With less than two weeks until Christmas, everyone is in the Christmas spirit with decorations illuminating the Prep hallways and lighting up and down the streets of Jersey City. However, Christmas is so much more than just the decorations. The trees, lights and ornaments are what makes Christmas festive, but traditions are what makes Christmas special.
There are many common Christmas traditions that people participate in, such as buying a Christmas tree, leaving milk and cookies out for Santa, and opening presents on Christmas day. But there are also many other, less spoken about traditions that make each family’s Christmas celebrations unique.
Some Christmas traditions are inspired by culture. Mr. Remi Pastorek, French teacher and Cross Country / Track and Field coach at Prep, celebrates French culture during Christmas through the French tradition of Reveillon. This tradition, named from the French translation of the word “waking,” is an all-night long celebration that typically consists of five courses, including regional specialties, rich wines, along with coffee and dessert. Kevin Doñe ‘27 also notes that his Christmas traditions are heavily influenced by his culture. He typically celebrates Christmas Eve with his extended family where he has “a large traditional Dominican and Puerto Rican meal, including pernil, arroz con grandules, pasteles, tres leches, flan, and more!”
Other Christmas traditions are influenced by religion. Both Jackson Vera ‘27 and Kevin Doñe ‘27 note that one of their most important Christmas traditions is attending the midnight mass on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. As a Jesuit school, the nativity is central to Christmas at Prep, and many Prep families, like those of Jackson and Kevin, attend mass either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to celebrate Christ’s birth. Some families even have nativity scenes in their homes, to remember what Christmas is truly about.
Reveillon is traditionally celebrated on Christmas eve, but Mr. Pastorek normally celebrates it a little earlier during the week of Christmas.
Finally, some Christmas traditions are purely for joy and entertainment. John McCabe ‘27 says that every year his family has a “grocery store race” where his family splits up into teams, and evenly divides the items needed for the Christmas day meal among the teams. They then go to their local grocery store, where each team races among the aisles to obtain all the items on their list with the goal to be the first ones to make it back to the car, winning the race.
These are just a few examples of the many different traditions our families at Prep, and all around the globe, partake in to celebrate the season of Christmas. It is important for families to recognize and honor cultures and religions during the festive season, but it is also important to spend time with friends and family… and simply have fun.
This exploration of modern Christmas traditions poses an interesting question: Have Christmas traditions today changed from what they were in the past? Mr. Pastorek says that the traditions themselves haven’t changed much, as traditions are meant to be passed down from generation to generation, but rather his perspective on those traditions is what has changed. He says, “It’s just different watching my nieces and nephews experience Christmas. It’s like a full-circle moment; it’s a great feeling to see the wonder of Christmas in a five-year-old’s eyes; it brings back memories from my own childhood.” This is a great way to put it: Christmas doesn’t necessarily change, but as you grow older, you learn to appreciate it in different ways.
As we are approaching the final days of school before Christmas break, we here at Petroc wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season filled with peace, love, and joy. We hope that you enjoy celebrating Christmas traditions that you may have!