Friday Favorites

First, I can't believe it's Friday already! Friday itself is a favorite of mine!

Okay, today I have a few favorites to talk about.
Yesterday I got a nice surprise visit from my niece Erin (she's definitely a favorite!), and she came bearing gifts! She had a gift bag for Mia (a duck inside, but Mia wasn't here so we'll save it for her to open), and she had a gift bag for Jayden with a few Star Wars sticker books inside, and she had a gift bag for me with these inside!

Pink votives and tea lights! I wish I had thought to get a picture of Erin too! Erin told me she's been reading my blog. She stayed a few hours and we had a really nice visit. We talked about the family, and we talked about when she was little, and we talked about her busy life, and we talked about her nephews Tommy and Eamon coming for a visit (they will be arriving tomorrow and staying with my sister-in-law Ann for a week, and Erin and her boyfriend are taking time off work to help out and to get a chance to spend time with the boys too, and Jayden is really looking forward to playing with the boys!). I enjoyed Erin's visit so much, it was a nice way to spend the afternoon!

Okay, another favorite of mine is Marcy @ Blessings Each Day and she's had a few posts this week about one of my favorite foods ~ CHOCOLATE!! So that's three favorites mentioned in that sentence alone! Marcy, Blessings Each Day, and chocolate!
Well, in Marcy's last post filled with all sorts of facts on chocolate, she informed us that Pope Gregory 13 decreed that eating chocolate did not violate the Easter Fast. Marcy didn't even realize that she gave us that wonderful tidbit of information, for when I commented on it, she wanted to know where in her post did she ever mention that! Well, not only did I notice this information in her post, but Bernie@ On My Own (another favorite of mine!) mentioned in her comment that she read it too! So, now Marcy got these two Catholic girls all excited about being able to eat chocolate to our hearts content (guilt-free) during Lent!
Now, I usually like to check out information I read on blogs just to get validation, but I wasn't going to do it this time as I was so happy to just embrace this welcome information! But then my curiosity got the better of me and I did do a little research.

According to some articles I found, this information that Marcy unknowingly passed along to us is (somewhat) true!

Michael D. Coe writes in his article 'Chocolate And The Church' that chocolate had become a health drink, and so now the Catholic Church had to decide if chocolate would be labeled a medicine that could be taken at any time, or if it was a food which would not be allowed during periods of fast. In 1650 they prohibited drinking of chocolate but quickly rescinded that decision when Jesuit students started leaving the seminaries in droves. It was then decided by the ecclesiastical authorities that chocolate did not break the fast, in other words, during Lent you could take chocolate because it was not a food, it was now considered medicinal (oh, way to go with the caving in, Church leaders!).

In another article on Chocolate and the Church, it is stated that there was a raging debate in the Catholic Church over whether chocolate would be considered a beverage or a food in liquid form. If they labeled it a drink, much like wine, it could be consumed freely on fast days without any guilt. This debate went on for over two hundred years as it was noticed that chocolate was refreshing, stimulating, and made one less hungry. Several popes weighed in with opinions that chocolate was not a food, and that it should be allowable on fast days including Lent, others argued that chocolate awakened 'lascivious desires' which must have seemed doubly sinful on fast days.
So long before the age of counting calories a compromise was reached and it was agreed that the chocolate would be ground into bits and mixed only with water so as not to constitute nourishment, and this way it could not be counted as a meal. So a chocolate drink was allowed just as wine was allowed during times of fast.

So, I guess in conclusion the Yoo Hoo chocolate drink is allowed! I wonder if chocolate syrup and melted chocolate is allowed? That's liquid form too!

An interesting side note, chocolate became quite disruptive to Mass during seventeenth century Mexico because wealthy white female parishioners would have their servants bring them the chocolate drink during Mass thus disrupting the sermon. Verbal objections to this practice were ignored by the women so then signs were posted on the cathedral doors declaring that eating or drinking in the House of God was strictly forbidden and would result in excommunication. The ladies said they would rather go without Mass than go without chocolate! The bishop then declared that refusing to attend Mass was also grounds for excommunication.
Apparently this bishop went too far, for he was poisoned and died. It is said the lethal substance was slipped into a cup of chocolate.


It was also noted that times have changed, in 2004 a church offered parishioners a piece of chocolate in exchange for coming to church. It was reported that the idea was wildly successful!


So, thank you, Marcy, for piquing my interest in the chocolate/Lent debate! This was fun for me!

And a last favorite today is this pair of reading glasses that Ray picked up for me. These glasses were created and marketed to help the cause for breast cancer research (notice the pink ribbons on them). And the pretty pink heart eyeglass chain is another favorite given to me by Marcy in my package of goodies which she sent to me for driving her crazy with all my lame guesses on her former job (sorry for the blurry pictures, they don't do justice to Marcy's beautiful chain)!
(Hey, Marcy, what do I get for driving you crazy with this chocolate subject? And do I win anything for my various 'business-like' complimentary closings on my comments to you?)






Weekend Forecast:
Saturday ~ not too much on the forecast as Ray is 'on call' for work this week. Saturday morning we are having someone come in to re-grout the bathroom. In the evening my brother-in-law (and maybe a few others) will be coming for dinner.
Sunday ~ again, not much on the agenda as we have to stick close to home, which is fine by me!

Have a great weekend everybody!