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PUT CHRIST BACK INTO CHRISTMAS
Spiritualize the Christmas Season
IDEAS & SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE CHRISTMAS MORE SPIRITUAL
Spiritualize the Christmas Season
IDEAS & SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE CHRISTMAS MORE SPIRITUAL
Start Now and Do Not Look Back!
Most Christmases have been gross spiritual mistakes or failures! Rather than try find lame excuses, we should recognize the fact and leave behind us the methods that produced those failures and start afresh, begin anew. There can be no retaining of old failed measures when searching for a new and better approach to Christmas: “As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is the fool that repeats his folly!” (Proverbs 26:11). “Jesus said: ‘No man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God!’” (Luke 9:62). It is much like a conversion to the Faith―you leave behind all heresy or paganism and totally embrace a new way of life, as Scripture says: : “To cast-off, according to former conversation, the old man―who is corrupted according to the desire of error―and be renewed in the spirit of your mind! And put on the new man―who, according to God, is created in justice and holiness of truth!” (Ephesians 4:22-24). “If then anyone be a new creature in Christ, the old things are passed away, and all things are made new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We should say: “Behold, I make all things new!” (Apocalypse 21:5).
Let this Christmas be a new Christmas, a new direction to Christmas, a spiritual direction for Christmas―after all, it is Christ’s birthday, and He was born into this world to make us more spiritual and less worldly: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth! … But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven! … For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also! … No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other―or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” (Matthew 6:19-24). Likewise, no man can have both a spiritual Christmas and a “mammon” Christmas―he will either love the spiritual side of Christmas and despise the purely worldly side of Christmas, or he will love the worldly side of Christmas and despise the spiritual side of Christmas.
You could apply the words of Holy Scripture, from the Gospel of the Mass for the 4th Sunday of Advent, to this scenario: “The word of God came to John (the Baptist), the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaias the prophet: ‘The voice of one crying in the desert, “Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight His paths! Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth! And all mankind shall see the salvation of God!”’” (Luke 3:2-6). You could apply those words to Christmas, saying: “Prepare for the coming of the Lord! Make straight His paths! Do not deviate and descend into worldliness! Those who seek and hunger for the Lord shall be filled―but the proud self-seeking and self-centered folk shall be brought low! The crooked Christmases, that are materialistic, shall be made supernatural, and rough Christmases that are worldly shall be made spiritual! So that all can focus on the Lord!”
Some Practical Suggestions
We are heavily influenced by the atmosphere that surrounds us―advertisers know this and they play upon this in order to make us buy a particular good. There is no greater good that Christ―and we need to “advertise” Christ if we hope to get people to “buy into” Christ. Advertising might seem to be something that is purely materialistic―yet God Himself has advertised His “product” many a time. The “product” of which we speak is the Messias―Our Lord Jesus Christ. The word “advertise” is defined as “describe or draw attention to a product, service, or event.”
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #1 ― Advertise Christ in Your Christmas
You could say that the prophets of the Old Testament were “advertisers” for the coming of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament contains over 400 prophecies about the coming Messias. Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled every one of them. One biblical scholar even claims that Jesus fulfilled as many as 574 verses in the Old Testament! All of these prophecies made by the prophets, advertised the future coming of Christ. They prepared the way for Christ. In the New Testament, we even see Christ sending out His apostles and disciples in advance―ahead of time―to prepare (advertise) for His coming into various towns: “The Lord appointed also other seventy-two disciples and He sent them, two and two, before His face into every city and place where He Himself was to come” (Luke 10:1).
Advertising has three primary objectives: to inform, to persuade, and to remind. That is exactly what you need to do for your family, relatives and friends who will part of your Christmas celebrations―you need to inform them about Christ, His Birth and the purpose of His coming into this world; you need to persuade them to give their attention and focus to the spiritual nature and purpose of Christ’s coming; and you need to remind them that Christmas is all about Christ and not merely a secular family gathering for socializing, entertaining, eating and drinking. By doing this NOW, you will give people time to get over the “shock” of finding out that you have lost your mind and plan to have a spiritual Christmas.
You have around 7 days to go until Christmas Day. Send out an e-mail or text message today to all those who are invited to your Christmas celebration informing them that this year you hope to place Christ at the center of all celebrations; persuading them to come to your Christmas celebration with that goal in mind and therefore asking them to have that mindset and attitude; reminding them that Christmas is Christ’s birthday and not ours, and that worldliness is actually inimical (an enemy) to Christ as Holy Scripture tells us: “My kingdom is not of this world!” (John 18:36) … “For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world!” (1 John 2:16) … “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him!” (1 John 2:15). “Know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God!” (James 4:4). You could add, in the e-mail, that you feel guilty and ashamed about not giving Christ sufficient room (no room at the inn) in your past Christmas celebrations―and that it is never too late to change―just like the Good Thief on the cross―and that you regret robbing Christ of His due and just glory in all previous Christmas celebrations.
Nothing could be clearer than that! Have the courage to stand up for Christ against worldliness, for Christ says: “Everyone, therefore, that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven. But he that shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father Who is in Heaven. Do not think that I came to send peace upon Earth! I came not to send peace, but the sword! For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me!” (Matthew 10:32-37).
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #2 ― Prepare Your Presents for Christ
Hey! Everyone else is getting presents for Christmas―and it’s not even their birthday! It is Christ’s birthday! What can you give Christ for Christmas? Prayers and Sacrifices! To help you keep track and for you to be able to present and place something visible and tangible in Our Lord’s Christmas manger, here are some cards specifically designed for that purpose.
● Christmas Cards for Christ [click here] These cards are for a spiritual bouquet to be offered to Jesus at midnight on Christmas or on Christmas Day morning. Guests to your Christmas celebrations could fill them out at home and bring them along on Christmas Day, to deposit at the manger of Jesus in your home. The cards have space for your prayers and penances to be listed.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #3 ― Prepare Your Christmas Celebration Schedule
If you are intending to please God and Christ by having a truly spiritual Christmas, then you need to inject much more of the spiritual into your Christmas celebration schedule―and reduce the worldly aspects and even eliminate the truly unnecessary worldly activities. A little of the spiritual OFTEN throughout the day is far more palatable (for the unspiritual persons) than a LOT ALL AT ONCE. It is shocking to see how few families will recite the Rosary on Christmas Day during their festivities―it is almost as though the Rosary is an embarrassment and simply doesn’t “fit in” with all the secular activities. Even when it is accommodated, it is invariably SAID and NOT PRAYED (that is to say NOT MEDITATED). It is suggested that the Rosary be PRAYED at five different times throughout the day―with only ONE DECADE being prayed at each session. With meditation included (see the Christmas Day Ritual), it would only take about 7 to 10 minutes for each decade―which will far more bearable and palatable to the unspiritual persons than 40 to 50 minutes all at once!
Likewise with other prayers or spiritual readings―it almost seems as this is forbidden in the minds of many secular minded Catholics, as though the less prayers that are said, the better is the Christmas party! This tendency needs to be addressed and redressed. Prayer is nothing else than talking to God―we spend hours upon hours talking amongst ourselves and we begrudge any time that needs to be given to talking to God! It is Christ’s birthday and people begrudge having to talk to Him through prayer! Shameful!
If you download the Christmas Day Ritual, then you will find therein a skeleton or backbone for a potential Christmas Day Schedule―add or adjust according to your personal desires and circumstances. [click here for the downloads page]
Additionally, there are variety of games that can be played that can be made to have a religious flavor for Christmas. (1) Charades is ideal for this―whereby a single person act out each syllable of a Christmas word or Christmas phrase in correct order, followed by the whole phrase together, while the rest of the group guesses. (2) A Christmas Quiz ― whereby participants are divide into two or three teams and compete against each other. (3) Ask people―those who are talented enough and willing―to compose a short poem on a Christmas theme for recitation during the Christmas celebration. (4) For the musically inclined, ask them to compose a short song that has a Christmas religious theme to be played and/or sung during the Christmas celebrations. (5) Ask persons to compose a Christmas prayer for recitation during the festivities. (6) Ask persons to draw or paint a Christmas spiritually themed drawing or painting to be displayed during the festivities. (7) Set aside some time for the communal singing of some Christmas Carols. These are just some of the many possibilities to supernaturalize your Christmas while still making it enjoyable.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #4 ― Prepare Your Spiritual Food (Prayers & Readings)
► PRE-CHRISTMAS DAY
● Advent Posters [click here] These posters help to cement the spirit of Advent and can be useful in these final days of Advent
● Christmas Cards for Christ [click here] These cards are for a spiritual bouquet to be offered to Jesus at midnight on Christmas or on Christmas Day morning. Guests to your Christmas celebrations could fill them out at home and bring them along on Christmas Day, to deposit at the manger of Jesus in your home. The cards have space for your prayers and penances to be listed.
● Journey to Bethlehem [click here] This page takes you through the day by day itinerary of Mary and Joseph on the 100+ mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Lots of pictures and maps to help you envisage the route they followed.
● Life of Mary [click here] The sections of Mary’s life that lead up to the birth of Christ
● Pre-Christmas reflections of St. Thomas Aquinas [click here] & Dom Gueranger [click here] Short meditative and informative reflections by two solid authorities of the Church.
● The Great 'O' Antiphons [Intro click here] [Ant. 1] [Ant. 2] [Ant. 3] [Ant. 4] [Ant. 5] [Ant. 6] [Ant. 7]
Latin musical notation and English translation plus audio of Latin chant of each of the 7 “Great ‘O’ Antiphons” that are traditional chanted on seven successive days leading up to Christmas Eve (December 17th to 23rd).
● Advent Prayers (Psalms) for each day of the week [Sun] [Mon] [Tue] [Wed] [Thu] [Fri] [Sat] Specially selected psalms and readings in English, arranged in the typical Divine Office or Breviary format and order.
● Advent Prayers ― standard prayers [click here] A selection of various prayers for Advent
● Christmas Eve Family Ritual [click here] containing (1) The Purpose of Christmas, (2) The Story of St. Jerome Meeting Jesus on Christmas Eve (3) Examination of Conscience, (4) Prayers and Ritual for Family Blessing of the Crib, (5) The Proclamation of Christ's Birth (6) Prayers and Reading for the Lighting of the Christ Candle; (7) Prayers and RItual for Placing Christ in His Manger (8) Liturgical Hymns and Carols; (9) Prayers and Ritual for Eating the Oplatki -- Christmas Wafer Breads; (10) Overnight Vigil Arrangments and Prayers.
► CHRISTMAS DAY & AFTER
● Christmas Day Family Ritual [click here] containing (1) Morning Proclamation of Christ's Birth, (2) Christmas Day Morning Prayers and Angelus; (3) Fifteen Decade Rosary with meditations all on the Nativity, to be scheduled at intervals throughout the day, (4) Day Vigil at the Crib arrangements, (5) The Midday Angelus (6) Prayers and Reading before, during and after the Christmas dinner; (7) The Oplatki custom (8) The Evening Angelus.
● 24 Letter Size (8 x 11 inch) Posters - Christ Comes First in Christmas [click here] Brief informative posters that will help everyone focus on Christ at Christmas
● The Nativity of Our Lord - Eight Hours that Changed the World [click here] The events surrounding the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the day of His nativity.
● Life of Mary [click here] The sections of Mary’s life that deal with the birth of Christ and the successive events
● Christmas reflections of St. Thomas Aquinas [click here] & Dom Gueranger [click here] Short meditative and informative reflections by two solid authorities of the Church on the subject of Christmas.
● Christmas Prayers (Psalms) for each day of the week [Sun] [Mon] [Tue] [Wed] [Thu] [Fri] [Sat] Specially selected psalms and readings in English, arranged in the typical Divine Office or Breviary format and order.
● The Twelve Days Christmas [Intro] [Day 1] [Day 2] [Day 3] [Day 4] [Day 5] [Day 6] [Day 7] [Day 8] [Day 9] [Day 10] [Day 11] [Day 12] A explanation of the symbols for each day with additional meditative reflections on each day.
● Food for Thought [click here] A recipe for cooking lamb for Christmas, since Christ is the Lamb of God, and the spiritual symbolism of all the ingredients used in the recipe.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #5 ― Prepare Your Christmas Posters and Handouts
● On the downloads page [click here] you will find the JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM poster which can be displayed both prior to and during Christmas.
● Additionally―also on the downloads page [click here]―there is a single file download that contains 24 POSTERS (24 pages) that help keep the focus on Christ at Christmas. Display them in a variety of rooms and perhaps rotate them from time to time.
● More materials for download will be added in the days leading up to Christmas. One such download will contain short character sketches of all the chief personages involved in that very first Christmas―you could assign to each member attending your Christmas celebration one of those personages, who will have to read out aloud the text at some point during the day or evening.
● You could also divide up either the Gospel passages concerning the events at Bethlehem, or take the account from Private Revelation (such as Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich or the Venerable Mary of Agreda) and have that read out aloud be different persons at different times during the day or evening.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #6 ― Prepare Your Christmas Music
This could be a very touchy subject, but, in all reality, there are certain kinds of music that have no place in Christmas celebration that is sincerely trying to celebrate and honor Our Lord’s birth into this world. The presence of such modern music―rock-n-roll, heavy rock, country music, jazz, and other forms of ‘pop’ music―would seem to be out of place in a spiritual celebration. It is like trying to “serve God and mammon” ― and Our Lord said that this is impossible: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth! … But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven! … For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also! … No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other―or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” (Matthew 6:19-24).
Some people will argue against this―but it only shows that they have already made fatal compromises with the world. “They are of the world―therefore of the world they speak, and the world heareth them!” (1 John 4:5). “For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world!” (1 John 2:16). “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him!” (1 John 2:15). “Know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God!” (James 4:4).
There is more than enough decent Christmas music available which can be alternated with good classical music―without having to descend to the profane level of modern worldly music. As they say: “By their friends you shall know them!” and “You are what you eat (read, watch, etc.)!” Likewise with music―the music that we love betrays what we are really like.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #7 ― Prepare Your Christmas Celebration Activities
(still to be written--check back later)
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #8 ― Prepare Your Symbolic Christmas Food and Drink
(still to be written--check back later)
Most Christmases have been gross spiritual mistakes or failures! Rather than try find lame excuses, we should recognize the fact and leave behind us the methods that produced those failures and start afresh, begin anew. There can be no retaining of old failed measures when searching for a new and better approach to Christmas: “As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is the fool that repeats his folly!” (Proverbs 26:11). “Jesus said: ‘No man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God!’” (Luke 9:62). It is much like a conversion to the Faith―you leave behind all heresy or paganism and totally embrace a new way of life, as Scripture says: : “To cast-off, according to former conversation, the old man―who is corrupted according to the desire of error―and be renewed in the spirit of your mind! And put on the new man―who, according to God, is created in justice and holiness of truth!” (Ephesians 4:22-24). “If then anyone be a new creature in Christ, the old things are passed away, and all things are made new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We should say: “Behold, I make all things new!” (Apocalypse 21:5).
Let this Christmas be a new Christmas, a new direction to Christmas, a spiritual direction for Christmas―after all, it is Christ’s birthday, and He was born into this world to make us more spiritual and less worldly: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth! … But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven! … For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also! … No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other―or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” (Matthew 6:19-24). Likewise, no man can have both a spiritual Christmas and a “mammon” Christmas―he will either love the spiritual side of Christmas and despise the purely worldly side of Christmas, or he will love the worldly side of Christmas and despise the spiritual side of Christmas.
You could apply the words of Holy Scripture, from the Gospel of the Mass for the 4th Sunday of Advent, to this scenario: “The word of God came to John (the Baptist), the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaias the prophet: ‘The voice of one crying in the desert, “Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight His paths! Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth! And all mankind shall see the salvation of God!”’” (Luke 3:2-6). You could apply those words to Christmas, saying: “Prepare for the coming of the Lord! Make straight His paths! Do not deviate and descend into worldliness! Those who seek and hunger for the Lord shall be filled―but the proud self-seeking and self-centered folk shall be brought low! The crooked Christmases, that are materialistic, shall be made supernatural, and rough Christmases that are worldly shall be made spiritual! So that all can focus on the Lord!”
Some Practical Suggestions
We are heavily influenced by the atmosphere that surrounds us―advertisers know this and they play upon this in order to make us buy a particular good. There is no greater good that Christ―and we need to “advertise” Christ if we hope to get people to “buy into” Christ. Advertising might seem to be something that is purely materialistic―yet God Himself has advertised His “product” many a time. The “product” of which we speak is the Messias―Our Lord Jesus Christ. The word “advertise” is defined as “describe or draw attention to a product, service, or event.”
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #1 ― Advertise Christ in Your Christmas
You could say that the prophets of the Old Testament were “advertisers” for the coming of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament contains over 400 prophecies about the coming Messias. Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled every one of them. One biblical scholar even claims that Jesus fulfilled as many as 574 verses in the Old Testament! All of these prophecies made by the prophets, advertised the future coming of Christ. They prepared the way for Christ. In the New Testament, we even see Christ sending out His apostles and disciples in advance―ahead of time―to prepare (advertise) for His coming into various towns: “The Lord appointed also other seventy-two disciples and He sent them, two and two, before His face into every city and place where He Himself was to come” (Luke 10:1).
Advertising has three primary objectives: to inform, to persuade, and to remind. That is exactly what you need to do for your family, relatives and friends who will part of your Christmas celebrations―you need to inform them about Christ, His Birth and the purpose of His coming into this world; you need to persuade them to give their attention and focus to the spiritual nature and purpose of Christ’s coming; and you need to remind them that Christmas is all about Christ and not merely a secular family gathering for socializing, entertaining, eating and drinking. By doing this NOW, you will give people time to get over the “shock” of finding out that you have lost your mind and plan to have a spiritual Christmas.
You have around 7 days to go until Christmas Day. Send out an e-mail or text message today to all those who are invited to your Christmas celebration informing them that this year you hope to place Christ at the center of all celebrations; persuading them to come to your Christmas celebration with that goal in mind and therefore asking them to have that mindset and attitude; reminding them that Christmas is Christ’s birthday and not ours, and that worldliness is actually inimical (an enemy) to Christ as Holy Scripture tells us: “My kingdom is not of this world!” (John 18:36) … “For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world!” (1 John 2:16) … “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him!” (1 John 2:15). “Know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God!” (James 4:4). You could add, in the e-mail, that you feel guilty and ashamed about not giving Christ sufficient room (no room at the inn) in your past Christmas celebrations―and that it is never too late to change―just like the Good Thief on the cross―and that you regret robbing Christ of His due and just glory in all previous Christmas celebrations.
Nothing could be clearer than that! Have the courage to stand up for Christ against worldliness, for Christ says: “Everyone, therefore, that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven. But he that shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father Who is in Heaven. Do not think that I came to send peace upon Earth! I came not to send peace, but the sword! For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me!” (Matthew 10:32-37).
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #2 ― Prepare Your Presents for Christ
Hey! Everyone else is getting presents for Christmas―and it’s not even their birthday! It is Christ’s birthday! What can you give Christ for Christmas? Prayers and Sacrifices! To help you keep track and for you to be able to present and place something visible and tangible in Our Lord’s Christmas manger, here are some cards specifically designed for that purpose.
● Christmas Cards for Christ [click here] These cards are for a spiritual bouquet to be offered to Jesus at midnight on Christmas or on Christmas Day morning. Guests to your Christmas celebrations could fill them out at home and bring them along on Christmas Day, to deposit at the manger of Jesus in your home. The cards have space for your prayers and penances to be listed.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #3 ― Prepare Your Christmas Celebration Schedule
If you are intending to please God and Christ by having a truly spiritual Christmas, then you need to inject much more of the spiritual into your Christmas celebration schedule―and reduce the worldly aspects and even eliminate the truly unnecessary worldly activities. A little of the spiritual OFTEN throughout the day is far more palatable (for the unspiritual persons) than a LOT ALL AT ONCE. It is shocking to see how few families will recite the Rosary on Christmas Day during their festivities―it is almost as though the Rosary is an embarrassment and simply doesn’t “fit in” with all the secular activities. Even when it is accommodated, it is invariably SAID and NOT PRAYED (that is to say NOT MEDITATED). It is suggested that the Rosary be PRAYED at five different times throughout the day―with only ONE DECADE being prayed at each session. With meditation included (see the Christmas Day Ritual), it would only take about 7 to 10 minutes for each decade―which will far more bearable and palatable to the unspiritual persons than 40 to 50 minutes all at once!
Likewise with other prayers or spiritual readings―it almost seems as this is forbidden in the minds of many secular minded Catholics, as though the less prayers that are said, the better is the Christmas party! This tendency needs to be addressed and redressed. Prayer is nothing else than talking to God―we spend hours upon hours talking amongst ourselves and we begrudge any time that needs to be given to talking to God! It is Christ’s birthday and people begrudge having to talk to Him through prayer! Shameful!
If you download the Christmas Day Ritual, then you will find therein a skeleton or backbone for a potential Christmas Day Schedule―add or adjust according to your personal desires and circumstances. [click here for the downloads page]
Additionally, there are variety of games that can be played that can be made to have a religious flavor for Christmas. (1) Charades is ideal for this―whereby a single person act out each syllable of a Christmas word or Christmas phrase in correct order, followed by the whole phrase together, while the rest of the group guesses. (2) A Christmas Quiz ― whereby participants are divide into two or three teams and compete against each other. (3) Ask people―those who are talented enough and willing―to compose a short poem on a Christmas theme for recitation during the Christmas celebration. (4) For the musically inclined, ask them to compose a short song that has a Christmas religious theme to be played and/or sung during the Christmas celebrations. (5) Ask persons to compose a Christmas prayer for recitation during the festivities. (6) Ask persons to draw or paint a Christmas spiritually themed drawing or painting to be displayed during the festivities. (7) Set aside some time for the communal singing of some Christmas Carols. These are just some of the many possibilities to supernaturalize your Christmas while still making it enjoyable.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #4 ― Prepare Your Spiritual Food (Prayers & Readings)
► PRE-CHRISTMAS DAY
● Advent Posters [click here] These posters help to cement the spirit of Advent and can be useful in these final days of Advent
● Christmas Cards for Christ [click here] These cards are for a spiritual bouquet to be offered to Jesus at midnight on Christmas or on Christmas Day morning. Guests to your Christmas celebrations could fill them out at home and bring them along on Christmas Day, to deposit at the manger of Jesus in your home. The cards have space for your prayers and penances to be listed.
● Journey to Bethlehem [click here] This page takes you through the day by day itinerary of Mary and Joseph on the 100+ mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Lots of pictures and maps to help you envisage the route they followed.
● Life of Mary [click here] The sections of Mary’s life that lead up to the birth of Christ
● Pre-Christmas reflections of St. Thomas Aquinas [click here] & Dom Gueranger [click here] Short meditative and informative reflections by two solid authorities of the Church.
● The Great 'O' Antiphons [Intro click here] [Ant. 1] [Ant. 2] [Ant. 3] [Ant. 4] [Ant. 5] [Ant. 6] [Ant. 7]
Latin musical notation and English translation plus audio of Latin chant of each of the 7 “Great ‘O’ Antiphons” that are traditional chanted on seven successive days leading up to Christmas Eve (December 17th to 23rd).
● Advent Prayers (Psalms) for each day of the week [Sun] [Mon] [Tue] [Wed] [Thu] [Fri] [Sat] Specially selected psalms and readings in English, arranged in the typical Divine Office or Breviary format and order.
● Advent Prayers ― standard prayers [click here] A selection of various prayers for Advent
● Christmas Eve Family Ritual [click here] containing (1) The Purpose of Christmas, (2) The Story of St. Jerome Meeting Jesus on Christmas Eve (3) Examination of Conscience, (4) Prayers and Ritual for Family Blessing of the Crib, (5) The Proclamation of Christ's Birth (6) Prayers and Reading for the Lighting of the Christ Candle; (7) Prayers and RItual for Placing Christ in His Manger (8) Liturgical Hymns and Carols; (9) Prayers and Ritual for Eating the Oplatki -- Christmas Wafer Breads; (10) Overnight Vigil Arrangments and Prayers.
► CHRISTMAS DAY & AFTER
● Christmas Day Family Ritual [click here] containing (1) Morning Proclamation of Christ's Birth, (2) Christmas Day Morning Prayers and Angelus; (3) Fifteen Decade Rosary with meditations all on the Nativity, to be scheduled at intervals throughout the day, (4) Day Vigil at the Crib arrangements, (5) The Midday Angelus (6) Prayers and Reading before, during and after the Christmas dinner; (7) The Oplatki custom (8) The Evening Angelus.
● 24 Letter Size (8 x 11 inch) Posters - Christ Comes First in Christmas [click here] Brief informative posters that will help everyone focus on Christ at Christmas
● The Nativity of Our Lord - Eight Hours that Changed the World [click here] The events surrounding the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the day of His nativity.
● Life of Mary [click here] The sections of Mary’s life that deal with the birth of Christ and the successive events
● Christmas reflections of St. Thomas Aquinas [click here] & Dom Gueranger [click here] Short meditative and informative reflections by two solid authorities of the Church on the subject of Christmas.
● Christmas Prayers (Psalms) for each day of the week [Sun] [Mon] [Tue] [Wed] [Thu] [Fri] [Sat] Specially selected psalms and readings in English, arranged in the typical Divine Office or Breviary format and order.
● The Twelve Days Christmas [Intro] [Day 1] [Day 2] [Day 3] [Day 4] [Day 5] [Day 6] [Day 7] [Day 8] [Day 9] [Day 10] [Day 11] [Day 12] A explanation of the symbols for each day with additional meditative reflections on each day.
● Food for Thought [click here] A recipe for cooking lamb for Christmas, since Christ is the Lamb of God, and the spiritual symbolism of all the ingredients used in the recipe.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #5 ― Prepare Your Christmas Posters and Handouts
● On the downloads page [click here] you will find the JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM poster which can be displayed both prior to and during Christmas.
● Additionally―also on the downloads page [click here]―there is a single file download that contains 24 POSTERS (24 pages) that help keep the focus on Christ at Christmas. Display them in a variety of rooms and perhaps rotate them from time to time.
● More materials for download will be added in the days leading up to Christmas. One such download will contain short character sketches of all the chief personages involved in that very first Christmas―you could assign to each member attending your Christmas celebration one of those personages, who will have to read out aloud the text at some point during the day or evening.
● You could also divide up either the Gospel passages concerning the events at Bethlehem, or take the account from Private Revelation (such as Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich or the Venerable Mary of Agreda) and have that read out aloud be different persons at different times during the day or evening.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #6 ― Prepare Your Christmas Music
This could be a very touchy subject, but, in all reality, there are certain kinds of music that have no place in Christmas celebration that is sincerely trying to celebrate and honor Our Lord’s birth into this world. The presence of such modern music―rock-n-roll, heavy rock, country music, jazz, and other forms of ‘pop’ music―would seem to be out of place in a spiritual celebration. It is like trying to “serve God and mammon” ― and Our Lord said that this is impossible: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth! … But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven! … For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also! … No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other―or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” (Matthew 6:19-24).
Some people will argue against this―but it only shows that they have already made fatal compromises with the world. “They are of the world―therefore of the world they speak, and the world heareth them!” (1 John 4:5). “For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world!” (1 John 2:16). “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him!” (1 John 2:15). “Know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God!” (James 4:4).
There is more than enough decent Christmas music available which can be alternated with good classical music―without having to descend to the profane level of modern worldly music. As they say: “By their friends you shall know them!” and “You are what you eat (read, watch, etc.)!” Likewise with music―the music that we love betrays what we are really like.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #7 ― Prepare Your Christmas Celebration Activities
(still to be written--check back later)
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION #8 ― Prepare Your Symbolic Christmas Food and Drink
(still to be written--check back later)