������Ƶapp

Chris Van Allsburg������Ƶapp book The Polar Express is a classic Christmas tale read to many children in homes and schools. In 32 pages, Allsburg captures the magic of Christmas through the eyes of a boy who visits Santa������Ƶapp Workshop via a mysterious train one snowy C hristmas Eve. The boy receives a gift from Santa Claus, a bell, which rings only to those who “believe.”

At some point, this Christmas season most people will almost certainly receive a Christmas card, or e-card, depicting a plump, blue-eyed baby Jesus lying in an impoverished crib lined with hay and surrounded by friendly farm animals. There might be a barn in the background, beneath an enormous star and framed by pine trees with snow bending the branches. If it's the thought that counts, somebody hasn't thought this through.

Few Christmas hymns are more admired than “Silent Night.” The lyrics were penned by a young German priest in 1816 and a schoolteacher added the melody two years later. Together these amateur musicians wrote a simple yet powerful song that lovingly depicts the peace and joy of the holy mother and her new child.

A new Advent web app is keeping busy families focused on Christ this holiday season.

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������Ƶapp 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������Ƶapp St. Michael������Ƶapp Hospital, people often want to know what it������Ƶapp like to spend Christmas in a hospital community.

We’re told in song that this is “the season to be jolly.” Yet, it������Ƶapp 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.