Gaudete in Domino semper! Ember Days as Advent calm in the storm of Christmas prep

In the western church, we have lost much of the penitential nature of Advent. From friends who were Byzantine Catholic, I had learned that there was an Advent fast. It is not as severe as the Lenten fast, but in both liturgy and actions our eastern rite brothers and sisters were a bit more focused on trying to make Advent a real time of preparation.

I know it is hard to stay focused on Advent or any penitential actions since, outside of mass, which for many is just once a week, there is not much if anything to counter the Christmas season that surrounds us and that starts to disappear December 26. Personally, I love Christmas lights and since it is completely dark by 6pm here, it is easy to see numerous houses light up with various degrees of festivity.

We have our Advent wreath and most of our nativity sets are out and waiting patiently for baby Jesus to arrive. The Benedictine office in the EF today included the verse "Rejoice in the Lord always, I say again rejoice" and the gospel reading was focused on those asking Jesus who was John the Baptist. We prepare and are trying to get ready and in the Latin rite we do have helps for this week for Wednesday, Friday and Saturday are Ember Days, which are days of fast which occur four times a year. This coming week, Wednesday December 14, Friday December 16 and Saturday December 17 are days to fast and pray, From discussions on other sites, I gather these days were not surpressed but were just not inlcuded anymore on the calendar and in the OF there is not any mention of them in the mass. I was able to attend an EF mass on Ember Saturday in September and it was quite moving and included more readings and prayers of intersession remenicient of those on Good Friday.

Even though you may worship completely in the OF of the mass, you can still try to make time to reflect, pray and even fast in preparation for the coming of Christmas. To try to make certain that in all of the cleaning and shopping and cooking and traveling, we remember to rejoice in the Lord always and to prepare anew for Christ to come into our hearts.

Keeping Advent- The challenge and the purple light set

Advent was one of the great treasures that I discovered when I found the church. I think I had heard of Advent calendars, but the only "season" of the church really on the radar was Lent. I spent many years having no idea that the 12 days of Christmas were the days AFTER December 25 and that December was for Christmas trees, Christmas lights etc.

Don't get me wrong, I do shop for Christmas presents and I do like to see the lights on houses as I am driving in the evening. I am not constantly reminding people around me that "it is Advent not Christmas!" It remains a challenge, in the face of all of the red and green to focus on the season of Advent. We have our "real" Advent wreath and I found a couple of Advent resources for little hands- one an Advent wreath place mat that allows the child to color the lights on the wreath and the other a fabric wreath that allows your child to "light" their own wreath that they can actually touch.

I had been wishing I could find a purple light set because I would be willing to put them up, but only with purple during Advent and changing them to colored lights later. Nothing big, but just something seasonal. Well, I was out running some errands yesterday morning and I had to to to CVS yesterday and they had purple lights and on sale. I was trying to put them on our railing at home, but then discovered that the brilliant folks who designed our subdivision did not put an external outlet on the front of our townhouse, the only outlet is in the rear. Still trying to figure out plan B.

To disappointment of media no heads exploded at masses with new translation

The media in the U.S. can be funny. Not rotflol funny but sheesh funny. Several papers and news websites have run articles in the last weeks and days solemnly stating the mass won't sound the same. The WaPo article today was, "Will the New Mass cause confusion." I have read such phrases as "not since Vatican II have such sweeping changes been made" and my personal favorite quote "it's going to be like Vatican II all over again. Ummm, not at all like the changes the first Sunday in Advent 1968 when people came to mass and without any warning, it was entirely in English on a table and the priest was staring at them the entire mass instead of praying with the people facing (liturgical) east.

Doing things by rote can have its advantages at times. When it is oh dark hundred and the morning, it helps to not have to think while you get up, turn off the alarm clock and start the daily routine. Breathing and blinking and walking are all things that, in a sense, we do by rote- most of us don't have to think about them, we just do it.

I remain unconvinced that the responses of the mass are a good thing to be rote. One reason I am very happy to be able to attend the EF mass is I have to participate and I have to actively participate. Even though I know how the mass proceeds, I know many of the responses and good amounts of the prayers, I am always paying attention or being recollected. I focus. At the OF, since I know English, it is all to easy to let the distractions of the day creep in and I often am not really listening to the prayers. I try and it is not on purpose, but English is ordinary, I don't have to work at it. Latin means worship and I have to remain focused and attentive.

On the other side of the pond, our media is spreading cheer by amusing some of our English friends who were given permission by their bishops to begin using the new translation several months ago. People adjusted fine and no one will look askance when you accidentally say "and also with you".

It would be amusing to go to masses on Christmas to listen for those C & E folks who have not idea, but I should behave and not be snarky.

Advent Update & Baronius Press Breviary

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving though it was quite hectic the week before and has been very busy since my return. Working on a paper for my Old Testament class has been eye opening. Nothing like reading the Vatican II documents for yourself. I will update more later.

We do have our Advent wreath up and our Infant of Prague is in His violet robes. I am trying to finish up house cleaning and de-cluttering as part of this Advent. I was able to sent two boxes of items for consignment (deo gratias) and I am trying to move my heart towards simplicity (very hard for a pack rat (sigh).

I did see an update this morning on the baroniuspress.com website regarding their latin-english roman breviary. I don't know how long it usually takes to get a Concordat but perhaps by Lent. Need more pennies in my piggy bank.

Roman Breviary - Breviarium Romanum
Latin-English Breviary [side-by-side]
Flexible cover (Black Leather), 3-Volume Set, Size: 4.5" x 7", Item No: 5500

The excellent news is that the final corrections from the Censor have been received a few days ago. We anticipate that the implementation of the corrections and the finalising of the Breviary will take a couple of weeks.

After this, we will formally apply for the Concordat cum originali to be granted – the necessary approval that liturgical texts require in order to be used and also to ensure that the text is accurate. As soon as the permission is granted, the printing will commence.

We are very grateful for all the prayers and support we have received in order to complete this huge undertaking.