The 8 days of Christmas? A look at the Christmas octave
By Kevin J. Jones Denver, Colo., Dec 25, 2024 / 04:00 am The Catholic calendar has several ways to divide the Christmas season. The Church’s Western liturgical tradition sees Christmas as an octave, an eight-day celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The octave of Christmas begins on Christmas itself, the feast of …
Pope Francis launches Jubilee 2025 with opening of Holy Door
By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Dec 24, 2024 / 14:10 pm Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before Mass on Christmas Eve, officially launching the Jubilee Year 2025. “O Christ, bright star of the morning, incarnation of infinite love, long awaited salvation, sole hope of the world, …
The History of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’
The song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is an English Christmas carol. From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface …
‘Christ, the Savior, is here:’ 200 years of ‘Silent Night’ in its Austrian birthplace
By Rudolf Gehrig Salzburg, Austria, Dec 24, 2024 / 08:00 am As the Advent evening turns cold and dark, a young couple lingers atop a dike dividing two nations, their mulled wine steaming in the chill. One holds a phone, the other a cup, capturing a final selfie before heading to …
Advent Reflections 2024
Christmas Day Invitation to Prayer: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Reflection: Today we celebrate the birth of Christ, historically, in our lives today, and when we shut our eyes for the last time to greet the Saviour.Often. in …
Biden commutes death row sentences of nearly 40 federal prisoners
By Daniel Payne CNA Newsroom, Dec 23, 2024 / 09:40 am President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the death row sentences of more than three dozen federal prisoners, ordering that the formerly condemned inmates serve out life sentences instead of being executed by the government. The White House announced the clemencies on …
Christmas video by Lansing Diocese highlights Eucharistic adoration, story of ‘Silent Night’
By Francesca Pollio Fenton CNA Staff, Dec 24, 2023 / 08:00 am The Diocese of Lansing in Michigan has released a Christmas video featuring the story of a beloved Christmas carol, a high school student choir, and the beauty of Eucharistic adoration. Created and produced by Matt Riedl, multimedia journalist for …
The Christmas Truce of 1914: Here’s what really happened
by Jonah McKeown St. Louis, Mo., Dec 25, 2022 / 10:00 am The experience of fighting in “The Great War,” World War I, was marked by brutality and misery on a scale never before seen. The grisly realities of trench warfare had already, in just five months, claimed a million …
Pope Francis appoints 5 new auxiliary bishops for Chicago Archdiocese
By Kristina Millare Vatican City, Dec 20, 2024 / 14:35 pm Pope Francis has appointed five new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Chicago and assigned each bishop-elect a titular see in the Middle East and North Africa region, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, announced Dec. 20. …
