Advent 18- Eyes of Faith

December 14

 John of The Cross, Renewer of The Church, 1591

Read 1 Samuel 2:1 – 10 and Luke 1:26 – 50

On December 14^th the church remembers John of The Cross, a 16^th century priest who wrote about the soul seeking closeness to God through prayer. Hannah’s song of joy and Mary’s song (The Magnificat), are beautiful examples of the joy the child of God finds when they are immersed in the word and will of God. Both women were witnesses to promises of God both made and kept. 

The church regularly uses the song of Mary as the evening canticle during the order of vespers. As such it is an evening prayer that reflects on the daily goodness of God showered on faithful servants. Mary’s song, sung early in her pregnancy, is fitting for an Advent evening prayer. 

Select either your favorite liturgical setting of the Magnificat or the hymn, ‘My Soul Now Magnifies the Lord,’ and let your soul sing with God. The various Lutheran hymn books contain two different hymns bearing the same name, both follow the song of Mary very closely. Those in TLH and CW are an English translation of a 16^th century hymn. Those in the other hymnbooks are a late 20^th century hymn. 

The Magnificat Canticle follows Luke 1:46 – 55 precisely and then adds a Gloria Patri to it.. Variations between hymn books are attributed to the translation used. 

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior; For He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaiden. For behold, from this day all generations will call me blessed.

For the Mighty One has done great things to me, and holy is His name; And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; 

He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away. He has helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy 

As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen

For the Family:

The traditional symbol for St. John of The Cross is a cross of 4 equal arms, smaller at the center and flaring out at the end of each arm. Hang this symbol on your Tree of Promise and give thanks to God that you have seen the Christ with the eyes of faith.

Bible Journaling:

Advent 18-
Eyes of Faith
1 Samuel 2
Connie Denninger

From the Kitchen:

Birds’ Nest cookies were another of my mother’s ‘must make’ Christmas cookies. I loved them and still make them. They look especially pretty on the cookie plate and have a freshness to them that thumb print cookies that have the jelly added before baking just do not have.

They are rather messy to make and recruiting extra hands to roll the balls first in beaten egg white and then in ground nuts is a good idea.

Mom used the wooden handle of a kitchen tool to press the thumb print. She dipped it in sugar between cookies to keep the cookie from sticking to the handle. Not only does this give you a nice even imprint, it also saves you from burning your finger during the mid-bake imprint.

Bird’s Nests

Dora Pfitzer Meyermann- Mother of Natalie Hartwig

1 egg yolk

¼ C brown sugar

½ C butter

1 C flour

1 egg white

finely chopped nuts

jelly

• Cream brown sugar and butter, add egg yolk
• Add flour
• Beat egg white until just frothy
• Form small balls and dip in egg white and roll in nuts. Press in thumb print.
• Bake at 325 for eight minutes
• Press down thumb print again and bake for another 10 minutes.
• Put in dab of jelly when ready to serve. Current jelly is very good.

Tree of Promise Devotions-

Natalie Hartwig