Christmas is one of the most beautiful seasons of the year, where children's smiles fill homes as they create their wish lists. I would like to share with you how we celebrate it in our parish community at St. Paul's Cathedral.
The December activities in our parish, St. Paul's Cathedral, begin with the celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, guided by the tradition of our Colombian brothers with the Mass of “la noche de velitas,” (the night of the candles) also known as the Day of the Little Candles. It involves lighting candles and lanterns to illuminate the streets on the night of December 7th, where each light represents a personal wish and gratitude.
We continue with the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where we prepare a small dramatization of the Apparition of the Virgin Mary to San Diego. The children from catechesis, along with their parents, take part in the representation. On the same day, several masses are celebrated in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The first mass is at 5 am, and afterwards, we have breakfast with typical Mexican food. In the evening, at 7 pm, we gather again to continue celebrating the 'Morenita' with a large Mariachi group. Once again, we head down to the parish hall 'El Cenáculo' for a dinner of Mexican tacos.
At the same time, we are organizing the Christmas Novena. Blessed with the presence of people from different countries, the 9 days are divided into groups of 4 to 5 countries. Each group selects the readers and leads the day of the novena assigned to them. In previous years, it was customary to bring traditional Christmas dishes from each country. Today, we only do this in a single celebration at the end of the novena. This way, we share and prepare for the arrival of the baby Jesus as a unified community.
At the end of the Christmas Novena, the community of San Pablo comes together once again for 40 hours of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We divide the schedule among the apostolic groups of the parish, with shifts of 3 hours to ensure the Blessed Sacrament is not left alone.
We conclude with the Christmas Eve Mass. We offer Mass at different times in Spanish and English to accommodate the Anglo-Saxon community also present.
So, on December 24th, we celebrate our Christmas vigil by offering 4 masses. On Christmas Day, we celebrate with an English Mass at 10 am and a Spanish Mass at 12 pm.
We conclude the December celebrations with the New Year's Day Holy Mass.
I am delighted to have shared with you a part of our parish life at St. Paul's Cathedral in Worcester, Massachusetts. Working and praying together keeps us united as a large multicultural family.
Merry Christmas, a prosperous New Year, and happiness to all!
