Merry Christmas to you all
I will probably not check in here for a while now, so I will leave you with the Presepio with Babe and Wise Men (but no camel, alas… I found this Nativity set amongst my mother’s things at her studio; I’m sure she thrifted it from somewhere… you get what you get!).
I wish you an especially blessed and merry Christmas!
Every Liturgical Season is to be lived not merely as a memory but as a reality more real than the daily time that sometimes seems to restrict our vision to the earthly horizon.
This Advent and Christmas-tide are no different. We are meant to enter in and to abide in the heavenly realm for the time that is given. To dwell in the Kingdom that we are told is within.
Givenness is a mysterious thing that can’t be proven or arrived at by thought: it must simply be received. We find givenness in certain irreducible realities: man and woman; time; conscience; existence itself. Woe to us if we rebel, for then we will truly have nothing and will find ourselves staring into the abyss.
We have no higher calling than to accept the gifts given and offer thanks, praise, and adoration; in return, He makes us His sons and daughters, giving us a divine heritage.
What humility is required, to be a child before the Child! The Incarnation, the mystery par excellence, celebrated every year, but also profoundly, this year and now, draws us. Submit, rejoice, arise.
The “going inward” that Christmas represents is calling me too. I am putting the finishing touches on my manuscript (no mean feat as it’s three volumes of approximately one zillion pages each — I realize I’ve been saying for quite a while now that I’m working on it, but… I am!).
My fingers are itching with the knitting that is also calling out to me. I’ve finished up a good number of socks and mittens and a hat (and I think I’m getting better!)
I will try to post more on IG but maybe even less here.
I hate to be away! But away I must, for the nonce.
Merry Christmas!
bits & pieces
John Henry Newman, whose theology is of the most austere and encompassing kind, reaching back to the Church Fathers and Scripture for grounding, on conscience. Be attentive! Wisdom: Conscience.
Middle English O Antiphons, quite the excursion into an ancient form of this liturgical trope.
With American children now firmly plunked in front of screens, it’s time to get a broader vision of how education happened in the past. I have written about this here and am including my thoughts in my book; this article validates what I say, that education (including for slaves) was more widespread and of better quality than we think and than, in most cases probably, what we have today.
People are talking about Rod Dreher’s new book, Live Not by Lies. The title is taken from Solzhenitsyn’s essay — well worth reading. I haven’t read Rod’s book. But if you really want to know more about Solzhenitsyn’s thought and how we can apply it to our own situation in order to avoid tyranny, I suggest you read a different author: Dan Mahoney. Dan has delved into every aspect of the great Russian thinker’s work and life. He is the premier scholar on the topic as well as a clear observer of current political and philosophical trends. As a committed Catholic with theological insight, he understands the errors we labor under. I recommend his books The Other Solzhenitsyn, The Solzhenitsyn Reader, and The Idol of Our Age: How the Religion of Humanity Subverts Christianity.
Here is an excellent interview with Dan Mahoney on many topics relating to Solzhenitsyn and the Gulag Archipelago and how they could be prophetic for our situation today.
Some encouragement for the dyslexic child. Sometimes the pressure to learn to read needs to be removed. (Sometimes it’s a matter of checking vision too — I’ve written about that here.)
A Covid protocol from the Eastern Virginia Medical School. Note the recommendations for Vitamin D and Ivermectin.
from the archives
My series on how to nurture your child’s moral life — and it starts now at Christmas, with childlike wonder!
Do you know our LMLD Library Project? Here for example I discuss Anne of Green Gables.
liturgical year
Day Three of the O Antiphons; tomorrow is the Fourth Sunday of Advent. This year we are being given a beautiful chance to live our Advent without the distraction of premature Christmas celebrations and office parties (which often aren’t all that celebratory anyway).
It follows that we are also given the opportunity to go deeper into our Christmas revels. It just takes a little planning, and trust me, your children will love going on little trips with “just us” and in enjoying time for playing games and reading chapter books as a family during the time after Christmas Day itself.
follow us everywhere!
I want to alert you especially to Rosie’s “photo a day” project on IG that is drawing to a close (unless she decides to do it again!). It’s really delightful!
Stay abreast of the posts when they happen:
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram. Sukie’s Instagram. Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
If you want politics, rants, and takes on what is going on in the Church:
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow — my posts are public — sometimes I share articles here that don’t make it into {bits & pieces})
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest. Bridget’s Pinterest.
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