Christmas Day/Season
December 25
Foods & Symbols
- Now that it has aged nicely, enjoy the fruitcake, plum pudding, or mincemeat pie you made on Stir-Up Sunday.
- Mincemeat pies- The original mince pies were oblong crib shapes decorated with a baby Jesus on top. They were made from 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his disciples, including dried fruit, lamb to represent the shepherds, and spices for the Magi- with all of the contents representing the gifts of the Magi to the Christ child. During the Reformation, the Puritans banned Christmas and everything related to it, including mince pies. Sounds like a good reason to revive this tradition!
- Have a birthday cake for Jesus.
Activities
- Replace advent wreath candles with the Christ candle you made on St. Ambrose Day (or just a white candle) placed in the center of your advent wreath.
- Put on a Nativity play at home- let the children lead it, but allow them to pull adults (grandparents, etc.) in to play some of the parts if necessary. (This can also be done just as a reading if you don’t want to mess with costumes and props- although that’s half the fun for the little ones.)
- Listen to or attend a performance of Handel’s Messiah
- If you have school-age children, try listening this Hallelujah Handel CD for some historical context.
Saint Stephen
December 26
Prayers & Devotions
- Read about St. Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles (ch. 6 and 7).
Activities
- Read or act out the story of Good King Wenceslas. Remember, he went out “on the feast of Stephen”.
Charity
- Honor your deacons. The apostles made Stephen and six others deacons to take care of the corporal needs of the faithful so that the apostles could focus on the faithful’s spiritual needs.
- Boxing Day (in England, this is the day to give gifts to servants and delivery workers).
- Serve the poor in some way (like King Wenceslas did).
Feast of the Holy Family
December 26
Prayers & Devotions
- Blessing of Family
- Consecrate your family to the Holy Family
Foods & Symbols
- Lebanese food: stuffed grape leaves, stuffed cabbage rolls, lentils and rice, spinach and meat pies, chicken and dumplings, hummus, Lebanese bread, tabbouleh, kibbi, etc. This is the same kind of food that Mary served Jesus and St. Joseph.
Activities
- Do some kind of activity together as a family.
- Have a family portrait done.
Saint John
December 27
Prayers & Devotions
- Spend time in adoration (since St. John was “the disciple whom Jesus loved”).
- Blessing of Wine (since he survived drinking poisoned wine because he blessed it before drinking it).
Foods & Symbols
- Fried foods (since he survived being boiled in oil).
- St. John’s Wine (mulled wine)
Activities
- The Love of St. John: This is a special toast shared with others over a glass of wine, since St. John survived being given poisoned wine by blessing it before drinking it.
Charity
- Honor your priest. Our priests are like John who, strengthened by his love for Jesus, was not afraid to stay close to Our Lord during the Passion and Crucifixion.
Holy Innocents (Childermass)
December 28
Prayers & Devotions
- Listen to the Coventry Carol. This haunting, fifteenth-century carol is from the point of view of the mothers of Bethlehem, just before Herod’s soldiers came to slaughter their children.
- Blessing of Children
Foods & Symbols
- “Baby” food- cream of wheat, oatmeal, grits, chicken nuggets, applesauce, etc.
Activities
- Latin American “Dia de los Santos Innocentes” (kind-of like American April Fools’ Day- because of the way the magi tricked King Herod)
- Play or procession of the Magi’s dealings with King Herod
- If you have replaced your purple and pink advent candles with a larger, white Christ-Candle, today surround it with smaller white candles representing the Holy Innocents. Have as many as there are children in your family. Each child is allowed to light one small candle from the flame of the Christ-Candle, signifying that just as he received his life from Christ, he will live and (if need be) die for Christ just as the Holy Innocents did.
Charity
- Honor altar servers
- Donate to Embrace (ministry for families experiencing miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death)
Saint Sylvester
December 31
Prayers & Devotions
- Pray (or sing) the Te Deum for a plenary indulgence.
Mary Mother of God
January 1
Prayers & Devotions
- Pray (or sing) the Veni Creator Spiritus for a plenary indulgence.
Epiphany of the Lord
January 2
Prayers & Devotions
- Bless your home (aka “Chalking the Door”).
Foods & Symbols
- King Cake (to celebrate Christ, the newborn King) There are all kinds of these, not just the New Orleans kind- French puff pastry, Swiss sweet rolls, Scottish fruitcake, English tart. Make what you like- but remember to put the little plastic baby (through a hole you poke in the bottom after you bake it). The lucky finder is “king for a day”.
- International-themed food (since the Magi came from foreign lands)
- Chocolate gold coins (for the gifts the Magi brought)
- Smarties, Nerds, Milky Ways (for the Wise Men and the fact that they followed the star)
- Wassail or “Lambs’ Wool” (mulled ale with baked apples)
Activities
- Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (or What You Will): This was written as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season.
- Twelfth Night Party
- White Elephant gift exchange (maybe a good way to trade off not-so-favorite Christmas gifts?)
- Star Singer procession: This stems from an acting-out of the Christmas story in the gospel of Matthew, and traditionally involves boys walking from house to house with a star on a rod, dressed to resemble the Magi. They sing special songs, act out the story, and collect for charitable causes.
Charity
- Collect donations for poor children (especially those in other countries). Children’s shoes or toys might be good choices.
Most Holy Name of Jesus
January 3
Prayers & Devotions
- Pray the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus for a partial indulgence.
- Read The Wonders of the Holy Name for free online.
- Renew your resolution never to offend God by the abuse of His name.
- Read Psalm 8, in praise of God’s name.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
January 4
Saint John Neumann
January 5
Prayers & Devotions
- Pray for Catholic schools/education: Elizabeth founded a Catholic school, and John was the first ecclesiastic to organize a diocesan school system in the United States.
Foods & Symbols
- Colonial American food
- New York food (pizza, cheesecake, etc.): Elizabeth was born there, and John ordained there.
- Black-and-white cookies: These are very “New York” and also resemble Elizabeth’s habit.
- Philadelphia food (cheesesteak, etc.): John was bishop of Philadelphia.
Charity
- Honor teachers in some way (especially Catholic teachers).
Baptism of the Lord
January 9
Prayers & Devotions
- Renew your baptismal promises.
Activities
- Invite the children’s (and/or your own) godparents over for a little party.
- This is the official end of the Christmas season. You can take down your decorations now.
- Have a Christmas greenery bonfire.
Charity
- Honor godparents in some way.
