Wordless Wednesday: Almost Christmas

 

Poem of the Week: The Wicked Fairy at the Manger

 

The Wicked Fairy at the Manger

My gift for the child:
No wife, kids, home;
No money sense. Unemployable.
Friends, yes. But the wrong sort -
The workshy, women, wogs,
Petty infringers of the law, persons
With notifiable diseases,
Poll tax collectors, tarts;
The bottom rung.

........His end?
I think we'll make it
Public, prolonged, painful.

Right, said the baby. That was roughly
What we had in mind.

U. A. Fanthorpe ('Christmas Poems - BC:AD', Peterloo Poets) 

HT: ReSource

O Christmas Tree

 

I can't understand why this Advent is so busy!

You would think with staying home all the time, things would be quieter than normal, but, with ten people, I think the opposite is true!

But we had our own little Christmas party with eggnog, music, and cookies while we decorated the tree on Gaudete Sunday.

We like to do it today, when we start the O Antiphons, but between doctor visits, college stuff, and Christmas preparations, it's been too crazy.

And I don't mind enjoying the tree a little extra!

Poem of the Week: Advent

ADVENT
(On A Theme by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
By Pamela Cranston

Look how long
the weary world waited,
locked in its lonely cell,
guilty as a prisoner.

As you can imagine,
it sang and whistled in the dark.
It hoped. It paced and puttered about,
tidying its little piles of inconsequence.

It wept from the weight of ennui,
draped like shackles on its wrists.
It raged and wailed against the walls
of its own plight.

But there was nothing
the world could do
to find its own freedom.
The door was shut tight.

It could only be opened from the outside.


Who could believe the latch
would be turned by a pink flower —
the tiny hand
of a newborn baby?
© by Pamela Cranston, 2011

HT: Journey With Jesus

Feast of St. Nicholas

 

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

We love the good bishop: patron of children, puncher of heretics, and gold slinging saver of girls.

We all put out our shoes, which at this point, gives St. Nicholas quite a bit of work!

We had made custom hot chocolate mixes for everyone, and we had planned to put them in the stockings (which we usually open Christmas Eve).

But we realized there wasn't enough room in the sock, so we put them with the shoe for St. Nicholas Day.

Poem of the Week: Gabriel's Annunciation

Gabriel’s Annunciation

By Jan Richardson

For a moment I hesitated
on the threshold.
For the space
of a breath
I paused,
unwilling to disturb
her last ordinary moment,
knowing that the next step
would cleave her life:
that this day
would slice her story
in two,
dividing all the days before
from all the ones
to come.

The artists would later
depict the scene:
Mary dazzled
by the archangel,
her head bowed
in humble assent,
awed by the messenger
who condescended
to leave paradise
to bestow such an honor
upon a woman, and mortal.
Yet I tell you
it was I who was dazzled,
I who found myself agape
when I came upon her—
reading, at the loom, in the kitchen,
I cannot now recall;
only that the woman before me—
blessed and full of grace
long before I called her so—
shimmered with how completely
she inhabited herself,
inhabited the space around her,
inhabited the moment
that hung between us.
I wanted to save her
from what I had been sent
to say.
Yet when the time came,
when I had stammered
the invitation
(history would not record
the sweat on my brow,
the pounding of my heart;
would not note
that I said
Do not be afraid
to myself as much as
to her)
it was she
who saved me—
her first deliverance—
her Let it be
not just declaration
to the Divine
but a word of solace,
of soothing,
of benediction
for the angel
in the doorway
who would hesitate
one last time—
just for the space
of a breath
torn from his chest—
before wrenching himself away
from her radiant consent,
her beautiful and
awful yes.

HT: Journey with Jesus 
 

Wordless Wednesday: Advent Posters and Wreath

 

Advent!

Shamelessly cribbing from last year, it's farewell to The Glorious Turkey and all the gourds and pumpkins, and hello to all the Advent stuff!

The thing to keep in mind is that we have now been doing the Advent thing with kids for 20 years.  In the beginning, I was looking for Advent stuff to do that would be meaningful, helpful, and fun.


Now we have the weight of Tradition, as well as the "need" to have 6 small things to do each day so each kid can do an Advent thing each day. Also, I've done it so long, it's easy for me.

Do what I did: if it looks like fun, and not too much work, try it.  If it doesn't, smile and nod.

This is what it looks like for us.


Kid 1: Open a door on the Advent House.  Inside, there are 6 pieces of candy, and a Playmobil Advent piece to put in the stable.

Yeah, the sheep is in the attic.  The kid decides where to put it.





Kid 2: Find and place the Jesse Tree ornament while I read the scripture passages.

You can find all sorts of sources for Jesse Tree scripture and ornaments.  My set are from an ornament swap organized years ago by my friend Jolene - this means I have a set of cool and creative ornaments while only having had to come up with one good idea.

As they've broken or gotten lost, we've been replacing them with shrinky dinks.  Not as cool, but doable.




Kid 3: The velcro calendar!

This was something I thought would fall by the wayside, but it has the weight of Tradition, so on it goes.


Kid 4: Lights and blows out the Advent candles and does the felt calendar.

Back in the day, it was just blowing out the candles, you know, before we trusted the kids with producing fire!




Kid 5: Chooses a book to unwrap.

We have way to many Advent and Christmas books, so I just wrap 25 of our favorites in tissue paper.  The rest are loose in the other box.

Most are religious, but some are secular, and you never quite know what you are picking!

I've found it's a good way to make sure we actually get to all of them.  As an extra bonus, it's good training for how to politely receive and unwrap gifts, as well as what to do with the paper afterwards...
Kid 6: Chooses and places an ornament.

This is one of the favorite Advent tasks!

They aren't tree ornaments, they are decorations.  It's a lovely, no stress way to decorate, and I love it that the house gets slowly more decorated as Advent goes on!



Kid 7: Well, there is no 7 to do another task, but we all do little acts of love and kindness to soften our hearts for Baby Jesus' arrival.

That's our crib: we put a piece of hay in every time we pray, sacrifice, or make  little act of love.

Extra bonus: If you don't have time for a complicated Advent, here's yesterday's Easy Advent Prep:
A Christmas Kit

Poem of the Week: People Look East

Happy Advent!

 

 

Words and Music: Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965), 1928
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer

1. People, look east. The time is near 
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.

2. Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,
One more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
That in course the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the rose, is on the way.

3. Birds, though you long have ceased to build,
Guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen
God for fledging time has chosen.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the bird, is on the way.

4. Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the star, is on the way.

5. Angels, announce with shouts of mirth
Christ who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming
With the word, the Lord is coming.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Lord, is on the way.

 

HT: Hymns and Carols of Christmas

Poem of the WeeK: Advent Summons

Advent Summons
-  Mary Francis, P.C.C. 

Come forth from the holy place,
Sweet Child,
Come from the quiet dark
Where virginal heartbeats
Tick your moments.
Come away from the red music
Of Mary's veins.
Come out from the Tower of David
Sweet Child,
From the House of Gold.
Leave your lily-cloister,
Leave your holy mansion,
Quit your covenant ark.
O Child, be born!
Be born, sweet Child,
In our unholy hearts.
Come to our trembling,
Helpless Child.
Come to our littleness,
Little Child,
Be born unto us
Who have kept the faltering vigil.
Be given, be born,
Be ours again.
Came forth from your holy haven,
Come away from your perfect shrine,
Come to our wind-racked souls
From the flawless tent,
Sweet Child.
Be born, little Child,
In our unholy hearts.

HT: University of Dayton 
Image HT: Vianney Vocations

Wordless Wednesday: Nativities at the Fransiscan Monastery

Wordless Wednesday: Botanical Gardens

The Laptop is Fixed!

For which I can thank the redoubtable Bill! So now I can blog All the Things!

The washing machine is fixed, thanks to Mumpy, Zorg, and Mxyl.

Choclo has a pair of sharp new glasses!

 My Aunt and Uncle visited and we all went to the Botanical gardens (another post)!

We've been watching the Mandalorian, and Klenda continues to amaze.

We actually finished our Awesome Geography around the world trip (more posts coming)!!

We are into Advent, all of which I missed blogging about as my laptop was slowing to a standstill.  I'll just post a link to our Advent stuff.



And today is the feast of St.Nicholas!

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

We put out shoes last night!




And we had "Santa Hat Scones this morning.

Lots of St. Nicholas resources here.

This afternoon we are having a big party with lots of friends, games and a gingerbread contest: pictures of the event tomorrow!


 The first game is coloring a picture of St. Nicholas.

St. Nicholas was a bishop, so we cut two little slits and slid in a candy cane for his crosier.

 Then we will have Stocking Toss, where the kids tossed little bags of gold on the stockings. That commemorates St. Nicholas tossing bags of gold secretly into a house to help a family who would have had to sell their children.

Lastly,  by popular demand, we will have Punch Arius!.

The idea is to punch Arius while shouting parts of the Nicene Creed that proclaim Jesus' divinity.





This is based on the story that St. Nicholas struck Arius during the Council
of Nicaea when Arius was trying to convince the world's bishops that Jesus was not really God.

I tell the kids that they aren't allowed to punch heretics unless they became bishops and are at an Ecumenical Council.  You never know what can plant the seed of a vocation!