“My mother’s people are Old Order Mennonite-horse and buggy Mennonite, very close cousins to the Amish…”—Beverly Marie Lewis, New York Times Best Selling Author
Our guide Leon took us on a 100-mile journey to explore the splendor of Canadian countryside, one hour west of Toronto to visiit the colorful St. Jacobs Farmers Market and to learn about the culture, customs, and lifestyle of the Mennonite community. Walking down the main part of town, there were Mennonite men riding their horse drawn carriages. The women were walking into stores wearing their small circular-ish lace head covering. It is a Biblical command for women to cover their heads while praying. Since they must always be ready to pray, they were their coverings all the time. They also wear bonnets like the Amish. Black bonnets mean they are single and white bonnets mean they are married.
As St. Jacobs attracted more tourists there was a need to communicate with the curious visitors like ourselves about the Mennonites deep rooted culture.The Mennonites are named after Men Simons, a Dutch Priest who joined the movement inn 1536. Today, they are a worldwide community of 2.1 million in 86 countries that encompasses a broad variety of religious practice that include the Older Order, Conservative and more assimilated communities. This is in contrast to the Amish community led by Amman that began in 1693, who are very close cousins to the Mennonites and by all accounts somewhat stricter than the Amish. Today the Amish are located primarily in the United States and Canada.
After a late afternoon respite we had dinner at Volos Estiatorio, a Greek restaurant in the Financial District near our hotel.
