What is sadder than...

...a 1/2 full bottle of Chartreuse?

AN EMPTY ONE!!!!!

Where's the Chartreuse cow when you need her???

Christmas at St. Francis de Sales Oratory

Ah, Christmas. There is so much hustle and bustle, especially when there is a Gaudete Benefit Gala a week before.  So, grab a cup of coffee (or for some, malt liquor) and enjoy my photo montage of Christmas Day.  The first photo was taken around 12:05 a.m. Christmas Day at St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis and the last was taken around 7:00 p.m. at Uncle John's house.  I *did* sleep between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.

Procession.

Prayers for Archbishop Carlson.
Look at all of those beautiful poinsettias!

You can see the side altar where the creche is located.

Going to the side altar.

Creche.

My view from the choir loft.

Ah!  An Italian dinner!

Salsiccia. An Italian sausage that we pronounce Sa-zee-tsa.
We also say Pasta Gazoogoo. We're Sicialian, ok?

No Italian meal would be complete without these.

Hootiecootie might know these wines.

And then Santa visited us at the end of the evening.

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas Day and

continue to enjoy the remainder of Christmas!!

Wise Men

This is a grainy photo, but guess what I saw today at St. Francis de Sales?

Hint: That is indeed a camel you see peeking around the corner.



We're travelling from afar, alright!



Gaudete Benefit Gala

If you attend St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis you understand that with its enormous campus there is a LOT of work to be done.  A LOT! So, we all pitch in where we can - with either blood, sweat or tears (oh, and cash...lots of cash...if you want to donate but couldn't the night of, please call the rectory at (314) 771-3100. But I digress.)

Wait, is this the church basement?

It can't be!!

This weekend there was a benefit gala for the sacred music program.  And it was awesome. Super awesome. I took a few snapshots, but there was a genuine, bonafide professional photographer there and those photos will arrive soon, I'm sure.  I have more of the "behind the scenes" shots.

Stop the presses! Is this the Lynch street entrance?

Our musical director, choir, children's choir and orchestra performed flawlessly...as far as you know.  The basement was transformed from a quasi-basketball court to an elegant dinner hall...in my opinion.  The silent auction had items usually found in Sotheby auctions...I think.

Well, nothing a little fabric can't fix!

If you want to know more then make sure to read all about it in the upcoming newsletter from St. Francis de Sales.  St. Louis Catholic will post it as soon as it comes out.

I bet Canon Lenhardt can just *sense* that we are
putting up yards and yards of fabric!

Voila!

It was a truly uplifting and incredibly enjoyable evening.  I want to thank all of those wonderful de Sales members who worked so hard to put this together, Mr. Botkins for his incredible musical expertise, the choir for all of the practice and seamless performance, the rectory staff, Canon Wiener and Abbé Alex.  Everyone, I mean EVERYONE, cannot stop singing its praises.

I cannot wait for the next one...next year.

Humility, thy name is Mothercrab

Today we heard an excellent sermon by Canon Avis. It was about humility and I think he was speaking directly to me. I'm sure if you were to ask him he would say, "Yes." And, he might just say it with a Russian accent. But I digress.

Well, I just got an email from JJR to look at the scrolling images on catholic.org, and, wouldn't you know, one of my photographs popped up! It is the shot of the Gaudete Sunday vestments in the sacristy at St. Francis de Sales Oratory! I'm not sure how this photograph ended up on this particular website though...  Hmmm...

UPDATE.
I went through my archives and realized I had posted this photo last December. I may have to change my name to GrandmaCrab what with my forgetfulness. No offense to Grandmas.

I ask you to go look at that photograph to be reminded of the joy that this Sunday brings us.

Gaudete in Domino semper.

Hey!  Who let MotherCrab into the sacristy?

Because God Told Me!

Yesterday I went to a city grocer with HP. This place is right across the street from St. Cronan's and draws characters. There was a woman there who was obviously a bit "touched." She told a woman who came in that her hair looked like Mr. T's. Well, to be fair, this woman who came in with her 20 year old grandson WAS sporting a mohawk.

I picked up some Companion herb crostini to make a little bruschetta. This woman (not Mrs. T) came up to me and said, "Oh, is that garlic bread?" and I said, "No, it's actually herb." She replied, "Herb! I knew it was herb. You know how I know? Because God told me!"

So, if anyone has any questions they would like answered, just shoot me a comment and I'll see what she says. She might just be there next Thursday, too.

The Oblates of The Institute of Christ the King

There is a wonderful new video highlighting the Oblates of The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest!



I recognize a few AWESOME people in here!

Rare footage!

It had been 2 months since this person (creature?) had been spotted at St. Francis de Sales, but I was able to capture this rare footage with my lightning-fast camera skills.

Bigfoot? Loch Ness Monster?

I wonder how long it will take for us to catch a glimpse of this collared creature again!

The Civil Life

A friend of ours opened a new microbrewery in St. Louis called The Civil Life.  We visited it a bit ago and were impressed with how he transformed a warehouse into a lovely pub and brewery!

Now THAT'S a lot of beer. (The cow's out back, I think)

The view from the upper level.

The view down into the bar area.

Upstairs. This looks like a good place for a party.

Little cubby areas.  The wood is exquisite here.

The growler you can bring home. This is their brown ale and it is delish.

Having one of those days?

Do you and your house ever look like this?

I haven't decided which one is Mother Crab.

Where in the world is Mother Crab?

Guess where I am!

Hint #1 - Neiman Marcus' flagship store is here.
Hint #2 - Everyone, lately, in my circle, wants to send his child to college here.

The weekend I have had has been absolutely outstanding. Details will follow when I get back home!

Dear Crabby, take 2

Remember that time when I was super duper sick and I lost an entire summer?  The only thing that got me through those trying days was Dear Crabby. Well, that and all of the awesome meals, visits, and pick-me-ups that I received.

But, I digress.

I truly think it's time for another installment of Dear Crabby.  I just feel like dishin' out some advice! So, please, ask your questions. Nothing is beyond my grasp...I think.

St. Louis Cardinals. Awesome!!

All I have to say about game 7 is:

O tempora!
O mores!

Congratulations, Cardinals!!!!

Going to Game 7!!

Now THAT was baseball!

Yay Cardinals and congrats to our hometown, awesome, cool under pressure David Freese!

Game 7 tomorrow here in St. Louis. Be there or be square!

The Cardinals

Baseball Cardinals.

We're in Game 6. Top of the 10th. 7-7.

I just bit my fingernails down to nubs.

Beer Bovine

Last week I had 2 people find my blog by typing "beer cow" into their Google search engine. The cool part is that these two thirsty milkers were from Canada and Hungary.

I am sure they were saddened that their search only brought them to this lousy excuse for a blog. I bet they were looking for the real thing - a real beer cow. Perhaps it's not just some mythical magical creature after all.