Adrian and Natalia lived in Nicodemia (modern-day Turkey). She was a Christian, but Adrian was a non-Christian imperial officer. They were married for one year prior to their martyrdom and lived in Nicomedia during the time of Emperor Maximian in the early fourth century. The emperor promised a reward to informants who would bring Christians to trial. The denunciations then began, and twenty-three Christians were captured in a cave near Nicomedia. 

They were tortured, urged to worship idols, and then brought before the Praetor, in order to record their names and responses. Adrian, the head of the praetorium, watched as these people suffered with such courage for their faith. Seeing how firmly and fearlessly they confessed Christ, he asked: "What rewards do you expect from your God for your suffering?" The martyrs replied: "Such rewards as we are not able to describe, nor can your mind comprehend." Natalia’s husband was so impressed by the witness of the Christian martyrs that he declared himself a Christian, although he had never been baptized. 

The scribes reported this to the emperor, who summoned St. Adrian and tried to persuade him to sacrifice to the gods and ask for forgiveness. Adrian refused, and Maximian then ordered Adrian to be thrown into prison. His wife, Natalia, hastened to the prison and encouraged her husband. St. Adrian was cruelly tortured and killed. After Adrian’s death, an army commander asked the emperor's approval to wed St. Natalia, who was both young and rich. But she hid herself away in Byzantium because she was fearful the Emperor would force her to marry. St. Adrian appeared to her in a dream and said that she would soon be at rest in the Lord. She died on the 1st of December, which is now her feast day. Although she died of natural causes, she is considered a martyr and was buried among other Christian martyrs in Argyropolis. 

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• When Mary came to visit her cousin Elizabeth, she was pregnant. Who was the child in her womb? What role does Elizabeth’s child play in the Christmas story?
• When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Share a time when you were filled with the Holy Spirit.
• What does it mean when Elizabeth says to Mary, “Blessed are you among women,
• and blessed is the fruit of your womb”?
• What inspires you about St. Natalia and her husband Adrian?

Modern folklore suggests that the partridge in a pear tree in The Twelve Days of Christmas represents Jesus. Enjoy this light pear salad as we prepare for the first day of Christmas.

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Create your own salt dough ornaments to hang on your Christmas tree or to give as gifts. You need only three ingredients: flour, salt, and water.

Mix together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup table salt, and 1 cup of warm water to make a dough. Roll the dough between two pieces of parchment or wax paper and then use cookie cutters to cut whatever shape you choose. Put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and create a small hole somewhere on the ornament for a ribbon or ornament hook so you can hang it on the tree. Bake at 250 F for about 2 hours or until the ornaments are dry. Once cool, you can paint them if you wish. Consider lightly spraying them with a coat of polyurethane spray for the ornament to last for years to come.

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Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary

Recite a rosary together as a family, meditating on the Joyful Mysteries. Offer each decade (set of 10 Hail Marys) for something for which you are grateful. To find the prayers of the rosary and the joyful mysteries, please visit http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm

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