from the Sisters: December 24, 2007

In some ways celebrating an Australian Christmas is just like celebrating Christmas in any of our houses.  The quiet prayers of Advent, cloaked in a certain “Holy Darkness,” offer a balance to the December 8^th card writing, the busy baking, and the later-than-most-houses trimming of trees.

In other ways, an Australian Christmas may be a bit unique.  The sunny summer weather takes a little adjustment.  Needless to say, “In the Bleak Midwinter” seems out of place in Sydney.  While many Australians still sit down to a “traditional” dinner inherited from European roots, seafood is increasingly the fare of choice, especially prawns (those creatures we call shrimp). 

Whatever cultural differences there may be, we found our deepest unity just where one would expect – at the manger and at the altar.  For Midnight Mass, we traveled into the city to Saint Benedict’s, where the quiet simplicity of the time before Mass opened us to the wonders of the Holy Night.  When Father Dom Murphy processed in with the servers, he carried the Christ Child to place in the manger, a gesture that carried our thoughts to Nashville, Mother, and our postulants.  The music was beautiful, and the lovely program included the art of Fra Angelico among its rich images of Christmas.  Father Dom’s homily invited us to reflect on our own souls and hearts as the manger in which Christ comes to rest at Christmas.  After exchanging Christmas greetings with those at the Mass, a crowd which included Dominicans, fellow World Youth Day Staff, and multiple international guests far from their homes, we returned to our convent where our waiting manger also received its Little Guest.