Most of the month of December is devoted to preparing. During the season of Advent, we prepare our hearts to receive again our Incarnate God, who was sent to the world as a human child to show us the way to salvation, and we look forward to His Second Coming.
The Church emphasizes several ways for us to prepare. One is to increase our almsgiving and to do this, we participate in our Archdiocese Food for Hungry People program. We will be collecting canned and packaged food to be donated to a local food bank through Sunday, January 5.
Another way of preparing is to increase our prayers and attendance at the services of the Church. Our annual para-liturgical service of Advent Lessons and Carols will be held on Saturday, December 21, at 6PM in place of Vespers. This quiet service includes prayers, scripture readings, seasonal hymns and other music to help us focus on spiritual preparation for celebrating the Nativity of Our Lord.
There will also be Vespers services each evening at 6PM during the Novena before Christmas, beginning on Monday, December 16. These services will include the “O” antiphons – antiphons on the Magnificat, each beginning with the word O, with reference to the names given to Jesus (Wisdom, Key of David, Emmanuel). The Novena concludes on Christmas Eve.
Repentance is another part of our preparations for the Nativity. Confessions can always be made before Saturday Vespers or by request with Fr. Nicholas and a special time for confessions will be set aside on Christmas Eve at 7PM.At 8:30PM on Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we will begin our celebrations with a period of Christmas hymns, carols, organ and choir offerings. The first Mass of Christmas will begin at 9PM, followed by a pot-luck feast. On Christmas Day, Mass will be celebrated at 10AM.
Our celebrations will continue on the Second Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity, December 29, and on January 1 – the Circumcision of Our Lord – at 10AM. With Archdiocesan directives, our celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord will be transferred to Sunday, January 5 when we will observe the Blessing of Water and begin the season of Epiphany.
Read the full December newsletter here.