415. Feasting on the Patron Saint Day
I don’t know how many suburbs, hamlets or as in this case, hill-tops have a Patron Saint. Certainly they are not common or widely spread and if groups of houses or streets have an annual recurrence, it certainly has nothing to do with saints, nor produce the same effects.
Be it as it may, our group of houses spread out on a hilltop have a little chapel, built on the plain so you don’t have to climb to the top of the hill to get to it, dedicated to Saint Pancras: the youth martyred by the Roman Emperor, because he would not worship a false god. To honour the bravery and steadfast faith of Saint Pancras is quite a good excuse to get together, come rain or shine, on the 12th May every year for Mass and partying afterwards.
This is not just a good idea for sentimental reasons, but at times after, often violent arguments of feuds about passage ways and who and who may not do and what may and may not be done, a kind of “reluctant” peace is attained among the inhabitants, at least for the occasion.
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| The sign of peace |
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| The Mass is said in the old style |
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| The Final Blessing |
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| The hym to St Pancras |
It is a pity that such getting together are not encased in urban life and often tradition, especially by the young, is thrown out of the window... after all what other alternatives are there to render these litigious hearts of ours are little more docile towards one another when all else seems to fail?
