Saint Nicholas
The character of Santa Claus is copied from the life of a real person, a saint named Saint Nicholas. The name ‘Saint Nicholas’ even sounds like ‘San-ta claus,’ especially in the Dutch language. The Dutch veneration of ‘Sinter Klaus’ was brought to North America with the Dutch settlers and eventually became the story of Santa […]
The History of the Christmas Tree
The tradition of having an evergreen tree become a symbol of Christmas goes back past recorded written history. The Druids in ancient England & Gaul and the Romans in Europe both used evergreen branches to decorate their homes and public buildings to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Over the years, these traditions were adopted by Christians, […]
The True Meaning of Christmas
Each year we are faced with the obstacle of a secular society, which tries to lure us away from the true meaning of Christmas. We must never forget that we are celebrating the Incarnation. Jesus, the God-man, entered history to make atonement for our sin of rebellion against His Father and to lead us to […]
How did the Celebration of Advent come about?
The liturgical season of Advent marks the time of spiritual preparation by the faithful before Christmas. Advent begins on the Sunday closest to the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (Nov. 30). It spans four Sundays and four weeks of preparation, although the last week of Advent is usually truncated because of when Christmas falls. […]
Advent: Preparing for Christ’s Coming
Raymond L. Cardinal Burke Advent: Time of Consolation and Encouragement We begin a new Liturgical Year with the celebration of the First Sunday of Advent. Fittingly, we begin the Church Year with four Sundays of preparation for Christmas, the celebration of the great mystery of the Incarnation. The two principal celebrations of the mystery of […]
A Christmas Poem
T’was the night before Christmas, he lived all alone, in a one-bedroom house made of plaster and stone. I had come down the chimney with presents to give, and to see just who in this home did live. I looked all about, a strange sight I did see, no tinsel, no presents, not even a […]
Advent: A Time to Address the Blessed Virgin Mary
Let us pray to Mary and this will help us live fully these joyful days as we look forward to Christmas. Let us say to Mary: God the Father looked on you and loved you more any other creature. You are his favorite daughter. God the Son looked forward to the day he would become […]
Mistletoe
It’s the holiday season and people keep trying to kiss me under a mistletoe. Why? Where did this tradition come from anyway? While mistletoe sounds more like a foot condition than anything that would inspire romance, you should probably count your blessings that all you’re getting is a kiss. Once upon a time, it was […]
The Banning of Christmas and Pope-Day Celebrations
Howard Pyle George Washington called Boston’s annual Pope Night celebration ‘ridiculous and childish.’ But the working-class celebrants, especially the young men, loved the wild partying in the streets. It was the biggest holiday of the year (after all, the Puritans had banned Christmas). Illustration of an early New England colonial Christmas tradition: Plymouth Gov. William Bradford […]
The Real Story of Christmas
I. When was Jesus born? A. Popular myth puts his birth on December 25th in the year 1 C.E. B. The New Testament gives no date or year for Jesus’ birth. The earliest gospel – St. Mark’s, written about 65 CE – begins with the baptism of an adult Jesus. This suggests that the earliest […]