On the Seventh Day of Christmas.....

 

Pope St. Sylvester I (4th century)

During Sylvester's pontificate, the great churches of Rome were built by Emperor Constantine, such as the Basilicas of St. John Lateran and St. Peter. He contributed to the development of the liturgy of the Church, and compiled the first history of Roman martyrs.

 

 

St. Thomas Becket (1118-1170)

Thomas was a civil and canon lawyer, as well as an officer in the military. He was made the Archbishop of Canterbury the day after he was ordained a priest. For opposing the King's interference in ecclesiastical matters, he was exiled several times, then martyred.

"For our sake Christ offered himself to the Father upon the altar for the cross. He now looks down from heaven on our actions and secret thoughts, and one day he will give each of us the reward his deeds deserve." - St. Thomas Becket

Saint Thomas a' Beckett

The Holy Innocents (1st century)

The Holy Innocents were the children mentioned in Matthew 2:16-18. "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

 

Reflection:

 

To what merits of their own do the children owe this kind of victory? They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory. -St. Quodvultdeus

....and a very happy birthday to my childhood friend and schoolmate, Ann in Wyoming! How the years fly...God bless us!

I just love what Meredith is doing for the Twelve Days of Christmas, over at Sweetness and Light. Check it out: Our Twelve Days of Christmas

St. Stephen (1st century)

Stephen was a deacon, a preacher, and the first Christian martyr. While preaching in the streets of Jerusalem, angry Jews who believed he was a blasphemer dragged him outside the city and stoned him to death. Among the mob was the man who later became St. Paul.Reflections from the Saints

"Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

– St. Stephen

"You must look at the Child in the manger. He is our Love. Look at him, realizing that the whole thing is a mystery. We need to accept this mystery on faith and use our faith to explore it very deeply. To do this, we must have the humble attitude of a christian soul. Let us not try to reduce the greatness of God to our own poor ideas and human explanations. Let us try to understand that this mystery, for all its darkness, is a light to guide men's lives."

 

Christ is Passing By,

St. Josemaria Escriva

Come Lord Jesus, Come!

I want to wish you all a very blessed and happy Christmas! I'll be taking a short break away from my computer and enjoying the blessings of family and this beautiful liturgical season. I'll try to post a few lovely vintage Christmas and New Year images from time to time.

God bless you all abundantly!

It's been a tad bit busy here, to say the least!

If you haven't see this acapella group yet, you're in for a treat.

Straight No Chaser, singing, the 12 Days of Christmas

Advent Reflection Revisted

I thought this was a particularly good examen to reflect on; taken from the Magnificat Advent Companion.

(Father Richard Veras)


Advent Examination of Conscience:

R. "Come, Lord Jesus!"

For the times I forgot that I need a Savior, and arrogantly conceive of myself as sufficient to myself. R.

For the times that I do not believe Jesus and instead give in to the lie of perceiving God the Father as being indifferent or hostile to my well-being. R.

For the times that I trust my self-pitying accusations more than the Father's love. R.

For the times I desecrate the presence of Christ by making my own opinions, my own criteria, or my own likes and dislikes the measure for measuring circumstances of life and other people. R.

For the times I have shunned the presence of Christ, whether it be his sacramental presence or his presence through the people he puts in my life. R.

For the times I have blasphemed the presence of Christ through using other human beings as things that I can manipulate or use for my own selfish ends. R.

For the times I disregarded the will of Christ through abuse of those things he has given me for the building up of his kingdom. R.

For the times that I justify my sinfulness and thus treat God's mercy with disdain. R.

God our Father, open to us your promised fountain of mercy, the Word made flesh, to wash our sins and impurities away. Prepare us to welcome our Savior who dwells among us. Pour forth, we beseech you, Father, your grace into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation of Christ your Son, is to be made known anew through the sacrament of confession may by his passion and cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Dec 12: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

With the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe just one day away, I urge you to visit my friend Alice at Cottage Blessings, via this insightful and delightful post: A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Our Lady of Guadalupe holds such a special place of devotion for me. My husband gave me a beautiful matted and framed image of OL of G for our wedding nearly twenty years ago now. It has a special place of honor in our diningroom with a swag of deep burgundy and bronze shaded roses adorning it.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Mother, Pray for us!

And for more on this special feast of Our Lady, head to this LINK.

We are enjoying the first of a lovely fluffy snowfall here. It was a snow day for the local schools. My brood got out in it and now everyone is in warming up. We have company staying over, and my daughter and her friend, and I, will be attending a performance of the Nutcracker in the morning. In the meantime, we have made pepperoni rolls and gingerbread cookies with icing. I'm tired, but content. And I've discovered "Sugar Cookie" tea from Celestial Seasonings. Ahhh...

God bless!

If any of my visitors are interested in receiving a postcard of an award winning piece of art done by our son Doug, please email me privately with your mailing address and we will be glad to send it along. Doug won first place in the "ink" category - high school division for his rendering of one of Thomas Nast's Victorian Santas. This piece also won first runner up to all of high school (at a fall festival). So, we are pleased to have had it printed on a post card to share.

Update:
I'm adding more details here as I'm being asked: the original work is 11" x 14", cream colored background. Doug used "Rapidograph" black ink to "draw" the work. Thomas Nast is one of Doug's favorite "cartoon" artists. He enjoys his political art work. He was very talented indeed! Nast basically invented the original "Santa" that we have come to know.

Email me: Denise

About Those Christmas Cards

 

 

Wouldn't you know.....I usually buy my Christmas cards from a pro-life source, or an abbey or monastery.  I like American made, produced.  And I like our proceeds to help fund a good cause, and more preferably a pro-life organization.  Well, I bought a quick box of American Greetings Christmas cards today at our local drugstore, because the Madonna and child were truly beautiful, I was getting antsy, and the verse on the card was beautifully religious.  Got them home, and got to looking at them closer, and wouldn't you know: Made in China ):  I was so disappointed.  Well, I opened the box up and inspected the cards themselves, the cards do not say Made in China, in fact, they say: AGC, Cleveland Ohio.  Hmm...at any rate, something affiliated with these cards has to do with Made in China!

 

My suggestion is to always look to some good sources for your Christmas cards.  I have gotten our last years cards from Couple to Couple League, a good family focused pro-life Catholic NFP organization.  In fact, I have an order in now......I'll be patient :-)

 

 

St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552)

A friend of St. Ignatius, Francis was one of the founding members of the Jesuits in the 1500s. He was a very successful priest and missionary in India and Japan, baptizing more than 40,000. He traveled thousands of miles, most on his bare feet, to seek out and help the poor and forgotten. He was a great miracle worker, prophet and healer.

 

St. Francis Xavier, pray for us!

Forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but this is such a lovely prayer book for young people. I've purchased several, and have purchased several more for Christmas gift-giving. The edition I get has a mini music CD of World Youth Day 2002 Music. This is a commemorative edition. Simply wonderful.

My Dear Young Friends (editor John Vitek)

Ecce Veniet! Advent is here

Advent is here. What a marvelous time in which to renew your desire, your nostalgia, your real longing for Christ to come - for him to come every day to your soul in the Eucharist. The Church encourages us: Ecce veniet! - He is about to arrive! (The Forge, 548)

The liturgical year is beginning, and the introit of the Mass invites us to consider something closely related to the beginning of our christian life: the vocation we have all received. “Make me to know your ways, o Lord; teach me your paths.” We ask the Lord to guide us, to show us his footprints, so we can set out to attain the fullness of his commandments, which is charity.

In considering the circumstances surrounding your decision to make every effort to live your faith, I imagine that you, like me, will thank our Lord. I know too that, without falling into false humility, this thankfulness will leave you even more convinced that you have merited nothing of this on your own. Usually we learn to invoke God as a young child from our christian parents. Later, teachers, friends and acquaintances have helped us in many ways not to lose sight of our Lord. (Christ is passing by,1) Courtesy of Opus Dei Daily Message