HUNTERSVILLE — St. Mark Church celebrated the feast of St. John the Evangelist, the patron saint of wine, with a special ancient blessing of wine on Dec. 27.
After morning Mass, Fr. Cory Catron, parochial vicar at St. Mark blessed parishioners’ wine using the ancient Extraordinary Form Latin blessing for wine.
St. John became the patron saint of wine after someone attempted to kill him using poisoned wine, but the Saint blessed the wine prior to drinking and was unharmed.
The blessed wine is drinkable and can be used for special occasions, given to the sick, or prepared with a recipe to make a special drink called St. John’s Love.
For more on the tradition of St. John please visit Fisheaters.com: https://www.fisheaters.com/customschristmas4.html
— Mike FitzGerald, correspondent