Long ago, God placed a tree in the garden of paradise as a gift to all human beings, a tree of wisdom and knowledge and laden with every good thing. Our Christmas Tree reminds us of that tree. It reminds us of the blessings Jesus Christ brings at his coming, blessings of kindness and care. He brought us these blessings through the Tree of his Cross.
So we thank God at this time, remembering the birth of his Son.
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Lord our God,
the heavens are works of your hands,
the moon and stars you made;
the earth and sea, and every living creature came into being
by your word. And all of us, too.
May this tree cheer this house
Through Jesus Christ, your good, holy Son
who brings life and beauty to us and to our world.
Lighting this tree, we hope in his promise.
Reading today. Homily today. Christmas material for children here.
A beautiful prayer for a Christmas tree lighting. Father, did you or do you make these prayers available when you go to parishes and present ideas on Advent and Christmas. Email is great, but I like books and I wonder if you ever published a book with all your St. Nicholas, Advent, and Christmas prayers, customs and rituals families could make their own. One of my friends gave me a little black book of prayers a few days ago and guess who compiled the prayers. I gave it to a young woman who works with troubled girls.