· JESSE TREE: Jesus is Wisdom: Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus in old Bibles) 24:2; Wisdom 8:1 Symbols: oil lamp, open book
· Make reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday Devotion
· Pray Day 4 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
· Tuesday: Litany of St. Michael the Archangel
a. Start your day by savoring pancakes drizzled with maple syrup – a sweet way to kick off your morning.
b. Then, head outside for some fun outdoor activities. Consider visiting a local aviation museum to learn more about the Wright brothers and their historic flight. Take time to appreciate the evolution of aviation technology on National Device Appreciation Day by exploring how far we’ve come.
c. To wind down, gather with friends and family for a movie night at home. End the day by watching a film that showcases incredible advancements in technology.
d. Embrace the resourcefulness and ingenuity that these holidays inspire by creating your own maple syrup-infused recipes or constructing paper airplanes.
33 days to Christmas-Start the 33 days to Eucharistic Glory[7]
Want to start a small group? Download our 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory Study Guide
Day 20
On this 20th day, love God with all you heart, mind, soul and strength if in a state of grace receive our Lord in the Eucharist; if not confess your sins and go to Him.
Copilot:
The Eucharist guides Catholics in loving God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength in several profound ways:
· Heart: The Eucharist is a direct encounter with the love of Christ, inspiring believers to reciprocate that love with all their heart. It deepens emotional devotion and compassion, prompting Catholics to express love through actions and relationships.
· Mind: Through the Eucharist, Catholics engage in deep theological reflection and understanding. The mystery of the Eucharist encourages intellectual pursuit of faith, fostering a desire to learn more about God and His teachings.
· Soul: The Eucharist is the spiritual nourishment for the soul, fortifying the inner life and spiritual resilience. It enhances the sanctifying grace, helping believers to align their souls with God’s will and grow in holiness.
· Strength: Participating in the Eucharist empowers Catholics to live out their faith with courage and perseverance. It provides the strength needed to carry out God’s will in daily life, to serve others, and to stand firm in the face of challenges.
Through regular reception of the Eucharist, Catholics are continually reminded of Christ’s sacrificial love, which becomes the ultimate model for how they should love God and others.
For the next 12 days we will exam the sequential ways the Eucharist helps Catholics after they receive, highlighting the ongoing impact it has on their spiritual lives:
- Thanksgiving: Immediately after reception, Catholics often spend time in silent thanksgiving, reflecting on the grace they have just received.
- Inner Peace: The Eucharist brings a deep sense of inner peace and spiritual fulfillment, knowing they are in communion with Christ.
- Renewed Purpose: It renews a sense of purpose and mission to live according to the teachings of Jesus.
- Spiritual Strength: The grace received provides spiritual strength to face daily challenges and resist temptations.
- Increased Charity: Catholics are inspired to act with greater love and compassion towards others.
- Joy and Gratitude: It fosters a spirit of joy and gratitude for the blessings in their lives.
- Holiness: The Eucharist helps them grow in holiness and strive to live a more virtuous life.
- Unity with the Church: It reinforces a sense of unity with the global Church and the community of believers.
- Deeper Faith: Regular reception deepens their faith and understanding of the mysteries of their religion.
- Guidance in Decisions: The spiritual clarity gained can provide guidance in making important life decisions.
- Resilience in Adversity: It gives strength and resilience in the face of suffering and adversity.
- Hope for Eternal Life: The Eucharist reinforces the hope of eternal life and the promise of resurrection.
Each step in this sequence demonstrates how the Eucharist continually nourishes and transforms the spiritual lives of Catholics, helping them grow closer to God and live out their faith more fully.
DECEMBER 17 Tuesday of the Third Week in Advent
O ANTIPHONS
Judith, Chapter 16,
Verse 15-16
15
For the mountains to their bases
are tossed with the waters; the rocks, like wax, melt before your glance. “But
to those who FEAR you, you will show
mercy. 16 Though the sweet fragrance of every
sacrifice is a trifle, and the fat of all burnt offerings but little in your
sight, one who fears the Lord is
forever great.
With
victory come the spoils of war and Judith as Heroin of the people get the
spoils from Holofernes tent. She is rich indeed but because she is truly a
servant of God; all of the booty she receives she keeps none sending it all to
the temple in Jerusalem.
“Only those that
see the invisible can do the impossible.” Tyrese
Victory[1]
·
Material
gains from victory are turned back to God.
·
People’s
joy and exultation are also returned to God in celebration.
·
The
Lord is God; he crushes warfare.
·
The
Lord shatters the enemy by a women’s hand.
·
Yahweh
sends heroes to deliver the people when they cry out for help. The victory of
Judith confirms that premise.
·
Judith’s
victory is symbolic of God’s victory over evil, preservation of the sanctuary,
and the deliverance of the people.
·
The
beheading of Holofernes is the symbolic defeat of the devil. Judith is a precursor of Mary the Lord’s
mother who will defeat the devil as he defeated Eve our first mother.
·
God’s
message in Judith is when you face evil beyond your strength; persevere in
hope.
Judith gave all her wealth to the temple of Jerusalem; Mary, Queen of heaven gave us her Son to complete the work of God making our bodies and soul the true temple of the Lord.
Advent Calendar[2]
Read Explore the benefits of going to confession during Advent.
Reflect "If we say that we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us" (1 Jn 1:10).
Pray Add this "O Antiphon" to your daily or meal-time prayer today: "O Key of David, opening the gates of God's eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness." (Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers, Revised Edition, 76)
Act Make going to confession a priority before
Christmas.
Christ’s
Seven Messianic Titles[3]
December 17 marks the
beginning of the O Antiphons, the seven jewels of our liturgy, dating back to
the fourth century, one for each day until Christmas Eve. These antiphons
address Christ with seven magnificent Messianic titles, based on the Old
Testament prophecies and types of Christ. The Church in this seven Golden
Nights travels through the centuries recalling the longing for the Redeemer.
For more information on
the O Antiphons, see
- O
Come! The O Antiphons
- Rejoice
the Lord is Near!
- Build an O Antiphon House by Jennifer Gregory Miller.
O Antiphons[4] The "Octave" Before Christmas and/or the Golden Nights
Today also marks the beginning of the O Antiphons, the seven jewels of our liturgy in preparation of Christ. With each new Sunday heightening our sense of anticipation and with every Advent custom doing the same, it is little wonder that the eight days before Christmas became a semi-official octave of impatient expectation. This is expressed liturgically in the Divine Office's special Magnificat antiphons for this period. Beginning on the evening of December 17 during Vespers, a "Greater" or "O" antiphon (so named for its opening vocative) is said which explicitly invokes the Son of God under various titles and begs Him to come. The Gregorian chant for these antiphons is exquisite, as are the antiphons themselves, which call attention to the Word's different manifestations to man in the Old Testament and to several of His divine attributes. The antiphons are also noteworthy for their "code."
The titles for Christ from each antiphon form an acrostic which, when read backwards, spells, "ERO CRAS" -- "I will be [there] tomorrow!" It is as if Christ were answering our prayers through the prayers themselves. Finally, the Greater antiphons are the inspiration of the beautiful medieval hymn, Veni, Veni Emmanuel. Each stanza of this famous song is a poetic rendering of an antiphon, which is why the hymn is traditionally sung only during the eight days prior to Christmas. In many places, however, the octave of preparation was extended over nine days, making a Novena. By special permission, the "Golden Mass" of Ember Wednesday was sometimes offered in the pre-dawn hours for nine consecutive days prior to Christmas. Central Europe observed the "Golden Nights," a festive season honoring the Blessed Virgin, the expectant Mother of God; in fact, December 18 was once the Feast of the Expectancy in Spain.
In the Alps, schoolchildren observed the custom of Josephstragen -- "carrying St. Joseph." Each night, a group of boys would carry a statue of St. Joseph to another boy's home. The night after the visit, the boy who had been visited would join the procession, making the number of carriers grow progressively larger. On Christmas Eve all the boys, accompanied by schoolgirls dressed in white, would process the statue through the town to the church, where it would be placed near the manger.
In Latin America, on the other hand, a Novena to the Holy Child (La Novena del Niño) was held in which prayers would be said and lively carols sung in front of the church's empty manger.
O Wisdom, who came from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly, Come, and teach us the way of prudence.
Today, according to the Roman Martyrology, is the feast of St Lazarus known as the brother of St Martha and St Mary of Bethany. He was the man whom Jesus raised from the dead after having been dead and in his tomb for four days. The Bible does not trace his history after the miracle, but tradition says he became a missionary to Gaul, the first bishop of Marseilles, France, and a martyr in the persecutions of Domitian.
Things to do
·
Read this account of St. Lazarus of
Bethany at the The Military and Hospitaller Order of St.
Lazarus website.
·
Read about Bethany,
where Jesus raised St. Lazarus from the dead.
·
Read about the Agios Lazaros Church in Cyprus.
· Read about the translation of the relics of St. Lazarus.
The
Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem[5]
The
Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus is one of the orders of
chivalry to survive the downfall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the attempts
by the Crusader knights to win control of the Holy Land from the forces of
Islam.
In
theory the Order remained a military one, but with the exception of a brief
period in the 17th century it played no military role after 1291. The Order of
Saint Lazarus is one of the most ancient of the European orders of chivalry. At
the very least it dates back to the time of the Crusader knights. From its
foundation in the 12th century, the members of the Order were dedicated to two
ideals: aid to those suffering from the dreadful disease of leprosy and the
defense of the Christian faith.
Today
the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem is an
international self-governing and independent body, having its own Constitution;
it may be compared with a kind of electoral kingdom. According to the said
Constitution the Order is nonpolitical, oecumenical or nondenominational, as
its membership is open to all men and women being practicing members of the
Christian faith in good standing within their particular denomination. Its
international membership consists of Roman-catholic, Anglican, Protestant,
Orthodox, United, Old Catholic, New Apostolic and other Christians, upholding
with their lives, fortunes and honor the principles of Christianity.
Traditionally it is organized as a Christian Chivalric Order. The Order is registered in London in accordance with the laws in England. It is both a Military Order of Mercy and a Hospitaller Order dedicated to the care and assistance of the poor and the sick. Its aim is to preserve and defend the Christian faith, to guard, assist succor and help the poor, the sick and dying, to promote and maintain the principles of Christian chivalry and to follow the teachings of Christ and His Holy Church in all its works. With the exception of the present Teutonic Order ("Deutscher Orden") the Order of Saint Lazarus is today the smallest of the orders of Christian chivalry. It is made up of approximately five thousand members in the five continents. The Order sees itself as an oecumenical Christian order whose genesis goes back to the Holy Land, to the crusades and to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Spiritual Crib[6]
A special devotion that can be performed during Advent to
prepare for the coming of the Infant Savior. It can be adapted for adults
and/or children and applied as is appropriate to your state in life.
· THE CRIB—Confidence-Build the little Crib by an unbounded confidence in God. Give no way to sadness in adversity. Also think not too much of our past sins and faults, making many acts of hope in God's mercy instead. Reflect a little each hour on the great love of God, who becomes Man for us.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Day 188
The presence of Christ by the
power of his word and the Holy Spirit
1373
"Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the
right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in many ways
to his Church: in his word, in his Church's prayer, "where two or
three are gathered in my name," in the poor, the sick, and the
imprisoned, in the sacraments of which he is the author, in the sacrifice
of the Mass, and in the person of the minister. But "he is present . . .
most especially in the Eucharistic species."
1374 The mode
of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the
Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual
life and the end to which all the sacraments tend." In the most
blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the
soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is
truly, really, and substantially contained." "This presence is
called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence
as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest
sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and
man, makes himself wholly and entirely present."
1375 It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. the Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:
It is not
man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but
he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. the priest, in the role of Christ,
pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body,
he says. This word transforms the things offered.
and St. Ambrose says about this
conversion:
Be convinced
that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated.
the power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing
nature itself is changed.... Could not Christ's word, which can make from
nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not
before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to
change their nature.
1376 The
Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because
Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under
the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God,
and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread
and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into
the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the
wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has
fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."
1377 The
Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and
endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and
entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in
such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.
Daily Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: Individuals
with Mental Illness
·
Rosary
[1]The Collegeville Bible Commentary,
1986.
[3]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-12-17
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