November 30, 2014

Christmas Novena - START TODAY!

While a novena is normally a nine-day [or nine hour] prayer, the term sometimes is used for any prayer that is repeated over a series of days. The Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is often called simply the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer," because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30th) until Christmas. The First Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.

The novena is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew, but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once, or divide up the recitation as necessary (perhaps five times at each meal).

Prayed as a family, the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is a very good way to help focus the attention of your children on the Advent season.

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena
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 piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

(source: by Scott P. Richert at Catholicism.about.com)

November 29, 2014

Christmas Novena - START TOMORROW!

While a novena is normally a nine-day [or nine hour] prayer, the term sometimes is used for any prayer that is repeated over a series of days. The Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is often called simply the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer," because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30th) until Christmas. The First Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.

The novena is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew, but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once, or divide up the recitation as necessary (perhaps five times at each meal).

Prayed as a family, the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is a very good way to help focus the attention of your children on the Advent season.

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena
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 piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

(source: by Scott P. Richert at Catholicism.about.com)

November 28, 2014

Christmas - Just a Peek!

It's here.  The absolute avalanche of recommended "preparations" for Christmas.  From Jesse trees to Christmas shopping, from decorating to baking, from Advent countdowns to spiritual reading, there are a plethora of resources out there to help you "prepare" for the Coming Of Christ.  And often, people place the visual, decorative preparations as if they are diametrically opposed to the interior, spiritual preparations.

Not me.

One year, I attempted the virtuous practice of banning the majority of Christmas decorations and paraphernalia until Christmas Day.  This works for some families.  Their lives remain uncomplicated and focused on the coming of Christ by making their surroundings calm and uncomplicated in the weeks leading up to celebrating His birth.

Not me.

One year, I tried this.

It was.  The worst.  Advent.  Ever.  For our entire family.  EVER!

(Almost as bad as the year I gave up chocolate for Lent.  Whew.  Bad idea.  Not pretty.  Good thing I didn't do them both in the same year!)

As a Catholic, I am enormously grateful for the visual richness of our Faith!  Our historical churches are filled with statues, stained glass, and breath-taking architecture, all of which tell the Scriptural and Traditional stories of our Faith for what was once a largely illiterate human population.  Visual beauty in our churches provides a worthy inspiration on which to meditate and place ourselves completely -- body and soul -- in the Presence Of God.  It raises our eyes, our minds, our hearts, and our souls to the True Artist, the Author Of All Beauty.

God.

At Christmas, God's Only Begotten Son became present among us.  We believe and pray this every day around lunchtime at our house when we pray the Angelus:  "The Word was made Flesh. [all bow] And dwelt among us."

Similarly in our house, before Christmas, we rejoice in the anticipation of His coming by leaving no horizontal surface bare.  Anywhere our eyes rest, there is something of beauty to remind us of Him.

The creche, with its manger empty, though filled with a bedding of fresh hay, waiting to cradle His soft, warm, newborn baby's body.

The pine boughs, fragrant and evergreen, their pungency pleasantly reminding us of the eternal life His coming promises that we may share with Him.

The tiny, flickering, dipping flames of the Advent candles, touching the kitchen -- the soul of our home -- with a soft, suffused light in the evenings, just as He will touch our souls with the gentle light of His grace.  If we let Him.


All in all, by Christmas, our house is bedecked and bespangled to the rafters.  Alert.  Readying.  Waiting.  Hoping.  With barely restrained JOY*!  We look forward to the coming of the Greatest Guest Of All - JESUS!

This Christmas, take a page from the book of the early evangelists to the British Isles, especially Ireland, the sole country wherein Christianity was accepted without the bloodshed of its messengers.  In Scotland and Ireland, countless pagan Celtic traditions were washed anew and imbued with Christian significance.

Do the same in your own home.  As you prepare for Christmas, make every tiny touch something infused with His grace, His significance, His gifts, His coming.  Be reminded of HIM at every turn!

The picture of the candy cane and roses centerpiece above is a simple little gift of an idea from me to you!  The red roses remind me of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  And the candy canes originally were made to be a "J" for Jesus, with the white candy representing His purity and the red representing His Precious Blood.

This is a quick-cheap-'n-easy centerpiece, perfect for so many places!  Pop it on the table before your treasured family and friends arrive to share a meal.  Place it in front of a favorite statue in your home (ours is the Sacred Heart!).  Or maybe make one up as a house-warming gift for someone you love, whom you are visiting.  The possibilities are endless for this simple yet creative piece.

This Christmas, let the light of Christ reach every corner of your heart and your home by transforming your physical surroundings into a visual symphony of JOY!  Joy in the coming of Him, the Light of the World, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace!

* = JOY (JESUS first, OTHERS next, YOURSELF last)

November 24, 2014

Advent Coloring Calendar

Inspired by similar Lenten paths, I drew for you today an "Advent Coloring Calendar," to enjoy coloring with your children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews.  (C'mon, admit it -- YOU enjoy coloring sometimes, too!)  The First Sunday of Advent is next weekend...ALREADY!

May Our Lady be your Joy this Advent as she leads you through the Rosary, drawing you ever closer to the manger and the Sacred Heart of her Son, the Infant Jesus, the Prince of Peace!  Vive Jesu!

Enjoy!  :-D

November 3, 2014

The Virtues of Minimalism

I doubt anyone who's ever been to my house would describe me as a minimalist.  Ever.  As a matter of fact, the opposite is true.  I seem to be a bit of a, um, an accumulator, shall we say?  Almost zealously an organized string-saver.  And a sentimental one, at that.  Talented, however.  "A functional hoarder," my husband maintains.  I decorate with most of it and justify the rest by organizing it into well-labeled boxes and bins.

But, after our recent move over 700 miles with two full size moving trucks, I'm sure my dear husband wishes I weren't so attached to...things.  And quite so many of them.

In some ways, so do I.

Oh, I'm not ready to part with my great uncle's paintings or my late father's favorite shoes yet.  But now, after experiencing first hand the effort it takes to MOVE one's belongings, I have a much greater appreciation for my husband's utter and nearly complete detachment from...things.  Items.  Stuff.  Belongings.

Baggage.  Literally.

(No, I'm not kidding.  I have two sets of luggage and haven't traveled in years.)

It seems that at no prior time in human history has there been a society wherein its individuals were such colossal collectors of clutter!  And I am one of them.  It's a byproduct of America's staggering general wealth, compared with the rest of the known world.  Just look around.  Look around your own home and see the piles -- literally small heaps huddled about -- of papers, books, clothing, toys, pillows, shoes, etc.

So, perhaps it's time to pare down.  A bit.  But, how does one purge?  Where on earth does one start!?  Especially when faced with numerous colossal heaps like mine?

Well, as a dear friend of mine likes to say, "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time."

Amidst the overwhelming avalanche of, "Clear Out The Clutter!" advice out there (which, personally, just makes my brain feel even more cluttered), I found a very quick, simple link (Pinterest, baby!) to a list of, "20 Things You Can Get Rid of Without Even Missing."

http://www.ticoandtina.com/20-things-can-get-rid-without-even-missing/#_a5y_p=2579245

The list is simple, divided up by rooms, only two or three sentences per item.  No calendars.  No arduous 40-day schedules.  No household colonoscopy preparations.  No goals to feel guilty about, because you fell short.

And if you're not sure whether or not to purge something, try my personal tactic of putting the item(s) in a black garbage bag in the garage for six months.  Tape a slip of paper on the bag with today's date.  If, in six months, you haven't fetched back or needed the item(s) (or even remember what's in that bag!), then tell yourself it's time to let the contents of that bag bless someone else's life and throw it in the front seat of your car to donate it quickly to your nearest charity or thrift shop.

Believe me, you'll be amazed and thrilled with the fresh air, new space, and light that literally will swirl through your heart and your home when you clear out even just a few things that you truly don't need.

Either that, or your kids are gonna have one helluva yard sale when you're gone.  Don't worry, I won't be there though.  I've already been told I'm grounded.  Forever.

See you at the church thrift shop drop off!