Healthy Lifestyles Through Nutrition - Registered Dietitian

01/18/2026

✝️EVER WONDERED WHY ALTAR SERVERS FOLD THEIR HANDS AT MASS? DISCOVER THE POWERFUL HISTORY BEHIND IT

It looks simple.
Almost unnoticed.
But it speaks volumes.

As altar servers walk, stand, or kneel during Mass, you’ll often see their hands folded together, fingers extended, palms pressed, thumbs crossed.
This isn’t random. And it’s not just “what we were taught.”
It’s a posture filled with meaning, and its origin goes way back, not just to Church tradition, but even to ancient cultural practices of loyalty and reverence.

✝️ A Gesture of Homage

In medieval times, during the era of kings and feudal lords, a vassal who wished to serve under a lord would kneel, join his hands, and place them into the hands of the lord, a solemn act of surrender and trust.
It was called homagium, homage.

By this act, the vassal was saying:

“I am yours.
I serve you.
I trust you to lead and protect me.”

The Church, recognizing the power of this gesture, adopted it as a sign of prayerful submission, no longer to a human lord, but to Christ the King.

✝️ At Ordination,
A Moment of Total Surrender

This gesture becomes even more profound at a priest’s ordination.

During the rite, the man being ordained kneels before the bishop and places his joined hands into the bishop’s hands, publicly declaring his promise of obedience to Christ through His Church.

It is one of the most sacred gestures of the liturgy:

“I place my life, my hands, my will, into the hands of the Church, into the hands of Christ.”

This solemn act of self-offering mirrors the ancient homage, and sanctifies it for divine service.

✝️ At the Altar, A Living Echo

So when altar servers fold their hands during Mass, they are not just being neat or reverent.
They are silently echoing that same heritage of surrender and service.
They are saying:

“I am here to serve, with attention, with obedience, with love.”

It shows readiness, discipline, and humility.
It reminds the server, and everyone watching, that the altar is not a stage, but sacred ground.

✝️ Training the Heart in Sacred Duty

Altar servers are not passive helpers.
They are junior ministers, apprenticed in the sanctuary.
Their posture reflects the beauty and order of the liturgy, and prepares them to grow in deeper service, perhaps even to the priesthood.

That simple gesture of folded hands says:

“I am present.”
“I am attentive.”
“I serve not just with my hands,
but with my heart.”

✝️ So next time you see an altar server with hands folded at the chest, remember:

It’s not just etiquette.
It’s not empty tradition.
It’s the echo of centuries of devotion,
A sign of submission to Christ the King,
A promise of faithful service at His altar,
And the first humble steps toward a lifetime of priestly or lay sanctity.

May every young person who folds their hands there…
one day lift them in prayer, in vocation, and in love for Christ and His Church.

God bless you !

01/18/2026

🎗PUT THE GLASS DOWN

Sometimes the heaviest weight we carry… isn’t really heavy.
It’s just been in our hands too long.

Look at this image: a weary woman clutches a glass of water, swirling around her like invisible chains.

The longer she holds it, the heavier it becomes. The glass hasn’t changed—but her strength is fading.

🎗 That’s exactly how life works.

That argument you replay in your mind all day…
That worry about bills, work, or health…
That fear of the future that keeps you up at night…

It’s not that these things are too heavy. It’s that you’re holding them too long.

God shows us another way:
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
(1 Peter 5:7)

"Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
(Matthew 11:28)

Here’s the truth:
Peace doesn’t come from carrying less—it comes from letting go.
Rest isn’t weakness—it’s trusting God to hold what you cannot.

Today’s challenge:
Put the glass down.
Leave your worries, fears, and burdens at His feet.
Step into His peace, even if your hands are empty.

Dear Lord, I release everything I’ve been carrying. Teach me to trust You fully, and fill me with Your peace that surpasses all understanding. In Jesus Name I Ask. Amen.

⚜ Life is lighter when we stop holding what God is ready to carry.
Put the glass down—and let Him lift it for you.

01/18/2026

We have some awesome saints! St. Anthony trusted God is everything!💛🙏🎶🪅🕊️💫💥🎶✝️💟

ST. ANTHONY OF EGYPT, ABBOT

Before the conversion of the Emperor Constantine in 312 AD, back in the days when Christianity was still a persecuted religion, the act of becoming a Christian meant that a person turned his back on security, prestige, popularity, and success as far as the world was concerned.

After the Emperor Constantine had changed Christianity from being a persecuted religion into one that was acceptable to society, and it became fairly easy to be a Christian, many who were serious about their faith felt that they needed to make a bigger sacrifice. As a result, some of them wanted to show their Christian commitment by leaving society and going out into the desert to become hermits, where they could devote themselves to a life of solitude, fasting, and prayer. Although this had begun to happen even before Christianity became legal, after Constantine this “going out into the desert” was seen more and more. One of the earliest examples is St Anthony of Egypt, who is considered to be the founder of Christian monasticism.

St Anthony of Egypt was the son of Christian parents, and from them he inherited a large estate. On his way to church one day, he found himself thinking about the words of Jesus, where He said, "Sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and come follow me." When he got to church, he heard the preacher speaking on those very words. He took this as a message from God for him, so having provided for the care of his sister, he gave his land to the tenants who lived on it, and gave his other wealth to the poor, and became a hermit, living alone for twenty years, praying and reading, and doing manual labor.

As more Christians sought out that solitary life, they tended to gravitate towards the place where St Anthony was, so in the year 305, he decided to give up his solitude, and he became the head of a group of monks, living in a cluster of huts or cells, devoting themselves to communal singing and worship, to prayer and study and manual labor under Anthony's direction. They weren’t there simply to renounce the world, but they wanted to develop their lives of prayer for others, and they worked with their hands to earn money so they could give it to the poor, and they gave spiritual guidance to those who sought them out.

In 321, Christians in Alexandria were beginning to experience persecution again, this time by the Emperor Maximinus – even though the Christian faith had been made legal by Constantine – and Anthony visited Alexandria to encourage those who were facing the possibility of martyrdom. He visited again in 335, when Arianism had become strong in the city, and he converted many by his preaching and testimony, and by prayer and the working of miracles. What we know of Anthony’s life we learn from the writings of St Athanasius, one of the followers of St Anthony. It was Athanasius who said about Anthony: "No one ever met him grieving, without failing to go away rejoicing."

Anthony died after a long, prayerful life in 356. He was 105.

_______________________________

Most gracious God, who didst call thy servant Anthony to sell all that he had and to serve thee in the solitude of the desert: grant that we, through his intercession and following his example, may learn to deny ourselves and to love thee before all things; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

_______________________________

Painting: St. Anthony, Abbot
Nicola di Maestro Antonio d'Ancona
c. 1465 - 1511

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I will make them healthy by substitutions!

I just adore cream puffs!
Recipe ➡️ https://therecipecritic.com/cream-puff/

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Great ingredient swapping ideas via Souffle Bombay !

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