It is said that the Three Kings who traveled to Bethlehem to adore the newborn King were radically changed by the experience and abandoned their pagan ways. According to one account, the Magi traveled to India and were eventually baptized by St. Thomas the Apostle before their deaths. 
 
Tradition has since held Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar as “saints,” and throughout the centuries various prayers have been composed to them. Below is one such prayer. 
 
O Holy Magi, you were living in continual expectation of the rising of the Star of Jacob, which would announce the birth of the true Son of justice; obtain for me an increase of faith and charity, and the grace to live in continual hope of beholding, one day, the light of heavenly glory and eternal joy. 
 
(Share your request …) 
 
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 
 
Prayer to the Infant Jesus: Infant Jesus, meek and mild, look on me a little child. Pity mine and pity me, suffer me to come to Thee. 
 
Heart of Jesus, I adore Thee. Heart of Mary, I implore Thee. Heart of Joseph, pure and just. In these three hearts, I put my trust. 
 
Help us Joseph in our early strife, ever to lead a pure and blameless life. 
 
O Holy Magi, Pray for Us. 

TAGS: Prayer

December 12 was National Poinsettia Day, so let's continue our celebration with a heartwarming legend regarding this traditional Christmas plant. 

During the weeks before Christmas, a young Mexican girl named Miranda had worked hard with her mother to weave a beautiful blanket.  She and her parents planned to bring it to the church on Christmas Eve when everyone came forward to present a gift to the baby Jesus lying in the manger. 

Shortly before Christmas, her mother became sick and when Miranda tried to weave the blanket on her own, the yarns became hopelessly tangled.  She couldn't finish it. 

When Miranda and her father went to church that Christmas Eve, she was sad they had no gift to bring to the manger.  Neither the candles nor the singing could cheer her.  Then an angel comforted her, saying, "Your mother will get well, and you should bring to the Lord any gift you can find.  It's the giving, not the gift, that matters." 

Miranda went outside, picked some weeds from the roadside, and brought them to the manger.  There was a sudden stir among the people.  When Miranda looked at the weeds in her hand, they had become bright red flowers, each like a flaming red star. 

When the people went home that night, the roadside weeds had all become bright red flowers -- the Flor de la Navidad (the Christmas Flower). 

TAGS: Reflection 


SOURCE: The Little Blue Book: Advent and Christmas Seasons 2019-2020, 12/19/2019.

If anything says “Christmas!” it’s a tree. Whether it’s a live tree or an artificial one, when we see an evergreen tree, we think of Christmas. 

Trees have been important symbols in many religions, and from earliest times, evergreen trees have reminded people of life through winter and darkness. The evergreen tree has a specific meaning for Christians. 

Long ago, European Christians celebrated December 24 as the feast of Adam and Eve, our first parents. They put up a “Paradise Tree” decorated with fruit. It was a way of remembering how human beings had eaten fruit from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. That sadness was replaced by joy the next day, December 25, when they could celebrate Jesus, born to save us from that sin and open the way back to God. Jesus would demonstrate his love by dying on a cross, made from a tree. A Christmas tree is a tree of life! 

In the 17th century, the custom of putting toys and gifts at the foot of the Christmas tree was adopted, and it was in the 19th century that the tradition of the Christmas tree became widespread. 

TAGS: Reflection