“O Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Sun of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!”

Thus sings the Church on December 21, the darkest day of the year. On this week’s Mosaic Ark, the ladies discussed the Catholic tradition of preparing for Advent by singing the “O Antiphons,” which are short sung sentences describing a specific aspect of prayerful meditation on the eternal Truth — God’s incarnation in the womb of a virgin named Mary. They are sung at sunset (Vespers) both before and after recitation of Mary’s “Magnificat,” wherein she describes her joy at being chosen by God to be the mother of the long-awaited Messiah, who came to banish darkness and death, bringing everlasting light. Each Advent season in America, congregations of Catholics and Protestants participate in this tradition perhaps without knowing that is what they are doing; they sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” which is Catholic and has origins that are more than a thousand years old. Join us as we discuss these ancient chants, how they were weaved so thoroughly into our Christian consciousness, and how the Internet is making everything old new again. — Streamed December 19, 2024

Melinda Kathleen Reese singing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” in the church of Montefrio, Spain: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H6zswBOzxig

Amelia McKee, “The O Antiphons and the Stammheim Missal”: https://liturgicalyearinart.substack.com/p/the-o-antiphons-and-the-stammheim

The Stammheim Missal: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107TJA

On the Advent Lyrics: https://unauthorizedmedievalhistory.blogspot.com/2019/12/episode-12-getting-medieval-on-earendel.html

Myths, threads, and spider webs — that’s what the ladies of the Mosaic Ark discussed this week. Specifically, we discussed how all information from ancient times through the present, all history, literature, art, science, music, and religion have been compressed into a digital scroll that is now accessible to anyone with an internet connection. This ability to “scroll” information has also allowed people to start seeing the threads that run between all things and times, connecting them through a massive digital web. Quite a modern wonder, wouldn’t you say? Actually, some might say it is a return to the “pre-modern” world. Professor Rachel Fulton Brown has a more accurate take; it is a return to the medieval world. Join the ladies as they discuss what it means to live in the web, how we can distinguish myth from reality, and whether biblically accurate angels look like giant spiders. — Streamed December 13, 2024

• On Joseph Campbell: “The God-Ridden Bigotry of the Globalist Monomyth” https://fencingbearatprayer.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-god-ridden-bigotry-of-globalist.html
• On egregores: Mary Harrington, “Lily Phillips and the Spreadsheet Egregore” https://www.maryharrington.co.uk/p/lily-phillips-and-the-spreadsheet

Have you noticed the trend lately? “Strong independent woman” is a trope that keeps popping up in movies, television shows, and advertisements, and especially in political advertisements. “Single cat ladies” were the largest group that voted for Kamala Harris in the last election, and groups of witches were casting spells against her opponent. Their number one issue seemed to be the right to an abortion, which is promoted as something strong, independent women need and want. But is this true? The ladies of the Mosaic Ark beg to differ and have some pretty amazing examples to share with you of strong women who became even stronger moms. — Streamed December 6, 2024