marigold Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 I left my first community just before Christmas. Now Christmas is fast approaching again and I have to face the reality that I might not be back in the monastery in time for the feast. So I am curious about what convent Christmases are like. Does anyone have stories or traditions from their communities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spem in alium Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 I will pray you can be with your Sisters for Christmas. This will be my first Christmas in community. We celebrate Christmas according to Polish custom, as most of our Sisters are Polish (or from a Polish background). As far as I know, we have a big meal (with twelve vegetarian dishes) on Dec. 24, attend midnight Mass, and then have a breakfast together on Christmas morning. It is quite different from how we celebrate Christmas in my family (we don't really celebrate on Christmas Eve). I am really looking forward to it, but at the same time it's a little bittersweet --- Christmas is such a family time, and it will be hard not being with them. Our community tradition is that Sisters also receive a small gift from Jesus, in which He comes to each particular Sister as a different virtue, etc. This year, I am making these gifts! I've made small boxes with straw (to look like a manger) and will include a small image of a sleeping Baby Jesus inside, along with the virtue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marigold Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 Thank you for your prayers, Spem! I recognise the twelve dishes on Christmas Eve from my Russian acquaintances. It must be an Eastern Europe thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vee Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 I wish I had an answer to this topic but I have no idea what they do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marigold Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 Aaah I'm just so curious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NadaTeTurbe Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 11 hours ago, marigold said: Thank you for your prayers, Spem! I recognise the twelve dishes on Christmas Eve from my Russian acquaintances. It must be an Eastern Europe thing! It's curious, because in the South of France, we have the thirteen desserts of Christmas ! I guess it's because of the number of apostles ? SOme of them represents mendicants monastics orders : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_desserts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marigold Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 3 hours ago, NadaTeTurbe said: It's curious, because in the South of France, we have the thirteen desserts of Christmas ! I guess it's because of the number of apostles ? SOme of them represents mendicants monastics orders : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_desserts Oh, interesting! The 12 dishes is obviously for the apostles, but the French tradition has 12 + 1 for Christ! I like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 You deserve to be with your Sisters in the convent at Christmas Marigold and I hope that you will be able to arrange this. God bless you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Mommy Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 (edited) Spem in alium, are you going to include a biblical quote that includes the particular virtue in each manger gift? Edited December 8, 2015 by Swami Mommy Auto-correct changed your name! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spem in alium Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 2 hours ago, Swami Mommy said: Spem in alium, are you going to include a biblical quote that includes the particular virtue in each manger gift? It's going to be a simple image of the Baby Jesus, with the words "I come to you as...". Light, joy, peace, simplicity, etc. I'm also organising our patrons for next year. On the feast of Epiphany, we each draw a card which has a patron saint (connected to te congregation), a particular intention to pray for throughout the year, and some words from the Holy Father (these will be taken from Misericordiae Vultus). And this year we're also doing Secret Santa! Going to be so much fun! Some Sisters are making lists of what they want...I'm happy to just go with it and see what happens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopefulHeart Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 (edited) I hope I don't sound shallow, but Christmas in the convent is one of the things that most excites me about religious life. A convent Christmas must be a time of such prayerful joy. Edited December 8, 2015 by HopefulHeart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponsa-Christi Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 9 hours ago, NadaTeTurbe said: It's curious, because in the South of France, we have the thirteen desserts of Christmas ! I guess it's because of the number of apostles ? SOme of them represents mendicants monastics orders : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_desserts Thirteen desserts? We need to bring this tradition to America! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marigold Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 5 hours ago, Jennifer said: You deserve to be with your Sisters in the convent at Christmas Marigold and I hope that you will be able to arrange this. God bless you Thank you, I hope so too! 2 hours ago, HopefulHeart said: I hope I don't sound shallow, but Christmas in the convent is one of the things that most excites me about religious life. A convent Christmas must be a time of such prayerful joy. Yay, you get it as well! I always feel shallow pointing it out but it really is one of the things I've been looking forward to finally experiencing! Christmas is such a huge deal for both nonbelievers and Christians, and it's the last big family thing (well, we don't have Thanksgiving in the UK) so I have always been curious how it turns out in convents. The one thing I can say is that I have decorated convent Christmas trees, one classy for the chapel, and one fun and tacky for the refectory! They were both about 10 feet tall too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vee Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I wasnt sure if I should start a new thread for this or just add to this one so apologies if Im sidetracking buuuut.... What about Christmas presents for communities? For those of us who are in closer contact, applying, marigold's paperwork pile etc what do you all get as presents for your community, if anything? The community Im interested in I asked what they might like, and offered a suggestion I had in mind. I received a reply that donations towards their Christmas flowers would be appreciated, so I sent them a card and a check Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sr.christinaosf Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) tooth paste and soap/shower gel are good options. We exchange names amongst ourselves at the beginning of Advent and then pray for that person for the coming liturgical year, giving them small gifts at Christmas. Money or things we don't need/have use for are turned in the the common fund if we receive them. My first Christmas in the convent, my mom gave me a homemade cook book, a three-ring binder with laminate page protector sleeves. I use it to this day! Christmas Eve is not a tranquil, reflective experience here, as we usually have a little over 100 people gathering in (and outside, in the hall) our chapel for the Mass. We scurry around bringing in chairs, handing out programs, etc. It's lovely, but we are happy when they all go home and we have some 'heavenly peace' once again. Edited December 9, 2015 by sr.christinaosf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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