Dusty Feasts

The Feast Day of Saint Charles Borromeo (4 November) celebrates the 16th century Italian aristocrat who served as a prelate, Archbishop, and Cardinal. He was an important figure in the Catholic Counter-Reformation. He oversaw significant reforms within the Church, including the establishment of seminaries for the education of priests. Later in his life, he served in Milan during a plague outbreak, not leaving the city even when most civil officials had done so. He went into personal debt at this time to feed thousands of people. He died of a fever, in Milan, at the age of only 46 years old.

He is a patron saint of bishops, cardinals, catechists, catechumens, seminarians, spiritual directors, spiritual leaders, apple orchards, starch makers, colic, intestinal disorder, against ulcers, stomach diseases, Lombardy, Italy, and Monterey California.

+ Includes a feast day recipe for Chimichangas San Carlos

Dusty Feasts

The Feast Day of Saint Jude Thaddeus and Saint Simon the Zealot (28 October), celebrates two of the original Christian Apostles. Church tradition says they evangelized together and were martyred together in 65 AD.

+ Includes recipe for Dabgadz Banir Boerag (fried Cheese Turnover)

Dusty Feasts

The Feast Day of Saint Hilarion the Great (21 October) celebrates the 3rd and 4th century Christian anchorite hermit who spent most of his life in the desert and in the coastal area near Gaza, and is now considered to be the founder of Palestinian monasticism. Living as a hermit, he was sought out for healing, exorcisms, prophetic words, and spiritual training. This led him to establish a monastery. Hilarion is the patron saint of Caulonia, a southern Italian town in Calabria, under the name Sant’Ilario.

On icons, Hilarion is depicted as an old man with a brown, rush-like beard divided into three points and he holds sometimes a scroll which reads: “The tools of a monk are steadfastness, humility, and love according to God.”

+ Includes a feast day recipe for Tisana Barley Porridge

Dusty Feasts

The Feast Day of St. Edward the Confessor (13 October) celebrates the pious and childless Anglo-Saxon king of England whose death led to the Norman Conquest. He was known for performing many miracles in his life, and is said to have cured scrofula by the laying-on of hands — the origin of the ‘King’s Evil’ tradition continued by every English sovereign until Queen Anne.

He was a patron saint of England until 1350, when Edward III named St. George as England’s patron saint. Every monarch of England has been crowned next to his shrine at Westminster Abbey since the time of his death in 1066 AD.

+ Includes a feast day recipe for the Anglo-Saxon treat, Honey Oat Cakes.

Dusty Feasts

The Feast Day of St. John of Rila (19 October), who was also known as Saint Ivan of Rila and as Ivan Rilski, celebrates the 9th and 10th century Bulgarian Hermit , revered as a saint even while he was still alive. He was famous for performing miracles and was known as a “wonderworker” in his lifetime. Those miracles include healing the sick, casting out demons, and providing food miraculously to those in need. Many of the legends of him involve wild animals and birds approaching him.

He is a patron saint of Bulgaria.

Dusty Art

The Martyrdom of St. Denis by Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat, is one of the most famous depictions of this event, blending the details of the legend with a sense of what might be best described as horror.

Dusty Feasts

The Feast Day of St. Denis of Paris (9 October) celebrates a 3rd century bishop and martyr who is remembered in legend for picking his head up after his decapitation and then preaching a sermon.

+ Includes a feast day recipe for St. Denis Tartlets

Dusty Feasts

The Feast Day of Our Lady of the Hoy Rosary (7 October) is a celebration of the Blessed Mother, an ancient and elaborate Christian prayer sequence, and the victory of the Holy League’s Navy against the Ottoman Navy which took place in 1571. This feast is sometimes known as the Feast Day of Our Lady of Victory.

+ Includes a recipe for a Holy Rosary Lemon Cake

Dusty Feasts

The Feast Day of St. Faustina Kowalska (5 October) celebrates the 20th century Polish religious sister and mystic who is most well known for having visions of Jesus Christ which became the inspiration for the Catholic devotion to “the Divine Mercy.”

Her conversations with Jesus were recorded in her diary, which was subsequently published. Miracles attributed to St. Faustina Kowalska include the healing of Fr. Ron Pytel’s heart condition in 1995 and the miraculous recovery of a woman from terminal cancer in 2012. Other notable miracles involve protection during World War II bombings and the conversion of a hardened criminal after encountering the Divine Mercy image.

+ includes a feast day recipe for “Divine Mercy Creamy Lemon Cheesecake.”

Dusty Feasts

The Feast Day of St. Gregory the Illuminator celebrates the the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in the early fourth century (traditionally dated to 301), making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. Gregory suffered torture and imprisonment in a pit before being called upon to heal the King from a sickness. After he succeeded, the nation converted.

+ includes a feast day recipe for Harissa (Armenian Wheat and Chicken Porridge)