Today is the vigil!

This is the vigil of the Feast of Sts. Nunilo and Alodia, martyrs!

Are you getting ready to have some paella?  Perhaps Cardinal Mendoza brandy?

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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16 Comments

  1. danphunter1 says:

    Father,
    Maybe you have posted on this before, but what goes into a good paella and how is it cooked?

  2. Gregg the Obscure says:

    Serrano Ham would be highly fitting, giving the torementors’ particular bent. Add some Marcona almonds and Rioja (also a tweak at the oppressors), you’ve got a dandy feast.

  3. Gregg: Now you’re talkin’!

  4. Katherine says:

    I’m a little surprised, Father, given your surname, that you did not mention that today is the feast of Blessed Karl of Austria. I think a slice of sachertorte would celebrate the day nicely.

  5. Geoffrey says:

    No special changes to the menu in my home, but I will be observing the feast as a votive office in the Liturgy of the Hours, and I think my mother will be too!

  6. danphunter1 says:

    “Serrano Ham”
    Serrano Ham it is then Father, thank you.

  7. torch621 says:

    @Geoffrey

    As someone who prays the Liturgy of the Hours as a layman, I must ask… votive office?

  8. Geoffrey says:

    @torch621

    I recall reading something about this once upon a time. Just as you can have a votive Mass for any of the saints in the martyrology using the appropriate Mass texts from the Common, you can do the same in the Liturgy of the Hours. “Votive” simply differentiates it from a proper feast day in the General Roman Calendar.

    Since this Friday is a “feria” day–a day with no prescribed saint–one could say a votive Mass (or office) for any saint listed in the martyrology. In this case, I will use either the Common of Virgins or the Common of Several Martyrs for Saints Nunilo and Alodia. Today, I used the Common of Holy Men for Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria.

    Also, take a look at the Commons in the Liturgy of the Hours. Each one has a plethora of prayers to choose from after the Lord’s Prayer, and they all have a “N.” to fill in with the name of the saint in question. Every saint in the General Roman Calendar / Proper of Saints has their own prayer. So what are all these “blank” prayers for?

    If I am wrong, someone can correct me.

  9. Supertradmum says:

    We are just finishing up the novena to Blessed Karl. He and his wife, also under consideration for beatification, are some of our favorite holy ones.

    Knowing that Nunilo and Alodia are also celebrated tomorrow is almost too much! As to paella, here is my recipe from a friend of mine from Peru—
    1 Onion
    1 Red Pepper
    1 Green Pepper
    4 Tomatoes
    6 Cloves of Garlic
    12 Large Shrimp
    1 lb. Squid (which I sometimes skip)
    1 lb. Mussels
    ½ lb. Clams
    1 lb. Scallops
    1 ½ C. Medium Grain Rice (I use Jasmine)
    8 oz. REAL Sherry or Dry White Wine
    Large Pinch of Saffron
    Chicken or Fish Stock
    3 oz. Roasted Red Peppers for the top at the end
    4 oz. Sweet Peas-Fresh are best
    1 Lemon
    Extra Virgin Olive Oil

    Braise all things and add rice, save mussels and squid until towards the end. Do not mix too much, or the rice gets globby. Drink with La Guita Manzanilla, which is my favorite and not expensive. But, I cannot get it in the Midwest. I also serve the paella with bread and olive oil for dipping with plenty of garlic, as well as Spanish olives. For desert, I have made fruit flan with real cream or pears marinated overnight in Port-good port.

  10. Supertradmum says:

    dessert, oh my..time to stop

  11. Supertradmum says:

    May I add that I usually cook the mussels separately and add at the end, leaving them more fresh. The entire time for cooking (rice to the side) is about 15 minutes for the first ingredients, then braising for another 15 or so altogether. The key is not to overcook, but braise, if possible, with a paella pan, or one similar. When I say serve with sherry, I mean, of course, serve the sherry first and then serve the meal with a Gewürztraminer, and have port after the dessert. This is for very special occasions, like tomorrow!

  12. tianzhujiao says:

    To start the meal, Manchego cheese will go well with the Rioja wine and jamon serrano. After having paella, some crema catalana for dessert would do.

  13. Supertradmum says:

    tianzhujiano,

    Wow, I admire you is you make crema catalana. It is as difficult as creme brulee, and one must have an excellent oven to carry it off. In my youth, I think I lost a boyfriend over a less than perfect creme brulee which I made.

  14. I wish I were with those great priests in the Diocese of Madison for the feast tomorrow. What paella they make!

  15. Oh, hey, I just found a picture of the reliquary of (most of) Ss. Nunilo and Alodia. (I’ve seen “Nunilo” and “Nunilon”, but I didn’t know it was also spelled “Nunilona”.) It’s been held captive in a museum ever since all that anticlerical craziness in the Thirties, and maybe before. (The monks want it back, of course, but the Spanish government apparently doesn’t feel inclined to give it back to its owners.)

    This is pretty amazing work, and you can zoom in even farther.

  16. tzard says:

    Tonight (actually last night as I write) on the Food Network, they were playing “Good Eats” with Alton Brown. It was his show on how to make Paella.

    On the vigil. There are no coincidences. =)

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