If you have watched Charlie Brown Christmas you have heard this tune. A nice melody performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
Tag Archives: Christmas
Christmas Music for your Sunday evening:Blue Christmas(Elvis Presley)
Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas, the real Santa Claus
St. Nick is often used as another name for Santa Claus but in truth Nicholas is the original. Born in the third century a.d., Nicholas became well known for his charity to children and others. He was imprisoned by the Romans and beaten. He never renounced his faith. Later when released when Constantine became emperor, he continued his life serving God and his faith. He lived to be a very old man dying on 6 December 343. Stories of his charity to children and others spread and long after his death people still revered him with churches built in his name. Stories of miracles attributed to him emerged as well.
The Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches all have his feast day on their calendars (those using the Julian calendar celebrate it on 19 December). The Roman Catholic Church did not strip him of being a saint. Until 1968, every saint had a feast day that had to be celebrated in every diocese. What they did was make certain feast days optional and allow each diocese to decide whether to celebrate it or not. St. Nicholas is an optional feast day so it is up to the diocese to decide.
Stories of a mythical gift giver (often from pagan beliefs like forest elves that leave presents for nice kids) became popular in many European countries and were imported to the U.S. Various aspects from German, Dutch, and English were blended to create the character–the commercial character–of Santa Claus. There is no connection between St. Nicholas and the modern day character that lives in the North Pole, has flying reindeer, and elves to make toys. Santa Claus is a purely secular and even by some standards a pagan creation with no connection to St.Nicholas or Christianity. Remember that when someone says Santa Claus ought to be banned because is based on a religious figure.
For further information about St.Nicholas, go to Saint Nicholas Center.
By the way, there is a resurgence in celebrating the feast day. Usually children get treats (in stockings or boots) and often kicks off the Christmas season.
So what do you think– Santa Claus or St. Nicholas?
Today is Second Advent Sunday
Photo:Clemens PFEIFFER, Vienna
Advent: Dates, Traditions, and History(Infoplease.com)
A Sinatra Christmas Classic For Your Sunday
Today is First Advent Sunday
Photo :Micha L. Rieser(Wikimedia)
Advent: Dates, Traditions, and History(Infoplease.com)
Today is Epiphany Day
Photo: Public Domain (Wikipedia)
Epiphany Day occurs on 6 January and marks the end of the Christmas season except for the Orthodox Christians who follow the Julian calendar. In England it is celebrated as the Twelfth Night (remember the song the Twelve Days of Christmas). Many cultures celebrate it with special foods and it is considered unlucky by many to leave Christmas decorations up after the Epiphany. The Roman Catholic Church celebrates it on 6 Jan but not as a day of obligation. Usually it is celebrated in a Sunday mass that falls before or just after the date (2-8 January).
This and That:Masterchef Junior Returns and Other Things
1. Here we go again:We just finished season two of Masterchef Junior but season three is scheduled to debut on 6 Jan 2015 at 8:00 p.m. It will be the last time Joe Bastianich (aka The Stare) will be a judge on Masterchef. You can see a list of the contestants (but no photos as of this date) at Fox.com.
Photo: Kim Newberg (publicdomainpictures.net)
2. The Christmas Season is still going (it officially ends on Epiphany Day/Three Kings Day) The traditional date is January 6 though many Christian churches celebrate the day on the first Sunday after the New Year. The night before is called the Twelfth Night. Eastern Orthodox celebrates Christmas Day usually on 7 January as they follow the Julian calendar. Greek Orthodox though celebrates Christmas on December 25 as they use the Gregorian not Julian for many important holy days except Easter in which they use the old Julian calendar.
3. The Shipping Season seemed to have fewer problems than last year. Last year there was a huge dump of parcels for Post Office and the private package carriers. This was due, in part, to cut off days for online retailers not in sync with the shipping services. Of course problems still occur (a package I was waiting for went missing for a day at the local UPS station). And unfortunately thieves watch delivery vehicles and steal packages left at the door or on the porch. They finally busted a gang in our area and found many missing parcels. I read or saw on person so fed up with losing packages to these thieves he wrapped up some very smelly dog poo and had it left on his door. Sure enough, it was stolen! Fitting that when the opened the box they found it full of animal waste.
4. Once again the top animated Christmas shows were the favorites: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (celebrating 50 years), Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
5. One of the worst Christmas themed made for television movies was Merry Ex-Mas(2014) on Ion starring Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson. The premise is actually simple. Dean Cain owned a security company and was married to Kristy Swanson. A photo appears in the press that appears to show him making out with a well known music star. He denies it but his wife divorces him. So usually a Christmas show of this kind is how the magic of Christmas heals the rift and get them back together. Had that been the story, it would have been great. But something bad happened somewhere between when the plot was conceived and the actual scriptwriting began. The result was a runaway train that took a simple plot and smashed it all up. His ex-wife shows up at the cabin where Cain is at. His sort of girlfriend is also there. Racing to get there is her fiancee played by Lochlyn Munro. Munro has made a career out of playing characters on the edge or worse. Munro’s character is facing deportation (his foreign visa is about to expire) and he cannot conduct an important business deal unless he stays. So he is racing up there with the couples daughter, the mother to Swanson’s character (Dean Cain’s mom) and his attorney. His attorney, played by Jodi Lyn O’Keefe (Nash Bridges), is the one bright light in this zany and utterly forgettable movie. She is absolutely hilarious in her role as Munro’s attorney. And she gets some of the best lines as well. And at the end (SPOILER ALERT) when Swanson’s character decides not to marry him but Cain again, he is left with no one to marry except her mother. And she negotiates a settlement that O’Keefe’s character is happy to put in the prenuptial agreement. It is the only reason to watch this hapless Christmas movie.
6. If you subscribe to Netflix streaming, say goodbye to Titanic. The popular Cameron movie is leaving in the New Year. You can still get it on DVD. And until they can actually make streaming like DVD, that part of the service is going to remain strong. Today watching some Christmas movies via streaming was a total bust. Something wrong with the service. On the other hand just grab a dvd, pop it in, and your good to go.
7. Mewing cats doing Jingle Bells? A bad idea. The original barking dogs (from the 1950’s!) is still tops in that regard.
8. I am all for eating and drinking less but one low-fat eggnog (Horizon organic) was really pasty in flavor. It may be lower in calories and more healthy but trust me, it was awful.
Well that is it for now. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year everyone!
Today is the Feast of the Holy Family
Photo: Public Domain
The Feast of the Holy Family was instituted as liturgical celebration of the Roman Catholic Church to venerate the Holy Family–Jesus, Saint Joseph and Blessed Mary–as a model for all Christian families. The feast was first introduced in 1893 by Pope Leo XIII and set on the Sunday after the Epiphany. However in 1969 it was moved to the first Sunday after Christmas to make it part of the Christmas season.
Today is St. Stephen’s Day(Boxing Day U.K.)
If you remember the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas you heard the name. Stephen was a deacon in the early Christian church who was accused of blasphemy and put on trial by Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. After a trial in which he denounced them, Stephen was stoned to death. One of the witnesses to the event was Saul of Tarsus, who later converted and is known today as the apostle Paul. Stephen is considered the first martyr for the faith, the reason his feast day immediately follows the celebration of Jesus birth. All the major Christian congregations–Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox–all venerate him as a Saint and celebrate the feast day (Western churches on 26 December, 27 Dec Orthodox, and 8 Jan Oriental Orthodox). In some countries (mainly Western Europe)it is a public holiday.
In the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand it is celebrated as Boxing Day, a secular holiday that falls on the same day as Feast of Stephen. Traditionally it is the day in which servants and tradespeople receive the “Christmas box” from their employers. While that tradition may still hold true, it is either a second Christmas day for some or an extra shopping day (though in some countries it apparently is a day when a lot of returns to retailers takes place). It is also a major sports day as well.