May your blessing be upon all who gather around this tree, all who keep the Christmas festival by its lights. We wait for the coming of the Christ, the days of everlasting justice and of peace.

Lord hear my prayer. All. And let my cry come unto Thee ... then it is time to bless the crib and eat Christmas Eve supper.

In the end, it is safe to say, many of us would have died in childbirth so, despite natural childbirth accomplished without so much as an aspirin, it is such a blessing to know that we have ...