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He told us about the custom in Poland on St John's Day of blessing cups of wine after Mass, in memory of John, who drank unharmed from a poisoned chalice because first he had blessed it. Hence that strange attribute of John the Evangleist, the chalice with a serpent emerging from it. The faithful in New Milton have taken Fr Marcin to their hearts, and are delighted to have a man ministering to them under the age of forty (or even under the age of seventy, come to that!) They were very pleased to drink the blessed wine - and I was reminded of the Orthodox custom of blessing bread after Mass for all to share. Now we can look forward to more Polish customs through 2013 - which I pray may be a very blessed and happy new year for all who read this blog.