Image: Wise Women Also Came © Jan Richardson
Friends, it is the time of year when I get to wish you a Merry Women’s Christmas and share a gift that I’ve created for you in celebration of the day!
You might know that in some parts of the world, Epiphany Day (January 6, which brings the Christmas season to a close) is also celebrated as Women’s Christmas. Originating in Ireland, where it is known as Nollaig na mBan, Women’s Christmas began as a day when the women, who often carried the domestic responsibilities all year, took Epiphany as an occasion to enjoy a bit of respite and celebrate together at the end of the holidays.
Whether your domestic duties are many or few, Women’s Christmas is a good time to pause and take a break from whatever has kept you busy in the past weeks or months. As the Christmas season ends, this is an occasion both to celebrate with friends and also to spend time in reflection before diving into the responsibilities of this new year.
It has become a tradition for me to create a retreat that you can use for Women’s Christmas—or any time you’re in need of a space of respite and regathering. This year’s retreat is titled In the Light of a New Constellation.
The retreat is very flexible, easily adaptable to your own purposes. You can do the retreat anytime you wish, by yourself or with others. It includes an introduction with some thoughts about how you might use these reflections.
Clicking the link below will take you to a page on this Sanctuary of Women site where you can download the retreat as a PDF file. There is no cost; this is my Women’s Christmas gift to you! If you wish, you can make a donation in support of the retreat; contributions will be shared with the A21 Campaign (a21.org), which is devoted to ending human trafficking and providing sanctuary, healing, and hope for those rescued from slavery.
Download the 2023 Women’s Christmas Retreat
(If you don’t see the 2023 retreat when you click the link, just refresh your browser so that you’re seeing the most recent version of the Women’s Christmas page, and the new retreat should appear.)
This year’s retreat opens with a new blessing I’ve written for you, which you can find below. As we celebrate the day and enter into the year ahead, I pray that you will be attended by many graces. Merry Women’s Christmas!
Those Stars That Turn in Us
A Blessing for Women’s Christmas
I do not know
how to keep it all together
or by what patterns
this world might
finally hold.
What I know is that
our hearts are bigger
than this sky
that wheels above us
and what shines
through all this darkness
shines through us,
setting every shattered thing
into a new constellation
and we can turn
our faces
to that light,
to the grace of
those stars
that turn in us.
—Jan Richardson
[The image Wise Women Also Came is © Jan Richardson from Night Visions. To use this image or order an art print, please visit this page at Jan Richardson Images.]
Thank you, Jan for this Christmas-continues gift. Thank you for this morning’s blessing. And thank you so much for your gentle-strong spirit of living into what’s here and what’s next. I am so grateful that you are sharing my journey.
Thank you so much, dear Les! I am so grateful for you and can’t imagine being on the journey without you. Love and blessings to you in this Christmas-continues time and as this new year unfolds.
Thank you Jan for this beautiful gathering of hearts. Your gift is appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you, Susan! I am so grateful for your words and your kindness. Very many blessings to you in these days!
Thank you for generously sharing you great gift!
Celeste, thank you kindly! I am so grateful for your thoughtfulness. Many blessings to you in these days and as this new year unfolds!
This is a fabulous and generous offering from your willingness to be with the broken places and your expression that helps me and so many others name our own experiences. I love the structure, I love the art, and I love your poems! I will pass it on to others as well.
Bless you!
Thank you so much, Gail! I am tremendously grateful for the gift of your words and your kindness. Many blessings to you in these Epiphany days and as this new year unfolds!
This year’s theme is so poignant and perfect for where I am in my journey of retirement. I was especially drawn to “Reimagining A Life.” Like you, my husband died four years ago, Like you he was also an artistic collaborator, a musician, and a partner in ministry. I have known since summer it was time for me to make a shift, from the things that were to the tings that are opening now.
Your books, especially Sparrow were a true godsend.
Marina, thank you so much; I am very grateful for the gift of your words and your thoughtfulness. My heart goes out to you as you remember your husband and creative collaborator and partner. I wish you so many blessings as you continue to carry the love that endures and to listen for the life that is unfolding. May you be met with graces and deep solace.