All are invited to St. Luke’s in the Meadow, Fort Worth, for a Hush Before the Rush Quiet Day from 3 to 6 pm Saturday, December 1.
It is a good way to quiet your soul before Advent. St. Francis’ teachings on the Incarnation, prayer, lectio divina, reflection, labyrinth walking, and conversation will provide plenty of food for the soul.
While Francis is most frequently associated with the blessing of animals in October, Advent is an excellent time to engage with the saint because of his enchantment with the miracles of Christmas.
At the time, Christmas was celebrated mostly by going to church, where priests would tell the Christmas story in Latin, a language that ordinary people didn’t speak. And while churches sometimes featured artistic renditions of an infant Jesus, they didn’t present realistic Nativity scenes.
Francis wanted to offer a fresh sense of wonder regarding Christmas. to make the extraordinary experiences of the first Christmas more accessible to ordinary people. So in 1223 he set up a recreation of the Nativity in a nearby cave, complete with a carved Baby Jesus, people posing as Mary and Joseph, and live animals. People loved it, and thus began the Christmas tradition of nativity scenes.
Come spend a quiet day with Francis as we enter Advent.