Celebrating Christmas at the Monastery

The fact that monastic life follows a different rhythm than the rest of the world becomes very apparent at Christmas. Most people begin celebrating the Christmas season the week after Thanksgiving, with holiday parties beginning in early December, and by December 26—or, at least, by New Year’s Day—they are ready to take down the tree and be done with celebrating. In the monastery, on the other hand, the weeks leading up to December 25 are devoted to the reflective season of Advent, and the Christmas season is celebrated from December 25 until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which in the year 2017 is celebrated on January 9.

After 54 years of being immersed in secular holiday rhythms, I have needed to adjust to the monastic practice of giving Advent my full attention and extending the Christmas season long into the new year; in addition, I have learned the various traditions associated with celebrating Christmas at the Mount (hutzelbrot, anyone?). My decision to enter the monastery reflected a desire to approach life differently, but as Christine Valters Paintner notes, that desire has consequences: “Our intention is to see things from a new perspective, but the paradox is that this longing requires us to relinquish our usual ways of relating to the world.” This year, to my regret, it was necessary for me to relinquish a traditional Christmas breakfast with family and time visiting close friends in St. Louis during the holiday season. On the other hand, after spending Advent and Christmas at the Mount, I have a greater appreciation for the immensity of the incarnation and its implications and thus a deeper sense of peace in spite of the turbulence in the world.

Rather than being ready for Christmas to end, it now seems right to extend our celebration of such a momentous occasion in human history—the coming of the Bread of Life and Hope of the World. So, until next Monday, I continue to wish you a Merry Christmas!