A Few Christmas Favorites

We finally got a piano just in time for Christmas! Ever since Paddy started taking piano lessons he has been getting by on a digital keyboard, which is NOT equivalent to a piano. I have been looking for one for years, and finally decided to avoid the pain of choosing a lower-end used acoustic piano. Instead, we got a Yamaha Clavinova CLP 470, which is a digital piano in roughly the same price range as a used upright. Sure, I would rather have a 100K grand piano, but that was not in the cards, and it would make it hard for my kids to squeeze into the hall to get to their bedrooms.

 The Clavinova has weighted keys and varying pitch, unlike the old keyboard, and pedals, and so the way you play is basically equivalent to an acoustic. So I am happy. Spending time on the piano keyboard has been keeping me away from the computer keyboard, so I am not meeting my goal of writing more during this holiday.

I thought I would mention some other Christmas gifts that turned out to be a success. Mostly games.

LONPOS 101 Pyramid.

I forget where I read the recommendation of this one, but it is fun! Basically thinking puzzles with a visual/spatial focus. The younger three have particularly enjoyed this.

Labyrinth Card Game.

Another visual/spatial type entertainment with imagination. Paddy and I have played it several times. I like games that challenge my brain without straining it.

Dutch Blitz. Probably most families have this already, but we didn't. Also fun and leisurely.

CATS Soundtrack CD. Aidan has been playing this constantly (whenever I'm not playing the piano). For him it brings back his early childhood when he would sit with his sister and watch Magical Mister Mistoffeles and Macavity with her.

Complete Peanuts Collection 1975-78.

Paddy likes Peanuts -- there is a whole set of the complete collection, running from the 50's to the 80's, but we just got Volume 13-14.

Various other things, like candy and winter socks and gloves, were part of the gifts as well. I had told them they wouldn't be getting very much, because there is not too much that we need or want around here -- in fact I am going to declutter first thing in 2014! -- but with the "everybody presents" and the socks and things it ended up looking pretty nice under the tree after all (didn't take a picture).

Mostly I have been enjoying just having my oldest two boys around (they came down from Oregon), and resolutely enjoying the holiday week mostly reading, playing the piano, going for walks out in the forest and talking or playing games with the kids).

oldest boys standing on the hearth trying to stay warm

Hoping you are all having a blessed Christmas season!    

Jesus, Mary & Joseph!

For our Christmas meditation.........



Excerpted from a very, very old book, with its cover missing,  The Faith That Never Dies or The Priest of God in the Catholic Home.   Highly recommended..........

Bethlehem and the Child Jesus

From the hour of the Annunciation, Mary bore within her sacred womb Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God. A living
ciborium, Mary contained and bore among men the body and the blood, the soul
and divinity, of the Savior. She enclosed the whole
world, the God of heaven, He whom seraphims and angels continually adore!

Nine months after, on the 24th of December, Joseph and Mary reached the
little town of Bethlehem, the City of David, there to be
enrolled, according to the decree of Caesar Augustus, who then commanded the
whole world.

The divine prophecies were thus unconsciously fulfilled by Augustus,
and it was an unquestioned fact among the Jews that the
Christ, the Messias, should be born at Bethlehem and descended from King
David. On arriving at Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary found
there was no room for them at the inn; the night was approaching, and they
found themselves obliged to go out of the town and seek
shelter in a grotto, which for many centuries had been a place of refuge for
shepherds and their flocks. According to ancient religious
traditions, David, Abraham, and Noe had frequently sought asylum in this
grotto, and at the very beginning of the human race, Seth the
son of Adam, who had filled the place of Abel, had taken refuge there to
pray.

Toward midnight the Blessed Virgin was warned by God that the moment
was come in which the Word Incarnate should appear to
the eyes of his creatures. Then she clothed herself in the white raiment
she had brought for that hour, and prepared, with Saint Joseph,
a little hay and straw in a manger, and the swaddling clothes upon the
straw. There Mary, kneeling, lifted up her arms to heaven, and
became absorbed in a blissful ecstasy--all holy and divine she knelt, the
Virgin Mother of God.

A heavenly light enveloped her, and suddenly in the midst of this
light there appeared to her enraptured vision the Holy Infant Jesus,
all radiant with glory; He looked at her with love, and stretched out His
little arms. Then Mary, full of joy, adored Him as her God,
and taking Him in her arms, she held Him to her heart, and covered Him with
tears and kisses. Then she wrapped Him in swaddling
clothes and laid Him in the manger; Joseph on one side and Mary on the
other, kneeling and prostrate before the Lord, were as the two
cherubim of gold before the ark of the alliance; they were the first to
adore God made man, and they adored Him in the name of heaven
and earth, with one faith, one love, and an unutterable fervor.

At the very same hour a great miracle took place in a neighboring
field, where shepherds were watching their flocks by the silence of
the night. An ancient tradition relates there were three: an old man, a
young man, and a child. A bright light suddenly shone around
them, and an angel of the Lord stood by them: “Behold,” he said, “I bring
you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all people: For
this day is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be
a sign unto you. You shall find the Infant wrapped in
swaddling-clothes, and laid in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and
saying: Glory to God in the highest: and on earth peace to men of good
will. Then the shepherds, being struck with amazement, said
to one another: “Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that
is come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us.” And
they came with haste: and they found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying
in a manger. Then they adored Him, received His first
benedictions, and returned to their flocks, glorifying and praising God.
Thus the Child Jesus chose from among the poor His first
worshippers and earliest disciples. Having Himself become poor for love of
us, Our Lord makes the choice of the poor before the rich,
and gives to them this consolation among all the troubles and privations by
which they are overwhelmed.

Nevertheless, a little time after, the rich, and wise, and noble were
admitted in their turn to adore the holy Child of Bethlehem. They
were called Magi, and came from the East. A star, a miraculous light,
warned them of the birth of the Savior, and they immediately
departed, carrying with them rich gifts, until they also arrived at
Bethlehem; then, their earnest faith piercing the veil which hid from
their eyes the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, they prostrated themselves
at His feet, adored Him as their God, and offered to Him
gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Rich and poor, we are each and all of us called upon thus to believe in
and adore the Infant Jesus; the little Child in the manger at
Bethlehem is verily our God, the one true, living, and eternal God, who for
love of us came down from heaven to earth. Not content
with abasing His infinite Majesty to the very level of His creatures by
becoming their Master and their Brother, He still did more, since
he took upon Himself the whole burden of sin by which they had been
eternally lost, and thus all are saved who believe and hope in
Jesus Christ, who adore Him, and return Him love for love, and who are
obedient in all things to His holy Church; and all who remain
faithful unto death are assured of the eternal happiness of heaven. Jesus
Christ is the Lord our God, and in His eternal glory He is
infinitely worthy of our homage and adoration; But He is also our very
tender, very merciful child Savior, and in His willing abjection
He is infinitely worthy of our love.

And what dignity could be greater or more sublime than that of the
Blessed Virgin?

Still Mary, like Jesus, merits our love as much as our veneration: she
is as good as she is great, as gentle as she is pure, as merciful
as she is perfect and holy!

Jesus, Mary, Joseph! names full of blessing and salvation! How happy
we are to have so merciful a God, and ever near Him two
such powerful intercessors!

Let us live, like Mary and Joseph, quiet, peaceful lives, all filled
with love of the child Jesus, who reposes in our hearts as in a second
manger, a manger which is often, alas! as cold and comfortless as that of
Bethlehem.

Let us, like the shepherds, go with fervor, with love, with gladness,
and, above all, with a lively faith into our churches, where we
can always find the Child of Bethlehem hidden and humiliated there, as once
within the swaddling clothes, so now beneath the veils of
the Most Holy Eucharist.

The Catholic Church is the thrice-honored Bethlehem which possesses and
encloses Jesus Christ, and which by giving Him to
faithful hearts consoles all the sorrows of humanity, saves the world by
teaching it to know, to serve, and to love the Savior.

A Blessed Christmas to you and yours!

 

 

           With the love of Christmas in our hearts,

                                                             Chari & Willa

Those Blessed Christmas Cinnamon Rolls

At Our Hearts' Haven, it is the annual cinnamon roll day!!!

 

It all got started when I decided that I wanted to give Christmas gifts to my two closest friends in town........who needed for nothing. Desired nothing. Did not like stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tired of the yearly: How clever can I be this time?.......I thought to myself: 

What can I give them that would not add "stuff" to their homes and lives?

What would be a great gift and yet consumable? 

What talent do I possess, that I have time for?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cinnamon rolls. 

 

 

Yeah. Perfect idea.

 

 

I make very yummy cinnamon rolls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, for about the last ten years, I have made cinnamon rolls just before Christmas.

And on Christmas Eve, the children and I have delivered them........

.........in time for my friends' Christmas breakfast.

 

 

I still deliver to the same two friends.......and every year, the rest of the list changes up.



 

 

 

I think my favorite compliment came from Abraham,

about four or five years ago.......aged 9 maybe:

 

My family was out of town until we got home late on December 23rd.  Abraham mentioned to his mom that he was looking forward to my annual cinnamon rolls for his Christmas breakfast.  She told him that we were out of town and probably too busy to make the rolls and to not expect any that year.  Well, I awakened early on the 24th, made hundreds of cinnamon rolls, was just about to start the process of frosting the rolls, when the power went out, about 5pm.  I had to finish frosting and packing up the cinnamon rolls by flashlight.  The kids and I took a drive through town, dropping off our gifts......it was so surreal to drive through the mild snow, with not a light in sight.  I left the rolls on Abraham's dining table because they were not at home when we arrived. When they came home later, from their Christmas Eve service, they found the rolls waiting for them.  His mother was very surprised that I had been able to do this in the midst of our crazy week.  Abraham was not.  He gave his mom that "I told you she would come through" comment. And now, every year, I always think about how I am not going to let Abraham down.  He is the annual motivation. 

Not sure he even knows this......

 

 

 

 

This year, my 16 year old son insisted that I not make the rolls without him. He is also a great motivator.  Last year, he told me, "Christmas is not Christmas without your cinnamon rolls, Mama."

 

If I could, I would make cinnamon rolls for all of you.  If you come to visit.....maybe I will.....


Christmas Blessings to you and yours, from Our Hearts' Haven,

                                                                                             Chari

"In the moonless grey night is a gleam"

The O Antiphons start today:

Before the coming of God in the flesh, we were ignorant, subject to eternal punishment, slaves of the Devil, shackled with our sinful habits, lost in darkness, exiled from our true country. Hence the ancient antiphons announce Jesus in turn as our Teacher, our Redeemer, our Liberator, our Guide, our Enlightener and our Saviour.    The Golden Legend of Jacobus

This is by St Peter Chrysologus and was in the Magnificat reading for today.

"Fear had permeated all things, dread had disrupted the universe, terror had battered everything. In heaven God's splendor had prostrated the angels, and on earth thunder and lightning were shaking the hearts of men.

.... He who has enough fear cannot love. That is why the world preferred to perish rather than to fear; death itself is lighter than dread....

Therefore God, seeing the world falling into ruin because of fear, continuously acts to recall it with love, invite it back by grace, hold it tight in charity, and embrace it with affection. ...He calls Noah the father of a new world, addresses him with pleasing language, gives him kindly confidence and fatherly instruction about the present, consoles him with good hope for the future.

And now, not so much by commands as by a sharing of work, he shuts into one ark the seedling creatures of the whole new world, that the love of fellowship may banish the fear characteristic of bondage, and a common love preserve what a common toil had saved."

Somehow, with its euphony and rolling pace through past, present, to future, the passage reminds me of Chesterton

In the time of dead things it is living,
In the moonless grey night is a gleam,
Still the babe that is quickened may conquer,
The life that is new may redeem.
Ho, princes and priests, have you heard it?
Grow pale through your scorn.
Huge dawns sleep before us, stern changes –
A child is born.

Or again, here

It is rather as if a man had found an inner room in the very heart of his own house, which he had never suspected; and seen a light from within. It is as if he found something at the back of his own heart that betrayed him into good. It is not made of what the world would call strong materials; or rather it is made of materials whose strength is in that winged levity with which they brush us and pass. It is all that is in us but a brief tenderness that is there made eternal; all that means no more than a momentary softening that is in some strange fashion become a strengthening and a repose; it is the broken speech and the lost word that are made positive and suspended unbroken; as the strange kings fade into a far country and the mountains resound no more with the feet of the shepherds; and only the night and the cavern lie in fold upon fold over something more human than humanity.

The paradox of weakness conquering strength, of deepest darkness turning to light, of the Supreme Creator inviting, recalling, giving, embracing rather than destroying -- I feel the dread more awful than death strongly, but I know with all my heart that the huge dawn is coming.  

A Christmas Literature Evening

        We will republish this blog post yearly.....because we are a literature-based blog.......and because this is such a fine idea......fun idea.......we want to inspire you to start this tradition in your home, in your life.  If you cannot do it, maybe encourage a friend....or work with a friend or a group to make it happen.  Another way to keep celebrating the Christmas season.....after Christmas Day.  Posting this early in December can give you time to make your plan, get it on the calendar and invite your guests.  Please let us know if you do it!  You can even just do it in your own family.

Christmas Literature Evening…….

 What fun we could have, my literature-loving friends, if we could all gather together! In my dreams!

     I guess if I cannot have you all here with me, I will invite you to begin this tradition in your own home.  If you DO take me up on this invitation, please share!

     I like to send an email invitation out to my local friends sometime in early December, so they can save the date.  The date always falls in the first week of the Christmas season.  It usually is on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which I find appropriate considering the room is often full of young people. I find it a nice way to commemorate the feast. 

The official invitation:

Dear Friends,

       The Bryans of Our Hearts' Haven would like to invite you to an old-fashioned get-together. We would like to celebrate Christmas Through Literature.

        Please join us on December 28th, 2013, from 6:30-9:30pm, for an evening of literature with a Christmas theme. Come hear or read aloud your favorite stories, and enjoy new ones, too. Look forward to The Little Match Girl, The Gift of the Magi, The Other Wise Man, and authors such as JRR Tolkien, Hans Christian Anderson, Beatrix Potter & Truman Capote. We have stories, poetry, and Christmas Mad-Libs as well as tea & cake.

       Enjoy an evening like folks used to do. The evening will be held at our home: Our Hearts’ Haven. Please call ***-**** for directions, if you need them, or for more information.

       Please feel free to listen only, or take a turn at reading aloud. If you would like to read aloud, and/or have a favorite story to choose, let us know so we can put it on the literature list.  Feel free to bring something quiet to do during the reading: knitting, crocheting, mending, drawing.....

      Please email me as soon as you know, yea or nay, so we can know our numbers.  Folks deciding to come last minute will be welcomed. :)....though let us know, if you can, that you need to decide last minute. Please email your response, if you can. If you can only come for part of the time, please still come.

       Due to the nature of the evening, we would like to keep this for ages 10 years to 100 years. Eight or nine year olds who can be quiet and still and really want to come, will be considered. Give us a call.

       We hope to make this the first of several literature evenings in the new year, focusing either on a specific author, or theme.

     In the meantime,

     Advent & Christmas Blessings to you and yours this season as we celebrate the Birth of Our Savior.

                       ~~~the Bryans

     We usually have between 12 and 20 people with ages from 7 years to.......well, my age.

     When folks arrive, they are welcomed into a room with a cozy fire blazing, a Christmas tree brightly and prettily lit, and candles at various spots in the house.  I have a lovely seasonal scent melted in the Scentsy, a gift from my little sister.

     I have the books for reading displayed in a basket.  I have Christmas art books within easy reach displayed on a table for perusing.  I have Kapla blocks set out on the side of the room for any youngsters.  I inform them that they must play quietly or the blocks must be put away.  Or, they will be put away.  : )

     I always begin with the The Nativity:  From the Gospels of Matthew & Luke as it has museum-quality artwork, and especially, because it reminds us to focus on the reason for the season.

     We read for about an hour or so, with variety: short stories and poems: serious, sentimental and humorous.  I read a poem or two in between each short story or book excerpt.  After I read at least one story and a couple of poems, I ask others in the room if they brought anything to share and encourage them to do so.  I also ask for volunteers and give them something to read.  There usually are only a handful of people willing to read.  We then follow this hour with a lively round of Christmas Mad Libs.  After a twenty minute break for treats and beverages.........we gather again for about an hour more of read alouds….followed by a last round of the Mad Libs.

     The evening ends with visiting and chatting……..and goodbye hugs.

     I have here below, the list of books that I created for the first year from my own resources, as well as from our local library.  As I researched, I tried to focus on famous stories or stories from famous and familiar authors.  I put “own” if I have it in my own library or “L” if it came from the library.  Collecting Christmas anthologies from the libraries are a great resource for short stories. The underlined words are the actual titles. You can find a copy of this list in Google Docs for easy printing (link will be provided as soon as google docs and I figure out how to get along......grrrrrr). I have provided links below to stories available online. Great resources!

CHRISTMAS THROUGH LITERATURE

The Nativity:  From the Gospels of Matthew & Luke-own
(read first)  (link)

The Father Christmas Letters by J.R.R. Tolkien-L

1.     Read Intro

2.     Share drawings

3.     Read first three letters

4.     Read letter of 1938

5.     Read last letter.

6.     Pass book around.

The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke-own

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote, Illustrated by Beth Peck-own

The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Anderson, illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert-own

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry-Own

The Little Juggler by Barbara Clooney-own

The Huron Carol by Father Jean de Brebeuf, Iullstrated by Frances Tyrrell-own (link)

Little House Stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder-own
Little House in the Big Woods-pg 59 Chapter 4, Christmas
Little House on the Prairie-pg 238 Chapter 19, Mr. Edwards Meets Santa Claus
On the Banks of Plum Creek-pg 80 Chapter 12 The Christmas Horses & Chapter 13 Merry Christmas


Christmas Anthologies

The Christmas Story Book published by The Neumann Press
The Goblins and the Sexton by Charles Dickens-pg 51-64

The Reader Digest’s Book of Christmas-L
Amahl & the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti-a dramatization-pg 210-217
Susie’s Letter From Santa by Mark Twain-pg 103-104
A Christmas Alphabet by Marion Conger-pg 241-243
Christmas Meditation of a Young Student (Pope John XXIII)-pg 275-276
(read last)

Merry Christmas to You-own
Christmas in the Woods by Beatrix Potter from pg 55-56

Treasury of Christmas Stories by Ann McGovern
The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe-pg 64

The Christmas Eve Reader:  Selections from A Christmas Feast by Charlton & Gilson
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson

A Christmas Treasury by Jack Newcombe-L
Poems:
Little Tree by e.e. cummings-pg 97-98
The Oxen by Thomas Hardy-pg 179
On Lending a Punch Bowl by Oliver Wendell Holmes-pg 216-217
The Burning Babe by Robert Southwell-pg 413
Christmas at Sea by Robert Louis Stevenson-pg 414-415
The Magi by William Butler Yeats-pg 472

Stories:
Christmas Eve by Washington Irving-pg 223-233
A Hint for Next Christmas by A.A. Milne-pg 292-293
The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potterpg-369-376
Christmas by Eleanor Roosevelt-pg 382-389
A Winter Walk by Henry David Thoreau-pg 455-457
Christmas at Claremont:  Queen Victoria’s Journal-pg 463-464

Other pages: 14, 17, 32, 47, 91, 100, 120, 137, 141, 163, 166,179, 180, 183, 189, 196, 236, 239, 277, 294, 302, 315, 369, 438, 440

Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book: Carols, stories, Poems, Recollections by Molly Rockwell-L
Poems:
Hamlet, Act I, Scene I-pg 20
That Holy Thing by George MacDonald-pg 24
On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity by John Milton-pg 26-28
Christmas Trees by Robert Frost-pg158-159
A Visit from Saint Nicholas by Clement C. Moore-pg 166-167
Christmas Greeting from a Fairy to a Child by Lewis Carroll-pg 169
The Boy Who Laughed at Santa Claus by Ogden Nash-pg 174-176

Stories:
The Miraculous Staircase by Arthur Gordon-pg 54-57
A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True by Louisa May Alcott-pg 97-106
Christmas This Year by Booth Tarkington-pg 206

Christmas in the Stable:  Poems Selected & Illustrated by Beverly K. Duncan-own
Midnight in Bonnie’s Stall by Siddie Joe Johnson-pg 9
The Barn-pg 14-15
The Stork-pg 22-23
The Canticle of the Bees-pg 26-27

The Real St. Nicholas: Tales of Generosity & Hope From Around the World by Louise Carus
Pages:  17, 117, 137, 173

ART RESOURCES:

Born is He, the Child Divine: Images of the Christ Child in Art by Amy Gelber-own

Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book: Carols, stories, Poems, Recollections by Molly Rockwell-L

A Treasure of Christmas Religious Art, an Ideals Publication-own

The Pageantry of Christmas, A LIFE Book of Christmas-Volume Two-own

Other Resources:

Christmas Carol Mad-Libs-own
-----Christmas Fun Mad-Libs
-----Christmas Carol Mad-Libs
-----Ho-Ho-Ho Mad-Libs

(We never write in our Mad-Lib books…..we use another piece of a paper to extend the life of the book.)

Stories avaliable online:

Free Christmas Short Stories 

Best Christmas Stories

Christmas Short Stories

     Please know that your crowd could be as small as only two people or large as large as you can hold in your space.  Keep things simple.  One beverage and one dessert is all that is needed.  Use the books that you own…..borrow from the library or from friends. 

     Do realize that sometimes your guests will look a little drowsy or bored.  That is normal for anyone listening to an hour of read aloud.  Just be encouraging, provide that variety as well as the Mad-Libs and give them a break with goodies.  They will survive and remember the good memory of being together.

     Have a relaxed and enjoyable evening, in the olde, fashioned way.


Advent Blessings,

       Chari

P.S.  Here is a little gift for you: Play Mad-Libs online!

It's a Mad Libs World

A New Advent Tradition!

 Over at Catholic Inspired is a tradition that I hope I remember to try this year.  It helps that I already own the Playmobile set.  I expect that you could use any Nativity set that you have on hand.

 Go check it out........it's the "wise men looking for baby Jesus", a good activity in imitation of that Elf on the Shelf.........which never worked well for us since we don't "do" Santa at our house.


My only issue is.......my only "child" at home is now 12 years old.  I am pretty sure that I may be able to have him buy into it..........especially if it is fun and humorous.


Thank you, Jennifer, for the inspiration!  I definitely need a little bit of new tradition infused into our season.


God bless!

           Chari

Merry Christmas!

 ‘You have also lingered, bent your knee, adored the Lord God, venerated His Mother and greeted Joseph, the holy old man, with reverence. Therefore, kiss the feet of the baby Jesus, who lies in the manger, and pray that the Holy Virgin will allow you to hold Him. Take Him between your arms, hold Him and see His lovable face, kiss it with reverence and rejoice with Him. You can do this because He has come to bring salvation to sinners and He has humbly conversed with them, finally giving Himself as food’. St Bonaventure, quoted at Catholic Culture. 

Here are some pretty vintage Christmas cards by Margaret W Tarrant.  

 

 

 Merry Christmas to all,

from the Ryans and the Bryans!  

All the Ryans together for the first time in a year!

Contemplating Jesus in the Womb

Motherly Care, by Haynes King, 1834-1904

I have been reading an essay called Sedeo, Ergo Sum: Reflections on Certitude by a Catholic philosopher called Charles De Koninck. The article is very good, but I won't ask you to go and read it just two days before Christmas.  I will just tell you that it is about the power of our humbler senses, the sense of touch, especially, and also of taste.   Since the senses of sight and hearing are more directly intellectual and abtract, we sometimes forget how our more personal senses are indispensable. 

He writes, speaking of the story of Christ resurrected and how St Thomas the Apostle demanded to touch before believing that Jesus was truly resurrected:

The attitude of St. Thomas the Apostle is not an example to be imitated, yet in it we recognize a familiar experience: whenever we wish to be very certain about the reality of a thing, of the existence of a sen­sible object, we want to verify it by touch. And it is especially for this reason that touch is called the sense of certitude, while sight is the sense of distinction, of clarity, and of representation. Where the brute fact of physical existence is concerned, sight, notwithstanding its accuracy of discernment and its certitude of distinction, yields less assurance than touch. The words “phantom” or “ghost” usually stand for things visual yet unreal, intangible, and we compare them to the kind of repre­sentations we have in our dreams.

 Now why am I thinking of this, especially at this time of year?  It is because I am thinking of pregnancy and waiting for a Baby to be born.

I found this meditation called "Praying with Jesus in the Womb" and reading it along with the De Koninck article made me think of how a baby, pre-birth, is radically immersed in touch.   If his eyes see at all, they see only the small universe of his mother's womb.  But most of his information comes from his sense of touch, of surrounding.   And to his mother, though she may see the swelling of her body, the primary sensory evidence of his existence comes from feeling, from touch.

Even after the baby is born and can see and hear and smell, his primary sense is initially of touch and taste.   His mother relates to him by touch.   She wraps him in blankets, or swaddling clothes, and holds him in her arms, surrounding him with touch.    In the story of the Nativity, Our Mother places the Infant in a manger, which has seemed odd to me as a mother because cribs are not necessary for newborns.

But there are other reasons -- the Manger has been thought of in Eucharistic terms, and certainly Mary didn't put Him there so she could go tidy up or go back to her job, but because He belonged in the center of the world, and she belonged in the circle around Him.   She wasn't relegating Him to the perimeter of her circle, but putting herself in a subsidiary place around His circle, even if as a Mother she was in a very particular way the primary element in His circle. 

The meditation goes on: 

As we conclude this contemplation of Jesus in the womb, we pause for a moment to reflect upon his heart, which developed, just like our hearts did, but which became not only the organ which pumped blood to invigorate the rest of his body, but which became the very image of his self-sacrificing love. In the West, we speak of the heart as the center of our emotions and feelings and the source of our loving. This little heart became a heart big enough to love sinners, the sick, the marginal. This heart was “on fire” with compassion and mercy. The heart of Jesus, which began beating in the womb of Mary, was eventually the sacred heart which was pierced with a lance on the cross and which, in the eyes of faith of John the Apostle and Evangelist, poured out the blood and water of the sacramental life of the Church which sustains us now. Into that wound in his side, the Risen Lord invited Thomas to put his hand and to believe. He told us that we are blessed who have not seen with our eyes, yet believe.

De Koninck, in his article, makes the point that art and science and politics and many other things go wrong when sight becomes the key or only element, and touch is ignored.    Many of the great heresies also came from minimizing touch and the real, physical nature of the Incarnation.    As Our Lady prepared to give birth to her Infant, she was surely aware of the physical reality of her infant, "knitted in the womb" like all of us, even though as yet unseen.     As mothers we can participate in that understanding in a very deep way; and as Catholics, we can "taste and see the goodness of the Lord" as we receive Him in the Holy Eucharist on Christmas.  We are so blessed to "not have seen with our eyes, yet believe."

Vintage Tale: The Abbot's Ghost, a Christmas Story

Before Louisa May Alcott became known for Little Women and other works of the kind, she wrote several Gothic novellas under the pseudonym AM Barnard.  This long short story, or short novel, is one of those.  If you are looking for something light and fast-paced and somewhat seasonal to read, this might be a good pick.

The story centers around Maurice Traherne, a young man badly injured in a tragic accident, who was mysteriously disinherited by his uncle just before the latter died.   No one knows why, and everyone pities him for his fall from rich eligible bachelor to poverty-stricken cripple.

In a Christmas gathering at his aunt's house, several key people come together, both from his past and present, and the story goes from there with several revelations and interesting events, and in the style of romance, resolves fortuitously in the end.

This is basically a romance with some elements of gothic mystery (the ghost from the title, and a lady with a mysterious and not entirely savory past) and was a fun read.   If ancient curses and unquiet spirits and hints of disreputable pasts aren't a problem, the story might be enjoyable for a teenager.   The main characters are properly noble, and the people with shadier backgrounds end up properly repentant.  It probably wouldn't be too interesting to boys or younger children since the plot mostly concerns romance and mysteries of past days.

There is a mild religious flavor -- and as previously mentioned, virtue and sacrifice triumph over selfishness and temptation in the end.  

The Abbot's Ghost (free on Amazon for Kindle)
The Abbot's Ghost (Librivox -- links to audio version and other versions)

An excerpt from the story:  

"You know it was supposed that old Sir Jasper, being a bachelor, would leave his fortune to his two nephews. But he was an oddity, and as the title must go to young Jasper by right, the old man said Maurice should have the money. He was poor, young Jasper rich, and it seemed but just, though Madame Mère was very angry when she learned how the will was made."

"But Maurice didn't get the fortune. How was that?"

"There was some mystery there which I shall discover in time. All went smoothly till that unlucky yachting trip, when the cousins were wrecked. Maurice saved Jasper's life, and almost lost his own in so doing. I fancy he wishes he had, rather than remain the poor cripple he is. Exposure, exertion, and neglect afterward brought on paralysis of the lower limbs, and there he is—a fine, talented, spirited fellow tied to that cursed chair like a decrepit old man."

 ...

"The old man must have been demented. What in heaven's name did he mean by leaving Maurice helpless and penniless after all his devotion to Jasper? Had he done anything to offend the old party?"

"No one knows; Maurice hasn't the least idea of the cause of this sudden whim, and the old man would give no reason for it. He died soon after, and the instant Jasper came to the title and estate he brought his cousin home, and treats him like a brother. Jasper is a noble fellow, with all his faults, and this act of justice increases my respect for him," said the major heartily.

Fourth Sunday in Advent: A Song For you!

For this Fourth Sunday in Advent, I offer my favorite Advent hymn:

Maria Walks Amid the Thorn

     Even though this is a video of a school chorus, I think they have done a very good rendition.  I am imnpressed. Listen closely to the beautiful words.  See the words in your mind.  I think it is having the pictures in my imagination, inspired by the lovely words, that makes me love this song so. 

      And another chorus.........
    

      The following video is another arrangement.  I had not heard this one before.  I prefer the others, but this one is still lovely.  I am impressed by their strength in spite of their small numbers.  

From this website:

German: Anonymous, Maria durch ein'n Dornwald ging, from at least the 16th Century

Translator: Henry S. Drinker
According to Maria Augusta Trapp, Around the Year with the Trapp Family (New York: Pantheon, 1955), identifies this as a traditional Advent hymn.

     The lovely and haunting lyrics:

1. Maria walks amid the thorn,
Kyrie eleison.
Maria walks amid the thorn,
Which seven years no leaf has born.
Jesus and Maria.
 
2. What 'neath her heart doth Mary bear?
Kyrie eleison.
A little child doth Mary bear,
Beneath her heart He nestles there.
Jesus and Maria.

3. And as the two are passing near,
Kyrie eleison,
Lo! roses on the thorns appear,
Lo! roses on the thorns appear.
Jesus and Maria.

Advent Blessings to you and yours this season,

                  Chari & Willa

Grandma's House Christmas 2011

     Every year my Uncle Steve designs a decorative front for my Grandma's house.  Grandma and I think 2011 is his best year yet.  It is very sweet.

     Thought I would share.......it is long, at over five minutes....just take a few minutes peek. 

    Blessings from the Northern Californina coast,

                  Chari

The Heavenly Music of Anna Maria Mendieta

     A few days ago, as I was packing and cleaning my house before leaving for the coast, I was listening to one of my favorite Christmas CDs.  I listened to it for days.  The music is absolutely celestial.  I am sure that my favorite song on the CD is Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.  Simply........heavenly.  I probably should admit it may be my all-time favorite piece of music.......ever.
     And that is when I realized........I must share this music.......with all of you!!!

     I am honored to introduce to you.........

Anna Maria Mendieta 

     Anna Maria is a fine musician, an internationally acclaimed harpist, who has played at The Kennedy Center as well as for the Royalty of Spain.  She is also a devout Catholic who was only one of two Americans to play in the orchestra for the Pope for World Youth Day in Spain last August.  The other was her nephew Walter. 

    A biography for Anna Maria is here. 
   You can find Anna Maria's music for sale on her website. 

     I was listening to this CD:


                                                          

      With these songs......

Angels We Have Heard On High
Carol Of The Bells
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
Coventry Carol
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
Adeste Fideles
Silent Night
Gesu Bambino
Ave Maria
Lo, How A Rose
Pachelbel's "Canon"
Away In A Manger
Bring A Torch, Jeannette Isabella
A Ceremony of Carols (Interlude)
Amazing Grace

     It is a perfect addition to your Christmas CD collection!  It is soothing enough to have the children listen as they drift off to sleep.

     Anna Maria has three other CDs for sale.  I have one of those, too.

     The tunes of Broadway fill up this CD.

Angels We Hav 

     My first thought when I saw that there were Broadway tunes on harp was:  how could that be entertaining???  I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this music.  I find myself humming along to all of the tunes.  And there is such a nice variety, too!  I enjoy this CD very much. 

Cats - Memory
Sound of Music - Sound of Music
Les Miserables - On My Own
West Side Story - Tonight
Evita - Don't Cry for Me Argentina
Man Of La Mancha - Dulinea
Porgy & Bess - Summertime
Fiddler On The Roof - Sunrise, Sunset
Sunset Blvd. - With One Look
Jekyll & Hyde - No One Knows Who I am
Phantom Of The Opera - All I Ask of You
Miss Saigon - I Still Believe

 

    

     When Anna Maria plays, I know she ultimately is playing for the glory of God.  I know this because I know Anna Maria.  She just happens to be the sister of my other best friend.  I have had the opportunity of seeing Anna Maria play live several times.  The CDs were an autographed gift from her one year for Christmas. 

     If you live anywhere near the Bay Area or Sacramento area of California, there are plenty of opportunities to see Anna Maria live.  She is the principal harpist for the Sacramento Philharmonic.  She also plays for weddings, parties or for anything else for which one would want a harpist.

     Anna Maria is not only an amazing harpist, she is an accomplished Tango dancer.  She has been bringing Tango music to the harp........an unexpected, but wonderful idea!  And, she is a member of a special ensemble called Tango de Cielo . Her father generously treated my kids and I to tickets to a performance of this talented group.  The musicians playing with Anna Maria were excellent.  You can see a video at the link just above.

This reads on the website:

Leading you through the tight turns, dips and smokey cafes of Argentina, concert harpist Anna Maria Mendieta's exciting new project is a fresh and innovative presentation of the passionate and sensuous music of the Argentine Tango.  Bringing together for the first time in tango history: harp, string quartet, percussion and dance -- we invite you to experience this wholly captivating and rhythmically intoxicating music in a way never before presented!

    

    You can also find Anna Maria on Facebook. At least go her page and click "like"!  :)

    Willa & I want to use our blog to support Catholics in business.  Please share this page about Anna Maria Mendieta so more people can support her. She is a wonderful person and an amazing musiciam whose music is angelic.

Advent Blessings,

                Chari

A Big Rig Adventure!

     We have safely arrived, my five (of six) offspring and I, to the Victorian fishing village on the Northern California coast.  We arrived just in the nick of time for a delightful spectacle of huge trucks adorned in holiday lights. A tradition for about 20 years, the Christmas convoys had about 50 trucks and other vehicles.  We left the car near Great-grandma's house and walked around the corner to view the show on a curb.  Have you ever seen a parade like this?  This was waaaaaay fun!  I have some pictures to share below.  I took them with my real camera.  : )  (As opposed to that phone camera I have been using so frequently.)  The first photo is of my children who are always up for a silly adventure........well, maybe most of the time.



     The last two are of the float filled with men and women of the Armed Forces.  It was my favorite.

     I felt sad for the four floats whose lights went out early in the parade.......but what is one to do???  It was mildly humorous that one of them was "the battery store".  : )

   Advent Blessings,

                       Chari