Advent Calendar

Here it is!  My "Advent Calendar" for 2018 is ready for you to color and enjoy!  Please feel welcome to print, photocopy, or distribute this for personal use only.

Advent Blessings!  iiii

St. Andrew Christmas Novena

(The "St. Andrew Christmas Novena" technically began on Friday, November 30th, the feast of St. Andrew.  But, I firmly believe it's never too late to get on the prayer train praising the Baby Jesus!  I hear He's very powerful, you know.)  :-)

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 (we pray five [5] each at breakfast, lunch, and supper) from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30th) until Christmas. The First Sunday of Advent always 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)

TODAY! - Christmas Novena

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 (we pray five [5] each at breakfast, lunch, and supper) from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30th) until Christmas. The First Sunday of Advent always 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)

Christmas Novena - START TODAY!

Happy Church New Year!  The first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of the Church's new liturgical year.  Celebrating it on the heels of the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving is a joyous union of gratitude for our country's great civic and spiritual blessings!

To start off your Church Year, join me TODAY in starting the "Christmas Novena" or "St. Andrew's Novena."  This novena is recited 15 times a day (yes, fifteen times per day... whew!) from Monday, November 30th (the Feast of St. Andrew) through Christmas Day (the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord).

This is piously believed to be a very powerful novena!
 
...think it's too much?

- Break up your recitations!  Pray five at breakfast, five at lunch, and five at dinner or bedtime.
- Post copies (see below) throughout your house beside your Christmas decorations.
- Pray it as a family, so your family total equals fifteen times per day.

Does it "count" if you miss a day or a recitation?  Who knows!

No, I mean it.  "Who" knows.  With a capital "W."  God knows!  Only God knows what is in your heart and mind this Advent and Christmas season.  Only God knows why you might need this novena and actually opened this e-mail from that crazy lady in Savannah.

Only God, the Creator of the universe and YOU, came down from on high as a helpless Infant Child to rescue YOU and me from the insanity of sin as flawed human beings.  He made you.  He loves you!  And He made you to know, LOVE, and serve Him in this world and be happy with Him forever in Heaven.

Hooray!

Please join me in praying this novena, in trying to focus for at least a few moments every day of Advent on the Infant Christ, Who is to come.  He is coming to save the world -- to save YOU!

Hail and blessed be that incomprehensibly vast, generous, and singular moment of His arrival!

Let this be a Blessed Advent and a very Merry Christmas, indeed!

Here is the text of the novena, as well as links to a document for you to print of the novena AND a daily checklist:

NOVENA:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1jFI88S4CKiWnNfUURZRzhaeUE/view?usp=sharing

CHECKLIST:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1jFI88S4CKidDhJMXcxVTh5VEk/view?usp=sharing

 

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.

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 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 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)

St. Andrew Christmas Novena - Checklist

I don't know about you, but as we progress through the increasingly busy Advent season, I sometimes lose track of how many recitations I have prayed each day of my St. Andrew's Christmas Novena.  So, here's a handy little checklist to help ensure all of us remember our novena each day!

St. Andrew's Christmas Novena Checklist:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1jFI88S4CKidDhJMXcxVTh5VEk/view?usp=sharing

God bless us all, everyone!

"George Bailey Syndrome" for Parents

Remember the movie, It's a Wonderful Life! ?  Every year at Christmastime, I watch that movie.  I know it by heart, and yet I never tire of it and still love every minute of it.  And the older I get, I love it even more!

Why?

Because, as a parent, I think it's very easy for us to get, "George Bailey Syndrome."  And not just at Christmas.  We look like this.  We feel like this.  We look and feel like George Bailey.  Dr. Taylor Marshall articulates it well here:


http://taylormarshall.com/2014/01/the-george-bailey-syndrome-gbs-why-parents-get-discouraged-and-how-they-can-find-joy.html

By the end of the movie, however, I look and feel like this!  I look and feel like George Bailey again, this time infinitely more mindful of the mind-boggling blessing that God has given me in the form of my life.

Though my life has been easy, I'm not Pollyanna (...okay, close, but not completely).  Sometimes, life can be hard work.  And dirty.  And tiresome.  Watching this movie never fails to remind me, however, that each of us has a role in life, many roles in life, specific roles and jobs and tasks to fulfill, some of which we might not even be fully aware right now, and certainly not the ripple effects thereof.

Watching this movie reminds me that life is about people first, then things.

Watching this movie reminds me that, believing in each other, we can move mountains together, or at least whole families and towns.

Watching this movie reminds me that things can always be worse, so be grateful when they are better.

Watching this movie reminds me that there always is something more you can do for just one more person who comes into your life.

Watching this movie reminds me that faith is essential to our lives.

This last reminder is one of the most important.  Remember, to Whom does George cry out on the bridge?  To Whom does he appeal for a better life for himself, his family, and his friends?

Who made George?  God made him.

Why did God make him?

God made him (and you, and me, and everyone else) to know, love, and serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him forever in Heaven.

So, why hasn't George learned this by now?

He's certainly lived it.  George has spent his entire life (which he views as wasted, at the time) in service to others, whether it's his parents, his father's community-serving business, the townspeople, his wife Mary, or his children.  Despite his determination to gallivant around the globe in a self-serving gluttony of travel and indulgence, George spends every day of his life -- every, single, day -- in service to others in his little hometown of Bedford Falls.

And that, Charlie Brown, is what Christmas is all about.  (...oh, wait; that's for another post...)

Most of all, watching this movie reminds me that, ultimately, God always has our best interests in mind.  Always.  And that I've still got a lot to learn.

Christmas Novena!

Allison H. over at, "Catholic Sistas," wrote a beautiful, succinct blog post last year about the St. Andrew's Christmas Novena, "where the theological truths of our Holy Faith crash like waves upon the rocky shores of our real lives."  You can read it quickly here:

http://www.catholicsistas.com/2013/12/23/vouchsafe-omg/

Are you still praying your novena?  Remember, 15 times a day can seem overwhelming, so you always can break it up into five recitations, three different times throughout the day, etc.

Blessed Advent to you and those whom you love!

Hail and blessed by 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 prayers
and grant my desires,
through the merits of our Savior,
Jesus Christ,
and of His Blessed Mother.
Amen.

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)

Give Thanks for Our Creator!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here we are again, starting the Church's New Year (the first Sunday of Advent) immediately on the heels of a uniquely American holiday, Thanksgiving, a day specifically ordained for the cause of giving thanks as a nation to our Creator.  What a joyous union of our great country's secular and religious priorities!

To start off your Church New Year, I'd love to share with you a cherished novena, commonly known as the "Christmas Novena" or the "St. Andrew's Novena" (the former so named for its last day; the latter so named for its first).  This novena is to be recited 15 times per day (yes, you read that correctly -- fifteen times per day...I know, whew!) from Monday, November 30th (the Feast of St. Andrew) through Christmas Day (the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord).

This is piously believed to be a powerful novena!

Think it's too much?

So, break up your recitations -- pray five at breakfast, five at lunch, and five at dinner or bedtime.  Maybe post a few copies of the prayer throughout your house (scroll down for a copy!), along with your Christmas decorations, praying it as you move throughout your day.  Maybe pray it as a family, assigning each person or child to pray it at least one, two, or five times per day to make a family total of fifteen.

Is it magic?  No.

Is it fool proof?  No.  (Remember, I'm praying it, too!)

Does it not "count" if you miss a day or miss a recitation?  Who knows.

No --I meant "Who" purposely with a capital "W."  God knows.  Only God knows.  Only God knows what's in your heart and mind this Advent and Christmas season.  Only God knows why you might need this novena and actually were inspired to click on this e-mail from that crazy lady in Savannah.  Only God knows the efficacy of our prayers.

Only God, the Creator of the universe and of YOU, came down from on high as a helpless Infant Child, specifically to rescue YOU from the insanity of life as a flawed human being.  Remember, He made you.  He made you to know, LOVE, and serve Him and to be happy with Him forever in Heaven.

He loves you.

Please join me in TRYING to pray this novena, TRYING to focus at least a portion of our increasingly busy December days on the Infant Christ, Who is to come.  He is coming to save the world -- to save YOU!

Hail and blessed be that incomprehensibly vast and singular moment of His arrival.

Please join me in prayer for a very merry Christmas, indeed!  Enjoy!  :-D

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.

12 Days of Christmas Calendar

Here it is, just in time!  The 12 Days of Christmas coloring calendar!  You can click this link to access the file as a .jpg to print and color.  Merry Christmas!  Enjoy!

Figgy Pudding, Stollen, and Tamales

Knowledge Quest generously has shared a free, 30+ page, recipe booklet, download with Christmas recipes from around the world to augment your holiday table next week.  Here's the link.  Enjoy!

Figgy Pudding, Stollen, and Tamales: Gathering the World Around Your Christmas Table

O Antiphons...for Your 'Fridge!

Here is a lovely, one-page sheet on the O Antiphons by Michelle Quigley, perfect for taping up on your 'fridge, kitchen pantry door, bathroom mirror, or wherever you will see it most often to read the brief meditation thereon.

O Antiphons Bible Study

(This post is from an invitation to read about the "O Antiphons," which began today, during Advent with Thomas Smith as part of The Great Adventure, a Bible study for Catholics!)

The titles of Christ in the O Antiphons have been invoked by the Church for at least 1,300 years. The Medieval monasteries would ring their largest bell as the choirs of monks intoned Mary’s Magnificat and these Advent antiphons. All seven can be found in the oracles of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who gives us many memorable images of the Messiah. They are rich meditations on the One who is to come.

Although there are seven titles in the O Antiphons, only one has remained firmly in popular Christian culture, thanks to an Advent hymn: O Come, O Come Emmanuel. This Messianic title is the final of the seven O Antiphons. To help us pray and even SING these beautiful prayers, Thomas Smith uses a translation that matches that familiar Advent melody. The other titles are O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Light, and O King of the Nations.

Join us for What's in a Name? Reflections on the O Antiphons with Thomas Smith as we prepare for Christ’s coming and kinship by meditating on his names. This free 10 Minute Study began December 16th and ends December 23. Enjoy!

The Anticipation of Advent

Catholic Sistas has posted here a wide variety of articles, lists, tips, and simple ideas for making your Advent less focused on materialism and more focused on the coming of the Christ Child, Our Savior!  There's something here for everyone, without overwhelming your life and your Advent season with, "one more thing to do."

Take a deep breath, turn a blind eye to the visual, decorative cacophony in the stores, and quiet your soul in the peaceful presence of the Prince of Peace Himself.  Focus on Our Lord, the Infant Jesus.  Let Our Lady gently guide you to the Manger, drawing you ever closer to the Sacred Heart of her Son, Jesus!

Vive Jesu!

Your Handy-Dandy List to an Intentional Advent

Kerry Baunach over at Catholic Sistas has posted a lovely list of, "Your Handy-Dandy List to an Intentional Advent," filled with both easy and more intensive ways to make your Advent a spiritually enriching time of preparation for the coming of the Christ Child.  Enjoy!

Vouchsafe, OMG

Allison H. over at, "Catholic Sistas," wrote a beautiful, succinct blog post last year about the St. Andrew's Christmas Novena, "where the theological truths of our Holy Faith crash like waves upon the rocky shores of our real lives."  You can read it quickly here:

http://www.catholicsistas.com/2013/12/23/vouchsafe-omg/

Are you still praying your novena?  Remember, 15 times a day can seem overwhelming, so you always can break it up into five recitations, three different times throughout the day, etc.

Blessed Advent to you and those whom you love!

Hail and blessed by 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 prayers
and grant my desires,
through the merits of our Savior,
Jesus Christ,
and of His Blessed Mother.
Amen.

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)

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)

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)