Christmas Day

 Dominic got donkeys in his stocking.  What else?

 The princess and the frog princess.

Weapons and saints.

Happy baby!

Which one is Medusa?

The budding chef.

The wine connoisseur.

Self-explanatory.

Sous chefs.

Oven roast Christmas dinner with root vegetables and braised broccoli rabe.

Derek and Sarah.

A quiet (well, relatively!), peaceful, family day.

Wigilia

 Traditional Polish Christmas Eve: Mushroom soup, Fish, Horseradish carrots and beets, Pierogi.



 So thankful this year for children who can play instruments!

And sing.

 And enjoy doing it.

 God bless you, Dr. Wade.

Early Christmas gift from big(gest) brother.

A very crazy game called Quelf.

A penalty of the game.  He had to hide in a fort!



And a wonderful peaceful evening ended with Midnight Mass.

O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles, yea, and salvation thereof, come to save us, O Lord our God!

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster.

A new children's nativity to add to our collection:

O Rex Gentium

O King of the Gentiles, yea, and desire thereof! O Corner-stone, that makest of two one, come to save man, whom Thou hast made out of the dust of the earth!

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

Tonight for dinner: Chicken a la King.  I have never made (or eaten) this dish before.  It is actually quite festive with the green peppers and red pimentos.

O Oriens

O Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Sun of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

This is somewhat of a stretch, but tonight some of the kids and I went to a movie.  It has probably been a year since I have done that.  We have a bargain cinema close by, and generous friends at Christmas time, so we could justify it.  There were only a handful of people in the theater and it was quite pleasant. 

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O Clavis David

O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, come to liberate the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

Key lime pie!

VENI, Clavis Davidica,
regna reclude caelica,
fac iter tutum superum,
et claude vias inferum.

O Radix Jesse

O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at Whom the kings shall shut their mouths, Whom the Gentiles shall seek, come to deliver us, do not tarry. 
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes
deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.

Today's special O Antiphon treat was going back to our "roots."  My hometown and our extended family.  All 14 of us went, to see my Aunt and my oldest and youngest cousin, along with their children, one who is 10 days younger than Declan and the first child of my youngest cousin Josh, and his wife Grace.

 Uncle Dominic and Declan

 Justin and Ian

 Jordan, Trinity and their (third? fourth?) cousin, Eleanor.

What would my cousin's daughter be to my daughters? Hmmm.

 Copeland, Farin and smiling Declan.

 Courtney and Alyssa.

 Grace and Declan.

 Half the gang.

And the rest!

Veni, o Jesse Virgula;
Ex hostis tuos ungula,
De specu tuos tartari
Deduc et antro barathri.
Gaude, gaude! Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel.

Oh, come, strong branch of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satans tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them vict'ry o'er the grave.

O Adonai

O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, Who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush, and gavest him the law in Sinai, come to redeem us with an outstretched arm!

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammæ rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

One of the kids' favorite O Antiphon activitites: decorating gingerbread houses! 


O COME, o come, Thou Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times did give the law,
in cloud, and majesty, and awe.

VENI, veni, Adonai,
qui populo in Sinai
legem dedisti vertice
in maiestate gloriae.

O Sapientia

O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, and orderest all things mightily and sweetly, come to teach us the way of prudence!

O Sapientia, quæ ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiæ.

To celebrate this first day of the O Antiphons, O Wisdom, everyone received a book.  Tonight's Evening Prayer we will sing the corresponding verse in O Come, O Come, Emmanuel:

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.