Forbidden? Who said?

You’ve long known that Wisconsin is a land of cheese, but did you know it was also the land of apples? And even way down in good ole’ Alabama we could, on occasion, find my favourite varietal, the Honeycrisp. Up here in the frozen north, however, the honey crisp is ubiquitous. Ever sweet, delightfully tart, truly succulent, and perfect for eating raw, the honey crisp will enhance your joie de vivre!

I’m happy to report, moreover, that Honeycrisp apples are much more affordable here, whereas back home they’re very expensive. Nevertheless, you should get a basket while they’re good. The Honeycrisp was actually born in 1974 just up the road in Minnesota as a hybrid between the Macoun and the Honeygold.

Because of its smashing success, Minnesota has actually named the Honeycrisp its state fruit. I’m also happy to report that we live near more than a dozen Honeycrisp orchards here in Wisconsin. Gus, I might add, is a huge fan, too!

Apples and theology certainly have an interesting – should we say sour – relationship. Though Genesis is silent on the matter, Renaissance painters most assuredly decided the 'forbidden fruit' in the Garden of Eden was in fact an apple. Some think this is due to the rediscovery of classical forms, which included discovering the role apples played in Greek mythology; therefore, painters incorporated the fruit into their works of art. Even the Latin language dislikes the good old fruit, naming it mālum, which is almost identical to the Latin word for evil, 'mălum'.

I know we're still a few weeks away from Advent; thus, we're still a month or so from Advent carols, too. I'm thinking especially of the apple mentioned in Adam Lay Ybounden, the famous fifteenth century English carol of unknown authorship. The Men and Boys Choir at St. John's College, Cambridge, has kept this song alive by always including it in their service of Lessons & Carols, still broadcast live on BBC:

Adam lay ybounden,Bounden in a bond;Four thousand winter,Thought he not too long.
And all was for an apple,An apple that he took.As clerkes finden,Written in their book.
Ne had the apple taken been,The apple taken been,Ne had never our ladie,Abeen heav'ne queen. Blessed be the timeThat apple taken was,Therefore we moun singen.Deo gracias!

I can't necessarily lift up this song as the best theology on the planet, but it does make one think. Just ponder it: without Adam's fall, we wouldn't know redemption in Christ, nor, as the song makes clear, would we know heaven's queen, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Theologically, this is called a felix culpa, which means 'happy fault' or 'fortunate fall'. The idea finds expression in the Exultant, always sung at the Easter Vigil, 'O happy fault that merited such and so great a Redeemer'. The precept is prevalent in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Ambrose, too.

Oh well, forbidden or not, the Honeycrisp is worth trying once, especially if it gets you thinking about the fall, and its antidote, Redemption in Christ.

So I say bon appétit!