There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. [Henry James]
Therese taught me many years ago there are year round bargains to be had in the post Christmas sales, like the time she acquired full sets of red, gold, and white napkins for a song.
Wine is traditionally blessed on St John's day, commemorating the destruction of a poisoned bottle when the evangelist made the sign of the cross over it. The blessing for St John's wine can be found in the Roman Ritual. Have an extra bottle blessed for any couples that will be married in the next year. Make tags with an appropriate Scripture verse; the pictured bottle's tag says: "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God." [i Jn 4, 7]
A Set of Bride's Tree Ornaments (from a fellow Church Lady)
A lamb cake pan, to celebrate Christ, the Paschal Lamb at Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, St John the Baptist, St Perpetua & Felicity, St Agnes, and much more!
The TAN Saints Calendar:
Holy Toast:
O come, Desire of nations, bind
Even a custom like Christmas baking, apparently such an external activity, has its roots in the Church’s Advent liturgy, which makes its own the glorious words of the Old Testament in these days of the declining year: “In that day, the mountains will drip sweetness, and the rivers will flow with milk and honey.” People of old found in such words the embodiment of their hopes for a world redeemed. And once again, our ancestors celebrated Christmas as the day on which God truly came. When he comes at Christmas, he distributes his honey (so to speak).Truly, the earth must flow with this honey on that day: where he is present, all bitterness disappears, and there is harmony between heaven and earth, between God and man. The honey and the sweets are a sign of this peace, of concord and of joy.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
O come, O come, great Lord of might,
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Behind her the virgins of her train are brought to the King;
Obviously the gift will depend on how close a friend the recipient is, how much money you're willing to spend and whether or not you're pooling with a bunch of people.
Now, the obvious gift for an ordination is a vestment of some sort... If you know the ordinand's taste well then this can be a very much appreciated gift. If you don't mind it not being a surprise, then I'd strongly recommend you consult with the ordinand first. He may already have enough stoles, etc... or he might want one in a particular colour. It'd be annoying to receive 4 white stoles and to have to go out and buy a purple stole after ordination. Another nice gift for an ordinand to receive is a liturgical book. Again, consult with the recipient. A considerate priest-friend gave me 'Pastoral Care for the Sick' (the rite for Communion for the Sick, Viaticum, Anointing, etc...) when I was made a deacon and it's obviously something which I've used a huge amount. Likewise, my copy of The Order of Christian Funerals and The Rite of Penance were gifts, and I'm reminded of the donors when I use them. Fr Sean Finegan's 'Consecrations, Blessings and Prayers' is an excellent resource, and I think any priest would appreciate it. A gift token for a liturgical/theological bookshop might be appropriate too.
I wouldn't recommend getting a pyx. I got one when I was ordained deacon, and another 4 or 5 when I was ordained priest. I think most newly ordained priests probably have several pyxes. Anyway, liturgical gifts are ideal... practical and very meaningful, but I'd strongly recommend consulting the recipient first. Newly ordained priests also probably receive enough nice pens to last them a lifetime.
Moving away from the liturgical, probably the most practical gift I received in my first year of ministry was the GPS my brother gave me. Parish ministry involves a lot of driving, sometimes in unfamiliar areas, and there are lots of addresses to remember. Other useful bits and pieces that I've received - black shoulder bag suitable for an alb and stole, leather folder for documents and a number of pieces of art to decorate my rooms in the parochial house. In terms of clothing, a warm cap, gloves or scarf might be appreciated by a priest for the winter.
I have been asked to serve as a confirmation sponsor for a fellow Christian who will be received into the Church in a few weeks, making his First Communion and being confirmed. I am looking forward to sharing his faith journey.
Is there a new baby on the way among your family and friends?
Patroness of the Americas, pray for us!A few predictions by the Anchoress
Here’s what I expect to happen over the next 24 hours:
1)The press and the Obama trolls will use psy-ops to try to discourage your vote. That’s another no-brainer, but remember it. Remember it and VOTE. Vote if it’s raining, vote if it’s snowing. Vote if you feel crappy. Vote if you’re hearing talking heads proclaim “the most historic landslide in all of human history.” Tonight you’re going to hear - if you bother to tune in, and I wouldn’t - the gasbags on the boob tube announcing, “this election is over…” After all this time, you should know hype when you hear it, you should know, by now, that the press lies. Ignore all of that and GO VOTE. Even if eleventy billion vote the other way, get your own voice heard and on the record. Take someone else with you when you vote; encourage everyone you know to vote. Vote, vote, vote.See her site for the other four predictions including a link to some very interesting insights about the nature of polling.
The Virgin of LepantoLORETTO, MN—Although you won't see her speaking from the pulpit or spreading God's word to the masses, St. Augustine Catholic Church parishioner Betty Salas, 46, sacrifices both her time and energy to complete the many mundane tasks the Lord has asked her to take off His plate.
Betty Salas lets the good Lord work through her to organize the church library.
"At a very young age, I felt the call to do God's busy work," said Salas, spiritually fulfilled from a long afternoon spent photocopying hymn lyrics for Sunday's mass and changing the bulletin board's decorative seasonal border. "I am just a vessel through which He cleans the church Tupperware."
When she was only 8 years old, Salas said she heard the voice of God call out to her from on high, rattling off a few things He needed done before the Sabbath. Salas took up her heavenly Father's holy to-do list as her own personal calling, devoting her life to refilling the holy-water containers and picking up the priests' vestments from the dry cleaners.
After reaching her 30s, Salas became more dedicated to her spiritual puttering, and began not only replacing the prayer candles, but also ordering the new prayer candles, and emptying and cleaning the prayer candle donation box.
"The Lord hath spoken to me, and He hath said, 'The lightbulb in the rectory needs changing,'" Salas said.
Today, the veteran church bulletin copyeditor continues to be a model of religious commitment as she heeds the call of her swamped Savior.
"The Lord is my shepherd, and I will not question His infinite wisdom or bother Him with the details of who's bringing what to the Palm Sunday spaghetti supper," Salas said. "He has brought me forth from the darkness to the promise of eternal life, and the least I can do is refill the offering envelopes."
"And DustBuster the pews, and sharpen the tiny pencils we hand out during the annual Bishop's Appeal, and make sure all the youth group permission slips are turned in on time," Salas added. "Phew! Lord, give me the strength to do thy tedious errands!"
But even after devoting nearly four decades of her life to lightening the Almighty's load, Salas shows no signs of slowing down.
"God has a divine plan for all of us," said Salas, carefully straightening an errant letter "E" on the roadside sign announcing the day's services. "And besides, if I don't polish the chalices, who will? Ramona's sure as #$%^ not going to."
The Almighty God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, was unavailable for comment, as he was reportedly "up to [His] eyeballs" in drowning Bangladeshis. [Full Article]
The Battle of Lepanto by Anonymer Maler
Image source
Lord, have mercy on us,
Vatican Fresco of the Battle of Lepanto
