gejus-08-05

I could have been a French Father in the 18th century. A parish priest must have been a busy man, not only in the church or in the presbytery. In those days Fathers were often invited for social dinners. My collection of secondary used playing cards includes a set of invitations for dinners, all addressed to the same Father Pibrac. Only one invitation has a date: May 2, 1772

I was raised Protestant, but I married a girl from a Roman Catholic family. After 38 years of marriage I know some details about Fathers. For centuries priests have act as ‘lobbyists’, as we call them now. If somebody wanted something done from somebody else, for instance he needed a license to build a house, he invited the Father over for dinner. After some nice bites and sips, the matter was brought up by the host: how to get a building permit without the hassle of bureaucracy? Of course the Father offered to see what he could do, if the host could help the church with a donation. The next time the Father had dinner with the Lord Mayor, he waited for the right moment to bring the building license into the conversation. A request from such a loyal and generous member of the church could hardly be denied, so everybody was happy: the man who needed a permit, the man who could do the Father a favour and the Father himself, for having so many nice dinners with good wines and useful donations.

Mr the Intendant requests Father Pibrac to give him the honour of having dinner with him tomorrow Sunday 23rd of this week

	Of course the priest too had to invite somebody for dinner: Father Pibrac requests Monsieur Journee to honour him by joining him for dinner tomorrow January 9 .

Sorel Eseveun has the honour to see Father Pibrac on May 2, 1772

The dinner invitations were all obtained from the Sylvia Mann collection. She was an avid playing card collectors who wrote several books about the subject. However, she had no interest at all in the secondary use of her cards. With the cards I got her hand written descriptions of the items. She didn't even bother to translate the text on the reverse side: "Some kind of manuscript", she stated. Playing card makers unknown, France.

It is unknown were he lived and worked, but according to the invitations Father Pibrac must have been a qualified lobbyist. And about my size I guess.