In times past, I was a parishioner (albeit unofficial) at St. Anne Church in Rochester. While I usually stay in Albany on the weekends, my business called/calls me to Rochester with some frequency. I remember that for a few years in a row, St. Anne used to have a rather long Corpus Christi procession, leaving the front of the church, turning right onto Mt. Hope, going for nearly half a block, then rounding a corner, going in the parking lot, then the atrium, then to the altar for Adoration. There was always a joke among the parishioners as to whether we could stop at the Dunkin’ Donuts establishment just about 100 feet farther from where we turned. (Thus the title.)

However, it appears as if this year the procession isn’t happening. Evidently, there is a craft show scheduled for that Sunday morning, and it will be occurring in the atrium. It just seems improbable that a Eucharistic procession would pass between stands of fake flowers and other crafts. Although, with Sr. Sobala’s touchy-feely approach to the faith, maybe she’d have Jesus stop at a couple stands, pick up a tacky “objet d’art” or two, and then go back home to the tabernacle. How the parish has fallen! They used to have two thuribles and several reverent altar servers. They weren’t all boys, but at least they were respectful. Pange Lingua was echoing around the streets of the neighborhood, and passers-by would stop and bow their heads in humble supplication. Now the only heads bowing are those of the parishioners whose spirits have been thrown into the blender of Joan’s theology and then promptly pur?ed into a runny liquid of bloody orthodoxy. Mmmmm . . . now we know what they will be serving for refreshments after Mass on Sundays from now on. (Apologies to the reader who said that he was planning on eating breakfast when he read this.)

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