Tag: Hagiogaphy

Yes, It’s Saint Patrick’s Day

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Image of Saint Patrick's Bell, Armagh, Ireland

Saint Patrick’s Bell

As a Celticist, I have an abiding interest in Irish culture, and around March 17, so, apparently, does most of the United States. I’ve written a rant about Irish cultural myths, I’ve written about the true place of corned beef in terms of Irish culture, genuinely Irish food, like Irish Soda Bread, colcannon, Guinness, and Irish Whisky, and even Irish loan words in English, and the real nature of Leprechauns.

All of that said St. Patrick seems to have been a fifth century Romano-Britain, a speaker of a language closely related to Welsh, before he became the national saint of Ireland.

Pope Beatifies “Father of Cappuccino”

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Marco d’Aviano, bron in Aviano, in the north of Italy in 1631, was friar from the Capuchin was beatifued for his efforts to rally Catholics and Protestants on the eve of the Battle of Vienna in 1683, a battle fought as part of an effort to stem Turkish incursion into Europe. He’s not yet been canonized as a saint, but this is the penultimate step in the process.

Aviano is also, on a less Catholic note, famed as the person who inspired cappuccino style coffee. Suppsedly, after the victory, the Viennese discovered sacks of coffee abandoned by the Turks (who imbibed enormous quatities of extremely finely ground coffee brewed in a early version of a drip pot). The Turkish coffee was too intense for the Viennese, who diluted it with cream and honey.

The resulting beverage was a brown colored liquid very similar Capuchins’ robes; hence, the Viennese named it cappuccino in honour of Marco D’Aviano’s order.

I’m not overly excited by cappuccino, though I like it. Personally I favor the carefully selected and roasted Hawaian coffees of Superbeans. I’ve never had better coffee, ever, and the service and choice can’t be beat.