Rose vestments? . . . You bet!

Gaudete in Domino semper. (Rejoice in the Lord always)

I really enjoy Gaudete Sunday, as indeed we are supposed to. What's not to like about rejoicing?!

It does make a difference having the 'proper' rose-coloured vestments. We will have beautiful flowers in church again tomorrow after a bare-looking sanctuary for the past couple of Sundays, and I'm sure we shall have some lovely joyful hymns too.

It does us all good to have this Sunday of joyful encouragement to persevere with our spiritual preparations for the arrival of Our Saviour at Christmas

It's very tempting to get out the decorations and the lights etc. etc. and get into the full swing of Christmas as many of our neighbours here seem to be doing already but we still have two more full weeks to wait. I am happy to focus on Advent for a while longer. We have our Advent wreath at home and shall light the rose-coloured candle tomorrow.

I do like the quote from Pope Benedict in the CTS Sunday Missal that introduces tomorrow's Mass (at least it does in my version of the Missal. I assume it is the same for all editions).

"What does 'the Lord is at hand' mean? In what sense must we understand this 'closeness' of God? The Church, illumined by the Holy Spirit, already at that time understood increasingly better that God's 'closeness' is not a question of space and time but rather of love: love brings people together! This coming Christmas will remind us of this fundamental truth of our faith and in front of the manger we shall be able to savour Christian joy contemplating in the newborn Jesus the Face of God who made himself close to us out of love."

NB. Photo above is of last year's wreath as we shan't light our 'rose' candle until tomorrow, although as it's past time for Vespers I suppose we could light it now.

Gaudete! . . .

I watched several versions of this beautiful mediaeval carol before I eventually decided on this one. There's nothing like the clarity of a boy's treble voice for this sort of carol, I think, and the setting with the background of the Holy Land just swung it for me. Mind you, I also found some lovely versions of the song with beautiful slideshows using pictures of the nativity too.

Hope you enjoy listening.

Update:

Oops, silly me! Of course it's not the Holy Land. The atmospheric background is actually St Bartholomew's Church in London. (Not even close!) It's still beautiful though.

Calm before the storm . . .

We had a lovely, peaceful Sunday today, which is just as well as it's been a busy week and I've a feeling it's going to be another 'Manic Monday' tomorrow.

After Mass which of course is always a great start to the day and has a wonderful way of injecting peace and calm into our otherwise busy lives, our PP came home to bless our Advent wreath. Yes, I know it's been in use a week already but better late than never!

Part of the brief form of blessing he used was that beautiful reading from Isaiah which we hear at Midnight Mass:

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light;

on those who live in a land of deep shadow

a light has shone.

You have made their gladness greater,

you have made their joy increase;

they rejoice in your presence

as men rejoice at harvest time,

as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils . . .

. . . For there is a child born for us,

a son given to us

and dominion is laid on his shoulders;

and this is the name they give him:

Wonderful-Counsellor, Mighty-God,

Eternal-Father, Prince of Peace.

Wide is his dominion

in a peace that has no end,

for the throne of David

and for his royal power,

which he establishes and makes secure

in justice and integrity.

From this time onwards and for ever,

the jealous love of the Lord Sabaoth will do this.

We've always had an Advent wreath at home as we did when I was a child. It's a wonderful way to remind us what Advent is all about and also to focus on preparing well for Christmas, and I don't just mean making sure we get the tree and the turkey organised in good time (though they are also part of Christmas and nothing wrong with that, in my book!)

We leave the Advent wreath out after Christmas day with the other decorations and add a large white candle in the centre to represent Christ. It's always commented on by our non-churchgoing visitors, along with our crib and I'm often surprised at the interest they show in the symbolism of things like this.

Which reminds me, I hope our PP will also be able to spare a few minutes to come and bless our crib for us later . . . perhaps some mince pies and a seasonal drink ?

The 'Chocolatisation' of Advent . . .

Brian Pedley, writing in The Times on Friday, has come up with a fantastic word to describe how commercial interests and the secularisation of our society have taken over the Christian tradition of Advent calenders for children. He talks about the current trend of chocolate-filled Advent calendars featuring cartoon characters or children's TV programme themes as the 'Chocolatisation of Advent'. You can read the full article here.

He has another great line, 'Among so many overexcited, chocolate-charged children and chihuahuas, the expectant Virgin Mary is presumed missing, last seen in the New Testament.'

He then goes on to describe an initiative by the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland to reclaim Advent through their 'Advent 2009' course which uses readings, prayers and scriptural references to explore Advent themes.

“I really think that we have the whole thing out of perspective,” says the Roman Catholic theologian Dr Patrick Logan, a former adviser on social responsibility for the Diocese of Southwark. He has worked with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), to reclaim Advent “as a time of journeying in preparation and hope for Christmas”.

I enjoy chocolate as much as anyone - some would even say more than most! Luckily, when our children were small, chocolate Advent calendars just being introduced and it was still possible to find an Advent calendar in the shops featuring a Nativity scene. I'm quite happy for children to have treats but if all they associate Advent with is having a chocolate each day then something is amiss I think.

In looking for some pictures of Advent calendars, I've discovered that you can now buy religious Advent calendars that contain chocolates - maybe that's the answer.

Advent - almost upon us . . .

Nearly there . . . I nipped out into the back garden this afternoon (and it was decidedly nippy!) with my trusty secateurs and here is the result.

I approach the creation of the Advent wreath much as I do cooking, first thing to do is assemble the ingredients - you can tell I must have read all the right books! We have plenty of 'greenery' in the garden but not much in the way of berries so I cheat a bit by adding a few artificial bits of colour.


Taa-daaa! Not quite Jane Packer but in candlelight it doesn't look too bad!

Preparations . . .

Advent is amongst other things, a time of preparation; a chance for us to examine our lives and make ourselves ready (or as ready as we possibly can be) to greet Our Lord on the wonderful Feast of the Nativity.

Of course there is a lot to be done to prepare spiritually. Around this time in our parish, and in many others, we have a Service of Reconciliation with an opportunity for Confession. These services are generally well attended and a great help in getting us into the proper frame of mind for Christmas.

More on the spiritual preparations later, when Advent begins on Sunday. . .

In our house, preparation also involves preparing for Advent by going into our loft and searching out all the materials for our Advent wreath. Generally Number One Son helps out here. Only when I’ve sorted through the boxes and bags and re-discovered the candles, the oasis ring and a few decorations to augment the greenery do I allow myself to even contemplate the Christmas Season.

Anyone who’s been following my musings for a while will remember my difficulty with obtaining pink candles last year. Secure in the knowledge that I now have enough to last several years (!) I shall have an enjoyable stroll around our little garden at the weekend, secateurs in hand, to collect greenery for the wreath and enjoy putting it together in time to light the first candle on Sunday. Pictures to follow, I hope.

Gaudete ...

'Rejoice, rejoice, and again I say, rejoice!'

I'm so pleased I got my rose candles in time for Gaudete Sunday. We all need a bit of light to relieve the gloom at this time of year.

Christmas time is always fraught with pressure - so many things to do; writing and sending cards, buying gifts, putting up decorations and getting the house ready, thinking about the meals, buying the food etc. etc. .... and that's not including what's going on at work. And through all this we're supposed to stay calm and prepare for the Lord's coming?? To quote a popular phrase, 'You're having a laugh, aren't you!'

It's great to take a few minutes to think about what is just around the corner and to use an old-fashioned but particularly appropriate word, 'rejoice'.

I definitely feel a lot more 'HO, HO, HO!' than 'Bah, Humbug!' today.

Ta-Daaaa!!

See what the nice postman delivered yesterday! A lovely big box of 'rose' coloured candles. That should last me for a few years. Who knows, by the time I've got to the end of the box, the liturgists may have decided that all the candles should be 'rainbow' coloured to be 'inclusive'!

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel ...

Now I'm really getting into the Christmas spirit! - Get out the mulled wine and the mince pies, sit back and enjoy this beautiful Advent carol!

More on those pesky candles ...

Here is this year's Advent wreath. Note the four purple candles! But I haven't given up on getting a pink candle yet. Having tried all the local shops I could think of, I've ordered some pink candles online and I hope those nice people at Amazon will deliver the goods in time for Gaudete Sunday.

The 'C' word is of course preceded by the 'A' word!

I wonder does anybody else have the difficulty I have each year in finding pink and purple candles for our Advent wreath at home?

We've always had an Advent wreath in our home and I always remember one at home as a child - from the bent-coathanger contraption that dripped wax over us as we stood looking up at it and in which - despite her best efforts, my mother could never quite get the candles to stay upright - to the enviable de-luxe versions in shop windows!

When I first began making our own version, there were candles of every possible hue around at all times of year but I've noticed recently that from October onwards it's red, green, gold or silver, and that's your lot. If you look hard enough you may be lucky enough to come across a purple candle, but pink - no way! What's wrong with pink? You can find just about everything else (apart from candles) in pink - from Cadillacs to cummerbunds but nothing vaguely resembling a candle.

As it's not Advent until next Sunday I don't have a picture of this year's wreath but here's one of last year's - sorry about the red candles!!!