Christmas

“What’s the best Christmas prayer you have ever experienced?”

“The holly jolly is all the accoutrement of Christmas that has virtually nothing to do with the Christ Child’s arrival. It is all the stuff that, well, really ticked off the Grinch.”

For nearly 30 years, the Cookie Connection tradition has brought Christmas cheer to the homebound or those unable to bake. This year, however, the tradition changed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The churches of St. Anthony in Watkins and Assumption in Eden Valley will host an outdoor depiction of the Nativity story. “The Story of Jesus’ Birth: A Drive Through Christmas Event,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 23.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to limit the ways worshippers can safely gather, the diocese, parishes and area religious communities are doing what they can to make Christmas Mass accessible to all.

Four years after “The Vatican Cookbook” became a best-seller by revealing the secrets of the papal palate, authors David Geisser and Thomas Kelly have a sequel geared specifically for the holiday season in “The Vatican Christmas Cookbook.”

The Diocese of St. Cloud has recorded a Christmas Mass that will be available online at www.stcdio.org/TVMass. The Mass will also air on select local access cable channels on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, who served in the Holy Land for the last six years, explains the challenges, exacerbated due to the pandemic, that Christians face there.