“Making Spirits Bright,” Marywood’s annual celebration of the holiday season through festive programming, community service, and spiritual opportunities, began this month and will continue through New Year’s Eve. Service activities and a concert will begin this month, followed by signature events and programming occurring in December.
The signature event of the Christmas season, Marywood’s Annual Christmas Tree Lighting, will take place in the Rotunda of the Liberal Arts Center on Wednesday, December 6, at 4 p.m. Seasonal music from student musicians will be featured. The event is free and open to the public.
The public also may view the Marywood Christmas tree during the normal operating hours of the Liberal Arts Center, Monday through Friday, December 6-22, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Marywood’s campus also will feature an outdoor Christmas display of the Nativity scene at the Memorial Arch on Adams Avenue.
Sounds of the season will be broadcast by Marywood’s award-winning, student-run radio station, VMFM 91.7, which once again becomes Christmas 91.7 and continues its traditional community gift of broadcasting commercial-free Christmas music, 24/7. Christmas programming starts on Wednesday, December 6 and continues through New Year’s Eve. Those outside of the station’s local broadcast range can stream it for free online or through the Tune-in app.
An on-campus Giving Tree service project will run through December 8. Unwrapped gifts, valued at $15, for the Giving Tree are due on Friday, December 8, at the Swartz Center for Spiritual Life. In addition to unwrapped gifts, monetary donations, as well as gift cards to stores such as Target, will be acceptable. Donations of gift wrap that can be shared with families are also welcome. Co-sponsors of this service effort are MUSE Education Club and the Maxis-Gillet Student Ambassadors for Service, Faith, and Justice. The gifts are being given to children, senior citizens, and men and women in the Scranton area who are experiencing homelessness. Contact communityservice@m.marywood.edu with any questions.
Marywood students will spread holiday cheer to the retired IHM Sisters at Our Lady of Peace Residence, located on campus, with an afternoon of Christmas caroling on Monday, December 11, at 2:30 p.m.
Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, patronal feast of the IHM Sisters and the United States, will be celebrated on Friday, December 8, at Noon in the Marian Chapel.
An Advent Prayer Service is taking place on December 13, 2023, 6:30 p.m., at the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes in the IHM Center adjacent to Marywood’s campus (1512 University Avenue). This bilingual prayer service is being coordinated by IHM Associates Alejandra Marroquin and Rufino Cano.