Decking the halls

I know, I know...Christmas does not begin until December 25.  It's not the Christmas season until then, we are in the midst of Advent.  However, as a school, we are never around for most of Christmas and it's important as a school community to celebrate that season when we can.  So we will play a balancing act this Advent by focusing on the 4 weeks of preparation while also celebrating Christmas as a community.

So today our big wreath was put up on the front of the school above the main entrance thanks to Mr. Clement and Mr. Poisson of our Physical Plant.  Tomorrow myself and Mrs. Tortolini, our administrative assistant, will be setting up the nativity set in the main office display window.  I went shopping at Michael's today for some items - if you ever want to see me out of my element, follow me around a craft shop like Michael's.  Yikes.  I also will be putting up a tree in Campus Ministry with homemade ornaments from our students, playing Christmas music, and showing Christmas movies during lunch.

On December 7, our choir and band will perform their annual Christmas concert which will feature a Living Nativity and the reading of the Nativity story from the Gospel of Saint Luke.  

For Advent, we will have a couple of prayer services in the Saint Basil Chapel for our students during their Theology classes as well as two Masses (Immaculate Conception and our Advent/Christmas Mass on our last day of school). Our morning prayers will also be Advent "themed" and we will have Advent candles in the chapel.  I also switched over the altar cloth in our chapel to purple.

Lots to do in so little time!