The odor of sanctity

Last Saturday the San Francisco Chronicle carried an article (click on this post's title) about a Catholic physician, Dr. Fred Hass, 69, who makes a cologne in his kitchen that Pope Blessed Pius IX (1792-1878) might well have worn.

Dr. Hass, a general practitioner in Terra Linda who lives in San Rafael, says he found the recipe for the cologne in a cookbook published in 1963. The recipe is thought to have come from the family of Charles Charette, a French general who was in the papal guard.

The article says, "Hass requested that the exact recipe of the cologne and cookbook's title not be disclosed because he doesn't want competition, but said the main ingredients are orange blossom, lemon verbena, lavender, violet, clove and sweet orange."

Anyway, after hearing about this, someone near and dear to me immediately made a quip about "the odor of sanctity," so I thought I would pass along that bit of humor to you.

Pope Pius IX's last words, said the Cardinals who were with him, were, "Guard the Church I loved so well and sacredly." Pope Pius IX, please guard the Church and pray for us!