[Sca-cooks] December 27th Holiday Exchange

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

DEC 27
St. John the Evangelist's Feast Day (100) Patron Saint of Turkey and of
Writers; Invoked against Poison. The youngest Apostle, he wrote the fourth
Gospel, the Apocalypse, and the Book of Revelation. He was Mary's personal
priest after Jesus' death. He survived immersion in boiling oil in Rome, and
blessed a cup filled with poison before drinking it without harm. He
exhorted his own disciples to “love one another”, dug his own grave in the
shape of a cross, lay down in it, and in a flash of light, John, body and
soul, were gone.

Ta Chiu* - Hong Kong - Festival of Peace and renewal. Taoists summon all
their gods and ghosts so the gods' collective power will renew their lives.
Images of patron Saints from all the local temples are raised in one place,
where people make offerings to them. To end the festival, the priests read
aloud the names of every person who lives in the area. Then they attach the
list to a paper horse and burn it, so that it will rise to Heaven.