O Come Let Us Adorn Him: Contemplating Your Christmas Tree

Everyone puts up a Christmas tree: families in rural areas wave axes wildly in the forest, urban families drag evergreens through muddy streets, college students hang earrings from fiber-optic tree-shaped devices, and anyone with a smartphone can download a Christmas tree simulator to carry around in his pocket. But why the obsession? Is it all about the decoration? Is that it? Is that all? This Sunday, Br. Patrick Mary Briscoe, O.P., continues the “Symbols of the Season” series of Advent talks, exploring perhaps the most visually familiar aspect of the Christmas celebration. His talk is entitled “O Come Let Us Adorn Him: Contemplating Your Christmas Tree.” In Washington, D.C., the talk is on Sunday night at 7:30 P.M. at the Dominican House of Studies, 487 Michigan Ave NE. In Charlottesville, the talk is on Sunday morning at 10:30 A.M. at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, 401 Alderman Rd. Fliers with complete listings of the talk titles in the series can be found here for Washington, and here for Charlottesville. Previous installments in the series are also available in audio form: Br. Raymund Snyder, O.P.’s talk on “Season’s Greetings: Unpacking the Liturgy of Festive Cliché” here, and Br. Gregory Pine, O.P.’s talk on “The Xmas Soundtrack: Rudolph, Frosty, and Man’s Search for Meaning” here.