Dad had the family buggy tuned and five of us headed to Canada through New England. As an aside, we couldn't find any US cigarettes, just brands of which we had never heard before. The tobacco was lighter in color, and had a different flavor, not bad, just different. But I digress. St. Anne-de-Beaupre Basilica is where many miracles allegedly occurred. The place was adorned with wheelchairs, braces, crutches...everything but the taxidermy mounts of service animals that the disabled used. But the unusual experience pertains to the collection plate. It was divided into four sections that contained neither paper money nor envelopes, just coins. It was designed to make change. E.g., if you had a 50-cent piece but wanted to donate 15 cents, needing the rest to buy a couple of donuts for breakfast, you dropped the 50-cent piece into the appropriate section of the plate and took a quarter and two nickels in change. Not sure if this practice existed in all Catholic churches at the time or at St. Anne's today, but that's how it was in summer, 1959.
Well, that's a new one for me. I remember the bad boys in our church trying to steal money from the collection plate, but nobody "making change".
I hope I’m not throwing things off topic but I just got a mental image of an usher passing the plate and wearing one of these: Let’s see....that’s 10 cents for each Amen and we have a special on Hallelujahs which are 3 for 99 cents.
I have to tell the story of a priest who, after the baptism of our two sons and my mother-in-law made a donation, the priest showed up at our door to refund the donation and told us we needed the money more than the Church did. A memorable experience.
Pardon the assumption Don and no hurt intended. Knowing the person and the spirit behind the phrase “you need this more than I do” is paramount for a good interpretation.
When I got married, we were not members of any church. My wife found one (I forget if there had been a familial affiliation) and we agreed upon a price for the ceremony and to rent the fellowship hall. When it was over and we were driving away, I told her "Don't worry about paying the guy. I already took care of it." She replied "I paid him too!" He said nothing to whichever of this young "just starting out" couple paid him the second time. He just smiled and took the money.