. Contemplative Haven: December 2006

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Happy New Year Everyone!




Wishing all my dear readers a safe, healthy, peaceful and prayerful 2007!




A Blessing for the New Year:

Remember us, O God; from age to age be our comforter. You have given us the wonder of time, blessings in days and nights, seasons and years.

Bless your children at the turning of
the year and fill the months ahead with the bright hope that is ours in the coming of Christ.

You are our God, living and reigning, for ever and ever.

Amen.

posted by Gabrielle at 7:20 PM |

Devotions Meme

I've been maimed memed by dear Honora, so here goes:

1. Favourite devotion or prayer to Jesus?
In recent years, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Jesus Prayer, but also many of the devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

2. Favourite Marian devotion or prayer?
Absolutely the Memorare, since childhood.

3. Do you wear a scapular or medal?
I have a brown scapular which was my mother's and that I've carried for decades in my wallet, simply because the thread-like string bothers me when I wear it (so I guess the hair-shirt is definitely out). I have an assortment of medals, but I most frequently wear the Sacred Heart.

4. Do you have holy water in your home?
Yes, several bottles, and last year I bought a small holy water font at the little giftshop of a Polish parish we visited. I thought it would look lovely above the calendar in the kitchen, where we could all see it and reach it. The first time I filled it, it overflowed, ran down the wall, and drenched the calendar. I tried to wipe up the mess, smeared everything handwritten on the calendar, and had no idea what I was doing for the entire month. I fill more cautiously now.

5. Do you 'offer up' your sufferings?
I always try to.

6. Do you observe First Fridays and First Saturdays?
I have tried. I have tried. I have failed. I observe them go by, having failed.

7. Do you go to Eucharistic Adoration?
Yes, as often as possible, but not as much as I would like.

8. Are you a Saturday evening Mass person or Sunday morning Mass person?
Mass attendance generally has to correspond to family/parish commitments. Also, I enjoy mixing it up, because we have five Masses per weekend, with five different choirs, and I love the wide variety of music.

9. Do you say prayers at mealtime?
When we do, it's only at suppertime. Always on special occasions, quite frequently inbetween, but something we forget to do regularly...

10. Favourite saints?
St. Faustina, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Gertrude the Great, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and many more.

11. Can you recite the Apostles' Creed by heart?
Yes, in both English and French, but the Nicene Creed I only know in English, for some reason.

12. Do you usually say short prayers (aspirations) during the course of the day?
Not really, but I think it was a matter of conditioning (and intonation). I had a fiesty Irish grandmother, who could make every short prayer sound the exact opposite of a benediction or aspiration. When she said, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!", we were well-advised to get out of the room! It's just not my way of praying.

13. Where is your favourite place to pray?
In front of the Blessed Sacrament, alone in a dimly-lit church, outside in any grotto-like setting, or at home if everyone else is asleep.

14. Bonus Question #1: When you pass by an automobile accident or other serious mishap, do you say a quick prayer for the folks involved?
Always.

15. Bonus Question #2: If you could visit any of Our Lady's apparition sites, which one would you choose?
I have already been lucky enough to have visited Lourdes, so I think it would be Zeitoun, Egypt.

posted by Gabrielle at 7:00 PM |

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Feast of the Holy Family



Prayer to the Holy Family:

O most loving Jesus, Who by Thy sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, and by the example of Thy domestic life, didst bless with peace and happiness the family which Thou didst choose on earth; in Thy clemency look down upon this household, humbly prostrate before Thee and imploring Thy mercy. Remember that this family belongs to Thee; for to Thee we have in a special way dedicated and devoted ourselves. Look upon us in Thy loving-kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in the imitation of Thy Holy Family; that having revered Thee and loved Thee faithfully on earth, we may bless and praise Thee eternally in heaven. O Mary, most sweet Mother, to thy intercession we have recourse, knowing that thy divine Son will hear thy prayers. And do thou, O glorious Patriarch, St. Joseph, assist us by thy powerful mediation and offer, by the hands of Mary, our prayers to Jesus. Amen.

posted by Gabrielle at 11:15 PM |

Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Virgin's Cradle-Hymn


We have a special someone in our house who turned 15 today! The past few days, I've been wondering what the Blessed Virgin may have sung while she rocked the Baby Jesus to sleep. Although we'll probably never know that, I did find this one, "The Virgin's Cradle-Hymn". It is a Latin hymn originally found on a print of the Virgin Mary in Germany, and translated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (better known for such poems as "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan"). It was published in 1817, in "Sibylline Leaves".


Sleep, sweet babe! my cares beguiling:
Mother sits beside thee smiling;
Sleep, my darling, tenderly!
If thou sleep not, mother mourneth,
Singing as her wheel she turneth:
Come, soft slumber, balmily!



Dormi, Jesu! Mater ridet
Quae tam dulcem somnum videt,
Dormi, Jesu! blandule!
Si non dormis, Mater plorat,
Inter fila cantans orat,
Blande, veni, somnule.



You may listen to the hymn in Latin Here, performed by the Dale Warland Singers.

posted by Gabrielle at 10:40 PM |

Monday, December 25, 2006

Today Christ is Born


Hodie Christus natus est: hodie Salvator apparuit: hodie in terra canunt Angeli, laetantur Archangeli: hodie exsultant justi, dicentes: Gloria in excelsis Deo, alleluia.

Today Christ is born: today the Savior appeared: today on earth the Angels sing, Archangels rejoice: today the righteous rejoice, saying: Glory to God in the highest, alleluia.

posted by Gabrielle at 12:30 AM |

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Little Lamb of God




Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei
Dona nobis pacem.


Lamb of God
Lamb of God
Grant us peace.


You may listen here to the boys' choir "Libera" of Norbury, UK with soloist Liam O'Kane.

posted by Gabrielle at 9:38 AM |

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Chanson pour Marie Cecile


In her post of Dec. 16/06, Marie Cecile of Soulful Longings mentions a 'French song' she used to know. It is a Christmas carol I grew up with, having constantly alternated between English and French parishes: Il est né le divin enfant.

There are several more verses, but I've just typed out the ones which correspond to the recording to which I've linked, so if you minimize the music once you click on it, you can follow along. It is a carol we normally sing at all Christmas Masses.

If you do not already know it, just think - you have a whole week to memorize it and surprise your loved ones!


Il est né le divin enfant,
Jouez hautbois, résonnez musettes!
Il est né le divin enfant,
Chantons tous son avènement!

Depuis plus de quatre mille ans,
Nous le promettaient les prophètes
Depuis plus de quatre mille ans,
Nous attendions cet heureux temps. {au Refrain}

Une étable est son logement
Un peu de paille est sa couchette,
Une étable est son logement
Pour un dieu quel abaissement! {au Refrain}

O Jésus! O Roi tout-puissant
Tout petit enfant que vous êtes,
O Jésus! O Roi tout-puissant,
Régnez sur nous entièrement! {au Refrain}

posted by Gabrielle at 11:55 PM |

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Feastday of St. John of the Cross

The Living Flame of Love

O living flame of love
that tenderly wounds my soul
in its deepest center! Since
now you are not oppressive,
now consummate! if it be your will:
tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!

O sweet cautery,
O delightful wound!
O gentle hand! O delicate touch
that tastes of eternal life
and pays every debt!
In killing you changed death to life.

O lamps of fire!
in whose splendors
the deep caverns of feeling,
once obscure and blind,
now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely,
both warmth and light to their Beloved.

How gently and lovingly
you wake in my heart,
where in secret you dwell alone;
and in your sweet breathing,
filled with good and glory,
how tenderly you swell my heart with love.

posted by Gabrielle at 11:21 PM |

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Anniversaries of Thomas Merton

Advent: December 10, 1941
Thomas Merton arrives at the Monastery of Our Lady of Gethsemani.

Advent: December 10, 1968
Thomas Merton dies in Bangkok, Thailand


 My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thoughts in Solitude)

posted by Gabrielle at 11:39 PM |

Friday, December 08, 2006

Feast of the Immaculate Conception



"Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."


I will be attending a Living Rosary this evening. All the intentions of my dear blogger friends, and those I have received by e-mail, will be on my mind, heart and lips tonight.

posted by Gabrielle at 10:25 AM |

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The Winter Time of Growth


An excerpt from Caryll Houselander's, "Lift Up Your Hearts":

"We shall sometimes be surrounded by forces that threaten the inward life, forces stronger than we are ourselves. But though only faith can convince us of this, they are not so strong as the unheard, unseen, unfelt, unimaginably sensitive Christ-life within us, that is stronger than the storming, parching, freezing or blighting of any possible environment.


We must not abandon the struggle that the secret growing demands, or doubt its purpose: the getting up early on dark mornings for mass when our presence at mass has become only a losing fight with distractions, the offering of our daily work to form Christ in us when the monotony of our daily work makes it seem incapable of any meaning at all.

But neither must we refuse the slumber, the repose, of the winter time of growth, the stillness, the silence, the acceptance of the times set by God, God's law of growth, the contented folding of our life upon the hidden life within us."

Taken from the section called "Advent - Growth"

posted by Gabrielle at 11:40 PM |

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Thomas Merton's "Advent"

Advent

Charm with your stainlessness these winter nights,
Skies, and be perfect! Fly vivider in the fiery dark, you quiet meteors,
And disappear.
You moon, be slow to go down,
This is your full!

The four white roads make off in silence
Towards the four parts of the starry universe. Time falls like manna at the corners of the wintry earth.
We have become more humble than the rocks,
More wakeful than the patient hills.

Charm with your stainlessness these nights in Advent,
holy spheres,
While minds, as meek as beasts,
Stay close at home in the sweet hay;
And intellects are quieter than the flocks that feed by starlight.

Oh pour your darkness and your brightness over all our
solemn valleys,
You skies: and travel like the gentle Virgin,
Toward the planets' stately setting.

Oh white full moon as quiet as Bethlehem!

Thomas Merton (1946)

posted by Gabrielle at 12:07 AM |

Monday, December 04, 2006

Finding Time "To Be"


During Advent, a time of wonder and waiting, we might take a lesson from the children, amid the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations. Here is a little excerpt from the book, Born Contemplative:

"Two friends of mine were sitting on the sand at Whitley Bay while Katie, the two-and-a-half-year old daughter of one of them, occupied herself nearby. Having found a gull's feather she spent a long time looking at it, feeling it and turning it every way. She then rested it on the water and watched it being carried a little way away and then being brought back on a wave. She picked it up again and continued to play with it like this for the best part of half an hour. The two friends were forcibly struck by the sheer wonder which had taken possession of that child for so long, and they realized how much they, as adults, were missing out on. They had, however, provided this wonderful opportunity for Katie just TO BE, without interference, in communion with the universe." (Sister Madeleine Simon)

One of my wishes for all of us this Advent is that we may find a little bit of time every day just "to be" - to watch the sparrows and chickadees at the birdfeeder, to admire a pinecone as we fashion a wreath, to gaze at the intricate frost patterns on our windows, or whatever captures our fancy and sense of wonder in our part of the world. May we be a little bit as children, as we await the coming of the Christchild.

posted by Gabrielle at 12:05 AM |