Let the Little Ones Come

A Manger for Our Lord

Christ in the Manger, El Greco

 
"Let your soul be a lifelong manger for Christ the Child. Pray that He may give you the heart of a child, and the awesome courage to live it out." --Catherine Doherty

 

A Child at Rest

My current Advent reading is very sustaining to me this season.  :)  Caryll Houselander truly speaks to my mother's heart with the meditation I read earlier this week:

Think of a child asleep in her mother's arms; the abandon with which she gives herself to sleep can only be because she has complete trust in the arms that hold her.  She is not lying asleep on that heart because she is worn out by anxiety.  She is asleep there because it is a delight to her to sleep there.  The mother rests too.  She rests in her child's rest.  Her mind and body rest in her.  Her head fits into the crook of her curved arm.  Their warmth is mingled like the warmth of two softly burning flames.  She rocks to and fro, and her rocking is unconsciously timed by her child's breathing.  Rest is a communion between them.  It is a culmination of content.  On the child's part, utter trust in her mother; on the mother's part, sheer joy in the power of her love to sustain her life.

Such as this was the rest of God in the beginning of time, when God had created the world.  

Our rest in a world that is full of unrest is Christ's trust in his Father; our peace in a world without peace is our surrender, complete as the surrender of the sleeping child to her mother, of the Christ in us, to God who is both Father and Mother.

The Passion of the Infant Christ, pp. 17-19

St. Andrew Christmas Novena: Pray with Me!

Today is the feast of the holy Apostle, St. Andrew.  It is also the day to begin his Christmas Novena .  

This prayer is so beautiful.  You pray it 15 times throughout the day leading up to Christmas (Nov. 30-Dec. 24).  This sounds overwhelming but it is not if you get into the habit....and you will have the prayer memorized within a few days.  :)  I am praying this novena for a very special intention...please join me with your intentions as well.  

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.

 

(It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer 15 times a day from the feast of St. Andrew until Christmas will obtain what is asked).

Imprimatur

+MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, Archbishop of New York

New York, February 6, 1897

 

The Habit of Advent with Caryll Houselander

"There is great virtue in practicing patience in small things until the habit of Advent returns to us.  Sometimes this Advent season of the soul is a recurring rhythm through life, deliberately chosen as such or simply given to us.  Sometimes it is the immediate result of conversion or of a new awareness of God or of an increase of Love.

Sometimes it is a painful experience.  It may be that a soul brimmed with love becomes dumb, inarticulate, blind, seeing only darkness, unable to give things that it longs to give to a world of children asking for bread.

That simply means that the Holy Spirit of Love, by which Christ was conceived in the heart, is compelling it to suffer the period of growth.  The light is shining in the darkness, but the darkness does not comprehend it.

To a soul in such a condition, peace will come as soon as it turns to Our Lady and imitates her.  In her the Word of God chose to be silent for the season measured by God.  She, too, was silent, in her the light of the world shone in darkness.  Today, in many souls, Christ asks that he may grow secretly, that he may be the light shining in the darkness.

In the seasons of our Advent--waking, working, eating, sleeping, being--each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world."

--The Reed of God, p. 38

Advent Reading--Keeping it Simple

I have some favorite books that I pull out each Advent but this year, I have decided to keep it simple and continue with my daily scripture readings that I get emailed to me each day with the Navarre commentary added (so wonderful!) and this little treasure:

My prayer this Advent is to draw closer to the infant Christ in holiness and simplicity.   God bless you as we enter this most Holy season!  

Wordless Wednesday: Enjoying the Jesse Tree

 

My Advent Reading Basket

 

Preparing for Christ's Coming

My Mother used to say that the days of Advent were the days of building a golden stairway that would bring us to a star, the star of Bethlehem, that in turn would bring us straight to the Christ Child!

So now place yourself in Nazareth in Mary's time of waiting when nobody paid any attention to her.  You may pay attention to her.  You sweep for those who don't sweep the cobwebs and the dirt from their souls.  Sweep in the Nazareth of the human minds and hearts.  Prepare that inn eternally, every day, for the child to be born in, the child who was denied the inn in reality, and still is denied the inns of our hearts.  Smaller and smaller is the group of people who believe, and still smaller those who believe and will lay their life down for him.  Begin to lay your life down now in the exacting, disciplining, routine, monotonous, repetitious work of your day, cleaning or whatever.

Remember that your humble tasks, done well with great love for Christ, can lift the world!  This is your strength.  You can lift the communists, the one who hate, the ones who are indifferent.  Do your work.  Offer it up.  Pray.  Don't pray with words--pray with the work of your hands.

--Catherine Doherty, My Russian Yesterdays

 

The New Tradition Continues...Making our Advent Candles

Last year, Marie and I made the beeswax candles that Illuminated Ink sells.  The colors are vibrant, the smell is heavenly, and the rolling of the candles is so simple and pleasant!  

This year I got Rose and Marie to join in the fun and we made our candles for this years' wreath. 

Here are some pics--look how much Marie has grown...What  a difference a year makes!

Marie is rolling the candle "core."

Rose and Marie have their "core candles" rolled and are preparing to finish rolling the taper.  The smell and the feel of the wax is just heavenly!  :)

Marie and Rose with their finished candles...I will head to Michael's tomorrow to find some greenery for the wreath...

I cannot find a good portion of my Advent decorations.  :(    I still have yet to find the Jesse Tree ornaments from the ornament exchange I participated in last year.  I think they are in a deep, dark corner of the attic.  Getting dh to brave the recesses of our attic one more time is on the agenda for tomorrow...:)

Happy First Sunday of Advent!  A little quote from my favorite Russian  :)  :

"Let us realize that we are wonderful in the sight of God, that He loves us so much He  has sent His own Son to redeem us.  Advent is the season in which we remember this anniversary of His coming.  It is time for us to understand what we are truly worth."--Catherine Doherty, Donkey Bells