We're Missing the Chile #15: Brasil Edition

New fave food: Mugunza - a dessert made with hominy. Hominy is nixtamalized maize kernals (see pic below).

CP sez "increase your wordiness":
Nixtamalization is a process by which the hull and germ (pericarp) of a grain is removed by soaking and cooking the kernel in an alkaline solution (e.g. lime water or ash solution). The process was first developed in Mesoamerica (the word actually derives from Aztec and Spanish words) some 3500 years ago for the preparation of maize and the term usually refers specifically to this activity.

FYI: While unprocessed corn is an insufficient dietary stable, a combo of nixtamalized corn and beans does a body good because the corn picks up free niacin from the processing and the beans provide amino acids and protein. Mugunza has peanuts in it (which is a legume fruit like beans) so this dessert is actually a full meal deal. Except that little cp doesn't like the version with peanuts. So basically she likes corn with coconut milk.

Fave activities: continues to be Forró. So much forró...so very tired...zzzzzzzzz...

Places visited:
-Forró Caju (2009) - a huge place for partying (Badalando). Here's a map with a bunch of crazy things attached to it.
-Fazenda Boa Luz (a resort/farm) for dancing, drinks, and carrying on. Got flowers from a weirdo. Here's another crazy map.
-"Vila do Forró" - a traditional place where we have typical food and songs.
-Went to "Fazenda Mercedes" - the uncle's farm. Good sentimental times. Lorena was mushy.
-Colégio Master and Colégio Ideal - checking out various schools with the sisters, just being proactive with the edumacation and all.

p.s. Did you know the June 12th is the Brazilian version of Valentine's day? It's called Dia dos Namorados and it occurs on the eve of the feast day for St. Anthony of Padua, one of the 3 saints celebrated during Festa Junina. Also celebrated are St.Peter and Saint John the Baptist, hence the more common name for the festival, São João (Saint John).

St.Patricks Day reprised

I refer you to my "St.Patrick's Day is Crowded" post of a year ago. Wow has it been a year already? Where has the time gone?

Additional Fun Facts to learn and know about St.Patrick:

A popular legend about St.Patrick is the one that tells of him driving all the snakes from Ireland. This is most likely a metaphor for driving pagan religions from Ireland, the serpent being a common symbol for such things at the time.

In fact, there have never been any snakes in Ireland, New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, or Antarctica as well as many of the smaller islands. In addition, there are no known examples of snakes migrating to islands over water. And even if snakes would have slithered their way over to a northern island (like Ireland) during a time when it may have been connected to the mainland by a land bridge, the Ice Age would have made snake-sicles of them.

p.s. The above Irish beer panda is brought to you by the Scary Go Round shop. It's a so-so, but kinda funny sometimes, internet comic from the UK with cool images on their merchandise. Like several other comics that I have swiped images from, I found it because he did a guest comic for Dr.McNinja.

St. Valentine

So I guess you want to know about St. Valentine too, huh? Fine.

Saint Valentine, patron saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, plague, travellers, young people, etc., etc. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses. He was martyred in 269 (-ish).

The origin of St. Valentine (and how many St. Valentines there were is sketchy). Some say he was a Roman who was martyred for refusing to renounce Christianity. Others swear that he was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius.

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, printed in 1493. It says he was arrested and imprisoned by Claudius II because he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding said couples when they were inevitably persecuted. A possible rider to the religious persecution was that because of all the warring going on at the time, Claudius needed soldiers and he didn't want any of his potential soldiers refusing to go to war because they wanted to stay home with their wives/families so he announced all marriages to be unlawful. Anyway, some say that the funny thing is Claudius supposedly took a liking to Valentine while he was in jail and may have even let him go...until Valentine tried to convert him. He was subsequently clubbed, stoned , and beheaded. One legend says that, while awaiting his execution, Valentine restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter and, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to her, signing it, "From your Valentine."

Regardless, in 496 AD, Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom. Whether this was actually his death day or not, this day happens to coincide with the Roman Spring festival, the Lupercalia, held in honour of the gods Pan (god of fertility, trickster figure, origin of the word panic) and Juno (protectress of women, goddess of marriage and childbirth). One of the most important festivals in the Roman calendar, which was exported to Britain (one of many). At the Lupercalia, Roman boys and girls drew names out of a box to find out who would be their partner for the festival.

The early Christian church was unable to prevent people from celebrating this pagan festival, so they linked it with the name of St. Valentine, who became the Patron Saint of lovers, etc. Ta Da!

Fun Facts:

The custom of sending Valentines is hundreds of years old. The earliest known Valentine was sent in Norfolk in 1477, in the form of a letter from Margery Brews to John Paston, whom she described as ‘my right well beloved Valentine’. Printed Valentines began to appear in the late eighteenth century, before this they were usually lacy, hand painted (and expensive) affairs. By the 1830s Valentines were sent in such great numbers that postmen were given a special allowance for "refreshments" to help them through the week.

I read that "archaeologists" have found a Roman catacomb dedicated to St. Valentine which "proves" his existence. Didn't find any non-Catholic reference to it though.

In the Middle Ages, when men drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be they would wear these names on their sleeves for one week i.e. they would "wear their heart on their sleeve". Yay origins of sayings!

Not Saint Valentine

There were quite a few Saint Valentines back in the day. Let's take a brief look at some of the lesser known ones first.

There is the St. Valentine whose feast day is May 2. He was a bishop of Genoa, Italy, from about 295. He aided monastic expansion in his era and died in 307. His relics were discovered in 985. How romantic!

Or how about the St. Valentine whose feast day is July 16. He was bishop of Trier, Germany and was martyred in 305 when he was executed during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian.

Valentine was also a pope of Rome for about 40 days in 827, and little is known about his life.

Then there is the St. Valentine (feast day December 16) who was martyred with a bunch of other saintly types in 305 at Ravenna, Italy. Apparently there is some question as to how many and who actually died at this time and place. The fact that there are so many Valentines at this time makes it easy to mix them up I suppose.

But that's not all! There is the St. Valentine of feast day September 2 fame. The 4th bishop of Strassburg, France he died in the 4th century after leading a relatively forward thinking diocese.

Let's see now...St. Valentine feast day January 7, died in Austria in 470 after being an abbot and missionary bishop in Northern Italy for a while. St. Valentine and Dubatatius, feast day November 17, executed for their faith at Carthage. St. Valentine & Hilary, feast day November 3. Beheaded in 304 at Viterbo, Italy, during the persecutions under Emperor Diocletian (Valentine was a priest and Hilary his deacon).

And that doesn't even take into account all of the Sanints with names like Valens, Valentino, Valentina, Valentin, and Valentinian. Crazy.

St.Valentine (the famous one) shares today's feast day with several saints. My favorites are St.Auxentius (died in 473) because he was a member of the personal military entourage of Emperor Theodosius II in Constantinople. Then he retired and became a hermit until he was accused of heresy. He got better and then he went to live on a mountain (Mount Skopa), near Chalcedon. Among other things he formed a congregation of women while he was up there. Also, St. Antoninus of Sorrento who died in 830 was a Benedictine abbot and patron of Sorrento, Italy. He also became a hermit on a mountain (Monte Angelo) and was hailed as a man of holiness by the unwashed local types. While he was up there St. Michael (the Archangel) visited him on the mountain. After he died he repelled an attack by the Saracens on Sorrento by a miracle. Let's see St.Valentine do that! Ha!

We're all going to archaeology hell!

That's right! Because we all forgot to celebrate the feast of Pope Saint Damasus I patron saint of archaeologists on December 11th. I'm not sure what sort of penance should be done to make up for it...40 lashes? no beer for a month? no deer for a month? feel really guilty? recant on the deathbed? Wait...some of those things are for different things. Dang what was I talking about again? Oh well. Hey, did you know that December 19th is a big day for Vietnamese saints? There are 12 saints with today as their feast day and 5 of them are Vietnamese martyrs. Curiously, all of them were strangled.
St. Augustine Moi
St. Thomas De & Companions
St. Dominic Uy
Bl. Francis Man
St. Francis Xavier Mau
Of the many other interesting saints of the day (and several uninteresting ones), I think my favorite is St.Manirus. He was a Bishop and an apostle to Scotland and he evangelized the Highlanders in the northern regions. He was revered for his kindness and goodwill. Awww. I like him because he was nice to kittens (note: may or may not be true) and he wasn't martyred (note: usually a prerequisite for sainthood).

Authors sidebar: I find delving into the lives of various saints interesting (and often comical, I know that's politically incorrect but it's true) - see my first post about saints from March. So much intrigue, violence, sacrifice, heroism, and lunacy - everything you'd want really. And while I often make light of the irony (can we say euphemism boys and girls?) inherent in many facets of religion, it is also sobering to think of the violent aspects of religious clashes through history, especially when it is brought to new lands. All the more reason to never forget the past...

And now for no reason a Simpsons clip from the Czech Republic...


p.s. there are over 100 Vietnamese martyrs (collectively known as the Martyrs of Vietnam) who were recognized by Pope John Paul II in 1988 and there are over 50 Vietnamese saints with known causes and backgrounds. Not all of them were strangled. Some were beheaded.

St.Patrick's Day is Crowded

Turns out there are patron saints for almost everything! Every one of them has a feastday too. So many things have a patron saint that almost every day of the year is jam packed with reasons for feasting and carrying on (or solemn contemplation I suppose, depending on what floats your particular catholicism-inspired party boat).

March 17th for example is of course best known for Saint Patrick who, among other things, is the reason why the Irish are associated with clovers (apparently he used the shamrock to explain the Trinity). But he shares his day with St. Gertrude of Nivelles , St. Jan Sarkander , St. Joseph of Arimathea , St. Paul of Cyprus, and Bl. Peter Lieou . Somehow "Happy Saint Patty's Day" seems to roll off the tongue a little better than "Happy Saint Gertrude of Nivelles Day". But maybe I'm just used to it.

More importantly though, did you know archaeologists have a patron saint? It's true: Pope Saint Damasus I (the happy character to the right who looks remarkably like St.P above, hmmm). His feastday is December 11 (mark it on your calendars). Damasus was the pope who commissioned Saint Jerome to translate the Scriptures into Latin, so "everyone" (read: upper class/educated) could read it. This website: http://www.catholic.org/saints/ has some blah blah blah to say about him but I wasn't really sure why he would be the patron saint of arkys until I got to the prayer part. A prayer to him is: "Saint Damasus, instead of worrying about the short term of life on earth, you took God's view and looked to the things that last. Pray for me that I may be able to look beyond immediate popularity and fleeting favors, and choose to do the things that God wants me to do."

I guess that's why, because he was concerned with things that endured the test of time (and various taphonomic factors)? Ah, those wacky catholics eh?