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December 6th, 2008
St. Nicholas
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Advent Fast Fact
Saint Nicholas of Myra, a Greek Christian bishop of the fourth century, is the primary inspiration for Santa Claus. Nicholas was famous for his generosity to the poor. In the most famous story, he gave an impoverished faithful Christian man dowries for his three daughters, so they would not have to become prostitutes. A more legendary version of the story has St. Nicholas throwing a gold bar through the window when each daughter needed her dowry. With the last daughter, the window was closed, and rather than break the glass, he climbed to the roof and threw the gold bar down the chimney.
Today’s Prize is: a Sirius-XM Hat and Knapsack.
This day’s contest…
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December 5th, 2008
"Visions of Sugar-Plums?"
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Advent Eating…
"…While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads" — from "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (better known as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas)
What the heck are “sugar-plums” anyway?
Sugarplums are simply dried, sugared plums. In the Victorian era, they were most popular as a Christmas treat, but were also served year-round. The technique of creating sugarplums is very time-consuming, but not too hard.
Summer, when plums are ripe but firm, is the best time to make your own. Many gourmet stores carry sugarplums—but, according to food expert Arthur Schwartz, it is better to buy them from Europe.…
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December 4th, 2008
Who created manger scenes?
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Advent Fast Fact
St. Francis often gets credit for creating the Nativity scene. However, his scenes were live ones—with real animals, real straw and a real trough. Modest Nativity scenes include, at minimum, a manger—sometimes known as a crèche or crib—which was a feeding trough for animals. (Some say this is so because Jesus came to offer himself as food for all creation.) Home nativity scenes usually have little figurines and can fit on a mantelpiece with relative ease. Some people choose to put them under their Christmas tree to symbolize God’s gift to all of us in the birth of Jesus.
Amazingly, many pet owners report that, each Christmas, their dog always sits right near…
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December 3rd, 2008
Ho, Ho, Ho, Ay?
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Advent Fast Fact
Canada Post, tired of seeing too many letters addressed to Santa end up in the dead letter files, came up with an ingenious solution.
Postal codes in Canada consist of six characters, alternating letter-number. For example, an address in Toronto might have a postal code of M6G 2M1.
The good folks at Canada Post assigned Santa his own postal code: H0H 0H0.
Since 1982, over one million letters per year mailed using that code have received an answer from one of 11,000 retired or current Canada post employees.
Today’s Prize is: a Sirius-XM Hat and Knapsack.
This day’s contest is over. The winner was: Carol R. of Lacey, WA
If you enter our drawing using the form…
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December 2nd, 2008
Surprising others this Christmas...
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 While we are all warm and snuggly around a family fireplace, men and women are serving our country in the war-torn Middle East.
BustedHalo is asking their readers to send phone cards to soldiers this year so they can call their loved ones at home on Christmas.
There are two different ways that you can send phone cards to troops:
If there is a soldier that you know, and you have their full name and address:
You can order a card through AAFES. AAFES is the Army Air Force Exchange Services, basically a store on base that also has an online catalogue. Their link is: https://thor.aafes.com/scs/default.aspx.
You can also send a card through a non-profit organization. (Military branches…
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December 1st, 2008
Sartre
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 Advent Quotable
While serving in the French army in 1940, Jean-Paul Sartre, the existentialist philosopher and playwright, was captured by Germans and placed in a prisoner of war camp. Before Christmas, a fellow-prisoner named Paul Feller who was a Jesuit, persuaded Sartre to write a Christmas play for the Christians imprisoned with them. By 1940, Sartre—who had been baptized a Catholic—was a declared atheist, but he agreed to the request out of a sense of solidarity with the other prisoners. The following is a brief excerpt from the resulting play, called “Bar-Jona,” in which Sartre offers a moving reflection on the Virgin Mother and her newborn son, Jesus.…
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November 30th, 2008
Where does the idea for an Advent wreath come from?
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Advent Fast Fact
The Advent wreath actually has pre-Christian Germanic origins. During the shortest day of the year (the winter solstice) people used wreathes with lit candles as a sign of hope that the warmth of the sun and extended-sunlight days would soon return. In Scandinavia during winter, lighted candles were added to a wheel. Prayers were then offered to the god of light to turn “the wheel of the earth” back toward the sun to lengthen the days and restore warmth.
Today’s Prize is: a Sirius-XM Hat and Knapsack.
This day’s contest is over. The winner was: Mari A. of Philadelphia, PA
If you enter our drawing using the form below, your entry will be added…
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November 25th, 2008
Surprising Info and Prizes on EACH DAY of Advent
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January 1st, 2004
A blessed and merry Christmas from your friends at Busted Halo!
The Advent calendar contest is over. Thanks so much for being a part of it! We hope you’ll tune into BustedHalo.com every day for our Daily Jolts, MicroChallenges and ongoing conversations about faith.
[link to www.bustedhalo.com]…
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