It turns out that Chinese-descended Catholics in the Bay Area got a pass from the local bishop: they could do the imposition of ashes a day late, because Ash Wednesday was the Lunar New Year this year and there's a very, very strong cultural taboo against doing things associated with death on that day. I think that's neat.

That's great. I vaguely wondered about that, but not earnestly enough to actually look it up.

::drags JZ back into the thread::

Now, listen here missy. If you're going to flounce, at least remember to leave the wine.

::hands over a tissue::

Stop that infernal crying. The ruddy look does nothing for you.

::smooches JZ, just 'cause I can::

I also had a conversation with a shiny-new priest in the faculty room (seriously, he looks about 12 and I'm not Catholic -- do I HAVE to call him Father?)

Yes, you have to call him Father. Would you not call a young-looking doctor Doctor, even if you weren't?

He was all "You know more about Catholicism than most Catholics" and looked scared.

You do. The secular history of Catholicism isn't empasized when talking about the world according to Pope John Paul II.

Yeah, but all my info is like, 800 years old. I know nothing about modern C'ism.

What do you want to know?

Yes, you have to call him Father. Would you not call a young-looking doctor Doctor, even if you weren't?

It depends on if you become friendly with the priest. I mean, if you call your fellow teachers by their first name rather than "Mrs. Whoever," and you feel the same level of colleague-ness with Father Whoever, it's normal to just call him by his first name.

(At least, that's always been my experience.)

Yes, you have to call him Father. Would you not call a young-looking doctor Doctor, even if you weren't?

Yep, you're right. Although I do reserve the right to occasionally laugh at myself about it. Although, dammit, I have two Master's --people ought to be obligated to call me Mistress G!

Hmm. I have lots of questions -- I know I'll have more now that we're in the swing of Lent to Easter. Attending my first mass was interesting; they used more incense than potheads in a college dorm. I really almost choked on it.

Is it a sparticular kind of incense? And the priest has to drink what was left of the wine after whatis....communion? Is that SOP so that something holy won't just get poured down a drain?

Waaaah. I have been looking at dancewear online and now I am all sad because not only can I not be a ballerina now, I am not shaped like one any more.

You drink the wine, wash out the cup with water, and drink that. If the wine has actually gone bad, there's a special drain you can dump the water down, but I forget what it's called. Piscina? Anyway, it has to connect directly to earth, not to the sewers.

Makes sense. In Wicca, any leftover water or wine is poured on the earth, not down a drain. Now I'm trying to think of analogous things in other religions.

I have ordered a chicken club sandwich. Oh, cool, a symposium on modern Catholicism while I wait. t settles in to absorb knowledge

Is it a sparticular kind of incense?

Yup, but I forget what. t /not really helpful

And the priest has to drink what was left of the wine after whatis....communion? Is that SOP so that something holy won't just get poured down a drain?

Uh huh. Though at a mass with grown-up, legal age servers assisting the priest, they're usually the ones who finish up the wine.

OH! Another question, rather query/observation. This mass was overseen by a archbishop and one of the altarboys' jobs was to hold the crozier, it appeared. He had what looked like a special extra flap of his robe, so that he wouldn't touch it with his bare hand.

Am I right? No touchee by the laity?