Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Friday 15 december 2017
Feeling guilty about drinking? Well, ask the saints

Michael Foley sons, who lived in the 11th
Baylor University century, has even been Health and community
(THE CONVERSATION) credited with inventing So why such an impressive
Each year the holidays the filtration process. To record of alcoholic creativ-
bring with them an in- this day and despite the ity among the religious? I
crease in both the con- proliferation of many out- believe there are two un-
sumption of alcohol and standing microbreweries, derlying reasons.
concern about drinking’s the world’s finest beer is ar- First, the conditions were
harmful effects. guably still made within the right for it. Monastic com-
Alcohol abuse is no laugh- cloister – specifically, within munities and similar reli-
ing matter, but is it sinful the cloister of a Trappist gious orders possessed all
to drink and make merry, monastery. of the qualities necessary
moderately and responsi- for producing fine alcohol-
bly, during a holy season or Liquors and liqueurs ic beverages.
at any other time? Equally impressive is the They had vast tracts of
As a historical theologian, religious contribution to land for planting grapes or
I researched the role that distilled spirits. Whiskey barley, a long institutional
pious Christians played in was invented by medieval memory through which
developing and producing Irish monks, who probably special knowledge could
alcohol. What I discovered shared their knowledge be handed down and per-
was an astonishing history. with the Scots during their fected, a facility for team-
Pious drinking. Walter Dendy Sadler via Wikimedia Commons missions. work and a commitment
Religious orders and wine- Chartreuse is widely con- to excellence in even the
making many’s Second Reich. Chile and Australia. sidered the world’s best smallest of chores as a
Wine was invented 6,000 In order to celebrate the Godly men not only pre- liqueur because of its ex- means of glorifying God.
years before the birth of Eucharist, which requires served and promulgated traordinary spectrum of Second, it is easy to forget
Christ, but it was monks the use of bread and oenology, or the study of distinct flavors and even in our current age that for
who largely preserved vini- wine, Catholic missionar- wines; they also advanced medicinal benefits. Per- much of human history, al-
culture in Europe. Religious ies brought their knowl- it. One of the pioneers in the fected by the Carthusian cohol was instrumental in
orders such as the Benedic- edge of vine-growing with “méthode champenoise,” order almost 300 years promoting health.
tines and Jesuits became them to the New World. or the “traditional method” ago, the recipe is known Water sources often car-
expert winemakers. They Wine grapes were first in- of making sparkling wine, by only two monks at a ried dangerous pathogens,
stopped only because troduced to Alta California was a Benedictine monk time. The herbal liqueur Bé- and so small amounts of
their lands were confis- in 1779 by Saint Junipero whose name now adorns nédictine D.O.M. is reput- alcohol would be mixed
cated in the 18th and 19th Serra and his Franciscan one of the world’s finest ed to have been invented with water to kill the germs
centuries by anti-Catholic brethren, laying the foun- champagnes: in 1510 by an Italian Bene- therein.
governments such as the dation for the California Dom Pérignon. dictine named Dom Ber- Roman soldiers, for ex-
French Revolution’s Con- wine industry. A similar pat- According to a later leg- nardo Vincelli to fortify and ample, were given a daily
stituent Assembly and Ger- tern emerged in Argentina, end, when he sampled restore weary monks. And allowance of wine, not in
his first batch in 1715, Péri- the cherry brandy known order to get drunk but to
gnon cried out to his fellow as Maraska liqueur was purify whatever water they
monks: invented by Dominican found on campaign.
“ apothecaries in the early And two bishops, Saint Ar-
“Brothers, come quickly. I 16th century. nulf of Metz and Saint Ar-
am drinking stars!” Nor was ingenuity in alco- nold of Soissons, are cred-
Monks and priests also hol a male-only domain. ited with saving hundreds
found new uses for the Carmelite sisters once pro- from a plague because
grape. The Jesuits are duced an extract called they admonished their
credited with improving “Carmelite water” that flock to drink beer instead
the process for making was used as a herbal tonic. of water. Whiskey, herbal
grappa in Italy and pisco The nuns no longer make liqueurs and even bitters
in South America, both of this elixir, but another con- were likewise invented for
which are grape brandies. coction of the convent medicinal reasons.
survived and went on to And if beer can save souls
Beer in the cloister become one of Mexico’s from pestilence, no won-
And although beer may most popular holiday li- der the Church has a spe-
have been invented by the queurs – Rompope. cial blessing for it that be-
ancient Babylonians, it was Made from vanilla, milk gins:
perfected by the medieval and eggs, Rompope was “O Lord, bless this crea-
monasteries that gave us invented by Clarist nuns ture beer, which by Your
brewing as we know it to- from the Spanish colonial kindness and power has
day. The oldest drawings city of Puebla, located been produced from ker-
of a modern brewery are southeast of Mexico City. nels of grain, and may it
from the Monastery of Saint According to one ac- be a health-giving drink for
Gall in Switzerland. The count, the nuns used egg mankind.”
plans, which date back to whites to give the sacred This article was originally
A.D. 820, show three brew- art in their chapel a pro- published on The Conver-
eries – one for guests of the tective coating. Not wish- sation. Read the original
monastery, one for pilgrims ing the leftover yolks to go article here: http://the-
and the poor, and one for to waste, they developed conversation.com/feeling-
Historically, alcohol was seen to be promoting health. Fritz the monks themselves. the recipe for this festive guilty-about-drinking-well-
Wagner (1896-1939) (Dorotheum) , via Wikimedia Commons One saint, Arnold of Sois- refreshment. ask-the-saints-87569.q