Joy to the World! Loretto wishes you a gratitude-filled Merry Christmas!!
Posted on December 25, 2023, by Loretto Community
Photo by Ruth Routten CoL
The birthday of the Lord is the birthday of peace.
St. Leo the Great
Among the many gifts of the Yuletide season celebrating Christ’s birth are the wonderful memories of Christmas past. During this holy time we can remember and be grateful for the Person we celebrate, Jesus, and hold sacred all we experienced as the Mystery unfolds.
Christmas really never ends for Jesus is always present to us. Both the past and the future call forth our gratitude for all that the memories of Christmas shower upon Loretto. For many years the new postulants and novices woke at 6 a.m. Christmas morning to the senior second-year novices holding candles in the darkened dorm hallways singing “Silent Night.” No one who was present will ever forget that holy moment. “The birthday of peace.”
The more we look during this Christmas season for people and things to be grateful for the more we will find. While Sisters in Loretto welcomed our poverty, the young novices gathered every Christmas morning in what was then our large auditorium. Circles of chairs held small gifts from family and friends. The Novice Mistress always made sure everyone had gifts. We shared presents with one another: Candy, homemade cookies and nuts went quickly. It was a day we all looked forward to for weeks.
And what is our memory now of that Christmas morning? Who else in our Christmas story watched and waited? The Virgin Mother wove her nine months of waiting into joy at His coming. We will never tire of her story. We will never forget being together, supporting one another, bringing each other into the meaning of the promise of Christ with us forever. Our story. Jesus’ story.
This week on Loretto’s Facebook page, celebrate with us the Christmas season with warm memories and great gratitude.
