O Night Divine

Christmas Pageant Link-Up

Below is the Linky to share your Christmas pageant posts. Please link to the individual post and not the entire blog. I look forward to seeing everyone's pictures! Happy Feast Day.

Happy St. Andrew's Day

St. Andrew the Apostle is often overlooked in favor of his brother, of whom you may have heard, Peter.  Andrew intoduced Peter to Jesus, having first been a disciple of John the Baptist.  Andrew is said to have been martyred in Greece on a cross shaped like an "X" which is now referred to as St. Andrew's cross.

Today begins, what is sometimes known as the Christmas Novena or the Christmas Anticipation Prayer.  This is an ancient and meditiative prayer that meant to draw us closer to Christ in this time of preparation. It is also a very powerful intercessory prayer that when prayed fifteen times a day between today and Christmas day can result in many intentions being granted.  It is also called the St. Andrew's prayer but it does not call upon that great saint, rather it petitions God directly.

"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.

In Scotland St, Andrew's day is a big celebration since it is their national day, St. Andrew being the patron saint of Scotland.  According to legend a Greek monk, St. Regulus, was ordered by God via a vision to take several St. Andrew relics to the end of the earth for safe keeping. Regulus immediately set off on a dangerous sea journey which ended at the settlement of Fife, which is the modern day town of St. Andrew's. There was a tooth, a knee cap and a few finger bones that became a focus of many pilgrimages until the Scottish Reformation in the 1600s when they were destroyed.

This children's book is free on Kindle today.

To make the day make a point of printing the prayer and saying it with the children.  Fifteen times may seem overwhelming but if you break it up, five times at each meal or ten times in the morning and five before bed, it's not so time consuming.

Today is also New Year's Eve for our church. The liturgical year officially ends tonight and begins anew tomorrow.  Why not make a little celebration tonight?  Have some sparkling cider for the kids and a little bubbly for the adults. If you want to be really authentic try some single malt. The Glenlivet is a favorite in my house.  Some shortbread or a traditional Scots dessert called Cranachan is a fun idea. Cover the table in a tartan or any plaid fabric or use plaid napkins and call them tartan, I wont' tell.

However you mark the day keep in mind that this season of Advent is a privilege to journey through. A time to grow in faith with your family and a chance to bind you children in their faith in a joyful way that they will pass down to their families in the years to come.

Thank you for making us part of your Advent.

Liturgical Calendars

December 2nd 2012 marks the beginning of Advent and the new Church Year.  

Here are a few printable liturgical calendars for both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the liturgy.

 

Ordinary Form:

Extraordinary Form:

Blank Color your Own: 

More calendars here.

 

 

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 here. 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. 

 

 

Ember Days

I'm a little late getting off the mark with this one.  I should have posted this earlier in the week but, well you know how that goes.

Tomorrow, Friday is the second of the three Ember days in December. The Ember days are three days that are set aside by the Church four times a year in order to focus on God through the wonder of His creation. In keeping with the newness of the LIturgical year the first of the Ember days take place right after the feast of Saint Lucy. The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following the feast are the winter Ember days. The second is in the spring following Ash Wednesday, the summer days follow Pentecost and the autumn days follow the Triumph of the Cross.  A little rhyme to remember:  

Lucy, Ash, Dove and Cross

or in Latin

Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia 
Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.

        Which means:

Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, 
are when the quarter holidays follow.

(Don't be impressed, I snitched that from www.fisheaters.com)

These days are meant to be a time of abstinence and penance in thanksgiving to God for the gift of his creation. We are also meant to pray for the restraint to use His gifts wisely and with concern.  The fasts, known also as "four season fasts" are a continuation of the practice of fasting quarterly in the Old Testament.  

Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Juda, joy, and gladness, and great solemnities: only love ye truth and peace. (Zacharias 8:19)

Since the Ember days give us an opportunity to thank our loving God for the gifts of nature and this is the time of year in which "heaven and nature sing" why not spend some time on Friday or Saturday giving back to nature or celebrating it's gifts. It would be a lovely time of year to bundle up and take an Advent nature walk and perhaps look for bits of nature to decorate your home with in the coming days. Provided you have permission, of course, cutting some evergreen boughs or pepperberries to hang in your tree or along your mantle would be a nice activity. You could also watch for the winter birds in your area. The bright and seasonally dressed cardinal is always exciting for the children to see.My dear friend MacBeth has posted a wonderful article about taking winter hikes with children which I hope you will read.

I like to spend at least part of the Embertide with the children  smearing peanut butter or suet on pinecones roling them in birdseed and hanging them out for the birds. Usually it's the squirrels that benefit but they provide their own amusement for the kids as their antics to get at the swinging cones get more acrobatic.

What about some winter star gazing? Those heavens sing even in winter and the sky is always changing. Since most of us only venture out at night in milder temperatures why not try it in winter. I wrote a post for my personal blog a few years ago about winter star gazing that you might find helpful.

What about our furry friends? Certainly they have a place in this Advent season. The most obvious thing to do is to visit a living Nativity scene. Alas, they are being legislated out of existence (and that's all I'm going to say about that) but you can still find them. If you cannot find one why not read about living Nativitys in St. Francis Celebrates Christmas. It's a lovely book telling of St. Francis' reenactment of the Nativity.

More furry friend activities to give thanks to God for creation; make a donation to your local animal shelter, treat your own pet to a long walk or play session, or how about a homemade treat for fido?

Since the Ember days are also days of fasting and penance a visit to confession is a good beginning and then speak with the children about what little sacrifices they can make to let God know they love Him and His creation.

God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth. And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat: And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. (Genesis 1-28:30)

Solemnity of Christ the King

Lord, you give us Christ, the King of all creation

as food for everlating life.

Help us to live by his Gospel

and bring us to the joy of his kingsdom 

where he lives and reigns for ever and ever.

(Magnificat, November 2010 Vol. 12, No.9)

O Emmanuel – God with Us

Download Emmanuel coloring page

O Emmanuel, God with us, our King and Lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Savior: Come to save us, O Lord our God.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, expectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Rex Gentium - O King of Nations

Download RexGentium coloring page

O King of the Gentiles and their desired One, the Cornerstone that makes both one; Come, and deliver man, whom You formed out of the dust of the earth.

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

O Oriens - O Dawn

Download Oriens coloring page

O Dawn, splendor of eternal light, and sun of justice, come, and shine on those seated in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Clavis David - O Key of David

Download ClavisDavid coloring page

O Key of David, and Scepter of the House of Israel, who opens and no man shuts, who shuts and no man opens; Come and bring forth the captive from his prison, he who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israël, qui aperis, et nemo claudit, claudis, et nemo aperuit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.