Day: 26. December 2016

International Christmas

Ireland We have had special celebrations every week since November, each one preparing and explaining how we live and celebrate Christmas in our countries. The first one was Sr. Collette, who prepared a beautiful prayer and delicious Irish food on 22nd November. She mentioned that people usually put candles in the window to show the way to people and also, they usually had a family dinner. We really enjoyed the sharing of Sr. Collette and how her family was together at Christmas time. We ask the Lord for Sr. Collette’s family to give them peace, joy and love. Indonesia On November 28th, our second Christmas story was from Indonesia. Although Christmas is considered to be adopted from the Western tradition, yet, the vastness of Indonesian archipelago tells the richness of its traditions and cultures and how Christmas is celebrated in different provinces or islands. Today, as Maria shows Indonesian map, she shares with us nine different traditions of its major islands and particularly from her own place, North Sumatera where the people normally live in …

Posadas 2016

“Posadas”, Christmas Caroling, are part of the Christmas traditions celebrated in many countries. The tradition said that Posadas have to begin on December the 16th and they end on December the 24th. So it is like a novena; these nine days before Christmas represent the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy carrying baby Jesus. People participate in the Posadas as processions that re-create the journey of Mary and Joseph when they were searching for a place for Mary to give birth. This year the Novitiate Community has done the Posadas visiting the NDS Communities in Jerusalem and Ein Karem. We began our preparation choosing our own repertoire of Advent and Christmas songs; including songs in our different languages (German, Bahasa Indonesia, Portuguese, Spanish and English). Then we started practicing with the help of Brother Tiago who has been with us in each Posada. We also prepared some gifts for our Brothers, Sisters and friends. We gave them a bottle of homemade vine and some bags with sweets and nuts. Our first Posada was visiting the NDS …