La Chandeleur

Celebrations in Acadian Culture - Mardi-Gras, Ash Wednesday and Lent

For Christians the world over, Lent has begun! It is a movable time of the year, not always landing on the same day. It begins however, with Ash Wednesday. It falls 47 days before Easter. Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season, where its objective is to practice moderation, repentance, fasting, and reflections on our spiritual lives. In the Scriptures, it reflects the period of time where Jesus, after being baptized by John the Baptist, wandered in the desert for 40 days to meditate and be at one with God to prepare himself for his mission on Earth.

The eve before Ash Wednesday (known as Shrove Tuesday in the English-speaking world, and Mardi-Gras to the Francophones) families make pancake suppers to indulge in one last sweet treat before the 40 days of sweet privation. In Acadian communities, on that Tuesday, sometimes the Monday prior, classes would be let off early so that the children could prepare themselves for a masquerade in town. It was tradition to go door to door, with masks and costumes and request treats and candy. Some festive seekers would ask for potatoes and lard to make poutines râpées (a potato dumpling) to enjoy later. They would sing: "C'est monsieur Marier, qui n'a pas encore dîné. Va dans tons baril de lard, Nous chercher du lard." and the hosts would sing back: "Mardi Gras, va-t-en pas, On fera des crêpes, Et p'is t'en auras." (It's Mr. Marier that hasn't supped yet. Go to your lard barrel, and give us some lard!" "Shrove Tuesday, don't go away, we'll make crêpes, and you shall have some!") These dumplings would be prepared in two big cauldrons or pots, one for the girls, one for the boys. Some would hide names of each person in the dumplings, and upon discovering the name, the person has to give a kiss on the cheek to the lucky recipient. Another tradition was to hide a black and white buttons in the dumplings. Whoever discovers a black button would be single for the year, and a white button would foretell a happy wedding on the way. It was also known that folks would pull molasses into golden strands to lay in the snow, and roll onto a stick to enjoy! It was also superstition to not go into the woods for firewood on Shrove Tuesday, for fear of being maimed by your own axe. (Dupont 287-290)

Ash Wednesday, a solemn day of fasting among traditional Christians, is meant to remind practitioners that they are made of dust, and to dust one day they will return. "Souviens-toi que tu es poussière et que retourneras en poussière." the priest would say as he would draw a cross from the cinders of last years' palm fronds or cedar twigs. It is a ceremony in which to reflect on our own mortality, and that we are not above anything in this world, but a part of it.

For the Lenten period of 40 days many Acadian families of the past would fast according to the Church's rules of the time, quite severe. It would include 2 ounces of bread for breakfast, a full meal at lunch time and a little snack for supper. Since the 1940s, the Church relaxed its restrictions a smidge, allowing most families who still practice to just avoid eating meat and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Many people nowadays also take the time to avoid sweets, or defeat a particular vice, such as smoking. Some pious families would even do a family rosary prayer every morning, attend mass more often, and participate in the Way of the Cross on Fridays and sing hymns and songs for this time. It was encouraged by the local churches that parishioners take the Way of the Cross to and from Mass on every Wednesday and Friday night during Lent.

One of them, a classic of oral tradition of French Canada, would be "La Passion de Jésus-Christ" (The Passion of Jesus Christ). One edition was picked up by Carmen Roy, from a resident of Port-Daniel, Mme. Zéphirin Dorion (born Philomène Roy) in the 1950s. This edition can be found online, or on the album "Songs of French Canada, Folkways", or on the vinyl Acadie et Québec, produced by the Folklore Archives of the University of Laval in 1959. Answering to St. John, Christ predicts his own death on the cross in this song.

(Lyrics taken from Le Parnasse des coeurs d'amour épris, released October 10th 2013). The French grammar in this song shows the French Canadian accent in its speaking, with emphasis on the 'Z' sound accompanying plural words, and a rolling of the Rs. This song, constantly evolving with time, has its roots in medieval France, from the regions where Acadian and Québecois settlers came from. An example of the song track can be listened to below:

This link provides different versions from varying regions in France, Acadie and Québec:

https://books.openedition.org/editionsbnf/471?lang=en

The Lenten Season for Acadian communities was a time of quiet. No weddings could be celebrated and no kitchen parties and dance nights. Young men could not visit their beloved girlfriends and many folks stopped playing card games.

The Mi-Carême is on the horizon though, so hold fast! Another post will come for this day of revelry and feasting! Just so you can also hold your breath while you wait!

Ways to participate in Lent

listen to the song in this post, and savour its melody. If you can understand French and appreciate the words, all the more to you!

take last year's Palm Sunday cedar twigs or palm fronds hung on your doorway and burn them to ash. Mark your forehead with the ashes, repeating the words used in the rites to remind ourselves that we are dust and to dust we will return. It is tradition to wear this mark for the entire day. Yes, even if you have errands to run or have to go to work.

take up a religious or spiritual activity you would like to get better at. For example, I'm sitting with myself every day for Lent to read the New Testament, taking time to understand and contextualize the words I'm reading. I'm reading the First Nations Version this year.

what do you feel like you could abandon for 40 days? Do you have a shopping addiction that needs curtailing? A vice you'd rather not have? Time to reflect on it and try to do better. The point is not to be amazing at it from the start. If you slip up, forgive yourself and start again.

pray a morning rosary if you feel so inclined! Being mindful in the mornings instead of scrolling through your social feed can do wonders for your mental health.

Almsgiving is also an encouraged practice this time of year. I like to use Lent to promise myself I will serve all my customers at my job the way that any human being deserves to be served, and take time to get outside of myself and empathize with their needs (I work in banking, St. Matthew help me)

References

Georges Arsenault. La Mi-Carême en Acadie. Editions La Grande Marée. 2007.

Jean-Claude Dupont. Héritage d'Acadie. Editions Leméac. 1977.

https://books.openedition.org/editionsbnf/471?lang=en

a little photo update of the witch behind the blog! My first photo was before transitioning, so it needed an update! My great-grandma Angèle Molaison presiding over my kitchen tools.

St. Anne wall shrine

I painted a boat-shaped key holder into a wall shrine to St. Anne today, as her saint day is coming up soon.

I incorporated a canoe and a sash, as St. Anne was a protective saint of voyageurs during the fur trade. Red, green and white felt like her signature colors, and she is near the ocean, as she was a treasured saint among fishermen and sailors.

I'll try to find a little tea light platform to glue to the bottom of the shrine for a fake candle to rest.

Let there be light!

Happy Transgender Day of Visibility to all trans folks no matter their identities! And for a roll call, trans man here, pronouns he/him, in the middle of my medical transition. No matter what your journey looks like, you are a treasure, a gem, and you are worth the journey you're taking. Photo: me posing as Maude Adams 1901 "L'Aiglon" outfit I tailored myself.

Joyeuse Journée de Visibilité Trans a tous les gens transgenres qu'importe leurs identités! Et pour me présenter, homme transgenre ici, pronoms 'il/ils", en plein milieu de sa transition médicale. Qu'importe où tu te trouves dans ton cheminement, tu es un trésor, sans pair, qui vaut la peine pour le changement que tu embrasse.

Photo: moi dans l'ensemble 1901 "L'Aiglon", un habit reproduit de Maude Adams, cousu par moi-même.

Holy Saturday’s vigil was lovely, even as I was visiting my in-laws and I didn’t have my altar cabinet or a church nearby who offered the service.

My paschal candle was prepared with my pocket knife with the Cross, Alpha and Omega and the year’s numbers, blessed with holy water and the ashes from the cut up bits of palm frond. I read from the Old Testament and the Gospel of Luke 24:1-12 (since in 2025, we are in Year C of the Lectionnary), read out the Litany of Saints, and played the Excelsis Deo with the ringing bells at around midnight. It was a simple and moving rite, and one that I love to take, since it has a section in the scripts used to undertake a renewal of baptism and vows.

My mom went to a church in St. Ambroise, in Saguenay for her vigil. She brought back a vigil candle, and Lillie was intrigued!

A Happy Easter to all the faithful, and I hope your day is filled with joy and love among your families and friends!

St. Mary Magdalene's Day - July 22

I fell ill that day, but I still want to post something regarding this wonderful saint.

Known as 'The Apostle of the Apostles', Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus's most beloved disciples. She is steeped in controversy and mystery through the many legends surrounding her origins and her connection to Jesus. She has been known as Jesus's companion and partner as early as 1500 years ago through the Gospel of Philip in the Gnostic faith, and she is seen often in Gnostic texts (way before Dan Brown entertained the thought she was Jesus's wife).

The Easter egg is rumored to be connected to her, as she is the first to see Christ's Tomb empty, and shows the disciples this news by showing them an egg turned red by God.

In folk traditions, Mary Magdalene is invoked in magic spells, especially love magic. The eve of her feast is believed to be a great time for prophetic dreams. She is the patron saint of beauticians, hairdressers, aromatherapists, perfumers, pharmacists, lovers, prostitutes, prisoners, and any who pine after someone else.

France is where she is most commonly celebrated. There are about 125 shrines in her name. Legend has it that she fled the Holy Land and isolated in a cave in France, where she communed with angels, and became a mystic in Christian thought.

So, for her feast day, it can be a good time for:

-Divination by chalice (for her connection with the Holy Grail)

-Dream spells

-Love spells

-Meditations for connecting to your power

-Women's health campaigns

-Studying any metaphysical texts with active learning

-gifts of myrrh, a perfume bottle, and wine on the altar

First big hike in Point Pleasant Park since top surgery three months ago. It feels really good to be in the woods again and see the ocean. I used to spend all day in the woods but I don't think my stamina is quite there yet.

sharing some resources on the works of st. hildegard of bingen!

Texts and Chants

Hymn to the Virgin (w/ sheet music and commentary)

Scivias

Selected Writings of Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen: Visions and Validation

The visions of Hildegard of Bingen. 1928.

Hildegard of Bingen and the Greening of Medieval Medicine

fair warning, though. some of them are behind a paywall. do with them what you will.