On the Feast of Stephen - II

Boxing Day has been a late start for me - not feeling quite at rights, I slept in, extending my uneasy sleep...

Having thus missed serving Mass at Carmel, I went later late and heard half a Mass at Church of the Apostles, arriving late, at the Orate fratres; so I read the readings &c. from my missal.

St Stephen is my confirmation patron, being the first of martyrs; last year I blogged about him; this year I've read the instruction for his feast given in Nelsons' Festivals and Fasts (I have an 1841 reprint of this 1703 manual by a devout High Churchman, married to a Recusant).  If you wish to consult same, look at pages 66-77 here.; I append an extract, to give the feel of the beautiful English in which it is written, let alone to shew its general piety and usefulness:

A Companion for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church of England With Collects and Prayers for Each Solemnity by Robert Nelson

In other business, the Boxing Day Cricket Test continues; hopefully our man Ponting (a fellow Launcestonian) can captain Australia to victory over the South Africans; else it will be our first at-home series defeat in 15 years.  And while lunching on Christmas leftovers we watched the start of the famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race, that perennial fixture of the end of December.  (The local paper is running a series on the tragedy of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart, when a storm struck the fleet in Bass Strait, sinking many yachts, requiring many rescues, and leading to six deaths.)

Perhaps I'll go see The Day the Earth Stood Still this arvo; I'm interested to compare it to the original film.

I suppose I should start on the day's Office, too...

And, last but not least, as to-day is the Feast of Deacons, festal greetings to Rev Br Vincent Magat, O.P.!