What I Wore Sunday: Vol. 6, Christ the King

This week I am visiting my fiance up in New Jersey, so I have someone to take my picture! We always go out to brunch at a diner with several of his church friends after Mass. At this point the staff know us and just say "How many this week?" Once he and I ate there on a weekday and a waiter asked "Why are you here today?" You gotta love any dining establishment run by a Greek family. You also know you are in New Jersey when a flyer in the lobby advertises a pro-wrestling "Jingle Brawl" ... hosted at a Knights of Columbus Hall. 

Sweater: Kohl's?

"Pearls": Kohl's 

Scarf: Gift from parents

Sweater tights: T.J. Maxx

Wedges: Aerosoles outlet

Skirt: Anne Klein, thifted. (I bought this for $6 new with tags on four years ago. 

Thanks to Weight Watchers I can finally fit in it. Victory!)

I am big fan of this week's feast of Christ the King. Or as it is called now, "Lord Jesus, King of the UNIVERSE." Did everyone else hear He-Man, Masters of the Universe references at Mass today? Just me? I prefer to think of today as the feast of Jesus' awesomeness + the New Year's Eve of the liturgical year + making autumn more important. Why should December get all the attention?

The cornerstone of Christ the King Parish in St. Louis. I used to live next door. 

 For more church outfits, check out the link-up at Fine Linen and Purple!

Introducing Yuletide Tunes (that don't make me want to scream)

True confession time: I hate December's non-stop barrage of Christmas music. To me, the heart-tugging crescendos of O, Holy Night and Silent Night are the hymnodic equivalent of a movie heroine realizing that she does love that guy and must now chase him through an airport. Aww, it's sweet to see and hear once in a while. It's also a tired cliche and totally unrepresentative of what love means to most people's daily lives. My relationship with God is not a constant emotional high, so I'd rather not live through a month of monotonous sentimentality. I don't want to be sick of Christmas by the time December 25 rolls around.

I realized this was a problem on Friday, when I had some business at Bank of America. There were some scarecrow decorations in the teller's window - A+ for seasonal appropriateness. Then I noticed the boom box radio under a lobby table. It was blaring - you guessed it - O Holy Night. The Celine Dion version.

I had to wait in line for 10 minutes, so I heard the whole song, plus some Johnny Mathis. I was really mad the onslaught had started so early this year.Was anyone really listening to this stuff anyway? If there are any non-Christian employees how do they tolerate this for the next month? I thought to myself "If this were a Coen brothers movie I'd up and turn the music off. Better yet, I'd drop-kick that boom box across the room and somehow connect the Advent season to my buddies who died in 'Nam." (The Big Lebowski is currently streaming on Netflix. Clearly I am too impressionable to watch movies.)

So, to help me keep my sanity this December and enjoy the season, I'm going to post Advent and Christmas songs that I actually like. There will be no emotionally manipulative lyrics about believing in magic or kids buying shoes for their dying mothers. There will be hymns, chants, and even some classic 1990s pop. There will be an Advent focus at the beginning.

To start, here's a fanfare for today's feast of Christ the King, which is the end of the Church year. I learned today that Pope Pius XI established the day in 1925, so it was more a reaction against totalitarianism than a celebration of medieval politics. This feast was a big deal at my high school, and I always loved when the choir sang this song. Many thanks to my friend Steve for leading me to the title and MP3 download.

Choral Fanfare for Christ the King by H. Hamilton Smith