Christmas Day in Exile

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The Eastern Catholic spends the four days prior to Christmas in Church.
It is exhausting because in the Eastern Church, there are few chairs, and no kneelers. As in Saint Peter’s Basilica, there are no pews.
Our family tends to stand in the back so that we can watch the gestures that are used in the Liturgy, such as fully bowing during the “Gloria” and lying prostrate during the consecration of the Eucharist. We are just starting to know what to do, and beginning to appreciate the purpose of these unfamiliar gestures.
Vatican II documents, specifically Sacrosanctum Concilium, desire that Catholics fully participate in the Liturgy, hence the reform of the Liturgy. Pope Benedict XVI has written extensively on this subject, and now I am beginning to understand why. At the end of the last four days, I felt as though I had participated in a Charismatic Revival. I felt renewed, and my love of Christ had been “refreshed”.
One of my concerns since we have been here is that there are no Catechism classes or Bible Studies. That may sound strange. The Liturgy is where you are catechized, Bible Studied and even where you learn to chant.
That means that there are no afternoon CCD classes for kids or Adults. But don’t worry; the bases have been covered in Hours, Vespers, Compline, and Liturgy. The Genealogy of Christ begins on the Sunday before Christmas.
The precursors to the Blessed Trinity, The Holy Youths, are honored and an Icon of them not being consumed in the fire is venerated for the entire week prior to Christmas day. The Antiphons (they are the called Kantakion in the Eastern Church) are chanted honoring Christ’s entire ancestral lines are completed on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning ths Icon is replaced by one of The Nativity.
Christmas Eve also ends the fast. Kids do not wake up in the morning Christmas morning and open presents, they head directly to Church.
Four hours later, we had a big MEATY breakfast, opened gifts, and had a big MEATY dinner. Everything in its right order.
How “Byzantine”.