A Christmas Greeting From the Holy Rover

Before our son Carl left for his study-abroad semester in Belgium, I played a trick on him. “Think of me every time you see an image of the Virgin Mary,” I said, to which he blithely agreed. Hah! I knew that given Belgium’s strong Catholic heritage, he was likely to see her all over.

But even I was surprised when I entered Carl’s rooming house on our visit in November and discovered that there was a large stained glass window of the Virgin Mary right above his front door, benevolently beaming at him every time he passed by below.

I take two things from this. One, God has a sense of humor. Two, God wants 21-year-old sons on their First Big Adventure in Europe to think multiple times every day about their mother.

All of this is a preface to a little video Bob and I have put together, a Christmas greeting to faithful readers of this blog. Be grateful that we did not include all the pictures we took of the Virgin Mary and Child on our European trip, as you likely have other things you hope to do today. But here is a selection of some of our favorites. I’ve combined it with a royalty-free clip of some Renaissance music from the Partners In Rhyme Blog. I don’t know the composer or musicians, unfortunately, but I like the mood it conveys. I hope the video might help you reflect on the deeper meanings of this holiday season.

The Holy Rover will be taking a couple of weeks off over the holidays, but I’ll be back in January with more European adventures. Merry Christmas to everyone!