This calendar of saints is drawn from several denominations, sects, and traditions. Although it will no longer be updated daily, the index on the right will guide visitors to a saint celebrated on any day they choose. Additional saints will be added as they present themselves to Major.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

December 18 -- Feast of Nuestra Señora de la O

Folks have funny ways to imagine the Expectation
This is one of the score or so feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM).  This particular one is the Feast of the Expectation (Expectatio Partus) of the BVM.  It should follow the Feast of the Annunciation, of course, but the placement on the calendar has been a little tricky.  It was originally March 25, but for a while there was a prohibition of feasts during Lent.  It was therefore moved to December 18.  The prohibition was lifted, and now it is celebrated on both days -- in Spain, at least, where an excuse for a party is gladly embraced.
Oooooooooooooooo!

Our Lady of the O is a real liturgical alternative name for the feast.  It sounds a little inappropriate, at least to me, but I tend to drift toward the inappropriate anyway.   And while it isn't sacrilegious or profane at all, it has a curious and comic origin.  At the end of vespers on the Feast of the Expectation, monks used to chant a protracted, plaintive O to signify the desire of the universe to receive the Christ.

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