St Bruno

Your church ladies are pleased to remind you that today is the feast of St Bruno, the French Carthusian biblical scholar and patron of beer makers. So quaff one, preferably while toasting Our Lady's University.

You can also read more about Bruno's contributions to Catholic culture in one of our favorite books, The Bad Catholic's Guide to Wine, Whiskey, and Song. Consult our friends at the Catholic Beer Review for beverage recommendations. I will be serving this slow cooker ale stew with beer bread and Leffe Abbey Ale (developed at the abbey of Notre Dame da Leffe) for dinner to the local Carthusian hermit.

If Father is around, he can bless your beer, using the following formula from the Roman Ritual:

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.

V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Bless, + O Lord, this creature beer, which thou hast deigned to produce from the fat of grain: that it may be a salutary remedy to the human race, and grant through the invocation of thy holy name; that, whoever shall drink it, may gain health in body and peace in soul. Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

The beer is then sprinkled with holy water.