Ash Wednesday

Who knew that soon after ash Wednesday, we were going to be in for more than a year-long country-wide pandemic? Things will be a little bit different this year when you go to get your ashes. Of course, many churches will have the option to do drive-thru options to get the ashes and put them on yourself, but if you want to go see your priest, they will not be putting the ashes directly on your fore

A Polish tradition here in this area and other cities with a heavily Polish heritage is the Pazcki

It's a long-time Polish tradition in Buffalo, but I was surprised how many people didn't know how to pronounce the name.  Paczki is a Polish word describing what basically is a big jelly-filled donut.

You may see people with smudges on their forehead today. This is a heavily concentrated Catholic area, so it’s pretty common to see it. Today is Ash Wednesday – the beginning of Lent – a period of 40 days of penance, reflection and abstinence, not including Sundays, leading up to Easter.

A very good friend of mine has been living in New Orleans since leaving Buffalo about 30 years ago. He is a movie set designer and builder so it makes a lot of sense that he is based out of New Orleans. Many big movies have been filmed there...

The big Buffalo Polish tradition of "Fat Tuesday" is coming up Tue. March 8th.  Time to eat a Paczki and get ready for the beginning of Lent.  Ash Wednesday is March 9th.  So what are you giving up for Lent?