Although the observation of Advent is not a tradition I was raised with, I have been trying to do this for the past few years as a family now that we have Alexander. This year, Alexander is four and is very much in the "absorbent mind" phase so I think this will be an especially important Advent. He's also wrestling with ideas about good and evil ( Read more... )

FOR TODAY Monday, June 3, 2013 ( Read more... )

“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
~ Matthew 2:18 ~Today is the Fourth Day of Christmas, known in English tradition as "Childermas", or the Feast of the Holy Innocents. I grew up in a "low church" tradition and never observed the feasts of ( Read more... )

[This is a re-post of something I wrote back in 2007. It seemed appropriate to post it again today. Enjoy.]

Happy Second Day of Christmas!Today is the traditional second day of Christmas, a tradition that has mostly been lost in our modern, North American society, more's the pity ( Read more... )

People, look east. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.

(from the Advent hymn by Eleanor Farjeon, 1928)

* I can't believe I'm the only one my FL that posted about Groundhog Day yesterday ( Read more... )

* My backyard - and especially the trees in my neighbor's backyards - looked very pretty with the new snow this morning. I was delighted ( Read more... )

While doing my research for the posts on the traditions of the days following Christmas, I came across the following article:

The Real Twelve Days of Christmas by Edwin and Jennifer Woodruff Tait.

I was particularly struck by the following portions:

"It is easy to dismiss all these customs as ... harmless follies ... But perhaps there's a ( Read more... )

On the twelfth day of Christmas, ( Read more... )

Today is the Fifth day of Christmas. It's a little bit different than the preceding three days as traditionally there was no specific focus for this day (unlike the charity associated with the Feast of Stephen, or the antics associated with Childermas). However, it and the remaining seven days of Christmas (between now and Epiphany, or the Feast ( Read more... )