Sanctus Simplicitus

The next months bulletin board pieces are ready to download! I separated the files so that those of you who have already downloaded some pieces will not get repeats and if you need to reprint something it will hopefully make it easier. So this month there are MORE files but hopefully less work for you. All pieces can also now be found on the page dedicated to the Liturgical Year Bulletin Board.

*Saint's Pieces for February (numbered calendar pieces)

* Title Pieces for the Month of February 2012

* 2012 Liturgical Year Wheel (for those who have not yet downloaded or need the UPDATED Wheel)

* Rosary Mysteries (For those who have not yet downloaded or need the corrected pieces ... sorrowful mysteries were previously in the wrong order)

* Lent/Advent Pieces - Lavender

Some of our readers are having troubles finding a pre-made calendar template that is laminated for their bulletin board. I made one up that you can download via .jpeg image file or PDF file to have printed some where. Costco and Wal-mart both do printing for the 16x20 for under $6. It is cheaper to find one at a local school supply store but if all else fails here is another option! Also if you are looking for the 2ft by 3 ft Bulletin Board Wal-mart has them HERE.

If this is the first time you are putting your Liturgical Year Bulletin Board together please visit the original instructions.

1.) Download all of the pieces listed above, or at least the new pieces if you have already done so with the Liturgical Wheel & Rosary Mysteries.

2.) Cut out all pieces. Laminate the numbered pieces for the calendar, the circle pieces, the piece that says 'Today's Rosary Mysteries are:' and the piece that says 'This Sunday is:'.

3.) Place velcro dots on the back side, making sure that they are the opposite of those dots you have placed on your calendar. Then place on the calendar, the 1st starts on a Wed.

4.) Staple your Feb. Title piece to the top of the calendar/bulletin board.

5.) Using three Popsicle sticks, trim them down a bit so they will fit inside of your weekly pockets without covering up your calendar. Tape your laminated circle pieces (today, tomorrow, yesterday) to the Popsicle sticks.

6.) Fold the weekly pockets according to the original directions, place the pockets under the appropriate week day near your calendar.

8.) Cut out the 'extras' for Ash Wedensday, Ember Days, Septuegeisma ect. Use some rolled tape or tacky puddy to place them on your calendar. These dates always change so this makes them easily moveable.

7.) Finish by placing your daily Rosary mystery card and your weekly Sunday card up on either side of your already placed Liturgical Wheel and you are set to go! May you have a blessed February and most profitable start to the Lenten season!! Ash Wednesday is on February 22nd!

Could You Explain Catholic Practices? By: Rev. Charles J. Mullaly, S.J. Impr. 1937

The Ecclesiastical Year

The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. There is a difference between the ecclesiastical year and the calendar year. Could you explain this difference?

The ecclesiastical year starts on the first Sunday of Advent, while the calendar year begins on January 1. As the season of Advent, or "the coming" of our Redeemer, includes the four Sundays that precede Christmas, the ecclesiastical year may begin as early as November 27 or as late as December 3.

Advent is a season of penance, and of preparation by the Faithful for the spiritual joy of Christmas. It is a time when the Church admonishes us to lifed our hearts to God and to trust in Him who is to free us from our sins. Aas Advent is a season of penance, the color of the vestments used at its seasonal Masses is violet and the altar is not decorated with flowers, except on the third Sunday which is called Guadete, or "Rejoice Sunday," because the Introit of the Mass of that day reminds us of the near approach of our Lord's birth: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is nigh." During this season of penance, as in Lent, the solemn celebration of marriage, that is with Nuptial Mass, ect., is forbidden.

The ecclesiastical year includes fixed and moveable feasts. Many of the fixed feasts of the Church are determined by their relation to Christmas Day: the Feast of the Circumcision, January 1, being eight days after the birth of Christ; the Purification, February 2, forty days after Christmas; while the Annunciation, March 25, is nine months before the Feast of the Nativity. Epiphany,  commemorating the coming of the Wise Men from the East to Jerusalem to adore the Christ Child, is also on a fixed day because of its relation to Christmas.

There are variable feasts which depend upon the changing date of Easter. Ash Wednesday and the feasts of Ascension and Pentecost come earlier or later in the year with the variation of the date of Easter, which rangers from March 22 to April 25. It is easy to remember that Easter is always on the first Sunday following the first full moon after March 21, the beginning of Spring. Our Divine Saviour rose from the dead on the Sunday after the Passover, the Jewish feast commemorating the night when the Lord, smiting the firs-born of the Egyptians, "passed over" the houses of the children of Israel. This Jewish feast was determined by the time of the first full moon after March 21.

Certian days of the ecclesiastical year are marked Rogation Days, while others are noted as Vigils, and still others as Ember Days. A Rogation Day is one of prayer, and formerly also of fasting, insituted by the Church to appease God's just anger at man's sin, to ask Heavenly protection in calmities, and to beg a bountiful harvest. The Rogation Days are April 25, called Major, and the three days, called Minor, are before the Feast of the Ascension.

A Virgil is the day preceding certian feasts and observed as a preparation threfore, and formerly always with a fast attached. The Vigils of Pentecost, Assumption, All Saints, and Cristmas are fast-days, except when the feast falls on a Monday. (*see note below)

Ember Days (Quatutor Tempora, four times) are days of abstinence and fasting at the beginning of the seasons. Their purpose is to thank God for the gifts of nature and, at the same time, to teach us to use the gifts in moderation and to assist those in need. December 13, after Ash-Wednesday, after Pentecost and after September 14.

* Note that the fasting rules for the list of  Vigils was changed by Pope Pius XII in 1957 with his document Motu Proprio.

Praying that you all had a wonderful Feast of the Holy Family on Sunday. We are ever nearing the approach of the Lenten Season but while we are still in the Christmas season I thought I would share today a few of our Christmas related projects.

Some where in the internet world there was a blog post about creating Christmas ornaments throughout the year on each of the Feast Days so that when it came time to decorate the tree there were many ornaments featuring Catholic subjects(wish I could give credit where it was due but I've long forgot the location). I thought it was a wonderful idea and so we started a few here and there and hope to keep it up this year with even more to add to our tree. The above ornament is of St. Anne, featuring three different images that were found on the internet. I traced the outline of one side and scanned the image, placing it over the internet image I found online so that it would fit properly when cut out. I then printed as many as I needed and cut them out. A little trimming needed as each paper mache ornament I used was different. Then I used Modge Podge to glue them on and two layers of the top to make it shine a little and protect it from any handling or storage issues. With a glue gun I put lines down the side and poured glitter over the top which gives it a more finished look and extra shimmer. They were pretty simple to make in the end and lots of fun. I have more of these paper mache ornaments stored away for making more this year.

_The ornaments were purchased at Micheal's Craft store and you may still be able to find them but they were hit and miss during the Christmas season. I did find some more options here online that are a little more expensive but it gives an idea of what was used in the one above.

To the right is another (forgive my poor photography!) of the paper mache one's that we did. My 7 year old son did St. Patrick, which is his patron Saint. He cut out the pieces that were printed and glued them on and put the finishing coat on. After it dried over night I added the glitter as the glue gun requires fast hands. Several others were also made as Christmas gifts as part of our trying to make more hand made gifts this year.

There were a couple of these ornaments of St. Linus (2nd Pope) on our tree this year which we made back in September on the Feast of St. Linus. Another Patron Saint in our family. This one was another print out Modge Podged onto a wooden coin that the boys collected from some event we were at. They also added glitter around the edge of this one too and tied it up with a ribbon.

Here is another that the boys made on the Feast of St. Nicholas. They used a  print out from the St. Nicholas Center and then cut it out and colored. It was then taped or glued to a Popsicle stick that they colored green and wrote their name on. There are lots of and lots of ideas at the St. Nicholas Center as well as other places for making ornaments of the real St. Nicholas. A great addition to the Christmas tree and fun to make!

This one was made when we were studying about St. Brendan and his discovery of America. We read the book Saint Brendan and the Voyage before Columbus, this was one of the activities we did to reinforce the book. St. Brendan's Cross was free handed onto some thick coordinated cardboard and then cut out with an Exacto knife. Then painted on both sides with gold acrylic paint. Next lots of glue and lots of glitter added to make it sparkle!

There are lots and lots of ideas that can be used for adding Catholic ornaments to you tree while making them here and there throughout the year.

How about saving all the fronts of your Christmas cards and coming up with a creative way to recycle them into Christmas tree ornaments? Some of the images may even be the right size for the paper mache ornaments. Ornaments can be made for school subjects such as historical studies, Catechism subjects and so forth. Here is a sort list of days throughout the year that could be used for an ornament theme:

January
Epiphany
Baptism of Our Lord
Most Holy Name of Jesus
Holy Family
Our Lady of Good Success
St. John Bosco

February
Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Candlemas
St. Valentine
Our Lady of Lourdes
Ash Wednesday

March
St. Patrick
St. Joseph
Annunciation
Palm Sunday

April
Holy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
St. Leo the Great
St. George
St. Catherine of Siena

May
St. Joseph
Finding of the Holy Cross
Ascension
Pentecost
Coronation of Our Lady

June
Trinity Sunday
Corpus Christi
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Sts. Peter and Paul

July
Most Precious Blood of Our Lord
Visitation
St. Mary Magdalen

August
Transfiguration
Assumption
Immaculate Heart of Mary

September
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
Most Holy Name of Mary
Seven Sorrows

October
Guardian Angles
Our Lady of the Rosary
St. Raphael
Christ the King
All Hallows Eve

November
All Saints Day
All Souls Day
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin
St. Andrew
Advent/Jesse Tree

December
St. Nicholas
St. Lucy
Immaculate Conception
Jesse Tree Symbols
O Antiphons
Holy Innocents
St. John the Evangelist
Nativity

The Liturgical Year   By Dom Gueranger

CHAPTER THE FIRST - THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS
We apply the name of Christmas to the forty days which begin with the Nativity of our Lord, December 25, and end with the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, February 2. It is a period which forms a distinct portion of the Liturgical Year, as distinct, by its own special spirit, from every other, as are Advent, Lent, Easter, or Pentecost. One same Mystery is celebrated and kept in view during the whole forty days. Neither the Feasts of the Saints, which so abound during this Season; nor the time of Septuagesima, with its mournful Purple, which often begins before Christmastide is over, seem able to distract our Holy Mother the Church from the immense joy of which she received the good tidings from the Angels [St Luke ii 10] on that glorious Night for which the world had been longing four thousand years. The Faithful will remember that the Liturgy commemorates this long expectation by the four penitential weeks of Advent.

The custom of celebrating the Solemnity of our Saviour’s Nativity by a feast or commemoration of forty days’ duration is founded on the holy Gospel itself; for it tells us that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after spending forty days in the contemplation of the Divine Fruit of her glorious Maternity, went to the Temple, there to fulfil, in most perfect humility, the ceremonies which the Law demanded of the daughters of Israel, when they became mothers.

The Feast of Mary’s Purification is, therefore, part of that of Jesus’ Birth; and the custom of keeping this holy and glorious period of forty days as one continued Festival has every appearance of being a very ancient one, at least in the Roman Church. And firstly, with regard to our Saviour’s Birth on December 25, we have St John Chrysostom telling us, in his Homily for this Feast, that the Western Churches had, from the very commencement of Christianity, kept it on this day. He is not satisfied with merely mentioning the tradition; he undertakes to show that it is well founded, inasmuch as the Church of Rome had every means of knowing the true day of our Saviour’s Birth, since the acts of the Enrolment, taken in Judea by command of Augustus, were kept in the public archives of Rome. The holy Doctor adduces a second argument, which he founds upon the Gospel of St Luke, and he reasons thus: we know from the sacred Scriptures that it must have been in the fast of the seventh month [Lev. xxiii 24 and following verses. The seventh month (or Tisri) corresponded to the end of our September and beginning of our October. -Tr.] that the Priest Zachary had the vision in the Temple; after which Elizabeth, his wife, conceived St John the Baptist: hence it follows that the Blessed Virgin Mary having, as the Evangelist St Luke relates, received the Angel Gabriel’s visit, and conceived the Saviour of the world in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, that is to say, in March, the Birth of Jesus must have taken place in the month of December.

But it was not till the fourth century that the Churches of the East began to keep the Feast of our Saviour’s Birth in the month of December. Up to that period they had kept it at one time on the sixth of January, thus uniting it, under the generic term of Epiphany, with the Manifestation of our Saviour made to the Magi, and in them to the Gentiles; at another time, as Clement of Alexandria tells us, they kept it on the 25th of the month Pachon (May 15), or on the 25th of the month Pharmuth (April 20). St John Chrysostom, in the Homily we have just cited, which he gave in 386, tells us that the Roman custom of celebrating the Birth of our Saviour on December 25 had then only been observed ten years in the Church of Antioch. It is probable that this change had been introduced in obedience to the wishes of the Apostolic See, wishes which received additional weight by the edict of the Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian, which appeared towards the close of the fourth century, and decreed that the Nativity and Epiphany of our Lord should be made two distinct Festivals. The only Church that has maintained the custom of celebrating the two mysteries on January 6 is that of Armenia; owing, no doubt, to the circumstance of that country not being under the authority of the Emperors; as also because it was withdrawn at an early period from the influence of Rome by schism and heresy.

The Feast of our Lady’s Purification, with which the forty days of Christmas close, is, in the Latin Church, of very great antiquity; so ancient, indeed, as to preclude the possibility of our fixing the date of its institution. According to the unanimous opinion of Liturgists, it is the most ancient of all the Feasts of the Holy Mother of God; and as her Purification is related in the Gospel itself, they rightly infer that its anniversary was solemnized at the very commencement of Christianity. Of course, this is only to be understood of the Roman Church; for as regards the Oriental Church, we find that this Feast was not definitely fixed to February 2 until the reign of the Emperor Justinian, in the sixth century. It is true that the Eastern Christians had previously to that time a sort of commemoration of this Mystery, but it was far from being a universal custom, and it was kept a few days after the Feast of our Lord’s Nativity, and not on the day itself of Mary’s going up to the Temple.

But what is the characteristic of Christmas in the Latin Liturgy? It is twofold: it is joy, which the whole Church feels at the coming of the divine Word in the Flesh; and it is admiration of that glorious Virgin, who was made the Mother of God. There is scarcely a prayer, or a rite, in the Liturgy of this glad Season, which does not imply these two grand Mysteries: an Infant-God, and a Virgin-Mother.

For example, on all Sundays and Feasts which are not Doubles, the Church, throughout these forty days, makes a commemoration of the fruitful virginity [The Collect, Deus qui salutis aeternae beatae Mariae Virginiate fecunda humano generi, etc.] of the Mother of God, by three special Prayers in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. She begs the suffrage of Mary by proclaiming her quality of Mother of God and her inviolate purity [V. Post partum, Virgo, inviolata permansisti. R. Dei Genitrix, intercede pro nobis.], which remained in her even after she had given birth to her Son. And again the magnificent Anthem, Alma Redemptoris, composed by the Monk Herman Contractus, continues, up to the very day of the Purification, to be the termination of each Canonical Hour. It is by such manifestations of her love and veneration that the Church, honouring the Son in the Mother, testifies her holy joy during this season of the Liturgical Year, which we call Christmas.

Our readers are aware that, when Easter Sunday falls at its latest - that is, in April - the Ecclesiastical Calendar counts as many as six Sundays after the Epiphany. Christmastide (that is, the forty days between Christmas Day and the Purification) includes sometimes four out of these six Sundays; frequently only two; and some times only one, as in the case when Easter comes so early as to necessitate keeping Septuagesima, and even Sexagesima Sunday, in January. Still, nothing is changed, as we have already said, in the ritual observances of this joyous season, excepting only that on those two Sundays, the fore-runners of Lent, the Vestments are purple, and the Gloria in excelsis is omitted.

Although our holy Mother the Church honours with especial devotion the Mystery of the Divine Infancy during the whole season of Christmas; yet, she is obliged to introduce into the Liturgy of this same season passages from the holy Gospels which seem premature, inasmuch as they relate to the active life of Jesus. This is owing to there being less than six months allotted by the Calendar for the celebration of the entire work of our Redemption: in other words, Christmas and Easter are so near each other, even when Easter is as late as it can be, that Mysteries must of necessity be crowded into the interval; and this entails anticipation. And yet the Liturgy never loses sight of the Divine Babe and his incomparable Mother, and never tires in their praises, during the whole period from the Nativity to the day when Mary comes to the Temple to present her Jesus.

The Greeks, too, make frequent commemorations of the Maternity of Mary in their Offices of this Season: but they have a special veneration for the twelve days between Christmas Day and the Epiphany, which, in their Liturgy, are called the Dodecameron. During this time they observe no days of Abstinence from flesh-meat; and the Emperors of the East had, out of respect for the great Mystery, decreed that no servile work should be done, and that the Courts of Law should be closed, until after January 6.

From this outline of the history of the holy season, we can understand what is the characteristic of this second portion of the Liturgical Year, which we call Christmas, and which has ever been a season most dear to the Christian world. What are the Mysteries embodied in its Liturgy will be shown in the following chapter.

_
CHAPTER THE SECOND - THE MYSTERY OF CHRISTMAS 
Everything is Mystery in this holy season. The Word of God, whose generation is before the day-star [Ps. cix 3], is born in time - a Child is God - a Virgin becomes a Mother, and remains a Virgin - things divine are commingled with those that are human - and the sublime, the ineffable antithesis, expressed by the Beloved Disciple in those words of his Gospel, THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, is repeated in a thousand different ways in all the prayers of the Church;- and rightly, for it admirably embodies the whole of the great portent which unites in one Person the nature of Man and the nature of God.

The splendour of this Mystery dazzles the understanding, but it inundates the heart with joy. It is the consummation of the designs of God in time. It is the endless subject of admiration and wonder to the Angels and Saints; nay, is the source and cause of their beatitude. Let us see how the Church offers this Mystery to her children, veiled under the symbolism of her Liturgy.

The four weeks of our preparation are over - they were the image of the four thousand years which preceded the great coming - and we have reached the twenty-fifth day of the month of December, as a long desired place of sweetest rest. But why is it that the celebration of our Saviour’s Birth should be the perpetual privilege of this one fixed day; whilst the whole liturgical Cycle has, every year, to be changed and remodelled, in order to yield that ever-varying day which is to be the feast of his Resurrection - Easter Sunday?

The question is a very natural one, and we find it proposed and answered, even so far back as the fourth century; and that, too, by St Augustine, in his celebrated Epistle to Januarius. The holy Doctor offers this explanation: We solemnize the day of our Saviour’s Birth, in order that we may honour that Birth, which was for our salvation; but the precise day of the week, on which he was born, is void of any mystical signification. Sunday, on the contrary, the day of our Lord’s Resurrection, is the day marked, in the Creator’s designs, to express a mystery which was to be commemorated for all ages. St Isidore of Seville, and the ancient Interpreter of Sacred Rites who, for a long time, was supposed to be the learned Alcuin, have also adopted this explanation of the Bishop of Hippo; and our readers may see their words interpreted by Durandus, in his Rationale.

These writers, then, observe that as, according to a sacred tradition, the creation of man took place on a Friday, and our Saviour suffered death also on a Friday for the redemption of man; that as, moreover, the Resurrection of our Lord was on the third day after his death, that is, on a Sunday, which is the day on which the Light was created, as we learn from the Book of Genesis - ‘the two Solemnities of Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection,’ says St Augustine, ‘do not only remind us of those divine facts; but they moreover represent and signify some other mysterious and holy thing.’ [Epist. ad Januarium.]

And yet we are not to suppose that because the Feast of Jesus’ Birth is not fixed to any particular day of the week, there is no mystery expressed by its being always on the twenty-fifth of December. For firstly we may observe, with the old Liturgists, that the Feast of Christmas is kept by turns on each of the days of the week, that thus its holiness may cleanse and rid them of the curse which Adam’s sin had put upon them. But secondly, the great mystery of the twenty-fifth of December, being the Feast of our Saviour’s Birth, has reference, not to the division of time marked out by God himself, which is called the Week; but to the course of that great Luminary which gives life to the world, because it gives it light and warmth. Jesus, our Saviour, the Light of the World [St John viii 12], was born when the night of idolatry and crime was at its darkest; and the day of his Birth, the twenty-fifth of December, is that on which the material Sun begins to gain his ascendency over the reign of gloomy night, and show to the world his triumph of brightness.

In our ‘Advent’ we showed, after the Holy Fathers, that the diminution of the physical light may be considered as emblematic of those dismal times which preceded the Incarnation. We joined our prayers with those of the people of the Old Testament; and, with our holy Mother the Church, we cried out to the Divine Orient, the Sun of Justice, that he would deign to come and deliver us from the twofold death of body and soul. God has heard our prayers; and it is on the day of the Winter Solstice - which the Pagans of old made so much of by their fears and rejoicings - that he gives us both the increase of the natural light, and him who is the Light of our souls.

St Gregory of Nyssa, St Ambrose, St Maximus of Turin, St Leo, St Bernard, and the principal Liturgists, dwell with complacency on this profound mystery, which the Creator of the universe has willed should mark both the natural and the supernatural world. We shall find the Church also making continual allusion to it during this season of Christmas, as she did in that of Advent.

‘On this the Day which the Lord hath made,’ says St Gregory of Nyssa, ‘darkness decreases, light increases, and Night is driven back again. No, brethren, it is not by chance, nor by any created will, that this natural change begins on the day when he shows himself in the brightness of his coming, which is the spiritual Life of the world. It is Nature revealing, under this symbol, a secret to them whose eye is quick enough to see it; to them, I mean, who are able to appreciate this circumstance of our Saviour’s coming. Nature seems to me to say: Know, O Man! that under the things which I show thee Mysteries lie concealed. Hast thou not seen the night, that had grown so long, suddenly checked? Learn hence, that the black night of Sin, which had reached its height by the accumulation of every guilty device, is this day stopped in its course. Yes, from this day forward its duration shall be shortened, until at length there shall be naught but Light. Look, I pray thee, on the Sun; and see how his rays are stronger, and his position higher in the heavens: learn from that how the other Light, the Light of the Gospel, is now shedding itself over the whole earth.’ [Homily On the Nativity.]

Let us, my Brethren, rejoice,’ cries out St Augustine: [Sermon On the Nativity of our Lord, iii] ‘this day is sacred, not because of the visible sun, but because of the Birth of him who is the invisible Creator of the sun. ... He chose this day whereon to be born, as he chose the Mother of whom to be born, and he made both the day and the Mother. The day he chose was that on which the light begins to increase, and it tvpifies the work of Christ, who renews our interior man day by day. For the eternal Creator having willed to be born in time, his Birthday would necessarily be in harmony with the rest of his creation.’

The same holy Father, in another sermon for the same Feast, gives us the interpretation of a mysterious expression of St John Baptist, which admirably confirms the tradition of the Church. The great Precursor said on one occasion, when speaking of Christ: He must increase, but I must decrease [St John iii 30]. These prophetic words signify, in their literal sense, that the Baptist’s mission was at its close, because Jesus was entering upon his. But they convey, as St Augustine assures us, a second meaning: ‘John came into this world at the season of the year when the length of the day decreases; Jesus was born in the season when the length of the day increases.’ [Sermon In Natali Domini, xi]. Thus, there is mystery both in the rising of that glorious Star, the Baptist, at the summer solstice: and in the rising of our Divine Sun in the dark season of winter.

[It is almost unnecessary to add that this doctrine of the Holy Fathers which is embodied in the Christmas Liturgy is not in any degree falsified by the fact that there are some parts of God’s earth where Christmas falls in a season the very opposite of Winter. Our Lord selected, for the place of his Birth, one which made it Winter when he came upon earth; and by that selection he stamped the Mystery taught in the text on the season of darkness and cold. Our brethren in Australia, for example, will have the Mystery without the Winter, when they are keeping Christmas; or, more correctly, their faith and the Holy Liturgy will unite them with us, both in the Winter and the Mystery of the great Birth in Bethlehem. - Translator’s Note.]

There have been men who dared to scoff at Christianity as a superstition, because they discovered that the ancient Pagans used to keep a feast of the sun on the winter solstice! In their shallow erudition they concluded that a Religion could not be divinely instituted, which had certain rites or customs originating in an analogy to certain phenomena of this world: in other words, these writers denied what Revelation asserts, namely, that God only created this world for the sake of his Christ and his Church. The very facts which these enemies of our holy Religion brought forward as objections to the true Faith are, to us Catholics, additional proof of its being worthy of our most devoted love.

Thus, then, have we explained the fundamental Mystery of these Forty Days of Christmas, by having shown the grand secret hidden in the choice made by God’s eternal decree, that the twenty-fifth day of December should be the Birthday of God upon this earth. Let us now respectfully study another mystery: that which is involved in the place where this Birth happened.

This place is Bethlehem. Out of Bethlehem, says the Prophet, shall he come for/h that is to be the Ruler in Israel [Mich. v 2]. The Jewish Priests are well aware of the prophecy, and a few days hence will tell it to Herod [St Matt. ii 5]. But why was this insignificant town chosen in preference to every other to be the birth-place of Jesus? Be attentive, Christians, to the mystery! The name of this City of David signifies the House of Bread: therefore did he, who is the living Bread come down from heaven [St John vi 41], choose it for his first visible home. Our Fathers did eat manna in the desert and are dead [Ibid. vi 49]; but lo! here is the Saviour of the world, come to give life to his creature Man by means of his own divine Flesh, which is meat indeed [Ibid. vi. 56]. Up to this time the Creator and the creature had been separated from each other; henceforth they shall abide together in closest union. The Ark of the Covenant, containing the manna which fed but the body, is now replaced by the Ark of a New Covenant, purer and more incorruptible than the other: the incomparable Virgin Mary, who gives us Jesus, the Bread of Angels, the nourishment which will give us a divine transformation; for this Jesus himself has said: He that eateth my flesh abideth in me, and I in him [Ibid. vi 57].

It is for this divine transformation that the world was in expectation for four thousand years, and for which the Church prepared herself by the four weeks of Advent. It has come at last, and Jesus is about to enter within us, if we will but receive him [Ibid. i 12]. He asks to be united to each one of us in particular, just as he is united by his Incarnation to the whole human race; and for this end he wishes to become our Bread, our spiritual nourishment. His coming into the souls of men at this mystic season has no other aim than this union. He comes not to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him [Ibid. iii 17], and that all may have life, and may have it more abundantly [Ibid. x 10]. This divine Lover of our souls will not be satisfied, therefore, until he have substituted himself in our place, so that we may live not we ourselves, but he in us; and in order that this mystery may be effected in a sweeter way, it is under the form of an Infant that this Beautiful Fruit of Bethlehem wishes first to enter into us, there to grow afterwards in wisdom and age before God and men [St Luke ii 40, 52].

And when, having thus visited us by his grace and nourished us in his love, he shall have changed us into himself, there shall be accomplished in us a still further mystery. Having become one in spirit and heart with Jesus, the Son of the heavenly Father, we shall also become sons of this same God our Father. The Beloved Disciple, speaking of this our dignity, cries out: Behold! what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the Sons of God! [St John iii 1]. We will not now stay to consider this immense happiness of the Christian soul, as we shall have a more fitting occasion, further on, to speak of it, and show by what means it is to be maintained and increased.

There is another subject, too, which we regret being obliged to notice only in a passing way. It is, that, from the day itself of our Saviours Birth even to the day of our Lady’s Purification, there is, in the Calendar, an extraordinary richness of Saints’ Feasts, doing homage to the master feast of Bethlehem, and clustering in adoring love round the Crib of the Infant-God. To say nothing of the four great Stars which shine so brightly near our Divine Sun, from whom they borrow all their own grand beauty - St Stephen, St John the Evangelist, the Holy Innocents, and our own St Thomas of Canterbury: what other portion of the Liturgical Year is there that can show within the same number of days so brilliant a constellation? The Apostolic College contributes its two grand luminaries, St Peter and St Paul: the first in his Chair of Rome; the second in the miracle of his Conversion. The Martyr-host sends us the splendid champions of Christ, Timothy, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Vincent, and Sebastian. The radiant line of Roman Pontiffs lends us four of its glorious links, named Sylvester, Telesphorus, Hyginus and Marcellus. The sublime school of holy Doctors offers us Hilary, John Chrysostom, and Ildephonsus; and in their company stands a fourth Bishop - the amiable Francis de Sales. The Confessor-kingdom is represented by Paul the Hermit, Anthony the conqueror of Satan, Maurus the Apostle of the Cloister, Peter Nolasco the deliverer of captives, and Raymond of Pennafort, the oracle of Canon Law and guide of the consciences of men. The army of defenders of the Church deputes the pious King Canute, who died in defence of our Holy Mother, and Charlemagne, who loved to sign himself ‘the humble champion of the Church.’ The choir of holy Virgins gives us the sweet Agnes, the generous Emerentiana, the invincible Martina. And lastly, from the saintly ranks which stand below the Virgins - the holy Widows - we have Paula, the enthusiastic lover of Jesus’ Crib. Truly, our Christmastide is a glorious festive season! What magnificence in its Calendar! What a banquet for us in its Liturgy!

A word upon the symbolism of the colours used by the Church during this season. White is her Christmas Vestment; and she employs this colour at every service from Christmas Day to the Octave of the Epiphany. To honour her two Martyrs, Stephen and Thomas of Canterbury, she vests in red; and to condole with Rachel wailing her murdered Innocents, she puts on purple: but these are the only exceptions. On every other day of the twenty she expresses, by her white Robes, the gladness to which the Angels invited the world, the beauty of our Divine Sun that has risen in Bethlehem, the spotless purity of the Virgin-Mother, and the clean heartedness which they should have who come to worship at the mystic Crib.

During the remaining twenty days, the Church vests in accordance with the Feast she keeps; she varies the colour so as to harmonize either with the red Roses which wreathe a Martyr, or with the white Amaranths which grace her Bishops and her Confessors, or again, with the spotless Lilies which crown her Virgins. On the Sundays which come during this time - unless there occur a Feast requiring red or white or, unless Septuagesima has begun its three mournful weeks of preparation for Lent - the colour of the Vestments is green. This, say the interpreters of the Liturgy, is to teach us that in the Birth of Jesus, who is the flower of the fields [Cant. i 1],we first received the hope of salvation, and that after the bleak winter of heathendom and the Synagogue, there opened the verdant spring-time of grace.

With this we must close our mystical interpretation of those rites which belong to Christmas in general. Our readers will have observed that there are many other sacred and symbolical usages, to which we have not even alluded; but as the mysteries to which they belong are peculiar to certain days, and are not, so to speak, common to this portion of the Liturgical Year, we intend to treat fully of them all, as we meet with them on their proper Feasts.

_The last Friday before the Most Holy Feast of the Word Made Flesh! This week on the Feria Friday Post are recipes and traditions in regards to the fast and abstinence day for Christmas Eve. Also enjoy the saints story of St. Servulus a great example of how we who are in good health and have so much to be thankful for should sacrifice at least a little of what we have for the love of God. A saint who found his path to Heaven in poverty just as Our Lord will soon be born in poverty, in a poor cold damp cave. Come Oh Divine Messiah!!!

December 23.—ST. SERVULUS.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. 1894

SERVULUS was a beggar, and had been so afflicted with palsy from his infancy that he was never able to stand, sit upright, lift his hand to his mouth, or turn himself from one side to another. His mother and brother carried him into the porch of St. Clement's Church at Rome, where he lived on the alms of those that passed by. He used to entreat devout persons to read the Holy Scriptures to him, which he heard with such attention as to learn them by heart. His time he consecrated by assiduously singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God. After several years thus spent, his distemper having seized his vitals, he felt his end was drawing nigh. In his last moments he desired the poor and pilgrims, who had often shared in his charity, to sing sacred hymns and psalms for him. While he joined his voice with theirs, he on a sudden cried out: "Silence! do you not hear the sweet melody and praise which resound in the heavens?" Soon after he spoke these words he expired, and his soul was carried by angels into everlasting bliss, about the year 590.

Reflection.—The whole behaviour of this poor sick beggar loudly condemns those who, when blessed with good health and a plentiful fortune, neither do good works nor suffer the least cross with tolerable patience.

This Weeks Feria Friday Recipes with a Christmas Eve twist!

1.) Polish Christmas Eve Dinner Traditions/Recipes (Thank you Anne!)

2.) 12 Dish Christmas Eve Dinner - Russian Traditions

3.) Salad of the Good Night (Ensalada De Nochebuena) Served for Mexican Christmas Eve Dinner, usually with Red Snapper

4.) From Italy Pasta with Anchovy Sauce (Bigolinin Salsa)
From the book A Continual Feast, it states that the traditional meal would include 12 courses in honor of the Twelve Apostles

5.) Christmas Eve Carp with Black Sauce from Germany
Carp is also found on Christmas Eve in many different Eastern European countries. From the book A Continua Feast: "Carp is a large and handsome fish, with a long and distinguished culinary tradition. Monasteries in the Middle Ages often kept fish ponds stocked with carp."

A Catholic Mother's Helper
In Training Her Children
By: Sister Mary, I.H.M., Sister Mary Roberta, O.P. and Sister Mary Rosary, O.P.
1948

Story:
Saint Joseph lived on the earth a long time ago. He was a carpenter. A carpenter makes things out of wood - chairs, tables, bookcases, and many other things. Joseph was a very holy man. As he worked in his little carpenter shop he used to think about God. He thought about God's wonderful promise to send Someone Who would open Heaven again for everyone. "Oh, I wish He would come soon," Joseph used to say.

At last God was ready to send His Son, Jesus, down to live on earth. Then God had to have SOMETHING IMPORTANT done for Jesus, and He chose Saint Joseph to do it. An Angel came to tell Joseph what God wanted him to do. God wanted Joseph to be the one who would take care of Jesus and Mary, Jesus' Mother.

Saint Joseph was glad that God had chosen him. When Jesus came, Joseph watched over Jesus and His Mother Mary very carefully so that nothing would happen to them.

Saint Joseph is up in Heaven now. He has a very high place in Heaven, close to Jesus and the Blessed Mother. We should pray to Saint Joseph often. Ask him to take care of all the people we love, the way he took care of Jesus and Mary.

Dear Saint Joseph, we love you.
You took good care of Jesus and His Blessed Mother
when they were on earth.
Please take care of us, too.
Help us to love God the way you did.

FOR SCRIPTURAL AIDS, SEE MATTHEW 1:18-25

Thought I would share what we actually did on St. Lucy's day verses what was planned... my list is always twice as long as what actually gets accomplished. Today we will be planing our Christmas Wheat as it didn't make it on the to-do list. Yesterday we colored our Jesse Tree Ornament for the 13th Day of Advent from our Jesse Tree Cut and Color. The boys also colored a St. Lucy Coloring page that our close friend drew (it's very beautiful!). In their workboxes they also had Multiplication and Addition File Folder Games with St. Lucy.

Dinner really threw me for a loop as Saint Lucy's Day is more about breakfast than anything. Since the Swed's claim her as one of their Saints and that seems to be where most of the traditions come from I decided we would have a Swedish meal for dinner. Not eating much meat in this house or dairy that made it a little more difficult. We have been using this great recipe for meatless 'ground beef' and so I decided to see if it would hold and form into a Swedish Meatball. It wasn't to bad but being more organized ahead of time would have done wonders. They were a little dry but held well. I topped them with a mushroom gravy and served them as I read that they do in Sweden.... with dilled potatoes and 'lingonberry' sauce (a.k.a. Cranberry Sauce). Since there were no greens I added a garden salad which didn't get eaten because we were all stuffed after the main course.

For dessert (much later after dinner), we had our very mini and short 'procession' with our Santa Lucia bringing us our Lussekatter (Lucia Cat Buns). I subbed the dairy (milk/butter/eggs) and made then vegan and they turned out pretty good. The kids all had great fun and I'm sure it will be a day they remember. We will keep reading our St. Lucia book this week along with a few more St. Lucy themed activities to help them remember the 'why' behind our day.

"We present ourselves before thee, O virgin martyr, beseeching thee to obtain for us that we may recognize in His lowliness that same Jesus whom thou now seest in His glory. Take us under thy powerful patronage. They name signifies light; guide us through the dark night of this life. O fair light of virginity! enlighten us; evil concupiscence has wounded our eyes: pray for us, O thou bright light of virginity! that our blindness be healed, and that rising above created things, we may be able to see that true light, which shineth in darkness, but which darkness cannot comprehend. Pray for us, that our eye may be purified, and may see, in the Child who is to be born at Bethlehem, the new Man, the second Adam, the model on which the life of our regeneration must be formed. Pray too, O holy virgin, for the Church of Rome and for all those which adopt her form of the holy Sacrifice; for they daily pronounce at the altar of God thy sweet name; and the Lamb, who is present, loves to hear it. Heap thy choicest blessings on the fair Isle, which was thy native land, and where grew the palm of thy martyrdom. May thy intercession secure to her inhabitants firmness of faith, purity of morals, and temporal prosperity, and deliver them from the disorders which threaten her with destruction." -Dom Gueranger, Liturgical Year, Advent, St. Lucy December 13th (Impr. 1927)

_Around the Year with the Von Trapps
By: Maria Von Trapp, 1955

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

In ancient Rome, people used to exchange gifts on New Year's Day. According to their means, these might be jewelry, pieces of gold and silver, or just home-made pastry, cookies, and candies. But they were a means of saying "Happy New Year." (In French Canada this custom has been preserved to the present day.) This is one of the instances where Holy Mother Church took an already existing custom and "baptized" it. When the Apostles brought the Gospel to Rome, the people learned of the Three Wise Men who came from the Orient to present gifts to the newborn King of the Jews. From then on, the old custom was only slightly changed. The exchanging of presents remained, but now it was done in imitation of the Three Holy Kings. It should be understood that everyone in the family has a present for everybody else; these presents should be precious, though not in terms of money, as they should not be bought, but home-made. This is quite a task in a large family, but fingers become skilled in handicrafts of many kinds block prints, wood carvings, leather work, needle work, lettering with beautiful illuminations, and clay work. All these, and one's imagination, are called upon to create many beautiful, useful things, which could not be bought for money because they are made not only with the hands but also with the heart. But it is not of the immediate family alone that we have to think when we make gifts. The true Christmas spirit results in a desire, if only it were possible, to extinguish all suffering, all hunger and need of any kind, all over the world. Inspired by this desire, everyone prepares for some poor or unfortunate member of the community some real substantial Christmas joy. The parcels that have to go a long distance, or even overseas, are made in the first week of Advent, and the boxes are lined with fir branches from our own woods. "Geben ist seliger als nehmen" ("To give is more blessed than to receive"), says an old proverb, and these are the weeks of the year to prove how true it is. The very essence of Christmas is to give, give, give--since at the very first Christmas the Heavenly Father gave His only begotten Son to us.

_THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS

The great feasts of the Church--Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Epiphany--are privileged to have an octave. That means that the feast is not over at the end of the first evening, but is celebrated for a whole week. Octaves follow the feast like the train on a beautiful wedding dress. Christmas alone is also preceded by an octave. By the seventeenth of December, a week before the great day, not only the children are impatient the Church herself has become so eager for Christmas that she makes an impassioned appeal to the Messias to come, and to come quickly. From that day on, in the so-called Greater Antiphons at Vespers (from the initial letters they are called the "O-Antiphons") prayer and expectation rise in an ever-growing crescendo. The whole of Advent is characterized by the boundless desire for the coming of Christ expressed in the liturgy, and one can almost feel the increasing impatience in the antiphons for Vespers of the several Sundays "The Lord comes from afar" (first Sunday); "the Lord will come" (second and third Sundays); "the Lord is near" (fourth Sunday). Throughout the whole season there is a growing emphasis on the Lord's coming--our remembrance of His first coming, our glowing desire for His second coming at this present Christmas, and our great expectation of His final coming in the latter days. These days of holy impatience should be marked also in the family. The "O-Antiphons" might be written out on a piece of white cardboard, and each day for the main family meal they might be put in the center of the table, and afterwards added to the family's evening prayer. An old custom comes down from the monasteries of medieval times, where the monks used to get extra treats during this octave before Christmas. For example, on December 19th, when the Church calls on Christ, "O Radix Jesse" ("O Root of Jesse"), Brother Gardener brought his choicest vegetables and fruits, with specially beautiful roots among them; or on December 20th, when the Antiphon says, "O Key of David...." Brother Cellarer used his key for the wine cellar and brought out the best wine. Finally, on December 23rd, it was the turn of the Abbot, who came with special gifts to the brothers. This beautiful custom could be restored in families, the members of the house taking turns in providing a surprise at the evening meal, leaving the last day for the father, the day before that for the mother, the day before that for the oldest child, and so on. There is also the tradition, going back to Honorius of Autun, that connects the "O-Antiphons" with the seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost with which the Holy Child was filled at the moment of His birth.


Some Ideas from around the web on celebrating the O Antiphons:

Wonderful Recipe Ideas from Catholic Cuisine

O Antiphon Craft from Waltzing Matilda

Jesse Tree Ornaments from Sanctus Simplicitus

Meanings, Verses and Music for the O Antiphons (In Latin)

O Antiphons to listen to on Spotify (all free)

O Antiphon House - Craft

Reading on O Antiphon's by Florence Berger from Cooking with Christ, 1949

O Antiphon Coloring Pages

Making O Antiphon Tree Ornaments by Mary Reed Newland 1964

Ideas for homemade Christmas Tree Ornaments including O Antiphons

*** J.M.J. As a note, Sanctus Simplicitus strives to keep all links and information with in the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church. Links that are shared to not necessarily denote that the website holds to the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church so please proceed with caution and prayerfully offer your searches to the Holy Ghost for inspiration as to the truth of the information you are viewing. God bless! ***

_
From
The Liturgical Year
by Dom Guéranger, O.S.B.

Today the Church begins the fast of Quatuor Tempora, or, as we call it, of Ember days: it includes also the Friday and Saturday of this same week. This observance is not peculiar to the Advent liturgy; it is one which has been fixed for each of the four seasons of the ecclesiastical year. We may consider it as one of those practices which the Church took from the Synagogue; for the prophet Zacharias speaks of the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months. Its introduction into the Christian Church would seem to have been made in the apostolic times; such, at least, is the opinion of St. Leo, of St. Isidore of Seville, of Rabanus Maurus, and of several other ancient Christian writers. It is remarkable, on the other hand, that the orientals do not observe this fast.

From the first ages the Quatuor Tempora were kept, in the Roman Church, at the same time of the year as at present. As to the expression, which is not infrequently used in the early writers, of the three times and not the four, we must remember that in the spring, these days always come in the first week of Lent, a period already consecrated to the most rigorous fasting and abstinence, and that consequently they could add nothing to the penitential exercises of that portion of the year.

The intentions, which the Church has in the fast of the Ember days, are the same as those of the Synagogue; namely, to consecrate to God by penance the four seasons of the year. The Ember days of Advent are known, in ecclesiastical antiquity, as the fast of the tenth month; and St. Leo, in one of his sermons on this fast, of which the Church has inserted a passage in the second nocturn of the third Sunday of Advent, tells us that a special fast was fixed for this time of the year, because the fruits of the earth had then all been gathered in, and that it behoved Christians to testify their gratitude to God by a sacrifice of abstinence, thus rendering themselves more worthy to approach to God, the more they were detached from the love of created things. "For fasting," adds the holy doctor, "has ever been the nourishment of virtue. Abstinence is the source of chaste thoughts, of wise resolutions, and of salutary counsel. By voluntary mortification, the flesh dies to its concupiscence, and the spirit is renewed in virtue. But since fasting alone is not sufficient whereby to secure the soul's salvation, let us add to it works of mercy towards the poor. Let us make that whihc we retrench from indulgence, serve unto the exercise of virtue. Let the abstinence of him that fasts, become the meal of the poor man."

Let us, the children of the Church practice what is in our power of these admonitions; and since the actual discipline of Advent is so very mild, let us be so much the more fervent in fulfilling the precept of the fast of the Ember days. By these few exercises which are now required of us, let us keep up within ourselves the zeal of our forefathers for this holy season of Advent. We must never forget that although the interior preparation is what is absolutely essential for our profiting by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, yet this preparation could scarcely be real unless it manifested itself by the exterior practices of religion and penance.

The fast of the Ember days has another object besides that of consecrating the four seasons of the year to God by an act of penance: it has also in view the ordination of the ministers of the Church, which takes place on the Saturday, and of which notice was formerly given to the people during the Mass of the Wednesday. In the Roman Church, the ordination held in the month of December was, for a long time, the most solemn of all; and it would appear, from teh ancient chronicles of the Popes, that, excepting very extraordinary cases, the tenth month was, for several ages, the only time for conferring Holy Orders in Rome. The faithful should unite with the Church in this her intention, and offer to God their fasting and abstinence for the purpose of obtaining worthy ministers of the word and of the Sacraments, and true pastors of the people.

Tuesday, December 13th brings the Fast of St. Lucy, or Lucia.

From Bulter's Lives of the Saints:
December 13.—ST. LUCY, Virgin, Martyr. THE mother of St. Lucy suffered four years from an issue of blood, and the help of man failed. St. Lucy reminded her mother that a woman in the Gospel had been healed of the same disorder. "St. Agatha," she said, "stands ever in the sight of Him for Whom she died. Only touch her sepulchre with faith, and you will be healed." They spent the night praying by the tomb, till, overcome by weariness, both fell asleep. St. Agatha appeared in vision to St. Lucy, and calling her sister, foretold her mother's recovery and her own martyrdom. That instant the cure was affected; and in her gratitude the mother allowed her daughter to distribute her wealth among the poor, and consecrate her virginity to Christ. A young man to whom she had been promised in marriage accused her as a Christian to the heathen; but Our Lord, by a special miracle, saved from outrage this virgin whom He had chosen for His own. The fire kindled around her did her no hurt. Then the sword was plunged into her heart, and the promise made at the tomb of St. Agatha was fulfilled.

Reflection.—The Saints had to bear sufferings and. temptations greater far than yours. How did they overcome them? By the love of Christ. Nourish this pure love by meditating on the mysteries of Christ's life; and, above all, by devotion to the Holy Eucharist, which is the antidote against sin and the pledge of eternal life.

The Feast of Saint Lucia is celebrated in many different countries from  Sweden to Poland to Austria. This will be our first year celebrating such an exciting feast. One of the best resources that was given to us for this feast day is the book Lucia, Saint of Light. It's a great picture book for kids that explains the story of St. Lucia and also many of the traditions surrounding her.

_ Traditionally Lussekatter Buns are made and served by the chosen Lucia for the year as she wears a candle of crowns upon her, dressed in a white gown with a red sash. Our newest addition is receiving the honor of being St. Lucia this year and a cousin was gracious enough to sew up a little St. Lucia Dress for her. We purchased a battery operated crown of candles for safety reasons. Usually this event is in the morning with the chosen Lucia awaking family members with the treats. For this year we are going to have our treats after dinner so that all members of the family will be home and can participate.

_ St. Lucia is usually not without some attendants and so our two boys will be dressed up as star boys with star hats and white gowns and a candle assisting St. Lucia as she hands out the treats. Here is a link for making a Lucia Crown and Star boy hats.

_ We will also be doing some fun activities throughout the day such as Math with St. Lucia File Folder Games, St. Lucia Word Find, St. Lucia Maze, St. Lucy coloring pages (and here) and maybe some more crafts if we have time. We will also be planting our Christmas Wheat. And not to be forgotten is the song about St. Lucia, there are a couple of videos here of some beautiful versions but my favorite so far is the one by Andrea Bocelli. What are you doing to celebrate St. Lucy's Feast Day? Share on our Link Up below!