Recta Ratio

Loreena McKennit, The Holly And the Ivy


Celtic Woman, In the Bleak Mid-Winter/The First Noel


Loreena McKennit, The Gloucestershire Wassail


The Clancy Brothers, Angels We Have Heard On High

Christmas with a French touch for today.

Il Est Ne


Loreena McKennitt - Noël Nouvelet!


Bring A Torch Jeanette, Isabella


Pavarotti, O Holy Night


The Chieftains, The Breton Carol

From The Golden Legend

From Catholic On Line



Remember the especial vehemence with which English protestants attacked the cult of Saint Thomas a Becket, because Henry VIII saw it as a potential rallying point for anti-royal Catholic revolt. So celebrate this great martyred with special emphasis.

The Coventry Carol

1. Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child.
By, by, lully, lullay.

2. O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

3. Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young, to slay.

4. Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting, nor say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.



In Herod's time, a slaughter of holy innocent babes was an outstanding once-in-a-lifetime event. For us, the murderous sin of abortion has made the slaughter of holy innocents a daily, constant massacre. So desensitized to the slaughter of our babies are we now that a gunman two weeks ago thought nothing of brutally gunning down classrooms full of kindergarterners and First Graders.

God help us!

The Deller Consort, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear


The Boar's Head Carol/Here We Come A'Wassailing


Pavarotti, from the famous 1978 concert at Notre Dame du Montreal


The Clancy Brothers, The Christ Child Lullaby

Annie Lennox, God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen


Bangers and Mash and Fezziwigger Dancers, Sir Roger de Coverley


The Clancy Brothers, The Holly Bears A Berry

The Chieftains, Past Three O'Clock

This is the feast of one of my special patrons, Saint John the Evangelist. John is my confirmation name.

From The Golden Legend

A prayer to Our Blessed Lady and to her adopted son, Saint John (translation by Michael W. Martin):

O Intemerata

O UNSPOTTED and forever blessed, unique and incomparable virgin Mary, Mother of God, most graceful temple of God, sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, gate of the kingdom of heaven, by whom next unto God the whole world liveth, incline O Mother of Mercy thy ears of piety unto my unworthy supplications, and be merciful to me a most wretched sinner, and be unto me a helper in all things.

O most blessed John, the beloved and friend of Christ, which by the same Lord Jesus Christ was chosen a virgin, and among the rest more beloved, above all instructed in the heavenly mysteries, for thou wast made a most worthy Apostle and Evangelist: thee also I call upon with Mary, the mother of the same Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, that thou wouldst vouchsafe to afford me thy aid with hers.

O ye two celestial jewels, Mary, and John. O ye two lights divinely shining before God. Chase away by your bright beams the clouds of my offenses.

For you are those two in whom God the Father through His own Son, specially built His own house, and in whom the only-begotten Son of God as the reward of your most sincere virginity confirmed the privilege of His love while hanging on the Cross, saying thus to one of you: "Woman, behold thy son," and then to the other, "Behold thy mother."

In the sweetness therefore of His most sacred love, through which by our Lord's own mouth, as mother and son you were joined to each other, I, a most wretched sinner, commend this day to you my body and soul, that at all hours and moments, inwardly and outwardly, you would vouchsafe to be unto me steadfast guardians and devout intercessors before God.

I indeed firmly believe and accept beyond any doubt that one who wants to be yours will belong to God and one who does not want to be yours will not belong to God, for you can obtain whatever you ask from God without delay. By virtue of your most powerful worthiness, beg, I beseech you, for the well being of my body and soul.

Plead, I beseech you, plead for me by your holy prayers that the loving Spirit, the best giver of graces, may vouchsafe to visit my heart and dwell therein, the self same Spirit who may thoroughly purge me from all filth of vice, lighten and adorn me with sacred virtues: who would cause me to stand perfectly and to persevere in the love of God and my neighbor, and, after the course of this life, may this most benign comforter bring me to the joys of His elect, He, who with God the Father and the Son is co-eternal and consubstantial with them and in them, liveth and reigneth as Almighty God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Saint Stephen by Magpie Lane https://youtu.be/stjBk0amoAM Good King Wenceslaus by The Irish Rovers https://youtu.be/11GlNvi7hPY The Wren Song by The Clancy Brothers https://youtu.be/BOpwRsowgP8 The Wren In the Furze by The Chieftains https://youtu.be/MyA1zKBUhxM The Bells Of Dublin by The Chieftains https://youtu.be/NntWFDQxoY4 The Wexford Carol by Loreena McKennitt https://youtu.be/CG6vOASt2RU Sans Day Carol by the Clare College Singers https://youtu.be/S298wpVTXao Curoo, Curoo by The Clancy Brothers https://youtu.be/PZNMu46WYMA Christ Child Lullaby by The Clancy Brothers https://youtu.be/7nEOgSZe1-w The West Clare Wren Boys https://youtu.be/4WvhPtiarW4

The Catholic Encyclopedia

The Golden Legend

Saint Stephen, please pray for us!

Joy To the World By Mitch Miller And the Gang https://youtu.be/yftNYbUueGQ I Saw Three Ships by Maianne Faithfull and The Chieftains https://youtu.be/aa6KIKKNQMo What Child Is This? by Andrea Boccelli https://youtu.be/C-GX0eWXjq8 Dame Get Up And Bake Your Pies by The Broadside Band http://youtu.be/Rq4hEyxq8Wk The Boar's Head Carol by Magpie Lane https://youtu.be/0x9Zczwsvhw The Christmas Goose by The Oxford Waits https://youtu.be/PGHQigpLGjY Ding Dong Merrily On High by Celtic Woman https://youtu.be/ntPuICGM3nU Carol Of the Bells By Saint Paul's Cathedral Choir https://youtu.be/yfPCxCua0xY Angels We Have Heard On High by Andy Williams https://youtu.be/KZlWwTgZ-nE Carol Of the Birds by Emily Mitchell https://youtu.be/cYuBASP8OVk We Wish You A Merry Christmas by Enya https://youtu.be/Dt9l_SVvyRc Lo, How A Rose 'Ere Blooming by Emily Mitchell https://youtu.be/veaSeQ-UerY Once In Royal David's City by the Saint Paul's Cathedral Choir https://youtu.be/kSmztSZANAg In Dulci Jubilo by The York Waits https://youtu.be/CHE2XqAKX0s The Sussex Carol from The Tailor Of Gloucester https://youtu.be/JzSi6HFUn50 God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen by Emily Mitchell https://youtu.be/XHBP83Jcjp8

For me, Christmas Eve is the holiest time of the year, saving only the Easter Triduum.

It is a time for beginning the Christmas feast, after the first Christmas Masses have been said. It is the occasion for opening a single Christmas Eve gift, for reading the Nativity Story, for putting the Chrisat Child in the crib, for lighted candles, enjoying the Christmas Tree, and the most treasured Christmas albums, lighting the single white candle in the center of the Advent wreath. It is a night of hanging stockings, leaving cookies and milk for old Saint Nick, for roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding, for eggnog and mince pie. It is a time for family and homely entertainment amid holly and ivy, candles (even if electric) in the window, and for peace.





After the dinner on Christmas Eve, it is the time to sit back. The frantic pace of shopping, baking, cooking, wrapping, sending greetings, and entertaining is over. The spiritual preparation is done as well. A good confession has been made, and God willing, you can be housled in something close to a state of grace, baring only the veial sins committed since the confession. Sometimes, I wish I could just pop into the confessional seconds before receiving the Blessed Sacrament, as that is the only way this sinner can be clean enough for Him.

Days of rest are ahead. Now is the time to be with those you love best. The anxiety and stress of modern Christmas is a thing of the past.

I wish all of my readers the most Joyous and Blessed Christmas, and the most Happy and Most Prosperous New Year!

Merry Christmas!!!