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Blessing Of The Animals
My great grandmother was born in a rural area of Ireland. She told me that during the great potato famine, no matter how poor her parents and their neighbors were, they always put out "a wee bit for the beasties" on Christmas Eve. This gift ~ this blessing ~ was given to animals in honor of the role they played in the humble stable in Bethlehem.
So when we moved from the city to a farm in Wisconsin, my husband and I and our nine children decided to revive this family tradition.
At midnight on Christmas Eve, we all troop down to the barn through deep snow that crunches underfoot, and bring our gifts to the animals. We check to see that each animal has fresh water and clean bedding. Then the children take turns giving the horses and colts apples, carrots, oats and hay. The pigs are given extra mash and chopped vegetables. The cats and kittens who have been playing around our feet lap up big bowls of warm, frothy milk before getting little bags of catnip the girls have tied up in bundles for them. Our Irish setters, Erin, Big Red and old Mike wait patiently for their treat of meat broth and table scraps over dry dog food.
"You are a good and faithful friend," says our youngest daughter, Patti, to each animal in turn, petting it fondly. "We ask the blessing of the animals, in Jesus' name.
When all the animals are fed and comfortable, we trudge back to our warm snug home. The air is cold. The stars are bright. The night is silent. It is then that the holiness of Bethlehem's stable becomes very real to me. Our family sleeps then, I think, in heavenly peace.
Patricia Sullivan
When Christmas bells are swinging above the fields of snow, We hear sweet voices ringing from lands of long ago, And etched on vacant places Are half-forgotten faces Of friends we used to cherish, and loves we used to know.
--Ella Wheeler Wilcox
The tradition of Christmas lights dates back to when Christians were persecuted for saying Mass. A simple candle in the window meant that Mass would be celebrated there that night.
