Reflections for the Season of Advent…taken from
The Praises of the Kingdom of the Divine Will: Book II: Second Week

On Reflections … Adela Maria

My brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Francis: What does Christmas mean to all of humanity today?…Father Pavone, the priest for Life, today on EWTN…the Feast of the Sorrows of Our Blessed Mother said…” we Catholics are a strange people…we are joyful in our sorrow!”
I will present some articles for reflection about the season of Christmas; otherwise known to we Christians as the Season of Great Celebration;…and, do not stop thinking and reading until you read what Jesus has to say… let us begin:

The History of Christmas…from Christmas Time.com

In the Western world, the birthday of Jesus Christ has been celebrated on December 25th since AD 354, replacing an earlier date of January 6th. The Christians had by then appropriated many pagan festivals and traditions of the season, that were practiced in many parts of the Middle East and Europe, as a means of stamping them out.

There were mid-winter festivals in ancient Babylon and Egypt, and Germanic fertility festivals also took place at this time. The birth of the ancient sun-god Attis in Phrygia was celebrated on December 25th, as was the birth of the Persian sun-god, Mithras. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of peace and plenty, that ran from the 17th to 24th of December. Public gathering places were decorated with flowers, gifts and candles were exchanged and the population, slaves and masters alike, celebrated the occasion with great enthusiasm.

In Scandinavia, a period of festivities known as Yule contributed another impetus to celebration, as opposed to spirituality. As Winter ended the growing season, the opportunity of enjoying the Summer’s bounty encouraged much feasting and merriment.

The Celtic culture of the British Isles revered all green plants, but particularly mistletoe and holly. These were important symbols of fertility and were used for decorating their homes and altars.

New Christmas customs appeared in the Middle Ages. The most prominent contribution was the carol, which by the 14th century had become associated with the religious observance of the birth of Christ.
In Italy, a tradition developed for re-enacting the birth of Christ and the construction of scenes of the nativity. This is said to have been introduced by Saint Francis as part of his efforts to bring spiritual knowledge to the laity.

Saints Days have also contributed to our Christmas celebrations. A prominent figure in today’s Christmas is Saint Nicholas who for centuries has been honoured on December 6th. He was one of the forerunners of Santa Claus.

Another popular ritual was the burning of the Yule Log, which is strongly embedded in the pagan worship of vegetation and fire, as well as being associated with magical and spiritual powers.

Celebrating Christmas has been controversial since its inception. Since numerous festivities found their roots in pagan practices, they were greatly frowned upon by conservatives within the Church. The feasting, gift-giving and frequent excesses presented a drastic contrast with the simplicity of the Nativity, and many people throughout the centuries and into the present, condemn such practices as being contrary to the true spirit of Christmas.

The earliest English reference to December 25th as Christmas Day did not come until 1043.

The Nativity…from Christmas Time.com

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also sent up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And. lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, good will toward men.

St. Luke, Chapter 2

Old Christmas Day…from Christmas Time.com

Until the time of Julius Caesar the Roman year was organised round the phases of the moon. For many reasons this was hopelessly inaccurate so, on the advice of his astronomers, Julius instituted a calendar centred round the sun. It was decreed that one year was to consist of three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days, divided into twelve months; the month of Quirinus was renamed ‘July’ to commemorate the Julian reform. Unfortunately, despite the introduction of leap years, the Julian calendar overestimated the length of the year by eleven minutes fifteen seconds, which comes to one day every on hundred and twenty-eight years. By the sixteenth century the calendar was ten days out. In 1582 reforms instituted by Pope Gregory XIII lopped the eleven minutes fifteen seconds off the length of a year and deleted the spare ten days. This new Gregorian calendar was adopted throughout Catholic Europe.

Protestant Europe was not going to be told what day it was by the Pope, so it kept to the old Julian calendar. This meant that London was a full ten days ahead of Paris. The English also kept the 25th of March as New Year’s Day rather than the 1st of January. By the time England came round to adopting the Gregorian calendar, in the middle of the eighteenth century, England was eleven days ahead of the Continent.
A Calendar Act was passed in 1751 which stated that in order to bring England into line, the day following the 2nd of September 1752 was to be called the 14th, rather than the 3rd of September. Unfortunately, many people were not able to understand this simple manoeuvre and thought that the government had stolen eleven days of their lives. In some parts there were riots and shouts of ‘give us back our eleven days!’
Before the calendar was reformed, England celebrated Christmas on the equivalent of the 6th of January by our modern, Gregorian reckoning. That is why in some parts of Great Britain people still call the 6th of January, Old Christmas Day.

The Twelve Days of Christmas…from Christmas Time.com

It is said that the traditional Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was written as a secret teaching tool to instruct children in the meaning of the Christian faith. From 1558 to 1829 Roman Catholics in England were, apparently, forbidden from openly practicing their religion. So, this carol was devised to get the message across without upsetting the Protestants. Here is the broken code, thanks to this contribution from Guyneitha.

Divine Will; …on the reason for the season:

“My Passion began as soon as I was conceived”. Part One

My Child, see with what an excess of love I loved the creature: my divinity was too jealous to entrust the creature with the mission of redemption making me suffer the passion. The creature was powerless to make me die a death for each creature that existed…and that would see the light of day, and for each mortal sin that it would have had the misfortune of committing.

The Divinity wanted life for each death that was caused by mortal sin. Who could have been so powerful over me to give me so many deaths, except the divinity?

Who would have had the power, the love and the constancy to see me die so many times, except the divinity? The creature would have grown weary and would have given out.

And don’t think that this work of the divinity began late. No.

It began as soon as I was conceived in the womb of my mother (who many times was aware of my pains and was martyred, and felt death together with me).

Part Two

Right from the womb of my mother, my divinity assumed the function of loving executioner; but because it was loving it was more demanding and inflexible, so much so, that not even a thorn or a nail was spared my moaning humanity.

But it wasn’t like the thorns, the nails and the scourges that I suffered in the passion that creatures gave me. These did not multiply; they remained as many as they gave me.

On the contrary, those that the divinity gave me were multiplied at every offense. So, there were as many thorns for many bad thoughts; as many nails for as many unworthy works; as many lashes for as many illicit pleasures; and as many pains for as many offenses of all kinds.

So, they were oceans of pains, of thorns and of nails, and countless lashes.

In comparison to the passion that the divinity gave me, the passion that the creatures gave the last day of my life was nothing more than shadow and an image of what the divinity made me suffer during the course of my life.

This is why I love souls so much; they are lives that cost me, they are pains inconceivable to the created mind. So, enter into my divinity to see and understand what I suffered.

A Short Reading: “Creatures were incapable of penetrating into my interior and make me suffer pains for the glory they had denied the Father by all the offenses committed in their interior. Even more so, because, these wounded the most noble part of the creature which is the intellect, the memory and the will; where the divine image is sealed. So it was almost necessary for the divinity itself to assume this commitment and to be my loving executioner, to receive full satisfaction for all the sins committed in the interior of man.

While in the womb: In the passion that the divinity gave me I satisfied the Father for all the interior sins of man. I had to give the Father glory, love and complete satisfaction for all created things.

My child: …during the course of my mortal life, thousands of angels were in attendance around my humanity, gathering up all that I did: my steps, my works, my sighs, my pains, the drops of my blood, in a word, everything.

They were angels appointed to my care, to honor me, obedient to my gestures. They came and went from heaven, taking to the Father the things that I did.

These angels have a special office now; as the soul recalls my life, my passion, my prayers, they come together around this soul and gather its words, its prayers, its compassion for me, its tears and its offerings. They unite them all to mine and bring them before my majesty to renew for me the glory of my own life.
The angels are so pleased that in reverence they listen to what the soul says, and pray together with it. So…how attentive and respectful the soul must be when it does the hours of my passion, mindful that the angels hang on its lips to repeat after it the things it is saying!

Adela Maria: …now I am convinced that you will understand the following studies and words that were revealed to us about the season of Advent and of His Birth.