Do you remember when Christmas was a magical event, not a months-long ordeal? Exactly when did Christmas creep into October? In our culture’s relentless marathon of celebrations, are our children losing the true meaning of Christmas? These are the questions that young parents are asking themselves. And with good reason. Perhaps we don’t need more Christmas activities. Maybe we need to know how to prepare – to prepare our children, ourselves, and our hearts. So, as the world glitters with holiday cheer, at CSA we are preparing children for Christmas by embracing the quiet beauty of the Nativity Fast.
What does it really mean to remember Christ?
We’ve seen it so much for so long, that it has become cliche.
These sayings recognize the desire to resist our cultural commercialization of Christmas. But what does it really mean to remember Christ during Christmas?
Luke 22:19 describes a key moment between Christ and the Apostles in the Last Supper.
And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
It’s easy to miss what Jesus instructed because we don’t have this concept in our modern American culture. As Christians, we should do much more than remember or think of Jesus when we take Communion. The Greek word used here is anamnesis. It means much more than simply calling to mind. It’s more like recreating the memory experientially–by walking back through it. Think of the American history enthusiasts who come together to reenact the Civil War. Anamnesis is more closely related to that idea than a simple recalling.
“Remember” is the word of the year at CSA, and what a struggle it is sometimes! In the hustle and bustle of due dates, playdates, appointments, and activities, it can be all too easy for our thoughts and hearts to wander from the things that matter most. Fortunately, we are blessed to have a roadmap during the cycle of the church year, particularly for the Christmas season.
One Christmas Day
Orthodox Christians draw on hundreds of years’ worth of traditions. These are real traditions that connect us to other Christians through time in a single Christmas present—the one Christmas that is for all time. For truly, there is only one Christmas Day remembered and celebrated by the faithful—the same Christmas as the very day that the angels announced the birth of our Lord to the shepherds. It is our job to draw as near as we can to that Christmas, adore the King of Kings, and stand in awe of the Incarnation.
The bevy of distractions surrounding us at this time of year makes that task all the more challening. We do well to embrace and incorporate into the school day those traditions that direct us toward remembering Christ. Our students pause and contemplate the advent wreath glowing quietly with the reminder, “A savior is coming! Remember!” We join with brothers and sisters over thousands of years with words of yearning that flow from our lips in song. Veni, veni, Emmanuel. (Come, O come, Emmanuel.) And they remember, God is with us!
What are Christian Schools like at Christmas?
The Orthodox Church recognizes Advent—the preparation for Christ’s Nativity—as its unique and important season. Advent is a season of anticipation. It prepares our hearts for the coming of the Savior. It does not wear us out with parties and treats before the real celebration occurs.
At Christ the Savior Academy, we want our students to experience the anticipation and reverence that have historically been a part of Advent through observances that focus our heart’s gaze forward to Christmas Day. They count the lit advent candles marking each week as we draw nearer to Christmas. There are discussions about the creche. The shepherds and magi are still off to the sides, not yet there to adore the Christ child. Even the creche is still awaiting the Savior.
Our morning prayers pivot with hymns we sing in preparation for Christmas–first in English, then Greek. Our school community experiences this anticipation in our end-of-semester concert. The evening is filled with recitations and songs anticipating the feast of Christmas. Our oldest students recite the Nativity sermon of St. Isaac the Syrian. Our 5th and 6th graders reenact a scene in Latin from a medieval play in which the shepherds travel to Bethlehem. It is on our calendars. And it is in the icons on display as we remember the saints whose feast days are signposts along the way to Christmas: St. Barbara, St. Nicholas, St. Lucia.
Twelve Days of Christmas
The wonderful thing is that Christmas is a huge celebration with its own season, that–and this is the best part–begins on December 25th. Even so, it’s not that CSA is a Christmas-free zone. Some of our classes will end the year with a gift exchange. Teachers create time and space for our students to make gifts for their family members.
Our middle school students recently finished Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol in their afternoon read-aloud. We have a lovely Christmas tree in the foyer that welcomes our students back from Thanksgiving Break to finish the semester well. Our 1st and 2nd graders will enjoy a traditional rite-of-passage field trip to The Nutcracker. And we will sing Christmas carols—even “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer”—on the last day of the semester. But, we have all of our winter break to celebrate the Nativity. So, right now, we use these weeks leading up to Christmas to calmly and prayerfully prepare ourselves for the joy of this Holy Day.
Contrast that with the typical roller coaster of treats, activities, parties, and entertainment leading up to Christmas Day. The secular and consumer-driven culture surrounding us is constantly driven to create new demand. Each year the commercial machine presents novel “traditions” for us to adopt. It promises to make this Christmas the best one ever. But the hype rarely delivers on its promise. It isn’t uncommon to hear someone admit wearily that they are “tired of Christmas” by the time December 25th arrives!
The Nativity Fast–which began on November 15th–provides the pacing and balance we all need. As author Joshua Gibbs states in his newest book, Love What Lasts: How to Save Your Soul from Mediocrity…
“While feasting can enlarge the soul, feasting is only true feasting when it completes a fast. The man who feasts without cease is simply a glutton.”
As we journey through Advent, let us remember the words of St. Augustine: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord.” May we all join our CSA students. Let us embrace the quiet beauty of Advent. Let us experience the profound joy of the nativity. And let us emerge from this season renewed and refreshed.
