Work, work, work!

These last few days of work before Christmas are, sometimes, utter agony. Everyone around me is wishing me a Merry Christmas, and I feel like a scrouge, because I have to spend 20 of the next 52 hours in the office getting a ton of work done. This then, is keeping me inline:

You have recieved God's call to a specific way: it is to be at all the crossroads of the world, while remaining all the while, and as you carry out your professional work, in God.
--Jose Maria Escriva, #748, The Forge

It's not Christmas yet. These next few days will be the intense, expectant, hard-working days of Advent. And when I arrive home, I'll rejoice. But first: to work.

A Prayer for Advent from the Holy Father

Domenico Beccafumi (1545)

This basically covers everything:

Lord Jesus,
You who faithfully visit and fulfill with your Presence
the Church and the history of men;
You who in the miraculous Sacrament of your Body and Blood
render us participants in divine Life
and allow us a foretaste of the joy of eternal Life;
We adore and bless you.

Prostrated before You, source and lover of Life,
truly present and alive among us, we beg you:

Reawaken in us respect for every unborn life,
make us capable of seeing in the fruit of a mother's womb
the miraculous work of the Creator,
open our hearts to generously welcoming every child
that comes into life.

Bless all families,
sanctify the union of spouses,
make fruitful their love.

Accompany the choices of legislative assemblies
with the light of your Spirit,
so that peoples and nations may recognise and respect
the sacred nature of life, of every human life.

Guide the work of scientists and doctors,
so that all progress contributes to the integral well-being of the person,
and no one endures suppression or injustice.

Gift creative charity to administrators and economists,
so they may realise and promote sufficient conditions
so that young families can serenely embrace
the birth of new children

Console married couples who suffer
because they are unable to have children
and in Your goodness provide for them.

Teach us all to care for orphaned or abandoned children,
so they may experience the warmth of your Love,
the consolation of your divine Heart.

Together with Mary, Your Mother, the great believer,
in whose womb you took on our human nature,
we wait to receive from You, our Only True Good and Savior,
the strength to love and serve life,
in anticipation of living forever in You,
in communion with the Blessed Trinity.
Amen.

O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles, yea, and salvation thereof, come to save us, O Lord our God!

...And He Appeared and the Soul Felt Its Worth...

My favorite Christmas song is O Holy Night. Well, maybe it's one of my favorites. I cannot wait to sing it on Christmas Eve. I think one of the most special times of every year is the 48 hours of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We wait in silent anticipation of the birth of our Lord, meditating and centering ourselves in the fact that when he appears, we see our worth and our meaning, our goal and our end. A homily given by St. Josemaria Escriva called "Christ Triumphs Through Humility" encourages us to contemplate in silence the mystery of these moments. A mystery is not something to be solved, but rather, is something to be explored....

There is only one race in the world: the race of the children of God. We should all speak the same language, taught us by our Father in heaven -- the language Jesus spoke to his Father. It is the language of heart and mind, which you are using now, in your prayer -- the language of contemplation, used by men who are spiritual, because they realize they are children of God. This language is expressed in a thousand motions of our will, in the clear insights of our minds, in the affections of our heart, in our commitment to lead a virtuous life, in goodness, happiness, and peace.

You must look at the Child in the manger. He is our Love. Look at him, realizing that the whole thing is a mystery. We need to accept this mystery on faith and use our faith to explore it very deeply. To do this, we must have the humble attitude of a Christian soul. Let us not try to reduce the greatness of God to our own poor ideas and human explanations. Let us try to understand that this mystery, for all its darkness, is a light to guide men's lives.

-- St. Josemaria Escriva, from Christ is Passing By

O King of the Gentiles

O King of the Gentiles, yea, and desire thereof! O Corner-stone, that makest of two one, come to save man, whom Thou hast made out of the dust of the earth!

O Dayspring

O Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Son of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

O Key of David

O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, come to liberate the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

O Root of Jesse

O Root of Jesse, Who dost stand for an ensign of the people, before Whom kings shall keep silence, and unto Whom the Gentiles shall make their supplication: come to deliver us, and tarry not.

O Adonai

O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, Who didst appear to Moses in the flame of the burning bush, and didst give unto him the Law on Sinai: come and with an outstretched arm redeem us.

O Wisdom

O Wisdom, Who didst come out of the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come and teach us the way of prudence.

O Antiphons

Remember my post on the Advent prayers entitled the 'O Antiphons?' Today is the official day they begin, so I'll be posting one each day until we welcome our King!

Blinders + Joy

I loved Edith and Julian's early Advent reflections--and I have my own to offer, because the First Sunday of Advent is really one of my favorite days of the year. the Msgr. preached, as many do, about the over-commercialization of the Christmas season. "Decorations" he said "are on the shelves right after Halloween. Everyone has blinders on--forgetting the real meaning of the season."

That word--BLINDERS--really struck me, because I put blinders on myself, to block out all the premature Christmas celebrations. I ignore the red cups at Starbucks (they are ugly this year, so it wasn't hard), I intentionally don't listen to the radio, lest "Dominik the Christmas Donkey" come on. I ignore the lights, garlands, and garish ornaments in the shops. I am blind.

But then, magically, the new liturgical year begins, and the world is lit with joy and anticipation. Because, while Advent is a penitential season, it is also one of joy--because Christ has come!

I was glad then to hear from a friend who was in Rome for the Holy Father's Advent Vespers service last Saturday, that he said in his sermon:
"Advent is the time of the presence and waiting for eternity. For just this reason it is, in a special way, the time of joy, of interiorized joy, that no suffering can take away."

Advent Reflections

I have always loved the season of Advent. I don't know why...maybe because O Come, O Come Emmanuel is one of my favorite hymns, maybe because it's such a solemn but beautiful time period in the Church. I have been feeling moved to study salvation history, and perhaps that is yet another reason I so very much love Advent. This year, I've decided to get an Advent wreath and start saying some daily Advent prayers.

Back when I was in grade school, we used to pray the 'O Antiphons,' the titles of Christ found in the Old Testament prophecies. The titles are: Wisdom, Adonai, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Dayspring, King of all Nations, Emmanuel. You'll notice that the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel is based upon these titles. Here's a little more info I found about them from this article written by Fr. William Saunders.

The importance of “O Antiphons” is twofold: Each one highlights a title for the Messiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel. Also, each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah.

According to Professor Robert Greenberg of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one - Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia - the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, “Tomorrow, I will come.” So the “O Antiphons” not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.

Well, I want to know the deep theological meaning of each one. That's my prayer for this Advent. In this way, I believe that I can know Christ more fully, and ask Him to fill my heart in a new way. And isn't that what this season and well, our lives all about? I love how Advent reminds of us of that in a simple and beautiful, joyful and solemn way.

If you are interested in doing this prayer, a great website can be found here.

Also, EWTN has a great resource for Advent reflections too.