The 12 Days of Christmas; begins tomorrow

With Christmas tomorrow I thought I would share with you what each of the 12 days of Christmas symbols mean. Many may know that each symbol has a religious meaning. For instance the "first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree" this means Jesus on the cross. To read more on each of days and its religious meaning check out Apple Seeds website. The song was written as a way for young Catholics to learn the basics of their faith, a cool way to do it. This was written in a time when Catholics were being persecuted for their beliefs. I cannot image having to hide my faith. Thank God we live in a country where we are free to practice our faith, what ever it maybe.

Tonight we will be placing our baby Jesus in our doll size wooden manger under the Christmas tree after Christmas Eve mass. After all Jesus is the reason for the season! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

The Fourth Week of Advent

I cannot believe that today starts the fourth week of Advent, a short week at that. My kids know that Christmas is only 4 days away and boy are they excited. My oldest has been doing a really funny dance and singing a song he made up. His excitement has helped me to remember my excitement as a child and shed light on my parents must have felt to see all four kids so excited about Christmas day. I only pray that he holds on to his excitement for as long as he can. Merry Christmas!

Third Week of Advent

I cannot believe how fast Christmas is approaching. I feel like I cannot get anything done. This year I am happy that I am not making a ton of goodies, thank heaven my boys have food allergies, that is keeping the goodies to a minimum.

The First Sunday of Advent; Brief History of The Advent Wreath

On this first Sunday of Advent I thought I would share a brief history of the the Advent wreath. Its believed that the Advent wreath comes from folk practices of the pagan Germanic people. People would gather evergreen wreaths and lighted fires, during the cold darkness of December, a sign for the coming spring and renewed light. Christians continued to keep this tradition alive. German Catholics and Protestants used this symbol to celebrate the Advent hope, Christ who is the everlasting light. This practice spread from Germany to other areas of the Christan world.

It is tradition that the wreath have 4 candles in a circle of evergreens. In Germany the candles are usually red. Here is the United States, 3 purple candles and 1 rose candle. The purple represents penitence and humility, the rose represents hope in the coming of Christ.

The first week of Advent we light one purple candle and do so everyday and say a prayer. Each week of Advent a candle will be added.

*The information provided was published in The Observer; Advent and Christmas Guide.