Long before “bring your pet to church” became a quirky modern trend, medieval Christians were doing something far more spectacular — and considerably louder. Allow us to introduce the Feast of the Ass, a legitimate, actual, real Christian celebration that makes your average Sunday service look positively uneventful.
Held every January 14th, the Feast of the Ass honored the humble donkey that carried the Holy Family on their flight into Egypt. And these medieval worshippers were not about to half-donkey it. The festivities kicked off with a young girl and child mounted on a living, breathing, presumably opinionated donkey, being ceremonially paraded through the entire town. Destination: the church itself, where the four-legged guest of honor was escorted right up to the altar and stationed there for the duration of the sermon.
But wait — it gets better. Far better.
As the medieval equivalent of a grand finale, the priest would conclude the service by braying like a donkey. Not metaphorically. Not symbolically. Actual braying. Full commitment. And the congregation, bless their medieval hearts, would bray right back. The entire church, unified in a thunderous chorus of “HEE-HAW,” sending their prayers heavenward in the most unconventional way liturgical history has ever recorded.
Historians note the celebration blended religious devotion with the kind of joyful irreverence that medieval communities occasionally permitted on special feast days. It was earnest, communal, and apparently deeply satisfying for everyone involved — including, one imagines, the donkey, who had finally achieved the recognition he so richly deserved.
The Feast of the Ass was eventually discontinued, which honestly feels like organized religion’s greatest missed opportunity for boosting attendance.
Some traditions are simply ahead of their time.
*Source: Boing Boing / Wikipedia*
Original story via Boing Boing
