Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 40: Chewidden Thursday

To wrap up we head to Cornwall and this celebration of an obscure saint who apparently played a large role in Cornish history. For it was St. Chewidden who is credited with taking black tin (tin ore) and turning it into white tin (smelted ore). The refined tin brought in more money than just the ore, helping to develop the tin industry overall in the region.

There is almost nothing online about Chewidden or what he did to become a saint (or even that he is a saint). I did find one link that said Chewidden translates into English as "white house," so it could be that this saint was conjured up to honor the process that helped Cornwall avoid widespread poverty (at least some of the time). It's also not clear why the day is held on the last Thursday that was at least one week before Christmas day. 

Chewidden is typically said to be a friend of St. Piran, of whom much more is known. A fifth centuty abbot, he is the patron saint of tin miners and of Cornwall itself (though there are at least a couple other patron saints of Cornwall as well). The Cornish flag - a white cross on a black background - is named for him. His feast day is March 5, and is widely celebrated, to the point where it's a kind of unofficial Cornish national holiday.

That's it for 2021, see you in 2022 with a decidedly non-holiday based Lentorama!

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 39: Lazarus Saturday

In Eastern Christian churches, the day before Palm Sunday is known as Lazarus Saturday, which celebrates Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This feast has ancient roots in Christianity, coming up in sermons recorded in the 4th and 5th centuries.  The service on this day reflects on the resurrection of Lazarus as pre-figuring the resurrection of Jesus (and the general resurrection promised when Jesus returns).

This day is still a fast day, but with one notable exception: caviar. Eggs are a symbol of the resurrection, and fish eggs are apparently seen as a shadow of bird eggs (which I guess is an ovate comparison of Lazarus to Jesus). This is also the day when, historically, hermits would return to their monasteries to celebrate Holy Week. 

There are also local differences in this feast. Celebrants in Greece and Cyprus bake and eat a bread that symbolizes Lazarus (this page gives more detail as to how the day goes in Greek Orthodox churches). In Serbia and Bulgaria you find traditions that may have more pagan roots, such as a fire to ward off vermin and snakes, and a procession that involves six maidens (though I'm not finding much of anything indicating that these practices are actually current).

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 38: Education Sunday

Observed primarily in the UK, this day is set aside to pray for and remember those involved in education. It apparently was held for a good century or so on the ninth Sunday before Easter, but in 2016 it was moved to the second Sunday in September to coincide with the start of the new school year (as with most things in education, change came slowly). There is surprisingly little history out there for this day considering that it was established fairly recently.

There is at least some recognition of this day in the US, though it looks like it's celebrated on the first Sunday of September, which is probably closer to the start of the school year in a lot of the country (I am continually surprised at the number of friends I have whose kids start school in mid-August). Confusing matters is something called Christian Education Sunday, which focuses on getting kids to learn about religion, which I've seen listed both in late September and early June.

 Book Log 2021 #17: The Trespasser by Tana French

Antoinette Conway is finding life on the Dublin Muder Squad difficult. She's working crap cases and gets all manner of grief from her colleagues. She's an easy target as the only woman on the squad, and garners extra attention for not being willing to go along as if it's all in good fun.

Her latest case looks like more of the same - a domestic dispute gone wrong - but as she and partner Stephen Moran (the same duo from the previous book) investigate, it becomes clear that there was more to the victim than meets the eye, and that her death may not be as open and shut as first appeared. That the powers that be want it to be open and shut is put clearly to Conway, who can't quite tell if she's being told not to overthink the case, or if she's being told off of going where the investigation leads.

This isn't the first book in the series told from a female point of view - The Likeness had Cassie Maddox as its lead detective - but it does come from a very different perspective. We get a lot more ambivalence about being a detective from Conway, even as she's finding obvious fulfillment in working this case.

This installment in the series maintains the high quality present in the previous books, which is remarkable given that we're six books in. Recommended, as is the series in general.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 37: Sinulog

Officially this is Sinulog-Santo Nino Festival, which is held annually on Cebu, one of the islands of The Philippines. The name Sinulog comes from a Cebuano adverb describing the movement of water, and refers to a dance that is part of the celebration.

That celebration predates the arrival of Christianity, with the dance done in honor of local gods (though there is at least one source that claims the dance came after, due to a miracle cure attributed to the Santo Nino). Christianity came into the story when Ferdinand Magellan showed up in 1521, claiming Cebu for Spain. When the local rulers and their subjects converted to Christianity, Magellan gave the rulers the Santo Nino, a figure of the Christ child. And while Magellan didn't last much longer (he would be killed about six weeks later), the Santo Nino did, becoming the oldest Christian artifact in the country.

There are a few good pages out there that talk about Sinulog (this one seems to have the best balance between photography, history, and description of the festival, even if it does feel like it's mostly trying to sell me a tour). They all stress the idea that this is as much a cultural event as a religious one, which makes a fair amount of sense when you consider its likely pre-Christian origin and the fervor with which Filipinos approach their faith. 

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 36: Detinjci

Historically, people in Serbia didn't give presents at Christmas. Presents were instead given on the three Sundays before Christmas day. Detinjci is the first of these three days, in which children are tied up at the legs, and give presents to their parents as "ransom" so they can be untied. The two following Sundays - known as Materice and Oci - have the kids turn the tables and tie up their mothers and fathers, respectively, with more presents as ransom.

Not sure what event led to this tradition, but no doubt it was something not at all scarring.

This tradition has waned over time, and now it's more likely that if gifts are being given it happens on Christmas Eve. I couldn't find anything really helpful to explain the origins of this tradition (at least in English), but I did run across some Serbian Orthodox churches that incorporate Detinjci into that particular Sunday's services.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 35: Sea Sunday

Held on the second Sunday in July, Sea Sunday is observed by a number of Christian churches as a day to pray for people who work on the water and their families. It's a popular day for organizations with a maritime focus to raise money for their works. 

In Catholic churches there is usually a second collection on this day to support the Apostleship of the Sea, which does things like provide priests for ships and run ministries in port cities. This page talks about the US branch of the Apostleship. The overall association of these branches is known as Stella Maris, and the patron saint of the organization (and also the namesake of my parish) is the Virgin Mary as Our Lady, Star of the Sea.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 33: Feast of the Holy Winding Sheet

Set on the day before Ash Wednesday, this feast was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in 1958 to honor what we now call the Shroud of Turin. It's not the first feast to celebrate the winding sheet of Jesus, and not even the first to celebrate a winding sheet of Jesus. There were two other feasts of this name that celebrated winding sheets other than the one currently in Turin. There was also a feast in 1831 which wasn't dedicated to any particular winding sheet, which seems like a good idea given the multiplicity of winding sheets.

There aren't any specific celebrations related to this day other than church services, at least that I could find. The keepers of the Shroud of Turin have a website with a video of the most recent service, but not much else about this subject in particular. Plenty on the Shroud itself, of course.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 32: Demetrius Saturday

Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches recognize a number of Saturdays as Soul Saturdays, when prayers are given for departed relatives and others who would not be recognized as saints. Saturday was chosen as it was the day where Jesus lay dead in the tomb. Not surprisingly, many of the Soul Saturdays happen around Lent and Easter.

Demetrius Saturday, however, takes place on the Saturday closest to October 26, the feast day of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki. Its celebration is generally like that of the other Soul Saturdays, where the regular Divine Service has added hymns to remember the dead. There is also usually a memorial service held either before Divine Service or after Friday night Vespers, and the blessing of koliva, a dish of boiled wheatberries and honey that is eaten after the service in memory of the departed.

A much fuller discussion of Saint Demetrius and the establishment of this day can be found here.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 31: Vardavar

This Armenian celebration takes place roughly 14 weeks after Pascha (Easter), and involves people throwing water on each other. There's also a large cultural festival on the day, with traditional songs, food, art, etc. on display. That the festival is held at both Armenia's best known monastery and its best known pagan temple should tell you something about Vardavar's origins.

The Christian explanation of the holiday says it either celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration or was a tradition started by Noah where his descendants would sprinkle water on each other and release doves in memory of the Flood. The pagan explanation is that the holiday celebrates Astlik, the Armenian goddess of love, fertility, and water (there's also a tradition that Astlik was actually a daughter of Noah born after the flood, which would be a handy way of tying the pagan and the Christian together). 

The word Vardavar actually references the pagan tradition, as it has a meaning along the lines of "burning roses," which references the offerings of roses given to Astlik. 

Smithsonian Magazine gives a good summary of the holiday and has pictures to underscore that if you're in the country on that day you're going to get soaked.

 Book Log 2021 #16: The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer

Varian Fry was an American journalist who, stationed in Europe in the 1930s, saw the danger in the rise of Nazi Germany and wrote extesnively on the subject. Once war started, and the Nazis occupied France, Fry and a small group of like-minded individuals started an organization that helped get people out of the country, with a focus on writers and artists who had been previously persecuted by the regime. This novel dramatizes his story and that of the rescue effort.

That effort was impeded on both sides of the war, with both the Nazis and the "free" French Vichy government keeping close tabs on Fry and his group, while American and other Allied governments resisted taking in refugees who were largely Jewish. In the short time the group was able to operate, they sent as many as 4000 people out of France (mostly to neutral Portugal), including notable figures like Hannah Arendt, Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Claude Levi-Strauss, and Marc Chagall (the title refers to a collection of his work that was kept on hand as a potential bribe).

I'd not heard of Fry or his organization before, and found their story both inspiring and frustrating. The book also delves into Fry's complicated personal life as a married but closeted man, adding an extra dimension of personal risk to the story.

I'd definately recommend this book, for the way it gives light to a darker corner of World War II.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 30: World Communion Sunday

Originally known as World Wide Communion Sunday), this day (held on the first Sunday in October) was created to give various denominations a chance to revisit the unity of Christianity through the Eucharist. It started in 1933, and in 1936 was adopted as a denomination-wide practice by the US Presbyterian Church. In 1940 it was promoted by what is now the National Council of Churches for celebration worldwide. 

It seems like it's mostly observed by Protestant faiths (which make up the bulk of the NCC), and I have to admit I don't recall it being promoted extensively in my Catholic parish (though I also have to admit I may not have noticed). 

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 29: Powder Day

Celebrated in the Spanish village of Tolox, Powder Day sees people (mostly younger people) throw talcum powder at each other until they are coated in the stuff. It takes place on Shrove Tuesday, and marks the end of carnival in Tolox. 

Some point to the Ash Wednesday reminder that we "are dust, and unto dust shall you return" as the reason for the powdering, but local history points to a more secular beginning. The story goes that two women in the town were in love with the same man, and got into a fight over him. Both worked at the same bakery, and they started throwing flour at each other as they fought. This became a kind of courting ritual, with men throwing flour on women in whom they had a romantic interest. Women who did not want to get hit with flour (or who weren't interested in the man most likely to throw the flour) would stay home.

This led to some frankly appalling behavior, with men breaking into homes in order to throw their flour. Take a hint, dude.

At least one other town in Spain has a similar practice, though neither appear to be related to the Hindu festival of Holi, where participants throw colored powders at each other.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 28: Lajkonik Festival

This celebration held in Krakow, Poland, features a man dresses as the lajkonik, a folkloric figure dressed in Tatar clothing riding a wooden hobbyhorse. This man is the central figure in a procession that goes from a local convent to the city's market square, which includes other people dressed either in local traditional clothing or costumes with an eastern theme.

Along the procession route, the lajkonik touches people with his golden mace (which is thought to give good luck) and collects ransom money. Once at the square, the lajkonik meets up with the city's mayor, the ransom is exchanged, and a chalice is drunk to the health and good fortune of all of Krakow's citizens.

The origins of the festival are a little murky, but all stories agree it stems from the appearance of Tatar raiders in the 13th century, who may or may not have taken Krakow during the Mongol invasion of Poland. Most stories have Krakow repelling the invasion, with the lajkonik being created when locals put on Tatar dress either to celebrate their victory or to play a joke on the locals. 

In any case, the festival is held on the first Thursday after Corpus Christi, though it's not clear to me why that's so. This page gives a little more information on the festival, but nothing to help understand the date. 

 Book Log 2020 #3: Appetite for America by Steven Fried

This book tells the story of Fred Harvey, the entrepreneur who saw the expansion into the American west, and the railroad lines taking passengers there, as a business opportunity. He built an empire of restaurants and hotels along the Atcheson, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad, which not only made travel more comfortable and manageable for passengers, but developed systems for running such a far-flung enterprise that continue to influence the industry today.

Harvey's most notable (and remembered) innovation came with his staff, as he hired scores of "Harvey girls" as servers at his railside restaurants. The women had to be single and willing to work and live according the rules set by Harvey, which were often restrictive. Even so, this was a very early opportunity for women to join the workforce and earn money independently.

The Harvey empire waned as road and air travel supplanted rail, and most of his establishments are gone. Some still exist and are in use, as this CBS Sunday Morning story details. I found the book engrossing, as I didn't know much about Harvey or this particular part of US history, and would recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about this period, US rail travel, or the hospitality industry.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 27: Sunday of the Myrrhbearers

This Eastern Christian observance takes place on the third Sunday of Pascha, and celebrates the people who brought myrhh and other spices to the tomb of Jesus (such as Mary Magdalen) and those who oversaw the entombment (like Joseph of Arimathea). 

The placement of this feast reflects a concept called synaxis, where the secondary figures in a larger feast are celebrated with their own feast on the following day. In this case, though, the day has to be pushed back due to the observance of Bright Week and Thomas Sunday. There doesn't seem to be any specific celebration tied to the feast, though there are special mention of the myrrhbearers during the week, and churches named for any of the myrrhbearers may have their own festival as well. 

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 26: Volkstrauertag 

This day is sort of a German Memorial Day, but broader, as it's a day of mourning for all military and civilian dead from armed conflict (which in this case includes political oppression as well as war). It's held on the second Sunday before the first day of Advent, after it moved from mid-November to the second Sunday of Lent to early March, where the Nazis changes its meaning to best suit its propaganda aims.

After World War II, the government moved it to its current day and given its broader scope. Celebrations are kind of like a combination of Memorial Day and Veterans Day in the US, with speeches by elected leaders and parades of veterans that often go from a religious service to a local war memorial.

 Book Log 2020 #2: Medallion Status by John Hodgman

The follow-up to Vacationland, Hodgman talks about how he rose to a certain level of fame, the benefits that come with that, and what happens when that level of fame starts to recede. Like Vacationland it bounces between the absurd aspects of his life and very personal reflections on how his work and relative fame impacted his real relationship with his family. 

As with Vacationland I found the essays engaging and very funny (I admit I'm probably right in the middle of the target demo for Hodgman's brand of absurdly dry humor). Very much recommended.

(Note: not that it has anything to do with this particular book, but I'm pretty sure this is the last physical book I read from our local library before the Covid-19 pandemic shut everything down. I don't think the library was even open to return it until the fall.)

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 25: Azores Day

As you might have guessed, this holiday celebrates the Azores island group, or more specifically the granting of political autonomy in the Portuguese constitution. So how does it fit in with our theme?

The day is celebrated on the same day as the Festival of the Holy Spirit, which is celebrated by the Cult of the Holy Spirit that is centered in the Azores. Note in this case, it's a cult in the sense of an accepted religious practice within a faith rather than what we usually think of as a cult. It is held on the Monday after Pentecost Sunday, usually in late May or early June.

This combination of religious and secular motives for the holiday were noted in the preamble to the law that created it, and is seen in its celebrations, which not only celebrate Azorean autonomy but their culture, which is pretty bound up in religious observation. Not surprisingly, the celebration of the day winds up being part of the Holy Ghost festivals, which are held in towns across the islands. 

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 24: People's Sunday

Held on the first Sunday of Lent, this day (known as Ħadd in-Nies in Maltese) is local to Zabbar, Malta. It is a day to celebrate Mary as Out Lady of Graces, and dates back at least to the 15th century. The day started out as an Ash Wednesday pilgrimage to the Our Lady of Graces chapel in Zabbar to seek penance for the greater excesses of Carnival. As doing this on Ash Wednesday proved inconvenient given the other solemnities of that day, the observance moved to the first Sunday of Lent.

The actual festivities on the day seem to be fairly muted, focused mainly on processions with floats depicting Mary and the history of the town's devotion to her. 

 Book Log 2021 #15: Henry Reed's Journey by Keith Robertson

Henry Reed is a teenage boy who lives abroad, as his father is a diplomat.  Henry spends his summers with his aunt, uncle, and cousin Midge in Grovers Corner, New Jersey. Except for the summer in this book, where he meets the family in California for a cross-country drive back to New Jersey and records what happens in journal style.

This was one of my favorite books as a kid, and as I had my own kids I bought a used copy of the edition I'd grown up reading. They never quite took to it, and I decided to reread it. 

Suffice it to say that parts of the book did not age well. There is a near-constant griping by the uncle about the shopping habits of women, and a plot involving Native Americans goes about as you'd expect for a book published in 1963. Still, many of the stories are entertaining and not cringe-inducing, so I think the book would be worth introducing to current kids (with an appropriate amount of context-setting).

This is the second book in a five book series, but it's the only one I really got into (I have vague memories of reading Henry Reed, Inc.). The first four books in the series include illustrations by Robert McCloskey, which always led me confuse the Henry Reed books with the two books McCloskey wrote and illustrated featuring another teen boy who gets into adventures, Homer Price (Home Price and Centerburg Tales). I liked those, too, but haven't gone back to reread them. Yet.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 23: Quinquagesima

So it may be cheating to follow up the holiday for 60 days prior to Easter with the one for 50 days prior to Easter, but it's hard to resist taking a closer look at a day that has an alternate name of Pork Sunday.

Quinquagesima is the last Sunday before Easter, and is named for the 50 day period between it and Easter. The day no longer exists in the Catholic liturgical calendar, but is included in ordinary time. This is the typically the day when palms blessed on the previous Palm Sunday are burned, with the ashes used for Ash Wednesday.

To get to the pork, you'd need to visit Northern Europe and the traditionally Lutheran countries, where this day is the highlight of Fastelavn, the Nordic carnival prior to Lent. After services, there would be feasting that included meat, iced buns, sweets, etc. all done as a last blowout before Lent. 

There is a similar day in Eastern Christianity called Maslenitsa Sunday or Cheesefare Sunday, which is the last day non-Lenten foods can be eaten before the start of the Great Lent.

Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 22: Sexagesima

Held on the second Sunday before Ash Wednesday, this day was created so people could prepare themselves for Lent, spiritually, with many people taking penance. While the name suggests this day falls 60 days before Easter, it's really 57 days before Easter. There were two related days - Quinquagesima and Septuagesima - which were also for Lenten preparations (Quinquagesima was even numerically correct, as it did occur 50 days prior to Easter).

Sexagesima was observed in Catholic churches and some Protestant churches (usually ones with Anglican or Lutheran roots), but Vatican II removed all of these days from the liturgical calendar. The Anglicans followed suit not long afterwards, but there are congregations in both where the days are still observed (

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 21: St. Joseph's Day

The feast day of humanity's best-known cuckold (Wikipedia calls him the "legal father" of Jesus), this typically falls on March 19. As this date is always during Lent, there are rules about what day it moves to when it falls on certain days within Lent. For example, if March 19 is a Sunday in Lent but not Palm Sunday, the feast is observed on March 20. Unless that's a feast day for another saint, then this day moves somewhere else. And since 2008, if March 19 falls during Holy Week, the feast moves to the closest day before March 19 that isn't in Holy Week (this is typically the Saturday before Holy Week starts). But if you use a particular missal, the feast actually moves later than March 19.

And none of this applies if you're an Orthodox Christian, as you celebrate this feast after Christmas.

The feast seems most associated with Italy, and Sicily in particular. Legend holds that Joseph interceded to end a drought and famine in Sicily during the Middle Ages, and so the locals honored him by creating special altars to him on which food was placed that would later go to feed the poor. Fava beans play a significant role in the dishes made for the feast, as that was the crop that ended the famine.

In some countries, this day also doubles as Father's Day.

One thing to note is that many Italian-American communities hold a big celebration of St. Joseph's Day, similar to what the Irish-American community does with St. Patrick's Day. Seems to me like this might be an ideal substitution for Columbus Day, given that Columbia Day hasn't taken off.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 20: Bolludagur

Another Lent-related food day, this one started in Norway and Denmark but it now best known as an Icelandic observance. Happening on Shrove Monday, kids would decorate a small stick with colorful paper, and then use that to spank their parents while yelling "bolla," the Icelandic word for bun.

As a reward, the kids would get what looks like a cream puff, which has a cream and jam filling and a chocolate coating (or get one for each time they were able to spank a parent). The spanking has apparently fallen by the wayside, but eating the buns has now. According to this article, Icelanders eat more than a million of these buns every year.

I'm not sure how this holiday ties into Lent, though the Wikipedia article on it suggested the spanking stick was inspired by the wand used by priests to sprinkle holy water on people during services (also known as an aspergillum).

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 19: Bretzelsonndeg

This comes from Luxembourg, where on the third Sunday of Lent it is traditional to eat pretzels (usually sweet ones). The story goes that there was a tradition where men would give a woman he fancies a pretzel on this day, and if she were similarly interested in him she would give him an egg on Easter Sunday. If the pretzel failed to spark a connection, the woman would give the man a basket. 

This article from Luxembourg's national broadcaster gives more detail on this day and how it's been celebrated over the years. Not a real religious holiday or observance like most of what we've talked about so far, but with the Lenten connection I thought it was worth mentioning. Although I now want a pretzel.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 18: World Youth Day

John Paul II instituted World Youth Day in 1985, influenced by a Polish movement where mixed groups of Catholics would go on retreat together to develop their faith. It's held annually on a diocesan level, with an international gathering every two to four years that's attended by the pope. 

The smaller, annual celebration was traditionally held on Palm Sunday, but Pope Francis changed the date to the Solemnity of Christ the King. The larger event was first held in the spring, but has mostly been held in summer (July or August) since 1989. When it's scheduled for a more tropical location - like Panama or the Philippines - it's held in January.

While the local events tend to be pretty focused on Catholic learning and life, the international event runs over several days and includes a lot of entertainment. Benedict XVI apparently was critical of these events as being seen as similar to a rock festival. But considering it's drawn over 300000 visitors as recently as 2016, maybe let people see it in the light that makes the most sense to them.

I don't know if this really counts as a holiday, but it's a religious event whose date changes regularly so I'm going to run with it. Not to mention that the date of the Solemnity of Christ the King moves as well. 

 Book Log 2021 #14: Normal People by Sally Rooney

Connell and Marianne are from the same town, go to the same school, but travel in different circles. Connell is popular, outgoing, and middle class, while Marianne is a loner, kind of abrasive, and from a more affluent family (Connell's mom cleans her family's house). The pair strike up a relationship (one initially kept secret by Connell), and they drift in and out of each other's lives during the rest of their time at school. 

They both wind up at Trinity College in Dublin, and the change of venue leads to unexpected changes in personal status. Their relationship continues in its elliptical fashion, as both try to come to terms with who they are becoming, and if these new people can finally be together.

This was the It Book of 2018, and maybe I was jaded by all the accolades, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I did like it, but found it hard at times to understand the motivation behind how the characters acted (which I'm chalking up in part to being a Gen X reader of a book by and about millenials).  I'd be interested to see where these characters are today. 

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday To Go

Day 17: Chalica

Christians have the Advent wreath, Judaism the menorah, and African-Americans have the kinara. If you're Unitarian Universalist, then you also have your very own object to light on fire in the winter thanks to the relatively new holiday of Chalica.

Created in 2005, the purpose of Chalica is to celebrate the seven principles of the UU faith. Each day, a chalice is lit (the chalice being one of the major symbols of the church), and you then spend the day reflecting on one of the seven principles and then acting upon it.

While the holiday typically starts on the first Monday in December and runs through the following Sunday, there are some people who observe it over seven weeks to make it easier to find the time to act on each principle, rather than have to fit all seven acts into one week.

This page has a brief description of Chalica, with links to the seven principles and an article on the founding and growth of the holiday.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday To Go

Day 16: Jeûne genevois

This day, celebrated on the Thursday after the first Sunday in September, is a civic holiday in Geneva, Switzerland, but has religious roots.

While some Swiss Protestants, most notably Huldrych Zwingli, spoke out against fasting laws as being man-made and not supported by the Bible, it was not uncommon for cantons or cities to have laws that required fasting for thanksgiving. There were also fasts during times of trouble, be they plagues, persecutions, or massacres. The people of Geneva notably fasted in response to the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572. This fasting became an annual tradition, and in the 19th century became a federally-endorsed holiday.

This didn't last too long, as by the end of the 1800s the celebration of the fast was once again largely practiced only by Genevans. The religious aspects of the fast also fell away, and today it's really a civic holiday. The one tradition that seems to have persisted (perhaps ironically for a fast) was the eating of plum tarts, which became the main food source of the fast as it could be prepared the day before and used a fruit that was in season.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday To Go

Day 15: Festum Ovorum

Also known as Egg Saturday, this "holiday" occurs on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday at the University of Oxford. I use the quotes around holiday as what little information is out there about the day suggest that it's not a holiday in the same sense of the other days we've looked at so far.

Based on passing mentions of the day in Oxford histories, this was the last day for students to complete their bachelor's degree requirements for the year. There was also apparently a tradition for the degree seekers to provide a meal for the senior bachelor students, which included eggs.

While there's an obvious connection between Easter and the symbolism of eggs. it doesn't appear that the day had any overt religious meaning. Why the editors at Wikipedia decided to include it with their list of moveable feasts of Western Christianity I don't know, but I thank them for giving me a really odd day to talk about.

 Book Log 2021 #13: My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

It can be hard to be the older sister when your younger sister is known as the pretty one, and gets all of the attention. It's that much harder when she also has a tendency to kill her boyfriends.

This is the dilemma that Korede, a nurse in Lagos, finds herself in. Once again she has to help her sister, Ayoola, clean up and dispose of the body of her latest victim. And while Korede feels underappreciated for helping her sister, she's accepted that she'll have to keep doing so to protect Ayoola.

But this changes when Tade, a doctor that Korede has unrequited feelings for, meets Ayoola and falls for her. Will Korede stand and allow Tade to be the next person to feel Ayoola's knife, or will she try to break the chain of violence and cover-ups?

The story is told as a dark comedy rather than straightforward crime/horror, which adds an unusual dimension to both the love triangle and the familial relationships. The book also gives plenty of detail about contemporary Lagos, which helps those of us who do not have a firm grasp on what life is like in modern Nigeria. The strength of the book lies in the sisters, who are fully drawn and complex (which I guess they'd have to be given the circumstances). Recommended.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday To Go

Day 14: Stir-up Sunday

This is an informal name in the Anglican church for the last Sunday before Advent. It takes its name from a prayer for the day in the Book of Common Prayer that starts, "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord." This would then remind churchgoers that it was time to "stir up" the ingredients to make the Christmas pudding. 

That you would start making your Christmas pudding nearly a month before Christmas should tell you something about Christmas pudding. A dense cake made with dried fruit, spices, dark sugar/treacle, and usually some sort of alcohol, the pudding would be boiled or steamed for several hours, after which it would be left somewhere to mature until Christmas. At which point it could be reheated or doused with brandy and set aflame before serving. Which probably helped kill whatever would be growing on it after several weeks of sitting around.

The association between this particular day and Christmas pudding has waned a bit, between the growing popularity of store bought puddings and the adoption of the Feast of Christ the King on the same day. 

In the US, Episcopalians hear this prayer on the third Sunday of Advent, which I assume reminds them to stir up a Jello mold or something.

 Book Log 2021 #12: Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier

I am not much of a comic book person, and wouldn't have picked this up except it fit a reading challenge I was doing. I had heard of Jack Kirby, didn't know much about him, and am now glad I had a chance to read about his extraordinary life and career. Suffice it to say if you've ever watched a movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you've seen the fruits of Kirby's labor (though he also worked for DC and other publishers, so you've probably seen his work outside of the MCU, too).

There's a fair amount of struggle in this story - from getting into comics to his eventual break from Marvel and Stan Lee - but there's a lot of success, and it's all captured in engaging prose written by someone who is an obvious comics fan. It was very accessible to someone like me, who has rudimentary knowledge of the comics industry, and is well worth reading if you want to kmow a little more.

 Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 13: Feast of Our Lady of the Audience

Early in the 16th century, a wealthy family brought a statue of the Madonna and Child created by Antonello Gagini to the town of Sambuca di Sicilia, where for many years it was hidden near the town ovens. In 1575 it was rediscovered, and locals decided to parade it through the city streets to an infirmary that was dealing with an outbreak of leprosy. The people prayed for the outbreak to end, which it did, and the statue was given the name Our Lady of the Audience as it helped the prayers of the sick to be heard.

Installed in the local church, locals recreate the statue's original journey on the third Sunday in May, with celebrations lasting to Monday morning. Other churches on Sicily - and the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Kansas City - also observe the feast, with a replica statue or other depiction of the miracle standing in for the original.

Sambuca di Sicilia also grabbed 15 minutes of secular fame when it became one of the Italian towns that offered derelict homes for one Euro, in the hopes of bringing in new residents. This prompted the American actress Lorraine Bracco to buy a house and attempt to renovate it, as seen on the HGTV show My Big Italian Adventure.

Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 12: Store Bededag

This Danish holiday takes place on the fourth Friday after Easter. King Christian V, as the head of the Church of Denmark, introduced it to the church in 1686 as a way to consolidate a number of minor holidays that originated in the Catholic church and survived the reformation in Denmark. In English, the name translates to "Great Prayer Day."

There aren't many specific traditions related to the holiday. Early on it was common for people in Copenhagen to walk along the city's ramparts, but now that the ramparts are gone people walk on specific streets or along historic fortifications (assuming the weather is good, which is always a dicey proposition at this point in the year).

There is also a tradition of eating varme hveder, a type of bread, with people stocking up the day before as bakeries would be closed during the holiday. This is also one of two days in the Church of Denmark where people are confirmed into the church.