The historic church's Nativity Scene was brought out to be set up for its fiftieth Christmas, but the group was very worn-looking and needed repair and restoration. Most Certainly! It was clear that the group was much loved by the people and so I just loved it, too. Later that year came the easy opening to ask Father if I might restore the figures, to say thank you for the community support for me while healing from an injury. I had the interest and love and skills.
True story - first published 2001
No matter how much we love the Winter Holidays with all the trimmings, there is the validity of Christmas 'stocking stuffers' - a refreshing escape from the "too-much-ness" of things. Stocking stuffers and similar "little-gift" observances renew the awareness that the true holiday spirit is a small and shining moment that connects people in light ! A funny little thing can be like that!
Recently, both our children chose wedding days at Christmas to honor their late Father and myself. And so I thought they might like this "part one" of THE story of how we met and married. It was all so grand to us, and a gift of empowering love is their birthright! But that's another story. More will come.
The historic church's Nativity Scene was brought out to be set up for its fiftieth Christmas, but the group was very worn-looking and needed repair and restoration. Most Certainly! It was clear that the group was much loved by the people and so I just loved it, too. Later that year came the easy opening to ask Father if I might restore the figures, to say thank you for the community support for me while healing from an injury. I had the interest and love and skills.
Legend - fable - fiction - 2006 - from "A Christmas Stocking" by Louise Betts Egan
On that first Christmas, it is said, the night was wrapped in a bitter chill. The small fire in the stable was nearly out, Joseph had gone for food and the new Mother Mary worried that her baby would be cold. She turned to the animals about her and asked them for help.
The historic church's Nativity Scene was brought out to be set up for its fiftieth Christmas, but the group was very worn-looking and needed repair and restoration. Most Certainly! It was clear that the group was much loved by the people and so I just loved it, too. Later that year came the easy opening to ask Father if I might restore the figures, to say thank you for the community support for me while healing from an injury. I had the interest and love and skills.
True story - first published 2001
No matter how much we love the Winter Holidays with all the trimmings, there is the validity of Christmas 'stocking stuffers' - a refreshing escape from the "too-much-ness" of things. Stocking stuffers and similar "little-gift" observances renew the awareness that the true holiday spirit is a small and shining moment that connects people in light ! A funny little thing can be like that!
The historic church's Nativity Scene was brought out to be set up for its fiftieth Christmas, but the group was very worn-looking and needed repair and restoration. Most Certainly! It was clear that the group was much loved by the people and so I just loved it, too. Later that year came the easy opening to ask Father if I might restore the figures, to say thank you for the community support for me while healing from an injury. I had the interest and love and skills.
Blessed Childhood, especially at Christmastime, included Advent Wreaths and Calendars. Happily Married with children later, it was easy to carry on such glowing customs and fill the house with all the good things in preparation for the Winter Holiday !
The Advent Wreath is perfect for homes with young children, and if candles are a safety issue, you can get non-flaming ones, but I simply stay alert - they are lit, honored and then extinguished, always with adults present. And soon the children are old enough and can even help light them - adding the appreciation of the children's growth to the event - it is all symbols!
Advent, itself is a commemoration of the ages and ages that mankind was urged to wait in darkness, and worked hard finding bits of the light to prepare for the Coming of the Messaiah - at Christmas, through our sharing of Him in Communion , to the Parousia, or Second Coming , yet to be !
The Advent Wreath as we know it today was the creation of a Priest in 1839, to help deal with wiggly little ones, enthusiastic for the coming of Christmas.
At our home for over 40 years now, this wonderful permanent brass wreath is brought out and shined, and sometimes we add some evergreen boughs around it. Our home in those years was a true Holly House, surrounded by the shrubs - since we'd begun our married life with a Christmas Wedding - and this one has bells for berries, and one of the leaves snuffs the candles afterward. It supports the Four candles lit at the four Sundays of Advent, in certain order and at every suppertime with prayer.
The Stag at the center holds the CHRISTMAS CANDLE, and both are symbols of the Christ. The Candle is always large enough to be lit each day thru the Christmas holidays until the Epiphany on January 6th. It is always white and the wick always "virgin" - never lit before Christmas. The Stag is also a Jesus symbol, especially among Irish since the stag will route the Irish archenemy, snakes - along with the Irish icon, Saint Patrick; "the Deers's Cry" his famous Lorica, calls to the symbol of the Christ - the stag.
The Irish French and Polish American culture is ours and so we chose the style to suit it. So think and have fun choosing ones that symbolize YOUR family's way.
Next, after some prayer for guidance for a moment, look online for a nice presentation of Advent Wreath Prayers and Liturgy. This one is from Loyala Press
Gather your family at some regular time - before , during or after the evening meal, and at the first week of Advent, light only one of the purple candles....second week two purple candles, third week is Gaudete Sunday and so the two purple candles are now joined by lighting the pink or rose one...then finally at the Fourth Week of Advent all four candles - three purple and one rose are lit, and each evening the candles and prayer are offered to prepare for Christmas. JUBILANT - the four candles are now taken away and the one large White candle in the center Reigns - The Savior Christ is Born and we celebrate in prayer and song and gifts and treats and fun social events and fine foods and more....until January 6th when the candle is put away and we thank God for one more Lovely Winter Holiday and its bounty of the spirit to warm us till Spring!
There is the feeling of immersion in the spirit of the Birth of the Messiah and a beautiful sense of family spirit growth and faith formation...no matter the faith. Such traditions help us to develop a very special sense of the spirit, of personhood and quality of life.
The Candle set is found at churches and at Amazon for very little cash - the large white one I always buy specially - this one is beeswax and elegant, but any good white candle is fine - also the large broad pillar candles that stand alone - all that is important is that it be white and never lit before. So you will want to use it up at special moments thru the year, so it is all gone by next Advent season.
Elle
p.s. the pedestal is mine and unique - not required; you can probably do a search for wizard pedestal and find some like it...... but to me it is a holyman and passionately supportive spirit - like Gandalf, Tim Cook from Apple and all Wizards who uphold the best.
I bought it on impulse and am not silly, so I looked at it , wondering what I was going to do with it and it has been busy ever since. Not always lit...but....When Advent is done the Christmas Tree takes its place. My apartment sized tree is a dazzler and takes tending and delights me and never dies from house heat before the holiday is done ! But the pedestal then gets set to one side till the next holiday - soon displaying a fancy Valentine, then the Easter Egg display and later flags and pumpkins. LIFE - it's about life - and please enjoy my wish for a Happy Holiday to you.
Controversy over the origin of the Famous Winter Holiday Song
By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer
SAVANNAH, Ga.
- Dashing in the sun, through oaks and Spanish moss. Sleigh riding's no fun, when there's no snow to cross. Could "Jingle Bells" really be a song of the South? It's not hard to see why balmy Savannah has a tough time selling the Christmas carol as a native creation. Or why the claim makes folks in Medford, Mass. _ hometown of the song's composer _ cry humbug.
This much is known:
True family winter story - first published in 2004
Both of our two childhood homes and neighborhoods were classic: this one, in 1959, was part of my Mother's inheritance from her Father. In happy and prosperous times, she and my Father remodeled it completely, and he carved her name in a heart on the foundation. Respectable property with vegetable garden, iconic local flowers and fruit trees, and , on the fence Mother and neighbor Julia Mills grew concord grapes and there was jam-making every summer! There were huge maples and oak with a swing always tied to its branches, and evergreens to tantalize us with promise of Christmas, all year long!
On Christmas Eve, at our home in the 50s and 60s, holiday preparations focused on the Nativity Scene arranged atop the shiny mahogany music center top - sight and sounds of recorded or radio holiday music, glows in memory even 50 years later. How we teamed well for a change, to help set it all up, with Mother in charge: cotton mat for snow and the wooden stable, with the lighted star at top; the icons in plaster and paint, with all but one of the figures set. For days, we'd visited the scene with a prayer and anticipation, gazing longingly at the empty manger like the Mary and Joseph and all the other figures .
True dream - first posted 2000
My house was too quiet, with Christmastime near!
My feelings so lonely ! My eye held a tear!
House locked for the night, and so off to bed.
But sat up again, averting my head
At space in the shelves that divided the room,
shone one little light to break up the gloom
And 'there' on my chairs, just taking a rest,
were Santa & Missus! My house was so blessed!
