The Unprofitable Servant: Christmas Eve

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve

Last year for Christmas, my husband took all of his late father's WWII films that he shot during the war and had them transferred to DVD's for his 5 siblings. This year, he took his father's films that he shot throughout numerous Christmastides and had them transferred to DVD. We previewed a little last night and it was like watching episodes of Lassie or Ozzie and Harriet. Little children in their PJ's kneeling by their beds while their older sister lead them in prayer before bedtime. Sleepy-eyed children making their way down the stairs to open packages containing dolls, cowboy hats, holsters and plastic rocket ships. The Nativity scene under the tree which each child acknowledged before moving on to the packages. A homemade Italian rum cake decorated with a single candle for the family to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. The footage from 1960 showed a monstrous snow storm and all 5 siblings joining in to shovel (number 6 had just arrived) amid the backdrop of their picket-fenced home adorned with big old fashioned Christmas bulbs, wreaths and two large candles that sat on either side of the entrance to the house.

It's part of human nature to become nostalgic at times for bygone eras where everything just seemed to be better. In our own household, we tried very hard to make the Holy Family the focus of Christmas, but it wasn't easy. It wasn't just that Santa was coming - it was that on Christmas Eve we'd get together with my 4 cousins, with whom I was practically raised, and enjoy a feast like no other. My grandmother's strufuli. The Seven fishes. The colored lights strewn across Wolf Street. And best of all, it seemed the adults were in the happiest mood ever on Christmas Eve. My uncle would simultaneously entertain us with stories about the time he encountered Old St. Nick on the lawn with warnings about how bad we'd been and should probably expect nothing more than coal in our stockings.

On Christmas Day, we attended Mass as a family and then in the afternoon, headed over to my uncle's diner, where the Banquet Room was transformed into a giant family dining room for about 30 people. His German-born baker would prepare tantalizing sweets ornately decorated for Christmas that were as delicious as they were beautiful. Everyone was dressed to the nines, and there was no shortage of playmates. I'm not sure how much the adults enjoyed it but we kids had a blast. We sang on the microphone, danced and relished one another's company. Believe it or not, for me, one of the most exciting parts of this day was seeing the statue of St. Rita all lit up outside the church named for her. I would think about the nuns in my school and how they probably spent Christmas. I pictured Rosalind Russell carrying a large lit candle into the chapel in the Trouble With Angels.

The best thing about my Christmases past was their simplicity and the joy in family. Sure, we were undeniably excited about our gifts, but there was none of the greed we have today. No fascination with electronic gadgets that have kids typing on keyboards rather than engaging their families and friends. No demands for high-priced items that rack up credit card debt and put families into near-bankruptcy.

Despite the greed that has come to mar the meaning of Christmas, there is no shortage of inspiring stories. My colleague at Pennsylvania Hospital, and her husband, who go out at 4 am on Christmas morning to deliver packages to homeless people living on the streets. Our Jewish friends who volunteer in hospital cafeterias so kitchen workers can spend Christmas at home with their families. The secret Santas that never make the news - cops, firemen and ordinary citizens who make sure children they've never met find something to smile about under the tree. And this infectious generosity is not something that happens just once a year for these folks - it's they way they live their lives every day of the year. Surely, they know the Reason for the Season and they carry Him with them everywhere they go, not just on Christmas Eve.

A Blessed Christmas to all and best wishes for a peaceful and healthy New Year!

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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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God Bless You!

The Unprofitable Servant

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve

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Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross