Feast of our holy diocese of Aberdeen.

Today, 9 July,
Feast of Our Lady of Aberdeen.
The First Class Feast of the Patroness of the Diocese.

The Coat of Arms
of the holy
Diocese of Aberdeen:
Three fish forming a triangle on a blue field
(These three fish were caught by the confrères this afternoon
and laid out in honour of
Our Lady of Aberdeen.)

The first early Christian symbol of the Fish is taken a stage
further by combining three fish within a basic triangular shape.
Each letter in Greek for "fish" (ἰχθύς)
(or in capitals ΙΧΘΥΣ
pronounced Ichthus like IK-THUS)
represented a key word related to the
identity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is
Jesus Christ (IX),
Son of God (ΘΥ),
Saviour (Σ).

But back to our "Ichthus-es"
on Papa Stronsay ...

... As you guessed,
the kitchen was busy again this evening.
An even larger catch than our last one,
the haul of
just three crewmen
and two fishing rods!

Br. Alfonso packs the fish for the freezer.
The question is:
How many were caught?

Br Martin Mary cuts into delicious Mackerel.
Since from the time of the Apostles
catches of fish have been counted,
we must do the same,
it's a tradition.

Tonight were counted:
202 Mackerel!
(St. Augustine might tell you the signification of this number!)
but as anyone knows
53 Coley fish ...
are
in honour
of the numbers of Aves in the Rosary.

Of course
we did not count the number of fish
that were washed overboard in the rough seas,
nor the Cod of unreported dimensions
snatched away by a ferocious sea fowl
just as it was being hauled aboard!

O Our Lady of Aberdeen
Thank you for this festive day!
Best wishes from Papa Stronsay
to all in our holy diocese!

Happy Feast day to all our readers.