Sunday, December 17, 2006

Christmas pagent time

Our little Latin Mass chapel has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 10 years and likely now has more children than adults in the congregation. Our family fits right in as there are many homeschoolers and 5 children is pretty close to the average. Participating in the Mass here has really given me hope and joy and is one of the few things I will miss when we move.

Today is the parish's 3rd annual Christmas pagent. One of the parishoners wrote it and it is the most Catholic pagent I have seen. Entitled "The Saints Visit the Manger" the play tells the traditional story of the Nativity and then announces, "there are some already with the Holy Family in Heaven, the Saints, who bring their gifts to the baby Jesus." A brief biography of each Saint is read as they come forward with their gift, they kneel before the infant and present it to Him.
Every child in the parish is welcome to be in the pagent and be any Saint they choose. Many of the great Saints are portrayed such as St. Joan of Arc, St. Rose of Lima, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Martin of Tours, St. John Bosco, St. Michael, St. Agnes, St. Patrick and of course St. Nicholas. Yesterday was the dress rehersal and it was the typical zoo, with lots of noise, confusion, and exasperation on the part of the CCD director. Amazingly enough, it all comes together on the day of the pagent and looks smooth and almost professional.
Our family is well represented in this year's production. Will is St. Maximillian Kolbe again and Mary is going to be St. Martin of Tours. She wanted to be a girl knight but St. Joan of Arc was already spoken for. Maggie is an angel for the second year and Timmy plays the part of the baby Jesus.
It is a beautiful pagent and I'm sure the Holy Family and the Saints in Heaven will be pleased.

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