Thursday in the Octave
of Pentecost
COGNAC DAY
Psalm 25, verse 12-14:
12 Who is the one who FEARS the LORD? God shows him
the way he should choose. 13 He will abide in prosperity, and his descendants will
inherit the land. 14 The counsel of the LORD belongs to those who FEAR him;
and his covenant instructs them.
The catechism of the Holy Catholic Church states:
50 ...Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed
himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his
plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of
all men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
51 "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal
himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should
have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy
Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature."
52 God, who "dwells in unapproachable light", wants
to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to
adopt them as his sons in his only begotten Son. By revealing himself God
wishes to make them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him and of
loving him far beyond their own natural capacity.
64 Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of
salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for
all, to be written on their hearts. The prophets proclaim a radical
redemption of the People of God, purification from all their infidelities, a
salvation which will include all the nations. Above all, the poor and
humble of the Lord will bear this hope. Such holy women as Sarah, Rebecca,
Rachel, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Judith and Esther kept alive the hope of
Israel's salvation. The purest figure among them is Mary.
There will be no
further Revelation
66 "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new
and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is
to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus
Christ." Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been
made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its
full significance over the course of the centuries.
IN BRIEF
68 By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man.
He has thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that
man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of his life.
69 God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating
his own mystery in deeds and in words.
70 Beyond the witness to himself that God gives in created
things, he manifested himself to our first parents, spoke to them and, after
the fall, promised them salvation (cf. Gen 3:15) and offered
them his covenant.
71 God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all
living beings (cf. Gen 9:16). It will remain in force as long
as the world lasts.
72 God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his
descendants. By the covenant God formed his people and revealed his law to them
through Moses. Through the prophets, he prepared them to accept the salvation
destined for all humanity.
73 God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in
whom he has established his covenant forever. The Son is his Father's
definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after him.
Cognac Day[1]
There are many forms of distilled
alcohol that carry a distinct nobility to them, a bit of culture and of social
grandeur that just can’t
be claimed by other alcohols. When you think of beer, the concepts that arrive
in your mind are often cheap bars and backyard BBQ’s, with wine the themes are the
same but generally of a higher social class. Mention Bourbon, Scotch, and
Cognac, however, and suddenly the rich red of mahogany and distinguished
gentlemen in high-class study’s
and dens come to mind. Cognac Day is dedicated to one of these rich beverages,
and perhaps one of the most distinguished.
History of Cognac Day
To begin with, let’s talk about what Cognac actually
is. Cognac, in a way, is what happens when wine grows up and develops
character, though we may be biased. Cognac begins with a white wine produced in
one of six designated growing regions, and it’s worth noting that if it wasn’t produced from a white wine grown
in those regions, it’s
not considered a real Cognac. The white wine from which it starts is considered
by most connoisseurs to be entirely undrinkable. There’s a further distinction in which a
Cognac must be produced from 90% Ugni Blanc, a form of white wine grape, to
have a specific designation. It all starts with the grapes being pressed and
left to ferment for three weeks in the wild yeasts that grow naturally in those
regions without the addition of sugar or sulfur. This wine is then distilled in
alembic stills and placed into Limousin oak casks for two years where it goes
from being nearly 70% alcohol to 40% alcohol. There are multiple grades of
Cognac, and exploring them can be a great way to spend Cognac Day.
How to celebrate Cognac Day
Ahhh, this is certainly
one of the grandest celebrations. Cognac Day can be celebrated by taking a trip
to your local liquor store and selecting a few varieties to try out. Get together
a few friends and you can have a positively thrilling taste test with dozens of
varieties to choose from. Cognac is far and away an improvement over the simply
fermented grape, distilled and cultivated down to its ultimate final form.
While you’re sampling
this drink, you should look into the various forms of glassware that are
specially designed for serving Cognac. Fill a glass, take a sip, and savor the
luxuriousness that is Cognac, you won’t
regret it!
Daily Devotions
·
do a personal
eucharistic stations of the cross.
·
Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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