Every year for major church seasons (Lent, Easter, Christmas) my church has purchased several devotionals/meditations to correspond to the seasons readings.   My favorite are always the Little Books from the Diocese of Saginaw.

They are very simple little books.   The Christmas book is called the Little Blue Book and this year it covers the Infancy Narrative of Luke.   It is small, about 4 x 7 (estimate–I didn’t measure) and is about 50 pages long, with a blank solid blue cover.   This tiny little book packs a big spiritual punch during the season of Advent and Christmas.   It provides for 6 minutes with God from the first day of Advent (11.29) until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (1.10).

I think the introduction says it best:

HOW TO USE THE LITTLE BLUE BOOK

Six minutes a day.

That’s what you’re asked to give during these next 43 days — the 26 days of Advent and the 17 days of the Christmas season.

Each 24-hour day has 240 “six minute” packages. During the Advent and Christmas seasons, you’re asked to give one of those to the Lord.

The key is the right-hand page.  On that page each day (except Sundays), we’ll walk through the first part of Luke’s Gospel a little bit at a time.

The left hand page is like a buffet table with a variet of thoughts about the Advent and Christmas seasons, the feast of the day, and various traditions and customs.

Start with either page, as you wish.

(Some of our Sundays are a little different this year.  They are reflections that are spread over two pages, beginning on the left-hand side and continuting on the right-hand side.)

Al of this provides the framework for you to enjoy one of our oldest traditions of prayer called Lectio Devina — sacred reading.  We take a short Scripture package and simply let God speak to us through the words, guiding us to reflections that sometimes seem to come from nowhere.

People are often surprised at how easy it is to pray this way, and how deep such prayer can be.

It can change your day…change your life.

As part of my 30 day Giving Challenge, I have purchased 3 of these booklets from the diocese to give away.   I will close this giveaway on at midnight on  11.22 so that it can arrive in time to be used on the first Sunday of Advent.

To enter, simply leave me a comment telling me your favorite religious Christmas season tradition.  That’s it.  No extra entries for various social media this time.  This is solely for sharing my favorite religious holiday resource with three lucky readers.

Thank you and God bless!

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  1. Tanja Cilia
    15 November 2009 at 6:55 AM (14 years ago)

    In Malta we have the grotto; it’s like a series of caves made out of brownpaper soaked in glue and then crumpled so it holds its shape, and placed on a base. We have tiny figurines of the Holy Family in the main cave, and shepherds, angels, etc, placed here and there. The Three Kings and their retinue are at the very edges and they move forward a pace a day – at Christmas (against tradition!) they arrive at the Crib!

  2. Lisa Seeber
    14 November 2009 at 2:47 AM (14 years ago)

    Midnight mass . . . at midnight. With 5 little ones 5 and under we don’t always get to go but some of my best memories are of going to mass and coming outside afterwards outside to lightly falling snow. I will never forget the last Christmas I shared with a dear friend in the military–as he drove me home we stopped and watched the northern lights for an hour–it was like God was celebrating in a visible way with us!

  3. Marie
    9 November 2009 at 1:58 PM (14 years ago)

    My favorite Advent tradition is lighting the advent wreath after dinner together and having my husband read the prayer and reflection for that day. It is such a wonderful way to focus the meaning of the season as well at create anticipation for Christmas day as you watch the candles get smaller and smaller.

    God bless!

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