How did traditional catholics around the world celebrate Christmas prior to the 60s?

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I will keep an eye out for it. MY kids will probably be a lot happier about a vigil mass as opposed to an early morning mass.

Having said that, when I was a kid, my mother made us go to sunrise service on Christmas (6am and lasted 2-3 hours). I hated it, but I survived. 😆
 
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We used to go to the vigil mass when my kids were little. Then when they were older we started going to midnight mass. Bottom line, no one wanted to get up early on Christmas. ☺️
 
Just like we celebrated it during the 1950s. We bought a balsam pine, the smell of which meant Christmas. We went to Mass. We kids got up early on Christmas and if we got one or two toys, we were really happy.
 
“Tis_Bearself said:
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This is certainly true.
I always understood in UK they opened presents the day after Christmas for example.
In US we opened them Christmas Day.

/quote]

No, I think the term 'Boxing Day; for the day after Christmas is probably causing confusion. Presents have always been opened on Christmas Day in the UK, although families may have certain rules like only small presents as soon as the children wake up, with the main presents being opened after Church or the main meal.

Boxing Day was when money was given to tradespeople, delivery people, postmen and the like, but nowadays they don’t deliver on Christmas Day so that custom has died out.
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In Australia at least Boxing Day is a public holiday, so no postmen or tradesmen would be working. But my parents still leave something at the postbox for the mailman anyways, usually on 27th.
 
I grew up with the Latin Mass. Our traditions for Christmas are the same today as they were back then. We still put the tree up before Christmas, decorate, set up the manger (minus Jesus). We used to always go to the Midnight Mass but I can’t stay up that late anymore so we go to the vigil Mass or sometimes Christmas Day Mass, just depends on the weather more than anything else.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
but nowadays some people give you a dirty look if you say “Merry Christmas” or they will launch into some long explanation of how and why they don’t celebrate Christmas. That stuff never happened before the 70s.
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when someone gives me flack over Merry Christmas because they don’t celebrate Christmas I ask them if they don’t get the National Holiday of Christmas off. If they get the day off then I remind them that they ARE celebrating the holiday.
 
vsedriver said:
when someone gives me flack over Merry Christmas because they don’t celebrate Christmas I ask them if they don’t get the National Holiday of Christmas off. If they get the day off then I remind them that they ARE celebrating the holiday.
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I haven’t seen people give me much flack about celebrating “Catholic Christmas” instead of “Real (orthodox) Christmas” (jan 7) as they sometimes used to.
 
Stores have quietly slipped from Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays. It’s always “Merry Christmas” for me.
 
The worst was some woman who was working the counter in a store that is regionally known for selling unique Christmas ornaments, always has a huge Christmas display and the owner has helped decorate White House trees and is in the paper for it from time to time…this lady upon being wished “Merry Christmas” went into a big speech about being a pagan and her pagan celebrations.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
this lady upon being wished “Merry Christmas” went into a big speech about being a pagan and her pagan celebrations.
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I guess I have a bit of the devil in me. I would have said " how nice that you have your own holidays, does this mean you volunteer to work on Christmas Day so that the Christians can have the day off?"

I know, I’m working on it…
 
Here in Labrador the Inuit celebrate “Old Christmas”, on January 6th. That’s an occasion for community gatherings and a visit from the Nalujuks. After the church service (Moravian) at 7pm the Nalujuks come out from far away islands with sticks and whips to chase young people who dare to come out on the road. People who are caught by a Nalujuk have to sing a Christmas Carol in Inuktitut so they won’t get hit. Children receive candies and treats from the Nalujuks.
 
I was born in the 40’s and spent my 50’s in Montreal in a French Canadian family. I recall much praying and there was a great urgency among Catholics to go to confession during advent. It was very much a religious holiday as it should be today. The Catholic Church in Montreal at that time had what may be regarded as radio time like todays EWTN. Rosaries were broadcast, with the reciter at the station, and we children and parents on our knees in from of the tube standup radio would respond. It was all a very solemn. We had our crèche and were anxious to set it up. We would carefully put the figures up in their respective positions and roles. Our youngest was my toddler brother, and we would put the star in his hand and lifted him up and showed him how to put it on the top stem of the tree.

Santa we knew was a saint, and we honored him, and that we learned in Catholic School, where there was actually catechism lessons, and here we memorized the essential prayers and how to become a good Catholic. This wasn’t only a taught thing. In those days we were required to practice our religion, we “lived” our religion. We were corrected and praised every minute of the day. Our home had blessed water fountains on the walls of our rooms next to the bedroom door. We had crucifixes on the walls, and my teen sisters room had a corner shrine of the blessed virgin, with her statue with arms outstretched, and blue votive candles(a tradition only found in Mexican homes and other latin countries today). My sisters would pray in front of it. It was a beautiful object with lace, and I would admire it often, especially the soft blue light it would reflect on the walls when the lights were out. It was like an apparition of sorts.

We got the balsam tree up maybe 4 days before Christmas, and by January 1 it was out the back door and all decorations put away. The commercial Christmas of the 50’s was more behaved, and holiday gifts and shops would respectfully decorate and offer inventory no sooner than 2 weeks before Christmas, some 1 week before. The Christmas movies of the 40’s with Bing Crosby playing had Christmas themes that had a lesson in ethics and virtue. We actually learned proper behavior in these movies. There was no slander, and half nude mockery of Santa on B&W TV. All the programming was respectful.

These days as a grandfather I try to do the same, but the distractions of this world has taken a toll on tradition. My wife and will endeavor to bring in the true spirit of Christmas in our home as we have always done, and this Christmas will be no different. My expanded family is a larger group, but we will all try to be together in this season.

Now if I can only get my son to play Santa at home this year, I’ll consider it a success. 😁 I will of course still have Bing’s 78rpm record White Christmas to play as usual, slightly scratched now, the same one my family was raised on, and they can practically sing by heart.
 
StarMapp said:
I was born in the 40’s and spent my 50’s in Montreal in a French Canadian family. I recall much praying and there was a great urgency among Catholics to go to confession during advent.
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Growing up in a French part of N.B. where the French TV came from Quebec, we often got the impression that Christmas for the Quebecois of the day was very much a religious thing with gift giving taking place mainly on New Years (les étrennes du Jour de l’an). You also had the tradition of the father blessing his family on New Year’s didn’t you?
 
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