Christmas at St Mary Church

by Janet Shurtliff, on behalf of Fr. Bosco and the people of St. Mary Roman Catholic Church, Manchester, MI

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Christmas Church Services at St. Mary Manchester; 

Sacred liturgies for the Nativity of the Lord:

• Christmas Eve Mass at 5:00 pm
• Midnight Mass at Midnight
• Mass on Christmas morning at 10:00 am

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Perhaps the pollsters would say that the favorite holiday of the year is Christmas. However, to Christians, Christmas is not just a holiday but also a sacred holy day– and one of the most beautiful celebrations imaginable.

St. Mary Roman Catholic Church enters into this tradition completely. Christmas at the Village Church is preceded by four weeks of prayerful preparation called Advent. Decorations are minimal during this time when anticipation is primary.

Then, suddenly, the holy day is here, and the lights and the fresh greenery and the flowers and the bells and the joyous songs burst forth. The celebration of the birth of Christ, the light of the world, coincides with a turning point in the darkness of winter when the daylight starts to last just a little bit longer each day.

For the people of St. Mary, Christmas is a “season” not a day. The eighth day of Christmas, the “octave day,” is January 1, the “holiday” of New Year’s Day. For Catholics, this octave day is a special holy day in the Christmas season when we honor the mother of the Christ child: Mary.

And this year at St. Mary, Manchester, on Wed, Dec. 31, the vigil of this holy day, from 4:00-5:00 pm, parishioners and all friends and neighbors are invited to gather for a “Holy Hour,” that is a time of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Fr. Bosco asks that we pray in thanksgiving for the blessings of the year past and to invoke God’s blessings on the year to come.

There are numerous other holy day observances during the 12 Days of Christmas, those days from Christmas until the Epiphany, and indeed until the Sunday after Epiphany when Catholics celebrate the Baptism of the Lord to close the Christmas season.

All are invited to stop by St. Mary Church anytime to see the beautiful decorations inside and out, the lovely large nativity scene in the sanctuary, and to breathe in the peaceful serenity of the holy space during this holy season. And all are invited to join in any of the Masses and other activities at St. Mary during the Christmas season.

Nativity at St. Mary’s

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by Fritz Swanson

Fritz Swanson has written for The Believer, the Christian Science Monitor, Print Magazine, McSweeney's, Esopus, LSA Magazine, and The Mid-American Review. He serves as a trustee on the Manchester District Library Board. He's the designer and publisher of The Manchester Mirror.

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