Victor

Since coming to the Cathedral in October, I have had the uncomfortable privilege of putting a face on homelessness and poverty. Every day I encounter those who come to the Church for warmth and shelter, those who come to the Kitchen or Pantry for Food. I’ve gotten to know some of them by name; Victor is one of them. Victor used to “live” in the south vestibule of the Church during the day – he was one of the first people I met back in October. He’d be the last one out when I locked up in the evening, and one of the first to come in when I opened up on weekends. Victor died at Wishard Hospital recently. He was one of us, so we'll bury him from the Cathedral with all the Rites owed a faithful soul. After the funeral, he will be cremated so his ashes can be returned to his family in the West Indies and interred near his parents. I’ll miss Victor. I’m proud of what the Cathedral community did for him in this life - God grant him rest and security in eternity.

Paczki Day

We had a Parish Mardi Gras super on Tuesday ... Brother Howard (our Sacristan) makes pancakes, with sausage and bacon. I'm told it's a southern custom, linked to French custom, that has pancakes for Mardi Gras. As an added feature, I made paczki (poonch-key - think Polish donut). Last week I went out and got myself a small deep-fryer and two tubs of lard ... yes, lard ... to get ready. These little sweets are traditionally fried in lard, and who am I to argue with tradition? I used a recipe from my Grandmother ... it's in her handwriting on a page from an old steno-pad, so I keep it in a plastic sleeve to protect it. I made one batch on Monday to see how many I'd get out of a single recipe, and it made about five dozen. I sent two dozen over to Choir rehearsal that evening, and most of the rest got "sampled" here in the house, so that meant I needed to do more on Tuesday. Actually, I doubled the recipe, and got about 13 dozen ... plain, prune, apricot and raspberry filled. And they all went.