The Voice of an Angel

Detail of Angels from Botticelli's Magnificat

In 2012 ten year old Jackie Evancho mustered up courage to walk onto the stage of America's Got Talent. If one could have put a voice to a Botticelli Angel - here it was.

20. The Will of God

INDEX

"Be not unwise, but understanding what is the will of God" (Eph. v. 17).  As His servants our first care should be to know His will and do it.  It is often hard to know it, and the knowledge is given only after much delay and in answer to prayer.  "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts ix. 6).

Whatever it be, carry it out minutely and fearlessly.

We pray you are having a Healthy & Holy Advent!

 

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My Christmas Pie Recipe

Rich Squash Pie

As a little boy growing up on an Iowa farm I never knew what pumpkin pie was.  My mom who was an avid gardener raised butternut squash and always made squash pie for Christmas and almost every other Sunday! Here's the recipe!

Basic Pastry dough for 9-inch pie shell

1 cup pureed cooked butternut squash

1 cup heavy cream (I always like to use Organic Valley or Horizon brand.  My mom always used cream from the separator room which was a room in our milking barn where a little machine separated the cream from whole milk. 

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon mace

Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC). Line a 9-inch pie pan with the pastry dough. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and beat until smooth and well blended. Pour into the lined pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300ºF (150ºC) and bake for 45-60 minutes more or until the fill is firm.  

To avoid cracking I always take the pie out of the oven just a bit early while there is still a little jiggle in the middle.  😇

I always top this rich pie with a bit of whipped cream. Again I use Organic Valley's heavy whipping cream (eight ounces will do) and whip it with an electric  mixer until fluffy.  I like to keep the cream a bit on the left side of sweet by using just a tablespoon or a bit more of sugar.  

Merry Christmas

This could have been me and my mom.  She was always working and my eyes were always fixed on her.  She taught me how to give and how to live! And I'm missing her today. . . 

19. The Life of God

Dr. Vincent Collins, St. Vincents Hospital, New York City, 1952

INDEX

Our life begins in nakedness and feebleness and tears, and in original sin;  it continues in labours and sorrows, in fears and disappointments, in perversity, folly and sin;  it ends in weariness and failure, in humiliating decay, or in premature catastrophe.  
Your life is worth nothing to yourself or to others unless God be with you. 

We pray you are having a Healthy & Holy Advent!

 

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The Bells of St. Marys

The Bells of St. Mary's is a 1945 American drama film produced and directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.

Our Favorite Movie Popcorn Recipe
Click Below. 
 

18. The Truth of God

Buying a New Mercury, Columbus, Indiana, 1950

INDEX

And again, life "is a vapour which appeareth for a little while, and afterwards shall vanish away."  Adore God as the sole reality that abides. Do not be so short sighted as to spend all your energies and set all your hopes on shadows unsubstantial and transient.  "How long will you be dull of heart?  Why do you love vanity and seek after lies?" (Ps. iv. 3).

We pray you are having a Healthy & Holy Advent!

 

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17. The Ideas of God

INDEX

Every creature of God is, in a sense, reflected in God as in a mirror. As God is immutable, and acquires nothing anew but has always possessed it, these ideas or reflections have been in Him from all eternity.  Not only did God see in Himself what we and all things were to be, but He saw all as if actually existing.  When we are admitted to the sight of God we shall, in seeing His divine mind and participating in His ideas, see these reflections of all things in Him; and thus, without investigation or study, but by a mere glance, we shall possess our knowledge in God.  Your image too has been impressed on the consciousness of God from all eternity, as an object of His providence and His love.  In return keep the reflection of God's image always vivid in your mind.

We pray you are having a Healthy & Holy Advent!

 

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Rejoice, O thou tabernacle of God!

Ancient Hymn from the Anthology of The Greeks

     As a royal throne, thou carriest the Creator; as a living couch, thou encircles the King, O creature most dear to God:
     Branch most vigorous, thou didst bud forth the Christ on whom we lean and are supported; for Aaron's branch, which, of old, budded unplanted, was a type of thee, thou chaste dove, and ever a Virgin.
     To sing the more than wonderful manner of thy extraordinary and incomprehensible maternity, is above the power of all the choirs of men; for no mind, no thought, no understanding, no words, can reach the mystery.  

Rejoice, O thou tabernacle of God!

The Liturgical Year - Advent

by Dom Prosper  Granger O.S.B.

London, 1867

3 P.M. - None or Afternoon Prayer

V. O Lady, make speed to befriend me. 

R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me. 

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 

R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.—Amen. 

Alleluia.  

Hymn    

Hail city of refuge, 

Hail, David's high tower, 

With battlements crown'd 

And girded with power.

Fill'd at thy Conception 

With love and with light, 

The dragon by thee 

Was shorn of his might.

O Woman most valiant, 

O Judith thrice blest, 

As David was nurs'd 

In fair Abisag's breast.

As the saviour of Egypt 

Upon Rachel's knee; 

So the world's great Redeemer 

Was cherish'd by thee. 
Amen.

V. Thou art all fair, my beloved. 

R. And the original stain was never in thee. 

V. O Lady, hear my prayer. 

R. And let my cry come unto thee. 

Let Us Pray. 

Holy Mary, Queen of heaven, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one; look upon me, O Lady, with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son, the forgiveness of all my sins, that as I now celebrate with devout affection thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him whom thou, in virginity, didst bring forth Jesus Christ our Lord; Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end.—Amen.

V. O Lady, hear my prayer. 

R. And let my cry come unto thee. 

V. Let us bless the Lord. 

R. Thanks be to God. 

V. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. 

R. Amen.

Continue to Vespers or Evening Prayer.

12 P.M - Sext or Noon Prayer

V. O Lady, make speed to befriend me. 

R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me. 

V. Glory be to the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 

R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.—Amen.   

Alleluia.   

Hymn 

Hail, virginal Mother, 

Hail, purity's Cell, 

Fair Shrine where the Trinity 

Loveth to dwell:

Hail, garden of pleasure, 

Celestial balm, 

Cedar of chastity, 

Martyrdom's palm.

Thou land set apart 

From uses profane, 

And free from the curse 

Which in Adam began.

Thou City of God, 

Thou gate of the east: 

In thee is all grace, 

O joy of the blest!—Amen.

V. As the lily among the thorns. 

R. So is my beloved among the daughters of Adam. 

V. O Lady, hear my prayer. 

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

Let Us Pray.     

Holy Mary, Queen of heaven, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one; look upon me, O Lady, with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son, the forgiveness of all my sins; that as I now celebrate with devout affection thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him whom thou, in virginity, didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end.—Amen.

V. O Lady, hear my prayer. 

R. And let my cry come unto thee. 

V. Let us bless the Lord. 

R. Thanks be to God. 

V. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. 

R. Amen.

Continue to  None or Afternoon Prayer.

7 A.M. - Prime or Morning Prayer

V. O Lady, make speed to befriend me. 

R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me. 

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 

R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.—Amen.  

Alleluia.  

Hymn     

Hail, Virgin most wise, 

Hail, Deity's shrine, 

With seven fair pillars, 

And table divine.

Preserv'd from the guilt 

Which hath come on us all, 

Exempt, in the womb, 

From the taint of the Fall.

O new star of Jacob, 

Of Angels the Queen; 

O Gate of the Saints, 

O Mother of men.

O terrible as 

The embattled array; 

Be thou of the faithful 

The refuge and stay.—Amen. 

V. The Lord Himself created her in the Holy Ghost. 

R. And poured her out among all his works. 

V. O Lady, hear my prayer. 

R. And let my cry come unto thee. 

  

Let Us Pray. 

Holy Mary, Queen of heaven, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one; look upon me, O Lady, with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy beloved Son, the forgiveness of all my sins; that as I now celebrate with devout affection thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him whom thou, in virginity, didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord, Who, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end.—Amen. 

V. O Lady, hear my prayer. 

R. And let my cry come unto thee. 

V. Let us bless the Lord. 

R. Thanks be to God. 

V. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. 

R. Amen.

Continue to  Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer.

9 A,M. - Terce or Mid Morning Prayer

V. O Lady, make speed to befriend me. 

R. From the hands of the enemy mightily defend me. 

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 

R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be; world without end.—Amen.         

Alleluia.  

Hymn 

Hail, Solomon's throne, 

Pure ark of the law, 

Fair Rainbow, and Bush, 

Which the Patriarch saw.

Hail, Gideon's Fleece, 

Hail, blossoming Rod, 

Samson's sweet honeycomb, 

Portal of God.

Well fitting it was, 

That a Son so divine 

Should preserve from all touch 

Of original sin,

Nor suffer by smallest 

Defect to be stain'd, 

That Mother, whom He 

For Himself had ordain'd.—Amen.

V. I dwell in the highest. 

R. And my throne is on the pillar of the clouds. 

V. O Lady hear my prayer. 

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

  

Let Us Pray 

Holy Mary, Queen of heaven, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Mistress of the world, who forsakest no one, and despisest no one; look upon me, O Lady, with an eye of pity, and entreat for me, of thy be-loved Son, the forgiveness of all my sins; that as I now celebrate with devout affection thy holy and Immaculate Conception, so, hereafter, I may receive the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him whom thou, in virginity, didst bring forth, Jesus Christ our Lord, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end.—Amen.  

V. O Lady, hear my prayer. 

R. And let my cry come unto thee. 

V. Let us bless the Lord. 

R. Thanks be to God. 

V. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. 

R. Amen.

Continue to  Sext or Prayer at Noon.