St Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr

St Thomas Becket – ‘à Becket’ it seems is a mistake - was murdered on this date in 1170, aged 58, in Canterbury Cathedral, where he was archbishop, by followers of King Henry II of England. He is the patron saint of the pastoral clergy of England.

The office of readings for his feast has an extract from one of his letters. It is clear that he was a faithful and orthodox bishop, his martyrdom being the ultimate witness to that. He writes:
At our consecration we promised to be continuously and increasingly zealous as teachers and pastors. We repeat the promise every day. Would to God our lives made our promises more credible!

Further on we read: Still, who can doubt that the Church of Rome is the head of all the churches, the source of Catholic teaching? Who does not know that the keys of the kingdom of heavern were given to Peter? Is not the whole structure of the Church built up on Peter’s faith and teaching, so to grow until we meet Christ as one perfect man, united in faith and in our recognition of him as Son of God?

I found the picture above in Canterbury Tales , the blog of Taylor Marshall, a convert to the Catholic Church and a former Episcopal priest in Texas. He tells why he is a Catholic Christian here.

Happy Christmas!

The Adoration of the Shepherds, El Greco
La Adoración de los Pastores

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Maligayang Pasko!
¡Feliz Navidad!
Nollaig shone daoibh!
Happy Christmas!

Linda Gibbons: In jail in Toronto for praying

I studied in Toronto in 1981-82 and it was a grace-filled year for me. It is distressing to know that in today's Canada a grandmother is spending another Christmas in jail simply for praying silently outside a building where unborn babies are killed.

Earlier this year Canada, to the utter dismay and shame of many of its citizens, gave its highest decoration to a notorious abortionist who had frequently broken the law by killing unborn children when this was still illegal in the country. This was his way of trying to bring about a change in the law. Unfortunately, he succeeded.

The report below is from LifeSiteNews. I've highlighted some parts. Please remember this brave woman and those she is trying to help in your Christmas prayers.


Imprisoned for Defending Unborn - Linda Gibbons Shares Her Christmas Wish

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski, LifeSiteNews

TORONTO, December 23, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-life heroine Linda Gibbons will spend another Christmas in jail this year for her refusal to abide by an injunction which forbids even silent prayerful pro-life witness on the public sidewalk in front of the Scott abortion mill in Toronto.

Linda has given permission to share the thoughts she communicates in her letters in hopes that they may further the cause for life.

In a recent letter, Linda wished to convey her Christmas prayer for Canada: "That Canada could recognize the sanctity of life in its mind's eye, could rediscover a heart of affection and awe towards nascent life, could dare in its soul to embrace it boldly from conception.

"Would this not be to love God, mind, body and soul in careless abandonment to the Creator?

"Is that not a Christmas wish - a new morn, Canada reborn?"

Rosemary Connell of Show the Truth Canada has informed LifeSiteNews.com that Linda appreciates very much the letters and cards she receives from pro-lifers all over the world, and especially letters and artwork from children. She assures them of her prayers as well.

"I know she appreciates letters and cards and the effort to send them," Connell told LifeSiteNews.

"She enjoys letters and art work from children also. She is very humble about the number of letters she gets each day.

"Please consider sending a Christmas card and short letters regularly. It is great for her spirits and important that the employees of the prison know of her supporters. It reminds people of the plight of little babies being threatened by abortion."

There are some rules to follow for letters being sent to Linda so that she will receive them promptly:
- handwrite or type the address and return address on the envelope
- no stickers or stamped images etc. on envelope or in letter
- put return address on letter as well as envelope
- no plastic prayer cards or bookmarks - paper prayer cards and bookmarks are fine
- she is allowed a couple of pamphlets but not many
- no questions about day to day workings of the prison - baby saves, prayer groups, difficulties she faces. She cannot comment on the day to day workings of the prison.
- please number your letters so she can be sure she is getting all that you send
- please include a pro-life comment in each letter - facts of numbers of children being executed, loss of God's children, our prayer for everyone involved in abortion industry

Letters should be addressed to
Linda Gibbons - Vanier Women's Detention Centre
655 Martin St. - Box 1040 - Milton, ON
Canada
L9T 5E6

A 'Myrrhy' Christmas!

Matt, the resident genius at The Daily Telegraph in London, has done it again!

May I wish whoever reads this a 'Myrrhy' and Merry Christmas!

Mary Full of Life

Mary Full of Life H/T to The Curt Jester

You may find photos of the sculpture at Mary Full of Life. My apologies for using a copyrighted photo of the sculpture shown on the billboard. I have just deleted it.

Navideña

San Juan de la Cruz (1542-1597)

Del Verbo divino

la Virgen preñada

viene de camino:

¡si le dais posada!

With the divinest Word, the Virgin
Made pregnant, down the road
Comes walking, if you’ll grant her
A room in your abode. Translated by Roy Campbell

St Joseph's place in the Christmas story

St Joseph's Dream, Rembrandt

St Joseph's Site is a website dedicated to the Husband of Mary a Filipina in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Babes Tan-Magkalas.

Babes has prepared a power-point presentation on St Joseph's place in the Advent-Christmas story. You may listen to it and read it here.

'One vast substantial smile'

Every year at this time I read Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol and each time I find new delight in doing so. Only a master storyteller could come up with two successive sentences such as these:

In came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk, and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomach-aches. In came Mrs. Fezziwig, one vast substantial smile.

The ‘vast substantial smile’ above is Annette Badland in a 1999 stage production of the work.

"But if they had been twice as many -- ah, four times -- old Fezziwig would have been a match for them, and so would Mrs Fezziwig. As to her, she was worthy to be his partner in every sense of the term. If that's not high praise, tell me higher, and I'll use it. A positive light appeared to issue from Fezziwig's calves. They shone in every part of the dance like moons. You couldn't have predicted, at any given time, what would have become of them next. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs Fezziwig had gone all through the dance; advance and retire, both hands to your partner, bow and curtsey, corkscrew, thread-the-needle, and back again to your place; Fezziwig cut -- cut so deftly, that he appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger."


And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!