Religious Customs, Catholic Church 

Father Weiser, author of the best-selling 'The Christmas Book' and 'The Easter Book', now presents the final volume of his trilogy on the cycle and celebration of Christian feasts. The book is devoted both to the season of Pentecost and to those feasts of saints throughout the year that have become holydays over the course of centuries. Like its predecessors, 'The Holyday Book' is rich in history and legend, and Robert Frankenberg's charming illustrations again merge perfectly with the text.
Why do we wear our best clothes on Sunday? What was the Holy Ghost Hole in medieval churches? How did a Belgian nun originate the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament? Where did the Halloween mask and the jack-o'-lantern come from? Father Weiser recounts tales of the traditional customs of "Trinity rain," the Day of Wreaths, the sign of the Cross, the Feast of Swallows, the Russian "Annunciation bread" buried in the field to protect the harvest. Here, too, are stories of the great fertility rites that culminated in the religious feasts of Thanksgiving, from the Martin's goose of the Middle Ages to the roast turkey of today.
The Holyday Book is a lively yet reverent chronicle of the origin of many great religious customs.