Our Faith - Religion - Prayer
St Patrick's Church Walcha
For Baptism or Marriage enquiries phone Monsignor Ted Wilkes 67784070.
Monsignor Ted Wilkes would like to invite parishioners to Sunday Mass 10am.
Covid-19 restrictions for Mass are in place.
CHRISTMAS Day Mass Times
Christmas Program:
Christmas Eve: Uralla 6pm, Bendemeer 8pm
Christmas Day: Walcha 8am, Uralla 10am No Saturday evening Mass
Sts Mary & Joseph Cathedral Armidale - Christmas Vigil 4pm, 6pm & 10pm, Christmas Day 8am, 10am.
Sunday 26th Dec
Uralla 8am
Walcha 10am
PRAYER
A Christmas Blessing
May love come alive within your heart
As Christmas time draws near.
May hope fill each room you decorate
And bring joy to those you hold dear.
May peace be before you at every meal
And faith ring through every song.
For Christ is alive, the light of the world
May he bless you all season long.
Christmas Prayer for Children
Dear God,
Thank you for all the fun and excitement of Christmas.
Thank you for the amazing nativity story, that tells us about the birth of Jesus.
Thank you for sending us your Son, a gift from you into this world.
As we look at the lights on the tree, remind us of the light Jesus brought to this Earth.
When we sing songs and carols, remind us of the hope Jesus showed everyone.
And as we open the gifts and presents, remind us that Jesus was the best gift ever.
Help us to share special times with family and friends this Christmas,
And to share the light, hope and gift of Jesus to the world.
Wishing you all a very blessed and joyful Christmas with your loved ones.
St Nicholas Story, Bishop
Nicholas, a Greek Christian bishop, was born about 270 and died in 343. He is one of the best-loved of Christian saints, venerated by all Christian groups that honour saints.
Nicholas’s story is a mixture of fact and legend. He was Bishop of Myra, now called Demre, on what we would call the south coast of Turkey. Among much else, Nicholas was renowned for his generosity. One famous story is that the father of three teenage girls in Myra was so poor that he, to his horror, could see no alternative and began making plans to sell his daughters into slavery. On three successive nights Bishop NIcholas secretly dropped a small bag of gold into the house through a window. Each of the girls now had a dowry and could marry.
Nicholas was thought of as a saint straight after his death on 6 December 343 and devotion to him became widespread. 6 December is a day of gift-giving to children in some countries. Traditionally the gifts are small ones. One of those countries is the Netherlands where the saint’s name is Sinterklaas. Seventeenth century Dutch settlers in and around New Amsterdam in North America brought the tradition and the name with them. The British took over New Amsterdam and renamed it New York in 1664 but the Dutch custom remained and was adopted by other settlers. By the late eighteenth century, the name variation Santa Claus had appeared in USA as would the custom of Santa Claus-delivered gifts appearing mysteriously while children slept on Christmas night. The name and the custom would soon spread well beyond USA.
Britain had had its own different personification of the season, a kindly old man called Father Christmas. He also was a secret Christmas gift-bringer. When the American export, Santa Claus, began to appear in Britain in the nineteenth century, Father Christmas and he coexisted for some decades. Then the two were thought of as similar to each other. Today “Father Christmas”, if used at all, is another name for Santa Claus.
Each candy cane we consume at Christmas can remind us of St Nicholas. Its shape is, deliberately, that of a shepherd’s crook, the symbol of a Bishop, a symbol of Nicholas of Myra.
Catherine McAuley
Catherine was a woman of steadfast faith, unwavering hope, and boundless love.
