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Found 40 resource(s) in 'Holy Days', for December 2024.
High Days & Holy Days (all) for December 2024
Sundays of the Month 1st December – 1st Sunday of Advent 8th December – 2nd Sunday of Advent 15th December – 3rd Sunday of Advent 22nd December – 4th Sunday of Advent 29th December – 1st Sunday of... (12147 words)1st December – Eloi, a patron saint for the euro?
It’s many years since Europe switched over to the Euro (January 2002). So, this is a good time to remember Eloi, bishop of Noyon, who was born in Gaul, and started out as a goldsmith. He entered the service of Bobon, the royal treasurer. He went on to become master of the mint for King... (123 words)3rd December – Francis Xavier, the seasick missionary
Ignatius Loyala sent his friend and follower Francis Xavier (born 1506) to the Orient as a missionary. What a missionary! Imagine David Livingstone, Billy Graham and the Alpha Courses rolled into one. His mass conversions became legendary – he baptised 10,000 people in one month and in just ten years of work was credited with... (304 words)3rd December – Birinus, an apostle to the English
Thousands of our churches are currently involved in various mission initiatives across the UK. If it is tough going at times, we should spare a thought for poor Birinus, a priest from Lombard, who was sent here on his own 14 centuries ago. Pope Honorius 1 gave him the daunting task of being the apostle... (333 words)4th December – Osmond, an immigrant before Brexit
Osmond is the saint for you if you regret Brexit, and believe that immigrants can bring good to Britain. Osmond came to England from France back in the days before EU regulations. It was shortly after 1066, and he was a Norman, following William the Conqueror. Osmond himself was no soldier, but a gifted and... (150 words)6th December – What’s in a (Christmas) Name?
What do your family call him, that cheerful old man in a red robe and floppy hat who pops up everywhere at Christmas? Sometimes he’s Father Christmas, sometimes Santa Claus, and in parts of Europe he’s Saint Nicholas. That’s his real name, abbreviated to ‘Santa Claus’ by Brits and Americans who don’t like to follow... (198 words)6th December – St Nicholas, another look at this much-loved saint
One account of how Father Christmas began tells of a man named Nicholas who was born in the third centre in the Greek village of Patara, on what is today the southern coast of Turkey. His family were both devout and wealthy, and when his parents died in an epidemic, Nicholas decided to use his... (349 words)6th December – How Father Christmas got where he is today
One person you are bound to run into this Christmas season is Father Christmas. These days he seems to frequent shopping malls and garden centres. If he looks tired, just remember that he has been around a long time and gone through a lot of transformations. Father Christmas wasn’t always the red-suited, white-bearded star of... (495 words)11th December – Daniel the Stylite
Do you know any odd Christians? People with hearts of gold, who would never harm anyone… but who are nonetheless just plain ODD…. Well, Daniel the Stylite should be their patron saint. Perhaps he is the proof that God can bless and use any one of us – no matter how batty some of our... (430 words)13th December – Lucy, Martyr at Syracuse
Lucy was a Christian girl who got caught up in the fierce and widespread Diocletian persecutions of 303-4. She refused to give up her Christian faith, and so was put to death. Her tomb can still be found in a Catacomb in Syracuse (Sicily), and there are early fourth-century inscriptions bearing her name (Euskia). Lucy’s... (243 words)17th December – Lazarus of Bethany, back from the tomb
Some people have near-death experiences…. Lazarus should be their patron saint. Except that he went all the way, and died for four days. He was quiet in his tomb and the mourners of Bethany were in full swing – before Jesus called him back to life. (See John 11: 1 – 44.) What happened next... (268 words)17th December – Eglantyne Jebb, founder of ‘Save the Children’
Here is a modern-day saint whose compassion and determination has saved literally millions of lives. Eglantyne Jebb did not begin as an obvious ‘mover and shaker’ of people. Born in Shropshire in 1876, she grew up in Ellesmere, studied history at Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford, taught at Marlborough, and then resigned as she was... (425 words)21st December – Winter Solstice
A Midwinter festival has been a part of life since pre-Christian times. When the hours of daylight are fewest, the warmth of the sun weakest, and life itself seemingly at a standstill, our ancestors, the pagan peoples of Europe and Western Asia, kept festival by lighting bonfires and decorating their buildings with evergreens. Perhaps they... (231 words)24th December – Christmas Eve
How do you celebrate Christmas Eve? It has its own customs, the most popular of which is going to Midnight Mass, or the Christ-Mas. This is the only Mass of the year that is allowed to start after sunset. In Catholic countries such as Spain, Italy and Poland, Midnight Mass is in fact the most... (203 words)25th December – Christmas throughout the Christian world
For nearly four weeks leading up to Christmas Christians recognise a period called Advent. It means ‘coming’. It is a time of spiritual preparation. ‘Coming’ refers to Jesus’ first coming as a baby, but it also looks forward to a day when Jesus is expected to return in triumph at his ‘second coming’ to establish... (476 words)25th December – The story of the Christingle
The word ‘Christingle’ actually means ‘Christ Light’, and celebrates the light of Jesus coming into the world. Stories of how the Christingle began look back to the Moravian Church, which is found in the Czech Republic. The Moravians have held Christingle services for more than 200 years, and according to them, this is how the... (377 words)25th December – Christingle, a generous present from the Moravians
It is the Moravians whom we have to thank for bringing us the Christingle. Especially one Moravian clergyman: John de Watteville. On 20th December, 1747, John de Watteville was taking a children’s service in his Moravian church in Marienborn, Germany. He led the children in some hymns, and read out verses which the children themselves... (433 words)25th December – Why was Jesus born in a barn?
Our pretty Christmas cards do not do it justice – the stable that Jesus was born in would have been smelly, dirty, and full of mess. So why did God not provide something better for His beloved Son? Why let Joseph and Mary scrounge around until they ended up in a smelly stable? Perhaps because... (133 words)25th December – Why the world was ready for Christmas
Ever wonder why Jesus was born when He was? The Bible tells us that “when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son…” The Jewish people had been waiting for their Messiah for centuries. Why did God send Him precisely when He did? Many biblical scholars believe that the ‘time had fully come’... (231 words)25th December – The man who married Mary
The traditional Nativity scene on our Christmas cards has Mary with the Holy Babe. Around her are the shepherds and Magi. We may also see stable animals, angels and a star! While Joseph is often included, his presence seems to be of minor importance. After all, we praise God for Jesus with our familiar Christmas... (492 words)25th December – Why does Christmas begin at midnight?
The hour was first chosen at Rome in the fifth century to symbolise the idea that Christ was born at midnight – a mystical idea in no way hindered by historical evidence! No one knows the hour of His birth. Certainly in recent times, Holy Communion at midnight on Christmas morning has proved popular with... (91 words)25th December – The story of mince pies
Did you know that mince pies have been traditional English Christmas fare since the Middle Ages, when meat was a key ingredient? The addition of spices, suet and alcohol to meat came about because it was an alternative to salting and smoking in order to preserve the food. Mince pies used to be a different... (65 words)25th December – World’s oldest fake tree
Did you know that it is a family in Wiltshire, the Parkers, who claim to own the world’s oldest artificial Christmas tree? It was bought in 1886, and is still put up every year. (34 words)25th December – Mistletoe’s smelly history
Did you know that the word ‘mistletoe’ means dung on a tree? The Anglo-Saxons thought that mistletoe grew in trees where birds had left their droppings. Mistel means dung, and tan means twig. (33 words)25th December – We three kings of Orient are… what?
“A cold coming they had of it at this time of the year, just the worst time of the year to take a journey, and specially a long journey, in. The way’s deep, the weather sharp, the days short, the sun farthest off, in solstitio brumali, the very dead of winter.” It was 1622, and... (291 words)25th December – The history of Christmas
The Bible does not give a date for the birth of Jesus. In the third century it was suggested that Jesus was conceived at the Spring equinox, 25th March, popularising the belief that He was born nine months later on 25th December. John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople, encouraged Christians worldwide to make Christmas a holy... (559 words)25th December – Where did Christmas cards come from?
Christmas cards have a history which may surprise you: their origins are not of the Church, but of the Post Office and railways. Of course, very early ‘Christmas cards’ had been around for hundreds of years, in the form of a simple exchange of Christmas greetings in private letters. The earliest such letter on record... (476 words)25th December – And there were shepherds
Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus is brilliantly told – the angel’s visit to Mary to tell her she would be mother of the long-promised Messiah, the old priest in the Temple told by another angel that his wife would have a son to be called ‘John’, who would prepare the people of Israel... (268 words)25th December – Where did Christmas stockings come from?
No one is really sure, but a story is told of St Nicholas, a bishop who lived in the 4th century, who may have started the custom by accident. St Nicholas was of a wealthy family, and of a generous heart. As Christmas approached one year, he wanted to help a poor family whom he... (154 words)*NEW – 25th December – The Colours of Christmas
There are several colours that we traditionally associate with Christmas. They are green, red, and gold, and to a lesser extent, white and blue. Green: Evergreen plants like holly, ivy and mistletoe were used for thousands of years to decorate buildings during the long dark winters. The Romans exchanged evergreen branches in January to wish... (240 words)25th December – Thank Dickens for Christmas as you know it!
Ever wonder where many of our Christmas traditions come from? A surprising amount of our modern Christmas celebrations can be traced back to the well-loved story of ‘A Christmas Carol’, by Charles Dickens. When you read ‘A Christmas Carol’, you discover almost a template of the ‘ideal Christmas’ which we still hold dear today. Dickens... (213 words)25th December – Christmas and St Luke’s Gospel
It is to St Luke’s wonderful gospel that many Christians turn as the year draws to a close and Christmas approaches, for it is to St Luke that we owe the fullest account of the nativity. Luke alone tells us the story of Mary and the angel’s visit to her, and has thus given the... (181 words)25th December – Was Jesus really born on 25th December?
Almost certainly not. But the story of how that date came to be chosen as His ‘birthday’ is one that stretches back long before His birth. it seems to have started on the Greek island of Rhodes in 283 BC. That year the solstice fell on 25th December, and it was also the year that... (270 words)25th December – Who is ‘Santa Claus’?
On the whole British people are happy with the title ‘Father Christmas’, a suitably neutral name for the central character in children’s Christmases, writes David Winter. In America, however, and by a process of cultural indoctrination increasingly in other English-speaking countries, the same red-coated and bearded fellow with his sack of presents is known as... (207 words)25th December – The story of mince pies
Did you know that mince pies have been traditional English Christmas fare since the Middle Ages, when meat was a key ingredient? The addition of spices, suet and alcohol to meat came about because it was an alternative to salting and smoking in order to preserve the food. Mince pies used to be a different... (65 words)25th December – Reflections on the Christmas Story
Matthew 1:18 Joseph’s dilemma This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit….” It is not clear at what point Mary told Joseph the news of her pregnancy,... (1110 words)26th December – St Stephen, the first martyr
Have you ever stopped to consider that the very first martyr of the Christian Church (Stephen died c 35 AD) was a deacon? (But no, he wasn’t worked to death by his church.) It was Stephen, one of the first seven deacons of the Christian Church. He’d been appointed by the apostles to look after... (363 words)26th December – On the Feast of Stephen
Everyone knows that it was on the feast of Stephen that ‘good king Wenceslas looked on’. After all, it’s in a Christmas carol – but why? There’s nothing about Christmas in it: a splendid young page who rustled up some flesh, wine and logs, an old man out in the snow (’deep and crisp and... (460 words)26th December – Look out for Wenceslas
Most of us probably know that on December 26th (the Feast of Stephen) ‘Good king Wenceslas’ looked out, writes David Winter. We probably also know that the snow lay round about, ‘deep and crisp and even’. Beyond that, he’s just someone in a carol that’s not often sung nowadays. However, Wenceslas was a real person,... (196 words)28th December – Holy Innocents
The death of a very young child is perhaps the hardest grief of all to bear. So the 28th December is a very poignant day in the church calendar. It is when the worldwide Church joins with bereaved parents to grieve the loss of babies and young children. For Holy Innocents day recalls the massacre... (294 words)
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