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What do you make of the contrast between St. John of the Cross and "the dark night of the soul" and the images of light we get during Advent, especially this week in the Sunday gospel and the celebration of St. Lucy?

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What similarities do you see among the December celebrations of Advent, St. Nicholas Day, Hanukkah and St. Lucy's Day

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I see similarities in the  celebrations in how they're all in the advent season

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Similarities:
-Hanukkah, Advent, & St. Lucy's day all revolve around lighting candles
-These celebrations have special types of food eaten
-St. Lucy & St. Nicholas both offered to help those in need by giving them items
-Each tradition have special songs sung during the celebrations

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Some similarities between the celebrations is that is it a celebration of joy and an awaited coming of something. Something else is that they are all during the advent season relate something to the coming of God or a saint.

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All of these celebrations include a sense of waiting and reflection. They also all instill a sense of hope. All of them show that there is light at the end of the tunnel, in St. Lucy's case, that light is literal in the form of candles. In Advent, we reflect hope for Christmas. In Hanukkah, Jewish people reflect and wait for their great celebrations with little gifts and lighted candles each day. On the eve of St. Nicholas day, we wait and reflect for the celebration in the morning. For St. Lucy, we light candles, eat sweet bread, and look foreword to Christmas celebrations and salvation through Christ.

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These december celebrations have a lot of similar symbols, like candles. They also are times for reflection and preparation and provide us a sense of hope during the dark times of advent season.

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these celebrations have a sense of waiting and preparation. They also have a sense of self reflection. They all show that things can get better and not everything happens right away

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The celebrations are similar because for each celebration there is an aspect of waiting. All of the celebrations are also during the same season. Each celebration also has joy included in it.

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Similarities for Advent,  Hanukkah, St. Nicholas Day and St. Lucy's Day:
-They all revolve around candles during the darkest times of the year.
- Like Advent, Hanukkah uses candles and has a system for lighting them like how we light our advent candles every Sunday.
-All of these days have certain foods that people eat and are influenced by different cultures and traditions

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The celebrations (December ones) are similar because they  consist of preparation. This preparation consists of waiting and reflection. As well as this, they're  preparing for an event which is celebrated by the community. An event which is not only celebrated, but respected and taken serious.

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Similarities for the 4 holidays
- revolve around candles during dark times of the year
- there is a lot of preparation for each of the holidays
- there is joy surrounding each of the holidays
- specific types of food are prepared and eaten

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St. John of the Cross is a Dark Knight of the Soul, as he explores the more mystic, darker theology and is associated with Jesus' passion and pain ("of the Cross"). Our Advent season is much more hopeful and joyful, as we focus on awaiting the coming of Jesus. Instead of darkness, Advent and St. Lucy's day focus on hope and light.

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The similarities of the 4 holidays,
- lighting candles
- a lot of time awaiting and lots of preparation for each of the holidays.

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The similarities between these celebrations is that they all involve candles (light). They also are all a time of waiting and preparation, filled with self-reflection.

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There are many similarities between the celebrations of these four holidays. All four are largely celebrated in their respected countries. All of them involve candles and light. All four also involve a lot of preparation and anticipation beforehand.

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These celebrations have things in common such as involving candles, waiting and preparing. Also that so much joy and happiness come from these celebrations.

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they are both celebrations that take place during advent and they are both symbolizing a time of waiting.

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All four celebrations involve the lighting of candles, each celebration using them under a different meaning.

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Advent Hanukka and St Lucy's Day all use candles

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Similarities:
-Most of the holidays include the lighting of candles which symbolize light
-In contrast, the others have symbolism of darkness.
-There is also a theme of waiting and preparation

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The similarities between these celebrations is that they all believe in traditions during the Christmas time. They are about a time of waiting.

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The similarities between all of these celebrations include that they all include candles and that they all involve in the preparation for Christmas.

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The contrast between St. John of the Cross and the rest of the advent season, especially with the celebration of St. Lucy and with this being the Sunday of joy, is glaring from my perspective but more in a way of foreshadowing for the church year. as we wait, prepare, and celebrate now and in the days to come, we are subtly reminded of why this joy is in our world, why there is a new light needed to enter this world. for the purpose to be cast out by that same world, so as to give it a second chance through pain and anguish.

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both Hanukkah and advent are both preparing those who are celebrating it for something that is coming. Both involve lighting candles and build anticipation. They both last for more than one week and take place in December. Both religions have many traditions that go along with their celebrations

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Both of the celebrations are similar. They both have similar symbols, a lot of preparations, and are both in December.

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Among Advent, St. Nick's Day, Hanukkah, and St. Lucy"s, they are all times of waiting and anticipation for different aspects of the world. Each have their own traditions in different parts of the world and even among families. They are all moments waiting for the light to come, especially with the theme of candles within majority of them.

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What I make of this contrast is that the human condition of darkness and sin is lifted in this time. The time for the Lord to come and begin his journey through life and to his death. Then he will be resurrected and come again to show us that we are not alone in the fight against sin and death.

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These celebrations are a time for people to reflect and prepare for the Lord.