Being a big huge enormous fan of anything posted on By Sun and Candlelight, (I am a Dawn wannabe), I have put together a set of reflections on why I love late November for Dawn’s Late Autumn Field Day.
As always, they are in the form of a list and in this case, come in triplicate. (It must be a Holy Trinity thing.)
So here we go, then. Three of my favorite late Fall consolations:
I. Birthdays
Between honoring two birthday girls on two consecutive days in late November, (Maria was born on the Feast of the Presentation of Mary, and Avila on the Feast of St. Cecilia), and celebrating Thanksgiving, our late November days are crazy/busy but filled with joy.
I’ll let these photos speak for themselves.
2 years later, and still we have to share a cake!
Thanksgiving 2006
And my sisters! I could and probably should publish a long, yummy post about their endeavors in the kitchen. For now I must content myself to say a few words about my much-loved sister (and godmother!) Yvonne.
Because of Yvonne’s predestined-from-all-time placement in our family–i.e, she’s the oldest–she has had a particularly heavy burden to carry all these years.
She must be perfect in everything she does.
It’s a birth order thing, I know. Thank goodness, though, I’m the youngest. The expectations are much lower!
Here is the recipe for the delicious chocolate pecan pie she made at Thanksgiving;
and here is the recipe for the chocolate truffle cake her little sister made.
The cold Autumn months are ideal for cozying up with Sacred Scripture. Do you not find it a very wonderful thing indeed, the way the liturgical readings are set up? We are cyclical, seasonal creatures and are wired with the desire to know our Creator. The readings throughout the Liturgical Year (being, well, from God’s autobiography) are such a beautiful way to make His acquaintance.
Last year I was blessed to be a participant in Jeff Cavin’s Bible Timeline. Have you attended one of his workshops, Bible studies and/or lectures? My goodness, that man knows the Bible! And he’s tremendously funny, to boot.
The Bible study ran the whole year, which was a beautiful opportunity for me to dip into Scripture on a daily basis and try to internalize it. This Fall finds me too busy for a Bible study, alas, and so I rely heavily on the readings in my Magnificat magazine.
I do not take for granted the mysterious, mystical fruits that may be gleaned from seeking God’s will and approaching Him in prayer. May I leave you with just one example? This one is a fresh late Autumn experience, having happened just a week ago.
I was in the middle of my early morning Holy Hour when I had a strong inner prompting to ask the other woman in the chapel to pray for me. How embarassing! I thought. I had never spoken to her before; I didn’t know her. And to interrupt her out of the blue like that? She, who was deep in prayer?
I swallowed my pride and went over. I told her my special intention and I asked her to pray. With a curt, business-like nod she accepted my request and humbly I slunk back to my kneeler. On her way out, she paused with a smile and handed me a set of prayers: Suggestions of the holy Antonius Maria Claret for spending a quarter of an hour before the Most Blessed Sacrament.
“Read this,” she said. “Your prayer will be answered.”
And so it was.
That very evening.
God is so good, isn’t He? He has given us our little girls and the goodies that brighten our days. More than that, though, He has given us His Son for the taking.
Have a blessed day!
This was such a joyful post! Thanks for the reminder on Bible reading. With lessons and um, blogs, sometimes I neglect mine a little.
What a wonderful post. It seems you have really been blessed with a loving family and some great cooks/bakers.
I really admire your faith (from afar). I have been reading your blog for a bit … are you from England?
Elaine
I don’t know how you do this, day after day, but I sure am glad you do! Beautiful—thank you!
Your girls are so adorable! My second and third dd’s birthdays are 3 days apart so they are forever destined to share their parties, at least under my roof. But they do get their own cakes. You can never have too much cake.
Your sister is gorgeous, and I definitely see the resemblance. What a sweet tribute to her. I am the oldest of nine, and my youngest sister (#8) is my goddaughter. I know well the path Yvonne has trodden, although I’m afraid I haven’t matched her level of perfection. (My kitchen floor is almost never shiny. 🙂 How blessed you are to share such a special relationship with her!
Oh, and the next time you see that lady at Holy Hour, would you please ask her to pray for one of my intentions? Love you!
I love the pictures of your girls. My brother and I always shared a party in November (2nd & 18th). I was the have-to-be-perfect oldest in the family and he was one year younger. Right now my boys are jacked up because their party’s coming. (Dec 11th & 12th)
Oh, too many things to comment on! Thank you. Love your beautiful girls, your sister is beautiful, like you, the desserts…can I come next year? And I also love the adoration story, how wonderful, how blessed!
I forgot…Jeff Cavin is also very humble!! I met him a year and a half ago after a woman’s conference in Rockville. He’s very down to earth.
You write so well! It’s always nice to read your blog. I started the Jeff Cavins study this year. All I can say is “Wow!”
Jen in MN
Lovely post, Margaret!
Your girls are precious – and a Happy Birthday to them both!
My older two girls are 361 days apart and both share March birthdays! We’ve done 1 party with 2 different themes for a while now. Last year we did a Return of the King party for the older of the two and a Hello Kitty! for the younger.
It was funny to have a sword cake and a kitty cake, but hey, it worked!
Your sister is beautiful, too!
Elaine: I smiled to read your question (Am I from England?)and am curious as all get-out as to why you think that. Perhaps it’s the Anglophile in me that is flattered.
But no. I am 100% American born and bred, though my ancestors all come from French-speaking Canada.
Wonderful post, as always. Thanks for sharing those yummy recipes and darling photos of the girls. The bond of sisters is so special. Aslynn keeps asking when she’ll have one. The other day she even asked, “Could you get one in your tummy while I’m napping today?”
Oh, and thanks for the suggestion on the paragraph thing on my blog. I pasted that entry out of an e-mail I wrote, and when I tried to edit it in the blog it wouldn’t let me put any spaces in. Well, I’m still figuring this whole thing out..
Anyway, you are a lovely writer and I always look forward to reading your reflections.
Margaret, this post is so great, I hardly know where to begin. Seeing your girls celebrating their birthdays makes me think of Patrick and Marie, and I love knowing how joyful it was for you to grow up as the youngest with married older sisters. Sometimes I look at Baby Eileen and can hardly believe that when she is Agnes’ age, Agnes could quite possibly be married!
Your sister is as lovely as you are, and your story about the woman in church is the perfect cap to an excellent post.
Beautiful post! I would like to say more, but I have a little boy trying to hand me a toy phone right now. Thank you for the story of your Holy Hour 🙂
That is so neat about the woman in adoration. What an amazing God we have!
Margaret,
I don’t know which photos are more sweet…the birthdays girls or the food table. LOL
I love checking your blog each day. It always lifts my spirit and gives me something beautiful to think about. 🙂