During Advent, Catholics prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ while also looking forward to his second coming. And across the worldwide Catholic Church, diverse cultural traditions help us celebrate this holy season, according to “Building Intercultural Competence,” a document from the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity.
Elizabeth Johnston, coordinator of life issues and cultural ministries for the Diocese of Rochester, likened the diversity of local cultural expressions of Catholicism to “a symphony where each different instrument adds to the beauty of the musical piece, yet the piece is still one.”
A season of remembrance and thanksgiving
At Rochester’s Immaculate Conception Parish, for example, the Black Catholic community celebrates the “season of thankfulness” beginning on All Souls Day and throughout the Advent season, noted Lynn Fulmore, a parish council member.
Parish children are invited to light the candles of the Advent wreath at Masses, she said, and families emphasize sharing meals with traditional foods that are staples of the African American cultural experience. Such dishes as collard greens and black-eyed peas remind Black families of the history of slavery but also express respect for the generations who have come before, she noted.
“It’s a season of togetherness, honoring those who have passed on,” Fulmore said, adding that chairs are set aside at meals for family members who have died.
Lithuanian tradition honors community and family bonds
Similarly, a Lithuanian Christmas Eve tradition holds an empty seat at the table for anyone who has died in the past year, explained Lina Mitchell, a parishioner at St. Anne Church in Rochester.
Mitchell said the Lithuanian Christmas Eve meal, Kūčios, traditionally is shared in people’s homes after a day of fasting. As an expression of parish life, a Kūčios dinner will be presented at St. Anne’s Dec. 20 after a noon Mass said in Lithuanian, she said.
Mitchell’s mother, Rūta Gečas, explained that 12 meatless dishes representing the Twelve Apostles are prepared for Kucios. Among the dishes are herring, compote, beets, a poppyseed milk soup, and winter vegetables, she said.
Additionally, the meal is spread on a white tablecloth with fresh hay underneath as a reminder that Jesus was born in a stable, Mitchell explained. Tradition calls for diners to pull strands of hay, with the longest strand portending good luck in the new year, she added.
One of the most iconic symbols at the Kūčios meal is the sharing of blessed wafers, Gečas said. Printed with scenes from the Nativity story, these wafers are shared among those present as a sign of community and family bonds.
Old-world Advent tradition practiced in Polish Catholic community in Rochester
Such old-world traditions also continue in the Polish community at Rochester’s St. Stanislaus Kostka Church.
Every Saturday morning in Advent, Rorate Caeli Masses are celebrated, said Magdalena Wnuk, parish secretary and business manager.
She said the Rorate Mass is a medieval Advent tradition that takes its name from the first word of the Entrance Antiphon from Isaiah: “Rorate, caeli, desuper, et nubes pluant iustum.”(“Drop down dew, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.”)
Traditionally, the Rorate Mass would begin before dawn every day in Advent, with the sunrise symbolizing “the coming of the Eternal Light, whom we await during the Advent season,” Wnuk said.
Today, the tradition has been adapted to parish life with a procession into the darkened church at 8 a.m. on Saturdays with hand-held lanterns, she said. Advent’s dawn anticipates the light of the world at Christmas.
The Holy Family are pilgrims of hope
In this time of Advent’s darkness waiting for the light, Hispanic communities honor the Blessed Virgin Mary on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12.
Father Jesús Flores, diocesan coordinator of migrant ministry, said nearly all communities of Hispanic heritage celebrate the appearances of the Blessed Virgin to St. Juan Diego.
On the feast day, Masses, processions and celebrations with singing, dance and fellowship will take place in Marion, Geneva and Brockport, Father Flores said in an email to the Catholic Courier.
A few days later, Las Posadas, a longstanding Mexican tradition, runs from Dec. 16-24. Posada is Spanish for inn or lodging.
Each night at dusk, neighbors re-enact the Holy Family’s search for a place to stay by processing from door to door in the neighborhood. A different family welcomes the pilgrims each night.
“In the United States, this Mexican tradition has extended to many other Latin American communities, perhaps due to identification with the migration experience of the Holy Family,” Mar Muñoz-Visoso wrote in an article on the U.S. bishops’ website.
Filipino Advent tradition lasts nine days
Filipinos also have a nine-day Advent tradition.
“Simbang Gabi” is a novena (nine days) of Masses said at dawn from Dec. 16-24, according to Annabelle Sutter, an active member of the Filipino Catholic community and a parishioner at St. Lawrence Church in Greece.
Simbang Gabi Masses will be celebrated at three diocesan churches throughout the nine days — St. Patrick in Victor, St. Anne in Rochester and St. Cecelia in Irondequoit. Some of the liturgies will be said in Tagalog, the language of the Philippines.
Shirley Cirillo, a Filipina parishioner of the Southeast Rochester Catholic Community, added that parols — lanterns representing the Star of Bethlehem — will be carried in procession and recession for the Simbang Gabi Masses. These lanterns are traditionally five-pointed stars that represent the light that is Jesus coming into the world, she explained.
Sutter added that carrying the parols as part of the celebration of Mass is fitting to the Jubilee Year 2025 theme of Pilgrims of Hope.”
Cultural bonds strengthen faith
Sutter said “the Advent traditions of the Filipinos are rich in faith, community and spirit,” and Cirillo noted that practicing them helps the community maintain their identity and the richness of their culture.
Mitchell echoed the importance of faith, community and culture, noting that her Lithuanian parents carried their traditions with them after escaping Europe after World War II.
“My culture, my heritage it’s a part of me. It’s who I am,” she said, noting that she has passed along the faith traditions of her heritage to her own young-adult children.
Tags: Black Catholics, Christmas, Feast Days & Saints
