The world calls us to celebrate Christmas on 25 December, for many it is a one-day event…with lead-up preparation time beginning right at Halloween. Usually one can see Christmas trees discarded at the curb around January 1. However, for the Church, and for important reasons, we celebrate 12 days of Christmas—and it is more than a song

According to Catholic tradition and belief, the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, is rooted in a unique and sacred family unit. Accordingly, Jesus is the Son of God who took on human form and was born to the Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, in the first preface of Christmas, it speaks of God being invisible in nature and begotten before all time, now visible in our nature and exists in time

Advent Leaves… As we say goodbye to Advent, where we have considered the practice of our faith in our lives and in the world around us, we consider how in the New Year we can experience new ways to bring our faith to life through our words and deeds....In Addition, Christmas Cometh

“Joy, Joy, Joy down in my heart.” A Joyful Sunday. The Third Sunday of Advent, know n as Gaudete Sunday, from which the word “gaudete” is derived from the Latin words “gaudium,” joy, and “gaudeo,” to rejoice or be glad. Gaudete Sunday occurs eight to thirteen days before Christmas.

Once again, our Advent Giving Trees are in our parish’s vestibule and atrium, replete with envelopes noting our beneficiaries for this year’s charitable giving: the Knights of Malta House of Care and our parish’s own Neighbors in Need fund. St. Catherine of Siena Parish has a long tradition of being a generous and compassionate people. She has long supported the local residents of the greater Hartford area with needs from food insufficiencies, to help with electricity bills, to heat in the cold winter, to repairs for the automobiles so they can continue to work and more.

Beginning the Church's liturgical year, Advent (from, "ad-venire" in Latin or "to come to") is the season encompassing the four Sundays (and weekdays) leading up to the celebration of Christmas. In 2023, Advent begins on Sunday, 3 December and the Season ends on Sunday, 24 December. The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time AND to the anniversary of Our Lord’s birth on Christmas.