Warming Wintertime Drinks and Devotions

It gets dark so early now. Here in New England, the sun is setting well before dinnertime. I wake in the morning to a dark, quiet house – light the lamps and make coffee in the shadowy pre-dawn. After a brief daytime, during which I try to cram in all my daily chores, the sun is sinking again by late afternoon. During these evenings, I want to curl up like a cat in my big, green chair and blink dreamily at the firelight.

November and December are such cozy, indoor months. Time to bake copious amounts of cakes and cookies, brew up pots and pots of tea, and spend time reflecting on time and eternity. I firmly believe that reflection is best done with a warming drink beside you. Whether it’s coffee, tea, whiskey, or a simple steamer – a sip of something cozy can inspire some beautiful thoughts.

Shortbread and the Souls

If you’re not used to drinking tea, and you’d like a gentle introduction – try a gentle, black tea like Earl Grey or Lady Grey. Both contain lots of fragrant bergamot and brew to a mild cup that pairs perfectly with shortbread cookies. If you like adding milk or cream to your teas, Earl Grey is a fantastic choice. You can even make a frothy “London Fog” with Earl Grey tea and plenty of steamed milk. If the snow is already falling around you, curl up by the window with a pot of Earl Grey and some traditional, buttery shortbread cookies while you watch the flakes fall slowly to the ground.

The first snowfall of the season always reminds me of Bilbo Baggins’ little verse in The Lord of the Rings:

I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see…

I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago,
And people who will see a world
That I shall never know.

This is the ideal time to think deeply and prayerfully about those “people long ago.” In the month of souls, spend some time with them. If you have an old missal, hunt around the back pages – long after the Mass is ended – for prayers for the dead. There are usually quite a few.

I like to let my memory wander – remember the old man with the rich-smelling pipe we used to visit in the evenings sometimes. The old aunt who taught all her great-nieces and nephews to play poker at family parties when I was small. Grandmas and old uncles, friends who died young. Friends from history who inspired me in some small way.

For each of them, I like to say the simple Eternal Rest Prayer:

Eternal Rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

There are longer prayers as well. St. Gertrude’s prayer for the souls is a delightful meditation. But it’s also lovely to just sit and remember the good each person has done for you. “May it be accounted unto him as righteousness, O Lord” I like to say, after thinking of all the thousands of sweet words, kind deeds, or firm reminders that my beloved dead gave to me.

Sunlit Mornings and St. Lucius

Early in the morning of Church history, there lived a king of a faraway land, who wanted to meet Jesus. His name was Lucius of Britain. He’d heard rumors of Christ and wanted to know more, so he wrote to the pope and begged for missionaries to introduce him to his Lord and baptize him.

Pope Eleutherius granted Lucius’ request and the king became the first Christian king in England. Lucius was a light to his people in the dark north of the world. His feast day, on December 3^rd, is an opportunity to contemplate light and darkness “in the bleak midwinter.”

In the early morning on or around St. Lucius’ day, brew up a pot of coffee. Spike your grounds with a pinch each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. While your coffee is brewing, light a few candles, warm some light cream on the stove, and cut yourself a slice of coffee cake.

I love to froth milk and cream. If you can, using either a whisk or a little frother, get some air into that cream before pouring a bit into your coffee. If you have a fireplace or woodstove, snuggle down in front of it and watch the flames crackle. Then, reach into the prayers of the Mass and ask, as St. Lucius did so very long ago:

Eternal Father, rouse our hearts out of the sleep of sin, so that we may clear the path of Your Son into our souls.

Grant us, we pray, that, as we receive Your Son as our Redeemer now, we may, in the future, confidently meet Him as our Judge.

As the sun rises late on that winter’s morning, think of St. Lucius watching that same sun rise in the winter. Think of the deep longing that led him to reach out over so many miles to “clear the path of [the] Son” into his soul, and be inspired.

Dark Nights and Beautiful Dreams

Have you ever noticed that winter feels lonely? Whether you have friends and family to gather with at the holidays or not, winter is a time when we really feel the longing in our souls for God. It’s ok to feel alone and lonely in these long nights of winter. Its ok to mourn the summertimes of our life and look at the cold dark with trepidation.

The higher he ascends
The darker is the wood;
It is the shadowy cloud
That clarifies the night,
And so the one who understood
Remains always unknowing.

When we do, it’s nice to turn to a friend who has become “well acquainted with the night.” St. John of the Cross, whose feast day falls on the 14th of December, is that friend. He is the perfect companion when your long nights feel too lonely. I like to pray to him for peaceful nights – full of beautiful dreams and the gentle company of Christ. If you’d like to do the same, I recommend making a night-time ritual out of it.

About an hour before bed, dim the lights. Get your mind comfortable in a bit of darkness. Don’t check your phone or computer; instead, make a cozy cup of warm milk with honey and spices. At a cafe near my childhood home, they made a steamer named “mystic milk.” The primary spice was cardamom. Cardamom was supported by ginger, clove, nutmeg, and vanilla. Add just a pinch or two of each of these (go especially light on the clove and vanilla). If you want to, add a teaspoon of rose or lavender petals. Froth the milk when it’s warm, and sip it with a slice or two of sourdough toast spread with cranberry jam, cream cheese, or pumpkin butter.

While sipping your soothing cup of “mystic milk,” spend some time with St. John the Mystic. He understands loneliness so well, and I think he loves to spend his eternity reaching out his strong hands to lonely friends on earth. If you ask, he’ll be happy to teach you how to love your aloneness and meet God there, no matter how dark the nights may be.

Hope for the Winter Months

My prayer for you is always that the cozy, dark, winter months are a time when you can snuggle up on the lap of God, blinking into the fire of His love while the snow falls around you. I hope these warming drinks and winter prayers give you inspiration to build a cozy sanctuary in your home this month. I hope they help you find ways to greet some of our saints and holy ones – who long to make winter a time in which you can draw closer to the Lord of Love.