December 24: Vigil of Christmas
In the first ages, during the night before every feast, a vigil was kept. In the evening the faithful assembled in the place or church where the feast was to be celebrated and prepared themselves by prayers, readings from Holy Writ (now the Offices of Vespers and Matins), and sometimes …
Commentary: Is anyone ‘ready’ for Christmas?
by JD Flynn Denver, Colo., Dec 21, 2018 / 01:22 pm MT (CNA).- After communion at Mass this morning, our parish school choir began one of my favorite hymns. The first line filled my heart. “Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand.” It was darling …
Live! Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains Christmas 2021
Christmas Eve Mass at 3:00 p.m., Friday, December 24 Christmas Eve Mass at 5:00 p.m., Friday, December 24 Christmas Eve Mass at 10:00 p.m., Friday, December 24 Christmas Day Mass at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 25
A Franciscan Christmas in Over-The-Rhine
At age 3, Brother Tim Sucher, OFM, of St. Francis Seraph Church in Cincinnati, and his older brother saved their pennies to buy their first nativity scene – one “just like Granny’s” – to add to their family’s Christmas decorations. Now, decades later, that same nativity scene is part of …
Pope Francis to beatify ‘smiling pope’ John Paul I in September 2022
by CNA Staff Vatican City, Dec 23, 2021 / 09:53 am Pope Francis will beatify the “smiling pope” John Paul I on Sept. 4, 2022. Vatican News, the website overseen by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, said on Dec. 23 that the pope who reigned for only 33 days would be beatified …
Pope Francis accepts Cardinal Turkson’s resignation as head of Vatican’s social development office
by CNA Staff Vatican City, Dec 23, 2021 / 04:25 am Pope Francis on Thursday accepted the resignation of Cardinal Peter Turkson as prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. He named the 75-year-old Canadian Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny as the interim head of the dicastery pending the appointment …
December 23: St. Thorlak Thorhallsson
The Scandinavian island nation of Iceland celebrates its national patron, St. Thorlak Thorhallsson, on Dec. 23. Although Iceland’s national assembly declared him a saint in 1198, only five years after his death, this “unofficial” canonization did not become an official part of the Church’s liturgical calendar until Pope John Paul …
We asked our readers about their favorite Christmas carols. Here’s what you said.
by Jonah McKeown Denver Newsroom, Dec 21, 2021 / 15:00 pm Recently, we at CNA conducted a (very unscientific, but nonetheless illuminating) poll of our readers to get a sense of your favorite Christmas carols. And, thanks to the nearly 1,000 of you who voted, the results are in! If …
UC-Irvine fires Catholic ethicist who filed ‘natural immunity’ challenge to COVID-19 vaccine mandate
by Joe Bukuras Boston, Mass., Dec 22, 2021 / 04:00 am A Catholic psychiatrist and medical ethicist who is suing the University of California for denying him a natural immunity exemption from its COVID-19 vaccination mandate has been fired for refusing to be vaccinated. Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a psychiatry professor …
Is Christmas simply a re-imagining of ancient pagan celebrations?
by Mary Farrow Denver Newsroom, Dec 13, 2020 / 04:58 am ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and, perhaps, to have one’s social media inundated with memes about Christmas being nothing more than a co-opted pagan holiday – maybe a winter solstice celebration – repurposed and baptized by Christianity. “There …
