Nativity of the Lord - Ollchurch

#439-OLL-

Luke 2:11

?2005 John Patrick Publishing

Nativity of the Lord

December 25, 2013

Our Lady of Lourdes

455 Hunter Avenue West Islip, NY 11795 631-661-3224 Website:

Msgr. Brian McNamara, Pastor Rev. Robert Scheckenback, Associate Pastor

Solemnity of Mary

The Parish Family of Our Lady of Lourdes will gather on Tuesday, December 31 and Wednesday, January 1 to celebrate the Solemnity of Mary.

We will celebrate the Solemnity of Mary on... Tuesday, December 31 at 5 PM (vigil) Wednesday, January 1 at 8 AM, and 12:10 PM. Please come and pray with us!

Welcome...

to Our Lady of Lourdes!

Christmas is a time for family. We are glad you decided to celebrate with our Parish Family during this Holy Season. We hope you will return often. If you would like to become a registered member of our Parish, please fill in the information below and place this form in the collection basket or send it to the Parish Office. Family Name________________________________________ First Names: Head of Household_________________________ Spouse________________________ Children (please include ages, grades, and sacraments received) ______________________________________ __________________________________________ ______________________________________ __________________________________________ Address__________________________________ City_____________________ Zip_______________ Phone_________________________________ E-Mail Address_________________________________

#439-OLL-2

Treasures from our Tradition

The Seven Fishes

Many of our treasured traditions link the liturgy of the church with the hearth of the home. The food on the table at certain feasts and fasts helps to extend the mystery of God into everyday life.

On Christmas Eve, for example, many families of Italian heritage, especially with links to southern Italy, will celebrate "La Vigilia" (the Vigil), the "Feast of the Seven Fishes". An old Italian saying states: "Natale con I tuui; Pasqua conchi vuoi": "Christmas with your family; Easter with whomever you wish". Seven different fish are served, some say one for each day of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem; others say one for each sacrament; still others, one or each day of creation. Whatever the reason, mangia bene!

The First Nativity Scene

The origin of the display of the Nativity dates back to the time of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis was concerned that people did not appreciate the gift of Christ's birth. St. Francis wanted to celebrate the Incarnation (God becoming a man) in a special way. He wanted to do something that would help people to remember the Christ Child and how Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

On Christmas Eve, in the year 1223A.D., at the proper time, St. Francis and his Franciscan brothers created a new Bethlehem. People, young and old, came to see this new sight. They carried torches to light up the sky as they approached the manger. Once again, shepherds came from the fields to come and adore the King. All were filled with joy over the mystery of the Incarnation. And a beautiful tradition was started.

As you look upon your own family Nativity set, may you remember and celebrate again God's love for His creation. In order to show His abundant love, mercy, and forgiveness for us, God became one like us. That is what the cr?che ultimately symbolizes.

#439-OLL-3

Did You Know...

In 1895, President Cleveland displayed the first lit Christmas tree in the White House. In the early 1900's lighted trees were very expensive--upward of $300, which in today's economy translates to more than $2000! General Electric sold lights for at-home trees in 1903, still expensive at $12 a strand--equivalent to about $80 today.

The pointsettia originated in Mexico where it was called the "Flower of the Holy Night". It was first brought to America by Joel Poinsett in 1829.

In 1836, Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday. Oklahoma was the last state to do so making Christmas a legal holiday in the state in 1907.

The popular Christmas Carol, Jingle Bells, was originally written for Thanksgiving. It was composed by James Pierpont in 1857 and was originally called One Horse Open Sleigh.

About 37 million fresh Christmas trees are sold every year.

In an effort to raise money to pay for a charity Christmas dinner, a large crabpot was set down on a San Francisco street, becoming the first Salvation Army collection kettle.

In his efforts to gain our independence from England, George Washington spent Christmas night of 1776 crossing the Delaware River in dreadful weather. He didn't do much better in 1777 when he spent Christmas at Valley Forge, celebrating with a dinner of fowl cooked in a broth of turnips, cabbage and potatoes.

Animal Crackers are cookies imported from England in the late 1800's. The circus-like boxes were designed with a string handle so they could be hung on a Christmas tree.

Wreaths were used from the earliest time as a symbol of victory. In the 17th century, wreaths with holly, red berries and other decorations appeared. Holly, with its sharply pointed leaves, symbolized the thorns in Christ' s crown-of-thorns. Red berries symbolized the drops of Christ's blood. A wreath of Christmas marked a home that celebrated the birth of Jesus.

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT

The Gospel according to St. Matthew (Mt 2:13-15) tells us that on their journey, the Wise Men stopped at the palace of King Herod to ask after the new-born King. Herod asked the Magi to let him know the child's whereabouts that he too might worship him. In reality, the news of a new king born within his domain infuriated Herod. When the Magi failed to return to him, Herod ordered his army to slay every male child in Bethlehem under the age of two. The Gospel tells us that an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt until the danger passed.

And so, Joseph took Mary and the Child and embarked on the long, hard journey to Egypt. The journey was an extremely difficult one across the Sinai desert, a triangular stretch of sun-baked land, full of rocky mountains and barren plateaus with high sand dunes. It is estimated that they would have traveled an average of 20 miles per day and would have reached Egypt in about 10 days.

Egypt was a place of refuge in those days. Whenever there was a famine, thousands would leave Israel and seek the life-giving banks of the Nile River. And so Mary and Joseph would have found welcome among the large Jewish community living in Egypt.

All the Gospels tell us about this time is that the Holy Family lived in Egypt until told by an angel to return to Israel after the death of Herod. They returned to Galilee, to the town of Nazareth, rather that to Judea which was in the control of Herod's son, Archelaus, also a power-hungry ruler.

We can only guess at the rest of the story of the time the Holy Family spent in Egypt. There's a Greek Orthodox church in present-day Cairo that houses a cave where it is said Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived during their Egyptian exile.

On Sunday, December 29, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family.

#439-OLL-4

Christmas Around the World

"God Jul!" In Sweden , the feast of St. Lucy on December 13 marks the beginning of the celebration of

Christmas. The theme of St. Lucia Day is light. The eldest daughter, dressed in a long white gown with a red sash and wearing a crown made of twigs with nine lighted candles, wakes her family and serves them a special breakfast.

"Merry Christmas!" In Australia, Christmas comes at the height of summer and is often celebrated with

barbecues with family at the beach. Australian Christmas carols include "Six White Boomers" and "Santa Never Made it into Darwin." Schools close the week before Christmas for summer vacation which lasts until the end of January.

"Kurisumasu Omedeto!" While less than 1% of the Japanese are Christians, they decorate stores and

homes with evergreens during Christmas. In Japan, the Christmas cake is key to the celebration of Christmas. Also essential to the Christmas celebration is the daiku of "Great Nine." It refers to Beethoven's ninth symphony which is sung by huge choruses singing what American sing as "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." For the Japanese, Christmas is a day to do nice things for others.

"Boze Narodzenie!" In Poland, a traditional Christmas food is Oplatek-a piece of bread pressed with a

holy picture on it. They share it with family and friends to wish them good things in the coming year and to forgive any hurts from the past year.

"Joyeaux Noel!" In France, the cr?che or Nativity scene is central in each home. The cr?che includes

little clay figures called santons which often times bear a strong resemblance to local dignitaries and characters. The main Christmas meal is called Le Revillion--the awakening? and is eaten after midnight Mass.

"Nollaig Shona Dhiut!" In Ireland, lighted red candles decorated with holly are placed in windows on

Christmas Eve to guide Joseph and Mary in case they are seeking shelter. Children put out Christmas sacks instead of stockings and to refresh a travel-weary Santa, they leave mince pies and a bottle of Guinness.

"Buon Natale!" In Italy, children receive their gifts on January 6, the Epiphany. They are brought by a

kind ugly witch called Befana. She rides a broom and is looking for the three Wise Men. It is said that they asked her to come along with them on their journey to visit the Christ child and she refused saying she was too busy. She regretted her decision and has been searching for the Baby ever since, leaving gifts at every house in case He is there.

"Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom!" In Russia, Christmas is traditionally cel-

ebrated on January 6. Gifts are given by Babushka, a kindly old woman whose story is the same as Italy's Befana. Russian Christmas dinner consists of twelve courses, one course in honor of each of the 12 apostles.

"Feliz Navidad!" Mexicans attend a midnight mass which is called la Misa Del Gallo or the rooster's

Mass. At that Mass they sing lullabies to Jesus. In Spain, gifts are brought by the three Wise Men on the Feast of the Epiphany, Family Christmas dinner is eaten after Midnight Mass. After dinner, they gather around the Christmas tree and sing Christmas carols until the wee hours of the morning. In Costa Rica, people erect huge models of the stable where Jesus was born. They are often as large as a room to insure that the Baby Jesus is as comfortable as possible.

"Srozhdestvom Kristovym" In the Ukraine, Father Frost visits all the children in a sleigh pulled by only

three reindeer. His helper is a little girl named Snowflake Girl. She wears a silver blue costume trimmed with white fur and a crown shaped like a snowflake.

#439-OLL-5

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download