The New Year

Ever since a 1947 Gallup poll listed the 10 most popular resolutions in the US, the top 10 have scarcely varied. Today, these resolutions repeat themselves almost word for word: lose weight; quit smoking; don’t drink as much; embark on self-improvement; get organised; manage finances better; spend more time with family and friends. Others differ in wording, reflecting the fads of the day, but differ little in substance. In 1947, it was “go to Church more regularly”. Today, it might read “practise self-care” or even “explore new places” Many of our resolutions today involve going on a “digital diet” and cutting down on the hours we spend sitting at a computer screen. The ancients – among others, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and Indian; Jews, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, – had an alternative solution. Do not focus on goals and well-thought plans, they said, because life is too uncertain. Do not commit to changing your life by a set date. Instead, learn to make do with less. Do not resolve to bend reality to your will; learn how to respond to surprises and disorder. Do not fixate on dates; embark on a lifetime project, one step at a time. Maybe we should try to slow down and give a little time for introspection, meditation and speaking to the Lord. He’s always available, no appointments required, just go to a church and look at the tabernacle. Look at Him, and remember that He’s looking at you. Happy New Year.

How Band Clubs decorate

Every town and village in Malta has a Band Club, marching band clubs that participate in their local village festa and other functions. They are usually brass bands with woodwind instruments and some percussion. They attract many followers who attend their clubs which have large halls for meeting and concerts, some playing stations like snooker and darts as well a card-playing. And of course a bar which attracts many people to socialize...and drink. Then there is the façade which is always an attraction in itself, and is decorated profusely during village feast in the summer months, and during the Christmas season, as you can see from these two photos of the local Band Clubs in Naxxar. The first one is the Victory Club and the second one is the Peace Club, and they obviously compete against each other as to who will decorate the best.

More Nativities

I cannot let go another day without sharing with you some more Nativities I saw over the last few days. They are so well crafted, as the quality of these creations are like little masterpieces, all of which are the result of hard work, inventive ideas and sheer joy in presenting Christmas as truly the birth of Jesus Christ. There is a sense of affection and care in the way St Joseph is seen protecting Mary, the way Mary receives the message from God and hints of closeness to the Almighty.

Celebrating with Gratitude

The birth of Christ has changed the course of history and because of his presence in our lives, history is still changing. We have now 1.3 billion members in the Catholic church. Many of them on Christmas day were in one of the thousands of churches around the world to celebrate in prayer. The sang quietly ‘Silent Night’, while others proclaim ‘Joy to the world,’ and ‘ O come let us adore Him.’ Still others stayed from churches and simply they sang ‘Deck the Halls,’ ‘I Dream of a White Christmas,’ and rang their ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Silver Bells.’

But above everything, at this festive season, let us look around us and say Thank you....

Look at a sunset and say Thank you for Beauty.

Look at the birth of a baby and say Thank you for the gift of Life.

Look at two world leaders signing a ceasefire during war, and say Thank you for Peace.

Look around you and be thankful for your friends and family.

Look at a computer and say Thank you as to how the world has become a global village.

Look at schools and say Thank you to teachers who feed us with so much knowledge.

Look at the church, and be thankful for the power of prayer.

Look at the stable of Bethlehem and say Thank you that Jesus came among us to save us.

Gingerbread houses

The Florence Cathedral as a gingerbread church

Going a little bit profane for once during this Christmas season, I share with you some very crafty gingerbread houses I came across. They are becoming quite popular, even in Malta, where chefs combine their efforts to create large structures as seen in the last photo.

One beautiful house

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful houses decorated for the festive season, with an accent on the religious aspect of Christmas. This house is located next to the parish church in Lija, Malta, and is just spectacular to behold. Its owner had it extended from last year, adding some more characters. The lights inserted in the back of the images create a silhouette effect that is truly mesmerizing to reflect and meditate upon. Please do click on each photo to get a bigger image.

A Blessed Christmas

Sharing with you Christmas greetings in various languages:

Arabic: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Argentine: Feliz Navidad
Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Dutch: Zalig Kerstfeast
English: Merry Christmas
Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon
Finnish: Hyvaa joulua
French: Joyeux Noel
Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr
German: Froehliche Weihnachten
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
Hindi: Christmas Mubarak Ho
Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket
Icelandic: Gledileg Jol
Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal

Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Italian: Buon Natale
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Latin: Descendit de coelis Salvator mundi. Gaudeamus
Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu
Maltese: Il-Milied it-Tajjeb u s-Sena l-Gdida mimlija risq u hena
Norwegian: Gledelig Jul 
Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo
Philippines: Maligayan Pasko at Manibagong Bagong Taon
Polish: Wesotych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia
Portuguese: Feliz Natal
Rumanian: Sarbatori vesele
Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Slovakian: Vesele vanoce
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swahili: Heri kwa noeli na baraka nyingi kwa mwaka mpya
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Vietnamese: Chung Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen

My parents’ masterpiece

Over the years my parents have always decorated our home with Christmas symbols, including a large presepio, a Nativity display that my father created for us, the whole town of Bethlehem. They also set up a canopy with baby Jesus and two angels in the entrance of our house, something which I refer to as a masterpiece, because they put so much love and attention to it. The above photo shows my parents next to it, back in the 1990s. 

Surrounding baby Jesus are pots of grown vetch, a seed that grows very white, as long as it is grown in the dark. It is usually planted in early December and watered every few days, until a few days before Christmas. It may look similar to alfalfa, but it’s used frequently by many families and churches for the Christmas season. The presepio my father used to create was another masterpiece with beautiful figures from Italy. All I have left of these two memories are these photos which I share with you today.

The presepio my father used to create for us every Christmas

The entire entrance to our old home

100 years ago

It was exactly 100 years ago today that my great-uncle Fr. Paul Galea was ordained a priest in the Cathedral  of Notre-Dame d’Afrique in Algiers. I inherited his chalice which I still use daily. On it is inscribed the date of his ordination 23-12-1923 and donated by the Meilaq family, relatives who lived in Algiers at that time. He was born on August 26, 1899 in Nadur, on the sister island of Malta called Gozo. By 1926, Fr Paul was back in Malta when the bishop asked him to become chaplain of the Blue Sisters Hospital in St. Julian’s. Later on he became also chaplain of the Poor Clare, a monastery of cloistered Franciscan nuns. In 1927, together with my grand-father Joseph Cassar he opened the new St. Julian’s Band Club which is planning its centennial in 2027. Until 1951, he also served in the parish of St. Julian’s. In 1951, he became parish priest or pastor of the Mount Carmel parish in Gżira, where he stayed until 1966. During those years, he was instrumental in raising funds to buy the new set of bells, which for many years, they used to ring every 15 minutes. After he retired he used to celebrate Mass at the St Julian’s parish as well as at the Poor Clares Monastery, where I helped him as an altar boy, just before I entered the Seminary. He actually died on October 29, 1970, the same month I started my journey for the priesthood.

With my uncle's chalice on my ordination 1977

3 Christmas memories

I want to take you back over the last 10 years in my last 2 parishes in Baker City and Bend in Oregon. The first photos shows the beautiful Fontanini Nativity I bought for the parish of St Francis of Assisi in Bend. My intention was to buy the Holy Family one year, and then add the other pieces over the next 4 to 5 years. But the response was overwhelming. I first bought the Blessed Mother in memory of my mother, and then I asked parishioners if they would like to sponsor any other characters. Believe it or not, within 24 hours, I had all the 26 pieces purchased, and paid for by various parishioners. We set it up in front of the altar, and has been set there ever since.

The second photo shows the Christmas Eve Mass at the Cathedral in Baker City, just after a Nativity play by the children, when Santa came up to adore baby Jesus, and then, accompanied on my flute, we taught the children how to sing a Maltese carol, ’Ninni la tibkix izjed.’ In 2008, which was the centennial of the building of the Cathedral, as a parish we sponsored a tree for the Festival of Trees held annually by the local St. Elizabeth Hospital. Of course we called it the Centennial Tree, and it was adorned with ornaments made form photos of the history of the Cathedral. After it was auctioned, the tree was given back to me, and I used to set it up in the Rectory every year, for everyone to admire. (click on each photo to enlarge)

Pageants and Recitals

This is the season of concerts and recitals as well as pageants usually presented by young children. All choirs start from September rehearsing their Christmas music, especially carols, which they would also perform during Christmas services in churches. Miniature oratorios or selections from Handel’s ‘Messiah’ are often performed at this time of the year. Children’s choirs are also becoming quite popular, and they frequently participate in the Novena (9 days) leading to the celebration of Christmas.

On the other hand, Pageants are presented in halls and churches, often with a commentary and music, while the children act the part, without any speaking parts. The main characters are Mary and Joseph, the three Kings, of course baby Jesus, usually a doll wrapped up in clothing, while those with no part are dressed as angels, if they are girls, and as shepherds, if they are boys. This means there is usually a multitude of angels with feathered wings and plenty of shepherds holding a walking stick. Two boys are usually chosen to be a donkey and a cow, and a few little ones become lambs to complete the symmetry of the Nativity.

Christmas Stamps

Malta Christmas stamp set designed by Emvin Cremona

Just about every country issues a special set of stamps for Christmas. Looking at the various stamps from years past, you can also notice the increase in postage over the years, and especially since the introduction of emails, the prices have sky-rocketed exorbitantly. Maltese stamps have always been particularly beautiful, mainly because my favorite artist Emvin Cremona was responsible over 30 years to design the stamps. In this post you can see two particular sets, plus another set that shows old images of baby Jesus made from wax. 

Old images of baby Jesus, made from wax.

Just about every parish church has a vintage baby Jesus which is carried in procession and placed at the center of the main altar for veneration throughout the entire Christmas season. All of Emvin Cremona's stamps were done before 1985, since he died in 1987, and he was at his best between 1955 and 1983, painting also many ceilings in parish churches. (click on each photo to enlarge)

Another Christmas set by E. Cremona

Lit-up houses

My time in the USA has provided me with plenty of opportunities to enjoy houses decorated for the Christmas season. These are lit-up for the entire month of December, often even until January 6, the traditional feast of the Epiphany and the end of the Christmas season. The New York houses were at times overcrowded with images and symbols, crammed into a limited front lawn, but the Bend, Oregon homes, having more property, the lights are more spread out, and are more visible, allowing the owners to be more creative. 

Here you have the contrast between a Bend, Oregon house and a New York house. While the first photo is a digital photo, and so is much sharper than the second one taken with a conventional camera, and this is a scanned copy of a printed photo. Neighbors are usually very unhappy as hundreds of people gather to enjoy these houses, while they park their cars in the limited space available.

The Christmas Cactus

I’d like to introduce you today to a plant that usually flowers at this time of the year, thereby being called often the Christmas cactus. Scientifically, it is called Schlumbergera, a small species of cacti with six to nine species found in the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil. These plants grow on trees or rocks in habitats that are generally shady with high humidity, and can be quite different in appearance from their desert-dwelling cousins. Most species of Schlumbergera have stems which resemble leaf-like pads joined one to the other and flowers which appear from areoles at the joints and tips of the stems. In Brazil, the genus is referred to as Flor de Maio (May flower), reflecting the period in which they flower in the Southern Hemisphere. Most of the popular houseplants grow with flowers in white, pink, yellow, orange, red or purple. The plants are offered for sale under a variety of common names. The earliest English common name was "Christmas cactus". In Europe, where plants are largely produced for sale in the period before Christmas, this remains the most widely used common name in many languages (e.g. Weihnachtskaktus in German, cactus de Noël in French, and cacto de Navidad in Spanish). This is also the name used in Canada. In the United States, where plants are produced for the Thanksgiving holiday in November, the name "Thanksgiving cactus" is also used. 

It was named after Frédéric Schlumberger, who had a collection of cacti at his chateau near Rouen. It was originally discovered in 1837 and named Epiphyllum russellianum. The plants need some light, cooler temperatures and occasional watering. Too much light causes stems to take on a reddish colouration; however, very low light levels will prevent flowering. Day length is important in controlling flowering; continuous darkness for at least 12 hours is necessary to induce bud formation. A period of about 8 days with 16 hours of darkness at 16 °C (61 °F) has been shown to cause flower buds to form.

Happy Birthday Pope Francis

Happy Birthday Pope Francis. He turns 87 today. Born in Argentina as Jorge Bergoglio. Ordained a priest on December 13, 1969. Consecrated Bishop June 27, 1992. Created as Cardinal February 21, 2001. Elected Pope on March 13, 2013. 

Just this week he announced that he would like to be buried at St. Mary Major’s basilica, close to his favorite image of Salus Populi Romani. Maria Salus Populi Romani (Saint Mary, Health of the Roman People) is an ancient icon measures five feet in height and three and a quarter feet in width (117 x 79 cm). It arrived from Crete in 590 AD during the Pontificate of Pope Gregory the Great and was placed in the Roman Basilica of Saint Mary Major. 

He has visited this church over 100 times so far, every time he travels, before and after his trip. 6 other Popes are buried there, including Pope St. Pius V, the Dominican Pope who introduced the white cassock of a Pope, especially after a few hot summers 400 years ago, and since the Dominicans wear white, he felt it was a little bit cooler than the black cassock that priests use. Pope Francis hinted that he may be able to visit his homeland of Argentina sometime next year, besides a few other places he mentioned in various interviews. Ad Multos Annos Papa Francesco !

Vatican Nativity

On the 800th anniversary of St Francis of Assisi setting up the first Nativity scene, the creche in St Peter’s Square in 2023 will come from the Diocese of Rieti, Italy, in paying tribute to the scene set up in the diocese in 1223. St Francis’ Nativity scene in a cave in Greccio featured live animals, but the one unveiled in St Peter’s Square on December 9 will not. But the scene still will be very simple: Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus, some shepherds and figures representing the nobleman Giovanni Velita, his wife Alticama, and three Franciscan friars who, at St Francis’ behest, put a hay-filled manger, an ox and a donkey in a grotto where the local faithful could come to pray and to imagine the poverty and simplicity into which Jesus was born. The crib is accompanied by a 25-metre (80-foot) fir tree from the Piedmont region.

Nativities Exhibition – part 3

A few more nativities from the Exhibition being held at the President’s Palace in Valletta. The first one is one of my favorites as it shows a very intimate moment between Mary and her baby as she nurses him in her humble home, probably somewhere in Egypt, as they spent 2 years as refugees, escaping from Herod’s wrath. The next one is the Presentation at the temple, as Simeon welcomes them and blesses the child Jesus after he is circumcised. A Nativity in a wintry setting gives us an insight into what it would have been like if Jesus was born in Sweden or Mongolia or Canada. The last one is another modern setting of a nativity.

A Nativity in a wintry setting

Nativities Exhibition - part 2

More photos of the Nativities I saw last Sunday. Some of the scenes were not related to the Christmas season, as you can see in the photos displayed. The first one shows St Francis approaching the stable of Bethlehem. He was the first person to create a Nativity and this year is the 8ooth anniversary of that first display which he did in the town of Greccio. The second and third ones show Jesus with the Samaritan woman, others in a modern twist to the Nativity. Please click on each photo to see some great details which you can easily miss just looking at the small image.

Saint Lucy

                           
We celebrate today the feast of Saint Lucy, one of the early young martyrs of the Catholic church. Lucy's name means "light", with the same root as "lucid" which means "clear and radiant." Unfortunately for us, Lucy's history does not match her name. Shrouded in the darkness of time, all we really know for certain is that this brave woman who lived in Syracuse lost her life in the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century. Her veneration spread to Rome so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognized her courage in defence of the faith. Her mother tried to arrange a marriage for her with a pagan. Lucy however was determined that she would be married only the Jesus, by remaining faithful to Him and her faith. Unfortunately, her bridegroom did not see the same light and he betrayed Lucy to the governor as a Christian. This governor tried to send her into prostitution but the guards who came to take her away found her stiff and heavy as a mountain. Finally she was killed. Apparently she had beautiful eyes, and the Emperor Diocletian demanded that her eyes will be gouged out. Lucy's name also played a large part in naming Lucy as a patron saint of the blind and those with eye-trouble, cataract and glaucoma, and other vision problems. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The original tilma in a protected frame in Guadalupe Cathedral.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the most treasured among Mexicans and Catholics alike. It all started in 1531 when an Aztec Indian named Juan Diego was walking through the Tepayac hill country in central Mexico. The Blessed Mother appeared tohim and requested that a church be built in that place. No one would believe him, not even the local Bishop Zumarraga, who requested a sign from Juan. On a successive visit, Juan was told to collect a full bloom of Castilian roses. Removing his coat or tilma, he cut the roses and Mary kindly rearranged them in his tilma. When he visited the Bishop, Juan told him what had transpired on the frozen hill, then he opened the tilma letting the flowers fall out. But it wasn't the beautiful roses that caused the bishop and his advisors to fall to their knees; for there, on the tilma, was a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary precisely as Juan had described her to them. The tilma shows Mary as the God-bearer - she is pregnant with her Divine Son. Over the years, the miraculous tilma has been subject to a variety of environmental hazards including smoke from fires and candles, water from floods and torrential downpours. But it has survived. In 1977, the tilma was examined using infrared photography and digital enhancement techniques. Unlike any painting, the tilma shows no sketching or any sign of outline drawn to permit an artist to produce a painting. Further, the very method used to create the image is still unknown. It can be seen today in a large cathedral built to house up to ten thousand worshipers. It is, by far, the most popular religious pilgrimage site in the Western Hemisphere. Mexicans celebrate this apparition today with a morning prayer at 5 AM called Mañanitas, and an evening Mass followed by plentiful food during a fiesta, with dancing and drinking of Tequila with lime.