I was just coming home from saying my night prayers, and the EWTN radio station I was listening to aired an old Mother Angelica program that obviously had been recorded near Christmas Day. As always, she had many insightful words, but at one point she spoke of how she had to spend one Christmas in the hospital. “And at midnight my sisters called me on the phone and left it off the hook, so I could listen to the midnight mass being celebrated there. And afterwards the sisters sang to me.” Mother Angelica said “It was quiet on the hospital floor, and no one came into my room, but it was just me and Jesus, celebrating his birthday. In my whole life, that was the best Christmas I ever had.”
Later, she had a caller to the show who said her family had no tree or decorations, but her husband had built a large manger scene, which they lighted and displayed in their front yard. “We wanted everyone passing by to know it’s His birthday we’re celebrating. And on Christmas Day, my family buys a birthday cake and we put a candle on top, and our whole family sings “Happy Birthday.” Mother Angelica laughed and strongly approved.
It was a wonderful program that I listened to on the way home, but that call touched a memory. When I was a child, at St. Isidore’s parish, in Blue Island, Illinois, I recall that at Christmas Day mass we all stood and sang “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. That was a most wonderful memory to have dredged up from the bottom of my mind this night. So much is going on in the world right now. It was wonderful to hear Mother Angelica’s sweet voice again tonight, and her sincere reminder: “It’s His Birthday!”
Happy Birthday, Jesus!
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