Christmas Novena Memories

One of my fondest memories from my high school years at St Francis in Watsonville was our participation in the Christmas novena each year. This began on the evening of 16 December and continued until Christmas Eve. Of course we were all home usually by the Saturday before Christmas, so those few days in which we were able to join in that prayer service were intense.

As I remember it, during the first year that I participated, as a freshman, the vice-principal (we called him the Prefect of Studies) explained the celebration to us. This was part of his role. He was the member of the school administration to bring the new boys, freshmen and others, into the traditions of the school and of the Salesian world. My first year the Prefect of Studies was particularly keen on doing this, perhaps because he was a natural-born storyteller. I'm speaking of Fr Larry, who was 40 years old at the time. 

Winter scene of St Francis, inner courtyard, back in the day

Anyway, according to the authoritative and loquacious Fr Larry, the novena that we were singing was originally composed in Latin and came, not from Rome, but from Turin (Torino). We would be singing the same verses and praying the same prayers that St John Bosco and his boys sang and prayed 100 years before us. This was very impressive to me, as a fourteen-year old. That Don Bosco himself said these words: whoa! Of course, the words were all from Scripture, but Fr Larry did not tell us that, and it did not occur to me that we would be praying the words pronounced by Isaiah and the prophets and the psalmists as we sung the evening novena… therefore, the words that the Jewish and Christian community had cherished for thousands of years. Maybe Fr Larry was more Bosconian than scriptural, or maybe he thought this would be too much for us to fathom or appreciate. Who knows? In fact, 100 years were enough for me. 

Saints John Bosco and Dominic Savio: old polychrome statue now at Camp St Francis, Aptos

The first time I joined in and sang these prayers, I imagined the spirits of the boys from Don Bosco's first Oratory sitting with us in the benches, singing the same words, praying that the Savior would come without delay. The opening refrain for the singing of the prophecies was melodic and pleading but joyful at the same time: 

The Lord our King is drawing near: o come, let us adore Him! 

Two of the fourth-year boys sang the prophecies in a duet, and we all responded with the refrain. By the end of the first evening, I knew the refrain by heart, both the melody and the words. It has remained with me until this day. 

Remembering the words and the melody is very good, because this year in Rome, as in every year that I have been here, the three communities of the professors will join together in the evening to sing the same novena. We will sing it in Latin and Italian, but the content of the texts and the melodies are the same. 

Regem venturum Dominum, venite adoremus.

The Lord our King is drawing near: o come, let us adore Him!

Growing into contemplation

Painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Taillores (on Lake Annecy)

Tomorrow is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I'm thinking of Mary in America, and especially of Mexico. Am also thinking about Fr Roger Luna, whose anniversary of death is tomorrow.

Fr Roger taught me English in 11th and 12th grade at St Francis in Watsonville, and I joined the choir that he directed during those years. That was a lot of fun for me at that age. Fr Roger was also my director when I was discerning whether to join the Salesians or not, and guided me through the prenovitiate with 10 of my companions. Only 8 of us entered the Salesian novitiate; only 5 of us made our vows a year later… but that is another story.

Roger B. Luna, SDB, in 1966, Director of St Francis, Watsonville

Fr Roger was easy to talk to, and I took advantage of this during high school, and later as a young Salesian. When I first became came to De Sales Hall as province vocation director in 1983, and later as director of the prenovitiate community until 1990, I went regularly to Fr Roger for spiritual direction. As always he received me and accompanied me with joy and wisdom that I will never forget.

Once Fr Roger told me that as we grow older we all tend to become contemplative. Well, it sounded good, but I know some pretty rowdy old people!! I suspect, however, that Fr Roger was quite contemplative in his youth, but carried to extroversion by the needs of the young and poor families that he served as the first Mexican-American Salesian in the USA. He could organize a wonderful Posadas Christmas Novena for the immigrants, but he could also sit quietly with a score written by Mozart on his lap, imagining the sounds and voices, and bringing those to prayer. Yes, he was a contemplative, even though he might have been a hyper-active one!

A panorama to contemplate, at Hermitage St Germaine, above Lake Annecy

Fr Pascual Chavez speaks to Salesians at the UPS

Fr Pascual Chavez addresses the university community tonight

Tonight the rector major, Fr Pascual Chavez, has come to the UPS to share on the life of the Salesian  Society during 2012 and its potential impact on the university. This is something of an annual event, and I will try to record some of what he is saying on my iPad to post it all immediately.

Fr Pascual begins with a reflection on the New Evagelization. He remained perplexed, he says, because the emphasis of the Holy See seems to center on the new movements. This became very apparent during the recent synod of Bishops (held from 11-25 October this year). The synod made no place in its consideration for the contributions of religious communities to evangelization, past or present. It was only after the superiors general of women and men put together their own document and sent this to the synod that the bishops half-way mentioned the apostolic efforts of those in the consecrated life. However, the synod's acknowledgement was minimal, and if one goes back to the working documents of the assembly (the Instrumentum laboris), consecrated life seems to be totally ignored.

Fr Pascual Chavez, during a brief question period

The synod tries to respond to the changes in society, the diffidence and suspicion toward the Church seems to be on the rise in today's world, along with the growing secularization of society. The bishops spoke at length about secularization, but not about the causes for ill-feeling towards the Church. Yet, diffidence and secularization are themes that do not reflect the whole church. These represent mostlly what is happening in Europe and not on the other continents. The rector major asks, with a certain amount of apprehension, are we becoming euro-centric again?

New melody: The capacity of the Church to give  positive response to the needs of men and women today is something that the experience of the synod may call into question. There were a number of bishops (too many!) who wanted to sound the alarm or go on the offensive (against the world, against non-Christians, against secularists, in a new apologetics rather than a new Evangelization). The pope himself had to speak up to counter some of the strident rhetoric heard in the synod assembly. Pope Benedict asserted that the Church today must let the Gospel sound with a new melodies as a new song. Only if the Gospel is heard in a fresh way will the Word of Christ be in a position to enlighten the life of women and men today. This is the sense of Benedict XVI's call for an ongoing and constructive dialogue between Faith and Culture.

Hearts aflame: hearts renewed, pastoral ardor and missionary fervor. Ben 16 insists that there is an event at the start of faith, a meeting with a person that enchants you and fasinates you. No new E without conversion of the new evangelizer. this is not a new crusade, but a falling in love with Christ, who forces no one.

Resect fornew contexts and everty context -- absolutely  indispensible.

However, when B16 speaks in the light of Rede;ptoris Missio, he says in histoy there is a fiirst evanvggelization. with this is ordinary ministry in everyday circumstances.  NE is not for the new chuyrches, not for those that are getting strong and starting to becoe mature.  It is for those who used to be Xtian but of ancient Xtian tradition who have left the faith and the practice of the faith.

At the synod, there were those who thought NE is a new crusade (very negative) contrasted by other bishops > The best prepared bishops are the French bishops. Religious are very clear: great symphathy and empathy  with this world.  Is the church closed now?

If you do not have humility, you cannot respect God's way, who entered the world on his tiptoes.

The US bishops wanted new apologetics; the Asian bishops spoke of new humility. The French bishops contested this. So two aaproaches emerged. The message that comes out is that the Gospel is beautiful and enchanting. Let the Gospel speak to our  world.