Carnival of Genealogy, 99th Edition

Welcome to the November 4, 2010 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. The topic of this edition is: Religious Rites. It's hard to believe but in 99 editions this is the first time we've had "religion" as a topic. We have a nice variety of articles representing a number of organized religions. I think you'll enjoy reading about our families and their religious pasts. The weather has definitely taken a turn for the colder so I may I suggest you stop off at your favorite coffee house and get a nice rich cup of Joe to go with this edition of the COG. The Carnival is back in town!

J.M. presents Spreading the Christian Faith posted at Tracing My Roots, saying, "Although the mission is not technically a religious rite or ceremony, it was an important part of the church around 1900 and played an important part in the lives of my ancestors. So when the topic of this COG came up I thought it was time to take a closer look at the history of Dutch missionaries in the Dutch East Indies." JM does a wonderful and thorough job of looking at this slice of religious history that her family has a connection to. It's interesting reading even if you have no ties to the Netherlands or mission work. Check it out!

Carol presents 99th Edition Carnival of Genealogy, Religious Rites Can Tell A Life Story posted at Reflections From the Fence, saying, "Follow me as I follow the life of Frieda (Friedarike Julia Laura) Gehrke via her religious rites, baptism, confirmation, marriage, birth of her daughter, and her death/burial." Carol not only tells the story of Frieda's religious background but she also does a nice job of reflecting on the differences among church records and which she has developed a preference for and appreciation of! Thanks for sharing, Carol!

Donna presents Faith of Our Ancestors posted at What's Past is Prologue, saying, "I come from a long line of Catholics, so my ancestors have celebrated many religious rites over the years. In honor of the Seven Sacraments, I present a list of 7 unique, odd, or curious facts about my family’s participation in religious rites!" One does not typically think in terms of "fun facts" when thinking about their family's religious history, but then there's Donna. God bless Donna! She can manage to entertain us even with a topic as staid as religion. It's a real testament to her writing talent that she can put such an interesting spin on religious rites!

Leah presents An Italian Wedding posted at The Internet Genealogist, saying, "I wanted to learn more about the religious rites of my grandmother's Italian family and ended up researching Italian wedding traditions. I learned a lot but have a lot more to learn - like how to dance the tarantella!" Leah took a romantic approach to the topic of religious rites with her research on Italian wedding traditions. She presented her findings complete with music. It's a delightful article. Don't miss it!

John Newmark presents Religious Rites: Weddings posted at Transylvanian Dutch, saying, "I look back at some of the weddings I've attended, as well as take another look at the wedding of a second great uncle, which took place in 1902." John has quite a diverse ethnic and religious background. His articles always make for interesting reading, and this one is no exception. Do stop by and read John's reflections on the weddings he has participated in and the weddings of his ancestors too!

Liz Kehl presents Sacramental Significance posted at Bergschneiders and Beyond, saying, "With most of my family Catholic, I described a couple of sacramental experiences and documents and shared some recent photos of our daughter's Baptism into the Catholic Church." Liz is new to the COG so stop by and give her a warm welcome! Her article about the Catholic rites her family has participated in is nicely written and beautifully presented with photos. Thanks for sharing and participating in the COG, Liz!

Janet Iles presents Carnival of Genealogy - Religious Rites a long standing tradition in our family posted at Janet the researcher, saying, "I am happy that my family has a long tradition of being part of religious rites in their churches." Janet's article shows her pride in her family's religious traditions. She's found baptismal documents for family members in England from the early 1800s. Her admiration is evident!

Jasia presents Catholicism and Religious Rites in My Family posted at Creative Gene. I have a solid Catholic background and there was no shortage of religious rites practiced in my family. Stop by and check out my overview complete with scrapbook pages!

Cheryl Schulte presents Religious Rites in my Family posted at Two Sides of the Ocean. Cheryl wrote a wonderful article about her family's religious history. Most impressive is her collection of confirmation photos... and these are but a few of them. Honestly, she could do a whole series of articles with confirmation photos! Thanks for sharing these with us, Cheryl!

Cynthia Shenette presents A Matter of Habit: Solving a Mystery posted at Heritage Zen:, saying, "I chose to write about one of my "mystery collections." I don't think I solved my mystery completely, but I did learn a little something along the way!" Cynthia discovered that it isn't easy to research Catholic nuns, and kudos to her for trying! She did manage to figure out a way to find them in the U.S. Census... don't miss this terrific article and see how she did it! Thanks for participating in the COG, Cynthia!

Dorene Paul presents Joyce's Confirmation at St. Paul Lutheran Church in 1945 posted at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay, saying, "What Joyce Parker learned in preparing for her confirmation in the Lutheran Church in 1945 stayed with her during her whole life." Dorene writes a lovely summary of her mother's lifelong participation in the Lutheran faith. Her photos complement the story oh so nicely!

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~*~*~*Feature Article *~*~*~

Susan presents Once upon a time or why Uncle Vasil firebombed the church posted at Nolichucky Roots, saying, "By rights - or rites - I should have written about Uncle Vasil's son or one of the other priests, nuns or pastors in the family. Maybe it's because there are so many of them and only one of him, but I find Uncle Vasil pretty irresistible." This is just the sort of interesting tale that family historians love to investigate to attempt to confirm or deny it. Susan did a great job of telling the tale as she remembered it and putting it in context relative to time and place. Wonderful writing! Terrific Title!

Please join me in congratulating Susan for the being the Featured Author of the 99th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy!

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That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. I hope you have enjoyed this look at the religious rites our families have participated in. For many of our ancestors, religion was the fabric of their lives. It's only fitting that we honor them and their devotion to their faith. Thanks to all who participated!

It's been a long time coming, the 100th edition of the COG. There were times when I seriously doubted if this publication would last that long. But here we are wrapping up the 99th edition and preparing for the 100th. I find myself amazed and grateful to be here. What a long and winding road it's been! The COG has gone through some ups and downs, a few transitions, some really popular themes, and some not so popular ones. We've had our share of laughter and of tears, poetry, music, & dance, we've celebrated holidays and seasons, we've shared our food stories, our car stories, and our dog & pony stories to name just a few. Through it all, your support and willingness to read and participate has kept the COG going, and kept me going when I wanted to throw in the towel. I'll be honest here and tell you that for the last several months I had planned to end the COG with the 100th edition because it feels like the genealogy blogging community is just themed out. But I've recently had a change of heart due to a few people who have convinced me that the COG is still an appreciated and viable publication. And so for the time being, the COG will continue. I hope you will continue the ride with me... starting with the 100th edition!

Call for Submissions! As I mentioned in a previous post, I am asking all who have participated in past editions of the COG to participate in the 100th edition. It's a FAMILY REUNION! There will not be the usual cap of 30 submissions for this edition. Instead there will be a floor of 100! I will not attempt to write comments nor choose a featured author this time around. I'm asking all of you to help me out here and make my dream come true. I would like to have 100 or more submissions from my friends, my COG family members, for this 100th edition. It's a tall order, yes. It hasn't been done before and therein lies the challenge. Can it be done? Only your time and efforts will determine that. I know there are many more than 100 authors who have participated in the previous 99 editions of the COG. I need at least 100 of you to step up and write a blog post to submit to the COG to make my day, my week, my month, and my blogging career. I don't know how many past participants are reading this edition so I'm hoping you'll help me get the word out. Please share this info on FaceBook, Twitter, GeneaBloggers, Second Life, your own blogs, mainstream media, the 4 major TV networks, genealogy conferences, and wherever past COG participants may gather!

And the topic for the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is... "There's one in every family!" Bring your stories of colorful characters, unique heirlooms, mouth-watering recipes, most dearly beloved pets, whatever! Interpret as you like. Every family has "special" individuals, you know, the ones with a green thumb, the black sheep, the lone wolf, the blue-ribbon cook, the story-teller, the geek! I know you have treasured recipes and amazing heirlooms you've yet to share! Tell us about them and become a part of history in the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy! The deadline for submissions is December 1st.

Submit your blog article to the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Thanks for the poster, fM!

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Catholicism and Religious Rites in My Family

I come from a long line of Catholics. A very long line. As far back as I can trace my direct line ancestors, there are Catholics and only Catholics. This isn't surprising, really, since all of my ancestors hail from Poland... one of the most Catholic countries on this planet. Catholicism is a common thread that connects me to those who came before me as much as DNA does, at least as far back as 966 when Poland officially adopted Latin Christianity anyway.

Catholicism is what I think of as a "rich" religion. It has many, many layers and many, many rites/rituals. If you've ever seen photos of the Vatican in Rome, Italy, you've seen how much the Church values art, architecture, and pageantry. There are processions on holy days (kinda like religious parades), feasts on saints' days (not so much banquets as featured specialty foods and "celebrations"), and of course there are the holy days that have entire seasons... Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas. All of this is in addition to the prayer options... Masses, Novenas, Stations of the Cross, Vespers, Rosaries, et al. which have their own rituals associated with them. Some of these can be observed in a private way but for the most part they are intended to be observed by the whole church family as a group.

When it comes to personal religious rites, the Catholic church has basically seven: Baptism, Holy Communion, Reconciliation (confession/forgiveness), Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick. I'm not going to go into an explanation of all seven here but I will touch on how these rites relate to my family's history. If you're interested in learning more about the seven "sacraments", as Catholics refer to them, you will find a basic explanation on Wikipedia.

Baptism
In "the old days", children were baptized as soon after birth as possible. In rural Poland, that generally meant the same day or the next day. Infant mortality was high so children were baptized quickly in hopes that should they die their souls would get to heaven. Around the turn of the century (1900), when modern medical practices reduced the risk of infant mortality, the time between birth and baptism lengthened. Medical advances happened here in the U.S. before they appeared in Poland. Here are some examples of how that played out in my own family.

All 8 of my great grandparents were born and baptized in Poland...
1843 Szymon Lipa born October 2, baptized the same day.
1855 Wojciech Lisowski born March 26, baptized the same day.
1857 Ludwika Knot born July 6, baptized the next day.
1862 Krzysztof Laska born March 24, baptized the same day.
1862 Piotr Mizera born April 16, baptized April 21, 1862 (5 days, the delay in his baptism was likely due to his being born during the Holy Week preceding Easter, which fell on April 20th in 1862)
1862 Anna Bober born November 13, baptized November 16, 1862 (3 days)
1864 Karolina Furman born March 12, baptized the same day.
1865 Jozefa Adamska born March 2, baptized March 5, 1865 (3 days)

My 4 grandparents...
1884 Wincenty Lisowski born January 18, in Poland, baptized January 21, 1884 (3 days)
1884 Jozef Laska born August 20, in Poland, baptized the same day.
1889 Karolina Lipa born August 1 in Detroit, Michigan, baptized August 11, 1889 (10 days)
Birth and baptismal records are not available for my other grandparent.

My parents...
1914 Joseph born August 5, in Detroit, Michigan, baptized August 9, 1914 (4 days)
1918 Lucy born July 10, in Detroit, Michigan, baptized July 21, 1918 (11 days)

I was baptized 5 weeks after my birth.

My daughter was baptized 2 months after her birth.
My son was baptized 5 weeks after his birth.

Holy Communion/Reconciliation (These go hand in hand)
I have no records to substantiate when my great grandparents, or my ancestors before them) received First Holy Communion. However, my understanding is that before 1910 (in the U.S., anyway) children were confirmed at the same time they received their First Holy Communion (see here). I have seen the Confirmation Book at Sweetest Heart of Mary Church and found my grandmother, Karolina Lipa, among those confirmed in 1910. She would have been 11 years old at the time. I had a brief conversation with the Pastor of the church and he told me that back then the children of the parish did receive their First Communion at the same time they were confirmed.

From about 1910 on, children have received the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Reconciliation at about 7-8 years of age and Confirmation at about 12-14. That's here in the U.S. I don't know at what age these sacraments are administered in Poland.

Here in the U.S., making one's First Holy Communion is cause for celebration. I'm not sure if I have more First Communion photos in my collection of family photos or wedding photos. It's close. First Communions in the Polish community (and in my family) were usually celebrated with big parties, gifts, and a trip to the portrait studio. I have more First Communion photos than vacation, birthday, graduation, Baptism, Confirmation, or Christmas photos. Girls always wear white dresses with a veil. Boys wear a suit and tie. It's a big deal.

Confirmation
I don't know a lot about the Confirmations in my family. Confirmation wasn't celebrated the way First Holy Communions were. I don't even remember a lot about my own Confirmation. It was performed by a Bishop as opposed to a parish priest (Confirmation always is). I wore a fancy pastel dress. My cousin Marlene was my sponsor. And I chose the name, Barbara (you always get to pick a new name). I was 13 years old. I don't remember any parties or gifts or even going out to dinner. That's all I remember.

Matrimony
I have a gazillion wedding photos in my collection of family pics. I'm pretty sure that all of my ancestors in Poland were married in a church wedding. I don't know if civil wedding ceremonies even existed in Poland in days of old. Many of my family members here in the U.S. were married in the Catholic church as well, but not all of them. My grandparents, who were the first immigrants to the U.S., married at Sweetest Heart of Mary Church in Detroit. Some of their children married in the Catholic faith but others chose to elope and have civil ceremonies. I have many wedding photos of those who married in the church, none for those who married in civil ceremonies.

Holy Orders
This sacrament is reserved for those who become priests, deacons, and bishops. To my knowledge, there is only one priest in the family. My second cousin Pawel, same age as me, is a priest in the Cathedral in Łódż, Poland.

Anointing of the Sick
This sacrament is performed by a priest at the bedside of someone who is gravely ill. Both of my parents received this sacrament. I'm not sure how many other of my relatives did. Those who died suddenly and unexpectedly would not have received this sacrament, only those who would have been gravely ill and had time to request the audience of a priest would have.

I would say that Catholicism and the rites and rituals that go along with it are the fabric of my family history. The location of the church may change, the individuals involved certainly did, the timing of the rites did as well, but the rites themselves really hasn't. Not since long before records were kept for such things.