Greetings for the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2011. As I write,  December 25th approaches. Perhaps the idea that midnight was the hour when Jesus was born originated in the Book of Wisdom:

.
For many  this "Advent prayer" is familiar and well-loved:

The cold of Judea is surely less piercing than the thermometer reading of our central Northern Hemisphere, but it was another cold that greeted the Infant Jesus, for "He came unto His own and His won received him not."
May we be among those by whom, having awaited the hour of His coming in the Divine Liturgy (Mass) of Christmas 2011, he will be received with love. His longing is to give to us the power in the Holy Spirit to become the children of God His Father.

Divine Liturgy will be offered for you dear Friends, on the nine days preceeding Christmas - that is, from Dec 16th through and including Dec 24th. Your friendship, generous support, and patronage of our various enterprises are deeply appreciated. May the Christ Child bless you abundantly throughout the coming New Year!

Getting ready for Christmas differs widely, probably depending on the meaning of Christmas to the individual in question. In a monastery like ours, when we sing the Kontakion of September 8th,(feast of  Mary's birth) we see the first streak of light of Christmas dawn: "Today the chariot of the Word is adorned; the door for God is foretold; she is called the Mother of Life." Two months later "Philip's  Fast" [in the Eastern Church- November 15th] inaugurates a serious remote preparation for the Nativity of our Lord. A lesser fast - if compared to the Great Fast of Lent - it is nonetheless a daily reminder that the feast ahead deserves attention and some personal deprivation.. 

November 21st, feast of the Presentation of the Mother of God in the Temple, is the liturgical and contemplative preparation for Jesus' birth. It gives the strength of joy and tells us the Child Mary herself is being prepared to be Jesus' mother. She who will be His Temple is brought to the Temple and invites us to enter with her into the mystery of the indwelling God.

Although not linked to Christmas, our American "Thanksgiving Day" makes a unique contribution; gratitude for gifts received.  Giving credit to others is always a fine preparation for the Gift about to be given on December 25th.

Of course gratitude depends on awareness of a gift and the sender. In Faith it's a matter of God the Giver giving God the Gift. [St Bernard's entire Sermon 11 on the Song of Songs is worth reading.] "Surely the Creator could have restored His original plan without all that hardship (the Passion). Yes, He could have but He chose the way of personal suffering so that man would never again have reason to display that worst and most hateful of all vices : ingratitude. If His decision did involve weariness for Himself, it was meant to involve men in a debt only great love can repay." So we are involved in this debt - to be paid only by love!

Throughout November and more so in December the Old Testament prophets figure quite prominently. On the 17th momentum increases with the memory of the Forefathers: the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then the Holy Fathers. "These saints are glorified because from them descends the Virgin who gave You birth…O Christ our God."

As we continue our journey to Bethlehem, a series of festal gems marks our path and rejoices our spirits like so many bright Christmas lights: Saint Nicholas joins us on December 6th. A few days later a feast of our Lady, her Conception without sin, is remembered. Immediately after comes   the Virgin of Guadalupe's maternal message:  Hear and let it penetrate, my dear child. Are you not in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need? On the 14th, Carmelites celebrate St John of the Cross. His Romances show us how involved we are in a debt of love - Love to be repaid by love alone.

Our pre-holiday baking is in full swing. We deeply appreciate all who assist our endeavor of self-support and our Bakery figures prominently in this work.  The warmth of the ovens, the aroma of baking cakes, cookies etc is quite nice on cold November days. The bakery is a pleasant place to be in as the days grow colder!

In May 1954 a seemingly chance perusal [but is anything mere "chance"?] of a   borrowed brochure now seems life directing moment. The cover picture was novel - "Russian Icon of the Mother of God". That this was my first encounter with an "icon" now seems amazing, but so it was. That brochure also provided a deeper understanding of the Great Schism: that the Eastern Orthodox share with the Roman Church Apostolic Succession (1900+ years) and therefore have the Real Eucharist and valid priesthood. Certainly my prayer for "the Church" should include them - if only because Jesus Christ is sacramentally  among them!

The brochure was returned to its owner. Months later  my superior handed me  another copy of that same Russian Icon, and  it seemed a  "confirmation" of a call I felt that day in May - all the more as she was  unaware of the brochure.

In time I discovered that the original of my copies of  this  "Icon" was at the Russian Center in New York, and had come there from Shanghai when the Jesuits were expelled by the communists - and took the Icon with them - and that  it  is one of three originals  by the same  iconographer, Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov. 

When our Lady (surely it was she!) surprised me with  a copy given by my prioress, it later occasioned friendship with the community at the Russian Center, notably Father Joseph Ledit - who explained the Schism as the great wound in the Body of Christ, - the Church, of which our Lady is Mother.  When the Russian Center (John XXIII Center) was closed around 1985, the Icon  spent several weeks here at Holy Annunciation Monastery before going to  Scranton.

When Father Walter Ciszek  returned from the Soviet Union, he became a member of the same New York Russian Center - John XXIII Center. Father Ciszek encouraged Bishop Michael to found our Holy Annunciation Monastery in 1977 - by vouching for us three founding Sisters!

In 1992 the Russicum observed its 75th anniversary by printing a  commemorative card which depicted an  icon in their refectory - the second original "Russian Mother of God".  Father Robert Taft,   Russicum  faculty member at that time, was instructing us in matters liturgical (specifically the Byzantine Divine Office of the Hours). Father gave each of us one of the commemorative  Icon cards.

The commemorative card from the Russicum  included  a history of the  icon. In this way we  learned that  the first and real original Icon  is a mosaic - and in Kiev. In April 2001 (because the Czech Airline Office would not open for another hour) I walked down a street to a nearby unknown Church - and found myself before the original and most beautiful Mosaic of the Russian Mother of God. Votive lights, faithful praying there and flowers before her, witnessed to the love of her children. 

Of the three originals two are in Catholic Churches and one in the Orthodox.

Choosing an image of our Lady for Myrhhbearing means making a special selection. This year we thought of Our Lady of Compassion, an Icon we love and admire very much,  written by Minhhang K. Huynh …But this Icon belongs to the Trappist Abbey of the Genesee - and even to reproduce it seemed inappropriate. Our Russian Icon of the Mother of God came to my mind and