O Emmanuel, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles, yea, and salvation thereof, come to save us, O Lord our God!Source
Latin
O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster.
O King of the Gentiles, yea, and desire thereof! O Corner-stone, that makest of two one, come to save man, whom Thou hast made out of the dust of the earth!Source
Latin
O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.
Photo by Esther G.
One of my favorite Christmas statues is the one of our Kneeling Santa. I love the way Santa kneels down so reverentially before the New Born King with his hat by his side.
Please read the story over at Les Femmes - In Defense of Santa Claus
SourceDecember 21
O Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Son of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!
Latin
O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer,
let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in Your sight.
I offer praise to You for the grace You have bestowed
on Your humble missionary, Father Francis Xavier Seelos
May I have the same joyful vigor
that Father Seelos possessed during his earthly life
to love You deeply and live faithfully Your gospel.
Amen. (mention your intentions here)
ACN-USA News
12/14/2009
Christmas kindness in Iraq
Religious Sisters gave out Christmas food packages to poverty-stricken people in northern Iraq – with a little bit of help from a leading Catholic charity.
The community of Chaldean Sisters set out in their van packed full of cheese, tinned meat, powdered milk, cooking oil, salt, sugar, soap and other urgent items as part of their outreach in and around Zakho, close to the Syrian/Turkish border.
This Christmas mercy mission is possible thanks to $36,800 from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which supports persecuted and other suffering Christians.
The aid package, which was sent out last week, came amid continuing reports of immense hardship and poverty in the Kurdish north of Iraq, where people are struggling despite government assistance.
In the third aid package of its kind since the initiative began last Christmas, ACN projects staff have seen for themselves the impact of the aid.
Back from a recent trip to the region, ACN Iraq projects coordinator Marie-Ange Siebrecht said, “It was clear from the people we met that the Sisters are very much appreciated for their work.”
She continued, saying, “What they are doing will give many people a real boost this Christmas and remind them that they are not alone – that their brothers and Sisters in faith elsewhere are thinking about them and trying to help.”
Thousands are expected to benefit from the food parcels, with priority given to the elderly, the disabled and others with special needs.
The aid comes as part of ACN’s ongoing commitment to a Christian community in a region where an exodus has led to the Church in Iraq plummeting from about one million in 2003 to less than 350,000 today.
In the spring, ACN gave $29,400 to Iraqi Christians in Syria desperate for help and living in very basic accommodation, mostly in and around the capital Damascus.
Again and again, Syria’s Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, who is coordinating the ACN relief work in the region, has stressed the importance of providing whatever help is possible.
ACN has also supported Iraqi Christian refugees in Jordan and Turkey.
In an interview with ACN, Monsignor Francois Yakan, Patriarchal Vicar for the Assyrians and Chaldeans of Turkey, said, “We are offering the hope of Christ – and, thanks to ACN – the love of Christ in practical help.” Msgr. Yakan also heads an organization supporting Iraqi Christian refugees.
Msgr. Yakan said, “ACN’s help – through faith and solidarity – means so much to us. Prayer unites us with you every day.”
With pictures – see accompanying files and photo caption sheet
Editor’s Notes:
Directly under the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work in over 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.
For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call 718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. Aid to the Church in Need
SourceDecember 20
O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, come to liberate the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.
Latin
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
The Congregation also proclaimed the heroic virtue of nine others, who now qualify for the title "Venerable" and may be beatified with the approval of a miracle:Read the rest here
1.Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli) (1876-1958)
2. Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) (1920-2005)
H/T toPadre Steve
Meditation on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary has often been a source of trouble for me. I would recite the Hail Marys very quickly. I often rushed to get my obligation of saying the rosary out of the way and over with for the day. I actually thought that as long as I fulfilled this obligation, Mary would be pleased with my efforts. How wrong I was and not only was I wrong, I was robbing myself of the beauty of actually meditating and contemplating on the life of Christ.
With the grace of God, I am now finally able to not only meditate on each of the 20 mysteries of the Holy Rosary, but I actually look forward to seeing where my meditations would lead me.
This accomplishment did not come easily though. It was more of a "baby-step" attempt on my part and a conscious effort not to let my mind wander on anything but on each particular mystery.
It started with the Joyful Mysteries, the first of all the mysteries. The First Joyful Mystery is the Annunciation. On each and every bead of that decade, I would think and apply one word to describe part of the Mystery of the Annunciation. For example, on each of those ten beads I would apply some of the following words: 1. maiden, 2. room 3. angel 4. surprise 5. announcement 6. wonderment 7. Holy Spirit 8. Emmanuel 9. Obedience 10. Fiat
After a while of focusing on the mysteries in this child-like manner, my mind and heart now can visualize the place where each mystery is occuring. Dialogues, feelings, surroundings are easier for me to think about and thus I am now meditating much better. For an even deeper meditation, I try to pray the rosary with my eyes closed. However, when I pray the Holy Rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament as is usually the case before daily Mass, I love to "gaze on the loveliness of the Lord"
SourceDecember 19
O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at Whom the kings shall shut their mouths, Whom the Gentiles shall seek, come to deliver us, do not tarry.
Latin
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.
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