December 26, 2008

Veneration

At the end of the Christmas Eve Mass, baby Jesus is again taken out of His crib to allow the congregation to welcome and venerate Him, much as the shepherds and wise men did in the Nativity story. One person holds the infant and another holds the napkin to wipe the statue after each kiss. More than one statue is presented to the congregation for this ritual, otherwise it'll be Christmas day before everyone finishes.

venerating the infant Jesus after the Christmas Eve Mass

11 comments:

NYD said...

Just curious, where do they put the baby Jesus, Mary, Joeseph and the tree wise men away after Christmas?

George said...

Very interesting. I was not aware of this tradition.

Lois said...

What a nice tradition! I too had never heard of this.

Debbie Courson Smith said...

This is new to my eyes, too, but it makes sense, everyone wants to kiss the new baby, especially this baby.

lunarossa said...

Hi Hilda, In Italy it happens exactly the same during the Christmas Eve Mass. I'm surprise that a country so far away like the Philippines share so many religious traditions with us. I suppose it must be because of the Spanish influence! Hope you had a nice Christmas. All the best. Antonella

Jill said...

Hilda -- I hope you had a wonderful Merry Christmas. I am finally back online after a long, cold power outage! Blessings to you and yours.

Tash said...

for our midnight mass, the priest places the baby Jesus in a crib by the altar. Hope your Christmas was very merry indeed.

Hilda said...

NYD:
In storage, like every other occasional and seasonal images and decorations :)

Ken Mac said...

Everyone kisses baby Jesus! Such a show of love and respect.

rob said...

Very interesting cerimony. Nothing similar in Italy.

Susie of Arabia said...

That's so interesting! Thanks for educating us...