VATICAN CITY -- On a Christmas like no other, Pope Francis prayed for people who could not be with their families because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he urged everyone to recognize and help those who are suffering even more.

The birth of Christ is a gift from God that brings people hope and courage in troubled times, Pope Francis said Christmas Eve.

CLEVELAND -- A once-every-two-decade conjunction involving the solar system’s two gas giants will give earthbound observers a look at a so-called “Christmas Star” on the winter solstice.

A spruce tree donated by a retired Catholic teacher is helping to make Christmas in Kenora in northern Ontario a little merrier.

In a year that has been anything but normal, the Christmas spirit is still alive and well at Ontario Catholic schools.

The students from Sudbury, Ont.’s Marymount Academy have let Canadian military serving overseas that they aren’t forgotten this Christmas season.

In a famous fifth-century sermon, St. Leo the Great preached that Christmas is a time for rejoicing. “Sadness should have no place in the birthday of life.”

By Christmas Eve the Advent wreath is aglow with the candles of love, hope, joy and peace, and we await the lighting of the White Candle which signifies the coming of Jesus into our world and into our lives. We pray again that this presence will become a reality which we can sense and touch, but for many it becomes an elusive dream that vanishes when they awaken from their restless sleep.

At breakfast recently my daughter noted that my cardigan made me look like an academic. As a professor I wasn’t sure how to take the comment. But I admitted that the first thing I did when I began teaching in a university was to rush out and buy a tweed jacket with patches on the elbows.

It’s that time again. We rush through the shops, picking those perfect presents for our loved ones. Family and friends will soon surround our Christmas table for a feast, followed by robust caroling and gift exchanging.

Cardinal Thomas Collins has approved a short service to give parishes in lockdown regions within the Archdiocese of Toronto the option of offering Holy Communion on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day while maintaining the 10-person limit in churches.

This is not the Christmas we envisioned for ourselves or our children. There’s no getting away from that, no matter how hard we try.

Catholics across Canada will mull whether they should attend Christmas week Masses in person or if they should just stay home and watch a virtual service.

As many Canadian provinces experience some version of a second lockdown, “normal Christmas is, quite frankly, out of the question,” as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told us during a Nov. 20 press conference.

There was a headline on a story from a reputable Canadian website earlier this month that posed a rather startling question: “Will COVID-19 kill Christmas?”