It seems to be pretty much the same as old blogger except the photo-uploading ability is a million times better! I had so many problems uploading photos on old blogger; I'd upload them and get a confirmation your-photos-have-been-uploaded message...but no pictures would appear in my blog post!
So I have decided to take advantage of my new hassel-free photo-uploading blog, and make a random photo post!!
Here are some close-up photos of my parish's nativity crib:
Mary, Joseph & baby Jesus
Ox
Shepherd boy.
We also have a pretty angel (which I didn't take a picture of) and 3 magnificent wise-men, but they don't come out till Ephiphany on Jan 6th.
On December 26th it was the feast day of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen.
You can read his story in Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59.
Basically he was stoned to death for being a follower of Christ.
St. Stephen is also the patron saint of altar servers and many parishes enroll their altar-servers as part of the Guild of St. Stephen, which is like a national group for altar-servers (may even be international, I'm not sure).
So on December 26th all the altar servers at my parish attend, and serve, at the St. Stephen's Day Mass.
Once someone has been serving consistently for 3 years they recieve the Guild Medal in bronze
In the centre the letters XP are the first two letters of the name 'Christ' in Greek.
At the top is the crown of victory given by God to everyone who overcomes evil, especially those who die for him.
At the bottom are the palm branches, traditional signs of martyrs who died for Christ.
Around the edge are the Latin words of the Guild motto:
CVI SERVIRE REGNARE EST.
TO SERVE CHRIST IS TO REIGN.
and after 10 years of altar-serving they get the same St. Stephen's medal but in shiny silver .
Chris has been altar-serving since he was 7 years old...that makes 17 YEARS of altar serving!! There isn't a gold altar serving medal, but if there was, he should get it!!
And my final picture in this my random post of random pictures...today is the feast day of the Holy Innocents:
The Holy Innocents were the children mentioned in Matthew 2:16-18. "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
Poor children and their parents.
Unfortunatly this sad event is echoed again and again in today's "modern" world where billions of abortions on innocent unborn babies take place every day.
Just think 600 babies EVERY SINGLE DAY are aborted in England & Wales alone, and thousands a day more in America.
Today is a good day to pray for them, and for those people who choose the death of their unborn baby over the baby's life.
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3 comments:
I love altar serving. I was asked to serve Midnight Mass with my bishop at my cathedral. It was wonderful.
Also, I suggest starting a novena for the unborn today.
Great post, Antonia. I didn't know about the medals for alter serving.
I will pray for the unborn today.
Thank you for your prayers and comments on my blog. You are an amazing lady! I can't believe you got to kiss the pope's hand!!! I'm soooo jealous! I would probably grab him in a very hearty hug and his body guards would tackle me to the ground for thinking I was a crazy lady or something, so it's probably best that I not try to visit the pope in my lifetime. You acted with much more grace than I could confine myself to, so good for you! I also read your stuff about your marriage preparation and I just can't commend you enough for your great faith and devotion to your Church and your husband. I wish you lived near me to be an example for some of the young ladies around here! I look forward to viewing more of your blog!
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