Holy Saturday ~ Rhubarb

Excerpt from Sr. Moira Quinn’s presentation: The Flowers and Saints of Lent.

After Joseph of Arimathea had taken Jesus’ body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried. It was the day of preparation, and the sabbath was about to begin.  The women who had come from Galilee with Jesus followed behind, and saw the tomb and the way in which his body was laid. They returned to town and pre-pared spices and perfumed oils. And then they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  ^{Luke 23:53-56}

What was Jesus’ experience in the tomb?  The Apostles’ Creed declares that Christ ‘... descended into hell; (and) on the third day rose again from the dead.’

Look, the Victor over death, Jesus, clasps the first hand he sees, Joseph, his earthly

father.  And right behind Joseph is John the Baptist, his cousin and faithful forerunner and proclaimer of the Lamb of God. Between them, I believe is Mary’s aunt Elizabeth, John’s mother, the first one to recognize Mary as ‘Mother of my Lord.’ Following them are a multitude of holy souls redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice. And with them, all those ready to hear the Word of God and begin new life in Christ.  ‘For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually, and in his spiritual existence he went and preached to the imprisoned spirits.’ ^{1 Peter 3:18-20a}

I paired this solemn day with Rhubarb.   Rhubarb was known by the ancient Greeks for its medicinal powers.  It is at once a symbol of warding off of evil AND reawakening and new beginnings.  After a barren winter, to see the quickly growing blood-red rhubarb stalks with its new yellow leaves emerge from the cold ground reminds one of the Passion of Christ and the Easter candle that banish the darkness.  Rhubarb could be thought of as an allegory of the time between Jesus’ death and resurrection.  A symbol of hope and healing while silence covers the earth on this solemn day.

MARCH BEAUTY

 It seems our world has become sullied - divided by harsh rhetoric. To what or whom can we turn?

“Beauty is a gift of the Spirit that nourishes and heals our souls, for ultimately, Beauty is but another name for God.”   Sr. Melannie Svoboda, SND 

 “The soul craves beauty.”    Thomas Moore, The Care of the Soul

Beauty is all around.  We need only to open our eyes, ears and heart to see, hear and experience that “Each day in our world Beauty is born anew, it rises transformed through the storms of history.”  Pope Francis

Because God loves us and God created beauty, “Beauty is nothing other than love, and love is life.” St. Augustine

How can we be beautiful and show that love is our life?  What can we do to “Be creative in order to achieve peace.”  Pope Francis

We must simply all do our part because “Beauty will save the world.”  Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot

Jesus is BEAUTY, and said to our foundress Bl. Celeste: “Enter into my Heart and admire the beauty of these images which I created in my own likeness, and be no longer surprised that I should have come down from Heaven and died for them on the Cross: my own Love did all this.”

And Bl. Celeste, who set her heart on higher realms, responded: “Nothing, neither the beauty of all the created things in this world, nor the immensity of the sea, nor all the ornaments of the heavens; nor the wealth of the rich, or the kings or lords of the earth, nor the honors of the great, can ever satisfy a heart capable of possessing Your Infinite Good.”

In God’s eyes our images are beautiful. Therefore, in loving God in return, we are capable of being beautiful to one another. Let it be so.

WORRIED? WHO ME?

 Have you ever been worried?   Just keeping up with the news is cause enough.    We all have our share of worries:  illness and aging, family dramas, the threat to democracy, monster storms of fire, rain, snow, and . . . .     

Take heart! There are things we can do to shift our minds and hearts from worries – like celebrating:  February 1^st is St. Bridgit’s Day and the first day of Spring in Ireland. February 2^nd is the Presentation of the Lord – ‘the Light of Christ has come into the world,’ and Consecrated Life Sunday celebrating vowed persons who reflect Christ’s light.  (And we take down our Christmas decorations.)    For those who are interested, there is the Super Bowl.  Valentines Day.  Mardi Gras. President's Day. Lunar New Year of the Horse, Feb 17-March 5.  

There is also Ash Wednesday and Lent. Technically, not a time of celebration but, we do sing at the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil: "O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam and Eve, which gained for us so great and glorious a Redeemer!"   This reminds us to laugh.  Julian of Norwich laughed at the powerlessness of the devil and rejoiced at Jesus’ victory over death.  “Joy is resistance.” says Dr. Maria J. Stephen, a Catholic consultant on non-violent protest. 

They say rubbing a worry stone calms the soul.  This, along with prayer, slows our heartbeat and releases the oxytocin hormone leaving you with a feeling of peace and connection.  

If we look to the foundress of the Redemptoristines, we see that Blessed Celeste had worries also, such as being labeled delusional, expelled from the monastery and investigated by the Inquisition.  While praying on the God/Man Jesus’ humiliating death on the cross, Jesus invited her to “Give your attention to the treasure which I revealed to you on the cross in which my eternal glory is enclosed.”

In faith and prayer, she responded, “The sweetnesses of your infinite glory are hidden in your humiliations!  How can I ever thank you as you invite me to keep you company on the cross as you gaze on me with your divine light.”

Could our worries be treasures, too?  By our own faith and prayer, we can grow and experience transformation as we are being rubbed smooth when we unite ourselves to Jesus on the cross and discover the graces and gifts in the sweet acceptance of those hidden graces of the crosses we bear.

Let us look on the cross, polish our worry stones and then bask calmly in the merciful gaze of Christ’s divine light and love, and laugh as we begin this Lenten season.

'TIS THE SEASON

 What is Christmas about when the entire world, beginning right after Halloween these days, does nothing but shop?   Then, there is the frantic opening of said gifts and the returning of unwanted stuff.    

Enough of these Hallmark Christmas Romances that you can see every day of the year!  I love a good Christmas movie: Alistair Sims Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life, Silent Night starring Linda Hamilton, Noelle (faith based 2006 film) ... 

Whatever happened to “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” or “Keep Christ in Christmas” ?

Recently, I read on Facebook of a family that sings Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus before their Christmas dinner and then birthday cake afterwards.  (I doubt they blow out 2000 plus candles)  Her children loved it and it helped them understand the importance of Christmas Day.  Now the grandkiddies are singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, too!

I woke up this New Year’s Eve morning singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and added some verses.

           Happy Birthday to You,
           Happy Birthday to You,
           Happy Birthday, dear Jesus,    
           Happy Birthday to You!

Though God, You became man,   
Though God, You became man,
For us, You became man,
For us, You became man.

To show us Your love,
To show us Your love,
Your mercy and love,
Your mercy and love.

With the angels we sing,
With the angels we sing,
Happy Birthday, dear Jesus,                                                                                    Happy Birthday to You!        

MKQ  Dec 31, 2025

THE JEWELS OF ADVENT: The Great O Antiphons

 

Advent is the most beautiful of liturgical seasons.  It is a time of watching and preparing, of hopeful expectation and joyful anticipation.  Advent is the season where we ponder the comings of Christ. The Mass readings of Advent begin with the Second Coming of Christ to earth, the Parousia. The word Parousia means ‘to be present.’  Isn’t that what Advent is about?  To be present to the mystery of God: past, present and future. We remember with our ancestors of the past their longing for the coming of the Messiah. We rejoice and celebrate Jesus’ incarnation, his coming in the flesh 2000 years ago.  In the present, we recognize Jesus, our Messiah, in our midst in the here and now, where he is gracing us in every facet of our lives as we look to our reward at his ‘Second Coming.’

 

Some of you may be scratching your head and saying, ‘The Great what?’ You know at least one of them by heart, ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel… ’   It is probably the most beloved of all Advent hymns.   In the monastery, as a final preparation for Christmas, we sing these ‘Jewels of Advent,’ the last 7 nights before Christmas Eve just before the Magnificat beginning December 17 until December 23.   It is also sung during those days at daily Mass with the Gospel Alleluia.

 

Whoever put together all the Latin Antiphons was having a good time because if you take the first letter of each invocation, then read it backwards; it forms an acrostic in Latin:  ERO CRAS.  This can be understood as Christ response to his people's plea, “Tomorrow I will come."

 

You may say, ‘Wait a minute.  Christmas begins with the Vigil on the 24^th.  Why end on the 23^rd ?’   True enough. Thanks to the tradition handed down to us by our Jewish ancestors in faith, we begin the liturgical day at sundown. So, the evening of the 23^rd is Christmas Eve, and as a result, therefore, the Christmas liturgy begins at Evening Prayer on the 24^th.   I know it sounds confusing but that is the way it is.

 

To add to the mix, an optional alternative English medieval practice came of adding a day and antiphon to involve Mary to the end on the 24^rd.   They took the ‘V’ from O Virgo and added it to the acrostic so it became Vero Cras, "Truly, tomorrow."

 

Let us celebrate this Advent and Christmas as we await that great day when JESUS’ COMES!

DAYS F0R GIRLS

Living with the Dominicans of Sparkill has offered us many opportunities to reach out to those in need without leaving the convent. For instance, Days for Girls is an international program that makes feminine supplies for Third World girls and women so they will not have to miss school or work during their monthlies because they have no supplies. 

Using patterns in assembly line fashion, the sisters and students from nearby Dominican schools cut out waterproof shields, soft colorful washable material to make liners and pads.  Then those at sewing machines assemble them, as well as making water proof pouches and draw string bags.  Finally, the assembly line fills the draw string bags with a pouch, a bar of soap, a washcloth, 3 pair of panties, and pads.  These are then packed up and sent down to NYC or Florida where they will be shipped around the world.

Since 2008 over 3 million girls in more than 145 countries have been helped so they can continue their education and become productive women with a bright future.  Another plus is these supplies are free to the girls who are also given feminine hygiene information.  (These girls often carry their flashy bags every day to protect themselves from rape.)  Everything is washable, and with proper care, can be used for up to three years.  Consider also that the land-fills, streams and water ways are not being clogged up used feminine hygiene items.   It’s a win/win for the girls, their communities and the earth.

We Red Nuns also donate to pajama and food drives hosted by the Dominicans for 
babies, youngsters and local families during the holiday season.

Our life of prayer is enriched as we joyfully participate in showing the love of Christ to those in need by our simple ways of giving.

BL. CELESTE AND NATURE

 

This year begins the 330 anniversary of Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa’s birth.   Born on October 31, 1696, on All Hallows Eve. She as baptized on All Saints Day, and given the name Julia. 

From an early age Julia delighted in God’s creation.   Seeing Mount Vesuvius towering over the city and port of her home in Naples must have inspired awe in the young girl.  At a tender age Julia heard the voice of her Beloved in her heart.  But, “He is like a hart which leaps rapidly over mountains...” 1st Dialogue   And so, “her soul began to run after Him to seek the face of her Beloved.” 

Reflecting years later on her younger self, Celeste recalls her warm young love which in mature years became almost volcanic as she cries out in her poetry, “Come, Come because You love me so!   Come, Come because I love You so!”

In Scala above the Amalfi Coast, where she becomes a nun, Celeste declares, “In the sun, I see your splendors. In the moon, the stars, the sky, the earth and the sea, in the variety of plants, of grasses, of trees and of fruits, in the animals, the birds and the fish, in the air and all the elements, it is You I see, I love, You in whom I take great pleasure. It is You whom I possess in a complete joy. 9th Dialogue

When Celeste experiences of trials, the Lord warns, “It will be like an ocean washing over you. You will be slandered, abandoned by her dearest friends...” But, in union with Jesus, the Suffering Servant, she is, “...a drop of water that falls into this vast ocean of perfect and infinite Good and is transformed” to be like her Redeemer.

Celeste taught her community, “Those who are pure of heart know the Father because they gaze fixedly with affection and love on the eternal Sun of Justice; as an eagle gazes on the sun.”  She also instructed her Sisters to be living images of Jesus, saying, “He also placed the stars in the night sky, and these are all the virtues of Jesus Christ, our Savior.   And these virtues (are to also) adorn your soul like jewels which shine like stars in the heavens."     7th Degree of Prayer

As the beauty of Autumn fills our eyes as we contemplate the beauty of the earth and skies, let us join Blessed Celeste in celebrating the wonders of God about us and within us.