O Night Divine

O King....Errata

This morning my son found a glaring error on the prayer for today from the O Antiphon Prayer Companion. I have corrected it, and you can download the corrected file from the previous post. My apologies about the error!

Praying the O Antiphons

Crossposted with Family Feast and Feria

The last seven days before Christmas (starting December 17) marks the beginning of the "O" Antiphons, the seven jewels of our liturgy. Each evening in Vespers the antiphon is sung or recited at the Magnificat. Dating back to the fourth century, these antiphons address Christ with seven magnificent Messianic titles, based on the Old Testament prophecies and types of Christ. They sum up in excellence the longing of the Redeemer, and we join the antiphons and echo the prayer “Come!” They are entitled “O” because each begins with an “O”.

I’m very fond of this time of Advent. This is a little “pick-me-up” that helps us refocus. Our Advent endeavors and focus haven’t always come to fruition. The O Antiphons remind me that Christ comes in 7 days, and although the outward preparations can cause a frenzy, the O Antiphons beckon me to relax and invite Christ to come into my heart. The urgent “Come!” reminds me of a child’s eager and impatient waiting for Christmas Eve.

The antiphons themselves are not always easy to relate to children. There are many different craft ideas to mark these days. No matter how they are presented, my intention is to unite our family’s prayers with the whole Church. The antiphons can be found in the Vespers, and also the Alleluia verse at Mass. The "O" Antiphons are the verses for the ancient hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The first letter of the Messianic titles: Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia-spell out Latin words ERO CRAS, meaning, "Tomorrow, I will come." (The translations below are the traditional antiphons; they do not match exactly with the current Divine Office or Alleluia verse.)

Keeping this in mind, we are adding to our prayers the Antiphon, Magnificat, and singing the corresponding verse of the O Come Emmanuel. Adding elements to our meals is another aspect of incorporating the O Antiphons. One way is reviving the old custom of monasteries of different monks furnishing extra treats on these days to the members of the community. As Florence Berger describes:

The gardener gave the community some of his finest dried or preserved fruits on Dec 19 when he called on Christ: 'O Root of Jesse, come to deliver us and tarry not.' The cellarer unlocked the best wine for his treat as he called: 'O Key of David, come, and come quickly.' Finally, on Dec 23, the abbot gave his extra gift to the brothers. Expense accounts which are still extant show how generous and extensive a list of foods were used on the abbot's 'O day.'" — Cooking for Christ, 1949

Our family did this as I was growing up, and it was one of my favorite Advent memories, especially having all the family members involved in a surprise. Depending on the size of your family, each day can be "assigned" to a family member, usually youngest to oldest, so that they can provide a special treat for that O Antiphon day. The surprise usually revolves around dinner, but it does not need to be too fancy or a food treat. The best part is leaving it up to the member to keep it a secret until dinner time, except possibly with some help from Mom and Dad. I’m also incorporating different ways to incorporate the symbols of the antiphons in our meals or dessert.

If we try to make our own the thought of these antiphons on their proper days, letting their ardent aspirations dominate our prayer life, our minds and hearts will surely be more closely attuned to the mind and heart of the Church as she prepares for the coming of her King. (With Christ Through the Year, Rev. Bernard Strasser, O.S.B., 1947).

I included some picture study for our O Antiphon prayer pages. Enjoy!

Download O antiphons prayer companion

St. Lucia of Syracuse, December 13

This is repost of 2006 posting, cross-posted with Family Feast and Feria, with links all updated and a few additional links. (Please also see my latest book review, Lucia, Saint of Light.)

December 13 is the Feast of St. Lucia or Lucy of Syracuse, Sicily. From Lives of the Saints, Volume 3, by Catholic Press:

In the Roman Martyrology, Saint Lucy is called both virgin and martyr, and in both titles lies the secret of her sanctity in the Roman Empire of the fourth century. Recent excavations in Syracuse, the ancient capital of Sicily, revealed both her tomb and an inscription dating from the end of the fourth century that mentions her feast day. She is known to have been honored in Rome in the sixth century and she is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass. Lucy, whose name means "light" was invoked by the devout of the Middle Ages as the patroness of those afflicted with any eye disease. In art she is often shown carrying a dish with two eyeballs on it. The poet Dante prayed to Saint Lucy for the relief of an eye ailment, and in his Divine Comedy he gave this saint one of the most honored places in heaven, next to that of Saint John the Baptist. Much of what we are told about Saint Lucy may be legend. The earliest account of her martyrdom, although written some time before the sixth century, is not considered authentic.

Her legend can be found at Patron Saints Index.

Lucy means "light" and she is the patron of eye troubles and blindness. As mentioned above, she is often portrayed holding her eyeballs on a dish, although in the painting above by Francesco del Cossa has the eyes held in a more unique way. Her feast originally coincided with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year before calendar reforms, so her feastday has become a feast of light...of course, not The Light, but pointing to Christ our Light.. There are so many approaches to thinking of light -- Christ the Light of the World comes at Christmas; Christ our Light in the Paschal Candle at Easter; we see light through the gift of eyesight; we are enlightened by our Faith and grace; light comes through sunlight, fire, electricity; scientific analysis of the speed of light and the light spectrum, the rainbow colors...and this merely scratches the surface.

All over the world we remember this virgin-martyr saint less than 2 weeks before Christmas. Whether you embrace the Lucia Child of Sweden, the Sicilian customs or particular family traditions, light should play a prominent role in the feast!

There was a real St. Lucia, as you can see from Basilica of St. Lucy in Syracuse, Sicily that holds her relics. There are pictures here of the sepulchre. And don't miss the beautiful depiction in the basilica by Caravaggio "Death of St. Lucia".

I don't have a girl, so we don't play up the Swedish Lucia much. I decorate with a few Swedish items, and pictures of St. Lucy. I have a Brass Lucia Crown with real candles that I received as a Christmas present one year, a Dala horse, and Swedish Angel Chimes. I had a set of these as a young girl and loved seeing the candles and hearing the sweet soft chimes. I found mine at an antique store for a few dollars, and I thought it would be a perfect addition for a feast with light.

 
I wanted to decorate my brass wreath with lingonberry leaves, which are used in Sweden, but not native to USA. After much searching I found at one of the craft stores a long artificial garland with similar leaves and berries. Perhaps one day I'll have a daughter who can wear the Lucia Crown. It seems that even in Sweden battery operated candles are the way to go. Safety first! Some craft and party ideas:

• Swedish Lucia Fest
• Paper Dali St. Lucia Paper Dolls to color and cut
• Catholic Icing Ideas for St. Lucy
• Paper Santa Lucia crowns and hats
• Adorable St. Lucia Dolls
• St. Lucia Puppet and Song to color
• Santa Lucia Paper Doll
• Waltzing Matilda Coloring Pages
• Another appropriately themed craft would be making candles. A simple way that would make a great gift is Teacup Lights.

Not all traditions for St. Lucia are from Sweden. There is a Croatian and Hungarian custom of planting the St. Lucy Wheat on this day. See

• St. Lucy and the Christmas Wheat from The Year and Our Children by Mary Reed Newland
• Christmas Wheat from Maria von Trapp
• Ideas from various countries
• Collection of St. Lucia links

There have been a few terrific blog posts in the past years on preparing for the feast of St. Lucia from families who have experience, in baking, reading, crafting and celebrating:

• O Night Divine Fresh Hay for the Manger, planting Wheat for St. Lucy's Day
• Karen's Preparing for St. Lucia Day and We Made Lucia Wreaths!
• Christine Beauty of Advent II, with making Lucia Wreaths
• Maggie's St. Lucy Dolls
• Jennifer's St. Lucy's Crown
• Waltzing Matilda's Lucy Crowns

Images:

This site has almost every image of St. Lucia on holycards imaginable.

Books:

• I reviewed Lucia, Saint of Light, which now runs the top of our Lucia book list. This story includes both the life of St. Lucia and the Swedish traditions of the Lucia bride.
• Lucia: Child of Light by Florence Ekstrand. The history and tradition of Sweden's Lucia celebration. Includes recipes, songs, and other traditions related to this Swedish celebration.
• LuciaMorning.com gives the information for the book Lucia Morning in Sweden by Ewa Rydaker, with illustrations by Carina Stahlberg. A living story about Lucia Morning traditions in Sweden, but also includes recipes, music, and patterns for a Starboy and Lucia gown.
• Kirsten's Surprise: A Christmas Story by Janet Shaw, from The American Girls' Collection. A wonderful story about Kirsten and her first Christmas in Minnesota and her struggle to make her Christmas similar to ones in Sweden, including her Lucia Morning. The companion cookbook Kirsten's Cook Book includes a recipe for St. Lucia Buns.
• If you're blessed to own a copy, or your library has one, Hanna's Christmas by Melissa Wiley Peterson is perfect for this feast day. See What We'll Be Reading and Hanna and Me.
• Swedish Christmas in America by Catarina Lundren is a gorgeous cookbook, rich with pictures, recipes and traditions. Get some sneak previews from Christmas in Sweden.

Catalogs:

These have great ideas for a Swedish unit or Swedish Lucia items. I've used both and have been very pleased.

• Hemslojd
• Tomten Catalog

Websites and Links:

• St. Lucia Unit Christmas Traditions of Sweden and Norway By Clarice Fox-Hughes.
• St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr, Catholic Culture
• Catholic Encyclopedia St. Lucy
• Domestic Church, St. Lucy
• Golden Legend: Life of Saint Lucy (to translate), or English Version at Patron Saints Index)
• Elrdbarry Legends of St. Lucia
• Multiple links for saints stories to read about Lucy

Foods:

Not all foods for this feast day are Swedish. Italians and Sicilians have some wonderful recipes for celebrating this day, too. There are quite a few recipes on Catholic Culture including St. Lucia Cats, St. Lucy Buns, St. Lucia Crown...

The use of saffron in some of these recipes points back to the light reference, with the yellow reminding us of sunlight. A very simple approach to getting the yellow or saffron on the dinner table is making a variant of yellow rice. There are recipes from various cultures, or the simplest route of using box mix like Zatarains, Goya, or Mahatma.

For other recipes, see also:

• Catholic Cuisine for wonderful ideas
• Eyes of St. Lucy (Occhi Di Santa)
• Cuccia with the connections of House of Bread, St. Lucy Wheat
• Sicilian Recipes, including Cuccia Dessert and Cuccia Soup
• Swedish Ginger Cookies Lucia Pepparkakor
• Swedish Saffron Cake (no yeast)
• Lucia Bread with symbols
• Swedish Glogg
• Swedish Coffee
• St. Lucia Buns
• St. Lucia's Braided Bread
• Santa Lucia Crown

Music

• Sankta or Sancta Lucia Song
• Mario Lanza sings Santa Lucia Song
• CD - Lucia Celebration
• Julsanger Och julvisor
• En Riktig Svensk Jul

Prayers

Prayers to St. Lucy

Saint Lucy, you did not hide your light under a basket, but let it shine for the whole world, for all the centuries to see. We may not suffer torture in our lives the way you did, but we are still called to let the light of our Christianity illumine our daily lives. Please help us to have the courage to bring our Christianity into our work, our recreation, our relationships, our conversation every corner of our day. Amen.

St. Lucia, Pray for Us.

O Jesse Tree, O Jesse Tree

Cross-posted with Family in Feast and Feria 

 
 
My boys have been singing to the tune of "O Christmas Tree" either the word "O Advent Tree" or "O Jesse Tree". It makes me smile every time.

  

 
I really wanted to introduce the Jesse Tree this year. My perfectionist tendency didn't want to do this until I decided on the names and symbols and had just the right ornaments. But then I decided that I can always change or add along the years. Every Advent is different!

So I purchased wood ornament cut-outs that I thought I would paint or glue images. And time was running out...it looked like this would be another Advent of indecisiveness and no Jesse Tree.

In the meantime, Michele posted the perfect Jesse Tree images that she created. They were just made to order -- almost like I told her what I wanted (but I hadn't!). Since the first images of the Jesse Tree were found in stained glass windows, I find these images just a perfect connection. Plus, she included the O Antiphons, which is the approach I prefer.

At first I was just going to print and glue the images onto the circles, but after Michele also suggested that epoxy round stickers might enhance the image, I thought I'd try that.

My boys helped me sand the circles (be careful with this, because the wood can split in areas). We then painted them with a base coat of white, then with an acrylic paint "Champagne gold".

I printed the Jesse Tree file on glossy paper with a color laser printer, applied the epoxy sticker over the middle of the image, and then cut around the circle leaving the excess. Then using quick-drying tacky glue I glued the circles onto the ornament. I decided to make them two-sided, so that the same image is on both the front and back. I used gold filament thread to hang them.

The only "fault" in the ornament is that the hole is a bit lower, so the image isn't centered in the ornament, but that's just minor cosmetics. I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

To keep them in order, I took a foam board, divided it into 5 inch squares and hung each one on the corresponding square with a thumb tack.

Our tree is a $9 3-footer from Home Depot. I was looking for a bit larger, but now I think it's just right.

 We're not doing any elaborate readings or discussions. As we hang them we just talk about them. To supplement with images and further information, we are using Bible Stories.

Preparing for Advent - This Morning!

(cross-posted from Chez VH)

This is usually how it works for us. We have a LOT of stuff going on before Thanksgiving (like the Library Tree) and then we tend to go away for the entire Thanksgiving weekend. We get back and, bam, Advent is upon us. For this reason, I HAVE to keep my plans reasonably simple AND not allow myself to get stressed if things don't go perfectly or if I don't get everything started on day one.

My kids are all sleeping. They probably will be for awhile since we got home late last night AND Frank was sick during the night. So I'm making my plans to get Advent going this morning. I feel like I already have a jump start on our usual plans since I did manage to pull out the Advent volume of the Liturgy of the Hours for last night's Evening Prayer.

Here's what I hope to get done this morning:

1. Pull out our manger and leftover paper straw from last year.

My description of our manger tradition made it to Conversion Diary's "Baby Steps for Celebrating Advent" (which is a lovely collection of simple ideas!):

We have a simple wooden manger my father-in-law made for us years ago. It goes with an inexpensive baby doll. We cut up strips of yellow construction paper and the kids put a piece into the manger when they do a good deed. Baby Jesus arrives on Christmas Eve to a nice cushy manger.

And it really is the first (as in the most important to us) thing I think about setting up - even before the Advent Wreath.

2. Set up our Advent Wreath AND buy candles from a reliable local source (we'll be heading there today anyway). This also involves putting a few leaves in the table that we haven't been using for dinner lately (we usually eat around the kitchen counter, which has a lower counter for eating at).

3. Pull out the pink and purple construction paper so the kids can make their Advent chains.

4. I may or may not get some of the books and our Advent DVD pulled out while I'm getting the rest of the pieces together.

What I'll probably get to later:

1. Take out our Jesse Tree ornaments and put a Bible on the mantle for easy access to read the readings. We're always a bit hit-and-miss on this one.

2. Put the Nativity set stable out with the pieces that would be there initially - like the shepherds and animals - and place Mary and Joseph at the other end of the house to start their journey.

Later Still:

We get some things set up in time for special days during Advent. Our most consistent days for celebration are: St. Nicholas Day (hang stockings the night before), the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (get to Mass, bake a cake), Our Lady of Guadalupe (try to get to Mass, have a yummy Mexican dinner) and St. Lucy's Day (the kids pretty much handle this one by baking late into the night on the previous night and waking us up early with breakfast in our room the morning of).

These are some lovely free print-outs I'd like to put together for our two youngest readers:

My Little Advent from O Night Divine

Jennifer also has a lovely collection of links and ideas here:

Advent from Family in Feast and Feria

P.S. The picture is of Frank posing with his Advent Chain last year. The chain has extra large links and makes Frank look like a midget! :) The kids cut and staple their chains themselves and, of course, take off one link each day until Christmas. They really love this tradition!

  P.P.S. First child just woke up (8 year old Kate). I asked her if she knew what today was. She said, "Lent!". I waited for a second and she continued, "No, Advent!". I asked her what that meant we got to do today. She answered, "Make Advent chains!" She's working on it already. ;)

The Jesse Tree

The Jesse Tree is an Advent tradition that has been experiencing a comeback in recent years.

The basis of the Jesse Tree is a prophecy of the coming Christ in Isaiah 11: 1-10 :

  [1] There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

 

  [2] And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,the spirit of counsel and might,the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

 

  [3] And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.  He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;

 

  [4] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

 

  [5] Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.

 

  [6] The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

 

[7] The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

 

[8] The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

 

[9] They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

 

[10] In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious.

This prophecy is recalled in Romans 15:12

"The root of Jesse shall come, he who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles hope."

So who's Jesse? Jesse was King David's father and Jesus is descended from the line of King David.  Throughout Advent, we hear reference to Christ's ancestors in the Mass readings.  

In the Church, depiction in art of Christ's royal lineage is quite old; the West facade of Chartres Cathedral, dated to ca. A.D. 1150, has a window that depicts the "Tree of Jesse" .  In fact, the Jesse Tree has been depicted in almost every medium of Christian art.

In the home, a Jesse Tree is a collection of images or symbols hung on a branch or tree to show the history of Christ's coming.  There no one right way to do a Jesse Tree in the home.  Some like to stress the prophecy, others the history, all with the aim of showing that Christ has sprung from the root of Jesse and come to save us.

If you aren't accquainted with the Old Testament as much as you'd like to be, Advent is a good time to change that.  The Old Testament shows us how God has Fathered His people throughout history and how Christ fulfilled the Father's promise in establishing the new covenant. 

A Jesse Tree in the home can be a great catechesis tool.

I'm offering some simple cut and paste (real life cutting and pasting that is) ornaments for a Jesse Tree that start with December 1st and includes the seven Great O Antiphons.

You can download them here and if you'd like to see how I put ours together, please click over to my blog.  You are welcome to use them however you'd like under Creative Commons license 3.0.

A Blessed Advent to you and yours!

Michele Quigley

*The Jesse Tree is an Advent teaching tool and liturgical year actitvity that is a private devotion.  It is not required for a successful or holy Advent. 

 

 

Christmas Anticipation Prayer and Novena to the Immaculate Conception

Today marks the beginning of both the Christmas Anticipation Prayer (or Christmas Novena, also known as the St. Andrew Novena) and the Novena to the Immaculate Conception.

 

Beginning on November 30, the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, the following prayer is traditionally recited frequently daily until Christmas. This is a very meditative prayer that helps us increase our awareness of the real focus of Christmas and helps us prepare ourselves spiritually for His coming.

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment
In which the Son of God was born
Of the most pure Virgin Mary,
at midnight,
in Bethlehem,
in the piercing cold.

 In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God,
to hear my prayer and grant my desires,
[here mention your request]
through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ,
and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

My favorite prayer book, Handbook of Prayers edited by Father James Socias has a most beautiful novena to the Immaculate Conception. Each day is different, rich with meditative readings and prayers. I've included the first day on O Night Divine and the entire novena is in .pdf form on this page.

Advent Saints Christmas Tree Ornaments

By Anne (aussieannie) at Under Her Starry Mantle

I had been thinking of some tangible way to recognise the saints throughout the advent season coupled with not being very happy with our christmas tree decorations. My dh says he likes to see a bright tree, FULL of colour.

So I thought up a craft that would meet both needs. ~ Creating a tree ornament for each day during advent, recognising the saints feast days, though I do alter slightly towards the end. Once the 'O Antiphons' come along (17th to the 23rd) I swap over to the O Antiphons as there are quite a few obscure saints right to the end and even though we will use our O Antiphon pointsettia wreath it will still be nice to have the O Antiphons represented on the Christmas tree.

At the very end (24th) my Sts Adam and Eve ornament that goes up Christmas Eve, their feast day.

Each ornament has a picture of the saint of the day and the letter that their name begins with.

I have just realised that I didn't make a Christmas Day ornament using the letter 'C' ! I'll make that soon and add it back into this posting at a later date. Though I have found the picture I will use (see below) it is a beautiful painting with Mary and Joseph presenting the Child Jesus to the shepherds, it is surrounded by the blackness of night..so I'll paint the 'C' black and fill it with lots of silver stars, with one big silver or gold star!

I used the following:

MDF Alphabet cutouts (Spotlight and Bunnings sell these in Australia) ~ you can choose this larger size OR you could go for the smaller ones if space and and money are a bit more pressing, they will still look lovely small.

Then I went google image searching and found a nice image for each saint, preferably colourful if I could find one...most are. At the end of the post you can see the images I selected, click on them individually to enlarge and print. I printed them onto cardboard and then laminated them for strength and durability.

I bought a pack of acrylic tube paints in 18 colours to paint the individual alphabet cutouts.

The children had a fanastic production line going on while painting all of these cutouts, from youngest to oldest, they all got in and did their bit! We chose colours that complimented each picture in some way. When the alphabet cutouts were glued to the saint images, wood glue was used, but any good PVA glue would also work.

I had bought some cheap packets of glittery stars, images, balls etc. A lovely variety, some with christmas themes, some with birthday theme (you'll see why soon) and lots of different sized stars.

(You can click on any of the images to see at a larger size)

30th of November ~ St Andrew the Apostle. We took a few snowflake little cutouts and cut off the two side bars to create the traditonal 'St Andrew Cross'. Some of the decorations on the alphabet cutouts have some sort of symbolic meaning, some do not. At the end of the day, as long as they are decorative and eye catching, it doesn't matter if they are or not. We used super glue for sticking on the decorations, as it sticks almost instantly and you can use it sparingly.

1st of December ~ St Edmund Campion. The decorations on this cutout are not symbolic,.

2nd of December ~ St Bibiana. St Bibiana was an early christian martyr, so we used gold and red 'palm-like' cutouts to decorate the alphabet, representing her martyrdom.

3rd of December ~ St Francis Xavier. We used blue/green balls to decorate the alphabet as St Francis was a missionary who travelled the globe converting people to the faith.

4th of December ~ St Barbara. We used little birthday cake cutouts, because they have three candles on top, but to me, they represent St Barbara's love of the Blessed Trinity when she ordered the three windows for her tower. See how I placed the alphabet cutout? One illuminated manuscript scene can be seen through one part of the 'B' and another scene through the other hole.

5th of December ~ St John the Wonder Worker. This one we decorated with no symbolic meaning in mind.

6th of December ~ St Nicholas. We decorated more with colour in mind than anything else with this cutout.

7th of December ~ St Ambrose. We used ballon cutouts with this one, cutting the bottoms of them, making them look like two important symbols ~ a beehive (gold) and a mitre! (red)

8th of December ~ The Immaculate Conception. 12 stars are placed in the 'I' which is very symbolic to Our Lady.

9th of December ~ St Juan Diego. We used christmas tree cutouts and stars representing nature ~ the earth and sky that Juan would have had a great appreciation for as an Aztec.

10th of December ~ Our Lady of Loreto. We used christmas angels and stars as the Holy House of Loreto was transported through the air (stars) by angels. (the angels can be seen in the image as well.)

11th of December ~ St Damacus I. In this image of St Damacus he is surrounded by angels and so we used angels and stars on the cutout as well.

12th of December ~ Our Lady of Guadalupe. The cutout was painted in a burnt brown colour for the sunburst and golden stars for her miraculous starry mantle.

13th of December ~ St Lucy. Well, wouldn't you know it! I had little christmas candles in my christmas miscellaneous mix! So candles and stars it was.

14th of December ~ St John of God. We placed two red palm-like cutouts together to make a heart as the main feature on the 'J' as St John is the patron of heart patients, the rest was decorated randomly.

15th of December ~ St Nino. In this icon image there features an angel, so we decorated the 'N' with angels as well.

16th of December ~ St Adelaide. If you look closely at the image of St Adelaide and her husband, they both wear crowns that look very much like the little birthday cake cutouts used to decorate the 'A'! (click on picture for better details of the crowns)

I will do a separate posting of the 'O Antiphons' which start on the 17th of December and continue through until the 23rd. (These are now completed, and my posting is here.)

24th of December ~ Sts Adam and Eve. We used some lovely little balls to decorate the 'A' and the 'E' to represent the apple!

All that needs to be done now is a hole punch in each ornament, to enable some gold thread to feed through for hanging.

Not all are going to be hole-punched ~ with Our Lady of Guadalupe and St Damacus I, have their alphabet cutouts positioned so they peep just over the top of the laminated cardboard, so I can feed the gold thread through.

A couple may also need to have the thread firmly taped from the back since their alpahbet cutout goes up the top and over the center. (Sts Barbara, Francis Xavier and Edmund Campion.)

Prepare the Way of the Lord!

  I have an internal struggle as I see all the posts and reminders of Advent and making Advent plans. I rebel interiorly, as I don’t like to overplan, especially for Advent. But as I’m thinking through what our family will do for Advent, I realize I need to solidify my goals, streamline my vision, and make plans. I have to plan a little so I can keep it simple. It seems a little contradictory, but it does make sense to me. If I don’t have some goals and plan in mind, we can be hit willy-nilly with all sorts of attractive activities, busyness of preparation, and then I will lose sight and control and be in the situation I always dread – over my head and just barely treading water. This is a pondering post, not one with lots of crafts and ideas.

My thought process: What will be my focus or main meditation during Advent? And what will our family’s main focus be during Advent? What are the main points to be then be interiorized?

Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus, meaning coming. This is a two-fold coming, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:

When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming (No. 524).

Advent is a separate season from the Christmas season in the Church's liturgy. Advent is a time of hope, a time of preparing, a time for patiently and prayerfully waiting. It is not technically a fully penitential season, but purple as the seasonal color indicates celebration has not begun. The Advent Masses omit the Gloria, but retain the Alleluia. Christmas carols aren’t sung until Christmas. Christmas has an octave – eight days each one being another Christmas, and then the season lasts until January 10, the Baptism of our Lord. That is 17 days to celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation. The 26 days of Advent is the time to prepare.

I want to convey that contrast in my home. Christmas doesn’t happen until December 25. Will we be “Christmased” out when it does arrive? It’s an uphill battle, because we are faced with the secularism of Christmas, or “Happy Holidays” before Halloween is over. We will have outside invitations and activities that mark Christmas celebration before the 25th. We will be hearing Christmas carols and seeing Christmas decorations and all those delicious-but-fattening Christmas goodies all through Advent. We aren’t trying to become hermits, living an austere life with no celebration. No, what we’re aiming to do is simplify and pace our family so that we will have energy for the true celebration of Christmas and the Christmas season.

Our family needs to imitate Mary, in her preparation for Christ’s coming. Can we turn off the mindless hustle and bustle and replace it with Mary's active contemplation? She visited and helped Elizabeth, and then went home to prepare for Christ’s birth. At that time there weren’t gift registries or a baby’s bedroom to decorate, or a long list of items needed for an infant layette. Mary would have been weaving the cloth and sewing the swaddling clothes and diapers and blankets – all activities that are active work, but allow for contemplation. Can we imitate Mary’s spirit, even though we might have busier preparations happening? Can we imitate her humilty -- staying quiet and hidden, keeping all thoughts towards Him while Jesus grew in her womb? And how about imitating her spouse's humility? What messages to convey during this Advent to my family?

1. Gifts – Giving, not about receiving. Charity for neighbor; practicing corporal and spiritual works of mercy for others.
2. Humility – Who was Jesus? Humility is the basis of all virtue, and we can observe and contemplate it from the moment of Incarnation, also imitating Mary and St. Joseph. (Humility is the area that I will be personally meditating on especially this Advent. I need a lot of it.)
3. Advent, not Christmas – It is not Christmas yet. Christmas is celebration of Christ’s birth, Advent is preparation.

The main thrust of our Advent traditions will include a new liturgical calendar, an Advent countdown calendar, preparing the manger, the Advent wreath with the four key figures of Advent with a little tweaking for this year. All these are simple and traditional, but always enjoyed.

I have a few child friendly Nativity sets that I put out during Advent. Except for the Fisher Price Nativity, Baby Jesus will be absent until Christmas Eve. An activity we will add this year will be some of our crèche figures (Jesus and Mary and the Three Kings) traveling throughout Advent. We normally don’t decorate the house for Christmas until the 3rd or 4th Sunday of Advent, and we keep the Christmas carols and shows at a minimum until that point.

The anchor will be the Liturgy from the four Sundays of Advent. Each Sunday in Advent will have a theme that we will try to keep throughout the week, incorporating it with our Advent wreath. The Liturgical Year pivots on the Paschal Mystery, which is commemorated every Sunday. Sunday “is the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical year.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no 106). This is my main motivation, to reiterate that message that Sundays take priority.

The fixed dates for the Optional Memorial of St. Nicholas and Memorial of St. Lucy fall on Sunday this year, so they are superseded by the Sunday Advent liturgy. I’ve already had questions from my son as to why St. Nicholas isn’t on the calendar this year. I do find this a teachable moment to explain the order of precedence for feastdays in the liturgical year. But since we do love these saints and the customs are part of our family tradition, I’m moving some of our reading and celebration of these two saints earlier in the week, so they don’t override our Sunday activities.

We’ll continue doing school days, as we’ve fallen behind a bit with sickness and traveling. The main thing we’re adding to our lessons for Advent is reading, and some of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd presentations (Advent prophecies, the Annunciation, the Visitation, etc.), and Advent hymns, especially chant. I hope to post separately on both of those.

Our main read-alouds throughout Advent will be books by Inos Biffi:

We will begin with An Introduction to the Liturgical Yearby Inos Biffi, as this is the beginning of the new Liturgical Year. We will read the section on Advent in Part One during the first two weeks of Advent.

The Way to Bethlehemby Inos Biffi will be for the second half of Advent, as we get closer to the actual feast of Christmas. Both books cover the richness of the season reflected in the Advent liturgy.

I also will include The Life of Mary for the feasts of Mary, particularly December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and during the Fourth Week of Advent, when we're contemplating Mary.

These books explain so clearly the Liturgical Year and the liturgical seasons of Advent and Christmas; they are the perfect catechesis for both children and adults. The text is wonderfully supported by the rich flowing illustrations by Franco Vignazia. I am so excited that these books are back in print. Michele shares my enthusiasm for these treasures, and is offering these books for sale at Family-Centered Press, which is extremely helpful since Way to Bethlehem is not available in the US. Having bought my copies piece-meal from different suppliers, paying shipping for each book, the Advent Book Package is an excellent deal!

We will read a bit For some of the Old and New Testament saints, I’ll be using Ethel Marbach Pochock’s Saints of the Season for Children (or Saints in Waiting, both out of print) and her Around the Year Once Upon a Time Saints. These will be used as extra reading on the saints' days in Advent, and reading for the key Advent figures (Isaiah, John the Baptist, etc.).

I did purchase Destination Bethlehemby Sharon Altman and Christine Winkelman and really love it. It’s a wonderful read-aloud for each December day of Advent. It's a story based around a central fictional character Isaac, as he walks through the historical events surrounding Christ's birth. The book presents a good example of beginning discursive meditation, as the reader can be the main character. This approach was encouraged by St. Josemaria Escriva, "Have you...every contemplated these mysteries? Become little. Come with me and -- this is essence of what I want to tell you -- we shall live the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph." And elsewhere he said:

Do you want to accompany Jesus closely, very closely?... Open the Holy Gospel and read the Passion of Our Lord. But don't just read it: live it. There is a big difference. To read is to recall something that happened in the past; to live is to find oneself present at an event that is happening here and now, to be someone taking part in those scenes. Then, allow your heart to open wide; let it place itself next to Our Lord. And when you notice it trying to slip away —when you see that you are a coward, like the others — ask forgiveness for your cowardice and mine.

I also like the historical/cultural information given at the end of each chapter. Depending on interest and time, we'll read this daily, but we might save it for next year.

I'll post more on my plans and my reading plan for our picture books. This is already so long!

O Antiphons

Today begins the Christmas Novena.

The jewels of the Church's Liturgy, the O Antiphons, begin tomorrow, December 17. See my earlier post explaining the The Great O Antiphons and some food ideas at Catholic Cuisine.

A few years ago there was a "Parade of O Antiphon Houses" on a blog that is no longer active, inspired by this article at Catholic Culture (original idea from Helen McLoughlin) where the instructions for a paper O Antiphon paper house are given. Below are a variety of interpretations of O Antiphon Houses for inspiration for your own Domestic Church. Please leave a comment if you would like to have a link added to the list.

• Just Another Day in Paradise
Cause of Our Joy
• St. Athanasius Academy
• Our Domestic Church
• Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
• Enjoy the Journey
• And Now For Seven
• Real Learning In the Heart of My Home
• By Sun and Candlelight
• The Cabbage Patch
• Gladdest Hours
• Catholic Family Vignettes/
• Gratiae ut Deus
• Shower of Roses

Some other interpretations of presenting O Antiphons:

• St. Francis Academy, O Antiphon Ornaments
• Castle of the Immaculate, O Antiphon ornaments
• Lettres de mon Moulin Altoid Tin O Antiphons
• Under Her Starry Mantle O Antiphon Poinsettia Wreath.
• Maverick Mama, Book Display
• O Night Divine, Alice Gunther's Jesse Tree blocks including O Antiphons

MaryM also posted templates at 4Real to make a paper Antiphon House.

Come, O Emmanuel! Do Not Tarry!

 

Written by Jennifer Gregory Miller