Ah, you're a little far from me, I'm afraid. It would have been nice to hear you sing. I'm sure all at Saint Wilfrid's Church will be touched by the performance.
I don't celebrate Christmas in a traditional sense (being of a different faith) but we all still get together and exchange gifts and stuff. Plus the atmosphere at this time of year is magic, and it really is a season to be enjoyed while it lasts.
I look forward to your upcoming trio of carols: In Anticipation was a great little loop. Oh, and I'm still looking forward to your album, too, whenever that comes out. I trust it'll be a winner. :D
Have a delightful Christmas yourself, Troisnyx, take care and I hope 2014 will be a prosperous year for you (God willing).
-Potent
kkots
I wish I could visit.
But (Make a "in Russia" joke process initiated) (please wait...) (process failed. Joke aborted) I live in Russia, so I cannot.
Btw, is it OK to think that angels, golden cities in skies, visions of saints - all this is insanity that is written in the Bible, and somehow unconsciously believe in all of it?
Troisnyx
No harm done. : ) I know my friends are here with me in spirit -- you'll be there with me in spirit, especially during that Christmas Vigil Mass. We're physically distant, but not all that distant.
On your question, it's a matter of conviction -- I can't even begin to imagine what an angel looks like, let alone what Heaven looks like. I do know, by faith, that they're there, and the angels and saints are praying for me -- I've had many close calls, but each time, my life's been spared. Of course it's fine to believe in angels and saints and the Heavenly city -- You and I believe in Our Lord. All of creation is an outpouring of love from Our Lord, even every tree, animal, human being, inanimate object, etc. Would it not be the same for the angels, who are spiritual? And would it not be the same for Heaven?
Saints are people like us who have fought the good fight, and are praying for us. They lived just as you and I live... and some of them might just be living in our own backyards. All it takes is a desire and a drive to live a holy life, i.e. to be set apart as God's instruments. And then, we do according to that desire. We fall, and we fail miserably. But then we pick ourselves up and try again. G.K. Chesterton, I think it is, put it so nicely when he said that 'saints are sinners who keep on trying'.
I do sometimes hear a soft, gentle prompting whenever I am praying -- and the way you can tell apart the voice of Our Lord and the saints from others is this: the voice of Our Lord and the saints encourages you, confirms what's been said earlier, is consistent (especially with what Our Lord has mentioned during His life on earth), loves you, forgives you, and wants you to live. The voice of the enemy, which I have heard many a time also, condemns you, picks apart everything you say, and makes you look very down upon yourself, the kind of downness that Our Lord would not want. In addition, the enemy has been known to assume the look of a saint, or an angel, or even Our Lord Himself, but with discernment -- and this is a gift from the Holy Spirit -- we can tell who it actually is.