Advent is a time of waiting, and of preparation. Of contemplation—of what is past, and what is to come. During Advent, we make wreaths, made of leaves or evergreens, with four candles, and we light one candle for each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Today is the first Sunday of Advent. May your candle burn quiet in the dark, and may you be at peace. [From OUTLANDER, Chapter 38, “The Abbey”.] The monastery was quiet, in the way that all large institutions grow quiet at night; the rapid pulse of the day’s activities has dropped, but the heartbeat goes on, slower, softer, but unending. There is always someone awake, moving quietly through the halls, keeping watch, keeping things alive. And now it was my turn to join the watch. The chapel was dark except for the burning of the red sanctuary lamp and a few of the clear white votive candles, flames rising straight in still air before the shadowed shrines of saints. I followed Anselm down […]
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THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
It’s a short Advent season this year, Christmas coming so soon after the Fourth Sunday, but we are the more expectant in our anticipation, and deeper in our gratitude for the blessings of home and family. May the blessings of the season be with you and yours! [This excerpt is from the end of THE SCOTTISH PRISONER (aka DIE FACKELN DER FREIHEIT, in German).] It was cold in the loft, and his sleep-mazed mind groped among the icy drafts after the words still ringing in his mind. “_Bonnie lad_.” Wind struck the barn and went booming round the roof. A strong chilly draft with a scent of snow stirred the somnolence, and two or three of the horses shifted below, grunting and whickering. _Helwater_. The knowledge of the place settled on him, and the fragments of Scotland and Lallybroch cracked and flaked away, fragile as a skin of dried mud. Helwater. Straw rustling under him, the ends poking through the rough ticking, prickling through his shirt. Dark air, alive around […]