Saturday was the feast of the English Martyrs. This is a feast that was approved really quite recently for 4th May. Only a couple of years ago, I think.
Usually I use anything to do with the English Martyrs as an excuse to indulge in a little bit of Protestant Bashing. Today I'm not going to do that. This is because today I'm going to focus on the what the English Martyrs mean to me. The English Martyrs, to me, mean people who died for what they believed in and held to be true, people who died rather than acknowledge beliefs they considered to be wrong and people who died in what was largely a spirit of peace. They died for a faith that I am lucky enough to hold, and for a Mass which I love very greatly. [This is one of the reasons why I think that people should stop being idiots about the Traditional Latin Mass and embrace its beauty and prayerfulness at least once a year].
But on Saturday as I meditated upon the English Martyrs I was struck by the fact that there are still people in the world dying for their faith. One of the places where the Church is in greatest need is Syria. For the Christian communities in Syria - communities founded by St Paul himself - life has become so impossible that hundreds of thousands have fled their homes. Of course it is not just Christians suffering, but the Christian community is very much a minority ins Syria and they are suffering terribly. This situation can only get worse. Just last week two archbishops were kidnapped, and their taxi driver killed. Many Christians have historically been pro-Assad because they have been protected under him, and because they fear the rise of a fundamentalist Islamic state... for obvious reasons. However, Assad's regime has committed, and continues to commit great wrongs. Somewhere amongst it all are Syrian people who simply want democracy and peace. It is a dreadful situation for the members of these earliest Christian communities, and a dreadful situation for the people of Syria as a whole, as of course is clear to people without reading my silly little food blog. It should be a source of great anguish and despair to us all.
With this in mind I shelved anti-protestant polemic on Saturday, and focused instead on the joint prayer of the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster for the people of Syria. And for my part I ask for the intercession of the English Martyrs in this this horrible conflict. I also urge Catholics reading this blog to donate to the Syria appeal run by Aid to the Church in Need.
I am sure that the English Martyrs won't have minded that on Saturday, instead of thinking up yet another variation on some sort of medieval stew or potage, I offered up a traditional Syrian pudding eaten with a sense of humility, and prayer for the people of a troubled and far away land.
Syrian Muhallibieh (it's basically blancmange):
2 cups full fat milk
1/2 cup of icing sugar
3 tablespoons cornflour, mixed into a little water
1 tablespoon rose water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Nuts and runny honey
Bring the milk to the boil in a pan, together with the cinnamon and sugar. Stir in the cornflour mix, and continue to heat on a lower gas until the mixture thickens well (3-5 minutes). Stir constantly. Now turn the heat right down and stir in the rose water. Pour the mixture into serving pots. I used little apple tea glasses. Chill for several hours in the fridge. Drizzle honey on the top, and sprinkle with chopped nuts.
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