Sorry girls – it’s not that kind of All Saints’ Day….
In my last teaching post, I taught at a Catholic prep school. I enjoyed most of my time there and one of the most bizarre things that I did not expect to enjoy, but actually did, was attending Mass every Thursday.
Regular followers of my blog (and those who know me well) will know that I am not religious and try to avoid spending time in places of worship. The purpose of this blog has been about enlightenment but not that of spiritual enlightenment.
The things I most enjoyed about the masses of Masses that I attended was the singing by the choir, the occasional funny joke told by my favourite priest (Father James – a Bristolian priest with a hilarious accent and a cheeky way of finding opportunities to make alcohol related anecdotes) and the bidding prayers read aloud by the children. The reason I enjoyed the bidding prayers was because reading aloud for some of the children was a huge occasion. One met with shaking hands, nervous coughs and huge smiles of relief when finished. I used to get a lump in my throat when an international pupil (who barely spoke English) volunteered to read the bidding prayer and managed to get through it – their face was a picture and it would make my day.
* On a different day, one pupil was so relieved to get through the prayer he stepped back from the centre of the alter with such gusto he almost backed on to a candle. The tail of his school blazer hung worryingly close to the flame and quickly a member of staff jumped to move him forward before the school witnessed their first Catholic human sacrifice! That was also a good Mass – because it was funny.
All Saints’ Day was therefore, a notable date I had heard of, thanks to my Catholic school teaching. I remembered it was a day to be thankful for the Saints and I remember making a display board mentioning all the saints and what they were patrons of.
http://www.catholic.org told me some interesting information about how to celebrate this day in Portugal, where I was on holiday at the time.
‘In Portugal, children celebrate the Pãpor-Deus tradition, and go door to door where they receive cakes, nuts and pomegranates. This only occurs in some areas around Lisbon.’
Although I didn’t have any pomegranates, we did have nuts and cakes in the villa but sadly no children turned up at the door. I didn’t expect them too, to be honest.
It is also a day to reflect on those loved ones who have passed away and remember their spirits. In Portugal, people bring flowers and light candles at gravesides and we did see an awful lot of religious candles for sale in super markets in Porto. I made sure I burned a candle for a short spell in our villa and though about my relatives and friends who have sadly gone. I’m very lucky to have known some truly wonderful people.
http://www.catholicculture.org explain that ‘To welcome them (the spirits of those who have died) by an external sign the people leave doors and windows open’. The villa had amazing windows that opened up like a door – so I enjoyed the fresh air sweeping through the villa all morning.
All doors and windows open to the full. I wouldn’t want those spirits knocking for hours, waiting to come in!
Every notable date in 2014 