀
Next year, let’s all give up blogging for Lent! Now please forget you ever saw this comment! 😀
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
I was going to talk about the Stations of the Cross, Amy, but couldn’t think of a way to discuss it without changing the tone of the post. I don’t know if I was absent that week or just daydreaming, but I was always confused by the Stations of the Cross. I thought it had something to do with radio, or the subway. Really.
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souldipper
April 9, 2012
You are not alone, Charles. As an “ordinary” Anglican, I wasn’t raised with Stations during the Easter celebration. Then a retired “High Church of England” Anglican Bishop (ahem!) showed up and suddenly it was happening. There was so much hullabaloo over the details of each Station that I don’t remember the overall purpose ever being explained.
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Joseph Gilmore
April 5, 2012
Another fun read Sir Charles, and I couldn’t agree more… baseball is the ultimate symbol of rebirth.
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
I still miss the baseball of my childhood, though, when it was more about the game and less about money and endorsements. At least that was my perception. Thanks, Joseph.
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winsomebella
April 5, 2012
Being an imperfectionist, I have never been able to give up anything I really wanted 🙂
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bronxboy55
April 7, 2012
If the purpose of sacrifice is to learn gratitude and to appreciate what’s important, then you’ve clearly found your own path, Bella. Thank you, as always, for visiting my blog and for taking the time to comment.
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Anonymous
April 5, 2012
I don’t remember the Sunday Lent Exemption. I would have thought, if anything, that they put the screws on tighter on Sunday cause it was “The Lord’s Day”. Maybe it existed but the nuns in our school didn’t want us kids to know about it! Too bad there wasn’t a Homework Exemption.
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bronxboy55
April 5, 2012
If you didn’t know about the exemption, Ang, then it didn’t exist. Either that or this is one more conspiracy to add to the list. (Remember how the nuns who liked baseball would confiscate our cards and never give them back?) If you find out there was a Homework Exemption, please don’t tell me.
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worrywarts-guide-to-weight-sex-and-marriage
April 5, 2012
I’m glad you are working this all out for the rest of us. I have been confused for years about why Easter is sometimes in March and sometimes in April. Honestly, I thought it was last weekend. I even said to my son who was headed out for the Peace Corps, “You better get to the airport early because it’s Easter weekend.” Apparently, St. Louis was not playing at home opening day (I don’t know when opening day is either). Great post!!
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
It’s very confusing, WW, especially because it’s the only holiday that causes us to ask which month it arrives. And speaking of arrivals, I hope your son got there safely.
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Allan Douglas
April 5, 2012
So THAT’s what Lent is all about. I thought it was a really short Catholic New Years resolution or something. Thank you for the wisdom, insight and humor, May you find many jellybeans in your basket this year.
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
It only seems short to this of you who have never had to pay a lot of attention to it. Thanks for the comment, Allan, and for the jellybean wish.
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John
April 5, 2012
Ahhh, this brings back memories. I’m just not sure if I should thank you. 😉
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
I know what you mean, John.
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Nicky
April 5, 2012
I’ve been scolded thousand of times with the “Jesus died for us” speech. I remember the last time was because I didn’t eat my whole meal. It’s not like Jesus will come flying to my table and eat my leftovers, and what would my cat eat if not the same leftovers? I prefer the “African kids don’t have enough to eat” speech to that…
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
I never understood those speeches either, Nicky, but the guilt did its job anyway. I really like your illustrations:
http://paperbookshelf.wordpress.com/
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Patti Kuche
April 5, 2012
The Sunday Lent exemption didn’t exist in our family and when I later learned about it, it had to come from a convert! We were on our knees from Holy Thursday all the way to Easter Sunday after so many days of Lenten abstinence. Remember lining up and kissing the Foot of the Cross on Good Friday? I always felt so sorry for anyone in the class whose bad luck it was to have a birthday anywhere in the moving calendar that is Lent . . . great post Charles and happy easter memories to you and all!
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
The cross at the front of our church was huge, and I was terrified to go anywhere near it. I’m sure we did the foot kissing ritual, but I may have repressed the memory. Thanks for the great comment, Patti.
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O. Leonard
April 5, 2012
We didn’t have that Sunday Lent exemption either. I’m a little suspicious. I could never get a way with giving up something like cabbage. It was always candy. We weren’t allowed to chose a specific type either. Everything with sugar in it, pretty much, was banned. And when you accidentally popped a jaw breaker in your mouth and then spit it out just as quickly, you thought you were going to be struck by lightning, right there on the spot.
The Friday fish thing was a little disturbing too. I remember having to give up a steak dinner for pancakes one time when I spent a Friday night at my friend’s house. I wasn’t going to say anything, but my mother got to his mother and she agreed to the meat-free dinner.
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
I played with the truth a little there, O. We would have given up all candy for Lent, not just one kind (because that would have been too easy). And we had fish every other Friday all year long, although I’m almost certain I never ate it. (Our cat loved Fridays, and always sat under the table, right next to me.)
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Lenore Diane
April 5, 2012
46 days, Charles? 46? I gave up ice cream, and I’ve been waiting ever so (not) patiently for the 40 days to pass. And now you are telling me the number of days during Lent is 46? I am glad you posted this just days before Easter. I’m not sure I would have kept my sanity had you mentioned it on Ash Wednesday.
I don’t understand the bunny and Easter tie, either. While reading David Sedaris’ book, “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, I learned France celebrates Easter with flying bells. Apparently the bells become unattached to the towers and fly around the city delivering goodies. Bells. I don’t get that, either. http://www.francetravelguide.com/easter-in-franc.html
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
It’s 46 days if you include the free-pass Sundays. So you have 40 days of fasting within a 46-day period. Doesn’t that sound better?
I’d never heard about the flying bells, Lenore. Thanks for the link.
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dearrosie
April 6, 2012
Is it because I’m not Catholic that I’ve never understood why bunnies are connected with easter, and why they bring baskets of chocolate eggs?
Lenore’s story about flying bells in France is tres intéressant. Why bells?
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
Why chocolate? Why bells? Rosie, when you figure it out, please explain it to the rest of us.
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dearrosie
April 16, 2012
It’s not rocket science, bells make noise, chocolate makes me happy.
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Just Outside the Box Cartoon
April 6, 2012
Humorous as always. Thanks for clearing up the March / April timing. I now have an intelligent answer to give my kids.
Marti
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
Good luck explaining it, Marti. Thanks for the comment.
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gleaningthenuggets
April 6, 2012
Great post! There were so many mysteries growing up Catholic. The one that always got me was, why can’t I eat for an entire hour before we go to Church? I was an active young girl and was usually starving by the time Mass was over. It had something to do with not mixing plain ol’ food with the communion wafer. Huh? 🙂
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Marie M
April 9, 2012
Mmmm–if I might: The fast has more to do with the idea of sacrificing in preparation for receiving Communion, as a way of helping us to become “hungry” for Christ physically, spiritually, emotionally before Mass. That’s the intention, anyway.
I’m glad you’re young enough to be familiar with just the one-hour fast. I remember when it was reduced to three hours from the previous practice of fasting from midnight on! Those restrictions were great motivators for going to church early!
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gleaningthenuggets
April 10, 2012
Yeah, I’m glad I’m young enough for the one hour only, too!
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
I remember the midnight rule. And because I was pretty young at the time, it worked out to be more of a 15-hour fast before Communion. We lived four blocks from the church, and I’d run home after Mass.
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Marie M
April 11, 2012
Now, now, bronxboy, that’s cute, but not exactly as bad as you’re making it out to be. Remember that you were probably asleep* for 10 or so of those 15 hours, and another was spent getting ready for bed and getting dressed in the morning, leaving just 4 waking hours to divide between Saturday night and Sunday morning. The only real sacrifice I can see is not having a snack before bed. And if you got up for early Mass, those 4 hours were shaved down even more! Fifteen indeed!
*or trying to fall asleep, depending on how much of an insomniac you were as a child. Therefore, please note: If you spent most of the night tossing and turning because you were unable to sink into slumber, and passed those hours pining for food, then I withdraw my comment calling you to task for exaggerating. Fair?
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bronxboy55
April 17, 2012
Exaggerate? Me?
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Terri O.A.
April 6, 2012
I understand that little kid even though I grew up in a christian home but not Catholic. I always smile at your words that have a way of telling the truth while you talk about the kid that was trying to understand what was understandable, and what was not. 🙂
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
I’m still trying to figure it out, Terri. Thanks for your kind words.
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Terri O.A.
April 11, 2012
Your welcome, I haven’t read many posts lately! I’m looking forward to part 2 in any case. Your writing is interesting, but it is also fun to appreciate the craftsmanship of your words!
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Jennie Upside Down
April 8, 2012
Much like my New Year’s Resolutions.. I vow to stop doing things that I KNOW I can stop doing, thus not setting myself up for failure.
For example.. I will not club baby seals or eat poisonous plants.. Done.
I survived Lent another year.
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
Actually, Jenn, this newly discovered exemption would have allowed you to club baby seals on Sundays. Although I hope (and imagine) you didn’t take advantage of that.
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Jennie Upside Down
April 9, 2012
I wonder if giving up something to simply replace it with something else is really giving it up though. I mean, you give up Milk Duds but you chose something else that might be “Milk Dud-like”, isn’t that cheating on Lent?
I would never club baby seals but I have to tell you that the ONE time I accidentally had a burger on Friday and realized that I just ate meat, I felt horrible. Catholic Guilt is real. I grew up in a very strict Roman Catholic family. My grandmother was the housekeeper in the church and took care of the priests, rectory etc. If she had found out that I had accidentally eaten meat on a Friday. Woah The next twelve Saturday afternoon Masses would’ve been dedicated for my soul.
I’m only half kidding.
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bronxboy55
April 11, 2012
You’re right about the Milk Dud story, Jenn. See my admission to O. Leonard above. About eating meat on Fridays, I used to have nightmares about accidentally breaking the rule, and then getting hit by a car on the way to confession the next morning.
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Bracketed
April 9, 2012
Reblogged this on Bracketster’s Weblog and commented:
So true!
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bronxboy55
April 9, 2012
Thank you.
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Sandra Parsons
April 13, 2012
It’s exactly those – alledgedly Christian – holidays that make me eternally grateful to be a heathen. We only ever got the good sides out of the likes of Easter (chocolate bunnies and eggs) and Christmas (presents, chocolate-decorated Christmas trees, Christmas markets) without having to adhere to any tedious sacrificial practices. Sure, we too were threatened, with a birch that Santa Claus would bring for the naughty kids, but in my childhood, even the birches that we got were adorned with sweets. Guess I was always a good girl 😉
I keep wondering what good it could possibly do to scare children into submission with threats of eternal damnation or other unfavourable endings to their lives (like getting run over by a car). Don’t get me wrong, I think delayed gratification can be a very positive thing as it makes you appreciate more whatever it is you are striving for. It just seems to me so much easier to follow through with it when the rationale is not having to pay any interest for a bank loan because you were saving up for that new car you desire instead of borrowing the money, as opposed to burning in hell for eating sweets during lent.
Loved this post as always, Charles. Keep up the good work.
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bronxboy55
April 17, 2012
It’s hard to imagine most people deserving to burn in hell for their trivial sins, Sandra, and eating the wrong food on the wrong day is about as trivial as you can get.
Thanks for the kind words. It’s always good to hear from you.
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Priya
April 22, 2012
I should’ve known about Ghidorah, but I didn’t.
There’s always been a question in my mind about Easter. Why are the eggs made of meringue? Is it not true that the confectionery eggs are made of meringue?
And the question about Lent — can one lead an indulgent life for the rest of the year?
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bronxboy55
April 22, 2012
I’d never heard of meringue Easter eggs, but I quickly found this:
http://danivenn.com/2012/04/05/lemon-meringue-easter-eggs/
They look pretty good. The simpler eggs would either be hollow, solid chocolate, or filled with that sugary-creamy stuff that’s unidentifiable and causes loss of consciousness.
About leading an otherwise indulgent life: If you follow the logic that giving up what you love and are accustomed to is a beneficial sacrifice, then indulging yourself the rest of the year would seem to follow — it makes the abstinence that much more meaningful.
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buqtubackhelpni1978
October 5, 2012
Reblogged this on Annerys Duran Blogs.
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