Edward S Gault

BLESSINGS

Marcy arranged to have one of the Priests

From come by to bless our home

Soon after we bought it.

Father Lorenzo arrived

At around five that following Friday.

We met him at the door,

As he stood on the pathway,

He took out the Book of Blessings

And blessed the entire structure.

                "Peace to this house and all who dwell here."

The structure had three units, ours was the middle.

So, our neighbors wound up getting their homes blessed too.

Even if they were Jewish, Unitarian, atheist, agnostic or Pagan.

Most of our neighbors fit one of those five.

He did a blessing in the kitchen for each meal we would share.

He did a blessing in the family room 

For all the time spent together.

We then went upstairs.

He blessed the master bedroom for matrimonial bliss.

He blessed our child's room that she sleeps peacefully.

Lastly, he blessed the bathrooms (yes, even those).

Then he joined us for dinner,

And took the chair usually occupied by the cat.

He opened with the Lord's prayer.

We dined on Salmon with Ratatouille,

Accompanied by DaVinci white wine.

We talked of the choir and the Christmas program,

And went onto the Father’s coming trip to Amsterdam.

At this point, I broke in, stating that our Puritan forefathers

Had set sail from Amsterdam,

And that it was they who outlawed Christmas back in the day

Because the Bible never said that Jesus 

Was ever born on the 25th of December,

And that it was a Pagan Holiday anyway.

Marcy gave me that hard glare, 

Like I had said something wrong.

Father Lorenzo continued, discussing 

His struggles with Dutch grammar.

I sympathized, as I had studied German Grammar,

But I kept my mouth shut. 

Marcy asked me to brew some coffee for dessert.

She served a wonderful strawberry flan.

I was able to redeem myself with the coffee.

Father Lorenzo looked at his watch

And said it was late.

We saw him to the door, and even walked him out to his car.

Another 15 minutes of chats, and goodbyes.

Sometime later, Father Lorenzo would be defrocked 

For sexual harassment.

Marcy and I divorced ten years after that.