Our Lady, Queen of the Angels & Other Upcoming Feasts

Today, there is a local traditional feast in France, "Our Lady, Queen of the Angels." May we invoke her intercession for the recent tragedies of terrorism and massacre.

Our Lady, Queen of the Angels, dispatch our guardians on behalf of the innocent! Lord have mercy. Lord deliver us!

12/12-Our Lady of Guadalupe, Empress of the Americas

12/13-Have a joyful Gaudete Sunday!

12/16,18,19-Ember Days in Advent

12/18-Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

12/24-Vigil of the Nativity (trad no meat)/Saints Adam & Eve

12/25-Nativity of Our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ

12/27-Feast of the Holy Family

12/28-Holy Innocents

(this blog provides both old and new feasts)

More on Fr. Alfred Delp.....

I gave a brief introduction to Fr. Alfred Delp and the book Advent of the Heart in the post on the First Sunday of Advent. Advent was a topic that concerned Fr. Delp throughout his life (1907-1945). It became a metaphor for his own experience "waiting" for the end of the terrifying Nazi regime. In his case, Christmas became his own martyrdom, when he encountered, not a porcelain baby in a creche, but Christ Himself as the Second Person of the Beatific Vision. Almost in anticipation of this extraordinary journey, his preaching and writings on the subject were gripping theological genius...and very appropriate for our own times. It is ironic that the United States of America, rolling into Germany in 1945 with her tanks of salvation, would one day need so desperately this martyr's words of warning and instruction.

The book divides into the 4 weeks of Advent, with appropriate selections of Fr. Delp's writings. It is a wonderful way to celebrate the Season of Advent, but not at all for the faint-hearted. If you take these writings to heart, they will challenge and change you in the most fundamental, deep ways. So....consider yourself warned. As it states in the introduction to Saint Louis de Montfort's The Secret of Mary, these words will exact a responsibility from you:

"...beware, then, of remaining inactive...it would turn into a poison and be your condemnation."

To proceed, I'd like to offer a few brief excerpts from the various introductions to Advent of the Heart, which I feel are essential to the understanding of Fr. Delp:

"Delp wrote the 1944 meditations in Tegel Prison, usually while his hands were in handcuffs. These meditations were smuggled out of the prison as seret messages...

This book presents Advent sermons from Father Delp's parish work in Munich, alongside the powerful messages from his prison Advent experience of 1944...

Their roughness evokes a powerful sense of immediacy rooted in the suffering and danger of the times."

Fr. Delp was originally arrested for suspicion of having knowledge of the attempt on Hitler's life which took place on July 20, 1944.....

"Although all charges related to the assassination attempt were dropped, the irreconcilable opposition of Christianity to Nazism became the focus of the proceedings...Delp was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death by hanging."

I would really like to copy the entire book for you right here..it is rife from beginning to end with essential thoughts for our times. Since I can't do that, it is my hope that you buy the book, read it and continue reading it for the rest of your life, as I intend to do. It is difficult to choose only a few "best" quotes, but I will try to choose those that I feel speak particularly to our own times and are relevant to the theme of this blog. In the coming weeks, I will provide these excerpts, so stay tuned and let's share a journey of spiritual growth this Advent!

Dear Father Alfred Delp, pray for us!

Another Great Website for Gifts.....

tanbooks.com

I AlWAYS buy my Catholic wall calendar from TAN Books. I just purchased the "Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy Wall Calendar 2016." What I love about TAN's calendars is that they contain daily feasts in both the old and new calendars and also traditional observations such as the Ember Days. Other calendars they are offering for 2016 are: The Angels, The Life of Our Lord, Mary & the Saints and a Daily Planner. The artwork is superb and uplifting-a benefit to any Catholic home and an educational aid as well.

TAN Books is a wonderful resource for Catholic books, courses and homeschooling supplies. They always offer great sales as well. Religious items as Christmas gifts helps to turn the tide away from the materialistic attitude toward Christmas. This culture needs to be reminded that the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord is a holy day, not a holiday. Let us, in our devout celebration of this great feast, secure some measure of Divine Mercy for our ailing world.

PS Today is the Vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Traditionally, no meat was eaten today. Immaculate Conception, Pray for Us!

Prepper Stocking-Stuffers....and more.....

Last year, I bought an appointment book at a local drug store. It caught my eye because it was bright pink, with a fancy faux-leather cover. Inscribed into the cover were the words, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Inside was chock full of spiritual & motivational quotes, with a particular theme for each month. It seemed the book had been made for me. I said to myself, "I know its a little bit large and a bit of a splurge but...I like it! The color is so pretty and its...spiritual! I'M GETTING IT!"

I have not regretted that purchase. Through a difficult year in my life, this little book has helped me hold it together-both logistically and mentally. Here are some quotes that struck a chord with me:

"Vision is the ability to see God's presence, plan and power over obstacles." - Mike Breaux

"God is our God forever and ever; He will be our Guide even to the end." - Psalm 48:14

"Never be afraid to trust and unknown future to a known God." - Corrie Ten Boom

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jer 29:11

"In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." - Rom 8:28

"Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." - Harriet Beecher Stowe

So...of course I NEEDED to get the 2016 one, right? Last night, I braved Friday night Christmas Season in the famed "Huntington Village" of Long Island, where this drug store happens to be. There was NO place to park, so I had to park...a tad bit illegally. I recently got a $200 ticket for parking (a tad bit) illegally in Huntington Village, so I was somewhat nervous. If we got another ticket in the mail, my husband might make me forego foot massages for the next 6 months and that would be intolerable (foot massages are part of the "Survival Paradigm" I am developing. I'm actually not kidding.) So I ran through the store like a chicken with its head cut off looking for the 2016 version. Nothing. Asked a store clerk....Nothing. Then a lightbulb went off in my head, "THE INTERNET!" (I'm so old, I still have to remind myself that if it cannot be found on the internet, it does not exist-yep, "Star Wars" geek making a dumb reference.) I drove home hopeful....

And now to the actual point: Where can you get cool stuff?

christianbook.com

They've got Christmas items, books, homeschooling supplies, music, toys, artwork, jewelry, calendars, DVDs, prepper/survival items and more. Most items are not specifically Catholic, though there are a few. If you're looking for the prepper items, do a search with the word "survival" and you will get numerous pages. Here's what I bought (all reasonably priced):

Lost On a Mountain in Maine by Donn Fendler & Joseph B. Egan (true survival stories can be very instructional and inspiring)

A bunch of Paracord Bracelets

Pocket Guide to the Outdoors

Paracord Keyring

Survival Keychains (whistle, compass & signal light)

"WORDKeeper" Briefcase (can be a great bugout bag)

And...2016 "Love Always Protects" Medium Planner!

BTW, many items can be personalized and all have some spiritual purpose or inscription. So...what have you learned in this post? That Christian Prepper Stuff is a thing and that my family hates my Christmas gifts.

Happy Christmas shopping!

First Sunday of Advent, First Day of the Liturgical Year!

St. Saturninus, pray for us.

Many Advent blessings to all! May we celebrate a holy and happy Advent this year, drawing closer to the Heart of the Christ Child.

There is an INCREDIBLE book by Ignatius Press, compilations of Fr. Alfred Delp, martyr under the Nazis, entitled Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons & Prison Writings, 1941-1944. It takes us week by week through Advent....and believe me, with this book, you will not be the same person when you arrive at the creche on Christmas Day. I will be posting some quotes from this book throughout Advent. No better time than today to begin. Here are excerpts from Fr. Delp's "Homily for the First Sunday of Advent Preached in Munich, November 28, 1943: (remember the words you are about to read, this man was killed for)"

"There is nothing more blessed in life than true waiting."

"Man is truly human only when he transcends himself."

"We should discover life and its fundamental order."

"This should be our first Advent light: to understand everything, all that happens to us and all that threatens us, from the perspective of life's character of waiting."

"God enters only His own rooms, where someone is always keeping watch for Him."

"Other values of secondary importance impose themselves, making life inauthentic and bringing it under an alien law and an alien paradigm."

Welcome to "In Search of The Authentic Life!"

Hi, I'm Chiara F. Mathews and I'm so glad you have found my new blog! I really hope you enjoy it and get something valuable out of it. This blog will explore (in an organic way, by creating an environment of ideas) the question, "How did God intend for His children to live?" Obviously, we as faithful Roman Catholics (BTW, I am faithful to our Holy Father Francis) must pursue holiness in accord with Catholic teaching. These topics will be dealt with, but we are also concerned here with how God intended us to live in practical everyday life and social structure. It should be obvious that western culture is desperately in need of a reality check. We are not living anything remotely like an "authentic" life. And this will surely have consequences.

In my study of disaster preparedness and sustainability (2 aspects of survival), I have begun to see a picture emerging....a thesis that the safest way to live, the surest way to survive, also happens to be the way our Creator intended us to live....close to the earth, with respect for it. This is not a new idea, I only seek to bring my own contribution to the table.

Due to limitations that I have right now, we are going to start this blog off slowly. I hope to post about once per week. Unfortunately, I do not have the time right now to moderate comments, so there will be no comments. However, please email me if you like, with any comments or feedback and I may decide to post them. My email: [director@nomenchristi.org]

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will continue to take this exciting journey with me.:)