Advent: Plans for Week 3

Plans for Week 3 of Advent 2009 in the heart of our home ... [please note:  for resource "codes", please see Week 1 plans]

Advent 2009 -- Theme for this year is Christmas Around the World ... here are the countries we'll be visiting

Chapter Book Read-alouds this week: 
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens
Top o'Christmas Morning by Alta Halverson Seymour

Saint of the Day:

Sunday, Dec 13 -- Gaudete Sunday (3rd Sunday of Advent); St. Lucy
Monday, Dec 14 -- St. John of the Cross
Tuesday, Dec 15 -- St. Nino
Wednesday, Dec 16 -- St. Adelaide
Thursday, Dec 17 -- O Wisdom
Friday, Dec 18 -- O Lord
Saturday, Dec 19 -- O Root of Jesse
Sunday, Dec 20 -- 4th Sunday of Advent; O Key of David

Countries this week:  Colonial America, Mexico, Latin America, British Isles (Ireland, Scotland, Wales)

Sunday, Dec 13th -- feast of St. Lucy -- make St. Lucy Braid

Monday, Dec 14th -- St. John of the Cross (make hot gazpacho with homemade tortilla chips). DB: 15-16; W: 14-16 -- "Breads and Pastries", "The Christmas Dinner" and "The Battle of the Mince Pie"; Colonial America (CSRW -- pg 94-100).  Make shepherds for Nativity.  Jesse tree:  doorway of King Solomon's Temple.  Read part 2 of The Cricket on the Hearth.  Evening:  stories and hot chocolate.

Tuesday, Dec 15th -- St. Nino.  DB: 17-18; W: 18-20 -- "Significance of Exchanging Presents", "Santa Claus", and "Cherished Customs: Old and New"; Mexico (CSRW -- pg 40-45).  Make townspeople for Nativity.  Jesse tree:  Raven for Elijah.  Read part 3 of The Cricket on the Hearth.  Evening:  game and popcorn.

Wednesday, Dec 16th -- St. Adelaide (make German Christmas cookies).  DB: 19-20; Latin America CAW 96-116; Lankford 24-25.  Make angels for Nativity.  Jesse tree: bear for Elisha.  Start Top O' Christmas Morning (pg 7-40).  Evening: hot cider and stories.

[note:  today starts the chanting of the O Antiphons leading up to Christmas Eve.  We will shift from "saint of the day" to using our O Antiphon house and studying the each antiphon.  We will also begin to get the house ready for Christmas -- clean house top to bottom, formal Nativity on the mantle, begin Christmas baking/treat-making for giving]

Thursday, Dec 17th -- O Wisdom.  DB 21-22; British Isles CAw 33, 76, 95; CSRW Ireland 24-31; JW 22-37, 79-102.  Make shepherds for Nativity.  Jesse tree:  candelabra.  Clean house from top to bottom.  Christmas Treat:  homemade caramel popcorn and pretzel kisses.  Evening:  performance and tea.

Friday, Dec 18th -- O Lord and Ruler.  DB 23-24 (finish). Lankford 16-17.  Jesse Tree:  lily.  Set up Nativity on Altar and move chairs for tree placement.  Christmas treat:  sweet and spicy nuts and candy cane crisps.

Saturday, Dec 19th -- O Root of Jesse.  Jesse tree:  tablet/pen. 

Sunday, Dec 20th -- 4th Sunday of Advent; O Key of David.  Jesse tree:  baby in manger.

We humbly beg You, O Lord, to listen to our prayers; and by the grace of Your coming bring light into our darkened minds.  You live and reign for ever and ever.  AMEN!

Feast Day: St. Lucy

Legend of St Lucy, from The Golden Legend

1480, Oil on oak panel

Sint-Jacobskerk, Bruges

Feast of St. Lucy -- December 13th

Those whose hearts are pure are temples of the Holy Spirit.

– St. Lucy

Feast Day: Our Lady of Guadalupe

One year ago today, I put the final period on the page and sent my book, In His Image: Nurturing Creativity in the Heart of Your Home, off to my publisher, Hillside Education.  I placed the book and my writing of it under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe and it has been well-received. 

Never hesitate to go to Our Lady for help in any situation ... as she told St. Juan Diego almost 500 years ago in Mexico, "I am your merciful mother ... [I will] remedy all their miseries, afflictions and sorrows"!

Review: Prayer and the Will of God by Dom Hubert Van Zeller

Each major liturgical season, I like to read an inspirational book, a personal read that will help me live my life more in accord with God's wishes rather than my own ... a case of my decreasing, while He increases.

With this in mind, I jumped at the chance to review Prayer and the Will of God by Benedictine writer, Dom Hubert Van Zeller.  I've read a couple of Van Zeller's books:  Holiness for Housewives and Holiness: A Guide for Beginners and have found him to be quite readable but also highly inspirational and spiritual.  I was thrilled the Catholic Company had a Van Zeller book on their "review shelf".

Van Zeller (1905-1984) was considered a great spiritual director for Catholics and non-Catholics alike during his prolific vocation as a Benedictine retreat master and inspirational writer.  Van Zeller's writings are just as appropriate for today's world as when he originally put pen to paper.  He wrote Prayer and the Will of God as two separate volumes in 1963 and 1964 with the intent to teach people of that time how to turn to God in their worries about war, racial issues and the explosive generation gap which led to the "sexual revolution".  I'm so glad Sophia Institute has decided to republish this particular volume for today's faithful.

The first part of the work, Prayer, clearly and concisely explains why we must pray (not can or should, but MUST) as often as possible to God.  Then Van Zeller discusses how to pray, gives examples of prayer from the Gospels and the Gospel writers, and details the beauty and depth of the Our Father, the consumate prayer.  Van Zeller understands that we all have problems with prayers and the last couple of chapters of this first part delve into "distracted prayer" (how to combat it and how to turn it to the good), dealing with seemingly unanswered prayers and concludes with "fruitful prayer" -- what it is and how to do it. 

Part two than discusses the foundation of prayer -- seeking the will of God, always.  Van Zeller's take is that until we seek God's will, prayer and life will be hopeless.  He discusses understanding and responding to God's will and follows this with an illustrative chapter of how various saints consistently lived joyfully by doing God's will.  The book than turns to the practical issues of discovering, embracing and accepting God's will.  The book has a full chapter using Christ as an example of absolute acceptance of the Father's will -- from the seemingly haphazard way of His birth (which in fact is shown completely intertwined with the prophetic statements in the Old Testament) to his Passion and Death.  Nothing is haphazard where God is concerned. The book concludes with how we can each be an apostle of God's will and help others to follow the Way.

I really, really liked this book.  For this review, I read it cover-to-cover but this is one of those books to which I will constantly refer.  Each chapter is a week's worth (or more) of meditation on it's own while read as a whole the book is extremely powerful!  Van Zeller had a gift for writing deep, spiritual concepts in simple, easily understood words.  I will use this book for the rest of Advent and into the Christmas season; I will read bits and pieces and re-read and pray and meditate and generally let these words of wisdom slowly soak into my heart and soul.  I know I will be a better person with each read. 

I also wanted to mention that I love the cover of this book -- an image of the Ravensburger Shutzmantelmadonna (c. 1480) from the Church of Our Lady in Ravensburg, Germany.  What a lovely image to link to Van Zeller's amazing work on God's mercy and love for us all.

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This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Prayer and the Will of God and to purchase your own copy of this inspirational work.

Van Zeller, Dom Hubert – Prayer and the Will of God – Sophia Institute Press (Manchester, NH). 2009. ISBN: 978-1-933184-59-3 (paperback, 156 pgs).

Advent is Joy: Gaudete in Real Life

I’ve always loved the Advent season for the chance to start new, to clean out the cobwebs and dust of my life and prepare a place for the Christ Child in my home and my heart. Advent is filled with joy and hope in the coming of the Christ Child; however, this is something I can forget in the rush to ...

To read the rest of my article, please check out Phases of Womanhood!  Let me know what you think ...

Prayers, please for a dear priest ....

Here's the final update ...

Dear Friends in Christ:


It is my sad duty to announce that my close, personal friend of 44 years, Rev. James G. Dull, passed to his eternal reward on Friday, December 11, 2009 at 4:10 p.m. in Rex Hospital, Raleigh, NC following a ten day coma from which he never awakened. His passing was preceded by a prayer vigil during which his life sustaining systems were removed. Bishop Burbidge, Monsignor David Brockman, Vicar General, and four other brother priests, along with his brother and sister participated. He looked serene and happy, and was beloved by everyone who knew him. Please remember him in your prayers. God bless you.


Sincerely yours in Christ,


Father Sal Busichio

This is such a sad thing ... Fr. Jim was a wonderful man, dedicated to being a good priest.  Prayers for all his family and friends.

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I got this email today ....

It is with sadness of heart that I inform you that my loyal, devoted friend of 44 years, Father James G. Dull, is very close to death. He is resting comfortably at Rex Hospital, Raleith, NC, where he has been in a coma since Sunday, November 28, 2009, resulting from a rare bacterial infection which caused bacterial meningitis that spread swiftly to his brain and spinal cords. Father Jim has been given the best of care by the excellent staff at Rex, and everything which could have been done to cure his infection was done. Unfortunately, the brain was damaged to the extent that he is on the verge of brain death. Bishop Burbidge, Monsignor David Brockman (the Vicar General) and the entire medical staff will arrange that his passing is done in the presence of his family members (two brothers and one sister), the Bishop and Vicar General, and me. Please keep him--and us--in your prayers.

Please pray for this wonderful priest ... that his death be a holy one ... and for those who love him!

Feast Day: St. Juan Diego

St. Juan Diego

(1474-1548)

Juan Diego was a poor Mexican farmer and weaver to whom the Blessed Mother appeared twice. Mary asked Juan to have a Church built in her name on the spot.  When the local Catholic bishop asked him to prove that Juan had in fact spoken to the Blessed Mother, Juan opened his cloak to reveal dozens of Castillian roses which could not be grown in Mexico, along with a glowing image of Our Lady emblazoned on the inside. This event is remembered as the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (a feast we celebrate on December 12th) and the tilma with Mary's image is venerated to this day.
 

St. Juan Diego, pray for us!