Daily Readings for:December 16, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: Incline a merciful ear to our cry, we pray, O Lord, and, casting light on the darkness of our hearts, visit us with the grace of your Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
RECIPES
o Chiresaye (Cherry Pudding Decorated with Flowers)
ACTIVITIES
o Advent and the Year of the Eucharist
o Christmas Plays, Los Pastores and Las Posadas
o Posters for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany
PRAYERS
o Roman Ritual Blessing Before and After Meals: Advent (2nd Plan)
o Christmas Novena - December 16 - 24
o Christmas Anticipation Prayer
· Advent: December 16th
· Monday of the Third Week of Advent
Old Calendar: St. Eusebius, bishop and martyr; St. Adelaide, queen of Italy (Hist)
We are the blind offspring of the children of pitiful Eve
Bringing with us the shadows born of an age-old error.
But when God deigned to assume the mortal form
Of a human nature, then came forth from the Virgin
A world of salvation.... Carmen 4, Sedulius
According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Eusebius which is celebrated in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite on August 2. Historically it is also the feast of St. Adelaide, daughter of the king of Burgundy. Throughout her life she received strong suport from the abbots of Cluny, with whom she was on terms of close friendship.
St. Adelaide
St. Adelaide was a truly remarkable woman. She was the daughter of the king of Burgundy, and was married to the son of the ruler of Provence as a means of ending a feud. When her husband was murdered by a rival prince, she was shut up in captivity until freed by Otto I, who became Holy Roman Emperor and Adelaide, his Empress. She ruled with her husband until his death, at which time her jealous daughter-in-law had her banished from the court twice! Yet she remained steadfast and faithful, known for her liberality in giving and her piety; and eventually she was restored to court as the regent for her grandson Otto III. She was active in the reforms of the great abbey at Cluny, and reposed in 999. Despite her exalted status, she was a wife and mother, and lived both hard times and good, always faithful to her Lord, and always ready to give generously to those in need. She never took revenge on her political enemies once she gained the regency and it was said that her court was much like a monastery itself in its piety. She is a reminder to me that regardless of how much or how little I may have, my work remains the same.
Excerpted from Panagia Icons
Patron:
Things to Do:
Today is Day One of the Christmas Novena