I have often wondered why Advent, unlike Lent, is not considered a time of fasting in the Roman Rite. For most Eastern Catholics, it is like a mini-Lent in many respects — after all, we are preparing for the coming of our Lord.
As good as fasting is, perhaps it is for the best. I can relate to Flannery O’Connor who said in a letter to a man reviewing one of her novels,
“I have 50 or 60 pages on the [new] novel but I still expect to be a long time at it. It’s a theme that requires prayer and fasting to make it get anywhere. I manage to pray but am a very sloppy faster.” (The Habit of Being, p. 59)
So in the spirit of a Western Advent, here is a good drinking song written by everyone’s favorite militant Catholic, Hilaire Belloc. This is from his excellent little novel, “The Four Men.” There are several other good drinking songs scattered througout that book along with the notation.
[Audio]
Noël, Noël, Noël, Noël
A Catholic tale have I to tell,
and a Christian song have i to sing,
while all the bells in Arundel ring
I pray good beef and I pray good beer
this holy night of all the year
but I pray detestable drink to them
that give no honor to bethlehem
May all good fellows that here agree
drink audit ale in heaven with me
and may all my enemies go to hell,
Noël, Noël, Noël, Noël
May all my enemies go to hell,
Noël, Noël
Steve, I just found your Advent reference to Belloc’s “Noël” from “The Four Men.” It is a wonderful ditty, and I was wondering where you got the recording. Do you know who is performing it, or when it was made? Thanks, Jude.
Jude,
I actually sought it out after hearing it sung at a Chesterton conference up in St. Paul, MN. After some google searching, I found they had played it on some radio show with Peter Kreeft was on. I somehow found someone’s email associated with the show, and asked for the actual recordings, and he sent them to me!
I’ll email you a link to where you can just download all of them here as soon as I get them uploaded. Anyone else who sees this can just send me an email (or post a comment or whatever) and I’ll send you the link as well!
Cheers!