REGINA Magazine 3 | Page 56

Bucking the System

Sunday Roast

f one day you are invited to ‘Sunday Lunch’ in England, say a grateful

prayer and accept with pleasure. Whether in a gastro-pub or an Englishman’s castle, these people know what they are doing. You are in for a treat-- classically delicious seasonal roasted meat, complemented by local vegetables. And though your hosts may not know it, they are continuing a centuries-old Catholic tradition. For, from the time when the earliest Christians came to England in 159 AD,* we have come together over a table blessing after Sunday Mass.

* According to the Venerable Bede, during the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Antoninus, a British king named Lucius wrote Pope Eleutherus in Rome requesting instruction in the Christian faith.

I

REGINA | 56