1 July

Because it's Canada Day and my grandmother's people were Canadian.  Although in her day it was still Dominion Day.  The first of my family to come to North America was my great, great, great grandfather who came as a soldier with the 74th Regiment of Foot to garrison Atlantic Canada.  It seems the still-British part of North America had had a recent spot of bother with their neighbours to the south circa 1812 and some reinforcements seemed advisable.   He apparently liked what he found in Canada so after a decade or so when he left the army he stayed.   I'm told I have a good many Canadian cousins, although I've never met them.  So a happy Canada Day.

Here in California, defined to me recently as "a small island just off the coast of earth", we have the feast of St Junipero Serra the founder of most of the beautiful old California missions. The good old Catholic Encyclopædia will tell you more about him here.

In the traditional Roman liturgy Fr Serra is superseded by the feast of the Precious Blood of Jesus.  For more on the feast and the Precious Blood of Jesus and the Visitation of Our Lady try Fr Hunwicke here.  For a fascinating read on the Precious Blood and the Holy Grail do go to Charles Coulombe's excellent piece here.  Or this one here.