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.
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
