Summer Priest

[Quang Hai]

Hello everyone!

"Summer Priest" - I guess is the priest who passing by a town in summer. Is that common for church to receive those Priests every summer, what they suppose to do in summer and normally where do they come from? Thanks for explanation, teachers!

 

[Raymott]

Hello everyone!

"Summer Priest" - I guess is the priest who passing by a town in summer. Is that common for church to receive those Priests every summer, what they suppose to do in summer and normally where do they come from? Thanks for explanation, teachers!

What is the source of this?

 

[5jj]

I have never heard of a 'summer priest'.

 

[Quang Hai]

In W. Trevor story name The potato dealer. But there is nothing to quote: here all paragraph is:

'A year ago, it was Mr Larrissey, not his sister, who had first known about the summer priest who was the father of this child. On his way back from burning stubble he had seen his niece in the company of the man and had known from the way they walked that there was some kind of intimacy between them. When his niece’s condition was revealed he had not, beneath the anger he displayed, been much surprised.'

 

[probus]

"Summer Priest" - I guess is the priest who passing by a town in summer.

Quang Hai, I think you have nailed it. It is not a common phrase, and arguably Irish dialect, but I think you have hit its meaning precisely.

 

[Quang Hai]

"Summer Priest" - I guess is the priest who passing by a town in summer.

Quang Hai, I think you have nailed it. It is not a common phrase, and arguably Irish dialect, but I think you have hit its meaning precisely.

Thanks for your comment. What I would like to learn is cultural side of the word. I really would like to learn on what scope of the priest, where they come from, is that common practice to send them over so on and so on. Sorry if someone may think it is too much for language itself but I always consider language is culture.

 

[Getemjan]

Culturally, the "summer priest" might be a priest who travels to remote areas, where there is no regular priest available, to say Mass and celebrate the sacraments. This situation occurs especially in places where there is a shortage of priests.

A "summer priest" could also be a priest who substitutes for a parish priest when he goes on vacation or sabbatical -- that is, the "summer priest" would replace the parish priest temporarily.

The term "summer priest" is probably a colloquialism, in restricted use to this particular setting. But the context of the passage suggests that this priest was in that location for a short time; he didn't live there permanently.