Meet The Beadles

 

Cliquez ici pour la version française

 Le Bedeau | The Beadle

The bedeau, or beadle, was the priest's jack-of-all-trades; he was essential to the proper administration of the church. He was mainly tasked with the maintenance of the church and preparation for religious services. During mass, he would distribute the blessed bread to the attendees and collect donations. The beadle also tried to maintain peace and quiet during services, chasing away beggars and dogs from the church doors, earning him the nickname of « chasse-chiens », or dog hunter. He was responsible for drawing “Passover water” for baptisms and “Pentecost water” for Sunday mass. He would lead the way during any religious processions, removing any obstacles. The beadle rang the church bells, either for religious announcements or civic ones, such as weather warnings.

The beadle was also tasked with keeping the church clean, and in winter, ensuring that the roads leading to the church were clear. Some beadles also doubled as gravediggers, a lucrative side job.

Similar to their French counterparts, beadles wore long robes that were either blue or red, or sometimes with both colours. The left sleeve sometimes featured a silver plate or an embroidered figure representing the patron of his church. In France, beadles traditionally held a wand in their right hand. It was used as a stick, to drive out the aforementioned beggars and dogs from the church. Over time, the object evolved into an adorned symbol of authority. Following tradition, wands were used in New France as well.

In the early days of the colony, the beadle occasionally had to go around the censitaires to collect unpaid rent. A censitaire was essentially a tenant, a settler established on a seigneurie, who paid rent to a seigneur.

If there are any American Bishops reading this crummy blog I would like to be a Beadle at your Cathedral.

All I require is a uniform similar to the one posted here.

If you give me the job, I will make sure there are no idjits talking inside the Church on Sunday; Maureen, did I tell you that Fred had his colon looked after the other day... I will rush over and brain her with my weapon and that'll dummy her up and be a lesson to others that there is to be NO TALKING INSIDE OF A CHURCH FOR IT IS A PLACE OF PRAYER NOT A PLACE TO JABBER AWAY INANELY.

Contact me, Bishop. We have folks talking louder inside a consecrated church than they do at the local liberry.

All you need is love.

All you need is the love a Beadle can bring to the Holy Holocaust/Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.