 |
Over the years Belgium has produced hundreds of different styles of beer and one recording artist with a hit that reached the top of the charts in The United States. In 1963 Jeanne Deckers, a.k.a. Sister Luc-Gabrielle, a.k.a. Soeur Sourire, a.k.a. The Singing Nun, released the song “Dominique,” which not only made it to the number one spot, but was also the second best selling single for the year, right behind “Sugar Shack” by Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs. It finished ahead of “He’s so Fine” by the Chiffons and “Blue Velvet” by Bobby Vinton; and way ahead of records by Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys, Nat King Cole, Peter, Paul and Mary, Ray Charles and Elvis, among others.
When Sister Luc-Gabrielle recorded “Dominique,” she was a Dominican nun at Fichermont Convent in Belgium. She left the convent in 1966 after assigning all her royalties from the song to the Dominican Order. She disagreed strongly with the Church’s position on birth control and recorded a tribute to oral contraceptives titled “Glory Be to God for the Golden Pill,” which did not sell anywhere nearly as well as “Dominique.” Ms. Deckers subsequently encountered financial problems that eventually drove her to suicide in 1985.
“Dominique” is a paean to St. Dominic, the founder of her order. Among the many flattering things it says about him is, “Dominic, our father, fought against the Albigenses,” referring to the followers of the Albigensian heresy. Indeed, there’s no doubt that Dominic’s charismatic preaching helped curtail the spread of Albigensianism. But another reason for the disappearance of Albigenses was their belief that procreating children was sinful. And perhaps the most important reason of all was the Albigensian Crusade, launched by Pope Innocent III in 1209, in which an estimated 200,000 people were killed.
How many of these 200,000 were card-carrying Albigenses is a matter of ongoing debate. Supposedly, Arnaud-Armaury, the Abbot of Citeaux and spiritual adviser to the crusade, told crusaders who asked how they could identify the heretics, “Kill them all. God will know his own.” While many historians dismiss this quotation as apocryphal, one way or another Albigensianism was effectively eliminated in Europe by the end of the 14th century.
In addition to the role of their founder in fighting Albigenses, the Dominicans have accomplished a lot in the past eight centuries. For example, it was a Dominican Pope, Pius V, who in 1566 instituted the practice of Popes’ wearing white robes, following the custom of his order. More recently, it was Dominicans who established the Aquinas Institute of Theology, which sponsors Theology on Tap, a discussion series at The Schlafly Tap Room.
This is not to be confused with a similar discussion series at Schlafly Bottleworks organized by the Reverend Darrin Patrick, the senior pastor of The Journey, which has ties to the Southern Baptist Convention. Theology at Bottleworks has been immensely popular in St. Louis and was even featured on NBC’s “Today” show in a report titled “Beer and Bibles: New Churches Lure Young Members.” But not everyone is pleased with its success.
One of the most strident critics of the series is Roger Moran, the leader of the Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association. A vigorous opponent of alcoholic beverages, Moran has described The Journey as “dripping with error” because it conducts theological discussions in a setting where beer is brewed and served. Inflamed by what’s happening at Bottleworks, Moran recently prompted the Missouri Baptist Convention to adopt its 12th resolution denouncing alcoholic beverages and those who drink them.
He’s not the only theologian who has a bone to pick with the brewery or me. Father Larry David McCormick, an alert reader (AR) who is a professor of theology at Fordham University, wrote to chastise me for referring to “Reverend Jerry Falwell” in a recent column. As the Reverend McCormick pointed out, I should have referred to “the Reverend Jerry Falwell.” He was absolutely right and I hope he noticed that I got it right in referring to “the Reverend Darrin Patrick” two paragraphs back.
Another AR wrote to rebuke me for something else I wrote in the same paragraph as my solecism involving Jerry Falwell. William Connett, who, like Father McCormick, has a PhD, sent in a blistering critique of my syntax. This attack was painful for several reasons. First, Bill is a retired professor of mathematics. Given that I majored in English in college, writing is supposed to be my forte not his. Second, he’s my cousin and ought to show some deference to his family. Lastly, like Father McCormick he was right. In his e-mail message to me Cousin Bill pointed out that I had “eschewed the subjunctive in referring to certain allegations about Glenn Poshard.” Ouch. My dear cousin added that he expected better from a man with my “Latinate background.” Mea culpa.
In my own defense I must say that not every criticism from an AR is valid. Terry Culver (TC) is a very patriotic reader (VPR) who complained about the failure of many institutions to fly the American flag at half-staff on Veterans Day. With an approach similar to that attributed to Abbot Arnaud-Armaury, TC the VPR denounced all those who failed to show proper respect for America’s veterans on November 12, the day on which Veterans Day was observed in 2007. He admitted that he didn’t know if we flew flags on a daily basis at our breweries (we don’t); but he was ready to damn us for not following proper protocol if we did.
A few minutes later TC the VPR called back with a mea culpa of his own. According to the official guide published by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the only days on which American flags are to be flown at half-staff are Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15), Memorial Day (until noon), Patriot Day (September 11) and Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (December 7). According to the VFW, American flags are to be flown at full-staff on Veterans Day, as they are on several other holidays throughout the year.
With all due respect to the VFW, I think there’s another day on which flags should be flown at half-staff, January 16. It was on this day in 1920 that the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution took effect and Prohibition became the law of the land. If bars and saloons don’t fly their flags at half-staff on this date, perhaps they should at least observe a moment of silence in memory of the livelihoods that were lost and the rights that were curtailed on that dark day.
Eighty-eight years later another crisis is looming for beer drinkers. For a variety of reasons the prices of hops and barley are escalating dramatically. Brewers around the world are scrambling to find the ingredients they need and are being forced to pass these cost increases on to consumers. The effects of this shortage will be especially pronounced in Belgium, where the per capita rate of beer consumption is significantly higher than in the United States. Luckily for the nuns at Fichermont Convent, they still have the royalties from “Dominique” to help pay higher prices for their beer.
|
|
