Last year beginning on November 30th, the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, I prayed the St. Andrew Christmas Novena. If this novena was a traditional nine-day novena, it would end on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th. However, this novena is actually prayed much longer. It is prayed throughout all four weeks of Advent! "It is piously believed that whoever recites the St. Andrew Christmas prayer fifteen times each day from the feast of St. Andrew until Christmas day will obtain the favor requested."
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.
With our little Bud due on Christmas (or New Year's depending on which ultrasound you went by) I prayed for a safe delivery and healthy baby... This year we are celebrating his very first nameday today! Yes, even though it wasn't even considered before he was born, we ended up naming Bud after this great saint. We were also so excited to learn that it also happens to be his Godfather's Confirmation name! (Coincidence? I don't think so!)

Happy Feast of St. Andrew!
We did the same thing last year, Jessica! …the laminating the holy cards from Lena's blog. They are so beautiful! I did one for each of us in the family. Over the past few years this prayer has become my most favorite Advent tradition/observance.
ReplyDeleteyour laminated job looks great. do you cut the cards first then laminate? i'm a bit lazy, laminate first then cut. maybe i should take the time for one more step. ;)
ReplyDeleteI did cut them out before laminating, but only because that is the only way that the laminating sheet I was using works - it needs to be able to seal together around the edges.
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