BEIT JALLA, West Bank - Bethlehem might have the Church of the Nativity, but residents of this largely Christian town adjacent to Bethlehem say they have St. Nicholas.

NAIROBI, Kenya - The government of Sierra Leone banned public Christmas and New Year’s celebrations because they may exacerbate efforts to eradicate the Ebola virus.

VATICAN CITY - No saint was ever known for having a "funeral face," Pope Francis said; the joy of knowing one is loved by God and saved by Christ must be seen at least in a sense of peace, if not a smile.

Celebrating the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, Dec. 14, Pope Francis paid an evening visit to Rome's St. Joseph parish, meeting with the sick, with a group of Gypsies, with a First Communion class and with dozens of couples whose newborn babies were baptized in the past year.

The Good Shepherd doesn’t want Torontonians to forget there are people living on the streets, sleeping in doorways, eating whatever they can find while the rest of us shop for the perfect Christmas morning surprise.

ROME - In the heart of Rome's high-end shopping district, sparkling with Christmas lights and shiny baubles in the windows of famous designers, Pope Francis prayed that people would spend time in silence and in service as they prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth.

The peace and joy of Christmas emanates from the remarkable narrative of a birth in a Bethlehem manger more than 2,000 years ago. Children have always been enchanted by the birthday of the Baby Jesus, which is probably why The Register's annual Christmas drawing contest has become so popular.

Just like traditions of putting up the tree and hanging lights, there are Christmas movies we will watch year after year, almost without fail. They evoke feelings of nostalgia and bring back childhood memories.

TORONTO - As a priest-chaplain at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, people often want to know what it’s like to spend Christmas in a hospital community.

We’re told in song that this is “the season to be jolly.” Yet, it’s ironic that, like many occasions when we should be most happy — planning a wedding, moving to a new home, bringing a new baby home for the first time, the first day of a dream job — Christmas brings plenty of stress.

Salt+Light TV has the Christmas season covered this year.

Christmas dinner comes a day late for Zenzie Rees, who forgoes cooking the traditional holiday meal at home and instead volunteers and eats at The Good Shepherd Refuge on Boxing Day. Rees volunteers her time to serve Christmas dinner with about 80 others from noon until 2:30 p.m. at the downtown mission.

In Keening for the Dawn: Christmastide, Steve Bell combines the Christmas theme with his folksy sound and a soft country touch.

The event we celebrate at the feast of Christmas is mind-boggling: the Incarnation, the enfleshment of God in a historical person, Jesus of Nazareth.

TORONTO - Christmas celebrations are heralded by the senses, and none more so than sound, with music at the heart of almost all of our seasonal memories. Think Bing Crosby crooning “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” or Judy Garland rending heart strings everywhere with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” — it doesn’t get more quintessentially “Christmas-time” than that.