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Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we gather around the Christmas tree and the Crèche to celebrate the birth of Jesus, there are special treats which have been in our home and the homes of our ancestors for hundreds of years and which will continue to be our companions this year as we celebrate Christmas in Germany with our 3 children, Lisa and Summer.

Sister Teixeira and I remember in our childhood the Creche being the central activity of the season. The preparation of the nativity scene was exciting... building a stable, setting all the many figures and elements and building the city of Bethlehem was a project that took several days.

Nativity in Mainz
Before Christmas Eve we would go out to see the many nativity schenes in display in the city. This year we took time to see also those that are in display in Germany, I particularly liked the one in Mainz next to the Dom.

As the years went by we added to our traditions others we become familiar with in other parts of the world, one we love is the German advent, where the story of Christmas unfolds every week, we also read together as a family a book with Christmas stories, this year we are reading "Christmas with the Prophets"

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