St. Mary Child Care Center Learns about the Epiphany
At the beginning of the New Year, Mission Leader Gail Jones taught the children about the Feast of the Epiphany (the little Christmas) which recognizes the visit of the three wise men to to the Holy Family. A beautiful tradition that has been inspired by this event is the New Year’s blessing of the home. Blessed chalk is used to write 20+C+M+B+23 above the entrance door(s) of a home: (in the case of the child care center, it was the main entrance to SMCCC and each classroom entrance.)
The meaning of the inscription is: 20 and 23 represent the year. C, M, and B represent the Three Magi: Casper, Melchior, and Balthasar.
Sourced from SMCCC’s Facebook page.
OLSH Lights up the Giving Tree
Students participated in the annual Giving Tree at OLSH. The OLSH community donated 259 gifts for Operation Toy Soldier and 57 gift cards to be shared with Our Lady’s Pantry and Hopebound – Mooncrest Neighborhood Programs. The whole project occurred as a result of student leadership. Student leaders from the St. Lucy’s Guild completed the Giving Tree as their service project.
Sourced from OLSH’s Facebook page.
The Sounds of the Season at Villa Maria College
Villa Maria College and CARE, a theatre education program out of the Cleveland Playhouse, hosted a Christmas concert on Friday, December 15. The concert, entitled “A Silent Night in Advent,” took place in Villa Maria’s recital hall. All proceeds from the event benefitted St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy, a non-profit mission in the Roman Catholic tradition on the East Side of Buffalo.
Sourced from VMC’s website (link above).
Angela Hospice‘s Tree of Life
Angela Hospice provided the opportunity for the community to participate in its Tree of Life. Community members are invited to head to the Angel Tree Cottage which has all the supplies needed to create angels for the tree. The tree allows for people to create angels in honor of loved ones that they have lost and stands on the Angela Hospice grounds.
Sourced from AH’s Facebook page.
St. Anne’s Family Services Spreads Christmas Joy
St. Anne’s Family Services wanted to ensure that every child and family experienced joy at Christmas and worked to secure donations of Christmas gifts from their local community. With the help of generous gifters and volunteer gift-wrappers, St. Anne’s made a lot of Christmas wishes come true.
You can view an uplifting video from the event on St. Anne’s Facebook page here.
