Christkindl ~ Prayer & Gift Exchange for a Friend

“Christ- Child”

Fr. B initiated a Christkindl for Rosa Mystica Girls’ Society.  My co-leader and I coordinated our version of the Christkindl, using the Trapp Family model. 

Our Chirstkindl will take the form of a prayer exchange with a small gift exchange after Christ’s Birth.  You can take a look at our handout, here.  Our handout included a prayer for friends, to be used in the case that the girls needed some guidance.

The beautiful thing about this particular custom is that the relationship is a reciprocal one.

The person whose name I have drawn and who is under my care becomes for me the helpless little Christ Child in the manger; and as I am performing these many little acts of love and consideration

for someone in the family I am really doing them for the Infant of Bethlehem, according to the word, "And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me." That is why this particular person turns into "my Christkindl." At the same time I am the "Christkindl" also for the one I am caring for because I want to imitate the Holy Child and render all those little services in the same spirit as He did in that small house of Nazareth, when as a child He served His Mother and His foster father with a similar love and devotion.

~ Around the Year with the TRAPP FAMILY

~~~

Each girl was given a name of a fellow RMGS member, in secrecy.  

The person whose name one has drawn is now in one’s special care. From this day until Christmas, one has to pray for her as often as one can. One has to provide at least one prayer every single day–without ever being found out.

Each girl will track her prayers with a Prayer Chart.

The prayer chart can be used in the home for your own version of the Christkindl. It’s merely a tool to help us keep on track – offering a daily gift for Christ among those who are before us.

The girls will reveal their Christkindl at our next meeting, Jan. 5 – Vigil of the Epiphany. They will also present their Christkindl with a wrapped gift, not to exceed a $5 value.  The gift is meant to be something from the heart that reflects their prayers during Advent.