December 14th is the Feast Day of St. John of the Cross, a Spanish priest and mystic who lived in the 16th century. He was a contemporary of St. Teresa of Avila and the two embarked on a journey to reform the Carmelite order, which they felt had grown too lax. He was canonized in 1726, and in 1926, he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI. He is known as the "mystical doctor."

Perhaps more than anything, St. John is remembered for coining the expression "dark night of the soul." Due to tensions arising from the efforts to reform the Carmelite order, St. John was imprisoned by several of his own friars. He was forcibly removed from his cell in Ávila, Spain, on December 2nd and taken to a monastery in Toledo.  In his book Union with God: The Teaching of St. John of the Cross, Desmond Tillyer writes St. John was "jailed in a monastery where he was kept under a brutal regime that included public lashings before the community at least weekly, and severe isolation in a tiny stifling cell measuring barely 10 feet by 6 feet. Except when rarely permitted an oil lamp, he had to stand on a bench to read his breviary by the light through the hole into the adjoining room. He had no change of clothing and a penitential diet of water, bread and scraps of salt fish." St. John managed to escape eight months later, and completed his poem Dark Night of the Soul, which traces the journey of a soul thorough the hardships and difficulties of withdrawing from the world in order to be joined to God.

The cross ornament for this year is a good expression of St. John's charism. The words on the cross, "No greater love," come from the Gospel of John 15:13. The full verse, spoken by Jesus, is "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." The beginning phrase of the verse - "No one has greater love than this," - uses the Greek word agapaō to describe the specific type of love.  Agapaō is considered to be the highest form of love, the self-sacrificing, divine love that only God is capable of offering fully, and to which we are invited. In the second part of the verse - "to lay down one's life for one's friends" - "friends" means "those whom one loves" and the Greek word used to describe this type of love is phileō, signifying an inferior, human kind of affection. However, both words are often used with the same meaning in the Gospel of John. He doesn't always make a sharp distinction between the way God loves and the best efforts of humans, but often uses them interchangeably.

The intermingling of divine and human love was an experience that St. John of the Cross lived. It was God's love that helped him keep going, and his human love for his friends that motivated him. Like Jesus, he was rejected and abused by those he wanted to help. He was also tried and imprisoned. And, like Jesus, St. John found the strength to do the one thing that was required of him - to remain faithful, in spite of everything.

If we are passing through a period of "the dark night of the soul," the holidays can be especially difficult, even disastrous. At times like these it is especially comforting to look at a cross, an instrument of torture and death, and remember that we don't have to overcome, or rise above, or even change what we are going through. We can just sit, and wait, and hope for the spring, that time of rejuvenation and new life, when we emerge from darkness into the sun. In the meantime, we can think about St. John of the Cross and the words of Jesus, and just focus on remaining faithful. 

Here's a new idea to celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th - create a special wreath you can use every year to hang in your prayer space!

To make this wreath, I incorporated one of my favorite ornaments of Our Lady into a wreath surrounded by roses, which were the special gift she gave to St. Juan Diego. This wreath only took about 30 - 45 minutes to make, and is ready to use year after year.  The instructions are on the Our Lady of Guadalupe Wreath page, in the Wreaths for Prayer Spaces section.

Just a few days before we celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the day after the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we remember St. Juan Diego. And how very appropriate it is for this saint to be tucked in between two Marian feast days! 

​One of the most apparent aspects of St. Juan Diego's character was his humility, his littleness. His well-known quote "I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf," describes how he saw himself. Each of the items St. Juan Diego mentions are all but useless. What can you tie with a small rope?  What can you reach with a tiny ladder?  What can you do with a tail or a leaf? Nothing.

St. Juan Diego really, really, had no idea why the Mother of God would appear to him. Of all the people in the world, why him?  That's such a contrast to how we usually think about ourselves.  It is more common for us to think "Well, why NOT me?"  The idea of humility is not particularly embraced or cultivated today.
 
That's why this ornament, the latest in the Cookie Cutter series, works well for St. Juan Diego. It shows a simple little mouse, sitting at the base of a Christmas tree. The mouse looks young, like a child, and he has received a gift. He's looking off into the distance at something beyond our sight.  It's as though he's seen something, and received something, wonderful. Something having to do with Christmas and generosity and abundance. And, of course, he has, just as we all have, just as St. Juan Diego did. 

St. Juan Diego understood that all he had received was a gift. He understood that the apparitions were a gift. That his uncle's return to health was a gift. That all he had, in fact, was a gift. That's also what this ornament reminds us. Whether or not we have lots of stuff under the tree this year, we have each been given many gifts already.  One of the greatest gifts, however, is recognizing our place before God, and cultivating an attitude of humility and gratitude and seeking to live a "little" life.

Quick - What does the Immaculate Conception celebrate?  Often, the answers are "when Jesus was conceived."  But, if Jesus is conceived on December 8, how can he be born on December 25? 

That's an easy way to use common sense to figure out the Immaculate Conception is not about Jesus' conception but is about his mother's. (The historical accuracy of Jesus' birth, at this point, is a discussion for another time.)

December 8th is about reminding us that Mary was conceived in the usual manner, but without original sin. She was created as Eve was, in a state before sin entered the world. However, that didn't make life easier for Mary. Just as Eve was tempted and fell, certainly Mary must have been tempted, most likely frequently and often. It is truly a wonder that she was able to avoid sinning in every area - in her thoughts, her words, and in her actions - both in what she did and did not do. Just think about that for a moment. How did Mary possibly manage to not sin her entire life? How did she know what to say?  How did she guard her thoughts at every moment?  What wisdom and insight she had to know when to act, "to go in haste" to attend to her cousin Elizabeth, for example, and when to remain passive and inactive.  Obviously, one of the gifts of not having original sin is the gift of mental clarity.

Down through the years, many symbols have been connected to Mary, such as the moon, which reflects the light of the sun, roses, symbolizing the hardships and triumph of the spiritual life, and the unicorn. In fact, great tapestries were stitched in the Middle Ages showing the unicorn in fruitful, beautiful gardens. The unicorn was a very well-known, even common symbol for Mary. It represented her purity and chastity, yes, but it also represented something else.  The horn on the unicorn's head represented the focal point of her soul - Mary's intense, overwhelming desire to follow the will of God. It was this deep, abiding, even passionate love for God that differentiates Mary from Eve.

In Scripture, Eve's response to the serpent is pretty blasé; she doesn't seem particularly concerned about hurting God. Maybe this is because Eve, until she ate the apple, had no understanding of the realities of sin so she couldn't really grasp the consequences of what would happen. Mary, on the other hand, did. Mary was born and raised in a world full of sin. She was very well aware of the consequences of sin, and she lived every moment of her life determined not to add to the pain and brokenness all around, but to be a conduit of God's grace and healing instead.

For this day, then, the Magnificent Unicorn ornament is a fitting tribute to Mary, the Mother of God, and a fruitful symbol for us to think about more seriously. The mane and tail of the unicorn are pink and purple, the colors of Advent, and the yellow bows reflect a hint of the hope and glory of the high holy days yet to come in the Christmas season, when churches are dressed in white and gold, reflecting the glory of the Lord. As we approach Christmas, we can ask ourselves "What is the goal I live my life around?" We all have one. Let's ask Mary to help us become doorways to God, and to imitate the beauty and determination of the unicorn.

The ornament above is the 2022 version of a long running and much-loved ornament series simply referred to as "Father Christmas." Each ornament in this series features a unique adaptation of an iconic Father Christmas, very much in the British tradition. An additional unique aspect to each ornament is the scroll he carries on his back.  This year's scroll reads:

Each year, Hallmark produces a non-edible version of the many delicious Christmas cupcakes we see this time of year. The ornament above is the 13th in the Christmas Cupcake series and features a red and white, peppermint themed confection, decorated with a mini candy cane and peppermint bits. 

Just about everyone these days is familiar with the symbol of the candy cane. We've all heard the story of how a European candymaker, somewhere back in the mists of time, wanted to teach the children in his village about the true meaning of Christmas, so he created a red and white striped candy cane.  Turned one way, the candy cane resembles a shepherd's staff, with the hook on the top for encircling wayward or trapped sheep, to draw them back into the fold. This is a reference to Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Turned the other way, the candy cane looks like a large letter "J," the initial for Jesus in several languages, though not all.

As the story goes, the red stripes on the candy cane symbolize Jesus' martyrdom, as Scripture reminds us "by his stripes we were saved," while the white stripes point to holiness through cleansing, through purification, which begins with baptism and then continues as we grow in relationship with God, especially through prayer and participation in the sacraments. 

Peppermint oil itself is known for its healing properties.  It is used as a folk remedy for upset stomachs, as well as to treat colds and headaches. Additionally, it has a pleasant, uplifting scent and can be used topically as well as ingested. All in all, it is very useful and we can see why peppermint became associated with Christmas and Christ, who himself is the great Healer of what ails us, inside and out.

As we journey through Advent, the candy cane, and peppermint in general, can remind us to ask ourselves - where do I need healing?  Where do I need cleansing?  We will find both healing and cleansing in the manger on Christmas morn.