One of my favorite ways to prepare for Christmas is to pray 15x/day beginning on the Feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30th) until Christmas Eve:Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayers and grant my desires (mention your intentions here), through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His most Blessed Mother. Amen. 
It places me immediately at the manger and into the mystery of Christmas. So many prayers have been answered over the years. Deo gratias! I love how succinctly Enid M. Chadwick depicts Advent (and other feasts and other Anglo-Catholic traditions) in My Book of the Church's Year.
A couple of years ago, I learned the delightful story below about Gregorian chant. Our choir director sings the trope that tells how the Holy Ghost whispered into the ear of Pope St. Gregory in response to his prayer and then we all come in for the Introit for the first Sunday of Advent, Ad te levavi... When I poked around to learn more, I came across the art here. Translation: When the most holy Gregory poured out prayers to the Lord that He might surrender to him from above a musical gift in song then the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove and enlightened his heart to such a degree that at last he began to sing saying this: Ad te levavi... (Introit for the first Sunday of Advent). A most blessed Advent to all.
It places me immediately at the manger and into the mystery of Christmas. So many prayers have been answered over the years. Deo gratias! I love how succinctly Enid M. Chadwick depicts Advent (and other feasts and other Anglo-Catholic traditions) in My Book of the Church's Year.A couple of years ago, I learned the delightful story below about Gregorian chant. Our choir director sings the trope that tells how the Holy Ghost whispered into the ear of Pope St. Gregory in response to his prayer and then we all come in for the Introit for the first Sunday of Advent, Ad te levavi... When I poked around to learn more, I came across the art here. Translation: When the most holy Gregory poured out prayers to the Lord that He might surrender to him from above a musical gift in song then the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove and enlightened his heart to such a degree that at last he began to sing saying this: Ad te levavi... (Introit for the first Sunday of Advent). A most blessed Advent to all.
5 comments:
Hard to believe another new Church year is here already. Blessed Advent to you and yours.
Thank you, Carol. This year has flown. I'm so happy to begin again! I included a book link that you might be interested in as a catechist.
Thank you!
I remember hearing Gregorian chants coming from the lower floors (today some call it a basement, but it is the original floor) of the Nativity Chruch in Beth Lehem. I never went down to view the monks, I just listened from above. I fell into a trance which lasted for the rest of the day. There was definitely holy presence there.
Oh my! How I would love to go to the Holy Land and listen to the monks sing there. There is something heavenly about chant. When we attended a chant conference a couple of years ago, the exorcist Fr. Ripperger spoke about different types of music and how they affect us and what was fascinating was learning that demons hate Gregorian chant. They literally flee! I can see why because we chant a lot of psalms. Here's the Q&A if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afgtx1r5xVo
Post a Comment