No doubt you Dads got wonderful gifts and lots of love, but will any of you smell like a Holy Father? You could if the family had thought to buy Fred Hass’ private formula, The Pope’s Cologne, the recreation of what was apparently the preferred scent of Pius IX.

Not exactly the most loveable of pontiffs, he had the odor of sanctity. Or perhaps “an ancient charm” with “floral notes,” as “perfume critic,” Marie-Helene Wagner has it in a review Dr. Hass sends along:

It is a perfume recipe made in a time when flowers in masculine colognes were felt to be perfectly natural hence an absolute lack of showiness and complete sense of maturity and naturalness about the floral notes in this composition.

Being a cologne meant to be worn by the Pope, it had to be restrained in principle and it is in fact; there is no unexpected flamboyance or hidden coquetry pointing its nose. Naturally, the animalic notes are extremely discreet.

Perhaps we can also imagine that a certain ethereal quality, a lightness and freshness were cultivated as befitting the pope’s image. The citruses and lemon verbena are invigorating, a definite plus for a man in a public function. The fragrance is that of a man of patrician or aristocratic tastes.

Who could resist? Dr. Hass himself says this fragrance is “soft and ethereal with a gentle opening ripple of cool lavender in the morning and evolving into a lingering, soft, powdery undertone of freshly-ironed linen at bedtime.” It has, at once, he said, “a soothing, almost narcotic yet exalting quality seldom found in other fragrances.”

To each his own.

Or how about the Life of Christ neckties that Sally Thomas found, among other things, in her Father’s Day roundup at the quirky First Things shopping blog, “Icons and Curiosities.”

Personally, I prefer the “Burnt Offering BBQ Sauce” she found. Irreverent? But looks delicious.