#sunday church service 15

[world-of-wales]

Catherine's Royal Closet (5/∞) ♚

↬ Virgin Wool Plaid Blazer & Guncheck Wool Trumpet Skirt

Catherine has worn this Blazer Skirt combo on two occasions, for a Sunday church service in December 2015 and the Service to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign. She was at Sandringham for both of these occasions.

The Blazer is single-breasted with three closely placed buttons at its waist, princess seaming and features button detail on the flap pockets. While the skirt in its 'slate and claret' colour features a trumpet silhouette and multiple paneling.

[worldsbiggestnerd101]

ew no wait my dad's makign us go to church tmr,,, which means i have to wake up early-ish which means i should probs go to bed now?? but like i don't wanna 💔💔

[citizenscreen]

On September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded during Sunday morning services in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls: Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14) and Carol Denise McNair (11).

[celebtf]

Harry and The crown

I was so done, I had been working too many hours for this, serving meals, cleaning all 17 floors and all 30 room in the castle, I never get any respect around here for all the work I do.

If you haven't guess it, I work as a server for in the Royal castle in England for Prince Harry. I been working there for 15 years and I still get treated with such a disrespect. I deserve more, I clean, serve him food, fix his paper work, at this point even being his body-gaurd, he has people for that but it's me who still needs to do it.

" You can leave now for today, I need to sleep and everything that needs to be done is done" Harry said to me and I turned around and rolled my eyes and started walked towards the end of the castle.

" I wish he could feel how I have it everyday " I said to myself quietly and started to leave. I opended the gate and I started to walked the road and down to the city where I had my car parked.

" Hey you, I heard what you said. You wish somebody else could walk in your shoes, right? " I man came up to me, young, handsome, I didn't think I was speaking so loudly.

" Go home and sleep and tomorrow when you have the chance take it" the man said and later walked away, I countined to walk, thinking about what the man said and drove home.

The next day Harry had to be in the Royal church, it was a sunday, he always was in the church during the sunday-service. I just walked alone in the kitchen, cleaning, doing the dishes. It was as boring like yesterday. I checked my watch " 10:30 " well Harry will be away for atleast two more hours, I can walk around a little.

I went upstaires to check all the rooms, to see if I missed any, I never did but I had some time. I was walking around, I came to Harry's room, I'm usually never in there but maybe it needed some cleaning.

Then I saw it, on a display in harry's closet, I saw the royal crown. It was so beautiful.

I took out the crown from the display, and I put it on my head, it was so heavy. I was being very careful not to drop it. " It should've been me, why does I never had any luck".

I knew I had time so I put on one of Harry's suits, I wanted to see how it would feel to be a Prince just for a Moment.

" What are you doing with that and why are you in my room " Harry had come home earlier then I thought, shit, I was so screwd.

I was about to unbotton the suit when I felt my body starting to fill it out, my muscles started to grow, so did my feets, the shoes was not big anymore. I felt an electric touch and I felt myself grow a few inches. My face was on fire, my nose got smaller, my jaw shaper and freckles started to appear. My dark hair bleached to a ginger color and my hair got shorter. I felt this wave of pleasure down there and I felt myself grow harder. I grabed my hard bulge and laughed.

I saw Harry and he looked at me in terror, I looked in the mirror in the closet. " Looks like I'm the Prince now " and Harry's body started to change in to my old, his ginger hair darkend, he grew shorter.

" Guess I have a new Butler " I said in my new brittish accent. I picked up my new phone " Hey Henry, can you pick up this butler, he isn't doing his job right " I saw the fear in Harry's new eyes.

" I have places to be, but good luck in life and your car is parked down the road " I laughed and went outside to the cab waiting.

I steped out the car, heard hundets of screams, only for me, because I'm the Prince of England and nobody knew the diffence, I laughed to myself and walked up the staries to watch the Tennis game that was playing.

I started to think about earlier, how I had become the Prince of England and nobody here knew it, I felt myself growing harder in my suit-pants " Harry, you have hide this, well later when I get home, I will have some fun in my new bed and might have to explore under to see if I can find some toys to use " l laughed and pretended to know the game.

[janeyseymour]

La Cosa Nostra- pt 15

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10. Part 11. Part 12. Part 13. Part 14.

cowritten with @schemmentis - we're gonna try to revive this story, and y'all better buckle up because it's gonna get so good

WC: 3.1k

You manage to get the girls up and fed before Melissa stirs on the couch. It must be a groggy Schemmenti morning considering the girls haven’t swarmed her and woken her up themselves nor asked you why Mommy was sleeping on the couch all weekend. You gently shake at your wife’s shoulder once the girls have their shoes on, remembering how upset she’d been when you’d taken them to school without waking her. Plus, you don’t exactly feel generous and worried about making sure she gets enough rest after your fight. 

You roll your eyes at her groggy ‘what’ when she cracks her eyes open. “Your daughters want to say good morning and goodbye, is what.” You mutter, stepping aside and wave the twins the okay to hurry to Melissa.

You step back towards the front door as Melissa kisses them each multiple times. Tuning out the goodbyes and I love yous. You’d thought after not speaking aside from the essentials over the weeknd you might feel less upset; you don’t. It’s the same as before you went to sleep the night you fought. Mel’s decision over you, her standing by it, and worst of all her hitting you in all the worst places. You can’t let any of it go, not first, anyway.

You force a deep breath when you feel your little girls running back to your side, opening the front door. “Let’s go, littles, before you’re late.” You mutter as you usher them out.

“You didn’t kiss Mommy again,” Rosie states once you get into the car.

“We were running late,” is all your response is. 

Once you’ve seen them off to their class safely, you leave the girls’ school. Your eyes roll when you hear your cell phone ring for the third time in the short trip to drop them off. You know without looking it’s Tony just like it was the last two times, no doubt to ask again for the ledger which you still have no intention of giving him directly. You don’t trust Tony as far as you could throw him. Still, you know you’d better have it in hand soon for when he produces whoever he answers to. It wouldn’t be good for that to happen and you to not have it.

You sigh as you slip back into the car. Which means you probably have to break your silent streak with your wife and ask her to talk to Barbara to get it back. You really don’t want to do that though. Your pride and your stubbornness wants you to hold out for Melissa to at least admit she was being an asshole the other night. Even if she won’t admit she was wrong about the rest of it. 

You don’t have Barbara’s number but you do know where she’ll eventually turn up. You pull the car from the school lot, driving to the church. If Mel intends to be in early at the restaurant today; you don’t feel that bad about making her walk this time.

You slip in just after the morning service. Thankfully, you still spy Barbara’s head in the usual back pew. You genuflect at the side, crossing your chest before slipping into the seat next to the older woman- the one your wife would usually claim.

“Good morning, Y/N.” Barbara greets you quietly once her head raises from her prayer. “Another bit of prayer needed, hm?”

“A little bit.” You hedge. You’re not fully lying; you do think it might bring some relief after your fight with Melissa. Which, now that you’re sat next to her, you realize you may have overlooked your wife telling Barb all about. “I was also hoping to see you.” You add.

“Oh? Well, that’s sweet of you. You know I’m always glad to see you or Melissa and your girls in the Lord’s house.”

You flash a smile, one you’ve flashed the Feds and other Family members alike to be as charming as you can. “You know our whole family is always happy to see you. Especially the girls.”

“Oh, I can’t wait for next weekend. They were positively a joy at Sunday breakfast, yesterday. Though you and Melissa were rather quiet.”

“It was…a long week, last week.” You admit. “Mel and I haven’t exactly been seeing eye to eye lately.” You hadn’t meant to share that last part but you lean into letting it off your chest in some way, at least.

“I’m sure you two will sort it out. You always do.”

“I hope so.” You answer truthfully. You might still be angry, and definitely hurt, but you still love Melissa with all of you. You hope the fact she’s been dealing with being relegated to the couch for a few days is a sign she still feels the same, too. Since she hasn’t disappeared to her Ma’s or even Kristen Marie’s.

“Are things okay between the two of you? Would you like to chat about it, perhaps over brunch?” Barbara offers.

You take her up on that offer, and you find yourself bringing her back to your house- just in case the Feds are still watching you. You mill about the kitchen as you prepare a few things before settling at the table with her.

“So,” Barbara hums. “What’s got you turning up at church more often than usual lately- both you and your wife?”

“Could use a bit more prayer these days,” you sigh softly as you take a bite full of your breakfast.

“You didn’t pray today though,” the woman points out. You just shrug at that. “So what made you really come to the church?”

You throw around the options in your head. You could break your silent streak and speak with Melissa, or you could ask the woman herself for the ledger.

Deciding to bite the bullet, you say softly, “I was hoping I would run into you. I need the book that I know Melissa gave you.”

Barbara blinks once, twice. “What book, dear?”

“Barb, I know Mel gave you the book for my salon.”

The woman’s face flickers through quite a few emotions before settling on a neutral face once again. “Oh. I still don’t know what you’re speaking of? What your wife gave me was not a book.”

“Babs, I need the goddamn book,” you sigh.

“Do not take the lord’s name in vein,” Barbara tells you sternly.

“Barbara, I need the damned book. My life is on the line here,” you plead. You don’t mean for that last sentence to slip out, and you have to do everything you can to hide it on your face; the severity of the situation. For all she knows, you’re exaggerating and just using it as a hyperbole.

“And why would that be?” Barbara raises a brow. “It’s just the simple finances for the salon.”

“It is,” You hastily agree with her comment. “But I…” You take a breath, forcing out the familiar lie you gave Valentina when she first noticed Melissa’s extra stress, just modified a bit. “I’m trying to work out selling the salon so I need the book with all the finances in it to go through with a potential buyer.”

“Selling it?” Barbara repeats, a hand pressing to her chest. “Why on earth would you sell? You’ve worked hard for that place, Y/N!”

“I know but it hasn’t been profitable since…well, since I don’t even know when, Barb. I thought I could juggle it and put it back in proper working condition but the clients just aren’t coming in like they used to.”

Barbara suddenly drops the hand at her chest held in shock. “Y/N, surely you know I’m no fool.”

You blink. “Of course you’re not, Barbara. Why would I think you were—”

“The book I have is not for your salon.”

“Yes, it is.” You say, brow furrowing in confusion. Because it is for the salon, both books, and you don’t know what else Barb could think it belongs to.

The older woman sends you a long suffering look, the silence between you drawing out for a moment. “Not for the legal business of your salon though, is it?”

Your face drops. Like, actually drops- jaw open and everything. “What?”

“I’m well aware of what I possess,” the woman tells you in a monotone.

“Shit.”

“What on Earth are the two of you thinking; getting mixed up in all of this- and with your two girls!” Barbara admonishes you sharply, and you feel like you’re being reprimanded by a principal.

You search for words, but none come.

“You two are so lucky I haven’t turned it in, and I nearly did!”

“Y-you didn’t?” you whisper out. 

“Of course I didn’t, and the only reason I didn’t is because of Cat and Rosie!” Barb states. “Otherwise, I would have!”

“I- thank you,” you say softly.

“The two of you better get yourselves out of this mess, before it destroys your lives,” the woman tells you lowly.

“The only way out of this mess is prison… or death,” you inform her. “And at this point, if either of us goes to prison, or something happens to Mel, I genuinely fear I won’t survive. When it comes down to everything, Melissa is the matriarchal figure in the family.”

“Neither of those things can happen,” Barbara tells you. “And that is not true- the both of you have the most equal partnership I think I’ve ever seen.”

“Listen, I really do need the ledger back,” you try again.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Barbara.”

“Your wife entrusted me with it, and while I do not agree with what I hold onto in the slightest, I am not breaking my promise to Melissa.”

“I’m sure she told you not to open the book though, right?” you press. At her nod, you continue. “You broke that promise. So, give. me. the. book.”

“I have to go,” Barbara states. “Thank you for a lovely breakfast.” She makes to head out, and you follow her.

“Barbara!”

She climbs into her car, and speeds off. 

You’re left standing on the porch of your townhouse, staring after Barbara’s car even after it’s definitely peeled its way out of your neighborhood. You honestly didn’t know she could drive that fast. Melissa loves to call her a grandma whenever she drives the lot of you anywhere. Barbara would throw back that it was only being safe and God forbid she get into a wreck because your wife wouldn’t stop back-seat driving. 

“Fuck.” You curse, briefly covering your face. “Fuck!” You repeat as you pull your hands away. You lean back into the doorway just enough to grab your keys from the hook by the door. You slam your front door shut, not even bothering to take the time to lock it. You won’t catch Barb at this rate, but you’re fairly certain you can catch your wife. 

You’re certain, at least relatively so, Barb won’t turn you both in. Not if she hasn’t already. But it sure sounded like she was just waiting for Melissa to ask for the book to confront her herself first. You just happened to ask before your wife. You know though Barb isn’t likely to be going to Twelve Tables to have that confrontation with Melissa. So, instead, you are.

You speed your way there, not really worried about the reds or stop lights or any possibility of getting pulled over. A ticket was nothing compared to what all hung in the balance now. You make your way into the restaurant as fast as your feet will carry you.

“Hey, Y/N, how’s—”

“Not now Val,” You interrupt your wife’s right hand. “Where’s Mel?”

“She’s in the back, but—”

You wave a hand at her, muttering a half hearted ‘thank you’ as you hurry through the kitchen toward the back office. You don’t even stop to worry about knocking at the closed office door. You’re throwing it open with practically all your weight behind it in your haste that has you stumbling into the room.

“Mel, we need to—”

“What the fuck?” Melissa grouses at the slamming open of the office door. Her mood doesn’t exactly improve when she looks up to see you, a glare from green eyes sent your way. “I’m in the middle of a meeting.” She says, the end of it coming through her clenched teeth with a nod to the man standing at the desk in the office with her.

“I really need to talk to you. Right now.” You rush out.

“Ya don’t talk to me all weekend, and now ya want to? Now? I told ya, I’m in a meeting. Get out.”

“Melissa Ann Caterina Schemmenti!” You nearly yell, stepping into the office and gripping her wrist and fighting to physically pull your wife from the office.

“God…damn it. Fine!” Melissa huffs, agreeing to go once she realizes you aren’t going to let her actually work until she does. “‘Scuse me a minute.” She says to the man before following you out of the office and shutting the door after her. “What the fuck is so damn important you have to try and literally pull me from work? One of the girls’ better be hurt or the world better be endin’, so help me God, or it’s gonna be you on the couch now, Y/N!”

“Our world might be ending,” you sigh quietly, eyes down. Then your eyes meet her own. “Barbara knows.”

The redhead has the same face that you wore when Barbara revealed that she knows what she possesses. “What?”

“Do you see why it’s so important now?” you ask her.

“Fuck. Fucking shit.” She runs a hand through her hair. “We’re fucked. We’re going down, and we’re taking all of-“

“She said she hasn’t turned us in because of the girls,” you whisper. “But we have to figure out what to do before something terrible happens to either us, or Barb and Gerald. They cannot get involved.”

“Fuck!” Melissa shouts.

“I know,” you sigh. “I know. I- I don’t know what to do.”

“How do you know she knows?” your wife implores.

“I was at the church earlier,” you tell her. And you recount the earlier events before, “and then she told me that the binder wasn’t for the legal side of the salon. She knows.”

“God dammit,” Melissa whispers. She runs a hand over her face. “Fuck. Okay, uhm… let me handle this meeting, and then I’ll meet you at home so we can figure out what to do.”

“I’ll be sitting in the back waiting for you,” you tell her. “And don’t forget that we do have to pick up the girls today.”

“I know,” she says. “I know. Okay. We’re gonna- we’re gonna be fine, and I- fuck.” You watch as red curls whip around and head back into the office.

With a sigh, you head for the back exit again. Valentina looks at you curiously, but you don’t acknowledge it. You just continue on your way. You pull your car closer to the back door, idling as you wait for your wife. She’s quickly slipping into the passenger seat in less than five minutes.

As you pull out of the lot of Twelve Tables and head towards your home once more, Melissa runs her hand through her hair as she glances at the clock. “Okay, we still have a few hours before we have to get the girls, so we can figure this out.”

“Figure this out?” You echo, glancing at Melissa. “Babe, we have what, four hours? We’re gonna figure this all out and fix everything in four hours?

“It’s just Babs.” She says, trying to convince the both of you. It’s clear she knows how much power her church friend holds at this moment, and it terrifies her. She takes a deep breath, rolling the passenger window down enough for wind from the drive to whip her red locks out of her face. “She didn’t turn us in because of the girls…we can, we can buy time.”

“How? How are we gonna buy any time?” you implore. “We got the Feds still digging into shit; who knows what part of the Family they’re eyeing right now? But it doesn’t matter. Any part of it goes, you know the rest is screwed.”

“That’s only if somebody flips. Nobody would flip.”

You take the risk of holding your eyes off the road a little longer than you should to give your wife a look. You both could likely think of ten people each from your respective sides that could, under the right circumstances, absolutely flip.”

“Fuck, I know!” She says, waving your glare away from her as she looks out the passenger side window. “Look, they ain’t got anywhere yet, huh? That means we still got time. We just need to make sure Barb really ain’t gonna do nothin’.”

“She wouldn’t talk to me past tellin’ me she promised you to only give it back to you and then that she knew.”

“Oh, sure, she can stick to that part of the damn promise.” Melissa grumbles as she gets out nearly before you can put the car in park in the driveway. She turns back just as you catch up to her on the front porch. “Ya didn’t even lock the door! Aduzipach!”

“We do not have time for another argument!” You toss back as you reach the top step, gently ushering her inside with you as you pull the door shut again. This time you do lock it behind you. “We have to be on the same page, okay? We really have to be or we’re definitely screwed. I’m still pissed, and hurt but whatever. It doesn’t matter right now. Right now what matters is you, and me, and the girls. That’s all that matters, which means we have to figure a way out of this bullshit.”

“Amore, you know there’s only two ways out of the life. Neither one lets us be there for the girls- at all.”

“And both I’d preferably like to avoid entirely.” You add, sighing as you slump into your couch. “So..w we have to literally do the impossible.”

“I don’t know how we’re going to do that,” Melissa groans as she leans into your figure.

Barbara Howard speeds off, and she doesn’t necessarily know where she’s going. But after a bit, she figures that you aren’t following her, and she stops at a local diner to pick up takeout for a lunch date with her husband, the senator.

TAGS: @thesapphictimelady @marvel210 @itisdoctortoyousir @morgana-larkin @thesamesweetie @doesthatsuggestanythingtoyou @marvels--slut @gwennybriggs @megamultifandomtrashposts @lemz378 @http-sam @melissaschemmentisbranzino @imaginesmultifandoms @sexysapphicshopowner @lilfartbox1 @maybe-a-humanbean @imlike-so-gaydude @sapphicxrat @a-queen-and-her-throne @sunsol-22 @notinmyvocab @melanielaufeyson @dvrkhcld

[fraisefille33]

My realistic goals for 2025

Because I refuse to spend another year doing nothing because I set goals that couldn’t be achieved in only a year.

1. Start attending Sunday mass — I haven’t attended church since I was a baby because my family stopped and now that I’m not in school anymore I don’t even have holiday masses (I went to a Catholic high school).

2. Join the young adult group at my church once I turn 19 — They don’t have anything for ages 15-18 for some reason but I think it would help me make friends offline. It would also definitely get me out of bed and out of the house more often.

3. Finish my volunteer hours and officially graduate high school — I never officially got my diploma because in Ontario you’re required to do 40 hours of community service in order to graduate. I did these hours but the organization I did them with never sent me confirmation like they said they would.

4. Start taking an online German course — This one feels pretty self explanatory.

5. Start writing a book — My dream is to be an author so I want to start working towards that sooner rather than later.

6. Get back over 100lbs — I’m finally taking recovery seriously for once and going back over 100lbs has been a huge fear of mine for a long time. So, I want to at least get back to 100lbs. I know I can’t fully recover in a year but that’s one thing that would be a huge step towards it for me.

7. Start exercising daily even if it’s something small like a short workout video — Since my ED taking away basically all of my energy and strength I’ve become weaker than I was as a child. I get tired going up and down the 5 stairs in my house. Most days are spent just laying in my bed the entire day because I get tired super easily doing anything else. I really need to work on that.

8. Find a way to make money from home — My health doesn’t exactly allow me to have a job that requires too much physical effort at the moment, hence #7 but I need money so I’m probably going to start an Etsy shop or find some other way to make money from home.

9. Spend more time on things that genuinely make me happy/feel good — Talk to people I actually enjoy’s company more often, start journaling again, take the time to make sure I look and therefore feel my best before going out, keep a consistent skincare routine, give dedicated time to my hobbies.

10. Post on social media more, scroll social media less — Posting about my life and progress online has always been really good motivation for me. Knowing other people will see what I’m doing motivates me to do better at it or stick to it. Scrolling social media, however, leads to a lot of negative feelings. So, I want to try and limit the time I scroll while also posting more.

[jellybeanium124]

so today illymation released the video: "why sunday school SCARED me." and I wanna talk about the absolute most baffling thing to me about this video.

I'm a reform jew, and went to hebrew school from age 5 to 16, or from kindergarten through 11th grade. my temple's hebrew school is split up into two main phases: k-6, which is more tradition hebrew school and happened during the day on sundays, and our hebrew high school program for 7-12 (it had a specific hebrew name but I'm just gonna call it HHS because I don't wanna accidentally doxx myself). secondly, 4-6th graders attended hebrew school twice a week, on sundays and in the evenings on a week day, to give them more time to practice learning prayers for their b'nai mitzvah in a few years.

so illy talks about her experiences growing up lutheran, and her experiences at lutheran sunday school. and most of that experience was... memorizing. their homework assignments involved memorizing bible verses. their confirmation "test" involved memorizing the 10 commandments and all the books in the bible, along with a one page essay on "what jesus means to me." and for her lutheran church, confirmation happened in 7th grade, and confirmation class was from 5-7.

and this just. baffled me.

because, okay, the early years of hebrew school? like, k-3? it's all memorization and being told what to believe. I remember being a teacher's aid for a second grade class when I was 15 and the teacher just told them stories and stuff about gd and they were also starting to learn to read the hebrew alphabet.

but as kids got older, there was so much more conversation. yes, 4-6 did involve a lot of just memorizing prayers for your b'nai mitzvah, but we also talked about jewish teachings and beliefs, and we were all allowed to have our own relationships with gd. by the time you enter HHS, the teachers don't even have any expectation that you believe in gd at all, and the classrooms were much more open, almost socratic style class, with everyone asking questions and learning and sharing their different opinions. we didn't spend those hours just memorizing things, certainly not as tweens and teens. my 7th grade year at HHS was spent learning about the holocaust, not memorizing passages from the tanakh.

now, because I'm reform, we stole confirmation, and the reform movement does that at 15. it's sort of a mini b'nai mitzvah for the whole class, and it wasn't a test, we were leading a service as a group. now, yes, again, there was some memorization involved (prayers, a song we sung as a class), but our classes in 10th grade weren't focused on memorizing things, we'd sit in a circle and talk about different issues and topics related to judaism. we'd talk about current events and our personal experiences with antisemitism.

there's this... emptiness to the way illy talks about her sunday school experiences. for other people who grew up christian, is this what sunday school was like for you? memorizing bible verses? my only experience with christian sunday school is from the simpsons, and those scenes are usually a bit more interesting because it's a tv show lol and they're not gonna have pointless scenes of making the kids learn bible verses. and I will admit my hebrew school may be an outlier. my parents HAAAAAATED their hebrew schools growing up, saying it was boring and meaningless and as soon as they were b'nai mitzvahed they were out of there like a shot. I think my mom even joked about leaving a her-shaped hole in the wall once lol.

anyways the idea that sunday school = memorization blew my mind. is illy's experience common???

[cartermagazine]

We will never forget the bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on this date September 15, 1963.

From left to right:

Addie Mae Collins, 14.

Carole Robertson, 14.

Cynthia Wesley, 14.

Denise McNair 11.

A bomb planted by Ku Klux Klan members ripped through a Birmingham church, killing four little girls as they prepared for Sunday services.

The FBI determined that four members of a local KKK klavern known as the "Cahaba River Bridge Boys" were responsible for the bombing. The first prosecution didn't come until 1977. Then two more in the early 2000s. The fourth killer died, never being brought to account.

CARTER™️ Magazine carter-mag.com #wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #historyandhiphop365 #cartermagazine #carter #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #history #staywoke #16thstreetbaptistchurch #saytheirnames

[wormdebut]

67 if the steddies is still open!!!

HELLO THERE! Hi! Sorry this took a second, but it is here. And it certainly is something. #67 on my Spotify Wrapped is Judas by Lady Gaga The following blurb is rated a Hard M/Soft E. There is religious fuckery, daddy kink, hand kink, and spit. (Isn't there always with me?) Anywhozle, minors DNI. Everyone else, Enjoy.

----

Eddie loves Sundays. Sundays are great. He has time to lay down a few new guitar tracks, he gets high at noon, lounges around his house in his boxers. Sundays are great. Lately, Eddie gets something better than all of that though.

He gets Steve Harrington, pent up and in his Sunday best.

Eddie fucking loves Sundays.

He checks his watch, 12:15. Lovely. Steve should be here any--Eddie smiles to himself when he hears the soft knock at his front door. His soft boy.

Eddie waltzes over, pulling the front door open and Steve's eyes--big and wide--meet his own.

"Hi." Steve breathes as his eyes run up and down Eddie's shirtless tattooed chest. Eddie holds back a laugh, but can't stop the smirk when Steve's eyes go wider when he drags his gaze over Eddie's half hard cock in his boxer--He was tracking a bad ass song. So he got a little excited. Kill him. Steve's eyes snap back up to Eddie's.

He has a staring problem, Eddie's boy does. Eddie grabs him by the waist, Steve letting out a soft hum as Eddie pulls him inside. Sweet little thing.

"Hi baby boy." He says before pulling Steve in for a kiss. It's not even anything, a quick thing. Eddie has done much worse to his baby, but Steve whimpers. Melts into it.

So, church was rough today then.

Eddie can work with this.

He deepens the kiss, pushing his tongue into Steve's soft mouth, past his pink lips. Steve's lets out a noise between a sigh and a moan. Whines when Eddie pulls away, chasing after his lips.

Eddie leans back, grabbing Steve's face. Steve leans into his hand, hums. Eddie runs his finger over his cheekbone, delighting in the red blush running over his pretty face. He cocks his head, "Rough service?"

Steve shakes his head, still leaning into Eddie's touch. "D'wanna talk about it. Just want you." Steve jerks his head out of Eddie's hold and leans forward, trying for a kiss and Eddie clicks his tongue against his teeth, dropping his hold of Steve completely.

Eddie makes his way back to his sofa and Steve just stands by the door, eyes wide, frown wider. "I--Eds please." He breathes.

Eddie throws the strap of his guitar over his back and levels Steve with a sharp look. "Please what baby boy?"

"I--I need--" He stutters and Eddie raises an eyebrow. "I need you, daddy."

Oh. Steve only pulls that out when he's particularly down. Eddie tries his best not to smirk. His pretty baby will get what he needs, always does.

"I know you do, precious. But, I need to get this guitar tracking finished. So why don't you come over here and wait while I do?"

Eddie watches as Steve pouts. Perfect pink lip jutting out. Eddie sighs, "Stevie, you better put that bratty little lip away right now. You wanna be good, don't you?"

Steve straightens up and nods. Lets out a breathy "Yes."

Eddie smiles at that. "There's my good boy. C'mere, kneel in front of me. I want you to watch."

Steve is quick, doesn't even bother to take off his suit jacket as he rushes over. Eddie is quicker, throws a pillow down, before Steve can hurt himself on the damn hardwood.

"Jesus, baby." Eddie breathes. "Be nice to yourself."

Steve just kneels, eyes locked on Eddie's, doesn't speak. Doesn't want to. He is a man of little words on Sunday afternoons. His stupid fucking church ruse takes everything out of him.

Eddie hums, leaning forward to run a hand through Steve's hair, before he settles back into the sofa and hit the record button on his mac. This song is intense. Heavy guitar, he loses himself in it, like he is wont to do. Things couldn't be better for Eddie, he's got a successful music career and a fucking angel at his feet.

It's over before he knows it. He looks to Steve, still dutifully kneeling on his pillow. Eddie expects Steve's eyes to find his, like they always do, but Steve isn't looking for eye contact. He's looking at Eddie's hands. He watches as Steve's eyes track his fingers as he pulls off the guitar, sets it on the couch. Steve's eyes follow. Eddie smirks.

He snaps his fingers and that's what does it. Steve's eyes jerk up.

"Whatcha thinking about baby?" Eddie asks.

Steve just hums. "Your hands--fingers. Want 'em."

Eddie smirks, patting his lap, come here baby boy."

His boy scrambles up, quickly sitting in Eddie's lap, he leans forward for a kiss, which Eddie allows, before he leans back running his thumb across spit slicked lips. Steve's mouth drops open, tongue lolling out and Eddie--well.

Eddie pulls, forcing Steve's mouth to open wider and spits. Steve moans, but doesn't swallow. Knows not to.

"God, you are such a good boy." Eddie growls as he plunges to fingers into Steve's mouth, running them over his tongue, mixing his and Steve's spit. He pushes them back, into Steve's throat, "Swallow baby."

Steve groans as he swallows around the fingers in his mouth. Eddie can feel his cock through his dress pants. Today will be fun.

Eddie pulls his fingers out, watches as Steve's tries to lean forward, pull them back in. He taps at Steve's cheek, rubbing the spit up and down his pretty cheek.

Steve whimpers. "Oh my god."

Eddie laughs, darkly. "Mm no baby, God's not here."

----

Jesus is my virtue, and Judas is the demon I cling to.

[vettelinyourarea]

In the stars by benson boone with ollie when he lost his soulmate and hard to live his life without her please. Thank you xx

in the stars - oliver bearman

genre: angst

word count: 846

inspired by in the stars by benson boone

warning: english is not my first language, mentions of death

thank you so much for requesting this! i am very sorry that it took such a long time to finish this request, but i hope you enjoy this anon! 🩷

Sunday mornings were your favorite

I used to meet you down on Woods Creek Road

You did your hair up like you were famous

Even though it's only church where we were goin'

Sunday mornings used to be Ollie’s favorite day. Not because it was a weekend, not because it was a race day, but because it was the day when he would meet up with you. He remembers how you used to do your hair, styling it as if you are going to a formal event although you are actually just going to the church with him. 

Ollie remembers how every time after the church service, he would take you on a lunch date, sometimes accompanied by his siblings who love you so dearly. He remembers how you would take care of them like they are your own siblings, he remembers how he realized he is in fact, in love with you on one of those Sundays. But Sunday mornings are not Ollie’s favorite anymore. Not after everything that happened.

Now, Sunday mornings, I just sleep in

It's like I buried my faith with you

I'm screamin' at a God, I don't know if I believe in

'Cause I don't know what else I can do

Sunday mornings used to be so different with you, and he knew nothing will ever be the same ever again after what happened to you. Now, he just sleeps in if it’s not a race day. He never goes to church anymore, he buries his faith in God with you, buried under the earth. 

Ollie has lost count of how many times he had screamed at God, why did He have to take you away from Ollie? Why did God hate Ollie so much that he have to take the love of his life away from him? Ollie doesn’t know what to do anymore but cry and scream every time he remembers that you are not with him anymore, and you will never be with him again from that day.

I'm still holdin' on to everything that's dead and gone

I don't wanna say goodbye, 'cause this one means forever

Now you're in the stars and six-feet's never felt so far

Here I am alone between the heavens and the embers

Ollie remembers the day you were admitted to the hospital, they said you were okay, that it would be just a small, simple surgery. But now he knows that it was all just a lie. That day was qualifying day and Ollie had managed to snatch the pole position. All the happiness from the day’s event is gone when he received a call from your mom.

“She’s in a coma, she lost too much blood during the surgery,” your mom had said to him through the phone. It took everything in him not to leave the race and fly back home to see you. He had been crying all day and all night, worried about you. He should be there with you, he thought.

On Sunday, he took his win from the feature race, and fly back to you as fast as he could. Only to be informed that you are gone, you are not with him anymore. You had passed away.

Oh, it hurts so hard

For a million different reasons

You took the best of my heart

And left the rest in pieces

Ollie remembers the day of your funeral. It was also the day you took his heart with you, buried six feet under the earth. “It’s okay Ollie, she loves you all her life,” your mother said, trying to console him. It was weird, he should be the one to console your parents, not your parents consoling him. But that doesn’t matter at that time. 

Ollie had met you when both of you were just 4 years old, going to the same kindergarten. Ollie confessed his feelings to you when you were 14 years old and started dating when you were 15 years old because finally, you are “old enough” according to your parents. 

It feels to him, that he has loved you all his life. But, he realized that the years of him being with you were just a portion of his lifetime, and you have loved him all your life. That fact broke him so deeply, how is it fair? You had promised to be with him no matter what, you had promised that you will always be there for him when he needs you. And you are, you are always faithful to your promise. But what about him? He wasn’t even there when you go into the surgery, he wasn’t there when you fell into a coma, he wasn’t even there when you took your last breath.

But he knew that at the end of the day, it was not his fault. He knew that at the end of the day, he has the move on. And he also knew that at the end of the day, he will always love you, no matter what. 

[beloved-of-john]

3 5 8 10 14 15 31

Wow, okay! I assume this is for the Christian ask game :)

3. Have you been baptized? If you have been, when? If not, do you plan to be?

I have been baptised in the Church Of England (Anglican), but I hope to be confirmed into the Roman Catholic church in the future.

5. Do you attend church? If so, do you prefer traditional or contemporary services?

I attend church every Sunday if I possibly can! And I tend to prefer traditional services, they just help me connect to the divine much more.

8. What is your favorite Bible story?

I'm not sure if I have an absolute favourite, but Daniel in the lion's den has stuck with me since I was a child. There's something about the strength of Daniel's faith in God, and God's great love for him, and how the beasts of the earth, God's creatures, bow down to that love.

10. Is there a certain miracle that Jesus performed that's really spoken to you? If so, which one and why?

The healing of the paralytic at the pool really speaks to me, because I can't even imagine how radically that man's life was changed. Also the way Jesus chose specifically to heal him on Shabbat, demonstrating that His love for humankind defies all laws and boundaries.

14. What is something that's brought you closer to God?

I answered this question here :)

15. What is something that has made you question your faith?

The idea that non-Christians won't get to join us in Heaven, that they will go to Hell or that their souls will just be obliterated. I simply can't believe that. I know too many non-religious people and people of other religions who are wonderful people and examples of God's love. I can't believe that my parents, who I love so dearly, won't be the recipients of God's endless mercy. Yes, I believe that faith will be rewarded, and lack of faith is a sin, but they are no more sinful than I am. I'm pretty much a purgatorial universalist at this point anyway, but when people tell me that these things are a given of my faith, I sometimes feel that "if that's true, I don't want this".

31. What do you think you'll do when you first meet Jesus one day?

I think I'll just run to Him and hug Him so tightly, probably cry into his chest, thank Him for saving me and for His limitless love for me, thank Him for being my father, my brother, my best friend and my king, and take a while to just rejoice in His presence. <3

And then I'll ask Him a whole lot of questions XD

[mariacallous]

CHICAGO (JTA) — Earlier this month, 40 people gathered in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood to design a sukkah.

But they hadn’t come together only to build a hut for the upcoming Jewish festival of Sukkot, which begins on Friday evening and revolves around Jews erecting and dwelling in temporary structures for a week.

For this interfaith, intergenerational group, constructing the impermanent space was a step forward in what they hope is an enduring relationship between a Jewish community on Chicago’s North Side and a Black-led church on the West Side.

“Interfaith, interracial, cross-city, cross-neighborhood relationship building does not happen overnight,” said Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann of Mishkan Chicago, the Jewish prayer community partnering on the project. “It’s taken over a year for us to get together three times, four times. This sustained effort of people to continue to build relationships takes a long time.”

The sukkah project is part of the Chicago Sukkah Design Festival, which was launched last year and aims to build connections between the predominantly Black West Side community of Lawndale and the city’s Jewish community, which was once centered in that neighborhood. As part of the festival, which will take place in Lawndale from Oct. 1-15, architects partner with local neighborhood organizations to build the sukkahs, which are repurposed as permanent structures following the festival.

This year, six organizations are building sukkahs, which will later become sites ranging from a pavilion for meditation or a tool library. Mishkan is the only synagogue participating in the festival, and it is building its sukkah in collaboration with the Lawndale Christian Legal Center, a legal services initiative founded by the Lawndale Christian Community Church.

Through building the sukkah, which will later serve as a memorial to 41 victims of gun violence who were part of the legal center, the communities hope to reckon both with present tragedy and historical pain.

The sukkah’s design will address the departure of Jews from Lawndale during the postwar “white flight” era, when white residents left newly integrated urban neighborhoods en masse for the suburbs. Lawndale once had 60 synagogues and 75,000 Jewish residents. By the mid-1950s, only 500 were left.

“It’s a sad, hard, important-to-reckon-with piece of Jewish history in Chicago,” said Heydemann, who delivered a sermon on that topic to the church on a Sunday last year. That Sunday was also Tisha B’Av, the Jewish fast day that commemorates the destruction of the ancient Holy Temples in Jerusalem.

“There are people from the congregation who remember when Jews and Black people both lived in the neighborhood before Jews moved out of the neighborhood, and that was a powerful conversation,” said Diana Collymore, a deacon who has been active in Lawndale Christian Community Church since 2014. “That’s one of the strongest pieces that stayed with people. There were people from Mishkan who remembered what street the grandpa or mom or dad grew up on here.”

The communities are collaborating with two firms: Architecture for Public Benefit and Trent Fredrickson Architecture, whose architects also hope to honor that shared history and create something that is responsive to the community’s needs, backgrounds and experiences.

“One of the community members was talking about this old Jewish restaurant that now doesn’t exist anymore and whenever she would go there she would feel welcome and at home,” said Chana Haouzi, the founder of Architecture for Public Benefit. “We just spoke of feeling invited and like that you could stay as long as you like.”

The relationship between Mishkan and Lawndale Christian began when Heydemann and the church’s lead pastor, Jonathan Brooks, who is also known as Pastah J, participated in a program for early-career clergy at the University of Chicago Divinity School. They have spoken to each other’s congregations and hope for the sukkah-building process to bring their members closer together.

Members are already finding commonalities between the two congregations.

“The Jewish community that came here from Europe, they were driven here from trauma and harm, and the African-American community that came from the South in the Great Migration, they too were fleeing trauma,” Collymore said. “And both have faith and they believe in a God, and their faith brought them and encouraged them and directed them and kept them and settled them in this space.”

One way the communities are connecting and confronting the past is through shared scripture. The group designing the sukkah found meaning in a well-known passage from Ecclesiastes, which is read in synagogue on Sukkot and relates how there is a time and a season for everything under the sun.

The two groups studied the passage, interpreting and analyzing the Hebrew and translated versions. Its text will later be emblazoned on the sukkah’s walls in Hebrew script, transliterated Hebrew and English.

“There’s appreciation around that Ecclesiastes passage,” Collymore said. “Having scripture out of both of our faiths, and especially the kind of passage so appropriate for the way things have changed here, I think this is a catalyst for more deeper conversations.”

The sukkah will have three main walls, which will feature shelves lined with vessels that contain artifacts contributed by the community to share stories and create moments of connection. At one gathering, participants painted and decorated rocks with designs and messages inspired by the passage from Ecclesiastes.

“We’ve documented a lot of the discussion, and I think ultimately it was this idea of understanding how these two communities work together and seeing the points of commonality and the focus on loving and caring for each other and putting people first and also God,” Haouzi said. “It’s really that idea that ends up being manifested in the design itself.”

In addition, Mishkan members have participated in a walking tour of the church’s community spaces and initiatives. In addition to the health center and the legal aid center, the church has a fitness center, a café with a roof deck, an organic farm, a recovery center for men who were recently incarcerated or are in recovery, and other community programs.

“It’s important for predominantly white Jewish people who have been told that they’re not safe in parts of Chicago that don’t look white and Jewish, even if these parts of Chicago used to be their grandparents’ homes, to just come there and see that this neighborhood has incredibly interesting, dynamic people who live here and projects they’re taking on,” Heydemann said. “There’s an incredible amount of [the] neighborhood investing in itself and, beyond the neighborhood, outside people looking and saying, ‘How can we be part of that?’”

When the sukkah design festival opens, the church and Mishkan will host a shared prayer service for the community. They also hope the sukkah provides a space for both shared meals and independent reflection.

“Not only will it be a physical manifestation of this collaboration between both groups but it will also invite other people to join and to host both communities to continue building on their collaboration,” Haouzi said.

Heydemann says her community’s partnership with Lawndale Christian Legal Center has led to members becoming regular monthly donors to the center and reading books that speak to its work. When the sukkah becomes a memorial to victims of gun violence, it will stand in a memorial garden whose design is being led by the legal center.

Heydemann says she hopes that when Jews come to the Sukkah Design Festival, they will feel motivated to do something “to try to reverse the decades of disinvestment.”

“I would hope that Jews across Chicago come to the festival and feel a sense of reawakened connection to this neighborhood, whether or not they have family who ever lived here,” she said. “I would also hope that Jewish people would see the sukkot and understand their own tradition, Judaism, is this beautiful, dynamic, interesting platform for relationship building across traditions.”

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Christmas Eve 2024

Christmas Eve is on December 24 and marks the culmination of the Advent period before Christmas that starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve.

Many churches mark the end of Advent with midnight church services.

During modern times, it is popularly celebrated on the night before Christmas Day.

History of Christmas Eve

The tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve derives partly from Christan liturgy starting at sunset, which is inherited from Jewish tradition and based on the Book of Genesis’s Story of Creation, saying the first day starts in the evening and ends in the morning.

It is also believed that Jesus, or Jesus of Nazareth, was born at midnight in the region of Palestine.

Many historical conceptions on ancient traditions contributed to the development of eve celebrations, which persisted in the early Christian calendar.

Christmas Eve marks the end of the Advent season, the period of preparation for Christmas, which begins on November 30 or November 15 in the East.

It was on this night that the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks outside Bethlehem saw the bright star in the sky that signaled the birth of Jesus Christ.

This is why many churches have services beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas.

From the 12th to the 15th century, due to the Holy Inquisition, Christian traditions were made mandatory.

During the 16th century, the church was influenced by the Winter Solstice celebrations and began Christmas preparations the night prior.

In many parts of Europe, people believe that at midnight on Christmas Eve, animals briefly possess the power of speech.

It might have been the traditional association of the ox and the donkey in the Nativity scene that gave rise to such superstitions, but the concept of talking animals is probably pagan in origin.

A closely related belief, widespread in England and Europe, is that cattle rise in their stalls at midnight on Christmas Eve, or kneel to worship the Christ child.

Despite its Christian significance, there are a number of pagan and supernatural beliefs connected with Christmas Eve.

In Scandinavian countries, it is believed that the dead revisit their former homes on Christmas Eve.

People make sure that their parlors are tidy and that a good fire is burning before they go to bed.

They often light candles, set the table, and leave out plenty of food for their ghostly visitors.

They also make sure that the seats of their chairs have been dusted. When they get up in the morning, they wipe the chairs again with a clean white towel.

If they find any dirt on the seat, it means that a relative fresh from the grave sat there during the night.

Celebrating Christmas as a holiday became popular in the 19th century.

Christmas Eve remains an important part of Christian culture and signifies the birth of Jesus.

It has become even more popular within the last century thanks to a beloved icon: Santa Claus.

The idea of the jolly man in red gave rise to more traditions such as hanging stockings and leaving out cookies, milk, and sometimes carrots for his reindeer.

Apart from Santa Claus and Christianity, Christmas Eve took on another significance.

It also became a day made for spending time with family and loved ones over dinner, decorating, gift wrapping, and Christmas-themed movies.

The holiday unites families and friends, allowing them to get together and enjoy special and traditional activities, from Europe, North- and Latin America, to Asia.

[anamericangirl]

I've already graduated long time ago but I was wondering what is the relationship between schools and religion in your country?

I've heard about a thing in the USA called a Sunday School but I don't know how it works. Where I'm from, Poland, we have a class called ''Religion'' where we are taught Roman Catholic religion, the most prevalent religion in Poland. There would be sometimes lessons about other religions but they usually boiled down to ''Be nice to others and let's all get along.'' We would talk about other religions in history class. Ancient Greece? Greek Gods! Ottoman Empire? Islam. Poland before its Christening? (Yes, Poland ''becomes Christian'' when our ruler, prince Mieszko I, got baptized in 966. And yes ruler of the country doesn't have to be a king. We had few rulers who's never been technically crowned.) Slavic Gods!

What about kids who aren't Christian or who are but whose parents don't want them to be taught religion in school for some reason? They go to ''ethics'' class which boils down to ''Don't kill because it's a sin bad thing.'' etc.

Perfectly serviceable, right?

But even though it's not mandatory there are still people who think religion should not be in school at all. Because in their opinion there's already enough going on in school and religion class just keeps their kids in school an extra hour (In Poland classes are only 45 minutes and breaks are only 5 - 10 minutes long, with one long one, 15 minutes.).

Most people like or at least acknowledge that it's far more convenient that way.

It's not some small village where an entire school would fit in one room. How would the priest ask and grade an entire building's worth of children? (''Religion'' isn't taught by priests, nuns or catechists. (I think that's how you translate it.) We would get grades for reciting the prayers and other stuff, our notebooks and participation during class.)

But it might be because my school is religious even by Polish standards. Our Patreon is John Paul the Second. We have his bust in front of the school, almost every class has a cross and his picture. We have some pictures and drawings (made by previous students) of him in the hallways.

What do you think?

Thanks for the message! It was interesting to read about how things are done in Poland. I think for the most part it is the same here. Publics schools here can't promote or practice a particular religion, but they can teach about different religions (which mostly would occur in a history class and there wouldn't be a whole class on religion itself. That can be the case in college/university though).

However, there are private christian/catholic schools here as well and those schools can practice/promote religion and provide religious classes.

Sunday School is not an actual school that's just what we call church for children basically lol. During Sunday church services kids are usually dismissed to go to Sunday school which is just a class that takes place during church where they go over bible stories/lessons in more kid-friendly ways.

[rabbitcruiser]

Christmas Eve

Here the Christchindli (the child Jesus) brings the presents on Christmas Eve. And, thankfully, you open all your presents on Christmas Eve, too!

Christmas Eve takes place on December 24 and is probably one of the best nights of the year! Christmas has the power to reunite families and friends, warm up our hearts, and remind us that we have so many things to be thankful for. So put on your cozy PJs, light up your fireplace, call your loved ones, and top off your hot cocoa with some fluffy marshmallows!

When is Christmas Eve 2023?

Christmas Eve is on December 24 and marks the culmination of the Advent period before Christmas that starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve. Many churches mark the end of Advent with midnight church services. During modern times, it is popularly celebrated on the night before Christmas Day.

History of Christmas Eve

The tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve derives partly from Christan liturgy starting at sunset, which is inherited from Jewish tradition and based on the Book of Genesis’s Story of Creation, saying the first day starts in the evening and ends in the morning. It is also believed that Jesus, or Jesus of Nazareth, was born at midnight in the region of Palestine. Many historical conceptions on ancient traditions contributed to the development of eve celebrations, which persisted in the early Christian calendar.

Christmas Eve marks the end of the Advent season, the period of preparation for Christmas, which begins on November 30, or November 15 in the East. It was on this night that the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks outside Bethlehem saw the bright star in the sky that signaled the birth of Jesus Christ. This is why many churches have services beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. From the 12th to the 15th century, due to the Holy Inquisition, Christian traditions were made mandatory. During the 16th century, the church was influenced by the Winter Solstice celebrations and began Christmas preparations the night prior.

In many parts of Europe, people believe that at midnight on Christmas Eve, animals briefly possess the power of speech. It might have been the traditional association of the ox and the donkey in the Nativity scene that gave rise to such superstitions, but the concept of talking animals is probably pagan in origin. A closely related belief, widespread in England and Europe, is that cattle rise in their stalls at midnight on Christmas Eve, or kneel to worship the Christ child.

Despite its Christian significance, there are a number of pagan and supernatural beliefs connected with Christmas Eve. In Scandinavian countries, it is believed that the dead revisit their former homes on Christmas Eve. People make sure that their parlors are tidy and that a good fire is burning before they go to bed. They often light candles, set the table, and leave out plenty of food for their ghostly visitors. They also make sure that the seats of their chairs have been dusted. When they get up in the morning, they wipe the chairs again with a clean white towel. If they find any dirt on the seat, it means that a relative fresh from the grave sat there during the night.

Celebrating Christmas as a holiday became popular in the 19th century. Christmas Eve remains an important part of Christian culture and signifies the birth of Jesus. It has become even more popular within the last century thanks to a beloved icon: Santa Claus. The idea of the jolly man in red gave rise to more traditions such as hanging stockings and leaving out cookies, milk, and sometimes carrots for his reindeer.

Apart from Santa Claus and Christianity, Christmas Eve took on another significance  — it also became a day made for spending time with family and loved ones over dinner, decorating, gift wrapping, and Christmas-themed movies. The holiday unites families and friends, allowing them to get together and enjoy special and traditional activities, from Europe, North- and Latin America, to Asia.

Christmas Eve timeline

1818

Christmas Eve Anthem

The Christmas carol 'Silent Night' is performed for the first time in public in the Austrian village of Oberndorf on Christmas Eve at a midnight mass in the Saint Nicholas Church.

1914

The Christmas Truce

In World War I, as a manifestation of the Christmas spirit, French, German, and British troops lay down their arms, and soldiers initiate a ceasefire, sharing cigarettes and whiskey.

1969

Christmas Eve with the Moon

Astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission become the first humans to orbit the Moon, it is broadcasted live on Christmas Eve.

2016

World's Largest Santa

The world's largest Santa, measuring 21.08 m (69.16 ft.) tall, 9.18 m (30.12 ft.) wide and 12.62 m (41.4 ft.) deep, goes on display in the Municipality of Águeda in Portugal.

Christmas Eve Traditions

On the night of Christmas Eve, children around the world leave food and a drink for whoever comes to their house and brings them presents. Who this is depends on what part of the world you live in. It might be Santa Claus or Father Christmas who delivers the presents. In Switzerland, it’s the Christchindli (Christchild). In Denmark, it’s the Christmas elf. In Sweden, it’s a small man. And in Finland, it’s the Christmas goat!

In Latvia, the custom is that you can open the presents under the Christmas tree after the Christmas Eve dinner, with a slight twist — before the gift is accepted, the person receiving it has to recite a small poem.

Christmas Eve By the Numbers

32.8 million – the number of real Christmas trees sold in America during the year 2018.

49% – nearly half of Americans don’t buy Christmas decorations, according to a Statista survey.

46% – fortunately, nearly half of Americans don’t mind lying to protect their loved ones’ feelings when they don’t like a gift.

$1,496 – the average spent by U.S. households during the Christmas holidays in 2019, down from 2018.

22% – the amount of Americans that believe their Christmas spending will leave them in debt.

1 billion – the approximate number of cookies Santa gets around the world on Christmas Eve.

500 million – the number of glasses of milk left out worldwide on Christmas Eve, since Santa needs something to wash his cookies down.

1,800 miles – the speed Santa travels per second if we assume that he has to travel 316899308.041 miles on Christmas Eve and that he has 32 hours to do it.

500 million – the estimated amount of households that Santa has to leave presents at.

8.4 years – the overall age children stop believing in Santa across the United States.

Christmas Eve FAQs

What do you do on Christmas Eve?

On Christmas Eve, many families get together to enjoy a big family dinner. When children are asleep, parents and grandparents sneakily put presents under the tree from Santa.

What time is Christmas Eve?

Originally, Christmas Eve was celebrated on the night before Christmas, however, over time, it has become a full-day affair.

Why is it called Christmas Eve?

The word ‘eve’ means the day or period of time before an occasion or event. So Christmas Eve literally means ‘the day before Christmas.’

Christmas Eve Activities

Dinner time! No matter your obligations for the night, where you are, or who you are spending it with, take the time to have dinner with the people close to you. Prepare some food or order it, have some desserts, and enjoy the conversation and the company!

Secret Santa/secret friend: Many countries share the tradition of giving and receiving gifts, and though it’s usually saved for Christmas Day, Secret Santas are great for Christmas Eve. Organize a Secret Santa with your friends and spread the Christmas spirit.

Keep and create traditions: From cooking your favorite childhood Christmas dish and making eggnog to hosting an annual movie night with your friends, the Christmas season is the perfect time to start a new tradition.

5 MIND-BLOWING FACTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS EVE

The fastest delivery man: Scientists calculated that Santa has to travel at 650 miles a second to do all his work on Christmas Eve.

Merry scary: A popular tradition in the past century was to sit around and tell scary ghost stories on Christmas Eve.

The Christ candle: On Christmas Eve, the Christ candle in the center of the Advent wreath is traditionally lit in many church services.

The Nativity scene: It is a tradition of Christians to recreate the Nativity scene, including live dramatizations.

Presents come earlier: In some countries, like Switzerland, Australia, Germany, Portland, and some places in Latin America, presents are exchanged and opened on Christmas Eve rather than at Christmas.

Why We Love Christmas Eve

 Light even in the darkest times: For Christians, Christmas is the reminder that God loves humanity so much that he sent his Son to save them and forgive their sins. So even in the darkest time, and just as in World War I, Christmas Eve is the night that lights up the world.

Reunion night: Even people who aren’t religious celebrate Christmas and take the time to go home to spend time with family and see friends they haven’t seen all year.

An opportunity to give love: Beyond any commercial and material reason, Christmas Eve is the perfect night to give and receive love. Some loving and kind gifts include your company, your support, food for homeless animals, donations to organizations and churches, and more.

Source

[newgabeorder]

Try To Challenge Me In 2025 If You Dare.

Hello, anime fans. I am Gabriel Ramos, DJ and broadcaster of Toon Time Theater. Sadly, I had to discontinue T3 Express and replace it with a Saturday late-night lineup. I realize my mother wants me to prep and cook dinner at 5 PM every day, and with Toonami Rewind being discontinued after December 27, I figured it's best to no longer live-stream on Friday afternoons. (Sorry Japanese viewers, but you will have to wait until Sunday afternoons for your easy weekend anime fix. At least your favorite cartoons will be live-streamed after Church mass and services.) Some of your favorite T3 Express shows will be mixed around the Saturday morning and the newly-introduced Saturday late-night lineups.

Also, I have overheard Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio announcing Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. and a sixth installment lately, and what better way to show interest in the series than to live-stream the 1995 animated series? 2025 marks the 30-year anniversary of the Virtua Fighter anime, so might as well live-stream it to honor the legacy of said series. It is official that Toon Time Theater will have Virtua Fighter in the lineup starting February 2025.

Other than that, here are the Saturday morning lineups for 2025, but you don't have to take my word for it.

040125

Saturday Morning Animation Cram Session

All Times Pacific

E/I: Educational and Informational

7.0A - Laid-Back Camp (Season 2, Episode 14, E/I)

7.5A - Laid-Back Camp (Season 2, Episode 15, E/I)

Trails of Cold Steel

8.0A - SONIC X (Season 2, Episode 40)

8.5A - KEY THE METAL IDOL (Ver.10)

X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER

9.0A – X-MEN (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 35)

9.5A - STREET FIGHTER (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 5)

Children Avoiding Getting Murdered

10.0A - GHOST STORIES (2000 series, Episode 10)

10.5A - BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS

"I'll Give You Romance"

11.0A - HI SCORE GIRL (Season 1, "ROUND 5", rerun)

11.5A - Rent-A-Girlfriend (Season 1, Episode 9, rerun)

110125

Saturday Morning Animation Cram Session

All Times Pacific

E/I: Educational and Informational

7.0A - Dr.STONE: SCIENCE FUTURE (Season 4, Episode 58, Season Premiere, E/I)

7.5A - Laid-Back Camp (Season 2, Episode 16, E/I)

Trails of Cold Steel

8.0A - SONIC X (Season 2, Episode 41)

8.5A - KEY THE METAL IDOL (Ver.11)

X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER

9.0A – X-MEN (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 36)

9.5A - STREET FIGHTER (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 6)

Children Avoiding Getting Murdered

10.0A - GHOST STORIES (2000 series, Episode 11)

10.5A - BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS

"I'll Give You Romance"

11.0A - HI SCORE GIRL (Season 1, "ROUND 6", rerun)

11.5A - Rent-A-Girlfriend (Season 1, Episode 10, rerun)

180125

Saturday Morning Animation Cram Session

All Times Pacific

E/I: Educational and Informational

7.0A - Dr.STONE: SCIENCE FUTURE (Season 4, Episode 59, E/I)*

7.5A - Laid-Back Camp (Season 2, Episode 17, E/I)

Trails of Cold Steel

8.0A - SONIC X (Season 2, Episode 42)

8.5A - KEY THE METAL IDOL (Ver.12)

X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER

9.0A – X-MEN (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 37)

9.5A - STREET FIGHTER (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 7)

Children Avoiding Getting Murdered

10.0A - GHOST STORIES (2000 series, Episode 12)

10.5A - BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS

"I'll Give You Romance"

11.0A - HI SCORE GIRL (Season 1, "ROUND 7", rerun)

11.5A - Rent-A-Girlfriend (Season 1, Episode 11, rerun)

250125

Saturday Morning Animation Cram Session

All Times Pacific

E/I: Educational and Informational

7.0A - Dr.STONE: SCIENCE FUTURE (Season 4, Episode 60, E/I)*

7.5A - Laid-Back Camp (Season 2, Episode 18, E/I)

Trails of Cold Steel

8.0A - SONIC X (Season 2, Episode 43)

8.5A - KEY THE METAL IDOL (Ver.13)

X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER

9.0A – X-MEN (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 38)

9.5A - STREET FIGHTER (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 8)

Children Avoiding Getting Murdered

10.0A - GHOST STORIES (2000 series, Episode 13)

10.5A - BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS

"I'll Give You Romance"

11.0A - HI SCORE GIRL (Season 1, "ROUND 8", rerun)

11.5A - Rent-A-Girlfriend (Season 1, Episode 12, rerun)

Season Finale

010225

Saturday Morning Animation Cram Session

All Times Pacific

E/I: Educational and Informational

7.0A - Dr.STONE: SCIENCE FUTURE (Season 4, Episode 61, E/I)*

7.5A - Virtua Fighter: The Animation (Season 1, Episode 1, Series Premiere, E/I)

8.0A - SONIC X (Season 2, Episode 44)

Popcorn For Breakfast

8.5A - KEY THE METAL IDOL (Ver.14)

X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER

10.0A - X-MEN (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 39)

10.5A - STREET FIGHTER (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 9)

Wild & Crazy Kids

11.0A - GHOST STORIES (2000 series, Episode 14)

11.5A - HI SCORE GIRL (Season 1, "ROUND 9", rerun)

150225

Saturday Morning Animation Cram Session

All Times Pacific

E/I: Educational and Informational

7.0A - Dr.STONE: SCIENCE FUTURE (Season 4, Episode 63, E/I)*

7.5A - Virtua Fighter: The Animation (Season 1, Episode 3, E/I)

Sonic's Scream Test

8.0A - SONIC X (Season 2, Episode 46)

8.5A - GHOST STORIES (2000 series, Episode 16)

X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER

9.0A - X-MEN (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 41)

9.5A - STREET FIGHTER (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 11)

Wild & Crazy Kids

10.0A - BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS

10.5A - HI SCORE GIRL (Season 1, "ROUND 11", rerun)

Episodes are subject to change depending on the English dub's release.

I made Virtua Fighter an E/I program, since the program teaches viewers about real-world combat techniques, and their attributes. If you want to be a martial artist when you grow up, hopefully this program has you covered. Many other educational fighting anime exist, but I'll go with this one for now, considering the new (and upcoming) Virtua Fighter game releases along the way.

After several late-night marathon live-streams, I have decided that "More One Night" will finally happen for real, and it will be Toon Time Theater's Saturday late-night lineup. Unlike the Saturday Morning Animation Cram Session, I will choose programs that mostly fit the nu-Toonami vibes, and I will throw in programs that wouldn't work well with the Saturday morning audience. And as usual, I will start it off with more E/I programming. At least FCC isn't controlling my channel, so I am free to live-stream any amount of E/I programming per week, even if it's not the 3-hour standard enforced by FCC.

Here are the launch lineups for More One Night, but you don't have to take my word for it.

040125

Dr.STONE: NEW WORLD Part 2 Marathon (E/I)

All Times Pacific 7.0P - Episode 47 7.5P - Episode 48 8.0P - Episode 49 8.5P - Episode 50 9.0P - Episode 51 9.5P - Episode 52 10.0P - Episode 53 10.5P - Episode 54 11.0P – Episode 55 11.5P - Episode 56 050125 12.0A - Episode 57

110125 More One Night (All Times PST) E/I: Educational and Informational

8.0P - BARTENDER: Glass of God (Season 1, Episode 1, Series Premiere, E/I)

8.5P - BARTENDER: Glass of God (Season 1, Episode 2, E/I)

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS

9.0P - Pokémon Master Journeys

9.5P - MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES (Season 1, Episode 7)

Teenagers With Attitudes

10.0P - BLUE EXORCIST (Season 1, Episode 8)

10.5P - ONE PIECE (Land of Wano arc)

Ninjas & Heroes

11.0P – NARUTO (2002 series, Transferred from T3 Express)

11.5P - TIGER & BUNNY (2011 series, Transferred from T3 Express, Season 2, Episode 20)

120125

Hall of Fame

12.0A - DRAGON BALL Z KAI (Transferred from T3 Express, Episode 48)

As you can see, TIGER & BUNNY (2011), NARUTO (2002), and DRAGON BALL Z KAI move to More One Night, while X-MEN and STREET FIGHTER move to the Saturday Morning Animation Cram Session. Not all of your favorite cartoons made it to the new year considering my timeslots.