1. Rorate Mass
Saturday began bright and early with a contingent of us attending the 6:30 a.m. rorate Mass, described as follows by our pastor:"This votive Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary takes its name from the first words of the Introit: "Rorate coeli, désuper et nubes pluant justum," which is translated: "Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just." What is special about this Mass is that it is celebrated early in the morning using only candlelight, a reminder that the world was in darkness before the coming of the True Light of the World, Jesus Christ. As the Mass is offered, and the dawn begins to break, the Church - through the prayers of this Mass - expresses her deep longing for the coming of the Messiah in the darkness of our fallen world. It is thus a Mass that is so wonderfully suited to the Advent theme of hopeful expectation of the coming of the Christ Child."
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| Photo courtesy: B. Williams |
I was home packing suitcases and loading the van so we could leave for Atlanta as soon as possible, which was an hour and a half later than our planned departure which, combined with the 3.5-hour trip taking 5.5 hours, made us much later than we'd hoped to the Grandparents' Christmas.
2. Saturday in Atlanta
We did arrive, however, safe and sound! Chris' mother designs the most picture-perfect Christmas in her home with Chris' father dutifully moving this here and moving that there and doing whatever needs to be done.
We enjoyed a snack of hot cocoa and appetizers, the exchanging of gifts, eating a feast of a homemade meal, and then some caroling before we had to depart for our hotel.
3. Sunday in Atlanta
In the morning, the children busied themselves with playing our newly received Payday board game, making numerous potholders on the newly received loom, and listening to me read from our latest read-aloud, "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster--a favorite from my childhood and never yet read aloud to my own children! I chose this book intentionally because it is so delightful and not at all academic that I hoped it would lure my brood back into a reading aloud family culture. Indeed, they are asking me multiple times a day, "Would you read us another chapter, Mama?!"
Then we zipped to our former home parish where John and Mary had been invited to sing with the choir that day--what a blessed joy for them! After Mass, we enjoyed lunch with the children's loving godparents.
We had just enough time to meet the grandparents for the Christmas concert of the Atlanta Master Chorale. This year, I got to attend while Chris kindly kept the three little boys outside playing.
After a quick dinner after the theater, we got back to the hotel . . . where everyone was very, very tired.
4. Movie Date
Chris and I hired a sitter and dashed out for dinner and a movie date to see "Richard Jewell." Except for one, brief immodest scene in a bar (just turn your head) and a little bit of rough language by cops, it was a good, clean, crime movie and an important reminder about how an overreaching government can easily ruin any one of our lives.
5. Preparations
Getting back to my prayer life, disjointed lately . . . purchasing final Christmas gifts . . . putting up exterior Christmas lights . . . housecleaning . . . visiting with my baby goddaughter . . . planning holiday menus . . . attempting to resume any exercise at at all . . . battling terrible insomnia . . . running on fumes . . .
6. Miscellaneous Moments
Joseph (almost 7) lost his first and second teeth in one week!
7. Christmas Music for Seniors
The oldest four performed with other homeschoolers playing Christmas music for seniors in a nursing home. It was a jolly time and the elderly seemed to love it.
A contingent of us have been experiencing some illness, so pray for us that it is all passed by the time Christmas comes! If God allows otherwise, then it will be one of a good handful of Easter and Christmas feast days when we've celebrated ill and in our PJs!
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| David asleep from sickness, Mama asleep from taking care of him for three days |
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#5 is quite familiar to me right now. Motherhood is fun.
ReplyDelete#7 resonates as well. I think I have maybe made it to both Ash Wednesday and the Triduum worship services a handful of times since my son was born. (My emergency c-section with him was during Holy Week because if something is going to go down with a pastor's family, it *WILL* be during Holy Week. Satan apparently gets a bit emo that week.) 2012 was fun because my kiddo had a febrile seizure on Good Friday AND a cluster of them around Christmas. I think it's the only time I ever missed Christmas worship while I was married to my former husband (who is a Lutheran pastor).
Jen, Yes! I've come to appreciate when we CAN make it to Holy Week/Easter or Christmas or All Saints events. I remember one year, all our kids came down with something terrible and had to miss both Mass and the big party for All Saints Day. I made a little party for them in our den with very simple items, like stacking up six paper towel rolls in a triangle for them to knock down with a ball. The games were so simple and the children were so young that they loved padding around in their pajamas playing the games. Some day, we'll probably go to decades of these services uninterrupted, but right now isn't that season!
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