Christmas -- The Crèche at Notre Dame, Part 2

I stood and watched the clouds on the screen above the crèche for a long time. For a moment, I wondered if they were the same clouds as outside, but then I remembered that the day I went the sky was totally covered by clouds. So, no, it was a collection of cloud pictures from some other day, I suppose.

The next thing I noticed was ABOVE the crèche. There are carvings in stone that tell the whole story of Jesus' birth from the Annunciation to the Flight into Egypt. They seemed to come to life. First they were lit from behind. Then the light seemed to change to fire! It was quite beautiful to watch. Below are three photos of the change of lighting. The stars on the people's clothing seemed to twinkle.

Christmas -- The Crèche at Notre Dame, Part 1

Christmas in Paris was a very interesting, indeed. Sr. Mary Jo told me to be sure to see the crèche (Nativity Scene) at Notre Dame because it was truly an experience. So, I went looking. I ddin't find Quasimodo or Esmerelda, but what I found is in this section and two others. Sr. Mary Jo was right. It was an experience! Hopefully, the photos will say it all!

First of all, the crèche itself consisted simply of Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus. There were some Wise Men, too, because I didn't get there until Epiphany. They seemed to be suspended in a sea of stars. Behind them was a screen. If you look at the photos, at first it seems I put in three of the same thing, but look closely at the screen -- the clouds change! I thought that was pretty cool.

You can also see one of the stained glass windows of Notre Dame reflected in the screen, and at the bottom right is a reflection of some candles that people have lit to continue their prayers.

The last picture shows two of the Wise Men in their sea of stars.

Enjoy the photos and then go to part two!

All Saints Day, Part 3

Chestnuts were a big part of the celebration. As I said in Part 2, they were soaking in liquor. Sr. Giulia lit them on fire -- the liquor burns (do NOT try this at home) -- and it is supposed to represent the Souls in Purgatory. We prayed for the people we know who have died. When the fire went out, we nibbled on the chestnuts. Like I said in Part 2, they had a sweet flavor but were very dry.

Below are photos of the pot with chestnuts on the hot plate. Then Sr. Rosa watching as Sr. Giulia dished up the chestnuts for us to enjoy after they cooked. After that is a picture of the flames -- notice, no one is sitting near them! They are a little hard to see, but believe me, they were there!

Lastly, there is a photo of the clean-up crew -- Sr. Anna from Poland, Sr. Stanisława from Poland, and Sr. Mercedes from Ecuador. There has to be a clean-up crew for every party!

Enjoy the photos -- A little bit of Christmas in the next blog.

All Saints Day, Part 2

Christmas has come and gone, so it is time to finish telling about November! Even though the laptop failed me, Sr. Rosa, the Spanish sister from the Transation Group, asked me to give her the photos I took of our All Saints/All Souls Celebration, so I was able to have some to complete this blog entry and Part 3.

Below are photos of what makes every celebration a hit -- FOOD! The first photo shows the general array of what we ate. In the brown bowl are chestnuts that have been soaking in liquor. They kind of look like little brains, don't they? When we ate them, the chestnuts had a nice sweet flavor, but they were kind of dry tasting in my mouth.

The big plate has "panellets" on it. They are a Spanish cookie made from pine nuts. They were very good and I enjoyed eating them. They represent piles of bones! I thought that was interesting. There is a close-up picture of the panellets.

There were also some nice sweet rolls that were delicious. The fourth thing was sweet potatoes. I don't know if they were supposed to represent bones or not, but they kind of looked like them, I thought. The food was GREAT!

The third picture is of Sr. Guilia (Julia) from Italy holding a match to our drink. It had a hard time lighting on fire, but it did a little. Sr. Rosa is watching in the background.

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them! Enjoy, and then go on to Part 3.

All Saints Day, Part 1

November 1, as you know is the feast of All Saints. If November 1 falls on a weekday in the United States, Catholic Schools might take the specific day as a holiday. But, here in France, there is no school for an entire week! That includes the public schools! So, it is a big deal here.

It was a rainy day, but a couple of other sisters and I went to the Montparnasse Cemetery to visit the graves of the Daughters of Charity who are buried there, in particular, the grave of Sr. Rosalie Rendu who helped Frederic Ozanam organize the St. Vincent de Paul Society. She has her own grave site because many people – 100 years after her death – come to pray and ask her help with difficulties. There are always, always, always flowers at her grave and little plaques that say “thank you” for prayers that have been answered. (See photo below.) I have been to visit her grave four times and the flowers have been different every time. The other sisters are buried in a different tomb (the same one – it’s a biggie) and all their names are written on the tombstone. That does not mean that the grave gets dug up over and over again every time someone dies. There are shelves underneath the tombstone and the coffins are placed there. At a later date I will have to go there and see what it is actually like. I don’t know if you need an appointment or what, but I will find a way to go there.

For now, let’s just stick with what I did on November 1. The Montparnasse Cemetery is also a place where many famous people are buried, and it is, believe it or not, a tourist attraction. Many of the graves are very decorative and give some idea of what the person did in his/her lifetime. Some of these famous people include Frédéric Bartholdi (sculptor of the Statue of Liberty), Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute player), Jean-Paul Sartre (author and philosopher), and Guy de Maupassant (author). One grave that we passed was that of Charles Pigeon who invented the first gas lamp that did not explode. His grave marker (see photo below) shows himself and his wife in bed – ready to rest for all eternity – with gas lamps at the top of the bedposts. Everything looks green because it is copper. He has a book in his hand and his wife is wearing a night cap. They must have living relatives because there are fresh flowers. I thought it was kind of a neat thing to see.

Another photo below is of the tomb of the Adams Family! Of course, the family in the TV show spelled the name “Addams,” but I still thought it was funny.

As we arrived back at the Mother House, there was a procession of people carrying banners of saints. They were headed to Notre Dame cathedral where there was going to be a special prayer service later in the day. And, don’t you know it, there was a banner for St. Vincent de Paul! If you look closely at the picture below, the banner right behind St. Vincent is of St. Augustine. I don’t know WHICH St. Augustine it is, but I certainly stopped to say a prayer for the parish in Belleville where I loved being with the people for three years!

Be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge them. Part 2 coming soon

Mission Carnival

On the weekend of October 25-26, we had a Mission “Exposition” here at the Mother House. In my mind, I called it a Mission Carnival. But, there wasn’t any popcorn or drinks or anything like that to be had. Sisters from all over the world work here at the Mother House, and they bring things with them that are sold during this exposition. These items vary from religious goods to books to woodwork to just about anything you might imagine. Other things that were sold were items that sisters who live here made throughout the year like baby clothes and shirts. The proceeds go to help support the work the sisters do in the missionary places that are extremely poor like Africa and Haiti. There were several “booths” and sisters had different shifts to work at them. Below are photos of Fr. Javier Alvarez (a Vincentian priest) blessing the expo before it began and of a couple of sisters working in their booths. In the photo of the blessing, you can see the “wood” booth, which is where I worked a couple of shifts. On the first day, we made almost 2000€! That’s a LOT!

The second picture is of the “Fish on a Line” booth. Little packages were wrapped up in pretty paper and tied with a string. You had to snag one with a “fish hook” that was an open paper clip on the end of a string. It was not as easy as it sounds! The African sister in the photo is from Nigeria. She is in my group. Her name is “Toyin” which means, “God is worthy to be praised” in her native language. I don’t know all the names of the other sisters in the pictures yet.

After that is a photo of a sister from Brazil working in the booth that sold lacy things like tablecloths and curtains, followed by a photo of the Polish sisters who ran the religious goods booth. The Polish sisters are all very pious and they always get that booth!

Enjoy the photos – the next blog will be about what we did on All Saints Day!

Art Adventure, Part 4 -- The End

In Giverny, there is an American art museum as well. Apparently there were many American artists who came there to study, so their work is on display, too. But, as a part of the American museum, there is a restaurant. We realized it was lunch time, and we both wanted something good to eat. We decided that the American restaurant would probably have French Fries – not because we were in France, but because French Fries are an American thing. So, we went to read the menu. It is normal for all restaurants to post their menu outside so you can see in advance what kinds of food they serve and how much it costs. We were very happy to see that the menu was in both French and English. However, we laughed and laughed at the menu item posted below. Nutty pig salad – read the ingredients! Pig cheeks? When we got back to the Mother House, we said something to another sister who told us that, oh yes, pig cheeks are considered a delicacy, and she asked if it came with a pig’s ear, too. I told her we didn’t order the salad – we just laughed about it! We had a nice hot ham and cheese style sandwich instead.

Sr. Sharon and I considered taking the bus back to Vernon so we could catch the train. This is a photo of the bus stop! Can you see the little blue and white sign indicating a bus will stop? There is no place to sit while you wait! I love the beams, though. We decided to walk back because we had plenty of time.

OK, to close out the Art Adventure, here are a couple more beautiful flowers from the garden around the American museum. I love the bright red of the one that looks like a porcupine – the flower is very soft to the touch, though. And, notice the gigantic bee!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little Art Adventure! Next subject will be the Mission Carnival we had here.