Setting Up the Tree and 'O' So Much More

We started the day with the reading of the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. (This is now becoming quite familiar with the boys as we have heard about it from various venues over the last few days.)  We talked about the lineage of David and the generations between Abraham and Jesus...42 generations!  The boys thought this was cool because they had been introduced to Douglas Adams books (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) thanks to Michael and Amanda.  In this book, the ultimate answer to life is 42!  It might sound odd but you do have to wonder if this is more than just a 'coincidence.'


After much ado...and cleaning too!...we have now got our Christmas tree in place.  The lights are built into the branches so I do not need to make sure they are lit...we will not plug in the tree until after Christmas Eve Mass (as is our custom).  We will slowly add ornaments (each of us places two ornaments on the tree each day) until it is completely filled with ornaments by the time the tree is lit.  It is so much better than the frenzy to get everything up as quickly as possible.  Maybe I just do not have the energy that I once had, but I would rather take it slow then be exhausted (even a little irritated) by the time it is done.  Besides, by placing the ornaments on slowly each day, we can enjoy the ornament and why it was the one chosen from day to day.  The anticipation builds over the next nine days.

In the midst of the cleaning and moving furniture around, Henry turns to me and says, "Is someone coming to our house?"  It was at that moment that I fully understood why Christmas is for children.  They are the ones who keep the joy of the season alive.  Because it was at that moment when I was actually starting to wonder why we were so involved in these Advent traditions if we were not going to gain from the experience...it was at THAT MOMENT when Edward looks at Henry baffled by the question and says, "YES!!!  Jesus is coming to our home!!!!"  It was a moment that I could sit back and see the message of Advent come alive..."THE LORD IS NEAR!!"...and be thankful for the innocent child to bring it all to mind for us again!  Even in a home that is dedicated to this Advent message, we need to be reminded.

We did get the tree assembled (we use a fake due to allergies...no one wants to feel like they are dying during the holidays!) with all the branches spread out to our liking.  It took most of the afternoon to make it look nice.  You can see why this process needs to take several days in our house!

Brendan was a little disappointed when he went to look in the cabinet that holds our nativity scene figures (found on sale after Christmas a few years ago...large cubbies that are numbered doors which hold most of the figures).  He was supposed to place the donkey (represents bodily strength used in the service of others) in the scene but we had to tell him that the donkey was already on the journey with Joseph and Mary.  We will need to let him make their move into the next room tomorrow.  We still prayed, "Jesus, accept my service of love; I offer it for those who do not love Thee.  Amen."

AND...the puzzle...WOW!!!!  It sure went fast after the boys got the outer edges together...they finished it today!  I will now need to find another puzzle.  I think I have one stashed away somewhere but where did I put it?

Today also begins a special tradition in our house....this intro found on a website says it best:

"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."

We use this prayer for our evening family time. We pray:


"Come, and teach us the way of prudence.  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.

"The all-seeing eye represents the all-knowing and ever-present God. During the late Renaissance, the eye was pictured in a triangle with rays of light to represent the infinite holiness of the Trinity. The lamp is a symbol of wisdom (Matthew 25).

Recommended Readings: Proverbs 8:1-12"

The boys will take turns creating ornaments reflecting the image of the day and place them on our tree.  We will now also place our Jesse Tree ornaments on our tree (I will try to remember this for next year and put our tree up a little earlier so it can hold these ornaments from the beginning of Advent....or maybe we will try the bare branch in the tree stand until Christmas Eve...as I said...always rethinking to make the message fresh and alive for us!)

I also made sure the boys knew what prudence means.  According to the Catholic dictionary online, prudence is one of the cardinal virtues that means: "right reason applied to practice."  In other words, being able to choose the right path.  After discussing the definition, I found a good story to showcase this virtue.  We read The Christmas Candle (Richard Paul Evans)...it is a great book to show that in making choices we can be distracted by the ways of this world.  I like this book for two reasons...it teaches about prudence...furthermore, it teaches the lesson in a multi-layered style...creating an opportunity  to 'peel the layers' away like an onion...allowing for even the adults to wonder about what is happening.  Since, we only read this book once a year it is easy to get caught up in the story time and time again.

This is really the first time for me to discuss our Advent books on the blog.  Books are such an important part of our day that I do not think about it being something to discuss.  However, the Advent books are very special to us.  We try to read these simple stories to bring to light a virtue that we can evaluate in our lives.

Tonight we also read The Legend of the Christmas Tree.  It is a little bit contrived and not exactly up to the normal standard of books I like for teaching a lesson.  However, it does teach about the progression of the tree in relation to Christmas.  Maybe one day I will write my own story to help teach this lesson.  Normally, this book would have been read on Gaudete Sunday because that is the day we set up our tree...obviously we did not get to the tree yesterday, so we did not read the book either.

There are several books that I did not mention that we read earlier in the season.  Here is a list with a brief description:

• St Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer- read on December 6th to tell about St. Nicholas and at least bring some meaning to the secular version f this great saint.
• The Donkey's Dream by Barbara Helen Berger- read on December 8th to discuss the various names given to honor Mary.  Also use this book for January 1st on the Feast of Mary, Mother of God.
• One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham- read to help emphasize the Jesse Tree ornaments.  We are not using this book this year because our focus has been on having the boys see the use of the Bible in hand.  It is easy to use these books and forget that their original form is in Scripture.  I still think this is a good way to learn and all nicely wrapped up into a story about a little boy who stays with an old woman right before Christmas.  It is a keeper in case we are ever in a situation where we are travelling during the holidays.

I still have books on my list to review because there are so many to choose during this season.  When I am choosing a book, it is important for me to find ones that have a lesson with a meaningful story.  You will see this more as we continue our book list throughout the season.  I really like the story to have an extended story line that takes place over a long period of time...to show that there is a transformation in the person that leads them to a better understanding of God.  After all, that is what we hope to see in our own Advent journey.  I would love to hear about any books that you have enjoyed reading that fit this genre.  I try to buy at least one new book each year.

Oh...and one big no-no for me and Christmas books...no talking animals or stories where ANYTHING other than Jesus is the main figure of the nativity scene!  An example of what NOT to read (it just leads to confusion) is Room for a Little One It sounds like a good title and even as you read it seems OK...until the baby lamb (I think it is...some baby animal) takes the center stage instead of Jesus in the end!  Not my idea of a good book to teach about the real meaning of Christmas.  I am sure there are books out there that have talking animals that are fine...I just tend to stay away from them.

We did place a new Jesse Tree ornament on the tree also.  This time the symbol was the wall of Jerusalem.  The walls were to create a safe area for the worship of the Lord in the Temple.  The prophet Nehemiah cries out in prayer for protection of their faith.  (Nehemiah 1:8-9)

Once again we ended our day with Jesus of Nazareth...learning that the shepherds came in haste to the manger...out of curiosity?  in joy?  We to must ask ourselves why we make haste today...are we doing it out of concern for God or just to pique our curiosity?  Whatever the initial reason for our interest, just as the shepherds came to the manger scene, we should look for the joy of the occasion as a witness to the sign of God's love and praise God!

A special blessing for family and friends who sent Christmas cards that arrived in the mail today!  We are so blessed by your letters describing your own blessings.  Michael's sister, Karen and brother, Pat...they had such newsy letters!  Also, a Christmas card filled with thanksgiving from the women's shelter we helped...I loved seeing all the joy in the messages of each family we helped!  May God continue to bless each of them into the New Year...especially hoping they will all find a renewal of their faith in Jesus!

AND...our Christmas gift to others is starting to unfold.  I was on the phone with Amanda this evening and I told her the boys' plan to help the families in Connecticut.  She said..."Mom, they each had such special gifts that are being shared...why don't we make memorial quilts for each one of the children?"  Wow...a big project but I think we might be able to make it happen.  Then I talked with my Mom and she volunteered to purchase some of the material for the quilts also.  Anyone want to help us?  We will try to make 26 nine-patch quilts (throw size) by the end of January.  Our hope is to gather enough information from the news reports to make these personal for each of those lost.  We hope to purchase material by the end of the week, so we can start cutting out squares over the weekend.