Journeys of a Catholic Poster Girl

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!).

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?

(did you know the Fourth Sunday of Easter was called Good Shepherd Sunday? I didn’t.)

This Sunday I attended Mass at my mom’s home parish, Church of the Nativity,in Baldwin, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh).  Besides being the church where all my mom’s sisters were married, it’s also where I was baptized on May 9, 1982 (Mother’s Day that year). 

I hadn’t been to the church in awhile, and there were lots of changes, both cosmetically (new carpet, new pews) and liturgically–the tabernacle has been moved front and center, behind the altar, and the servers ring bells at the moment of consecration (loved that!). If, as Fr. Z tells us, we must “say the black and do the red”, then Nativity is well on its way. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Latin Mass there someday. There’s a group that says Rosary before every Mass, and they have a Divine Mercy icon to the right of the altar. 

The priest was a visiting priest–the Diocese of Pittsburgh does “priest swaps”, where local pastors switch churches for a weekend. I think it’s a good idea. This one was from St. Germain, which has merged with Nativity’s school to form St. Katherine Drexel Catholic School. All my mom’s siblings went to Nativity, and my grandfather taught music lessons there, so it’s sad to see the school merged with another. But the parish is 100 years old, so it’s a sign of the times (sadly). 

The priest told us about Good Shepherd Sunday, and connected the Gospel (from John 10) to the raising of Lazarus from the dead in Chapter 11–followers of Jesus are like the sheep who know their shepherd’s voice. Jesus only had to say to Lazarus, “Lazarus, come out!” and he did. We don’t need to hear a lot of words if we are in touch with Jesus’s voice. The priest then went on to discuss how shepherds and sheep-herding really worked (i.e., how the sheep had names the shepherds would call, how they would be rounded up into their pen, etc) and connected that with how Jesus cares for us. 

How much attention do we give our shepherd? We know that our shepherd laid down his life for us–his sheep. Real sheep don’t know that–they can’t intellectually figure that out. But we can.

A great Elizabeth Foss column here

And her blog is here.

While 2009 doesn’t start for another month, in the Church 2009 has begun today! The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the new Church Year. 

Last year I found a copy of the out-of-print Around the Year With the Von Trapp Family (yes, that Von Trapp family) on the internet (link on sidebar). Besides being wonderfully written, it also gives meticulous detail about how the large family celebrated every season of the Church year. I printed off the pages and placed them in a binder (sort of comprising a ‘book’), and have followed it since then. 

This is the first Advent I have with it, and one of the ideas is choosing a patron saint for the year. This year, I have chosen St. Francis, partially because there are several “Francis”es in my family, and also because I hope to be studying at Franciscan University in 2009, so I figure I better know some more about him and his order, other than he was kidnapped by pirates, rebuilt churches with his money, liked animals and founded the Franciscan order. 

So this year I will be praying/reading/studying St. Francis. If you know any good books or internet links about him, please leave them in the combox!

Another thing: Advent reading. I use the Magnificat Advent book, and Advent and Christmas with Pope John Paul II. (There’s a whole series of these–Padre Pio, G.K. Chesterton, etc., etc.) What books do you like to use? 

Hail Mary, Full of Grace!

Some ideas for celebrating at home. 

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Pray for Us!

According to the lovely Margaret, we still have one more week of Christmas! The Baptism of the Lord is next week (from baby to 30 year old in a week–ha ha), and then Ordinary Time begins.

Huzzah!

Now I can feel OK about the fact that my tree is only half down ( or not even half…).

From Magnificat (with some of my own additions):

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was born on August 28, 1774, in New york City, to a wealth and distinguished Episcopalian family. She was baptized in the Episcopal faith and was a faithful adherent to the Episcopal Church of England. Her mother died when she was a child and her father was a physician. In 1794, Elizabeth married businessman William Seton, and they raised five children in New York City. Her husband suffered a catastrophic business failure which forced the family to sell their home and depend on the kindness of relatives. William contracted tuberculosis and Elizabeth and Anna, one of their daughters, accompanied him to Leghorn, Italy, where he sought a cure. Sadly, he died there, and Elizabeth and Anna went to live for a time with the Felicci family, wealthy Italians who were friends of William’s. Impressed by their deep faith, Elizabeth decided to convert to Catholicsm upon her return to America. She made her professsion of faith in 1805, much to the displeasure of her family. At the behest of Bishop John Carroll, Elizabeth established the her Catholic school in Balitmore in 1808, which was open to all students regardless of their family’s ability in pay. In 1809 she founded the Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Her two boys were educated at Mount St. Mary’s and joined the American navy. Elizabeth lost two of her daughters, Anna and Rebecca, to tuberculosis. Her daughter Katherine survived. Her community spread to New York state, and as far as St. Louis, before she died on January 4, 1821. She was declared a Saint (the first American-born) by Pope Paul VI on September 14, 1975.

From St. Elizabeth’s writings:

O Father, the first rule of our dear Saviour’s life was to do your will. Let his will of the present moment be the first rule of our daily life and work, with no other desire but for its most full and complete accomplishment. Help us to follow it faithfully, so that doing what you wish we will be pleasing to you.

Lord Jesus, who was born for us in a stable, lived for us a life of pain and sorrow and died for us upon the cross; say for us in the hour of death, “Father, forgive,” and to your Mother, “behold your child.” Say to us, “This day you shall be with me in paradise.” Dear Saviour, leave us not, forsake us not. We thirst for you, Fountain of Living Water. Our days pass quickly along; soon all will be consummated for us. To your hands, we commend our spirits, not and forever. Amen.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is one of my favorite saints. I’ve seen the movie A Time for Miracles many times, and it helps butress my own feeling of vocation. In my ideal life, I would like to be her–married to a man she loved, children, a nun, a foundress, a teacher, etc. Her life was hard, I know. But still, she encompassed every part of a woman’s life in a truly unique way.

In grade school my parents took us to Emmitsburg to see St. Elizabeth’s home and school. You can still see the original school house she and the sisters used. St. Elizabeth is buried on the property, along with her children. It is a beautiful and peaceful place.

Some links:

On her life

Seton shrine in NYC (lower Manhattan)

The Emmitsburg Shrine (National shrine)

Tomorrow is The Big Day, or, if you prefer, The Day Before The Big Day. Since I sing Midnight Mass, Christmas Eve always feels like The Day to me, since it’s a long day.

Singing Midnight Mass is one of the privileges of being in the parish choir. This, with the Triduum, is our most intensive Mass and one that requires months of preparation. Tomorrow, along with the baking, celebrating, and traditional events, there will be much practicing of the cantata we are singing before Mass, as well as the Mass music proper.

Praising God in song and chant is one of my favorite ways to pray. While I have developed a love of contemplative, silent prayer, singing is a true release, an expression of my soul and what I really feel in that moment. The Christmas and Triduum Masses are especially prayerful, since the music tends to be the same every year, so I can truly delve into the mysteries of the lyrics and the Mass without being distracted by my part.

My choir has about 35 people, give or take. Tomorrow night we will meet and begin singing our program at 11:00. For about an hour our voices will set the stage for the Mass we are about to offer to the Lord. The music is not perfect, but it may well be tomorrow; the atmosphere has a way of changing us, motivating us to offer our best on this night. I, of course, will be pacing up and down the choir room and the vestibule, as is my habit, until we begin warm-up. I am always filled with nervous energy.

The Mass begins at Midnight, and our new pastor has an affinity for chant, which I love. So I imagine the Mass will be a bit longer than usual, but who cares? Midnight Mass is truly a joy to attend. Singing “Joy to the World” as the recessional is always a high point, as organ, flute, trumpets, and voices join together to praise The Word Made Flesh.

We will praise God with our litugry, our “work of the people”, as we welcome His Son to earth.  And I can think of no greater privilege than to welcome His Birth in song with my choir mates.

For the first time in many moons (like, since high school!) I am able to make the St. Lucia buns for St. Lucia (or St. Lucy’s) feast day tomorrow. Yay!

If you have never had these, they are wonderfully sweet and delicious. It’s nice to have a treat on the shortest day of the year (well, at least traditionally. I’m not sure if it actually is the shortest day, scientifically).

My recipe below… (Read on …)