BEcember
  • JesJes
    Posts: 576
    G'day people,

    So this December I decided to raise awareness for the lives of the unborn. This coming Expectation day please consider joining in with my BEcember idea by raising awareness. You can do this in any creative way you like.
    Some ideas:
    Wear baby booties pinned to your shirt.
    Change your profile picture to you wearing a dummy (I think you guys call them pacifiers?)
    Replace your drink bottle with a sippy cup or baby bottle for the day.
    Wear a bonnet.
    Donate to a pro life cause.
    Change your computer wallpaper to have a picture of a fetus.
    Sing songs that contain the word baby in the lyrics.
    Wear something white and wooly (works for you guys it's like 40 degrees down here!)
    the list is endless.

    Please consider that we have to fight for those who have no voice.
    I look forward to Thursday's Expectation mass!

    Cheers
    Jes
    Thanked by 1Casavant Organist
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Jes,

    Quick question: except in your inviting our participation, is this thread meant to be a discussion?
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,997
    Explain "Expectation Mass." What is it? We are pro-life 365 days each year.
    Thanked by 1canadash
  • JesJes
    Posts: 576
    Well yeah I made this a discussion because I believe that as church musicians we have an important role in the church. It is asked of us to be role models.
    Pro life 365 days a year here too.
    Just spreading it more widely and more openly during this month of December.

    November gets turned into MOvember for men's health so I figured December could be BEcember for babies.

    Expectation of Our Lady is the 15th December. On this day we especially pray for expecting mothers and for the unborn.

    I'd love to learn what people do on this day to enhance praying for the expecting mothers and the unborn because it's a special day for organists who get to play during advent on this day.

    I often focus on Mary but that being said this day I have decided to go advent carolling to the hospital to spread the news that Christ is born (not yet but he's unborn at the moment.)
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,997
    OK, must be an Australian thing. Dec. 15 is just an Advent weekday in our region of the U.S.
    Thanked by 2canadash eft94530
  • Reval
    Posts: 187
    According to Newadvent.org:
    Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
    "Celebrated on 18 December by nearly the entire Latin Church. Owing to the ancient law of the Church prohibiting the celebration of feasts during Lent (a law still in vigour at Milan), the Spanish Church transferred the feast of the Annunciation from 25 March to the season of Advent..."
    http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05712a.htm
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    We all know the tremendous Spanish influence in Australia, don't we?
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,234
    N.B.: The Catholic Encyclopedia material on newadvent.org is from a 1909 edition.
    Thanked by 2Liam Reval
  • Reval
    Posts: 187
    Yes, I know it's from ancient times. : ) I just thought it was interesting that I've never even heard of it, and apparently some others of us haven't either. 'Cuz 1909 isn't really that ancient, in terms of things I see discussed here...
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,142
    FWIW, the Feast of the Expectation of our Lady is neither in the universal Roman calendar (OF) or the EF Roman calendar as revised by John XXIII in 1961 (when the feast was suppressed).
    Thanked by 1Reval
  • eft94530eft94530
    Posts: 1,577
    transferred the feast of the Annunciation from 25 March to the season of Advent

    Before my retirement *cough*layoff*cough* in Dec 2002
    I was working for a software company and attended
    with all of Engineering a compulsory Sales presentation.
    Walking back to the offices I was behind Masters Degree (CS or EE) guys
    who were discussing Dec 8 (and therefore I came to realise were Catholics).
    I had to send an email to them to correct their confusion ...
    The Church knows science.
    It takes nine months to make a baby.
    It does not matter who you are.
    Conception starts the pregnancy. Birth completes it.
    Dec 8 (Immaculate Conception) -> nine months -> Sep 8 (birth of Mary)
    Mar 25 (Annunciation) -> nine months -> Dec 25 (birth of Jesus)
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,142
    And in the Eastern tradition, only the time between the Annunciation and the Nativity of the Lord is given a perfect 9 months: for the two other saints whose conception is memorialized in the Eastern calendar, those of the Theotokos and the Forerunner are one day less (occurring on December 9th and September 23rd, respectively), as a token of their mere mortality.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,493
    Days from last Annunciation to next Christmas = 275.
    Days from last Immaculate Conception to next Birthday BVM = 274.
    Just saying.
  • ContinuousbassContinuousbass
    Posts: 357
    Our nurse would always tell us "Babies come out when they want to."
    Thanked by 1JL
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,213
    Average human gestation period is 280 days (40 weeks).
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,826
    WIkipedia gives 270 +- 10.
  • JesJes
    Posts: 576
    I'm not quite computing why we are talking annunciation and gestation periods? But if this is about you guys quibbling to raise awareness for BEcember then go for it.

    Expectation and annunciation appear to be different days in the gradual I have for some reason and expectation is on dec 18 but we did December 15. Which is not unique to Australia I think it's unique to us though.

    Anyway BEcember goes for a whole month. Next year it will go towards funding a cause too.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,493
    1. Our diocesan Ordo, that's Liverpool, England, notes tomorrow, 4th Sunday of Advent, as Day of Prayer for Expectant Mothers, it has attached it to the 4th Sunday of Advent both in 2015 and in 2017. But our ordo is a bad guide to the mind of the church, it suppresses all Vigil Masses except Christmas and Easter.
    2. 40 weeks is from the last day on which you know the mother is not pregnant. It's not from conception.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,142
    It appears that the designation of the Fourth Sunday of Advent as a Day of Prayer for Expectant Mothers is something the UK bishops added to their national ordo.
  • fcbfcb
    Posts: 340
    Even before reading this I had put a petition for expectant mothers in this week's Prayer of the Faith because, well, the readings.
    Thanked by 1Jes
  • JesJes
    Posts: 576
    It's a really lovely thing!
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