Holiday traditions evolve as they are passed down from generation to generation, making holidays a little bit different for everyone. Our distinct holiday traditions have a special way of connecting us to our home, family and friends, even when we can’t celebrate together. As we head into the holiday season, members of the St. Michael’s community share their favourite family traditions and explain how they connect them to their community.
Cameron Foley is a third-year St. Mike’s student who grew up in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She’s only been able to visit home about three times in the past 20 years, but each Christmas she recalls her fond memories of Christmas on the East Coast. “We have our own Christmas carols and music, so I keep connected with home through my traditions from growing up,” said Cameron.
She shares a one-of-a-kind tradition that is making a comeback in Newfoundland—mummering. “People get dressed up in crazy outfits and go visiting from house to house and the hosts have to try to guess who their visitors are. This usually happens between Christmas Day and Old Christmas Day, which is the 6th of January. The whole point is to try to get through all the houses before anybody can guess who you are.”
The tradition’s origins are linked to Halloween and trick-or-treating. “Trick-or-treating was once a part of New Year celebrations and when the Celtic and Christian calendars were split up the traditions got kind of mixed up,” says Cameron.
Rev. Michael Bombak, Chaplain Coordinator at The Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies (MASI), looks forward to enjoying the 12 meatless dishes each year on Christmas Eve at his Baba and Dido’s house. In the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the day of the 24th would be a strict fast day that is broken when the youngest child sees the first star in the sky.
“The significance of the meatless dinner is that we remember our Lord was born in a stable with animals. We don’t eat animals on this day because they were the first to receive Christ,” he says.
Regis St. Michael’s doctoral candidate, Fr. Gustave Ineza, OP, grew up in Rwanda where the most cherished Christmas tradition is attending Mass on Christmas Day. As families enter the church, children gather around the nativity scene to greet the baby Jesus. Another beloved tradition that brings the children of the country together is staying up late to listen to the national radio broadcast.
“We would stay awake past midnight on Christmas Eve to listen to the national radio broadcast, which symbolically aired the cries of a newborn to signify the birth of Jesus. For children, this was often the moment they felt ready to drift off to sleep, comforted by the sounds of the ‘newborn Jesus,’” says Fr. Ineza.
One of Physical Plant Coordinator Angela MacAloney-Mueller’s favourite Christmas traditions brings her back to her childhood in Nova Scotia where her father worked for a lumber company. Each year he would receive a box of Pot of Gold chocolates as part of his Christmas gift from his employer. When he came home, Angela would place that box of chocolates under the tree as the first gift–marking the official start of the Christmas season. Now that she’s living in Toronto, she continues this tradition by ensuring a box of chocolates is always the first gift under the tree.
“I place a box of chocolates under [the tree], as a reminder to me of my childhood, and a way to keep my family close at this special time, even if it’s only in spirit,” she says.
Each year as we revisit our traditions we’re reconnecting with our loved ones and opening ourselves up to receive and spread love, peace and joy of the season.