Images of Christmas & Advent 2022

11.12.2022

Christmas 2022 Greetings From Father Christian

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wird aus Datenschutzgründen erst nach expliziter Zustimmung angezeigt.

Click on the "Inhalt anzeigen" button above to see Father Christian Enke's holiday blessings from in front of the Neapolitan Christmas creche/crib at St. Leonhard's that dates from the 1700s

The St. Leonhard's Christmas Creche

Some 40 handcrafted figures made in Naples in the 1700s are on display in St. Leonhard's Christmas creche (Christmas crib), which is open to the public from Christmas weekend 2022 until Feb. 2, 2023, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Nearby is a candle lit with the flame of a peace candle in Bethlehem that's transferred to Europe in a project of Germany's Scouts organizations and Austrian state broadcaster ORF. Click on the photo below for a gallery of pictures.

© Photo: T. Lavell/International English-Speaking Parish

Figures' clothing have been restored in the past decade

© Photo: T. Lavell/International English-Speaking ParishThe candle lit with the flame of the Peace Candle in Bethlehem is placed near the creche at St. Leonhard's

St. Nicholas celebration at St. Mary's

Parishioners attending St. Mary's in Liederbach (with our parish priest Father Christian Enke, center) received chocolates and enjoyed some warm drinks after Mass on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022 in a commemoration of the Feast of St. Nicholas the previous week.

Candle Labyrinth for Gaudete Sunday

Our hosts at the Holy Cross Center for Christian Meditation & Spirituality have a tradition of arranging a labyrinth of candles on the church floor for the weekend of the Third Sunday of Advent, (Gaudete Sunday), and on Dec. 11, 2022, the International English-Speaking Parish held Mass in this special contemplative atmosphere. Click on the photo below for a range of pictures.

© Photo: T. Lavell/International English-Speaking ParishPastoral Associate Lori Bemb (foreground) and parishioners lit the candles before the English-language Mass

© Photo: T. Lavell/International English-Speaking ParishBrother Anil Suthi OFMCap, a priest of the Capuchin religious order in Frankfurt, was the Mass presider

© Photo: L. Bemb/International English-Speaking Parish

Annual Philippines Marian Festival

Filipino parishioners held their yearly festival tied to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, with a procession by the congregation to honor a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, hymns in Tagalog and a pot-luck meal at the after-Mass social at Holy Cross on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. Our former pastor, Monsignor Stephen Alker, celebrated the Mass.

Parishioners in a procession at the start of Mass brought a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, along with a Marian banner, to the front of the church

© Photo: B. DimaunahanBefore Mass, the Filipino community prepared the parish hall for the traditional pot-luck festival meal that follows the service

© Photo: L. Bemb/International English-Speaking ParishMonsignor Stephen Alker at the altar

© Photo: L. Bemb/International English-Speaking ParishMonsignor Alker says grace over the buffet at the start of the after-Mass pot-luck social

Video views of the music during the Fillipino Festival Mass

The choir, led by music director Connie Horne, performed Marian and Advent hymns in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines, at the Mass.

Musical reflections on preparations for Christmas

© Photo: L. Bemb/International English-Speaking ParishBrother Paulus Terwitte OFMCap, of the Capuchin community based at Liebfrauenkirche, provided meditations highlighting the hymns' themes of waiting and preparing for the coming of Jesus.

The International English-Speaking Parish choir, led by music director Connie Horne, sang hymns in English and Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines) at Liebfrauenkirche in central Frankfurt on Dec. 4 as that church revived its nightly Advent concert & prayer series for 2022. Click on the photo at right for some pictures, and on the link below for some video excerpts from the concert.