Dread and hope

Pre-Christmas fervor is not a malady with which I am afflicted. On the contrary, I find the month leading up to Christmas fairly difficult to endure. I'd like to say, "Well, I make the best of it," but I don't, not really. Each year I find myself resisting it more and more. To me, this pre-Christmas build-up makes it it the most wonderless time of the year. I suppose I don't like feeling manipulated. I find pre-Christmas to increasingly be a manufactured season during which I am manipulated in manifold ways, including religiously.

I try to resist by observing Advent, perhaps the most neglected liturgical season, quietly and meditatively. I try to push Christmas off until Christmas. Once Christmas begins at sundown on Christmas Eve, I try to observe this season in a quiet way too. It's funny, because with the anti-climax of Christmas Day over and everyone worn out, Christmas, at least as a season, is neglected too. However, rather being characterized by an excess of activity, it's quiet.

As of Tuesday, we're into the days of the O Antiphons. In the Church's liturgy, these antiphons are recited before and after the Magnificat, which is recited or sung each day as part of Evening Prayer. This week, the week following the Feast of Saint Lucy, is the Advent Ember Week, too. I have to admit, I like these things very much. I also like egg nog, which I only drink this time of the year. In fact, yesterday, I had egg nog for the first time since this time last year. So, I suppose it's not all bad. These things, along with the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, make it possible for me to survive.

Our Friday traditio is King's College Choir singing "The Angel Gabriel." Another thing that helps me through this season is meditating on how ordinary seeming the Lord's birth must've been. I mean, the greatest event in the history of the world happening so quietly and unobtrusively. This gives me hope, unlike this overly festive season, which has the effect of producing dread and making me fervently wish is was over already: