I love Nativity scenes. I currently have only a simple set, inexpensive. But I set it up every Christmas during Advent sans the manger and Christ Child which I place in the scene on Christmas Eve after dinner and sometimes at midnight. Depends on whether or not I’m attending Midnight Mass. This year I was ill (sarcoidosis, not the flu or anything contagious) during most of Advent and I didn’t get to go to Mass for the 2nd, 3rd or 4th Sundays of Advent and not for Midnight Mass either. I also lost my voice so I couldn’t even sing Christmas carols at home. Oy!

But I did manage to decorate the house last Saturday just a few days before Christmas. I’ve got stringing lights and garland on the front porch down to an art and this year I even threw a few lights on the shrubs in the flower bed. A small artificial tree on the table in the breakfast nook and a few other things here and there completed the look.

Then on Christmas Eve after the family dinner was over (and a very fine dinner it was, too, thanks to my sister and her husband!) and everyone had left or had gone to bed, I said a blessing for the Nativity scene and placed the Christ Child in the center. The three wise men are in the den, making their way on their journey to Bethlehem. They’re due to arrive on the feast of the Epiphany and then I’ll take the decorations down until next year.

But I may leave the lights in my room a bit longer. My older dog Abby hates those lights (or any lights when she’s trying to sleep) but I like ’em so I’m gonna keep ’em. For a little while. In the bleak midwinter a few little lights can bring a big smile. And I have a photo of my Nativity set to keep me company until Advent next year. Who knows? Maybe this coming year I’ll get an outdoor set for the yard.

Hope your Christmas season is a happy and blessed one wherever you are. Peace be with you now and throughout the coming year.