UD Professors and their Holiday Traditions
Christmas is a time for traditions! All of us have some form of tradition surrounding faith, family or food to celebrate the holiday season. While our traditions are unique to us, the joy and anticipation for Christmas unites all of us. Here are the Christmas traditions (past and present) of the UD professors!
Dr. West – The West family goes out to a tree farm and cuts their own tree. After Christmas Eve Mass, they enjoy fancy cheeses around their fireplace (if the Texas temperatures allow it), and West’s favorite holiday food is beefwellington. Hosting a Christmas party has been a part of West’s traditions since his time as a UD student living in Old Mill; nowadays, he and two other families work together to plan a big Christmas party. A unique tradition is that “Santa West” never wraps presents, they magically appear under the tree on Christmas Day . West’s favorite movie is a niche pick, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”, which he described as both strange and wonderful.
Dr. Moran – An annual tradition for Moran is attending Cistercian’s midnight mass. Moran has a growing collection of the Fontanini nativity scene; he recently added the three wisemen each on camel, horse and elephant. Another piece of Christmas decoration are poinsettias, which he “steals” from Braniff after the students go home for Christmas break.
Professor O’Briant – Many of her traditions are linked to her family’s home in North Carolina. Her dad makes an annual batch of eggnog and delivers it around their small town to their friends and neighbors and he brings it with him while running errands in December to give to employees in gas stations or the bank. Christmas food always involves some sort of homegrown greens from her dad’s garden. O’Briant’s favorite Christmas movie is the original “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer” from 1964.
Professor Khirallah – The big celebration is the H.A.T.C.H. party! – Halloween, All-Saints, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah. The menu is chicken spaghetti and whatever desserts that guests bring to the party! Khirallah’s Christmas Eve dinner is always steak and mashed potatoes. Her family favorite movie is “Scrooge” (1970). Having the whole family together is the key to Christmas for Khirallah.
Sr. Mary Angelica – In religious life, Christmas traditions look a little different. Before the midnight Mass, the sisters process through the convent and sing Christmas carols and have their tree trimming party together. A favorite Christmas memory is from her time in Rome; in 1999 she attended Mass at St. Peter’s,and while walking towards the Vatican, she saw people approaching from all directions and singing Adeste Fideles in their native language as they walked into St. Peter’s square. Her favorite Christmas gift is joy.
Sr. Elinor – The sisters have a St. Nick’s tradition of leaving out their shoes and the novices in the community come by and shine their shoes and sometimes leave candy, oranges or holy cards in them. In religious life the sisters take the place of St. Nick’s elves. Her family tradition was to watch “The Muppets Christmas Carol” on New Year’s Eve. Her favorite holiday foods are pfeffernüsse cookies and icebox cookies.
Dr. Fonteneau – Her family reads the book “Bear Stays Up” every Christmas. She enjoys buche de noel, a traditional French dessert decorated with chocolate ganache to look like a log. She celebrates with a big meal on Christmas Eve, because the 25th is her oldest son’s birthday and they celebrate that in the afternoon. An annual tradition is decorating the tree and putting on the new ornaments that each of her children have received.
Dr. Moss – After returning back to the US from England, Moss enjoys using the more spacious style of American homes to decorate with several Christmas trees. Each one of his children have a personal mini tree that they decorate. His favorite food is dressing (what Americans call stuffing) and his top two movies for the season are “The Godfather” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. His favorite gift was a Scorcher 6×6, a RC car with 6 wheels that could turn 360 degrees.
Dr. Bulzacchelli – He enjoys going to midnight mass when possible. One year he knew he was too tired to make it to the 12 a.m. when he started the rosary by saying grace. Each year he tries to find a new version of the Christmas Carols movie to watch, with the Muppets version with Michale Kane and Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” with Jim Carrey as special favorites.
Fr. Thomas – Cistercians celebrate a little differently in the monastery. All of the monks attend midnight mass and gather for Christmas carols. They start by singing songs in Hungarian, then Latin, and then English. There are drinks and desserts to celebrate. His favorite holiday movie is the “Muppets Christmas Carol”. The most memorable gift was when he was 13, and he was given a set of golf clubs. Since there was half a foot of snow on the ground, the clubs were then used inside…and with a great swing a golf ball was launched into the wall. It’s not Christmas until somebody breaks something.
(Mr.) Dr. Berry – Starting with St. Nick! The Berrys celebrate by gifting each kid new church clothes, candy and a Christmas themed book on Dec. 6. On the 25th, they enjoy a quiet Christmas morning opening stockings with their family before visiting relatives in the wider Dallas area. Dr. Berry’s favorite movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life”, and his favorite gift was a Millennium Falcon that he received as a child while his family was stuck in an airport during the holidays. He recalls it being “as big as a pizza.”
Fr. Stephen – Favorite Christmas gift he received was a Super Nintendo Legends of Zelda game. His favorite food is Queen Anne’s Cherries. While he does not have a specifically Christmas themed movie, he recalled watching “The Lord of the Rings” each December while he was in college as they were released in theaters his freshman, sophomore, and junior year.
Deacon Ryan – Family traditions for the Sales family includes decorating the tree together while drinking eggnog and watching Deacon’s favorite Christmas movie, “Elf”. Driving around and looking at the Christmas lights is another classic activity they enjoy. Deacon’s favorite Christmas food is sugar cookies, and his favorite Christmas gift he received was a remote control truck he received as a kid.
Fr. Joseph – He loves seeing the Christmas trees go up in December. His favorite film is the classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”. And, as a true Georgia native he enjoys pecan pie to celebrate the season. His favorite gift was a rocking horse he received as a child and the mountain of packing peanuts that it arrived in.