December is the Month of the Divine Infancy & the Immaculate Conception / Update

UPDATE: I’ve been very busy prepping for my ADVENT OF THE HEART prayer groups. You may know I got a sprained ankle while in Rome and that was slowing me down…now, as soon as the ankle got better, a neuroma popped up in the same foot. This is a swollen nerve and is very painful. I have no idea how long this will last or what the course of treatment will be. So again, I am slowed down. Since the intense last-minute planning of the trip in September, my life has not been “normal.” I am very joyful however, about the Advent prayer groups and they are going very well. One is at a church (see our new “Meetings/Events” button above and one is at a Catholic store (by invitation only, as it is a very small space-this is actually a brief presentation at an existing prayer group, each of the 4 weeks of Advent).

Hopefully in January, my condition will be improved and I can continue to move forward in my life, as was the plan after passing through the Holy Door at Saint Peter’s Basilica. I am still thinking about what this blog will look like next year, how it will evolve, as I am simultaneously bringing this ministry into the real physical world. So we are in flux. And that is good, because the whole world is in flux and we must respond to that. Adaptability and willingness to change is an important prepper tenet. I think those who are attuned to things feel it is time to be moving, shaking, re-thinking and morphing. We will be given the knowledge and grace.

Consider doing the ADVENT OF THE HEART program at home, scroll down for the post on this. Also, check out our topics to the right>>>Advent and Christmas Season!

Here are some notable feasts this month in both the trad and the post-con calendars…

8th-IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, Holy Day of Obligation, USA

10th-OUR LADY OF LORETO

12th-OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

17th-Ember Wednesday of Advent (trad meat at one meal)

19th-Ember Friday of Advent

20th-Ember Saturday of Advent (trad meat at one meal)

24th-VIGIL OF THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD (trad day of fast)

25th-NATIVITY OF OUR LORD, Holy Day of Obligation

28th-THE HOLY FAMILY

Remember the 12 Days of Christmas leading up to Epiphany and the Epiphany Blessing of the Home.

Wishing all our readers and your families great Advent and Christmas blessings!

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy & the Immaculate Conception

How exciting!  We enter a new Liturgical Year, the Season of Advent and the traditional Cycle of Christmas, when we meditate upon the Mystery of the Incarnation.  Unlike our cultural norms of indulgence and attending party after party, we who devoutly observe Advent, know this is a time of preparation and waiting.  We do not celebrate until Christ is born.  Until then, we make ourselves ready by performing penance and good deeds.  Joy is always greater when there has been some discipline preceding the event.

We commemorate the Divine Infancy this month as we prepare to celebrate Our Blessed Lord’s Nativity.  As well, we honor Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the United States of America.  With all the need presently in this country, let us flee to her in prayer, beseeching many graces.  The feast of the Immaculate Conception remains on December 8th in the trad calendar.  In the new, it has been transferred to the 9th and is a Holy Day of Obligation. 

Where can you get a good 2025 liturgical calendar?  At Nomen Christi Apostolate, we represent unity between traditional Catholics and those who attend the Novus Ordo.  Therefore we look at both calendars and when composing these monthly reviews, refer to both.  Admittedly, this can be confusing.  We recommend you choose the calendar you prefer and have it in your home to advise you of feasts each month…or hang both calendars!  Many parishes distribute calendars for free.  As for a trad calendar, here's a good one, which will also support the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter:

Fraternity Publications 2025 Liturgical Calendar

Let us remember the Ember Days of Advent on the 18th, 20th and 21st.  This is great time to do Christmas crafts with children, incorporating winter themes.  Encouraging children to perform acts of charity on these days would also be in keeping with the penitential character of the Ember Days, along with Advent.

A most Blessed Christmas and Christmas Season to all!

SAINT ANDREW CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment
in which the Son of God was born
of the most pure Virgin Mary,
at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.
In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee,
O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires
through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ,
and of His blessed Mother.

Amen.

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy & the Immaculate Conception / December Prepper Challenge!

December is such an interesting ecclesiastical month, I hardly know where to start.  It’s chock full of every kind of feast…Our Blessed Lord, Our Lady, well-known saints, Doctors of the Church, martyrs, visionaries, 1st Century saints, Old Testament Patriarchs, the Holy Family and even Adam & Eve, an “historical” feast, on Christmas Eve.  As if that’s not enough, we also celebrate the Ember Days of Winter the week before Christmas.  And don’t forget the joyful Gaudete Sunday, the 3rd Sundy of Advent.  And Advent itself, of course!

To be clear, we discuss both trad and new feasts and the traditional calendar is below.  We will place our focus on a few feasts…

The 1st Sunday of Advent is this coming Sunday, the 3rd.  This is the beginning of the new Liturgical Year and the beginning of the Cycle of Christmas, when we await the birth of Our Savior and prepare spiritually for this great Holy Day.  On the 8th, we honor the Immaculate Conception of Mary (Patroness of the USA), a Holy Day of Obligation.  This solemnity falls on a Friday this year, so no penance is required.  Our Lady of Loreto is the 10th and Our Lady of Guadalupe the 12th. 

The Ember Days are days of prayer and penance to obtain mercy for the coming season.  As the Ember Days concern themselves with nature, it’s a particularly nice time to do crafts with children.  In this case, it can be combined with Christmas in all kinds of creative ways.  Come up with your own ideas…maybe you could even arrange a day at your parish for these activities. 

I don’t suppose I have to remind anyone about Christmas on the 25th.  But let us celebrate as holy a Christmas as we can this year, as the world continues to spiral into a plethora of polycrises.

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December Prepper Challenge

Speaking of polycrises, how about a challenge this month?  Yes, it’s Christmastime, but unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the problems in the world take a vacation.  In a month, these progressive issues, many of which are exponential in nature (speeds up over time), will be one month closer to the critical point.  That’s why action must be taken now, Christmastime or not.  The greatest gift you can give your loved ones, besides spiritual encouragement, is preparedness. 

Let us take the 2 themes of this month as inspiration, Mother and Child.  As life gets more difficult, the vulnerable will be in greater need.  We cannot help them until we help ourselves.  We must be in a strong position to help our neighbors.  We must prepare because too many are not.  We will be held accountable.  As Chris Martenson says, we will be asked one day:

“When did you see?  What did you do about it?”

If you still don’t see the need to prepare for the coming days, pray to the Holy Ghost for an illumination.

15 Points Preparedness Worksheet

Please print our worksheet above and choose 5 points to begin working on this month.  We encourage you to involve your family, discuss it together, and write out the most important things you agree should be done.  Feel free to email us with your progress and we may share your comments.  You might also think about printing a copy for your loved ones as a Christmas gift.  Roll it up with a red or green ribbon.  I guarantee they won’t get this from anyone else!  Good luck and you all will be in our prayers!

Here is the traditional Catholic calendar for December:  calefactory.org