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Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi: Saint Francis, Wisconsin
The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi is a Roman Catholic religious order for women whose mother house is in St. Francis, Wisconsin, in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The order was founded in 1849 at the request of Archbishop J. Martin Henni. He recruited a small group of lay third-order Franciscans from Bavaria to become missionaries to the growing number of German-speaking immigrants in Milwaukee. Over the years the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi (as they became known) helped to staff and support St. Francis Seminary, and in the 1870s, began their ministry of teaching, eventually working across the country.
Following Vatican II, with its charge to reexamine the missions and practices of religious orders, the sisters branched out into many other ministries. They moved from an enclosed life to a life of immersion in the world, desiring to bring God into the world through their own personal involvement in the needs of society. Today many remain teachers at various educational levels, others serve as pastoral ministers, social workers, medical professionals, interpreters, administrators, musicians, and artists; they proudly carry forward the dependence on God, prayerfulness, simplicity, and hospitality which marked their foundation well over a century ago.
Christmas
Christmas is the annual feast commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, over 2000 years ago. For Christians, it is not just a single day (December 25), but an extended liturgical season of joy and celebration, involving many different symbols and traditions, special music and activities, which vary significantly among different countries and cultures. For religiously observant Christians, the Christmas Season begins at sunset on Christmas Eve, December 24, and lasts from 12 days to 40 days. In some ecclesial traditions the Christmas Season might end on January 6 (the traditional date of the Feast of the Epiphany); in others it might last until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (usually the Sunday after Epiphany), or might even last all the way to February 2 (the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, 40 days after December 25). January 6, usually celebrated as Epiphany, carries different significance in various church traditions. Due to different calendars in use in various eras and locations of the church, some cultures and church traditions celebrate Christmas on January 6 (in the older Julian calendar still used as the religious calendar in Eastern Churches, January 6 corresponds to December 24 on the modern Gregorian calendar).
Although we cannot know the exact date of Jesus' birth, it has been celebrated on December 25 since the early fourth century, when most of the Roman Empire adopted the Christian religion. It replaced the mid-winter Roman festival of "the birth of the sun god" (sol invictus), celebrated just after the winter solstice.
Etymologically, the word "Christmas" derives from Old English "Cristes mæsse" (literally "Christ's festival"). It is similar to Dutch Kerstmis, but is significantly different in derivation and meaning in many other European languages: German Weihnachten ("Blessed Night"), Italian Natale, Spanish Navidad, French Noël (all ultimately derived from Latin natalis, "birth"), and Scandinavian jul (from which is derived the English yule).
The official liturgical color of the Christmas Season for most Churches is white or gold, not green and red, as many people assume because of their prevalence in secular celebrations.
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