Celebrate Family: An Advent Journey


​Wednesdays, Dec 2, 9 & 16 @ 10-10:45am on Zoom.  
Register for Wednesdays 
or 

Thursdays, Dec 3, 10, 17 @ 7-7:45pm on Zoom.  
Register for Thursdays.
​
Contact Matt Yim​ for more information.

Barb Nelson, Grace Salceanu, and Matt Yim, SJ will be leading this retreat with brief introductions to Ignatian Spirituality and guided meditations.

Week 1 (December 2, 3) Theme (Annunciation)

Annunciation, painted by Maurice Denis (1913)
Luke's Gospel opens with Gabriel's visit to Zechariah and to Mary, informing them of good news, that they will soon be parents.  Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist.  Mary will bear the messiah.  Maurice Denis' painting of the Annunciation was finished in 1913, full of warm light and soft tones of color, but rich in complex imagery.  Notice the lily on the windowsill; it's there to represent Mary's purity. 

As you pray with the passage, try to imagine yourself in the setting. 

If it helps, there are many different hymns and songs that might assist you in your prayer.  Here are a few of them.

1)  The Angel Gabriel (A Basque carol)
2)  Yes, Lord, Yes.  Sung by the Rev. Shirley Caesar. 
3)  The God whom earth, and sea, and sky, by James Chepponis.  Sung by the Minnesota Choral Artists.
4)  Nova, nova, ave fit ex eva, from the Choral Project. 

Week 2 (Dec. 9, 10) Theme (Visitation)

Stained glass window, Taize Church, Taize, France
After, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary with the portentous news of her conception and the news that her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, is also pregnant, Mary makes haste for the hill country where Elizabeth and Zechariah live.  She goes to take care of her cousin, making sure that all the household responsibilities are taken care of, while Elizabeth makes ready to welcome her first child.  This stained glass window is from a series of windows at the Taize church in Taize, France. 

As you pray with the passage, try to imagine yourself in the setting.

If it helps, there are many hymns and songs that might assist you in your contemplation.  The Magnificat is one of them.

1) Hail Mary, Gentle Woman, sung by Carey Landry · Jeffrey Honoré, Tom Kendzia
2) Hail Mary, Gentle Woman, sung by Jamie Biller.  (a second version)
3) Breath of Heaven, sung by Amy Grant
4) Magnificat (a contemporary version), sung by Christy Nockels and Todd Agnew.

Week 3 (Dec. 16, 17) Theme (Nativity)

The Nativity, still shot, New Line Cinema
Mary and Joseph, newly married, make their way to Bethlehem.  In this day and age, women who are advanced in their pregnancy are warned against travel, but back in biblical times, staying home was not an option.  Instead, Mary and Joseph have to travel over the rough countryside to a far-away town.  Once they get there, there is no where for them to stay.  No inn.  No hotel.  No bed waiting for them.  Instead, there's a cave used to store field animals.  It's in that place that our Lord decides to be born.  There aren't any palaces, no servants, no bells ringing to announce his birth.  Instead, the hosts of heaven sing, shepherds hear them and following their song, are led to this little cave to witness something incredible.  They witness Emmanuel, God-with-us, and his parents.

As you pray with this passage, try to imagine yourself in the scene.

If it helps, here are some musical selections that you can listen to.

1)  People, Look East, sung by the choir of St. Matthews', Bethnal Green, London.
2) Gentle Mary Laid Her Child, sung by Folk Angel (a more contemporary carol)
3) Out of Your Sleep Arise, sung by the Magdalen College Choir
4) Remember, O Thou Man, sung by the King's Singers