A big part of our family culture is celebrating the feasts of the liturgical year.
And heaven help me if I try to mix things up any. Tierneys have waffles for dinner on the Annunciation. They started off as toaster waffles. Now they are usually homemade waffles. One year they were waffles from the IHOP across from LAX. But there are always waffles for dinner for the Annunciation.
Apparently the whole thing is just a Swedish miscommunication? But somewhere along the line someone mentioned to me that folks were supposed to eat waffles on the Annunciation, and really, that was all I needed.
This is how my children feel about the idea of breakfast for dinner:
It blows their little minds.
I love it.
That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to make the liturgical year fun and memorable for my kids. I want them to call me from college and ask me for my waffle recipe (um, it’s this) because they cannot imagine NOT eating waffles for dinner on the Annunciation. Because THAT will mean that they know when the Annunciation is, which would be just lovely.
They’ll also know WHAT it is, because along with the waffles there will be reading of the story of the Annunciation in the gospel of St. Luke:
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”[a] 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”[b] 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[c] will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
And because this is the painting in our living room:
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| The Annunciation by H.O. Tanner, American (Paris), The Philadelphia Museum of Art |
I love this painting so dearly. I love that the Angel Gabriel is leaving “beam me up” style. But I really love the look on Mary’s face. The painter has captured an expression of wonder and humility and strength.
Prints are available from Amazon: High Quality Fine Art Prints on Canvas – 24 x 19 inch Post-Impressionism Other – The Annunciation – by Henry Ossawa Tanner
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
At noon we’ll stand in front of this painting and say the Angelus. If you don’t usually say it, today would be an excellent day to give it a whirl. I find it nearly impossible to notice when it’s noon unless I set a reminder on my phone. But if I hear the alarm, we’ll stop what we’re doing and pray.
New in the shop! I’ve got it in a pretty floral poster:
Or as a set of six squares:
And it’s a feast. So there will be plenty of whipped cream and maple syrup! How will you be celebrating?
Um, I'm 26 and a mom, and I *still* get that excited about breakfast for dinner!
Truly – the best confirmation that I did *SOMETHING RIGHT* as a parent are those phone calls asking for recipes. BEST FEELING EVER! And even better if those recipes are attached to a certain holiday or celebration. I'm sure grandchildren are another confirmation but I don't have any yet. One day…
It speaks to your merit as a mother that your kids consider waffles for dinner a mind-blowing event. 'Cause in our house it means mom didn't plan ahead and is raiding the pantry for meal options. But it's interesting to hear that about Swedish waffle day. Maybe I'll get it together enough to have them for breakfast some year. (We use Golden Malted pancake and waffle flour. Pricey but worth it.)
We try to get to Mass for Solemnities. Many of them are holy days of obligation anyway. Even if they aren't though, I would like to teach the kids that the Eucharist is The ultimate liturgical celebration. Dessert is good too. And wine. We're having lamb meatballs and spanakopita because lamb=$$=special day. In my mind anyway. (and Greece is kind of close to Nazareth, so we eat greek food?)
I love waffles. One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't register for a waffle maker. (Although I could buy waffle plates for my electric griddle…decisions, decisions.)
I'm making stuffed peppers for dinner. I don't have a valid liturgical reason for this choice or anything. However, I've done such a good job in my Lenten quest to clear out the freezer that I'm out of freezer meals to eat on days when I don't feel like cooking. So I suppose that the second part of my Lenten adventures should be to refill the freezer with as little waste/money spent as possible?
OMG DAVID TENNANT. Sorry. Couldn't help it. By far the BEST Doctor. Ever. Anywho… fangirl moment being over, YES. Breakfast for dinner has and always will be a favorite for me. I still do that sometimes, even as an adult.
Country Girl’s Daybook ~ recently: How personal is too personal? http://bit.ly/1jo8A3E
I am headed to Birthline today and we with pray the Angelus for the intentions of our clients and their children. May they all have the love that Mary had for Jesus. Unfortunately we can't serve waffles to them all but it would be nice
Such a joy to read this! I have that pic of the annunciation hanging in my house too…I think it's how I'd feel in her shoes! Just found your blog last night, and I might be in love…;)
I love this idea! I'll try to remember it for when my baby boy gets teeth. In the meantime, though, I've been looking for an excuse to make the Spiced Stout Waffles I found on Food 52 again, and they do seem feast-appropriate (especially with a little extra stout on the side)!
Fruit for topping, check, heavy cream to whip, check, new wafflemaker (sad, but we've been needing to get one) check– I'm looking forward to dinner! 😀
Anne McD
So fun! We made macarons for the Annunciation and had a tea party. I like to think Mary would enjoy macarons if she could have eaten them with us. 😉 -Gina
I feel the same way about centering our lives around the liturgical calendar. I want them to remember that we are Catholic first, and EVERYTHING ELSE second. We have a special dessert on all solemnities. We believe in celebrating even those that fall inside of Lent because, as the Church Herself teaches us, solemnities trump everything. 🙂
We had waffles for breakfast, just because it seemed like a yummy way to celebrate the Annunciation, and were so shocked to read your blog post afterwards. We didn't even know it was "Waffle Day" in Sweden!
What a fun idea for celebrating the Annunciation! I wonder if the waffle thing came from it being National Waffle day? Either way, I'm craving waffles now 🙂
awesome. I like the way you think. And, thanks for the Angelus. I've been wanting to try it with the kids, and, you know how it is trying to keep an idea in your head long enough to look it up when you have six kids around! having it in one place like this is all I needed.
Wait wait! Isn't the Annunciation a holy day of obligation? I'm a convert and I keep getting confused. And our pastor didn't mention it on Sunday as they usually do, but then again he's Kenyan and half the time I can't understand his English. :-/ I was sick yesterday, so I didn't go in any case, but I was kind of surprised that the parish had only its regular noon Mass and not some extra ones as well.
By the way, the artist was a friend of my grandfather-in-law, an artist himself. My mother-in-law used to call the artist "Uncle Tanner." He has an interesting story. Y'all should look him up.
We always try to make going to Mass a part of our feast day celebrations, but, no, Annunciation isn't a Holy Day of Obligation:
Can. 1246 §1. Sunday, on which by apostolic tradition the paschal mystery is celebrated, must be observed in the universal Church as the primordial holy day of obligation. The following days must also be observed:
the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Epiphany,
the Ascension,
the Body and Blood of Christ,
Holy Mary the Mother of God,
her Immaculate Conception,
her Assumption,
Saint Joseph,
Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles,
and All Saints.
These ten are the exact holy days of obligation that are celebrated in Vatican City, but there is variation elsewhere (including in Italy). The reason is that the Code of Canon Law goes on to state:
Can. 1246 §2. With the prior approval of the Apostolic See, however, the conference of bishops can suppress some of the holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday.
Your mother in law knew him? Cool. I thought he lived in France.
I will try to keep those in mind, but I don't guarantee anything!
And yes, she knew him. She was born in France (of American parents) in 1914 and lived there until she married my father-in-law, in 1937, when they moved to Virginia. Her father died in 1939, I think it was. She died in 1997.
Here's how we will be celebrating the Annunciation this year: (and I linked up to your post here) http://www.asliceofsmithlife.com/2015/03/march-25-feast-of-annunciation-easy.html
Could you please share where you purchased the painting?
I downloaded an image from wikimedia commons, and had a giclee print made and framed myself. But I just added a link in the text of the post to a fine art print available at Amazon.
Well, our eldest (almost 9) said, “I can’t wait for the Feast of the Annunciation next year!” After her first waffle and slice of Canadian bacon. When she managed to convince Daddy to let her have waffle number three (she swims) she sang out, “Allelu- OH! Oops.”
Your Feast Day celebration might be a little too exciting for her.
Hah! Awesome.