Advent and Christmas

The Franciscan friars wish you and your family a Blessed Advent, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! Br. Gabriel Balassone, OFM, sings O Holy Night, recorded at the St. Anthony Shrine in 2014. The accompanying images in the video…

Colleen’s cherished Christmas castle decoration. In April, we moved from Ohio to Georgia. After 27 years in the same house, there was a lot of purging, selling, donating and giving things away to nieces and nephews. We are…

Mary, Gate of Heaven in Negril, Jamaica, all lit up for Advent and Christmas. Photo by Jim Bok, OFM In September 2008 I arrived as a missionary in Negril, Jamaica. October came and went and then November came…

Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year and begins on Sunday, November 28. While Advent is meant to be a time of joyful anticipation of the birth of our Savior, it is often overshadowed by the hustle and…

While 2020 has challenged us in ways we never expected, it also proved that with God, and a little help from our friends, all things are possible. With the Christmas Season upon us, there is no better time than…

The light of Advent At times in this pandemic, we’re tempted to give up. We’re tempted to think the candles of Advent have gone out. Mother Teresa, with her great work with the poor, lit a candle in Calcutta…

One of the featured nativities at A Franciscan Christmas “We stumbled upon this and were mesmerized by the lights and all the nativities,” says Diane from Montgomery, Ohio. “It’s beautiful! It’s so Christmassy and it really…

  Longing for Light You are invited to join us  for a new Advent series entitled, Longing for light, at the St. Anthony Shrine, 5000 Colerain Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45223. The three Wednesdays during Advent, we’ll gather from…

For unto you a child is born ~ Bring your friends and family to ‘A Franciscan Christmas’ in historic Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati.  Enter the courtyard of St. Francis Seraph Church on the corner of Liberty and Vine to meditate on…