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.