The Blessing of the Booze

From Father Z:

QUAERITUR:

You usually give your readership an annual reminder for the blessing of wine on St. John’s Day.

The Rituale says “Benedicere… hunc calicem vini et CUJUSLIBET POTUS”- so presumably any hard beverage could be blessed with that blessing? Whiskey would be acceptable right?

Right! Whiskey is “another beverage”.

I hope that you will get organized for this great day and wonderful blessing.  First, contact your priest and make sure he is one board.   To get him on board, it might be a good idea to to assure him that you will be leaving behind a goodly portion of the large quantity of the “other beverage” you want blessed:

“Hey Father!  I have a little too much Laguvulin 16 right now.  Could I leave some for you after you bless it?  I’d be much obliged.”

That sort of thing.

How did this blessing develop?   There was an attempt on the life of St. John the Evangelist by poisoning.  He blessed the cup and the poison crawled out in the form of a serpent.  You often see St. John depicted this way in art.

You can read the blessings at the link.

Wigwam Mills Socks Feast of St. James, July 25

 James was the son of Salome and Zebedee, and the brother of John the Evangelist. He was called James the Greater because he was taller than the other apostle, James (the Less).

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

 The Galilean origin of St. James in some degree explains the energy of temper and the vehemence of character which earned for him and St. John the name of Boanerges, "sons of thunder".

Today's Gospel:

 MAT 20 20:28
The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her,
“What do you wish?”
She answered him,
“Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom.”
Jesus said in reply,
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”

So Salome said, "OK. Can you at least give James a pension"? 

James is the patron saint of milliners, pharmacists, druggists, pilgrims and sock makers.

 

Craftsman Screwdriver Feast of St. Philip, May 3

 From today's Gospel according to John:

Jesus said to Thomas, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”

I get the feeling that sometimes, it took all of Jesus' strength to NOT dope slap some of his apostles.