Apart from the nightly hymn sung to Saint Joseph on the way to the

refectory, there are few instances when we sing in the hallways of the cloister. Although chant and song are part of the fabric of our daily life, the chapel is ‘home’ to the greater part of such prayer. The hallways, though most often pervaded by silence, regularly echo with the sounds of mop buckets, the portress cart rattling down the hall, or especially at Christmas time, the faint sounds of laughter coming from the kitchen.

Then there is Epiphany with the yearly house blessing when the carols and

favourite hymns of Christmas are sung throughout the entire monastery. Leaving the chapel and led by our Superior down the corridors, we fill the hallways with Christmas music. From sacristy and mailroom, to cells, offices, laundry, sewing rooms and mud-room (where the cats reside!), every room is blessed with holy water, a new 20 +C+M+B 13 on the doorway, and the fragrance of incense. We stop at the central areas of communal life where a special blessing is given and prayer is offered for all that takes place in that particular room. A benediction is asked for the novices at the novitiate, for those young women who enter at the enclosure door, for the community at the refectory and for the sick in the infirmary to name a few. The cook for that Sunday usually hopes that her meal in progress will be doused by holy water from the procession! Despite the exhaustion

induced by the festivities of the Holy Season, seeing the daily ‘work of our hands’ blessed, the all-familiar surroundings taken up in prayer, and hearing the hallways filled with songs, is a strong yet subtle reminder of who God is. He is Emmanuel - God with us. He is God with us in humility.

Those moments when we realize that God is ‘at home’ with us in whatever is going

on, or whatever we are doing are striking since He is truly knocking at our hearts (Rev. 3:20). The same God who took flesh and lay in the straw of the manger, is just as much pleased to meet us 'among the pots and pans’ as St. Teresa of Avila would remark. His birth at Bethlehem is a clear exposition of what had been glimpsed in ages before - the love and humility of His Heart. Our Holy Mother Clare, enamored of the Poor One, exhorted us in one of her letters to look at the poverty of Him who was placed in a manger and wrapped in swaddeling clothes. O marvelous humility! O astonishing poverty!

John Saward writes that, The humility gained through spiritual childhood is the foundation of

Christian life…. The same humility, that of child-like dependence towards God as Father, which uproots our natural selfishness is also essential for finding hope in a sceptical and pessimistic world. This habitual attitude of entrustment to the Father, this Christ-like attitude where we meet God in the poverty of our hearts and souls, does not come natural to our fallen

human nature since it calls for us to set self aside. And that means sacrifice. I step aside for God, for you, for my brother or sister, not to dominate by word, or mood, or action, but to serve as best I can with peace and joy. Saint Paul, who was so familiar with this form of love and the God-Man who ‘emptied himself,’ literally begs us in the letter to the Romans to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you may judge what is God's will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.

This is the beginning of beatitude. The poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful,

those who mourn are the blessed. They are the ones at home with God and God with them. And so we pray and sing again each year in the words of a favourite carol, Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today!

God - Our True Home

There fared a mother driven forthOut of an inn to roam;

In the place where she was homelessAll men are at home.

The crazy stable close at hand,With shaking timber and shifting sand,

Grew a stronger thing to abide and standThan the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,And strangers under the sun,

And they lay on their heads in a foreign landWhenever the day is done.

Here we have battle and blazing eyes,And chance and honour and high surprise,But our homes are under miraculous skies

Where the yule tale was begun....

To an open house in the eveningHome shall men come,

To an older place than EdenAnd a taller town than Rome.

To the end of the way of the wandering star,To the things that cannot be and that are,

To the place where God was homelessAnd all men are at home.

In the case of this particular hymn, it is not so much the music that enkindles in me the longing of Advent as the lyrics themselves. Without

cease these evocative words leap up within my heart each new liturgical year, and I once again find myself entreating our God for His Christ. Each stanza, each verse is worthy of pondering! For me, they embody the age-old yearning of God’s chosen People, down the dark and anguished centuries, for the promised Messiah. This yearning has become our own. As Catholic Christians we are greatly blessed – privileged! – to enter each year into the expectancy and joyful anticipation of His Advent. He is the long expected One, the Hope of all the earth, the dear desire of every nation, people, and heart. In solidarity with all God’s People, the new Israel, and in a particular way with Our Blessed Lady, we, his disciples, [keep] watch, attentive to Him Who Is and Him Who Comes, in memory of his first coming in the lowliness of the flesh, and in the hope of His second coming in glory. (CCC nos. 2312) Let these words be on our lips and in our hearts this holy season as we prepare to receive our newborn King. Come, Thou long expected Jesus…come!

- Sr. Chiara Marie

O Rising Dawn Radiance of eternal light and Sun of Justice

COME, enlighten those sitting in darknessAnd in the shadow of death.

For Catholics, Christmas is not relegated to one day in the year with nothing before or after. To

be Catholic is, to use a phrase coined by Flannery O’Connor, a habit of being. To be Catholic is to mark time liturgically, to live the year according to the rhythm of the Church’s celebrations and commemorations and to spend time preparing for the coming of the biggest celebrations of all. Advent is a time to prepare for the monumental event of the Incarnation, when the Most High shattered all barriers between Himself and us by becoming one of us. It is the Old Testament in microcosm, a remembrance and re-living of the long centuries of waiting endured by the Jewish people as they peered over the horizon of time in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Messiah. One of the most dramatic reminders of our bond to our Jewish elder brothers is the chanting of the O Antiphons in the final days of Advent. Constituting a novena of titles for the coming Messiah, they are a poignant expression of longing and hope nestled in an ancient chant melody. As the chant weaves a gradual ascent to the climactic cadence, the listener and the chanter are immersed in a wordless, melodic image of the longing of Israel for the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation. The dramatic tension between expectation and its object finds apt expression in these mysterious prayers that serve to remind us of the never-severed connection between the hopes of Israel and their realization in the person of Jesus Christ. The above stanza is one of the most striking images of the nine. Describing Christ as the Rising Dawn reminds of His purpose in coming: to dispel the darkness of sin and its accompanying hopelessness and to permeate the earth with the light of salvation. In the northern hemisphere, Christmas comes very close to the winter solstice, when the night is the longest and then immediately begins to gradually shorten. This is a fitting metaphor for the advent of the Messiah in the life of every person, which illumines the soul with hope even when despair has reached its apex. In every heart is a restlessness for God, a nameless thirst satiated only by the One who created us for Himself. In the beautiful weeks of Advent, may we joyfully echo the cry of Israel in her longing for the long-awaited Messiah: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel!”

- Sr. Edith Marie

Come, Thou long expected Jesus,Born to set Thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us,Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel’s strength and consolationHope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear desire of every nation,Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,Born a Child, and yet a King,Born to reign in us forever,

Now Thy gracious Kingdom bring.

In these pages, some of the Sisters share thoughts and

reflections on favorite Advent & Christmas chants and carols. We hope that they

bring some joy to you as Christ has brought Joy to the World!

Tis the Season for Music Practice! In preparation for the great celebration of Christ's birth, we get reaquainted with songs old and new. Below: after practice, our choir director, organists, soloist & flutist gather for a photo!

O Holy Night * The Stars are Brightly Shining * It is the

night of our dear Savior's birth *

The night of sin has been conquered by Love. Our God has come to you

and me as a baby! Our soul feels that thrill of hope, for out of this silent night made divine comes a new and glorious morn. My favorite part of O Holy Night has long been what seems to me to be the climax:

Fall on your knees,Oh hear the angel voices!

The eyes of our hearts meet the One who has made our souls feel their worth and we fall to our knees before Him. All of Heaven bursts with ecstatic joy in the presence of such a love. We hear the angel voices. We adore!

- Sr. Mary Veronica

How great the marvels, when through the eyes of Faith, we glimpse the Truth of the workings of God in our lives, so far beyond our understanding and very often in

contradiction to what our senses perceive. Such thoughts fill my heart with joy and a renewed confidence in God’s omnipotence. That’s why, during the busy time of Christmas, I love the hymn What Child is This, which bids us to go beyond what is seen and seek the greater reality of God’s profound love for us! The miracle we celebrate at Christmas is the manifestation of God’s love. It is a beautiful reminder to live out the paradoxes of this life in true joy and peace, enduring the daily unexplainable events and trials we all face with trust in the incomprehensible goodness He is bringing out of them all! Joy, joy, for Christ is born, the Babe, the Son of Mary!

- Sr. Mary John Paul

Christ the savior is Born!

This year Mother Angelica celebrates her 89th Christmas! We give thanks to the Divine Child for her continued smiles, prayer and joy as the "Night Divine"

approaches."If we rivet ourselves on the Lord, it's an eternal feast. It's always Christmas... it's

always redemption." - Mother Angelica

Sing In Exultation! - Beauty of a Liturgical LifeOur daily prayer, work, and recreation revolve around the celebration of the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours to which each of us contributes fully, actively, and consciously. As we enter into the rhythm of the liturgical seasons and feasts, their spirit will permeate and color the whole of our lives. (PCPA Constitutions no. 97) The Christmas liturgy is spectacular in every sense. It truly evokes and makes present what all liturgy is – the worship of God and the union of God with man. On Christmas night, in the contemplation of the Word made Flesh, we see explicitly that the purpose of our life and our worship is the same thing. Dietrich von Hildebrand wrote that [Liturgy] leads us into the secrets of the love of the God-man for the Father and His glorification of the heavenly Father, and the love of the heavenly Father for man. The conscious, fully-awakened act of performing the Liturgy imprints upon the soul the Face of Christ. In taking part in the Liturgy, we make our own the fundamental attitudes embodied in it. It is fitting then, that the Mass, the heart of all liturgy, is celebrated with sacred music in praise of the Triune God. In Church, whether it be the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or the chanting of the Liturgy of the Hours, we are indeed ‘standing before God,’ entering into the eternal praises of the Son to the Father and joining the angels and saints who stand before the throne in heaven. It is no surprise then that the Church must sing and sing in every mode with chant, exultation and thanksgiving. Those consecrated to the worship of God must also give voice to the supplication of God’s people, the lamentation of our exile here on earth, and the pleading for the coming of the Divine Spouse in glory! We must sing! (continued on back)

The night sky, black as velvet, pin-pricked by thousands of stars. Still, frigid air. Snow

beginning to tumble out of the darkness with a sigh. Entwined leafless branches creaking in the deep cold. The lovely, profoundly enthralling season of Christmas arrives at the darkest time of the year, kindling our souls with the True Light - God Himself. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light… Isaiah the prophet proclaims (Is 9:2). And this year, there is a new gift, for we are celebrating Advent and Christmas in the midst of the Year of Faith, a year that glows and flickers with opportunities for grace upon grace.

We, God’s children, joyfully embrace the mystery of Christmas every year. Perhaps, though, we can idealize the experience of Our Lady and St. Joseph, forgetting to take into account their sufferings; and especially, we can fail to reflect on the faith that was asked of them at that time. When Our Lady gave birth, without the protection or dignity of proper shelter, and tenderly wrapped the Christ Child in the scraps of cloth that were all she had, her heart must have throbbed keenly with the desire to give Him more. As for St. Joseph, called to be father of the Holy Family, the one responsible for Its care and protection, perhaps he struggled with the feeling that he had failed to provide, and at a critical time. God was asking for great faith from St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary in the circumstances of Christ’s birth. We can be certain that when they set out on their journey to Bethlehem, neither one of them knew that they would end up billeted in a farm-stock shelter since the inns were full.

Both Joseph and Mary must have made courageous acts of faith before embracing the fact that all of this was the Holy Will of God. And see how He has eternally blessed us through their offering of faith! We too are called to have such faith. But faith, as the Catechism tells us, is a supernatural gift from God (no. 179) and is not something that we can manufacture ourselves, nor is it static. Faith, writes Peter Kreeft, is more active than reason. Faith runs ahead of reason. Reason reports, like a camera. Faith takes a stand, like an army. Faith is saying Yes to God’s marriage proposal. Faith is extremely simple. Most of what is written about faith is needlessly complex. The word yes is the simplest word there is. We mustn’t be discouraged by the fact that usually our own personal faith seems more like a dusty attic containing dry intellectual beliefs. Even if we lack the strength to seek Him with energy, a feeble cry from a weary heart is swept up into the Sacred Heart of Christ.

In this Year of Faith, let us enter into the liturgical seasons of Advent and Christmas with new vision, reveling in the mysteries they contain; and let us beg Our Lord for the gift of faith. A PCPA Novice

(continued from pg 3) Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the role of sacred music in these words: Sacred music can have, and in fact does have, a relevant task, to foster the rediscovery of God, a renewed approach to the Christian message and to the mysteries of the Faith. The Christian’s song of praise begins what we shall do forever. St. Augustine expressed this 'eternal vocation' by saying: 'We shall repose and we shall see, we shall see and we shall love, we shall love and we shall praise, and so it will be at the end without end.' Here on earth as in heaven, [The Liturgy’s] primary intention is to praise and glorify God, to respond fittingly to Him…. The Liturgy is Christ praying. (D. vonHildebrand) This glorification of God has an effect on those who worship, the whole Body of Christ. Dietrich von Hildebrand continues: The deepest and most organic transformation of man in the spirit of Christ is found precisely at that point where we purely respond to values, in the giving up of ourselves to God’s glory, in the glorifying of God performed as divine service, in the abiding Coram ipso (in standing before Him), in the rejoicing in God’s existence, in the Gloria Domini (the glory of the Lord), in the magnalia Dei (the great deeds of the Lord). As we pray and sacrifice liturgically – and this means through Christ, with Christ and in Christ – glorifying God, we “put on Christ.” This Christmas, let us give voice to all praise and adoration of our Emmanuel! May the first Christmas song of jubilation - Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will – be our fervent prayer.