The Joy of Christmas

I want to thank all those who have sent me messages regarding your appreciation for this blog. I am encouraged by the number of people who have joined from over 36 countries, with good representation from Canada, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom, and of course, the United States, from where I write.

Tomorrow, I will begin posting on the apparitions of Mary to the children of Fatima. Thus far, if you have followed the past three posts, they have been about the Angel preparing the children for Mary’s coming to this world from heaven with urgent messages about our need to change the course we were on in the history of those times (1917). And today, we find the world still in need of the pathway Mary gave us. So, the Fatima message is still

alive.

Today, I want to share a little memory of Christmas.

I am not sure of the year, but I was four or five years old. So, around 1955. And it was Christmas time. I cannot speak for my older brothers and sisters, as I was the seventh of eight at the time (eventually, there would be 13 children), and they very well could have a different perspective on that Christmas. Still, I believe it would be a good one. We were now in the home Dad had built with his own two hands and the help of friends. Mom and Dad put up a small Christmas tree with some decorations. It was beautiful! It's now often called a Charlie Brown tree.

There was not much to be found underneath its branches. Still, it was that particular Christmas that helps remind me of the importance of generosity not only at Christmas time but as a continual virtue to exercise.

Our dad took us into town in San Antonio to a warehouse where Christmas music was playing, and Santa was there and many children were running around. To our delight, there were red Christmas netted stockings being handed out from the back of a truck, filled with hard candies, walnuts, and whistles. It felt like being in wonderland. The music, the Christmas stockings, and the Christmas joy that filled the air were memorable for me as a child. Many years later, I realized that the goodness of hearts had organized and made it possible for me to receive that Christmas joy that later on, formed part of my heart for the poor. At the time, I was too young to understand that Jesus was present among the volunteers who were helping and that He had worked through their hearts in such a simple way to extend the peace and joy of Christmas to many families.

I am smiling at this point at a recent one-liner my pastor delivered not too long ago when he was promoting giving to the food pantry on specific needs: “and don’t reach for your expired cans and jars” … or something to that effect poignantly had some bitter truth embedded into those words.

As the years brought prosperity into our family, candy canes and ribbon candy, Brazil nuts and walnuts, along with apples and oranges, were included in our stockings– and then we hit bingo when small gifts appeared under the tree, like my roller skates when I was ten. I learned the tradition of placing essentials into stockings from my mom. Toothbrushes, socks, yes, even underwear. My own children used to laugh when they found these timely items in their stockings as they prepared to return to college. And I believe some of them continue this tradition.

Here in Fatima, while there are plenty of shops, most sell only religious items. I mean, it is Fatima… so I am pretty sure my family knows what they are receiving this year.

I have been in a small house; I call it the Ave Maria Casita because it has two tiles on the outside of it that say “Ave Maria”. I love it. It has become like a cocoon, and I know I must emerge from it. The home sits adjacent to the Monastery where I am staying, and I feel the graces being poured out for humanity from the kind cloistered nuns who have committed their lives to praying for all humanity.

I have spent over three weeks in this little house in silence, except for Mass and Communal Rosaries at the Shrine. I scarcely say an audible word at mass or the communal rosary as they are prayed in Portuguese, but it is no problem.

My days have been spent mainly in 8 AM daily Mass, saying the rosary, breakfast, studying, walking a mile, saying the rosary to the Shrine for another Mass and rosary, walking back, saying a rosary, stopping to get some rosaries and items to cook my meals, 5 PM Adoration, and saying a rosary there as well, coming back to fix dinner, more studying or writing, night prayer, and the lights are off at 10:30 PM. I attended a conference for two days and visited the children’s homes in Aljustrel, about half a mile away. It has been a very grace-filled time for me. But now, God is preparing my heart to return to my dear husband and family.

The reality is that I will go home to the needs of those I love. It is where I am today in my state of life, doing God’s will as wife, mom, nana, and friend and my work of the apostolate that I believe in…a call to holiness.

I am praying and contemplating how to massage hearts to know God’s love and mercy. I am also praying that this blog will help give awareness to how we must pray for peace, conversions, and unity.

According to Marco Daniel Duarte, the director of the Department of Studies at the Shrine of Fatima, who holds a PhD in Art History, the crown of Our Lady of Fatima features 313 pearls and 2,679 precious stones. These were donated by the women of Portugal in gratitude for being spared from World War II. Sister Lucia is recorded as saying before the war that Mary indicated Portugal would never be involved. This was at a time when communism was rising. On May 13, 1981, Pope St. John Paul II was shot. He believed that Mary intervened to save his life. One year later, he visited Fatima in thanksgiving, and, in 1989, he presented the bullet from the assassination attempt to the shrine. This bullet was placed in the crown of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, fitting perfectly into a designated space just underneath the top of the crown, as if it had been waiting for this final jewel.

Blessings-

Theresa