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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The President who was Sworn on a Catholic Missal

Catholic
The only president in the history of the United States of America who was sworn on a Catholic Missal was Lyndon B. Johnson. After President John F. Kennedy’s assassination Johnson was to be sworn as President, but he was in Air Force One at that time and there was no formal Catholic Text available for the oath, the only Catholic text in the plane a Missal. Due to the sensitivity of the situation the Catholic Missal was taken as the sacred text and the president took his oath on the book.

For those who don’t know what a Missal is; it’s a book that contains instructions and texts that help priests perform the celebration Mass throughout the year. The book has been assembled and arranged by priests as a reference for the prayers and method of the ritual necessary to perform the Mass.
For those who don’t know what a “Mass” is, it’s a celebration that represents the Eucharist. The Eucharist basically portrays the last meal that Jesus Christ shared with his followers before he was taken away and then ultimately crucified. The Eucharist is depicted in many churches as a picture in which Jesus is holding up a piece of bread and a glass of grape juice. The Eucharist is also called the last supper in which Jesus gave his followers bread saying “this is my body”, and gave grape juice saying “this is my blood”.
This Ritual is performed by catholic priests throughout the year as a celebration of the event and the oath of a president on the book of Missal is though not objectionable in any way, but is definitely unusual and unorthodox.

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