``Where the
Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
All Saints' Day
(All Hallows' Day, or "Hallowmas")
This is a Holy
Day of Obligation on which we celebrate the Church
Triumphant -- all the Saints in Heaven, canonized or unknown. Some may
prepare for this feast by praying the All
Saints Novena starting on October 23, and ending on October 31.
After Noon today, and until Midnight tomorrow, a person who has been to
confession and Communion can gain a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions,
for the poor souls in Purgatory (who will be commemorated tomorrow)
each time he visits a church or public oratory and recites the Our
Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory be to the Father six times. This is
a special exception to the ordinary law of the Church according to
which a plenary indulgence for the same work can be gained only once a
day. Some of the grave-visiting customs described on the entry for All Souls Day, then, may
begin today in some places.
In anticipation of All Souls' Day tomorrow, when night comes on All
Saints, we darken the room, light a candle (one blessed at Candlemas if possible), and
pray the Rosary for our dead. Praying the
129th
Psalm (the De Profundis)
and/or the Litany of the Saints would also
be
lovely.
As to special foods for this feast, in Austria and Bavaria, Germany, a
sweet yeast bread called
Allerheiligenstriezel
-- "striezel" for short -- is given by godparents
to their godchildren on this day.
Striezel
1 packet of dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm milk, divided
1/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs room temperature
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. raisins
2 tablespoons rum
For the top,
before baking:
1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons milk
Sliced almonds
Coarse sugar
Dissolve yeast in a small bowl with 1/3 c. of the milk and a
pinch of sugar and let sit for 10 minutes 'til foamy.
Combine the remaining 2/3 c. milk with the melted butter,
then add the eggs and whisk together. Separately, in a medium-sized
bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook on
low speed, combine the milk mixture with the yeast mixture and half of
the flour mixture. Once the flour is incorporated, add the rest of the
flour mixture one tablespoon at a time, continually kneading on low
speed, until all of the flour is incorporated. Turn dough onto work
surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes. If the dough sticks to hands
and work surface too much, knead in 1-2 handfuls of flour.
Place dough into a large greased bowl, cover with a clean
dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 30-60 minutes or until
doubled in size. Punch the dough down, knead it and let it rise
again.>
In the meantime, soak the raisins in the rum. After the
second rise, knead the raisins into the dough. Divide the dough into
three equal pieces. Roll pieces into equally long strands (about 16-17
inches). Braid the strands together, brush with egg-milk mixture and
sprinkle with sliced almonds and coarse sugar. Preheat oven to 350F,
and let bread sit while the oven's heating. Bake for 30 minutes.
In Tuscany, a bread called Pane
Coi Santi is eaten -- but it
must be prepared starting two days before, including a day for the
bread to rest and "ripen," so be warned!
Pane Coi Santi (Pan Co' Santi)
For the starter, two nights
before All Saints Day:
1 1/2 c. bread flour
3/4 c. water, divided
1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
The morning of the day
before All Saints:
1 1/2 c. raisins, packed
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 c. walnuts, roughly chopped
1/4 c. sugar, divided
1/4 c. + 1 tsp. lukewarm water
1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
4 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. red wine
1 tsp. fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg yolk, beaten
The night before you plan to bake the bread, stir together
half of the water, the sugar, and the yeast and let it stand until
creamy and froth, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and the rest of
the water and mix with a whisk until roughly combined. Cover with a
damp towel and let rise at room temperature overnight or for 8 to 12
hours. By morning, it should be bubbly and doubled in size.
The next morning, soak the raisins in a bowl of water for 15
minutes or so, then drain.
Heat the olive oil in a pan, then add the drained raisins,
the walnuts, and the sugar. Warm up so the oil takes on the flavor of
the raisins and nuts, then take off the heat and cool.
In a small bowl, stir together the water, 1 teaspoon of
sugar, and the yeast and let it stand until frothy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl of a stand mixer, add the starter made the
night before, the flour, and the activated yeast, along with the nuts
and raisins. Knead on low speed, adding the wine a little at a time,
until the dough is well combined. It should be smooth to the touch and
come away easily from your hands. Lastly, add the salt and pepper and
knead for another minute.
Turn the dough out onto an oiled pastry board. Form a round
ball of dough, cover with a damp towel, and let rise for about 2 hours,
until doubled in size. When the dough has doubled in size, knead it
again, then divide and form 2 round bread loaves. Arrange the loaves,
well-spaced, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut a cross
into the tops of each with a knife and let rise again until doubled in
size, covered with a damp towel. Preheat oven to 3500F.
Brush the bread loaves with a beaten egg yolk, transfer to the oven,
and bake for about 50 minutes until dark brown and glossy. Remove the
bread from the oven and let it cool thoroughly. Wait at least one day
before consuming.
From Naples via
Sicily come chocolatey-spicy, cake-like cookies called Rame di Napoli,
or "Neopolitan Coppers," They're often given to children as gifts
"from" their ancestors and relatives who've died:
Rame di Napoli (Coppers of Naples)
1 3/4 cups flour (00 flour if you can get it)
3 1/2 tbsp butter melted
1/2 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup + 1/3 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
zest from 1/2 orange, finely grated
2 tsp baking powder
For the topping:
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
4 tbsp + 1 tsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp orange marmalade
2 tbsp finely chopped pistachios
Preheat the oven to 350F and line 2 baking trays with
parchment paper.
Place the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and baking powder in a
large bowl and stir to combine. Then sift the cocoa powder over the
top, add the orange zest, and mix to combine.
Add the honey and melted butter and stir until the mixture is
just about combined.
Sift half the flour on top and pour in half the milk and mix
until just about combined.
Sift the remaining flour and add the remaining milk and stir
until everything is well combined and the mixture glossy and still
quite wet.
Then, using about 2 TBSP for each cookie, shape into balls
and place on the cookie sheets with room in between for the cookies to
spread a bit. Bake for 10-15 mins (they will rise), depending on your
oven and the size of the cookies. Allow to cool for a few minutes on
the baking tray and then transfer to a wire rack.
Melt the chocolate and butter together, in a double-boiler or
in a microwave, and mix together well. Warm the marmalade so it's
spreadable, then brush onto the top of each cookie. Dip each cookie in
the chocolate to coat the top, then dip the wet tops in the pistachios.
Let them harden before serving.
As to music, the classic for the day is "Ye Watchers and Ye
Holy Ones" about the angels and Saints who guard and pray for us:
Ye watchers and
ye holy ones,
bright seraphs, cherubim, and thrones,
raise the glad strain, Alleluia!
Cry out, dominions, princedoms, powers,
virtues, archangels, angels' choirs:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
O higher than the cherubim,
more glorious than the seraphim,
lead their praises, Alleluia!
Thou bearer of th' eternal Word,
most gracious, magnify the Lord:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Respond, ye souls in endless rest,
ye patriarchs and prophets blest,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Ye holy twelve, ye martyrs strong,
all saints triumphant, raise the song:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
O friends, in gladness let us sing,
supernal anthems echoing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
To God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, Three in One:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
And for the car ride home after Mass, there's the most
requested jazz standard in the world, a song that began as a spiritual:
When the Saints Go Marching In. There are a million versions with
lyrics variations, but I'll include some of the most common verses
below, along with a recording by the great Louis Armstrong:
Oh, when the
saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
O when the sun refuse to shine,
O when the sun refuse to shine,
O Lord, I want to be in that number
when the sun refuse to shine.
Oh, when the moon turns red with blood
Oh, when the moon turns red with blood
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the stars fall from the sky
Oh, when the stars fall from the sky
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the drums begin to bang
Oh, when the drums begin to bang
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the
trumpet sounds its call
Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the horsemen begin to ride
Oh, when the horsemen begin to ride
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, brother Charles you are my friend
Oh, brother Charles you are my friend
Yea, you gonna be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh Lord I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
For lots to read
about the Saints, see this site's Catholic
Library for free books in pdf format.
Reading
On All the
Saints
By St. Gregory Thamaturgus
Grant thy
blessing, Lord.
It was my desire to be silent, and not to make a public display of the
rustic rudeness of my tongue. For silence is a matter of great
consequence when one's speech is mean. And to refrain from utterance is
indeed an admirable thing, where there is lack of training; and verily
he is the highest philosopher who knows how to cover his ignorance by
abstinence from public address. Knowing, therefore, the feebleness of
tongue proper to me, I should have preferred such a course.
Nevertheless the spectacle of the onlookers impels me to speak. Since,
then, this solemnity is a glorious one among our festivals, and the
spectators form a crowded gathering, and our assembly is one of
elevated fervour in the faith, I shall face the task of commencing an
address with confidence. And this I may attempt all the more boldly,
since the Father requests me, and the Church is with me, and the
sainted martyrs with this object strengthen what is weak in me. For
these have inspired aged men to accomplish with much love a long
course, and constrained them to support their failing steps by the
staff of the word; and they have stimulated women to finish their
course like the young men, and have brought to this, too, those of
tender years, yea, even creeping children. In this wise have the
martyrs shown their power, leaping with joy in the presence of death,
laughing at the sword, making sport of the wrath of princes, grasping
at death as the producer of deathlessness, making victory their own by
their fall, through the body taking their leap to heaven, suffering
their members to be scattered abroad in order that they might hold
their souls, and, bursting the bars of life, that they might open the.
gates of heaven.
And if any one believes not that death is abolished, that Hades is
trodden under foot, that the chains thereof are broken, that the tyrant
is bound, let him look on the martyrs disporting themselves in the
presence of death, and taking up the jubilant strain of the victory of
Christ. O the marvel! Since the hour when Christ despoiled Hades, men
have danced in triumph over death. "O death, where is thy sting! O
grave, where is thy victory?" Hades and the devil have been despoiled,
and stripped of their ancient armour, and cast out of their peculiar
power. And even as Goliath had his head cut off with his own sword, so
also is the devil, who has been the father of death, put to rout
through death; and he finds that the selfsame thing which he was wont
to use as the ready weapon of his deceit, has become the mighty
instrument of his own destruction.
Yea, if we may so speak, casting his hook at the Godhead, and seizing
the wonted enjoyment of the baited pleasure, he is himself manifestly
caught while he deems himself the captor, and discovers that in place
of the man he has touched the God. By reason thereof do the martyrs
leap upon the head of the dragon, and despise every species of torment.
For since the second Adam has brought up the first Adam out of the
deeps of Hades, as Jonah was delivered out of the whale, and has set
forth him who was deceived as a citizen of heaven to the shame of the
deceiver, the gates of Hades have been shut, and the gates of heaven
have been opened, so as to offer an unimpeded entrance to those who
rise thither in faith.
In olden time Jacob beheld a ladder erected reaching to heaven, and the
angels of God ascending and descending upon it. But now, having been
made man for man's sake, He who is the Friend of man has crushed with
the foot of His divinity him who is the enemy of man, and has borne up
the man with the hand of His Christhood, and has made the trackless
ether to be trodden by the feet of man. Then the angels were ascending
and descending; but now the Angel of the great counsel neither
ascendeth nor descendeth: for whence or where shall He change His
position, who is present everywhere, and filleth all things, and holds
in His hand the ends. of the world? Once, indeed, He descended, and
once He ascended,--not, however, through any change of nature, but only
in the condescension of His philanthropic Christhood; and He is seated
as the Word with the Father, and as the Word He dwells in the womb, and
as the Word He is found everywhere, and is never separated from the God
of the universe.
Aforetime did the devil deride the nature of man with great laughter,
and he has had his joy over the times of our calamity as his
festal-days. But the laughter is only a three days' pleasure, while the
wailing is eternal; and his great laughter has prepared for him a
greater wailing and ceaseless tears, and inconsolable weeping, and a
sword in his heart. This sword did our Leader forge against the enemy
with fire in the virgin furnace, in such wise and after such fashion as
He willed, and gave it its point by the energy of His invincible
divinity, and dipped it in the water of an undefiled baptism, and
sharpened it by sufferings without passion in them, and made it bright
by the mystical resurrection; and herewith by Himself He put to death
the vengeful adversary, together with his whole host.
What manner of word, therefore, will express our joy or his misery? For
he who was once an archangel is now a devil; he who once lived in
heaven is now seen crawling like a serpent upon earth; he who once was
jubilant with the cherubim, is now shut up in pain in the guard-house
of swine; and him, too, in fine, shall we put to rout if we mind those
things which are contrary to his choice, by the grace and kindness of
our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power unto the ages
of the ages. Amen.