'There Are Patron Saints For Everything': But Did You Know There's A Patron Saint Of Pierogies?
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Within the walls of virtually every Catholic church, their faces reach through time in statues and stained glass. The faces of the Saints.
Even a Saint for pierogies.
"There are patron saints for everything, so I'm not surprised there is a patron saint of pierogi," says Father Nick Vaskov at Saint Stanislaus Kostka R. C. Church in Pittsburgh's Strip District.
There is a window of stained glass in Saint Stanislaus dedicated to Saint Hyacinth, says Father Nick.
On many fish fry menus throughout the area, you'll find pierogies right there on the list with fish, and mac and cheese.
But ask those running those annual Lenten events, and they are hard pressed to name the Saint or tell you why Saint Hyacinth is the pierogies saint.
Father Vaskov says there are two stories.
First, that the Dominican Priest arrived in a town in the midst of a famine. Father Vaskov says, "He knelt down with the people of the town and prayed that the crop would be restored, and the next day, the wheat started to sprout. And so the people of the town fed him pierogi as a thanksgiving to God for the gift of this new crop."
In the other story, Saint Hyacinth arrives in a famine starved town with pierogies to feed the people.
But as you enjoy pierogies with your fish, keep in mind that Saint Hyacinth is a two timer.
Most depictions, statues and pictures of him do not feature pierogies.
Father Vaskov says that's because of another incident where he arrived in a war torn town, "and he came in to save the Eucharist and the Statue of Our Lady, which no one person could carry themselves, and yet he was able to carry it out himself. So he became the patron saint of weight lifters."
Perhaps the originator of carbo loading?