Unholy Trinity by Denis Ryan

Author:Denis Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: TRU000000, book
ISBN: 9781743432617
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2013-06-12T04:00:00+00:00

Day’s promotion to dean in 1967 enhanced his authority in the Mildura parish, and his power grew beyond it. As dean he had the right to examine all Church records within his own parish as well as a number of neighbouring parishes within the Ballarat diocese. He had additional pastoral duties to all priests within the diocese and was responsible for their well-being, both spiritual and mortal.

Day was a lover of pageantry and costume, the trappings of the Church. He wore the black cassock of a priest, the black signifying death and resurrection; the collar, a sign of obedience; the sash or cincture around his waist, a sign of his chastity. At the big Italian weddings in Mildura, Day was resplendent in his white vestments, which he also wore on Christmas and Easter Sunday and for christenings. Come Advent and Lent, Day was decked out in purple. On Good Friday it was red to signify the blood of Christ. On any ordinary Sunday not combined with some church festival, Day would stand proudly, dressed in his emerald green vestments.

He was always immaculately attired and his vestments were redolent of dry-cleaning fluids. He always looked like he’d just stepped out of a glass case in some liturgical museum. Day observed the pomp and ceremony of the Church more than other priests. It was part of his conceit, standing in front of the congregation as if he was their monarch, their ruler, their tyrant.

The vestments and the ceremonies are deeply arcane, immersed in the rituals of the Church. The intricacies are beyond the understanding of most Catholics, including me. So how could it be that I found myself wearing Day’s vestments? It is some sort of rich irony that would see me wearing Father Day’s priestly clothes in public.

Like most parents, Jean and I became a taxi service on weekends. The boys played badminton, table tennis and soccer. Michael and Martin played cricket. Gavin played basketball. Anthony was into weightlifting.

They were all strong swimmers. Michael and Martin, who also suffered from asthma, started swimming, as we were told it was a good activity for asthmatics. Michael became the captain of the swimming team at Red Cliffs. Their health improved through swimming, and their asthma attacks became less frequent. The doctors in Mildura still cautioned me that neither Michael nor Martin was cleared of asthma. A shift to a different climate, especially one that didn’t afford a welter of sports and activities like swimming, might still put them at risk.

I got to know the parents of the other kids who were training at the pool. We’d get together for a barbecue most Saturday nights. We were enjoying a meal and a few beers at the Staintons’ home on one of these evenings when Gwen Stainton asked me if I was interested in getting into the thespian caper with the local theatre group, the Red Cliffs Players. I wasn’t keen at first, but Gwen is a very persuasive person and before I knew it I was ready for my theatrical debut in a play called The Young Wife.

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