My "New" Sunday Hat

Why do I have the word "New" in quotation marks? Well, it's

not really a new hat.  It's the royal blue bowler I've been wearing for almost two years now, transformed into a cloche,

and with a ribbon tied near the bottom.

It will still be a bowler, without a ribbon, during the week.

Sunday Books?

You may have noticed some changes to my reading lists these past few weeks.  The words Reserved For Sunday no longer appear.  

Well, there is a reason for that.  I realized... and why it didn't occur to me sooner I don't know.... that by reserving these books for Sunday, I was actually depriving myself of some good
Catholic reading during the other six days. My Bible readings and daily devotions were not enough, so I decided to read more
Catholic books during the week.

But I still have a rule when it comes to my Sunday reading:

I don't read any secular books that I don't already know and love.

Chinese Food on Sunday

I think I've mentioned that I like to have Chinese food on Saturday night, and during the day on Sunday.

I used to buy it every week, just enough for one weekend, but now I order it just once a month, and get enough for four or five weeks. 

On the week I order the food, the leftovers, and there are always plenty, get divided up and put into the freezer.  And then, on Thursday, I take out what I plan to eat that weekend and move it to the refrigerator.  

One of the things I'm having this weekend is a particular favorite of mine that came free with my last order, General Tso's Chicken.

(I keep imagining General Tso saying, "I am not!")

LOTH.... Weekdays and Sundays

The way I pray the Liturgy of the Hours on Sunday is different from the way I pray it on weekdays.

On weekdays,  I pray the Office of Readings at or around 6:30, followed immediately by Morning
Prayer.

On Sundays, I rise at 2:00 AM for the Office of Readings, and then go back to bed.
I pray Morning Prayer after The Angelus with Pope Francis.

During the week, I pray only one of the Daytime Hours, usually Midday, but sometimes Midafternoon... NEVER Midmorning.
On Sundays, I pray all three Hours, rotating which one is Current, and which two are Complementary.

As for Morning and Evening Prayer, during the week I say the Our Father in English.
On Sundays, I sing it in Latin.

This is just one of several ways in which I make my Sundays different.

I Dread Tomorrow

Soon after I post this, I will begin my Sunday observance.  I usually look forward to Sunday... my favorite day of the week...

but I dread this coming Sunday, and for a reason I haven't blogged about... haven't wanted to blog about... haven't been

able to blog about.

On Easter Sunday, at about 2:00 PM, Kathryn and Paul knocked on my door and said they had to talk to me.  I opened the door and Kathryn told me that Mom had passed away.
One thing I thank God for is that Mom didn't linger the way Baba did.  I remember watching Baba suffer for almost a year... and watching Mom watching her mother suffer.
This will be the first Mother's Day that I won't see Mom, or at least talk to her on the phone.
Every Rosary I pray now includes a petition for the repose of Mom's soul.  

New England Sunday, 1840s

In "The Story of A Bad Boy", Thomas Bailey Aldrich gives a rather grim description of how Sunday was observed when he was a boy.  I'll just share this little bit:

"People who were prosperous and natural and happy on Saturday became the most rueful of human beings in the brief space of twelve hours. I don't think there was any hypocrisy in this. It was merely the old Puritan austerity cropping out once a week. Many of these people were pure Christians every day in the seven -- excepting the seventh. Then they were decorous and solemn to the verge of moroseness. I should not like to be misunderstood on this point. Sunday is a blessed day, and therefore it should not be made a gloomy one. It is the Lord's day, and I do believe that cheerful hearts and faces are not unpleasant in His sight."

Of course, I agree with him!  

Special Sunday Foods (Post Expanded)

One of the ways in which I enhance my Sundays is to have certain special foods.  On Saturday night, I like to have a few

spareribs.  I love spareribs.  In order to save money, I like to order two combination platters early in the month; spareribs,
pork fried rice, egg roll.  (One platter goes into the freezer.)
I usually order other things as well, enough so that I can get a free order of General Tso's chicken. That way, I'm sure to have my spareribs every Saturday evening, plus food well into the week.

Hair Ribbons

I may be past middle age, but I love hair ribbons. In fact, I like them better than when I was a little girl!  I used to have so MANY of them, but most of them were lost when I moved; I now have only two, one green, one yellow, both

grosgrain.

I used to wear a grosgrain ribbon during the week, and a satin or taffeta (I love the word taffeta!) ribbon on Sundays.  Now, however, I go ribbonless during the week, and reserve my ribbons for Sundays.

Not My Usual Sunday

Those of you who are familiar with this blog know how much I love Sunday.  You know that I usher it in on Saturday evening,

with a candle (battery-operated), a prayer adapted from the Jewish Sabbath, the hymn "On This Day, The First Of Days,"

a whispered "Shabbat shalom," and Evening Prayer I.

That's not what happened this week.  I was feeling too sick...

the worst being a sore throat.

Long story short, I didn't have my usual Sunday, so the Sunday Books segment will not appear on this week's book list.

I hope to be able to have my customary Sunday next week.  I felt really deprived today.

Sunday Books Revisited

This is taken from an older post. New material is in blue.
On Sundays, (and that means from Evening Prayer 1 to Evening Prayer 2), I put aside whatever non-Catholic book or books I may be reading. On Sunday, I read only Catholic books.
The books can be fiction or non-fiction, but they absolutely MUST be something I'll want to carry into the next week. Dull, dry books are NOT welcome!
This may seem like a restriction, but it is actually an enhancement of the most beautiful, precious day of the week. And, as a bonus, I find that I enjoy the non-Catholic books all the more for having put them aside for a day.
I stopped doing this for awhile; that is, while there were some books I read ONLY on Sundays, I decided that any good, wholesome book was suitable for Sunday.   Now, however, I've decided to go back to reading ONLY Catholic books on Sundays.
I'd like to make it clear that I do not consider it a sin to read non-Catholic books on Sunday.  This is a matter of personal preference.

Changes to my Sunday Observance

I've made a few changes to the way I observe Sunday.  Some of these changes were necessary.

When I moved, several important Sunday items were lost:

My nice Sunday clothes

My electric votive candle

My pretty tablecloths.

Many of my Sunday books

I bought a box of battery-operated candles, so I'm still able light a candle on Saturday evening.  The clothes and the tablecloths can wait; I'm on a fixed income and these things, while beautiful, are not essential.

And, thank God, I still have quite a few of my Sunday books.

My prayer schedule for Sunday, especially in regard to the Liturgy of the Hours, remains unchanged.

On weekdays, I pray one Daytime Hour, usually Midday Prayer, but sometimes, Midafternoon Prayer.  On Sundays, I pray all three Daytime Hours. 

 And I think I've mentioned that I rotate which Hour is current, and which two are complementary.

As for the games I play on Sunday, well, here is an excerpt, slightly edited, from an older post.

I don't think that innocent amusements are wrong on Sunday, in fact, they can help to enhance the observance, as long as they don't take precedence. How many times have we heard, "What's allowed on Monday is allowed on Sunday?"
I love to play games on the computer, and on my TV, but mostly on the computer. However, on Sundays I like to play different games than I do during the week.
On weekdays, I play a variety of games, both online and offline, but on Sundays, I play only
Beach Solitaire (on my TV) and mah-jonng.  I also do several online jigsaw puzzles,
The reason I play different games on Sunday from those I play during the week is that I like a change on Sunday.
This has not changed.

From another old post:

On Sundays, (and that means from Evening Prayer 1 to Evening Prayer 2), I put aside whatever non-Catholic books I may be reading. On Sunday, I read only Catholic books.
The book can be fiction or non-fiction, but it absolutely MUST be something I'll want to carry into the next week. Dull, dry books are not welcome! 

This HAS changed.  I've come to the conclusion, or perhaps the realization, that any good, wholesome book is suitable for my Sundays.  However, there are some books, some lovely books, that I will read ONLY on Sundays. 

Sunday Treat

This flavor of coffee is only available in February, so
I'm reserving it as a Sunday treat.

I love the combination of chocolate and raspberry.

A quote about Sunday Books

This is a quote from part of a sentence in Louisa May Alcott's Rose in Bloom.

"yawning over the dull books kept for Sunday reading."

Well, anyone who has been following this blog knows
how I feel about dull books on Sunday. 
Of course, I dislike dull books on ANY day!

Adapting A Jewish Ritual for Ending the Sabbath

I've adapted a Jewish custom for concluding my Sabbath on Sunday evenings.
The Jewish ceremony for ending the Sabbath (Shabbos or Shabbat) is called
Havdala, and it is beautiful.  (I've never actually seen it, but I've read about it.)
One part of the ritual... the part I've adapted... consists of sniffing fragrant spices before saying the final prayer that closes the Sabbath. In order to incorporate this into my own Sabbath-ending ritual, I first needed something to serve as a spice box.  So, I ordered  this olive wood Rosary box from the EWTN catalog.

 It comes, quite fittingly, from Israel.  I keep the box next to my electric (for safety) Sabbath candle. The spices I've placed in it are whole cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  (These are among the spices traditionally used as part of Havdala; but any good-smelling spices may be used.)

Another Sabbath Enhancement

I added, several weeks ago something new to the way I begin my Sunday, the way I welcome the Sabbath.   Now, after lighting the votive candle [electric, for safety!],  and praying, "Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has commanded us to keep holy the Sabbath day," and before praying Evening Prayer, I sing the hymn On This Day, The First of Days.

A VERY Good Sunday

Mom told me last night that she thought she'd be able to walk me to Church today, since

the weather has turned cooler. Oh, how VERY happy just the THOUGHT of going to Mass

and receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion made me feel!

And this morning, I enjoyed the Mass on EWTN even more than usual, knowing that in just a few hours, I would actually BE at Mass; I would actually RECEIVE Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

So did I actually GET to Mass today?

The answer is...

YES!!!!!

I wore my white Sunday veil, with a hair clip to keep it in place.  I saw only one other woman, who happened to be the Lector, wearing a veil, only hers was black.  

And oh, that moment when I received Jesus in Holy Communion!!!!!   What, on this Earth, can be more wonderful? 
Nothing.

New Picture in, and Decision About, my Rosary Art Collection

I've added a new picture to my Rosary Art Collection.
I've also decided that from now on, Sunday will be my day for working on this collection. Just one more way of enhancing my Sundays!

The Longest Day In The Week

To me, Sunday seems longer than any other day of the week.
Oh, not in a draggy, boring, tedious way, but rather in a nice, slow, relaxed, leisurely,
take-it-easy way.
My Sunday begins on Saturday Evening with the lighting of a votive candle, [electric for safety] a prayer welcoming the Sabbath (adapted from Jewish tradition), and Evening Prayer 1.
I am wearing either a skirt with a really nice top, or a dressy pants suit. There
are pretty cloths on the end-tables where I usually keep my books.
A little later, I have my Sunday Night Supper, which is eaten slowly, usually while watching EWTN (either the current programming or something I've DVRed). There are several hours between "Bless us, O Lord," and "We give Thee thanks."
During the week, I pray only one of the Daytime Hours; on Sunday, all three. I alternate
which Hour is Current, and which two are Complementary. Also, I pray more Rosaries and
Chaplets of Mercy on Sunday.
My Sunday reading, as I've mentioned before, is also different. There are some
books I read 7 days a week, some I read only on weekdays, and some kept especially
for Sunday. My rules for a "Reserved for Sunday" book are:
1: It must be a Catholic book.
2: It can be fiction or non-fiction.
3: It cannot be a textbook or scholarly work.
4: It must be a book that I would enjoy reading during the week,
something I can look forward to returning to NEXT Sunday.
Even the games I play on the TV and the computer on Sunday are quieter than the ones I play
during the week. And Sunday is also the day on which I do Jigsaw Puzzles.
The only collection I work on is my Rosary Art Collection.
I've found that, the better Sunday has been, the easier it is to pray
Evening Prayer 2 (after Benediction and Devotion on EWTN). After Evening
Prayer 2, I say a prayer to conclude my Sunday.
I then change into weekday clothes, remove the cloths from the tables, and put back
the books.
I read once, in a Jewish book, that remembering the last Sabbath sweetens the first half of
the week, and anticipating the coming Sabbath sweetens the second half. I have found this
to be absolutely true.

Changes to my Sunday Reading

This post contains excerpts from an older post, slightly edited, with new material added.  
On Sundays, (and that means from Evening Prayer 1 to Evening Prayer 2), I put aside whatever non-Catholic book or books I may be reading. On Sunday, I read only Catholic books from Catholic publishers, (or the Catholic imprints of mainstream publishers.)
The book can be fiction or non-fiction, but it absolutely MUST be something I'll want to carry into the next week. Dull, dry books are not welcome!
This will not change. Sunday, especially, is not a day for reading dull, dry books!
This may seem like a restriction, but it is actually an enhancement of the most beautiful, precious day of the week. And, as a bonus, I find that I enjoy the non-Catholic books all the more for having put them aside for those 24 hours.
I've discovered, however, that by limiting my Sunday reading to books from Catholic publishers,
I was eliminating some very lovely Catholic books.  To give just one example, my copy of The Little Flowers of St. Francis is from a mainstream, not a Catholic, publisher.  However, the material is very much suited to my ideas of Sunday reading! 
So from now on, although my Sunday reading will still consist of Catholic books only, it will
no longer be restricted to books from Catholic publishers.
And, after all, the beginning of the year is a good time for changes! 

A Different Sunday Schedule

I'm using a different schedule from the one I usually follow
on Sundays. First of all, I usually light my Sunday candle (electric, for safety!) and pray
Evening Prayer 1 at 6:30PM or thereabouts. This evening, however, I ushered in my Sunday
at 5:00PM, which was Midnight in Bethlehem.
Usually, at 1:00 AM, I am asleep; today I'll be watching Midnight Mass on EWTN . The Mass will
be rebroadcast, but I'd much rather see it live!