Venite Prandete

THE FEAST OF ST JOHN THE APOSTLE; BLESSING OF WINE - 27th DECEMBER Painting of St John blessing the wine, by Alonso Cano, for the Altarpiece of a convent in Seville. St John is described in the preface to the Mass of this day, in the Roman Missal, as follows: St John is the virgin Apostle, crowned with the halo of those who knew how to conquer their flesh; for this reason, he became ‘the Disciple whom Jesus loved’. Thanks to his angelic purity, he imbibed that wholesome wisdom of which the Epistle of the Mass speaks and which has given him the halo of the Doctors. It is to St John, who wrote a Gospel, three Epistles and the Apocalypse, that we owe the most beautiful pages of the Divinity of the Word made flesh, and it is for this reason that the virgin Apostle is symbolized by the eagle. BLESSING OF WINE St John is associated with wine, a derivation from a legend in which a pagan high priest of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus was alleged to have said to him: “If you want me to believe i...

  THE CHRISTMAS FEAST Champagne was invented by a French monk of the order of St Benedict, Dom Pierre Perignon, born in 1640, who was the cellarmaster at the Abbey of Hautvilliers. The authors of The Bad Catholics Guide to Wine, Whisky and Song describe the sensation of Champagne as “always something quixotic, fine and fair. The delicate balance of sweet and dry, the tap-dance of bubbles against the palate, …it’s no surprise that champagne is called the beverage of love. It’s fitting then, that the Church had a hand in its creation.” In true Catholic tradition, the Christmas meal can be followed by a sip of Chartreuse, the liquor crafted in a monastery by the Carthusians, the strictest order in the Church. Named for its mother house, the Trappist monastery, “La Grande Chartreuse”, the liquor is made from 130 local herbs and flowers collected by the monks and distilled in the cloister. The formula has never been written down and is passed down orally to three trusted monks. The mona...