Today, 14 January, is the Feast of the Ass, Asses… the Festum Assinorum (in Latin, plural… inclusive!).
No, I am not talking about whom you think I’m talking about. And, no, it’s not a special Jesuit feast.
The feast which became popular in France, could have stemmed from the so-called “feast of fools”. It may tendrils into biblical donkeys, or the integration of the ass into the nativity narrative. It could have been in part inspired by a sermon of pseudo-Augustine.
The day included the tradition of a parading a couple of kids (not goats) on an ass (not a Jesuit) right into the church,
