[Sca-cooks] December 23rd Holiday Exchange

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

DEC 23
Larentalia - Ancient Rome - Last day of Saturnalia

St. Servulus of Rome's Feast Day (590) Patron Saint Invoked against
Paralysis. A beggar afflicted with a crippling palsy, he entreated passersby
to recite Scripture to him, so that he learned it all by heart. He shared
what he begged with other poor, and his funeral mass was conducted by Pope
Gregory the Great.

St. Thorlac's Feast Day (1193) Patron Saint of Iceland. As a young man, he
went to Norway and England to study, and returned to Iceland a bishop. He
was full of crusading zeal, and wielded excommunication bulls to enforce
newfangled ideas such as clerical celibacy and a financially independent
Church.

St. John of Kanti's Feast Day (1473) Patron Saint of Lithuania and Poland.
Ordained to the priesthood and a graduate of the University of Cracow, he
became a professor there. Known for his charity to the poor and the severity
of his personal life (he slept on the floor, never ate meat, etc.).

Night of the Radishes - Mexico - In the country around Oaxaca, radishes grow
very large. Residents carve sculptures out of them for the city's annual
radish sculpture competition. Contestants usually use several radishes to
portray a familiar landmark, a favorite public figure, or a Christmas scene.
The best win prizes.