Thursday, June 23, 2011

Liturgical Feasting Traditions–Ss. Peter and Paul

peter-and-paul-apostles1I have been a wife (6 years) and mother (4 1/2 years) for just a short while now and over these short years I have been trying to learn the customs for each major feast.  My family never celebrated liturgical feasts growing up, so I am starting from scratch.  Each year I add more traditions to my repertoire, for my family to utilize in our celebrations. 

We have upcoming a major feast of Ss. Peter and Paul.  I have been searching online for traditional ways to celebrate and bring the spirit of the feast into our home.  So far I have discovered that it is traditional to go to the vigil and have all night vespers and then celebrate Divine Liturgy in the morning.  I do not know if I could make that work with our three small children.  I do not think our parish celebrates in this way either.

Other than an all night vigil, I have not come up with anything else traditional.  I found a site (obviously written by a Latin rite person) suggesting we eat fish, because they were fishers of men, and other Mediterranean dishes such as babaganouj and hummus.  I thought this was a good idea, because it is a direct connection with the saints.  However, I am not keen on this meal, because to me those are foods of the fast.  I was more thinking of a meal of lamb.

I think we will definitely tell stories of Ss. Peter and Paul.  Alex and I will work on an icon of the venerable saints.  But, I was curious if there were household objects, food, or the like, that are traditionally blessed?  Are there traditional foods to offer at our table in honor of these saints? How do YOU celebrate the feast? Please share your family traditions with me so that I might begin Ss. Peter and Paul traditions in our family.

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