The Messenger invited fourth- to sixth-graders in every parish to write a Prayer for Christmas. Hundreds of prayers were submitted, and the first three entries were selected as exemplary among their classmates. They are: Kendra Vaughn, Emma Howard and Carolin J. Bouc. Then other notable prayers were added. Following are some of the prayers we received.

First- and second-graders at St. Joseph School in Olney participated in an Advent project called “Giving Our Hearts to Jesus” with encouragement from their teachers: Marcia Horstmeyer, Michelle Burgener and Casey Hemrich.

When I was a child, we generally “asked Santa” for a pony. The closest we ever came was a burro named Rosita, but since we had no transportation for the four-legged girl then living in St. Louis, my father breathed a sigh of relief and said he was sorry we just couldn’t get her to Illinois.