On a Pilgrimage

Accept everything that God sends you as coming from His hands.

As Mother Teresa said, “take what He gives, and give what He takes.”

Believe that whatever He permits, it is what you need most in life to help you come closer to Christ and become a fuller version of yourself.

For those in public office

Pro rempúblicam moderántibus.
Orémus et pro ómnibus rempúblicam moderántibus, ut Deus et Dóminus noster mentes et corda eórum secúndum voluntátem suam dírigat ad veram ómnium pacem et libertátem.

Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, in cuius manu sunt hóminum corda et iura populórem, réspice benígnus ad eos, qui nos in potestáte moderántur, ut ubíque terrárum populórum prospéritas, pacis secúritas et religiónis libértas, te largiénte, consístant.
Per Christum Dóminum nostrum.

Let us pray for those who serve us in public office, that God may guide their minds and hearts, so that all men may live in true peace and freedom.

Almighty and eternal God, you know the longings of men's hearts and you protect their rights. In your goodness watch over those in authority, so that people everywhere may enjoy religious freedom, security, and peace. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Religion outrage

I know I told my self, no more religiony posts when I restart my blog, but there are always exceptions...

I have just attended one of the most memorable Sunday "mass"es of my life. Albeit in the wrong way.

How do you consider valid and licit a mass where:
1. There is no Kyrie after the 'I confess'
2. 1 reading instead of 2
3. A homily by the priest who grabs the microphone and stands in the middle of the sanctuary
4. No creed
5. No 'Sanctus'
6. No preface
7. The eucharistic prayer is taken from the 'Canadian Bishops' for use in Ireland.
8. The priest does not consecrate the wine into the Body of Christ
9. Communion is then offered under 2 species
10. The closing prayer is composed spontaneously by the priest

This coming barely 2 weeks after a minister of the eucharist offers my Muslim friend to partake in Holy Communion in the lift of Beaumont Hospital....

Sacrilegious...

Does this spell the end for Latin in Malaysia???

Pope learns of diversity of Malaysian Church

(02 June 08 - RV) Bishops from the South East Asian Nation of Malaysia begun their Ad Limina pilgrimage to Rome Monday.

There are around 800,000 Catholics in Malaysia - approximately 3% of the total population. The country is divided into nine dioceses including three archdioceses, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. We spoke to the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur MURPHY PAKIAM about his meeting with the Holy Father:


“The Church in Malaysia is diverse, it has four races, four languages four cultures. The Holy Father was happy to hear that we are forming them into a community of God’s people and bringing them to well beyond their racial, linguistic, cultural barriers to form one community of God’s people. Then he was surprised and happy to know that our priests have to speak at least three languages to preach the World of God to the people. He understands very well when I said that we have no time to teach them Latin and that this great move that is in Europe to bring Latin back does not work for people in the small young Church in Malaysia. He was surprised to hear of missionaries coming as far as Malaysia in the attempts to bring the Tridentine rite here. He was happy to learn also that we are moving a lot with inter-religious dialogue, more than dialogue of coming together of religious leaders because we are Hindus, Sheiks, Buddhists Muslims and so forth and he was happy that I had gone for a trip to China and that there was more than just talk of building relationships of friendships among the different religious leaders, because it is a good way of proceeding to put into action the Churches teaching in Nostra Aetate”.

Predicting death

This afternoon during one of my study breaks, I was browsing the net after reading an article about Cardinal Bertone's appointment as Cardinal-Bishop, taking the place of Cardinal Trujillo who passed away last month.

While doing some research on this topic, I was brought to the Catholic Hierarchy site where I discovered that one of the other Cardinal Bishops was Cardinal Gantin of Benin, and whom I recall reading about a long time ago (he's ancient, and was active during the time before I was born, and so I was surprised to see that he was still alive).


The eeriest thing happened just about 10 minutes ago, during another one of those breaks. I was browsing through Whispers in the Loggia and was shocked by the headlines:

Freaky!!!

To mark the start of May

Here is my favourite song sung during this month. The title is "Bring Flowers of the Rarest" and is traditionally sung in May. However, this song is so rare, that even my expert source was not able to find me a download-able version, so you'll just have to settle for the YouTube version.

p.s. May 1 this year also happens to be Ascension Thursday. However, according to the Irish Liturgical Calendar, the solemnity is shifted to the Sunday and instead we celebrated the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker instead.

Bring flowers of the rarest,
Bring blossoms the fairest,
From garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
Our full hearts are swelling,
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest flower of the vale.

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,

Their lady they name thee,
Their mistress proclaim thee,
Oh, grant that thy children on earth be as true
As long as the bowers
Are radiant with flowers
As long as the azure shall keep its bright hue.

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May,

Sing gaily in chorus,
The bright angels o'er us
Re-echo the strains we begin upon earth;
Their harps are repeating
The notes of our greeting,
For Mary herself is the cause of our mirth.

Altar Transformation

IN December, I had previously posted on transforming the oratory in my university for Advent. I am posting about how we were able to transform the empty and stripped altar for Good Friday at the chapel of the Convitto San Tomasso to one worthy of celebrating the Easter Vigil mass under the supervision of Fr. Michael Goh, a Malaysian priest currently studying for a Licentiate in Liturgy at the Anselmo.

This is the chapel stripped bare on Good Friday

Among the "tools" we used were the Paschal candle, and loads of flowers

The lectern is clothed with a white antependium, and other altar linens were used to cover the altar.

The finished product. Note that the flower arrangements were all done by Fr. Michael himself and that the tabernacle is exposed. I have no idea why they preferred to have 3 altar candles though.

The tabernacle as it usually is

A little something behind the scenes that is not normally seen, side altars!!! The crosses on the walls are that of the Via Crucis.

Have a closer look at one of them. Unfortunately I was not able to snap a photo of 2 priests in action side by side...

Maundy Thursday

After reading Andrew's recent post on Maundy Thursday about the tradition of the faithful in Penang who make a visit to the various churches on the island to spend some time praying with Our Lord, I too, am glad to announce that this practice is present in Rome, the eternal city, where the faithful too make visits to the various and numerous churches scattered around the city.


The Mass of the Lord's Supper is traditionally held at the Basilica of San Giovanni Laterano, or St. John Lateran, the mother church of Rome. We were fortunate enough to be in possession of tickets for this mass, but because there were too many people, as you can see from above, we did not visit the altar of repose here but opted to return home for some dinner.

After dinner, a group of us headed for a church tour by night, to visit the various altar of reposes and to pray there. Here are some pictures of the churches that we visited during our 3 hour walk on Holy Thursday night:

The participants, from L to R: Me, Sr. Soledad, Fr. Michael Goh, Sr. Edith, Fr. Paul Trang, Sylvia, Fr. Julian Leow.

We started off in a small church just round the corner from the Convitto, Santa Maria ai Monti, in English, Our Lady of the Hill, a titular church in Rome, which interestingly enough given to Cardinal Jaime Sin until his death in 2005.


Remember the red and white cloth form the picture above? Here's a larger version at the second church we visited. It reminded me of going for a funeral wake back home, maybe that's what it's supposed to symbolise...


After going through the gate with those curtains, the inside was amazingly different, as you can see below. This was of one of the biggest tabernacles used I've ever since. But then again, this was of course Rome and the church was the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, or St. Mary Major, one of the 4 papal basilicas, whose current archpriest is Cardinal Bernard Law, infamous for the sex scandals presently hounding the Catholic church for having erupted first in the archdiocese of Boston when he was archbishop...


Next up is the American church of Santa Susanna, another church in which Cardinal Law is Cardinal Priest. This is the church you want to get to when you're in Rome if you are English speaking as they have English masses here regularly and they also run a service of obtaining tickets for the papal ceremonies for pilgrims from English speaking countries.


We then proceeded across the Largo to the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, titular of the Franciscan Cardinal Sean O'Malley. You will probably have heard of this church if you have read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons...


As we were walking to our next stop, we stumbled across this small church belonging to the Trinitarian fathers. The church of San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane, or St. Charles at the Four Fountains. This church located near to the junction in Rome where four fountains, one of each side of the road, are situated near the Quirinale is usually closed and we were surprised to see it open tonight for adoration. The order has a very unusual symbol. They wear a sort of Dominican habit but with a red and blue coloured cross embroided into the front of it.


The next stop was the church of Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio, which was bequeathed to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by Pope John Paul II. An interesting fact I found out about the church when researching about it was that there is a bronze plaque listing 22 popes who bequeathed their hearts and viscera to the church and that their hearts are still stored there in urns.


Opposite the church is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Rome, the Fontana Trevi or Trevi Fountain. During my visit last January, I threw a coin into the fountain, and maybe that's why I got to go back this time. Nonetheless, I threw another coin this time round as I still have yet to finish all that I want to do in this wonderful city.


I cannot remember now the name of the next 2 churches we visited but the second one was playing some song in which the Alleluias kept ringing out, maybe it was a rehearsal for Easter Sunday or maybe they were in the wrong season?




On the left of this altar of repose, you will see a bust. It is the bust of St. Maximillian Kolbe. according to the plaque above it, it was in this church, the Basilica of San Andrea delle Fratte, that he celebrated his first mass.


The last church that we visited was the Basilica of San Silvestro in Capite. This was slightly off the way, but since we met a Phillipino priest at the last church and the sisters needed a toilet break, we headed to where he was staying. The Basilica of San Silvestro is also used by the Phillipino community in Rome, but what is more interesting is that it is the English church in Rome but the current Cardinal Priest is Cardinal Desmond Connell, the retired Archbishop of Dublin! It was previously held by Cardinal Basil Hume, the previous Archbishop of Westminster and Abbott of Ampleforth Abbey. All the connections are fitting into place now, for those of you who keep track of my travels, I was in Ampleforth for the last Easter Triduum and at Westminster Cathedral during Christmas time.

The interesting bit of this altar of repose is that they had laid out a banquet for 12 people as you can see before the tabernacle. Quite a sight indeed...


Before I end this post, a little trivia for those of you who understand Latin/Italian. The Basilica of San Silvestro in Capite is called so because it claims to hold one of the many heads (Lt. caput) of St. John the Baptist! By that I mean that there are many parties who are staking claim to possessing the head of John the Baptist and not that John the Baptist had many heads...


Interestingly during this trip, I have seen the tombs of St. Francis of Asissi and his companions, as well as that of Sts. Clare, Phillip Neri, Ignatius Loyola, John the Baptist, Peter, the head of John the Baptist, the hand of St. Francis Xavier, the wood of the true cross and all sort of other relics and body parts of numerous saints...

This is what it was all about

Arrival in Zurich on transit to Rome


Entrance Procession in St. Peter's Basilica...


Gloria... the acolyte seems to be having some difficulty lighting the candles...


Procession after Chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica...


Take off from Rome Fiumicino on the way back to Dublin...

Bouna Pasqua

Bouna Pasqua, Selamat Pasca, Fu Huo Jie Kuai Le... the pope did it in 60 languages this year...

Easter Greetings indeed...

I touched down in Dublin this morning, exhausted from my pilgrimage to the Eternal City for the Holy Triduum this past week.

Here are the pictures of the cover of the booklets distributed for the Papal Liturgies and the tickets that got me into them:

Chrism Mass, Holy Thursday
St. Peter's Basilica

Mass of the Lord's Supper, Holy Thursday
Basilica of St. John Lateran

Service of the Lord's Passion, Good Friday
St. Peter's Basilica

Way of the Cross, Good Friday
Colosseum

Easter Vigil Mass, Holy Saturday
St. Peter's Basilica

Easter Sunday Mass & Urbi et Orbi Blessing
St. Peter's Square

That's it for now, I will be uploading 4 other posts in the near future.

p.s. If anyone wonders why Jesus and the other character's on the cover of the Via Crucis booklet looks Chinese, it's because the meditations this year was written by Cardinal Joseph Zen, the Archbishop of Hong Kong.

Retreat into the Desert, Strasbourg

As some of you know, I recently went for a holiday/retreat in Strasbourg. Here are some photos from that trip:

This is the Church of St. John the Evangelist (Eglise St. Jean) where the monks and nuns of the Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem have been invited by the Archbishop of Strasbourg to celebrate their liturgy.

And here is a photo of the members of the Fraternity with whom I stayed: Br. Fabian-Marie, Br. Emmanuel from Togo in Africa, Fr. Bradford from America, Fr. Ivan-Pierre, Fr. Jean-Renuel from the Philippines and also the prior, and Fr. Jean Tristan.

Who said monks can't be fun?

Of course they have to be serious at times...

But they are allowed to smile and have coffee too...

What do you think? Yes, you....

I'll post more when I have the time of the interior of the church and around the city of Strasbourg.

Rome Sweet Home, St. Valentine's Day and more

Today, I attended (and participated) in the most unorthodox mass I have seen in my life, and to think that such a thing is happening in a place such as Dublin!!

The good priest (god bless his soul, he was a darling... with some kind of nerve problem in his fingers that kept on flapping whenever he stretched out his hand) was wearing a white stole today, instead of a purple one (it is acceptable that he was celebrating the mass of the memoria of Sts Cyril and Methodius, patrons of Europe, but this is observed as a commemoration during lent, and a purple stole should be worn instead), with no chasuble... With such a good attendance (you must understand that I am used to attending personal daily mass, one on one with the priest, or if not, with a maximum attendance of 5 people in my college, and having only been in the hospital scene for 4 days, this was a big change), I was easily confused as to whether I was at the correct service and the words the good father was uttering was not what I was familiar with (in addition, the chapel is also used by the Church of Ireland for services).

Words cannot express the horror I felt when I found out that I was attending a catholic mass, and I have decided to record down the next mass I attend here at Beaumont Hospital and if I get the chance, will post it up on YouTube (for my medical colleagues out there reading this, there will be no infringement of confidentiality as the mass is a public act of worship for Catholics).

Now on to another topic, one that has been long pondered and thought through and prayed over, and what not... When I was just about to give up hope on my plan to spend this coming Easter triduum in Rome, the eternal city, I decided to give it one last attempt to fix up the trip before cancelling it.

Anyway, to cut things short, an email replied from my Rome correspondent this evening with a positive reply:

Dear Mark,

Enclosed correspondence with Sr Maria who have reserved tickets for the various celebrations. Let us know your plans and itinerary when you have firmed up. God Bless and happy studying

Bishops' Office for United States Visitors to the Vatican

North American College - Casa Santa Maria
Via dell'UmiltB, 30 – 00187 Rome, Italy
Rome Tel. 06/690.011 FAX 011/3906/679-1448

Dear Father,

Holy Week and Easter are especially beautiful days in Rome when the Holy Father celebrates the Liturgies with pilgrims from all over the world. The following schedule is traditionally observed and your requests (**) for 5 biglietti tickets are on file:

**March 16

Palm Sunday – Papal Mass at St Peter's Square @ 9:30am

March 18 Penance Rite of Reconciliation- St.Peter's Basilica @ 5:30pm (no tickets required)

March 19 PAPAL AUDIENCE – Wednesday @ 10:30am

**March 20 Chrism Mass – St. Peter's Basilica (9:30 a.m.) (ample tickets)

**Mass of the Last Supper – St. John Lateran Cathedral at 5:30 p.m.

**March 21 Good Friday – Celebration of the Passion of Our Lord St. Peter's Basilica at 5 p.m.

Way of the Cross at the Colosseum (9:15 p.m.) (No tickets required.)

**March 22 Easter Vigil – Papal Mass at St. Peter's Basilica at 10 p.m.

(Tickets may be limited)

**March 23 Easter Sunday Mass – St. Peter's Square at 10:30 a.m.

Urbi et Orbi Blessing in St. Peter's Square-12 noon (no tickets required)

March 24 Pasquetta – Angelus & Blessing in St. Peter's Square –
12 noon (no tickets required)

For Papal Audiences – tickets are available here at Via dell'UmiltB, 30 on Tuesday afternoon between 3–7 p.m. and on Wednesday morning before the Audience.

For Papal Masses – tickets are available a day or two before the Mass during office hours, Monday –Friday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. The office will also be open between 9-1 on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, and Holy Saturday.

No telephone calls are necessary! In emergency, this office can be reached at 06/690.01.821 (8 a.m.– 4 p.m. Monday through Friday).

Sincerely in Christ,
Sister Maria Howell, RSM
Secretary to Monsignor Roger C. Roensch

This, coupled with the reply recently procured from another Rome contact with the help of my Strasbourg correspondent, completes the itinery:

Dear Mark,

you are welcome in our community from 19 March to 25.
You will can pray (in french!), eat and work with us; I think that after Strasbourg, you know a little our life.

Before you trip, thank'you to give us some precisions of your times arrival.

God bless you,
Br. Nicolas-Marie

Fraternità Monastica di Gerusalemme,
fratelli Trinità dei Monti
Roma - Italia

Now all I need are flight tickets... will there be a Good Samaritan willing to sponsor part of the cost of this? The cheapest tickets are currently priced at 250 euro...


Right then, I will try to post up some pictures of my recent travels this weekend. Have been really busy this whole week... I will probably be posting those of my retreat in Strasbourg first
, so look out for that...

New Beginnings...

I am still awake at 3am, lying on my bed in a hostel somewhere in Madrid.
I can't sleep... there is too much to think about...

Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, was celebrated a couple of days ago. I was privileged to attend mass at Madrid's Almudena Cathedral celebrated by the Archbishop, His Eminence Antonio Maria Cardinal Ruoco Varela and his 3 auxillary bishops.

Ash Wednesday also marks the liturgical anniversary of my decision to revive this blog.

I have yet to decide on what I will do for this lent, or where I will be celebrating Holy Week, hopefully some inspiration will appear soon...

My exam results came out yesterday afternoon, and I am contented with my results so far, except for the H1 in Clinical Competencies that continues to elude me...

The results of the dissertation prizes were also announced yesterday, and I must say I was disappointed not to be mentioned...

With that, I have ended the Junior Cycle and come Monday, will enter into the Intermediate Cycle of this Medical Course...

A new beginning, for everyone, a new level playing field to fight, and I have decided that I may just join the race...

I have 2 more days to go before returning to Dublin from a 17 day break, that has brought me to Strasbourg, Mt. St. Odille, Barcelona, Monserrat, Valencia, Santiago de Compostela, Porto and Madrid... It has been a good holiday and I have much to blog about, so look out.

Meanwhile, why is it that I feel sad when I start thinking about what I am meant to do in life. Shouldn't I be happy I know what it is? I have my goals and aims, but maybe it's because they are too far in the future??

Midway through the Camino...

I am writing from my accommodation in Porto. We arrived this morning at 2am. So far, we have visited Barcelona, Valencia and Santiago de Compostela. It's turning out to be a good trip, full of surprises and new learning experiences...

Santiago was amazing, to walk the camino for 700km to reach the Portico de Gloria is worth every inch (I didn't get the chance to do that though)... The tomb of the apostle San Tiago is mesmerizing... I said a prayer...

A new Auxillary for the Diocese of Sibu

NOMINA DI AUSILIARE DI SIBU (MALAYSIA)
Il Santo Padre ha nominato Ausiliare della diocesi di Sibu (Malaysia) il Rev.do Joseph Hii Teck Kwong, Parroco della parrocchia "Immacolata Concezione" di Kapit, assegnandogli la sede titolare vescovile di Castel mediano.
Rev.do Joseph Hii Teck Kwong
Il Rev.do Joseph Hii Teck Kwong è nato il 25 giugno 1965 a Sibu. Dopo la scuola elementare e secondaria a Sibu, è entrato nel St.Peter’s College (Seminario Maggiore) a Kuching, nel 1986, per gli studi filosofici e teologici. È stato ordinato sacerdote il 25 marzo 1993 ed incardinato nella Diocesi di Sibu.
Dopo l’ordinazione ha svolto i seguenti incarichi: 1993: Vicario parrocchiale di "St. Anthony’s Church", Sarikei; 1993-1997: Vicario parrocchiale di "St.Herbert’s Parish", Song, e "Mary Immaculate Conception Church", Kapit; 1997-1999: Studi per la Licenza in Teologia Spirituale al Teresianum, Roma;
Dal 1999 è Parroco di "Mary Immaculate Conception Church", Kapit.
[00123-01.01]

The Kalends and the Carnaval

Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us,and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return.

Through the rhythms of times and seasonslet us celebrate the mysteries of salvation.

Let us recall the year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord:his Last Supper, his crucifixion and death, his burial, and his rising, celebrated between the evening of the 20th of March and the evening of the 23rd of March.

Each Easter—as on each Sunday—the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deedby which Christ has forever conquered sin and death. From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy.

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent,will occur on the 6th of February.
The Ascension of the Lord will be commemoratedon the 4th of May.
Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on May 11th.

And this year the First Sunday of Advent will be on the 30th of November.

Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the Passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed.

To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, forever and ever. Amen.


I should have realised the moment I heard this at the Mass of the Epiphany... I have no idea why it took so long to kick in... But when the "epiphany" of it came today... I can imagine how the Magi felt...

What is so special about the Kalends? Well, it is the proclamation of the date of movable feasts for the church's year, and what is so special about it this year?

Well, my heart is beating at it's fastest pace right now, and I can't concentrate on my studies... I just had to write this post... My heart wasn't even beating as hard during the exam... I am going to Spain and Portugal.... January 29th till February 9th.

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent,will occur on the 6th of February.

I did not think twice when I heard this, and I can't believe I didn't... What is asociated with Ash Wednesday one may ask...

MARDI GRAS!!!!!

Oh well, in Spain it's called the Carnaval... and I'm going to be there in time for it!!!!

The New Black Pope

Annutio Vobis Gaudium Magnum, Habemus Papam... We have a new Black Pope.


For those who do not know, the Superior General of the Jesuits is also known as the Black Pope, and today the Society of Jesus elected Fr. Adolfo Nicolas to lead them.

You can read a more detailed account of this at Whispers in the Loggia, and also from the Creighton University page or the official Jesuit homepage.

Bring Flowers of the Rarest

One of the my favourite songs sung only in May, which Andrew was not able to source for (miraculously)... or maybe because it also has another name 'Queen of the May'

I've never heard it sung in Malaysia, but here goes:

The advent of Advent...

Inspired by the posts on constructing the Advent Wreath by Andrew of Unam Sanctam and Mark of Exurge Domine, I have decided to post on something similar here in Dublin.

At RCSI, we are privileged enough to have mass celebrated every day at 1.05pm a the oratory by 2 Nigerian priests who are currently studying in Dublin. The crowd is not great, sometimes it's just me and the priest, sometimes there are 5 of us, and on Ash Wednesday, we get a full house. This is by no means bad, because when it is only me and the priest, I am able to encourage him to celebrate the Mass in Latin.

Anyways, the masses here follow the academic year and so I decided that the oratory did not warrant an Advent wreath this year as we would be breaking for Christmas holidays soon and would not return until January. Nonetheless, I decided that something had to be done to the oratory to bring in the Advent spirit.

This is what the oratory usually looks like, and has been in this state since I arrived at the college and my guess is that it has been this way since time in memorial.

The main altar, with the antependium, depicting a tree with the various religions represented by the student body (which is hideous in my opinion).

This is a stain glass on the right panel of the oratory depicting the virgin and child

This is the right panel, with a stain glass of the crucifixion. It is where the sacred vessels used for mass and the books are kept. Note the stand.

Notice where it is now. No, it is not magically floating next to the altar, but I found a stand that was sitting idle somewhere around the oratory and used it to support the stand, making it into a lectern. Note also the nice set of cruets and chalice on the altar. unfortunately, I was not able to find 6 candles and had to settle with 2.

Notice how beautifully embroidered the cover of the sacramentary is. Also the corporal unfolded on the altar, and inspired by recent changes adopted at St. Peter's Basilica, the crucifix at the centre facing the celebrant instead of the congregation.

With a simple purple antependium, I must say that the oratory was transformed into the mood for Advent. Now, recall how the oratory looked like in the first picture:

This is how it looks like now:

I even found a cloth to cover the makeshift lectern eventually...

As for the Advent wreath, here is the one I built by my window in my room. My bible and breviary lie beside it.

Veni veni Emmanuel... Gaude Gaude Emmanuel, nascetur pro te Israel!