Fire department rushes to church, finds priest making ashes

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=2923421

Hee hee hee!

"AKRON, Ohio You have to burn something to get the ashes used on Ash Wednesday -- and that triggered a false alarm this week at a Catholic church in Akron, Ohio.
Somebody called the fire department when black smoke was seen billowing from the back of the St. Martha Church rectory.

When firefighters arrived, they found a priest tending a fire of palm fronds. He says his fire must have been smokier this year because it's the first time the fire department has shown up.

Catholics around the world have their foreheads marked with ashes as they begin observing the 40-day season of Lent, which ends at Easter.

The ashes are traditionally made by burning palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebration."

[Wat_Tyler]

1. Damned Christians, ruining our entire culture!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

4. I hate them

[Wat_Tyler]

7. Yup. Hate, hate, hatey, hate.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. Send'em all to the gulags to teach 'em to be good socialists.

Where's Uncle Joe when you need him? :freak:

[Wat_Tyler]

15. Why haven't we had a DUer called Uncle Joe yet?

[KDLarsen]

17. Is that the cover to Autobahn as your avatar..

.. or am I seeing things?

[progmom]

2. ashes, ashes

...we all fall down.


I never did understand that part of ring around the rosie. Heck...I never really understood anything about it. Pocket full of posies?

[ceile]

3. I think it had something to do with the Plague

Maybe they thought posies would help keep it at bay?

[CBGLuthier]

5. The Plague

That nursery rhyme refers to the black death plague.




As for the Ring Around the Rosy rhyme, there was a comment from a medical doctor about the “ashes, ashes” line — one you probably won’t want to include on your site. :-)

In the final stages of the plague, just prior to death, the aviolae sacs in the lungs rupture and the lungs begin to be coated with blood, which then clots and dries. Right before the poor victim expires, they will often have a prolonged coughing fit during which they (hang onto your lunch here)... cough up flecks and particles of the dried “black”-appearing blood from their lungs. This was given the name “ashes” by the doctors of the time, who had no idea of how the lungs worked and no way to analyze the “ashes” that seemed to spew from the dying patients' mouths and define them as a blood product


http://www.rooneydesign.com/RingRosies.html

[Wat_Tyler]

9. the original version was 'a-tishoo, a-tishoo, we all fall down'

You would cough rather a lot before death.

[ceile]

10. Just looked on Snopes

Apparently it is not a reference to the plague. That was created by someone to give a sensless rhyme meaning.

Damn, I hate being wrong!!:grr:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

11. Snopes is wrong

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

8. Ring around the Rosie comes from the plague.

Ring around the rosie - the rosie is the bubo (bubonic plague) a big swollen red pustule with a ring around it.

Pocket full of posies - people thought that "bad air" was causing it so they caried flowers on them. There were doctors who wore birdlike masks stuffed with flowers. They still got the plague.

Ashes to ashes we all fall down - that's pretty obvious

[Sequoia]

12. Here you go!

<snip>

...a possible story or basis about Ring Around The Rosie? Philip Hiscock, a folklorist from Newfoundland, has suggested the rhyme may perhaps have something to with the prohibition of dance among Protestants during the 19th century in Britain and North America. Supposedly, according to him, the adolescents found a way around the thought by organizing what were called "play-parties" which featured ring games; like square dancing only without music. The ring games also became popular amoung young children.

<snip>

http://www.oldwivestales.net/article1031.html

[tjwmason]

16. The ashes refer to the Great Fire of London

Which finally extinguished The Plague.

[Book Lover]

6. So some really *do* burn last year's palms

I always wondered if that was just one of those things like, "Never reuse creamer that's been on a customer's table."

[5thGenDemocrat]

13. Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Thanks for the reminder -- it's Ash Wednesday, isn't it?
John
Off to St Andrew's to get my "Hi, I'm a Catholic" smudge.

[bmovies]

18. try cigarette ashes

"You have to burn something to get the ashes used on Ash Wednesday"

Excuses, excuses. Arsonist priest. :-)