Tag Archives: Lammas

Maccabees and Moses and St. Peter

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Statue of Moses by Michelangelo, in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome. The relics of the Maccabees were kept in this same church.

The veneration of the Maccabean martyrs is unique in the Judeo-Christian tradition: they are the only martyrs commemorated by Jews and Christians alike. The seventh chapter of the Second Book of Maccabees (in the Old Testament) tells the story of seven faithful Jewish brothers who maintained their fidelity to the Law of God in the face of persecution during the tyranny of Antiochus IV in the second century B.C. The New Testament book of Hebrews commends these martyrs of Maccabees as exemplars of living faith (Heb 11:35).

These seven Jewish brothers and their mother were arrested and ordered to eat the un-kosher flesh of a pig. The horrific murder of these Maccabean martyrs was so terrible and gruesome that we derived an English word from it—-macabre.

The festival of Hanukkah in December celebrates the revolt led by the Maccabees against the Syrian emperor Antiochus IV. Christians have long commemorated the Maccabees on August 1 and the relics of the 7 Maccabee brothers, with their mother and teacher were long kept in the Church of St. Peter’s Chains (Rome). The relics were sent to Germany to be housed in a church in Cologne (the same city where the relics of the Magi are kept); evidently the Maccabean relics had been kept in Cologne before they had been sent to Rome.

By keeping the Maccabean relics and the statue of Moses in the Church of St. Peter’s Chains, we can see the connection between the Law of Moses and those Maccabean martyrs who died for refusing to abandon that Law. Even more, their memory is joined with the imprisonment and eventual martyrdom of the Apostle Peter. (We know that the festival of Hanukkah was still fairly new in the first century AD but that Jesus celebrated it with the apostles in John 10:22-23.)

You can find a very interesting article (in German!) here about the relics of the Maccabees that includes close-up photos of the golden reliquary which contains their bones. (If you open the page using Chrome, it will offer to translate the page for you–I want to thank my daughter Rebekah for teaching me that trick!)

The reliquary itself is fascinating. It was apparently made in 1500; it is a wooden box in the form of a church, covered with gilded copper plates. The walls of the shrine and top portions are composed of 40 scenes in which the story of the Maccabee brothers and their mother is placed in parallel with the suffering of Christ and His mother Mary. One of the most obvious examples is the contrast of the flagellation of the Maccabee brothers and the flagellation of Jesus. On the front of the shrine is the Coronation of Mary and the Coronation of the Maccabees, while on the back the Ascension of Christ is depicted with the heavenly glorification of the Maccabees.

The shrine for the Maccabees’ relics in St. Andrew’s Church (Cologne, Germany).

New Top Blog Posts

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The new "Most Popular" post knocked aside the previous winner, which had been the Lammas Day post.

The new “Most Popular” post knocked aside the previous winner, which had been the Lammas Day post.

It’s always a surprise to me which posts become SO popular. Writers never know what words or stories will strike their readers in a certain way, grabbing them by the lapels and demanding to be read. Of course, as a writer I hope that ALL my words will grab readers attention that way but experience proves otherwise. Some words grab some readers. Other words grab other readers. The important thing is that words and stories each be read and that each reader find their favorites. Often a writer never knows which words or stories grab which readers in particular; people share or trade copies of books and so sales is often a poor indicator of what readers find especially compelling or attractive.

One way of writing that is easy to measure it’s popularity are blog posts. Posts are tracked by the cyber-spirits that dwell in “the Cloud” and it is very difficult to trick these cyber-guardians who stand there with clickers in their hands, tabulating how many people click on links or pause a minute to look at a webpage. “Top Post” is a category that every post wants to inhabit but which only a very few are lucky enough to achieve. My most recent Top Blog post was the post in which I shared my thoughts on From Faith to Fantasy and discussed how having served as a priest has shaped my writing. The previous most popular posts were those about Lammas Day and about Frankincense.

Another post that has been consistently popular, often getting 50+ views per day, is the post about Storm Wolf. Although it has not been read as many times in one day as From Faith to Fantasy or Lammas Day or Frankincense, it has been very popular for several weeks in a row.

More top billing? My appearance on Hannah Kate’s public radio show in Manchester, UK is among the Top 30 downloads of programs on Mixcloud! You can listen to the show–in which I discuss writing, Prague, the Evil Conferences, and more–on Hannah Kate’s page.

You can also hear me pontificate about a cult classic made-for-tv horror film on the newest episode of the Scream Queenz podcast. If you haven’t seen the movie–or saw it years ago and have forgotten details–you can read my post about Crowhaven Farm and click on the link to the movie itself.

And don’t forget the podcast of my 2014 interview with Radio Prague!

The post about Lammas Day on July 29, 2016 surpassed the previous most popular post (Frankincense, on December 7, 2015).

The post about Lammas Day on July 29, 2016 surpassed the previous most popular post (Frankincense, on December 7, 2015).

Lughnasadh

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It was customary to harvest blueberries and bake blueberry pies at Lughnasadh festivities.

It was customary to harvest blueberries and bake blueberry pies at Lughnasadh festivities.

Lughnasadh (pronounced “Lúnasa”) is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Originally it was held on 1 August, or about halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. Lughnasadh is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals; along with Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane. It corresponds to other European harvest festivals such as the Welsh Gwyl Awst and the English Lammas.

In Irish mythology, the Lughnasadh festival is said to have been begun by the god Lugh as a funeral feast and athletic competition in commemoration of his mother who was said to have died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture. Lugh’s mother may have been an earth goddess who represented the dying vegetation that fed mankind. These funeral games in her honor were similar to the ancient Olympic Games and included ritual athletic and sporting contests. The event also involved trading, the drawing-up of contracts, and matchmaking that included trial marriages (young couples joined hands through a hole in a wooden door). The trial marriage lasted a year and a day, at which time the marriage could be made permanent or broken without consequences.

Ancient customs associated with Lughnasadh seem to have also included offerings of newly-harvested corn, the sacrifice of a bull and certain rites with its hide as well as a banquet of the meat roasted.

Another custom that Lughnasadh shared with Imbolc and Beltane was visiting holy wells. Visitors to holy wells would pray for health while walking sunwise around the well. They would also leave offerings (often coins).