Light has also been a big part of our liturgical practices, as anyone who has attended the Easter Vigil can attest, and this also goes back to the beginning.
The Holy Family and the Crisis of Our Family: 5th Day of Christmas
The trends that already looked alarming a century ago have now grown and metastasized. Our great grandparents would not believe by what is now commonplace. The family as traditionally understood is tottering under open and sustained attack.
The Attraction of Sanctity and Holy Innocents: 4th Day of Christmas
As I observed in my recent posts on St. Servulus, St. Nicasius, and St. Anastasia, lesser observances are often overwhelmed during great celebrations such as Christmas and Easter.
The Beloved Disciple: St. John the Evangelist (3rd Day of Christmas)
John is the model of the disciple who leans into the heart of Jesus. Like Mary the sister of Martha (see Luke 10:38), he has "chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from" him.
St. Stephen and Good King Wenceslas: 2nd Day of Christmas
Just as our Christmas joy is tempered by the realization that the child lying in the manger must someday hang on the Cross, St. Stephen reminds us, a mere day after the Feast of the Nativity itself, that following the Child of Bethlehem can mean our own Calvary.
Merry Christmas (and Feast of St. Anastasia)!
St. Anastasia shares in the Incarnation by sharing her feast day with the commemoration of Christ's Nativity on the Solemnity of Christmas.
God Bless Little Saints: St. Servulus
St. Servulus puts flesh on the words of St. Paul: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions (Colossians 1:24).”
Small Beginnings: 4th Sunday of Advent
How can it be that the Firstborn of All Creation was born again as a little human baby? A baby lying in a manger out of which animals feed? From small beginnings . . .
Evermore and Evermore: “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.”
Sixty human generations or more have passed since Aurelius Prudentius first published hymn IX of his Liber Cathereminon. We still sing it today as the Christmas hymn "Of the Father's Love Begotten."
Keep Your Eye on the Ball: 3rd Sunday of Advent
The Good News is good news indeed, but it is not quite a free pass. We have a part we need to play beyond simply waiting for our Savior. We need to keep our eye on the ball.