St Andrew Christmas Novena

It begins today.

It's not to St Andrew and it's not really a novena since it lasts for 25 or 26 days, depending upon whether you continue it on the 25 of December.

It goes like this:

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.

Say it 15 times a day until Christmas.  But not all at once, so they tell me.  Unless, say, um, you forgot and had to get them all in at 11:50 p.m. some day.  Not that I would forget.  Just a f'rinstance,
you understand.  Best practice is 5 in the morning, 5 in the afternoon, and 5 at night as Michael Matt recommends here.

So why St Andrew?  Because it begins today and today is his feast day.

A history of the vigil of his feast.

St Andrew in the east.

Thanksgiving . . .

. . .was, of course, yesterday.

Herself and I didn't do our own dinner this year so I have no gravy catastrophe to relate.  Instead we went to the cousins in Long Beach and had the requisite sumptuous repast.  It was also a celebration of Mary's birthday which is usually on or around Thanksgiving (but is actually a week away this year, but who's counting).  So there was pie and cake which pleased me and the birthday girl and absolutely delighted the Under 5 Set beyond belief.

I don't spend much time with the Under 5 Set these days.  I had forgotten how wonderfully hilarious they can be.  They are determinedly single-minded. . . and so easily distracted.  Except when they're not.  And they're what brought to mind the Chesterton paragraph in the post below.  Monica and Joe, you made the evening.   Norman Rockwell should've been there.

". . .for we have sinned and grown old. . . ."

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.” 

-- G.K. Chesterton in "The Ethics of Elfland" via the American Chesterton Society's FB page, which I didn't save the link to so this link will have to do.  It's in there somewhere.

Thanksgiving Day

ALMIGHTY and gracious Father, we give thee thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labours of those who harvest them: make us, we beseech thee, faithful stewards of thy great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all men; We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful; and that we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

The Synod (you know: the one ostensibly about "youth")

I first wrote "inside report on the synod".  But that wasn't quite true.  She wasn't "inside" and those who were aren't allowed to comment thanks to Pope Parrhesia I.  But she knows as much about it as anyone who wasn't an episcopal participant is likely to.  And she's an excellent speaker.  The above is well-worth an hour and a quarter of your time.

More good stuff available from The Remnant here.

Statistics that Explain a Lot

"Witches now outnumber Presbyterians in the United States."

So sayeth the Pew Research people here.

(A shame Frs. Summers and Thurston have both gone to their reward.  Would've made for some interesting commentary.)

21 November - The Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple

Which is today's feast in the Roman calendar, the N.O. calendar and the Ordinariate calendar.

Background on the history of the feast here in the excellent New Liturgical Movement blog.

The collect from the DW Missal:

Almighty and everlasting God, who by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin Mother Mary to be a dwelling-place for thy Son:  grant that we who rejoice in her Presentation may at her tender intercession be kept unspotted, and made a pure temple for his dwelling; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St Elizabeth of the Trinity

O my God, Trinity Whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity.  May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my Unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into the depths of Your Mystery.  Give peace to my soul; make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling and Your resting place.  May I never leave You there alone but be wholly present my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to your creative action.

From the writings of St Elizabeth of the Trinity, via the Carmelite propers for her office.

Annoyance du Jour

That would be when I think I have about half a tube of Expensive Prescription-Only Oinment left in the tube and it turns out that what I really have is a little less than ¼ of a tube of Expensive Prescription-Only Ointment and One Large Air Bubble.

Votin' Day

The memsahib and I are just back from doing our politico-religious duty here in the PRC and voted for the various Republican sacrificial lambs that are allowed on the ballot.   Some aren't allowed, you know.  Winners of Republican primaries aren't on the ballot if they don't receive sufficient primary votes according to the rules promulgated by the Sacramento Home for the  Criminally Insane.  Write-ins not allowed either; wouldn't want to disadvantage the illiterate.

Democracy my . . . um,  . . . foot.

Still, it's fun for a little while to pretend we make a difference.