The Christmas Season is Different in a Catholic School

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ. Unfortunately, commercialization in the 21st century and political correctness has transferred the focus from the birth of Jesus to gift buying and house decorating without any explanation as to why we celebrate these traditions. The Diocese of Orlando’s Catholic schools in Polk County are able to bring Christmas back to its original intent, celebrating Joseph and Mary’s journey to Jerusalem, the birth of our Savior, and the ceremony that accompanies the miracle of Jesus’s birth. Below are only a few of the many ways a Catholic school is able to celebrate Christmas – traditions usually not found in public schools.

• Advent: The four Sundays prior to Christmas are a time of reflection, preparation, and anticipation. Understanding the meaning of the purple and rose candles is only the beginning: the deeper meaning of the preparation of the soul before the coming of Christ is truly what Advent should bring to mind.
• Confession: To prepare for Christmas, Catholic school students confess their sins to the priest. The cleansing of the spirit enables Catholics to more fully participate in the true meaning of Christmas.
• Children’s nativity play: The children’s Mass on Christmas Eve is festive for many reasons, with the nativity play performed primarily by elementary and middle school students opening the Mass. Presentations can be as simple as walking down the aisle dressed in outfits representing the shepherds, Mary and Joseph, the animals in the manger, and angels. More detailed presentations can include lines memorized and spoken by the actors along with a children’s chorus for the play as well as the Mass.
• Epiphany: The visitation of the Magi is traditionally the close of the Christmas season for Catholics and occurs twelve days after Jesus’s birth. In modern times, Americans generally celebrate the giving of gifts not on the Epiphany, but on the day of Christ’s birth. Creating gifts for Epiphany and fully understanding their importance allows children to appreciate the season all the more.

Catholic schools in Polk County and around the world celebrate Advent, Christmas, and the Epiphany in many different ways, but the reason is wholly Catholic in the true sense of the word: across the globe, it all culminates in the discovery of our Lord and Savior by the Magi and their spreading the word to all those willing to hear. The Diocese of Orlando wishes you and your family the holiest of Christmases and looks forward to sharing the presence of God with all its parishioners.