A blessed Advent to you!

I hope you are having a wonderful and joyful Advent in Day begins what is known in the Church as the Octave of Christmas. The Church celebrates Christmas for eight days following December 25th. Personally, I think everyone should adopt this idea so I can get presents for eight days in a row!!! However, the Church celebrates these eight days because the Nativity of the Lord is the highest solemnity of the Church and is not simply a single day event.

Even more interesting, though, is that five of these eight days following Christmas also have their own feasts that specifically relate to Christmas. They are:

Dec. 26 - Feast of St. Stephen the Martyr

Dec. 27 - Feast of St. John the Apostle

Dec. 28 - Feast of the Holy Innocents

Dec. 30 - Feast of the Holy Family (this feast always falls on the Sunday immediately following Christmas)

Jan. 1 - Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

I have decided that on each of these days I am going to post a short entry of how this feast day is associated with Christmas and also post an idea of how you can celebrate the day together as a family. Hopefully, this will give us an opportunity to celebrate Christmas as a holy day of the Church that connects us to every element of our faith. I hope this will ensure that Christmas is not simply one day in the year when Wal Mart is closed and when I get lots of gifts. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 06:57 | link | comments |
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