Advent at St. E's

For the past several years, my parish places a bare tree to the right of our sanctuary.  We call it our Jesse Tree though we do not place the normal religious symbols on the tree.  Our idea for our tree is different.  We tie leaves on the tree with the names of people we wish to pray for during Advent.  Here is how we go about it.

One of our parishioners agrees to search for an appropriate tree.  It needs to be a young tree with plenty of branches that people can reach fairly easily, but it can't be too tall or bushy so that it looks tacky.  The tree's trunk needs to fit into a bucket of rocks that hold it in place.  I've provided the rocks and bucket.

Next, someone needs to cut out leaves from construction paper, or as I did this year, buy some garlands of Fall leaves from the craft store.  I simply cut the leaves from the garland and tied ribbon through each one and then stuck a strip of adhesive tape on each leaf so that parishioners could write on it, the names of the people they were holding in prayer this Advent.

Because we are a small parish, I only prepared about 125 of these leaves.  They were placed in a basket on a table in the rear of the church so the hospitality ministers could pass them out as people came in for Mass.  In the days before the First Sunday of Advent, the family that usually decorates the church, set the tree up in the sanctuary.

Last year, we had used construction paper leaves that had the names of children in need of prayer written on them.  We had used the leaves in other ways during the past year so we were hesitant to throw them away.  So, the old leaves were placed on the highest branches of the tree so that those children could continue to be prayed for during this Advent as well.

On the First Sunday of Advent, our priest spoke about the meaning of our tree during his homily and said he had written the names of his elderly parents on his leaf and when he ended his homily, he attached his leaf to the tree.  Our parishioners then left the pews and did the same.  The basket still has unused leaves in it so that parishioners who could not attend the First Sunday will still be able to place their names on the tree when they return.

This prayer for our people has become a meaningful tradition at my parish and I hope it will continue..
   
 

~ Bare Tree II by Norman Wyatt, Jr.

ChitChat in the Chapel

This blog post came about from a reflection I read this morning over at Fr. Charles' fine blog, a minor friar. His reflection, Toying with the Talkers, is well worth a read. Fr. Charles loves his early morning, 6:45 a.m. daily Mass and arrives in plenty of time to pray and meditate before it is time to begin Mass. BUT his plans for a quiet time of meditation are continually foiled because his faithful parishioners also arrive early and spend the time before Mass chatting - and apparently not very quietly!

Anyway, I had to chuckle about his story of the chitchat going on before Mass because I have had to endure the same thing. Let me explain:

Last year for Lent, I decided to try to find a Mass nearby that I could attend as part of my Lenten resolutions. I discovered a twice-a-week Mass in the chapel of the local Catholic hospital not far from my home. The chapel is served by the pastor of the nearby church, actually my territorial parish, which I do not attend, since I prefer my birth parish in the nearby city.

So, I began to attend this Mass. The regulars at the Mass are a tight knit group, older people like me, who have gotten to know each other well over the years. Introvert that I am, I tried to keep to myself at first... I arrived earlier than the others and so thought, "Wow, I'll have some time to meditate and pray to Jesus in the tabernacle!" NOT!

For too soon, the regulars began to arrive and the chitchat started! At first I was annoyed... Where was my meditation time? God, I really need some quiet time with You...

But guess what? It wasn't too long before they asked who I was... where I went to church... whether I was interested in lectoring during the Mass along with the 2 or 3 other people who take turns each time... and introduced me around.

And something else had begun to happen. I began to realize that this little community of people care very very much for each other. They look out for each other. If someone is missing they want to know why. They are also willing to let a stranger into their midst. They are Catholics who have a great love of the Mass. They want to be here... They want to be among their friends and as a community, we worship and pray and offer the Sacrifice together with the priest. What more can I ask...

Although I truly miss time to have an extended period to meditate and pray in this chapel on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I take what time I can... Then when my neighbor turns to me to ask a question or to tell me something that I might be interested in knowing, I try to be there for her without annoyance... God must simply have other plans for me those two mornings...

The "O" Antiphons of Advent

Beginning today and ending on December 23rd, folks who daily recite The Liturgy of the Hours will find themselves praying the great "O" Antiphons. Each day during the next seven days, a different name describing Christ found in the Old Testament is used during Evening Prayer or Vespers.

Here they are:

December 17 - O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other mightily, and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.

December 18 - O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

December 19 - O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths, to you the nations will make their prayer: Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

December 20 - O Key of David and scepter of the House of Israel; you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, Isaiah had prophesied.

December 21 - O Morning Star, splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness: Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

December 22 - O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.

December 23 - O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord our God.


If you wish to read more about these Antiphons, please check the Wikipedia article found here.

The Prayer of the Church

Many years ago, in fact in the latter part of the last century, I bought a copy of Christian Prayer, the single volume of The Liturgy of the Hours. I was in a diocesan program for ministry formation at the time; so the custom of praying this Prayer of the Church was brought to our attention and encouraged.

I found it very difficult to get into the rhythm of the Hours or to understand how to use the book correctly, so eventually I gave it up and put my Christian Prayer away.

During the last couple of months, however, my desire to try to learn this prayer has again come to the fore. From others on the Internet, I learned a little more about how the hours were prayed. I also learned that there was a website called Universalis on the Web, that provided the daily prayers of The Liturgy of the Hours free of charge. I have been using this site for the past couple weeks and I think I now understand much better how this prayer works.

Soooo, I took out my Christian Prayer book and took a second look... Well, the book was as much of a mystery as before. Flipping pages and trying to locate the correct prayers and trying to figure out where to put the ribbons was going to be my downfall again! UNTIL I learned that one simply needed to buy a Christian Prayer guide for a couple dollars and the puzzle would be solved!

I now have the guide. And, I am learning how to make some sense of how everything is integrated in the prayer book. I will also continue to use the Universalis but when I wish to be truly alone in my prayer, I will be able to use the book wherever I might be...

For those of you who have thought of praying the Liturgy of the Hours but have felt it was too daunting a task to learn, have patience with yourself. Look how long it took me! The Holy Spirit surely must have pushed me to try one more time. I must not have been ready the first time; but I hope I am now...