December is the Month of the Divine Infancy & the Immaculate Conception / December Prepper Challenge!

December is such an interesting ecclesiastical month, I hardly know where to start.  It’s chock full of every kind of feast…Our Blessed Lord, Our Lady, well-known saints, Doctors of the Church, martyrs, visionaries, 1st Century saints, Old Testament Patriarchs, the Holy Family and even Adam & Eve, an “historical” feast, on Christmas Eve.  As if that’s not enough, we also celebrate the Ember Days of Winter the week before Christmas.  And don’t forget the joyful Gaudete Sunday, the 3rd Sundy of Advent.  And Advent itself, of course!

To be clear, we discuss both trad and new feasts and the traditional calendar is below.  We will place our focus on a few feasts…

The 1st Sunday of Advent is this coming Sunday, the 3rd.  This is the beginning of the new Liturgical Year and the beginning of the Cycle of Christmas, when we await the birth of Our Savior and prepare spiritually for this great Holy Day.  On the 8th, we honor the Immaculate Conception of Mary (Patroness of the USA), a Holy Day of Obligation.  This solemnity falls on a Friday this year, so no penance is required.  Our Lady of Loreto is the 10th and Our Lady of Guadalupe the 12th. 

The Ember Days are days of prayer and penance to obtain mercy for the coming season.  As the Ember Days concern themselves with nature, it’s a particularly nice time to do crafts with children.  In this case, it can be combined with Christmas in all kinds of creative ways.  Come up with your own ideas…maybe you could even arrange a day at your parish for these activities. 

I don’t suppose I have to remind anyone about Christmas on the 25th.  But let us celebrate as holy a Christmas as we can this year, as the world continues to spiral into a plethora of polycrises.

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December Prepper Challenge

Speaking of polycrises, how about a challenge this month?  Yes, it’s Christmastime, but unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the problems in the world take a vacation.  In a month, these progressive issues, many of which are exponential in nature (speeds up over time), will be one month closer to the critical point.  That’s why action must be taken now, Christmastime or not.  The greatest gift you can give your loved ones, besides spiritual encouragement, is preparedness. 

Let us take the 2 themes of this month as inspiration, Mother and Child.  As life gets more difficult, the vulnerable will be in greater need.  We cannot help them until we help ourselves.  We must be in a strong position to help our neighbors.  We must prepare because too many are not.  We will be held accountable.  As Chris Martenson says, we will be asked one day:

“When did you see?  What did you do about it?”

If you still don’t see the need to prepare for the coming days, pray to the Holy Ghost for an illumination.

15 Points Preparedness Worksheet

Please print our worksheet above and choose 5 points to begin working on this month.  We encourage you to involve your family, discuss it together, and write out the most important things you agree should be done.  Feel free to email us with your progress and we may share your comments.  You might also think about printing a copy for your loved ones as a Christmas gift.  Roll it up with a red or green ribbon.  I guarantee they won’t get this from anyone else!  Good luck and you all will be in our prayers!

Here is the traditional Catholic calendar for December:  calefactory.org

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy & the Immaculate Conception

The good Christian name “John” is well-represented this month, as we honor 5 saints by this name:  one the beloved of Christ, 2 Doctors of the Church, one visionary and one priestly professor.  We also honor 5 Doctors of the Church:  in addition to the 2 Johns, we have 2 Peters and St. Ambrose.  December also contains the Ember Days, adding further to the preparation of Advent through prayer and penance.  These are loosely concerned with the seasons, so there are many ways to be creative with children, combining the Ember Days, the coming season of winter and Christmas.  It is wonderful to teach our children these traditions, so they will develop a love for the Catholic Faith and its many-faceted riches.

As for our themes this month, it is not difficult to combine the Divine Infancy with the Immaculate Conception.  Mother and Child are inseparable, as the beautiful painting above shows.  The Child Jesus points us toward His Nativity and the time of spiritual preparation for this joyful celebration.  The sinless Virgin Mother serves to glorify the Infant Himself.  There are many ways we can creatively celebrate both Mother and Child.  One possibility is to participate in pro-life activities-there are so many ways to do this and to use one’s unique gifts.  We may have done this 2 months ago in October, but the unborn ceaselessly need our help.  If you do not have much time, you can always pray and offer up for them.  Only 3 days after Christmas, we honor the Holy Innocents, further encouragement to remember God’s precious little ones this month as we prepare to celebrate His birth.

Here are some notable feasts from both the old and new calendars of the Roman Rite…

3-First Friday / St. Francis Xavier

4-First Saturday / St. John Damascene, Doctor of the Church, Author Fount of Knowledge / St. Peter Chrysologus, Doctor of the Church, Author of many great sermons / St. Barbara, Martyr

5-2nd Sunday of Advent (purple candle)

6-St. Nicholas

7-St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church, Author De Virginibus

8-IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY (obligation)

9-St. Juan (John) Diego, Seer of Our Lady of Guadalupe

10-OUR LADY OF LORETO

12-Gaudete Sunday (pink candle) / OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

13-St. Lucy / St. Odilia, Martyrs, Patronesses of the eyes (Odilia’s feast is non-standard)

14-St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church, Author Dark Night of the Soul

15-Ember Wednesday in Advent (trad meat at one meal)

17-Ember Friday in Advent

18-Ember Saturday in Advent (trad meat at one meal)

19-4th Sunday of Advent (purple candle)

21-St. Thomas, Apostle / St. Peter Canisius, Doctor of the Church, Author Summa of Christian Doctrine

23-St. John of Kanty, Priest, Professor of Sacred Scripture

24-VIGIL OF THE NATIVITY

25-NATIVITY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (obligation)

26-THE HOLY FAMILY / St. Stephen, Protomartyr

27-St. John the Evangelist

28-The Holy Innocents

The stunning painting above is “Virgin with Angels” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. This is an ornament which can be purchased here.

December: Month of the Divine Infancy & the Immaculate Conception

“And the Word was made flesh.”

John 1:14

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Blessings to all in this new Church year! We are now several days into Advent. This is the time when we are in waiting for Our Savior, a time to perform appropriate spiritual exercises. If you have arrived at Advent unprepared, try to get it together this week. Certainly, a good confession before Christmas is probably in order for all of us, as our celebrant told us this past Sunday. December is traditionally dedicated to the Divine Infancy or the Immaculate Conception. Of course, we celebrate both great feasts this month. Perhaps our Advent devotions could include one or both of these themes.

This month honors 5 Doctors of the Church, 2 of whom share the same day. Saint Ambrose is known for his writings on devotion to the Blessed Mother. Reading his work this month would be one way to honor the Immaculate Conception. St. Nicholas, popularly associated with Christmas, has his feast on the 6th. In addition to the feast of the Immaculate Conception, 4 days later, we honor Mary under the wonderful title of “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” As if all of this is not enough, we have the Ember Days as well! Time to ramp-up the penance heat, especially in the wake of a dire year for Holy Church. Towards the end of the month, we honor the Holy Innocents-let us remember pro-life intentions as well.

Wishes to my readers for a most blessed Christmas and let us pray for a triumphant New Year in the Church! Here are some notable feasts this month…

4-First Friday / St. John Damascene, Doctor, “Doctor of Christian Art,” “Doctor of the Assumption” / St. Peter Chrysologus, Doctor, “The Golden-Worded”

5-First Saturday

6-2nd Sunday of Advent / St. Nicholas

7-St. Ambrose, Doctor, “Patron of the Veneration of Mary”

8-IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, Patroness of the USA (holy day of obligation before the NWO takeover)

12-Our Lady of Guadalupe

13-3rd Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday / St. Lucy, Patroness of the blind

14-St. John of the Cross, Doctor, “Doctor of Mystical Theology”

16-Ember Wednesday in Advent (prayer and penance, trad meat at one meal)

18-Ember Friday in Advent (prayer and penance)

19-Ember Saturday in Advent (prayer and penance-trad meat at one meal)

20-4th Sunday of Advent

21-St. Thomas, Apostle / St. Peter Canisius, Doctor, “Doctor of the Catechism”

24-Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

25-NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (holy day of obligation before the NWO takeover, solemnity-no Friday penance) / St. Anastasia

26-St. Stephen, Protomartyr, Archdeacon (one of the original 7 deacons ordained by the Apostles)

27-Sunday in the Octave of the Nativity (trad) / The Holy Family / St. John the Evangelist

28-The Holy Innocents