{"id":9855,"date":"2013-12-22T23:11:34","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T05:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?p=9855"},"modified":"2013-12-22T23:11:34","modified_gmt":"2013-12-23T05:11:34","slug":"a-christmas-greeting-from-the-holy-rover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2013\/12\/22\/a-christmas-greeting-from-the-holy-rover\/","title":{"rendered":"A Christmas Greeting From the Holy Rover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"The
The Virgin Mary who kept an eye on my son in Belgium (Carl Sessions photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Before our son Carl left for his study-abroad semester in Belgium, I played a trick on him. \u201cThink of me every time you see an image of the Virgin Mary,\u201d I said, to which he blithely agreed. Hah! I knew that given Belgium\u2019s strong Catholic heritage, he was likely to see her all over.<\/p>\n

But even I was surprised when I entered Carl\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

I take two things from this. One, God has a sense of humor. Two,\u00a0God wants 21-year-old sons on their First Big Adventure in Europe to think multiple times every day about their mother.<\/p>\n

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<\/em> 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\u2019ve combined it with a royalty-free clip of some Renaissance music from the Partners In Rhyme Blog<\/a>. I don\u2019t know the composer or musicians, unfortunately, but I like the mood it conveys.\u00a0I hope the video might help you reflect on the deeper meanings of this holiday season.<\/p>\n

The Holy Rover will be taking a couple of weeks off over the holidays, but I\u2019ll be back in January with more European adventures. Merry Christmas to everyone!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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