A Monk and a Bunch of Young Chicks

Not sure if y’all read “A Monk Swimming” by Malachy McCourt. This was the brother of Frank McCourt who wrote the best selling “Angela’s Ashes”. Both stories were about the same family, and the same poor upbringing in Ireland, and their relocation to America. Both books were very different but equally engaging (at least to me).

If you did read “A Monk Swimming”, you may or may not remember what the title refers to. I still, to this day, laugh when I recall it. The book is almost 15 years old so if you haven’t read it, and you don’t know the story, but you want to read it, except I’m about to ruin it…too bad. Stop reading this blog post.

When Malachy grew up in the devout Irish Catholic family that he did (like me), he learned the Hail Mary prayer (like me). But he never saw it written on paper (I still don’t know if I’ve ever???). It’s not recited during Mass and I think my parents taught me the words before I ever went to school (like Malachy).

So Malachy recited his prayer like a good Catholic boy, but he misheard the “lyrics” and recited…

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed are thou a monk swimming, and….

And thus the title of his memoir.

Tonight, I was putting Izzi to bed. We do an “Our Father” and a “Hail Mary” every night. Then we tell God what we’re thankful for. Then we say any special prayers that are needed (if you need one, just let me know in the comments).

Like any Catholic will admit, the prayers become pretty “rote” on a daily basis. I hadn’t really tuned into Isabelle’s recital of the “Hail Mary” lately. Turns out, she has misheard some of the lyrics too. I’m not going to correct her at this point, I think it’s adorable. So, in case you wanted to know, Isabelle’s “Monk Swimming” kind of goes like this…

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed are you and young women...

God bless you, my little woman.