Three events this year at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul aim to draw families into faithful community during the holidays and to dive more deeply into the waiting of Advent leading up to Christmas.
“Advent is its own season,” said Bill Dill, director of youth discipleship in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Marriage, Family and Youth. “One is urged to slow down, but what happens for most people is they are speeding up. Slowing down and being quiet, listening and waiting is Advent.
“And then we can celebrate Christmas like Catholics” with the Christmas octave’s eight days –– Dec. 25 through Jan. 1–– celebrated as one Christmas Day for praising the birth of Jesus, he said.
In some respects, 15 years of waiting preceded the events planned for Nov. 9, Dec. 28 and Dec. 31. During Father Joseph Johnson’s first stint as rector of the Cathedral, Dill said he and Father Johnson talked about emphasizing the octave of Christmas by stacking concerts, symphonies and celebrations into those eight days.
But Dill and his wife, Tiffany, had young children and it was a difficult time to pull something together. With Father Johnson recently reassigned to the Cathedral, Dill said he received a text from the rector that said, in effect: “Bill, are you ready?”
It was decided this year would be a soft start to perhaps more elaborate Christmas octave celebrations in the future, Dill said.
All families are invited and everything is free, Dill said. The 9-10:30 a.m. Nov. 9 event includes a workshop on the theology of Advent and other liturgical seasons and answers to questions about the seasons like, “Why do we have them?” and “What’s the point?”
Suggestions will be offered for marking traditions at home, such as setting up the Jesse tree and the Christmas wreath and tree, Dill said.
Carols and Cocoa at the Cathedral from 9-10:30 a.m. Dec. 28 will include songs and stories and an opportunity for children to enter the Cathedral’s sanctuary for a special adoration and Benediction.
An 11 p.m. Dec. 31 Mass will celebrate the solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. It will also help ring in the New Year and mark the beginning of the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year. A champagne reception will be held after Mass, Dill said.
Registration for the events is encouraged. To register online, go to archspm.org/events, scroll down to the appropriate dates and click the registration links.
Registration for the events is encouraged. To register online, go to archspm.org/events, scroll down to the appropriate dates and click the registration links.
