THE DOG STOLE THE SAUSAGE FROM THE EASTER BASKET AFTER IT WAS BLESSED

We often got our Easter Baskets blessed on Easter Saturday, not at the parish we belonged to, which didn't offer this, but another parish a few miles away.  Inside each basket there were home baked breads and rolls, and other items that were intended for our Easter Day lunch, things like boiled eggs, celery, salt, butter, meats like ham, and - of course - for the children, Chocolate Easter bunnies, jelly beans, and marshmallow chicks.  We rarely got candy so these were really special. 

All these would be laid upon a bed of artificial cellophane grass, most often green, but sometimes pink or yellow, and an old cloth doily would be placed over the top of the precious basket.  We would go into the church and arrange our baskets an the kneeler along the communion rail.  (As I write this I wonder if all my readers will know what I mean.  In our churches it was common to separate the altar area with a metal rail. These days in many churches people stand in line for Holy Communion and do not kneel.)  We would expose the contents of the basket to the upcoming rain of Holy Water by folding the doily aside.  Then go to sit in the pews to listen to a brief  but sincere Easter prayer lead by the priest and the blessing.

One year my mother's picnic sized hamper included a large sausage.
That year one of the priests at this parish had a pet - a large dog.

As the parishioners settled back into a moment of fervent prayer, the priest's dog came down the center isle of the church.  Before anyone could imagine what he might be up to, the dog snatched the large sausage and ran out of the church with it.  Smart dog!

The serious Easter prayer was punctuated by the wild suppression of laughter, as everyone attempted to avoid laughing out loud or running out of the church after the dog - who was long gone.  Their shoulders shook in glee.

My mom took it well.

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