Yule/Winter Solstice/Christmas Eve
The Festival of the Rebirth of the Sun/The Longest Night


Yule/Winter Solstice/Christmas Eve Directions

O Spirit of Air, we call you!
On this shortest day of the year*
We need more than ever the power of your clarity.
Gift us with your vision as we long for the sun.
We welcome you into our circle. Blessed be.

O Spirit of Fire, we call you!
On this shortest day of the year
We need more than ever the power of your warmth.
Gift us with your passion as we long for the sun.
We welcome you into our circle. Blessed be.

O Spirit of Water, we call you!
On this shortest day of the year
We need more than ever the power of your wisdom.
Gift us with your compassion as we long for the sun.
We welcome you into our circle. Blessed be.

O Spirit of Earth, we call you!
On this shortest day of the year
We need more than ever the power of your stability.
Gift us with your peace as we long for the sun.
We welcome you into our circle. Blessed be.

O Mother/Father of all, we open ourselves to you!
On this shortest day of the year
We are desperate with longing for the birth of your Sun (Son).
Gift us with your child of mercy, your love incarnate.
We await the Christ child with joy! Alleluia, and blessed be!


*or, for Christmas Eve, “this longest night”
Yule/Winter Solstice Communion Elements

Call to Communion

Today is the celebration of the longest night, called Yule or the Winter Solstice. We celebrate the rebirth of the sun, which after its long period of waning will begin to wax again. Though we shiver with the cold of winter, we rest easy in the knowledge that the light will return. We meet today to share a ritual of hope, in memory of Jesus Christ.

Words of Institution

Leader:The seasons turn and the earth is chill and hard. The sun shines wanly in the sky, and we anxiously await the rebirth of the light. We take this meal, and remember the promise of transformation:
All:That which waxes, must also wane; but that which wanes shall wax again!

Closing Prayer

Leader:Mother God, we call to you out of winter.
All:The light is coming! The sun will be reborn!
Leader:Father God, we call to you out of stillness.
All:The light is coming! The sun will be reborn!
Leader:Creator God, we call to you with a desperate hope.
All:The light is coming! The sun will be reborn!
Leader:O Holy One, we greet your Sun with gladness;
With how much more joy shall we greet your Child!
We come before you as your people of hope!
All:Alleluia! Amen.




Activities for Yule/Winter Solstice

1. Because this time of year is already so heavily ritualized, it is doubtful that a church will need or want additional activities for the Sunday morning before Christmas. The church may wish to follow Ruether’s suggestion inWomen-Churchand celebrate the longest night of the year separately from the expectation of Christ’s birth, perhaps by holding a special Winter Solstice service on an appropriate evening. I recommend Starhawk’sThe Spiral Dance(HarperSanFrancisco, 1979, 1999)for a ritual of banishing for the Winter Solstice that is easily adapted to a Christian or ecumenical context.