Catholic New Year

Today, we decided to go to Mass--but do something slightly different. We visited a different Catholic parish in our neighborhood. This visit showed us that although the main structure of the Mass is the same, each church is slightly different.

 

For example, we knelt at different times, the congregation welcomed three new members to the church, and we noticed that instead of drinking the wine from a chalice at communion time, most people just dipped their wafers in the wine. At this church, after the Gospel reading, a woman gave a speech that seemed to be the homily. Usually the priest or the deacon gives the homily, but apparently a woman  was permitted in this church. It also used to be that only boys could be alter servers. We wonder why. Our church has boys and girls as altar servers. The church we visited today had adult altar servers, both men and women.

Just like at our church, when we sat down, we noticed the four Advent candles--which told us that there were only four weeks until Christmas. The picture above shows the four candles, three of them purple, one of them pink. The first two purple candles show us that we are waiting hopefully for the birth of our Savior. The third candle, the pink one, is a sign of celebration, since that is the last week before Catholics light the final candle, the Christmas one, on Christmas Eve. Catholic churches all over the world have wreaths such as this one at the time of Advent--and, like the Mass, each is slightly different. 

Another cause for celebration this week at Mass was the Catholic New Year. The Catholic Church's New Year is celebrated on the first week of Advent, which is, of course, a different date than the January 1st New Year. Catholics celebrate the new liturgical year on the first week of Advent because the start of a new Christmas season begins the new liturgical cycle.

All over the world, Christians are beginning to prepare for Christmas. Churches are lighting their Advent wreaths, families might be setting up their Nativity sets and perhaps even lighting their own wreaths as well. Different Christian denominations might have different traditions. What do you and your family do in order to prepare for Christmas? Comment on this post and let us know. 

Skipping church and other thoughts . . .

Last week, we learned about Druidism and then we went to our own church, where two of us were signed up as altar servers that day. This week, we didn't make it to Mass, and we didn't have a chance to visit another church.

Do you feel as if you must go to church every week? Or do you feel as if it's no big deal if you don't go? For instance, we didn't go to church today but does this mean that we can't pray or reflect on our deeds? We don't go to church every single week. Sometimes we visit a different church. Here is a picture of a Catholic church we visited while we were on vacation in August:

Some weeks, somebody in the family doesn't feel well, or we just have a very busy weekend. We wonder how most people feel about going to a church of a different religion. Would you feel that this would not be loyal to your own beliefs, or that it "doesn't count?"

In this post, we'd also like to share more facts about Druidism. Last week, our hosts D and T gave us some background information about Druidry, for example, Druids originated in England, Scotland and Ireland, and Druids draw practices and traditions from Arthurian legends. We are familiar with the legends of King Arthur, and we knew that Merlin is a Druid from the stories. Our host told us about another famous Druid, the poet William Blake. We have read Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. Druids also draw their practices on deities individual to their elements. These deities are associated with the four elements (air, fire, water and earth) and to the land surrounding the worship space. Our host called on the Great Bear of the North, the Fierce Hawk of the East, and the Swift Stag of the South, and the Snapping Turtle of the West.

Some Druids might not feel comfortable about sharing their religion. As our hosts told us last week, the word "pagan" has many negative connotations--therefore, many Druids face prejudice. This means that you might know a lot more Druids than you think! Mainstream religions such as Christianity and Judaism define themselves with symbols, such as crosses, or the star of David. Druids also have symbols that they might often recognize each other with.  Here is a photo of a pendant that our host T wears:

It is a good idea to be familiar with the symbols of various religions, because it can make you more aware of the many different ideas and beliefs in the world.


-Soklabi