O Night Divine

Twelfth Night, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

"We Three Kings of Orient Are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar, field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star, O, O, Star of Wonder, Star of Night, Star of Royal Beauty Bright, Westward leading still proceeding guide us to Thy Perfect Light!"

As we prepare ourselves for this climactic finish to our Christmas Feasting, let us be like the Three Wise Kings and remember that we need to bear these gifts at Christ's altar whenever we approach, with humility, love and joy for our everlasting king!

We will be celebrating Epiphany with this yummy recipe for Three Kings Bread from one of my favorite Christmas cookbooks, The Christmas Kitchen by Lorraine Bodger!!

Mexican Three Kings Bread

2 packages dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons/package)
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or margerine
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
5 cups flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped red glace cherries
1/2 cup chopped green glace cherries
save some cherry halves for decorating too
Thick Vanilla Glaze (recipe follows)

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and stir with a warm spoon to dissolve the yeast, set aside for a few minutes. Scald the milk and pour it into a large bowl. Stir in the butter, sugar and salt and let the mixture cool to lukewarm. Add the yeast mixture and stir to blend. Add the eggs and beat well. Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour and beat to make a smooth batter. Stir in the walnuts and chopped cherries. Beat in the remaining flour by hand, 1/2 cup at a time, to make a soft but not sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about ten minutes. Sprinkle often with flour to keep from sticking. Put the dough in a buttered bowl and turn all around to coat with butter. Cover with a clean towel and place in a draft-free place to double in bulk, about two hours.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and punch down. Cut in six equal pieces and let rest for ten minutes. Meanwhile grease the cookie sheets.
Roll each piece of dough into a rope 23 inches long. Braid three ropes together and transfer to prepared cookie sheet, shape the braid into a ring and pinch ends together. Repeat with the other three ropes and the second cookie sheet. Cover each ring with a dish towel. Warm the oven for a few seconds and turn off the heat. Place rings in the oven to rise a second time, until puffy and almost doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake 20 minutes until golden brown. Use a spatula to loosen rings and slide onto wire racks to cool.
While the braids are still very warm, spread with Thick Vanilla Glaze and decorate with the red and green cherry halves, perhaps in the shape of a Pointsettia! Enjoy!

Thick Vanilla Glaze

2 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 Tablespoons milk or cream
2 pinches salt
6 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Beat or whisk ingredients together in the order given, until smooth. If necessary, thin the glaze, prevent a crust from forming by pressing a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface.

There are many wonderful traditions and ideas to be discovered at Catholic Culture.  Here's a few other things we will be doing to enjoy the Epiphany:

• Exchange of gifts, I've been saving a very special gift from a delightful friend overseas just for Epiphany :)
• Blessing of our home
• Renewal of dedication and devotion to our special Saints we chose on All Saint's Day
• Marking our Home with the sacred initials C+M+B
• Having a drama of the Wise Men visiting Baby Jesus
• Enjoying the above mentioned Three Kings Bread while wearing our homemade Crowns and reading Shakepspeare's Twelfth Night aloud!

I hope you are able to enjoy some of these lovely traditions and please share if I've missed one of your favorite ways to celebrate this Feast!

By the way, have you ever had an "epiphany". Here's the definition:
A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization, revelatory manifestation of a divine being.
I will be pondering these meanings as I ponder the Baby Jesus in his manger receiving his gifts from the Magi!

A blessed Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord to you all!!

Twelve Blessed Days

Just as it is a joy to light the Advent wreath, my children look forward to singing Christmas carols each night of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Fortunately, this blessed season is not over after the 25th, but only just getting into full swing.

Over at Studeo, Alicia gives the perfect reminder: Why I love celebrating Christmas for 12 Days.

For the Feast of Mary, Mother of God

For years now, it has been a dream of mine to decorate a dollhouse for Christmas. The scene is set in my mind's eye--miniature presents wrapped in foil, lights twinkling in every window, infinitesimally small wax tapers, a beribboned tree teeming with angels shading thimble-sized nativity, and, of course, a table set extravagantly for a doll's Christmas feast.

Now, given the fact that we barely put up the life-size tree this year, you can just imagine how the dollhouse fared. Still, it occurred to me a while back that I could still have a piece of the dream, something to make the children smile and let the dolls know they have not been forgotten--a miniature Christmas hearth.

We started with an unpainted wooden doll's mantel, available in the dollhouse aisle at the craft store:

One coat of Folk Art paint in "parchment" added a bit of depth:

The stockings--created by my ten-year-old daughter with the greatest enthusiasm imaginable--were hung by the chimney with care glue:

Each one is slightly different:

We added a beautiful miniature triptych, purchased a while back at our local Catholic store (this could easily be replaced by a cut out from a Christmas card or small nativity scene):

I can't resist showing you what the back of the triptych looks like:

Greens from the tree and red ribbon add a crowning touch:

Just for fun, we put the miniature mantel on the floor beside our real mantel for scale (it's too bad our fire had already burned to ashes, or this would have been a lovely picture):

Our mantel makes a timely display for the Feast of Mary, Mother of God:

An old friend of ours hopped right off the tree to check her stocking:

We are hoping to keep our minuscule mantel decorated for a while, adding new embellishments for Candlemas, Lent, Easter and May. [I say "hoping" because the things we strive for and the things we actually do are often quite different!] Another fine addition would be a miniature fireplace screen. Perhaps I will ask the production crew to work on one tomorrow.

Happy New Year's Eve, dear friends!

Feast of the Holy Innocents

Today, dearest brethren, we celebrate the birthday of those children who were slaughtered, as the Gospel tells us, by that exceedingly cruel king, Herod. Let the earth, therefore, rejoice and the Church exult — she, the fruitful mother of so many heavenly champions and of such glorious virtues. Never, in fact, would that impious tyrant have been able to benefit these children by the sweetest kindness as much as he has done by his hatred. For as today's feast reveals, in the measure with which malice in all its fury was poured out upon the holy children, did heaven's blessing stream down upon them.

"Blessed are you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah! You suffered the inhumanity of King Herod in the murder of your babes and thereby have become worthy to offer to the Lord a pure host of infants. In full right do we celebrate the heavenly birthday of these children whom the world caused to be born unto an eternally blessed life rather than that from their mothers' womb, for they attained the grace of everlasting life before the enjoyment of the present. The precious death of any martyr deserves high praise because of his heroic confession; the death of these children is precious in the sight of God because of the beatitude they gained so quickly. For already at the beginning of their lives they pass on. The end of the present life is for them the beginning of glory. These then, whom Herod's cruelty tore as sucklings from their mothers' bosom, are justly hailed as "infant martyr flowers"; they were the Church's first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during the cold winter of unbelief.

— St. Augustine

Today would be a wonderful day to begin the custom of blessing your children.  Catholic Culture has more information on the rite.

After explaining to the children that the Holy Innocents are now the patrons in heaven of all children it might be a nice time to have an age appropriate discussion about how in this country not all children are safe in the womb and how they need our prayers.  Some pro-life ideas...

Read Regina Doman's beautiful book Angel in the Waters.
Say a rosary for all the unborn children in your area
Go shopping for a few new baby items to donate to your local Life Center
Spiritually adopt an unborn baby
Pray for our enemies ~ those abortion advocates who fight to keep the abomination legal.

A traditional dessert served on this feast day is Blanc Mange. It is essentially a white cream pudding served with either cherry or strawberry sauce. It symbolizes the innocent blood shed by Herod.

Blanc Mange Recipe
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
dash of salt
2 tablespoons water
1 cup scalded milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Combine the cornstarch, sugar, salt and water.

Slowly add 1 cup scalded milk, stirring constantly and cook over medium heat until thick and smooth. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla. Can be poured into wetted molds and chilled or into any pretty serving dish or single servers. Chill and serve with a well flavored sauce.
I would double the recipe at the outset. As it stands, it will make very small servings !!

St. John

God our Father, you have revealed the mysteries of your Word through John the apostle. By prayer and reflection may we come to understand the wisdom he taught. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today marks the feast of the Apostle and Evangelist St. John, who bears the distinction of being the only apostle who was not martyred, although it's not as though they didn't try (a little more about this later)!

St. John was the brother of St. James who together formed the "sons of thunder."  Along with St. Peter, these two were the only other witnesses to the Raising of Jairus's daughter, the Transfiguration and the Agony of Our Lord in the garden and it was he alone among the chosen twelve who remained in fear and suffering beside the Blessed Mother at the foot of the cross.  There he obediently received the command to care for her.  He is also counted among the four evangelists, or gospel authors.

Legend has it that St. John was given a poisoned cup of wine, which he blessed, only to have the poison rise up in the shape of a serpent and depart.  His symbol is the eagle, for his "gaze pierces so far into the mysteries of heaven and his version of the gospel begins with a lofty prologue that is a poem of the Word become flesh." (The Catholic Source Book, ed. by Rev. Peter Klein.)   It is from his gospel that we receive one of the readings for Christmas Day Mass.

On this third day of Christmas you might like to carry on the European tradition of blessing wine to drink at the evening meal.   Here is a recipe is from A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz  for St. John's Wine, a traditional hot spiced wine.
1 quart red wine
3 whole cloves
1/16 teaspoon ground cardamom
2-2in. cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar

Pour the wine into a large saucepan.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Boil for 5 min. (after 5 minutes the alcohol is virtually all evaporated).  Serve hot.  Yield:  8-10 servings.  (this recipe is credited to the Catholic Cookbook by William Kaufman.)  As always, many thanks to Catholic Culture , which provides us with the Blessing Prayer for St. John's Wine

If you would like to try an eagle craft today it's a good bet you'll have enough items on hand to try this simple Paper Roll Eagle. 
 

Merry Christmas

"For God so loved the world He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but may have eternal life." John 3:16

From all of us at O Night Divine we wish you a joyous and blessed Christmas.

    Mary Ellen Barrett
                              Alice Gunther
                              Michele Quigley
                              Meredith Henning
                              Gwen Wise
                              Bridget Galbraith

O Holy Night

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

If you do Santa....

Norad does a delightful job of tracking his flight around the world beginning at midnight tonight.  Even if you don't do Santa at your house it's a cute site to visit. Make it a geography lesson.

Some other fun things to while away the day....

At Northpole.com you can check out where you stand on the naughty/nice list.

In the spirit of giving visit FreeRice to improve your vocabulary and donate food to those in need.

Today is a great day to watch The Nativity Story. I understand those with HBO can order it on demand this month.

Watch the tree at Rockefeller Center. You may have to install the webcam eye to view but it's worth it, it's lovely.

If you have a quiet moment (stop laughing) you could get ready for the World Day of Peace on January 1st and read His Holiness Pope Benedict's Message of Peace.

Click here to view an inspirational Christmas greeting from St. Patrick's Cathedral.

If you feel silly why not Elf Yourself?

Check out this reflection from EWTN. And this one.

Sing-A-Long with Santa.

Whatever you do today, I hope that you and your family are filled with joy.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,

do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

Matthew 1:18-24

Prayer Chains and the Pope

We started our prayer chain on the first Sunday of Advent.  We cut several strips out of construction paper and each of the children wrote the names of people they wanted to pray for.  We left a few of them blank and every now and then, when we say a special prayer for a mom in labor or someone in trouble, we write the name on the link and add it to our chain which is the gift we give the Savior on His birthday.

  We've prayed for the pope and added his name during the course of this Advent season.  I'm sure we all agree he is always in need of our prayers and support.  I especially like to ask the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary to remind him of our love for him. 

Then yesterday I saw this letter  from a Catholic Exchange reader.  It's a long letter in which the author responds to a very thoughtful article (there's a link in the letter) about the United States' mission and our patroness, the Virgin conceived without sin, titled the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception.  The writer (of the letter to the editor) is an American living in Europe.  From her vantage point she made several observations about the state of post-Christian Europe and it's effects on the papacy. In the middle of the letter she quotes from an Italian news magazine:

I would like to speak to you about a person whom I care very much about.  I am writing this in the pages of Tempi because I know you, the reader, will understand me better than most [Tempi is conservative and Catholic].  I am afraid that they will try to eliminate this person.

And I think not just morally but also physically.  No one has ever dared to say the things that he has said.  And not only are the wicked against him but now even [...] those who are considered good and decent are against him.

This man's name is Joseph Ratzinger.  [...] I invite you to consider him for a moment devoid of his white vestment, of his pontifical authority and of the solemn air of the Vatican.  Today he is defenseless and abandoned by everyone.  They are counting his bones. He is truly the 'Alter Christus', the [poor] servant about whom the Gospel speaks, the one prophesized by Isaiah.

Even if you don't have time to read her letter and the accompanying article, this excerpt is a powerful reminder of how crucial our prayers and support of the Holy Father are and how he suffers in the place of our Savior, even as we await the Holy Infant's birth.

So I'm encouraging you to start a prayer chain.  If you already keep this devotion, just add extra links.  Do you have any spare wrapping paper (yes, I'm only kidding) you can pull out today?  Or construction paper?  Gather your family and talk in terms of the ages and temperaments of your family members and then begin to pray for Pope Benedict XVI.  Add your links hour by hour, day by day and when Christmas comes keep going.  John Paul II would be an excellent intercessor for our dear pope.  By the end of the Christmas season you will have a beautiful gift for the Savior indeed and one for his Vicar as well.