Serratia marcescens - A Mouldy Corpus Christi

international | miscellaneous | news report

Tuesday June 12, 2007 12:22

by Hurler on the ditch

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Did this bacteria deceive Pope Urban IV?

Waving the Papal Flag
Recent First Communion recipients have today donned out in their frocks and mini-suits, wiped their faces of chocolate and discarded their new gameboys and mobile phones to participate in the mainly traditional Roman Catholic feast day of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ or 'Boze Cialo' in Polish). National and papal flags are currently on display in abundance around Poland, my current residence.
But before getting into the think of the matter, a little background on the feast.

Holy God - The Bread's Gone Mouldy!
In the early 13th century it was the Augustinian nun Juliana of Liège who spearheaded the campaign for a special feast day to be established to worship the holy eucharist. After many years her efforts were supported by Jacques Pantaléon, then Archdeacon of Liège and later Pope Urban IV.

In the mid-13th century Pope Urban IV facilitated an investigation into claims of a miracle in which blood had purportedly issued from a host in a neighbouring church. One modern theory is that the redness which had appeared upon the wafer was none other than a clustering of 'Serratia marcescens' (see above photo), a reddish bacteria that often grows on bread. Sure my own bread basket had a few problems with this nasty stuff not so long ago!

Despite their being no evidence to support the alleged miraclulous event, in 1264 he issued the papal bull 'Transiturus' in which Corpus Christi was made a feast day. Soon thereafter, Thomas Aquinas composed a new liturgy for the celebration.

Day of Leisure in Poland
And hence the fact that I am writing this blog rather than in work, as today remains a public holiday in conservative Catholic countries like Poland. The heathens in Ireland have long abandoned this as a day off, being now more desirous of consuming goodies of all sorts and building capital than adhering to the faith of their fathers and mothers.

I wonder how Poles in Ireland are dealing with the fact that they have to slave away at work today whilst their brothers and sisters back at home are free to have picnics, engage in a fashion show whilst attending their local church, and then carrying on regardless without any memory of what the words of scripture were during the overlong ceremony. I hazard to guess that are coping just fine.

The Body of Christ - in the Bible Belt
On a trivial note, I was in Corpus Christi, Texas, 13 years ago as my brother was getting married in the vicinity. There is nothing particularly interesting about this city, but 3 associations fascinate me about the use of this latin term to describe a major city in the bible-belt region of the U.S.

About 14% of families and 18% of the population of the city are below the poverty line, including 23% of those under age 18 and 16% of those age 65 or over. Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD) is the largest industrial employer in South Texas. And even more ironically, Corpus Christi is also the name of a US Nuclear Submarine.

I wonder whether the Polish president Lech Kaczynski will consider calling the controversial U.S. proposed Anti-Ballistic Missile system in Central Europe Boze Cialo (Body of God), which according to news reports in Poland may be constructed by 2012. Well, why not? - his sycophancy will be on display tomorrow on the Baltic coastline resort of Jurata when the Bushling and the conservative ass-licker Kaczka (duck) will hold talks to iron out remaining differences over the shield. Photos will be published and a report from the demonstration will be written and posted on Saturday/Sunday.