Christmas Is Coming...

.... The goose is getting fat.... But we are not quite at Christmas, yet. It is still the season of Advent. 

I love Advent, almost as much as I love Christmas - oh, sure, it is a time of fasting and penance, but Advent is a preparation for the birth of the Christ Child, and the feeling that comes with it is the same sort of suppressed excitement that a household experiences in the days before a baby's birth - that getting-ready, slightly impatient anticipation. Advent, for all the self-denial associated with it, is fun.

And beautiful. There's the Advent Wreath, for example:

source

The Advent Wreath comes out on the fourth Sunday before Christmas - in all its splendour of evergreens and candles. Every day, before dinner, we light a candle - or two, or three, or four, depending on the week - say a little prayer, and sing, O Come, O Come Emmanuel. I love it.

And let's not forget the Nativity set which comes out when the Advent Wreath does. It is just the stable at first, with one or two of the animals. More figures are added as the season progresses. Mary and Joseph go in on Christmas eve, and the Baby goes in first thing in the morning Christmas day. 

When I was younger, we had an empty crib for Mom's beautiful little statue of the Baby Jesus. We'd cut thin little strips of yellow construction paper into straw, and every time one of us kids would do an act of virtue, we could place straw in the crib, so that He would be comfortable when He came. I don't do it now, though my room mate sister has a wee crib very similar to my Mom's and it is waiting for the coming of the Christ Child, just as the rest of us are:

And now.... I go. Here is a lovely arrangement of O Come Emmanuel by the Piano Guys. If I ever come across a sung version of the song that I like well enough to post, I will, but in the meantime, this is quite nice:

 PS. I am behind on all my blog-following, and blog-commenting. I apologise. I do have a reason, which I shall not bore anyone with. Suffice it to say that there is a doctor involved, and bed rest, and that my mind seems to flit off on its own rather more than is usual for it. I shall try to be better.... anon....