It's Coming On Christmas

A presentation to Conference of Catholic Women, November 22, 2022

It's coming on Christmas, and faster than we think. So we are all rushing around, buying gifts, writing cards, wrapping presents, decorating the house, baking cookies: it makes you tired just thinking about it!

But I wonder: how does Advent change if we stop rushing and instead take a moment to focus on the reason for the season of Advent. After all, we don’t spend all of Lent dying eggs and making up Easter baskets. It’s partly because Christmas has become so over-commercialized, but Lent seems to still retain its religious significance, while Advent has drifted away.

People routinely “give something up” for Lent, or do something special to prepare themselves for Holy Week. But we approach Advent’s preparation period as time to shop and decorate, rather than preparing ourselves to celebrate the Incarnation and birth of our Savior.

I’m not suggesting that we take away Santa Claus. But perhaps we can de-emphasis him, and instead focus on the upcoming birth of Christ.

We can have a small celebration for the feast of Saint Nicholas, the prototype for Santa. Saint Nicholas was a bishop, believed to have been born on March 15, 270, and died on December 6, 343. He was a Greek from the town of what is now Demre, Turkey. (The Greeks and Turks have pretty much traded territories a lot over the years.) Many miracles have been attributed to him, and he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. He is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people, and students. He was known for secret gift-giving to those in need. He is not only the model for Santa, but is somewhat responsible for that name: in Dutch, the name of Saint Nicholas was styled as Sinterklass, which led to the name Santa Claus.

There are other feast days in December. December 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. That falls on a Thursday this year, and it is a holy day of obligation. It’s also a great day to talk to our older children about how life begins at conception. For younger children, the focus of that feast is more on how Mary was free from original sin.

We can celebrate the feast of Saint Lucy on December 13. St. Lucy was a virgin and martyr who died in 304 in her hometown of Syracuse, Sicily. St. Lucy, the patron saint of virgins, had a widespread following by the fifth century. In Sweden, St. Lucia’s Day marks the beginning of the Christmas  celebration. On that day the eldest daughter of the family traditionally dresses in a white robe and wears as a crown an evergreen wreath studded with candles. The festival is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year. It is a little warmer and sunnier here on December 13 than it is in Sweden, and please note that I am not suggesting that you decorate your children with lit candles. But perhaps we can commemorate St. Lucy by making her feast day the date on which we hang the lights on the tree, or perhaps the first day we turn on the outside lights.

Put the focus on Jesus. Rather than an elf on the shelf, use an advent calendar to countdown the days. A simple prayer service can proceed opening the calendar for the day. Use prayers you know by heart, and perhaps add a new one that you can memorize during the month. And from December 17th to 23rd, you can use the O Antiphons.

On Christmas Day- which happens to fall on a Sunday this year - you may find that you can approach the celebration with understanding of the miracles of the Annunciation, the Incarnation, and the Birth of Christ.