The Catholic Roots of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is here!

Did you know that the Thanksgiving feast has Catholic roots as an annual celebration on the fourth Thursday in November?

It was actually started by the Puritans – we call them pilgrims. They were a lower sect of the Anglican church that escaped from the “high church” Anglicans that happened to include the King of England in the name of religious freedom. Many of the Puritans who came to Plymouth in 1620 didn’t survive and died during the first winter in America. True history states that they were actually saved by a Native American named Squanto, who taught them how to hunt, fish, and grow corn.

Squanto was a Roman Catholic.

How you might ask? Before the puritans came in 1620, Squanto was captured by the English led by Captain John Smith in 1614 — remember him from Disney’s Pocahontas? He was transported on a ship to Spain where he was to be sold as a slave before he was rescued by Dominican friars who took him in and taught him the Catholic faith in Spain. Eventually Squanto returned to America six years later and served as an interpreter between the English and the Indians. He eventually died of disease after many years of service to both groups.

Legend has it that after helping those first Plymouth settlers grow their own food, Squanto arranged for a harvest feast with the local Indian tribes. It was this event that is the basis of America’s Thanksgiving holiday. I thought that information was pretty cool.

This day is not listed on the Church Calendar per se but in honor of its Catholic roots, we feast today on good food and choice wine in honor of the abundance of food and the religious freedom that we are still able to practice today.

We always need to be thankful for these things today as they are available right now and maybe not down the road. So be thankful and pray that America stays free and abundant!

God as true food and true drink is the best food worth striving for.

Thank God for our Catholic faith!

Happy Thanksgiving!