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How are the Sisters celebrating Christmas?
This is a question we Sisters are asked a lot. It’s hard for us to remember sometimes that many students aren’t here over Christmas! In fact, we sometimes are asked if we even do celebrate, because of having our Christmas decorations all packed away by the time the new semester rolls around.
In the last few years, we’ve begun to leave our chapel decorations up until a few days or even a week after the semester starts, so people can see them. In the gathering space of the chapel, we have a large crèche scene, wooden figures of Mary and Joseph and the child Jesus, and they are surrounded by balsam fir branches. However, the background is the most beautiful. It is a hammered metal triptych of a prophecy of Christ’s birth, done by Sr. Konstantina Kakonyi, a Sister from Hungary who took refuge here and also taught at the College. When the semester begins in January, please come and see it! It gleams in the light.
We don’t decorate our chapel for Christmas until a few days beforehand, as we believe in celebrating the season of Advent- the season of waiting. But when we do decorate, we go wild (at least as wild as you can imagine sisters being in chapel!). We bring a large, real balsam fir tree in, about 8–12 feet tall, and fill it with white lights. There have to be at least two people doing this, as the ladder is tall and can be shaky. We also have a tree in the gathering space with white lights and hung with snowflakes that a Sister made.
There are trees and lights hung in the hallways and common areas of the Monastery, thanks to the hard work of our environmental services staff. We used to decorate the whole Monastery at the same time as the chapel, however, with some Sisters becoming less physically able, staff has been doing more. Some of us would like to use this as a future opportunity to get to know more students; and make it an afternoon full of decorating, hot chocolate, cookies, and fun. We may try this next year.
We each have our own small decorations that we put in our own rooms or offices. I have a small Nativity set in my office that I bought before I was a Sister. It is a good reminder of the season, but I have to grin every time I look at it—the baby Jesus is the same size as the sheep!
Decorations are certainly part of our celebration but what would Christmas at the Monastery be without church? Our liturgies and our prayers showcase our beliefs and help us to make the Christmas season real in our hearts. We have a candlelight Christmas Eve Eucharist and then a special Christmas Eucharist on the day itself. We have different psalms and prayers than usual and more music. Our Monastery Schola (our choir, which has some volunteers and students as well as Sisters) often sings on Christmas Eve. Most of the songs they sing are traditional for the Monastery and have been sung for years.
After many of these liturgies, and in between, to keep up our energy, we have lots of food. We have a traditional meal with turkey and ham after the Christmas Eucharist and invite visitors. One of our Sisters has made it a point to always invite some of the international students.
Even though we haven’t had Christmas yet at the time of this writing, I can confidently write all of this. It’s not a prediction, it’s a tradition.
Many families have traditions that they follow around holidays. They can be very comforting, like a warm blanket you always know is there. But they always have to have some wiggle room so they don’t become too smothering: what Christmas organ music will be played? How will the turkey be cooked this year? Someone gave us new apple ornaments for a tree; how will we hang them?
What are your favorite Christmas or other holiday traditions? Do they give you wiggle room? What helps you make this holiday season real in your hearts? We all, sisters, students and others, are still all on this journey together.
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