Every year at about this time, I like to remind myself of a little miracle that happens and which relates to Our Lady. I’m posting earlier than my usual Sunday because this little miracle happens tonight at midnight.

As many of you may know, the ancient Egyptian New Year began in summer and marked the beginning of the fertilizing Nile Inundation. When people saw Sirius, the Star of Isis-Sothis, rise in the pre-dawn sky, they knew the Inundation was coming and the New Year had begun.

Now, here in Portland, winter is most certainly part of our own inundating rainy season, but it is hardly in tune with the ancient Egyptian summer New Year. Yet for devotees of Isis, there is a New Year’s treat to be had.