Catholic Jane Austen weekend aims for renewal of culture

Published: 2004-08-26

NORTHFIELD, Mass. (CNS) -- Fourteen-year-old Marie Jacques sat up straight as she waited patiently for her turn to serve herself a buffet luncheon of Welsh rarebit over toast points, ham with boiled cabbage, mild cheddar cheese, English biscuits and a julienne cabbage salad. "I had to learn to keep my posture, which is very hard because I slouch a lot," said the dark-haired South Deerfield resident, dressed in a floor-length red cotton Empire dress with puffed sleeves and black lace trim. She was conscious of her manners: Sit up straight, don't slurp, use the right fork, don't clank your silverware -- admonitions she had heard earlier during the "Catholic Jane Austen weekend" this summer at the Moore Cottage on the Northfield campus of Northfield Mount Hermon School. Twenty-five women -- ranging in age from teens to 60s -- participated; most were parishioners of Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in Turners Falls, but some friends and relatives of the organizers came from New Hampshire, New York, Maryland and Florida. The weekend was organized by six parishioners of Our Lady of Czestochowa.

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