Journeys of a Catholic Poster Girl

I know, long time no blog (I’m going to fix that, I promise, soon), and it’s sad that my first post of 2010 has to be about the catastrophe in Haiti. I wrote about it over here.

I am hoping that my church has a special collection this week. If not, I will look into making a donation via the Red Cross.

Prayer, of course, is always needed.

(Almost last, because my parish has a 7 a.m. tomorrow…so technically that’s the last, before the Vigil Masses begin at 4:00 p.m.)

Before I give you the end of Advent notes, I thought I’d share this brief bit I wrote after I got back to the office today. I think it reflects the attitude of reverence at my parish quite well.

The ten-year old altar boy emerges from the sacristy, holding the brass candle lighter a good distance from his surplice and cassock. The first three candles he lights easily, moving cautiously, careful not to burn himself. He stops, bows before the Tabernacle, and goes to light the remaining three candles on the altar’s left side. He still holds the flame out from him, cautious of it. His face is perfectly solemn as he goes about his work.

The flame goes out at the first candle, and he lets out a huge sigh, acting, for an instant, like the young boy he is. He bows again, and retreats into the sacristy. When he re-emerges, it is with a new flame. In the dark sanctuary it is a brilliant point of light.

He bows again, then tries to light the candles a second time. This time, they all cooperate.

(And can I mention, this kid was really cute? I’m guessing his age, but he didn’t look to be too much older than 10 or 11. All the altar boys at St. Pat’s are very serious about their work, and it gives rise to a lot of occasional cuteness in the younger ones. And yes–it’s all altar boys.)

So, onto the last of the Advent notes :

• (And the first one’s not even an Advent note, it’s a Christmas note…sheesh) The church was decorated today, and it is beautiful! The outside was done over the weekend. Inside, all the statues are adorned with garlands, and the Mary statue in the gallery is particularly beautiful. She has poinsettias and fruit garlands all around her, even in her hands. I’m going to try to get a picture for you, because it is truly beautiful. The baptisimal font is surrounded by flowers. Inside, the altar is just festooned with poinsettias and Christmas trees. The manger scene is all but complete–all we need is Christ the Infant. His parents are already waiting expectantly. And the St. Pat’s manger scene? Incredible. It even has a water feature! The choir loft has a wreath and a garland as well. It’s really beautiful.
• Mass was pretty crowded, but nothing compared to Confessions after. St. Pat’s offers confessions (almost) every day, and before Sunday Masses. Today, there were easily 100 people waiting for the Sacrament. I have never seen so many people for individual confession. At penance services, sure. But like this? Never. Both confessionals were filled. There were little kids–maybe seven or so–with their lists of sins on the Palmer ruled paper, wadded up in their hands. They took it so seriously. And they should, right? “And a little child shall lead them”, for sure. But how great was it to see all those people wanting to be really ready to receive Jesus at Christmas?
• Random thought, while I was waiting in line: As I looked around, and saw the Church Militant (aka, the Church on Earth), I was thinking, “We are all here, admitting our imperfections, wanting to make ourselves better people. Each one of us realizes that we are human, and we screw up.” It was sort of amazing, this mass of humanity, with their very presence, demonstrating the need for God’s forgiveness, and how very human we all are.
• My family and I are going to the 4:00 Mass tomorrow. This is early for me (I’m used to Midnight), and my sister is playing Midnight Mass (she plays flute/piccolo) at our old parish. I may do a twofer and go to 4:00 and Midnight–the readings are different at the various Christmas Masses. We’ll see. Dinner follows at my parents’, and then…not sure. It’ll be weird not having to sing at Midnight Mass for the first time in awhile. I’m sure at least one viewing of A Christmas Story will occur.
• Blog hiatus (unless I have some awesome Christmas insight to share with y’all ) until next Tuesday, when we get back from Pittsburgh. Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

So, we’re about to hit the halfway point of Advent. I thought some blurbs on what I’ve been up to, and what my parish has been up to, would be fun and/or instructive. (I”m really thinking more fun than anything else. )

So, without adieu…

• My parish, during Advent, uses Latin chant for the entrance hymn and the psalm. At first, this took a bit of adjusting, because I can’t read chant music that well. I’m getting better. But it sounds so wonderful, so…advent-y. It reminds us that advent is, like Lent, a penitential season. We have no gloria, and no grand opening hymn or psalm setting. It’s chant, with organ chords. Very nice.
• I now own a complete Liturgy of the Hours (LOH), or a breviary. Why do I have one? And (probably more important), how the heck do you pray that thing? Well…
• Why I have a breviary is sort of a long story. I have been using the wonderful Magnificat, which follows a simplified LOH format: Morning prayer, Mass readings and prayers, evening prayer, essays and reflections, and night prayer. It’s a wonderful resource that I love.
• So why did I start using the whole LOH? Because I want to become a Lay Dominican and they say the LOH. The real LOH. From the books. Every day, morning and evening prayer (night, too, if one chooses). I attended my first Lay Dominican meeting (formerly called Third Order of Preachers, or TOP–Dominicans are formerly know as the Order of Preachers–OP) at my parish last Sunday. And boy, was it a grace-filled day!
• We began after the noon Mass, with rosary. Then followed a short business meeting, lunch, and fellowship. Afterwards, we were split up into groups to receive appropriate instruction–professed members with a parish priest, postulants with the formation mistress, and inquires/novices with the chapter president (who is so nice. Actually, everyone at this parish is nice. It’s like something in the water. Or…maybe they’re just serious Catholics? Which they are. Anyway.). Here, we learned how to pray the LOH, and to mark the books.
• Marking the books is where it gets confusing, right? I mean, there’s five little ribbons and all these pages! But Arvin (the president) walked us through it, and it’s really not that hard. Since I didn’t have a breviary, I looked off of a girl who did have one, and shared with me.
• After our class (which I think was about an hour?), we went to the sanctuary for holy hour and evening prayer. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed in a beautiful monstrance, and before it we all said the evening prayer of the LOH. Then we had benediction. It was wonderful, private and prayerful.
• So, since I want to become an LD, I need the LOH, and I need to learn to say it. And today, my set of four books came (they’re divided into Advent/Christmas; Lent/Easter; Ordinary Time I, and Ordinary Time II). I have marked it, and will be praying Evening Prayer with it shortly.

So that’s what I’ve been doing this Advent. How about you?
And my patron saint for 2010 is, appropriately, St. Catherine of Siena. I was reading a great book about her back in November (still reading it, actually),  and when I decided to become an LD, I figured she was a perfect choice for my patron saint this year. (Last year, it was St. Francis of Assisi, since I was praying to be accepted to Franciscan University.)

Continues, with this great post.

Are you making ready? What are you doing?

It’s almost time for Advent!

Are you ready?
If not, head over to Karen’s and read her Guide to Advent (the No-Panic way!).

“Doing theology as the Church understand it requires the theologian to ‘deepend his own life of faith’ and make prayer an integral part of his or her work. Theology is not only done at one’s desk, or in the library; theology is also done on one’s knees, or in the chapel.”

–George Weigel, God’s Choice

So I have worn the veil to Mass three times since I received it. The first two times were at daily Mass, which are less crowded, and today was the Sunday unveiling (unveiling of the veil…haha!).

The first time I wore it, I felt a bit self-conscious. It also brngs up questions like, when do I put the veil on? When I’m in the church building? Before I enter the sanctuary? In the sanctuary? When I get to my seat? I decided to put it on upon entering the sanctuary. If I’m wearing a coat this can create some issues, because I don’t want it to fall off when I remove my coat, but so far that hasn’t happened. When I leave Mass, I take it off when I’m out of the sanctuary, meaning that if I was going to get doughnuts or whatever post-Mass, the veil would be off.

So I get to my seat, veil in place, and Mass proceeds as usual. It helps me focus, because my peripheral vision is sort of skewed by the veil. My veil is lace, so I can see through it, if I try, but I sort of like the fuzziness on either side of me. It helps me concentrate.

I try not to fiddle with it, but it does have a tendency to slip back on my head so I have to pull it forward sometimes. (I like it right about where bangs would begin.) But no far it has not fallen off, even when I bow or lower my head.

And no, I haven’t received any looks or questions. But at this parish, it’s not uncommon to see girls of about six or seven wearing a small chapel cap or veil, so I’m not really doing anything all that special. At another, less traditional parish, I’m sure I’d get some looks.

So, this is my veil experience thus far. I have found it helps me concentrate (I’m not wildly looking around anymore, because I don’t want the veil to fall off!), which can only be a good thing at Mass.

has arrived.

Tried it on in the mirror, and I think it looks pretty sweet. It doesn’t fall off when I bow or lower my head either, so that’s a good thing!
Hopefully I can make it to Mass tomorrow and give it a first run. I’m excited!

Happy All Saints’ Day, friends. Don’t you love this feast?
I do–as a kid I always thought it was weird to be juxtaposed with halloween (sacred and profane, and all that), but as I grew older and realized how important the saints are to us, and how close they are, I’ve really grown to love this feast.

Here are the three saints I’m celebrating this year:

St. Therese of the Child Jesus, as always. She was the saint I chose at my confirmation, and the more I learn about here, the more I fall in love with her. She’s the most popular saint of modern times for a reason. If you’re looking for a good book on her, I recommend this one.  And there’s the movie!

St. Francis is the saint I have been studying this year. I got the idea from “Around the Year With the Von Trapp Family” to pick a saint every first Sunday of Advent that you will study during the year. I chose St. Francis since, at that time, I was applying to Franciscan University and wanted to learn more about St. Francis and the order he founded. This book is a good introduction, and this movie (also featuring St. Clare) is fantastic. (Also, in my family, my grandfather’s name is Francis, and it is my brother’s middle name.)

And finally, St. Dominic, whom, as we know from here, I have been studying. Right now I don’t have any books or movies to recomment, except–say the rosary! This great gift was given by Mary to St. Dominic, and is such a powerful prayer.

In addition to these, there is also St. Emily and St. Michael the Archangel, who are my name saints (Michele is my mom’s name, and my middle name.)

What about you? Who are your special saints?