Sorry all! This post series was supposed to be up a while back, but we’ve all been busy. They’ll be coming out one after another.
Hello All! Happy Advent! (not quite Christmas). It has been a while. Just like many of you I’ve been a bit more busy this month than usual become of the festivities that December brings!
Let’s remember that December is not about the coming of Santa Claus. It’s more than that. In fact, I’m sure that the true St. Nicholas of Myra (present day Turkey) would be embarrassed to see that his image of a follower of Christ has warped into a jolly fat man who specializes in making toys and compiling a naughty/ nice list!
The very word of Christmas is derived from Old English which means Christ, Mass. In other words Christmas day is celebrated in mass and centered means that it is Christ’s mass. Now every mass is about Christ. But Christmas day mass is centered around his coming into the world from his virgin mother Mary!
This means that from December 2nd until December 24th we are celebrating Advent! The time of advent is the time where we prepare our hearts and minds on the coming of Jesus Christ as a newborn baby. So what has our parish done to help us all make advent a meaningful experience? For starters; there is the advent wreath and the colors of the banners. Also, we have had advent retreats held in the hall.
So what’s so special about the Advent wreath? If you’ve been to church you could see that this wreath is beautifully decorated with 4 candles. Each candle signifies a week in December. For the 1st week a purple candle is lit. For the second week another purple candle. For the third week it’s the pink or rose candle. And for the fourth week the fourth candle is lit. Also, just like in lent we are encouraged to fast, pray, and do good works(see my corporal acts of mercy article). The purple candles symbolize humility and penitence. The pink or rose candle represents a more uplifting mood and feeling as we come close to the birth of Christ (The following week).
As you can see, The month of December is more than holiday music on the radio and Christmas shopping for gifts. It’s about preparing for the coming of the Lord and the events of Mary and Joseph leading up to the famous nativity scene. Speaking of the Nativity scene; It was first used and introduced by St. Francis of Assissi! When he assembled the first nativity scene an apparition of the baby Jesus was seen laying in the crib made from Hay. To add to this miraculous event, some people took straw from the scene and miracles had begun to occur to those persons that took some of the straw!
That’s all for now. Stay tuned. Before Christmas there should be 2 more of these December to Remember and the Reason for the Season articles. As a preview we’ll be covering our lady of Guadalupe and her feast date.!
Until then: Glory to God and blessings!