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Prayers for the Christmas Season

Reproduced with permission from Family Prayer for Family Times, by Kathleen Chesto. Copyright ©1995. Published by Twenty-Third Publications/Bayard, Mystic, CT 06355; (800) 321-0411. All rights reserved. Available upon request through For Heaven's Sake.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning begins a day of festivity and joy. We found that morning prayer was far more effective and prayerful if we we waited until we were sitting down for breakfast, but you may want to pray with the children in their rooms before they come to the tree. Try saying the childrens' usual morning prayer aloud together. If you have not gotten into the habit of morning prayer, this would be a good time to start ....

Carry [a] votive candle that has burned all night to a place of honor on the dining room table. My children have always liked to make a procession of of everything. If yours are young, they may want to walk together and sing while they are doing this. If rituals are introduced early enough, even though we may feel strange doing them, the children will perceive them as natural and normal and will have fun with them.

Christmas Dinner

Since this is a special meal, it deserves a special prayer. Give each person in the family a role in preparing the meal and bringing it to the table. It enhances their self-worth and ownership in making this a peaceful family meal, and eventually (not while they are young but eventually) it will save stress on the principle homemaker and cook in the family.

Place some candles on the table. You might want to save your Advent wreath, add new candles, and decorate it for Christmas. This helps to symbolize Jesus coming as light into the darkness of our Advent waiting. When everyone has gathered, have a parent or older child read the following Scripture passage (you may use your family Bible or this translation).

Reader: A reading from the gospel according to John (1:1-5):

In the beginning was the Word.

The Word was with God

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things came into being through him,

and without him not one thing came into being.

What has come into being in him was life,

and the life was the light of all people.

The light shines in the darkness

and the darkness did not overcome it.

Light the candles on the table.

Parent: Come, Lord Jesus.

Response: Come and be born in our hearts.

Join hands and recite your usual grace before meals, or a special grace that someone in the family has composed for the occasion.

Epiphany

The word "Epiphany" means to make manifest. The feast of the three kings is called by this name because this is when Jesus was made manifest, or known, to the Gentiles, to the whole non-Jewish world of which we are all a part. This day is often called little Christmas, and in many European cultures, it is the traditional day for gift-giving. In the new liturgical year, it is celebrated on the Sunday after New Year's Day.

Remembering the Three Wise Men

On the evening of Christmas Day, before bedtime, read the following passage paraphrased from Matthew 2:1-2:

After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east. "Where is the infant king of the Jews?" they asked, "We saw his star as it rose and we have come to worship him."

Tell the children the story of how the three kings traveled from far away following a beautiful, huge star in the night sky. Have the children place the statues of the three kings a great distance from the manger scene, on the opposite side of the room, if possible. The wise men are looking for Jesus, and it will be the role of everyone in the family to help them find him.

At supper each day from Christmas to Epiphany, ask who has seen Jesus "made manifest" in someone today. Has anyone in their lives acted in a way that makes Jesus truly visible? Anyone who can share something can move one of the three kings a little closer to the manger. If you saw Jesus in more than one person, you may move more than one king or have a second turn to move all three.

On the actual day of the Epiphany, move all three kings into the manger scene, if they are not already there. Celebrate this feast by writing the names of the three wise men in chalk above the front door. You can incorporate this custom into your meal blessing with a ritual. Begin by placing a piece of chalk on the center of the supper table.

Leader: We thank you, Lord, for the people who have made you manifest to us in these days since Christmas.

Invite the children to say the names of any people they have mentioned in the previous days as making Jesus manifest.

Child: For N..., who made Jesus manifest by...

Family: We thank you, Lord.

After everyone has had a chance to speak, gather at the door of your home.

Leader: Open our hearts and our home, Lord, to all who would make your presence felt in our lives.

A parent or child takes the chalk and above the door writes 20 + C + B + M + ... The numbers represent the year, the letters, and the names of the three wise men, Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior. They remain there until the next year. Now return to the table, and say your grace before meals or this prayer...

All: Bless our food and our family, Lord, and keep us ever aware of your presence among us. Amen.

At supper on the feast day, have a small gift wrapped beside each person's plate. This should not be a gift that was requested, but one that represents each child's special gifts: sheet music for the child who plays an instrument, a special bookmark for the child who loves to read, a batting glove for the baseball player. This gift should not be expensive, just a reminder of each child's specialness, and the fact that we make Jesus manifest through our gifts.