Wednesday, August 26, 2015

I'll Take Some Marian Devotion with a Side of Nutella, Please!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! It's been a while since I've done a modern sanctity post, so I figure that today is a great day to jump back into things. First off, I want to call y'alls attention to the fact that yesterday, the Carmelites celebrated the feast day of Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified, a.k.a. Mariam Baouardy! She's pretty cool, and you can read about her here!

 But let's get talking about Nutella & Mary. Because what could be better? Right???


While studying in Europe, Nutella was my constant companion. 
Totally enjoying a PB&N sandwich in St. Peter's Square
 while waiting for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
to fly away in a helicopter. 
When I flew over to Austria for a semester, I brought some peanut butter with me, and let me tell you: Peanut Butter & Nutella Sandwiches are so good. Liege waffles with Nutella are heavenly. Nutella by itself is a delight. So, it made perfect sense to me that the "Father of Nutella" had a huge Marian devotion! Of course the epicness being devoted to Mary would transfer over to a delicious hazelnut spread. 

 Michele Ferrero. I had never heard of this guy until he died. 

 But when he died, on February 14, 2015, I learned some interesting things:

  1. He made Nutella what it is today
  2. He had a mega-huge devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

 Take a look at the article by The Economist to read more about it! (Warning: You will want to eat chocolate and/or Nutella after reading this)
What if the creator of Nutella
once stood at this very spot
(where Mary appeared &
I'm standing)??
You know what's really cool about Michele Ferrero? He didn't just have a devotion to Mary; he let his devotion to Mary influence his life. Ferrero didn't just talk to Mary now and then and leave things at that. Nope, the guy prayed & asked Mary for her intercession every day. He traveled to Lourdes for pilgrimages. He put statues of Mary in his offices & factories. Seriously? How cool is that?????

 We can't just desire holiness and virtue as a nice little idea. We instead need to act according to our desire for holiness. If we want to be devoted to Mary, we need to act like it-talk with Mary, ask for help, imitate her virtues, you get the gist. Today, don't just want to become holy; act like it! Yes, it's hard. It's a challenge. But we can keep working towards this goal. 

 Also, shameless promotion: I totally blogged about this kind of topic other day for Jason Evert's website, so if you're interested, hop on over there! (Even if you don't want to read my article, you should check out his website anyway, because it's really cool)




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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 26, 2015 at 5:04 PM

    I was obsessed with Nutella while I was studying abroad! I used to put it on slices of bread, sprinkle Rice Krispies on top, and then fold the slice in half to create a crispy Nutella roll. My friend and I even wrote an ode to Nutella to the tune of the song Umbrella (we had some very long bus rides...). A few years ago I was diagnosed with a milk allergy, so I haven't been able to eat it since, but just recently I've been able to start eating small amounts of dairy again—I was retested and my allergy is currently undetectable. Now I really want to visit the Nutella Bar at Eataly NYC! I'd walked by several times and just stared longingly at the menu—but now I can actually eat something there!
    It makes perfect sense to me that the creator of Nutella had a strong Marian devotion; surely the Blessed Mother would inspire something so delicious for her children to enjoy :)

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    Replies
    1. AnneMarieAugust 26, 2015 at 9:56 PM

      Oooh, that Rice Krispie/Nutella combo sounds awesome. Haha! Don't you just love the creativity that can come out on long bus rides? (or long layovers in train stations; once we were stranded in a station for a few hours with students from our school's Drama Department-now THAT was entertaining!)

      I am so happy for you that your allergy is undetectable!! You should totally go celebrate at the Nutella Bar. I didn't know that such a place existed; it must be like Heaven on Earth! Seriously! I just now looked up the menu, and I want everything on there! And knowing that Michele Ferrero had an epic Marian devotion really makes me want to support the company and just buy Nutella. :)

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  2. AnonymousAugust 27, 2015 at 4:06 PM

    Ha, that sounds like an exciting train layover :)

    And thanks! Yes, I can't wait to try out the Nutella Bar!

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