Why is my page sporting an Advent Wreath in August?
Deacon Greg, over at his Bench, has "tagged" me to name five favorite devotions. You can follow the link to discover his. Here are mine:
1) Advent wreath and blessing of infant Jesus figures for creches
2) Pentecost novena
3) Keeping the hours of the Passion on Good Friday
4) A prayer corner at home
5) Parents blessing their children with a sign of the cross on the forehead at bedtime and/or as they go off for school in the morning
And I'll tag Phil at Blue Eyed Ennis (who's on vacation) and Paul Between the 'Burgh and the City.
Readers: what are your favorite devotions?
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Dear Concord Pastor,
ReplyDeleteI think it would be wonderful if you found opportunities to talk a bit more about these in homilies throughout the year. We would be the (devotionally) richer for it.
Thanks for the suggestion, Novo - I'll keep that in mind. A difficulty is that devotions, of their nature, are not part of the Church's liturgy - they support the liturgy of the Church but they are, in a sense, outside the liturgy. Take for instance, the Advent wreath. Although the Book of Blessings provides a blessing for an Advent Wreath, it's not part of the Church's offical prayer. Use of it in the liturgy or at home is fine but it's not required. You'll find no mention of an Advent wreath in the Sacramentary, for example. So, while mentioning an Advent wreath in a homily is sure a possibility and a good thing, it would be the scriptures of the Sundays of Advent that deserve first attention for a homily. The Advent wreath in the sanctuary, however, could be a fine homiletic illustration in preaching on the scriptures of the day. It seems to me that faith formation programs, bulletins and such are the places where devotions can be presented, explained and encouraged - and that is a very good idea!
ReplyDeleteI don't have 5 (at least not yet- I will still think about it)
ReplyDeleteand...
(I'm not really sure if all of these could be considered devotions- ?)
1. blessing of infant Jesus figures for creches (I liked this one from your list)
2. evening prayer (at Advent and Lent)
3. your Monday Morning Offerings
4. the prayer section I made in my planner/organizer (a form of a daily journal, in prayer form)
I am not a big devotions persons, but.....
ReplyDeleteThe advent wreath ( my children and grandchildren could sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel before they had a clue as to what it meant!)
Reading your blog!
Reading the lives of the saints.
Sunday Evening Prayer in Advent and Lent
ReplyDeleteMy own Morning Prayers
Your Monday Morning Offerings
Your Blog
Rosemary