Christmas at the Abbey
At the Abbey we are very much into the Advent season until Christmas Eve. We begin to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve in the evening. We have a special Compline in the refectory on Christmas Eve that includes the blessing of the tree by the abbess and the first lighting of the tree. Our tree is cut from the trees on our property and cut down by the sisters a few days before Christmas. It is brought into the refectory and set up two days before Christmas Eve. This years tree is a Norway Spruce and it smells heavenly. On the day before Christmas Eve the tree is decorated. Different sisters volunteer to decorate the tree each year, often making homemade decorations. This year the novitiate volunteered to do it.
We celebrate Christmas throughout the Christmas season but not before. It is a bit different than what is currently done and we appreciate following the liturgical cycle. This year the season ends on January 8th, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The day after the Christmas tree and all decorations come down.
