On Monday Don Giorgio arrived to give the house its annual blessing. Last year he had not been well and instead of going to each house he held a blessing service in the church. This year he is back in top form and so was calling on each family. He was meant to arrive at 4.30 (when the house was tidy) but a funeral intervened and so he arrived about 6.30 when we were cooking and the house was not looking so pristine.
The blessing is very simple. He reads out a prayer and sprinkes the room with holy water. The only hestitation in his voice came when he said that we were all Christians in this house. As Bill goes to mass most weeks he got an assured look from Don Giorgio. For me, the look was rather more doubtful.
Each year each family is left a religious picture and this year it was an icon of the Holy Family.