Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Favorite Fall Feasts

I am blessed to live in the kind of place that you see in those scenic 1000-piece puzzles.


Despite being strangely indifferent to pumpkin spice flavored items, I really love fall. The maples are turning early this year, and after two weeks of unseasonably hot weather, cool days and chilly, star-studded nights are supposed to be back by tomorrow. The squirrels are racing around after hickory nuts and the hummingbirds disappeared several weeks ago. I expect the chickadees will start following me out to the mailbox soon, chattering to remind me that it's time to put up the birdfeeders. . The field behind my house is bright with goldenrod and wild asters. 

Given my fall fixation  it's no wonder that I tend to picture St. Francis tossing acorns to squirrels, the Holy Archangels flying on their  various errands against a backdrop of crimson foliage, and the North American martyrs preaching in Iroquois lodges that are piled high with colorful pumpkins and gourds. I've pictured both recently canonized popes, (John Paul II and John XXIII)  enjoying a slice of the apple pie I make with the fruit that falls from our trees these days.    Yep, the many  wonderful saints of October are inextricably bound up with the season in my imagination. 

I love the way the Liturgy of the Hours gives me a concrete way to honor my favorite fall saints even on days that daily mass is not available.(By not available I mean either that I am not organized enough to get out of the house to make it, OR that mass will not be said at my local parish that day.) So instead of just glancing at the calendar and saying, "hey! It's St. so and so's feastday," I can actually offer the public worship of the Church in honor of that saint, all from the comfort of my home. 

Which are your favorite fall saints? 

And as usual, any questions related to the Liturgy of the Hours are welcome here.