Nativities

Join Autom as we celebrate the Christmas season with our own unique twist on the 12 Days of Christmas. Unfortunately, there will be no pipers piping, geese a-laying, ladies dancing, or golden rings, but you can bet there will be some amazing deals on a fabulous selection of Christmas gifts. I thought about writing a song, but my Beatles cover band never took off because we couldn’t even get one track down correct and I’m tone-deaf, so I will let the deals sing for themselves.

Over the next 12 days Autom will be announcing one new secret deal each and every day, which will only be available for the following 24 hours. For example, our 1st Day of Autom we could be offering a particular Christmas ornament on sale for 24 hours, and the 2nd Day of Autom we may offer a Nativity set at our lowest price ever for one day only.

How do you know what the 12 Days of Autom deal of the day is for the day? Great question! The only way to determine the special deal of the day is to visit our blog and/or facebook page. With great opportunities to save big, it pays to check back daily. You won’t want to miss out on one of our best-selling Christmas gifts at its lowest price ever advertised. With savings this big, do not be alarmed if you find yourself screaming, “Goo goo g'joob!”

Today only! Enjoy these extremely great prices on all 12 deals from the 12 Days of Autom! Quantities are limited.

Day 1: Nativity Night Light - $3.99 

Day 2: Pewter and Pearl Wreath Ornament  - $4.99 

Day 3: Keep Christ in Christmas Angel Figurine - $6.48

Day 4: Peace Nativity Stand - $12.48

Day 5: Ornament Shaped Nativity Tea Light Holder - $2.49

Day 6: 3 Piece Sand Finish Nativity Set - $4.99

Day 7: Pewter & Pearl Snowflake Ornament - $5.99

Day 8: Peace on Earth Nativity Waterglobe - $3.99

Day 9: 3 Piece Woodcut Holy Family Set - $2.99

Day 10: Peace on Earth Nativity Figurine - $4.99

Day 11: Adore! 12-Piece Nativity Set - $14.99

Day 12: Peace Christmas Angel Figurine - $6.48

(*Sale prices will show up in your cart)

Join Autom as we celebrate the Christmas season with our own unique twist on the 12 Days of Christmas. Unfortunately, there will be no pipers piping, geese a-laying, ladies dancing, or golden rings, but you can bet there will be some amazing deals on a fabulous selection of Christmas gifts. I thought about writing a song, but my Beatles cover band never took off because we couldn’t even get one track down correct and I’m tone-deaf, so I will let the deals sing for themselves.

Over the next 12 days Autom will be announcing one new secret deal each and every day, which will only be available for the following 24 hours. For example, our 1st Day of Autom we could be offering a particular Christmas ornament on sale for 24 hours, and the 2nd Day of Autom we may offer a Nativity set at our lowest price ever for one day only.

How do you know what the 12 Days of Autom deal of the day is for the day? Great question! The only way to determine the special deal of the day is to visit our blog and/or facebook page. With great opportunities to save big, it pays to check back daily. You won’t want to miss out on one of our best-selling Christmas gifts at its lowest price ever advertised. With savings this big, do not be alarmed if you find yourself screaming, “Goo goo g'joob!”

Click the link below to start saving and check back tomorrow morning for the super secret 12 Days of Autom deal!

Day 1 (12/3): Nativity Night Light - $3.99 

Day 2 (12/4): Pewter and Pearl Wreath Ornament  - $4.99 

Day 3 (12/5): Keep Christ in Christmas Angel Figurine - $6.48

Day 4 (12/6): Peace Nativity Stand - $12.48

Day 5 (12/7): Ornament Shaped Nativity Tea Light Holder - $2.49

Day 6 (12/8): 3 Piece Sand Finish Nativity Set - $4.99

Day 7 (12/9): Pewter & Pearl Snowflake Ornament - $5.99

Day 8 (12/10): Peace on Earth Nativity Waterglobe - $3.99

Day 9 (12/11): 3 Piece Woodcut Holy Family Set - $2.99

Day 10 (12/12): Peace on Earth Nativity Figurine - $4.99

Day 11 (12/13): Adore! 12-Piece Nativity Set - $14.99

Day 12 (12/14): Peace Christmas Angel Figurine - $6.48 (*Sale price will show up in your cart)

A Favorite Christmas Memory - - For me it was years ago when I was pastor of a parish that strived to capture a "picture perfect,” Currier and Ives Christmas. By Midnight Mass all was in place. The trees (perfect and perfectly lighted, of course) were in place. Perfect poinsettias surround the sanctuary. The choir sang perfectly, leading into the opening procession. In a dimly lit church the choir led the entrance procession, softly humming Silent Night while a soprano with perfect pitch sang the verses. As the ministers arrived front and center, there before the altar itself was the Nativity Scene, all perfectly arranged. Or so it seemed! In the haste before that night someone had left a roll of scotch tape directly in the center, right where the figure of the Infant should have been! So much for the Perfect Christmas. This time everything centered around a roll of scotch tape! And from that year on that memory has served to remind me that, try as we may, we cannot make Christmas "perfect." Only One Thing makes Christmas "perfect" -- or should I say only One Person!

 
Bishop Anthony Pilla’s first official act as spiritual leader of the Diocese of Cleveland was to meet the body of slain missionary Dorothy Kazel at the Cleveland airport.  Sister Dorothy, a member of the Cleveland Latin American Mission Team in El Salvador, was assulated and murdered by Army assassins on December 2, 1980 along with lay missionary Jean Donovan and two Maryknoll Sisters, Ita Ford and Maura Clark. 

Dorothy L. Kazel was born in Cleveland in 1939.  After entering the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland in 1960, she was given the religious name Sister Laurentine, an Ursuline nun martyred in the French Revolution.  Her evolution from Dorothy to Sister Laurentine to Madre Dorthea reflects her life’s journey as one of passion, joy, service and commitment to the poor in every ministry endeavor she embraced.  One of Dorothy’s life themes was reaching out to those marginalized within our schools, our city, our nation and those at-risk from violence and war.  In 1967 Dorothy wrote to her superior expressing her desire to help people, especially the Spanish and Indian people to whom she felt a deep calling.

Archbishop James Hickey established a Cleveland mission in El Salvador asking local clergy, religious and laity to serve.  Dorothy joined the mission team in 1974.  She came to know and love the faith-filled Salvadoran people who lived in extreme poverty and oppression.  Dorothy showed women how to care for and nourish their children, taught native men and women to read and write, and trained lay leaders to teach religion as she shared faith and life with them.  When the civil war broke out in 1977, professional death squads murdered campesinos, catechists and priests as they destroyed homes, villages and crops.  Dorothy worked with the victims and refugees of war.  She said, “I could not leave Salvador now…I am committed to the persecuted Church here.”  That commitment cost her life. 

As she and Jean were returning from the airport with the two Maryknoll sisters, they were all abducted, interrogated, abused and shot by five National Guardsmen.  A milk truck driver discovered their bodies in a ditch on the side of the road.  He and other villagers clothes and buried their bodies in a common grave marked by a cross made of twigs.  On December 4th, the women’s bodies were drawn from the burial site as co-workers and villagers stood watch.  

At a funeral mass in San Salvador, Jean and Dorothy’s co-workers lifted their caskets to carry them from the church.  As the caskets passed from hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder, the villagers climbed on the benches and started to applaud.  A crowd lining the streets leading to the airport greeted the funeral cortege with thunderous, triumphant applause.  Likewise, as Bishop Pilla concluded the Mass of Christian burial for Sister Dorothy at St. John Cathedral in Cleveland, her casket was flanked by an honor guard of more than 100 priests while thunderous applause burst forth from the 1500 people who attended the funeral.

Dorothy’s ordinary life as a women with the title of Sister was revealed through the tragic impact of her death to have been extraordinary.  Her death has been a catalyst for many groups of diverse people to join together to advocate for social justice at local, national and international levels.  The Ursuline Sisters continue to serve the people of El Salvador through the Cleveland Diocese’s mission team.  Ursuline College established the Sister Dorothy Kazel Center for Global Awareness of Peace and Justice Issues.  All religious communities of women were inspired to action on behalf of women as victims of violence.  After the murder of another Cleveland Ursuline in 1995, the congregation initiated Women Watch, an annual event commemorating women and children who were victims of violence in Cuyahoga County within the past year.

Death couldn’t stop Sister Dorothy’s influence.  Continuing the work of social justice and commitment to the poor is the legacy she has left us.  She was a role model living the Gospel to the fullest.  Each of us is called to be that too.  Dorothy would tell us to rejoice; she has fulfilled her dream to become “An Alleluia from head to toe!”

Autom would like you all to join us as we celebrate the birthday of the Blessed Mother!

Christians have been celebrating the birth of the Virgin Mary since at least the 8th century. It is one of only two births officially celebrated on the Church's calendar. The Nativity of John the Baptist is the other birth.

The feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (Dec. 8) was officially promulgated in 1854 by Pope Pius IX. We mark her nativity as nine months after the date of conception, or September 8th. Not much about the birth or lineage of Mary is known from the Bible, but the apocryphal "Gospel of James" provides some details of her life. She was born unto her mother Anna and father Joachim, who were both beyond the age of child-bearing. Her parents, through the observation of fasting and prayer, were rewarded by God with a child.

When celebrating the nativity of Our Lady, let us honor the woman holy enough that she became the mother of Our Lord and Savior. Visit Autom.com for a great selection of Marian products that help honor your devotion for the Blessed Mother.

Autom invites you to join us today as we celebrate the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist! He was a wonderful leader who ultimately laid down his life for the Lord. The strength and courage of his faith is truly admirable! 

On this day, roughly six months before the birth of Christ our Lord, St. John the Baptist was born unto his parents Zachariah and Elizabeth. Prior to the birth of their son St. John, Zachariah and Elizabeth believed they were unable to have children because they were both beyond the age of child-bearing. Zachariah, a Jewish priest, had been chosen by lot to offer incense at the Golden Altar in the Holy Place while serving in the Temple in Jerusalem. While offering the incense, Zachariah was greeted by the Archangel Gabriel. The Archangel of the Lord appeared to Zachariah and informed him that he was soon to be a father. The angel also told Zachariah that his son's name is to be John. Zachariah did not believe the message from the Archangel Gabriel, and was therefore rendered speechless by the Lord.

Around the same time, the Archangel appeared to the Virgin Mary during the Annunciation. While informing her she was to be with child, Gabriel also brought news that her cousin, Elizabeth, was already 6 months pregnant. According to the New American Bible, Luke 1:44 states, "For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy." This was the first prophesy fulfilled by John.

Meanwhile, Zachariah remained mute until the birth of John; at this time his family wanted to name the baby after his father. Obeying the message of the Lord, Zachariah wrote "His name is John" and he was able to speak again.

The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist is one of the oldest festivals of the Church, being celebrated since 506 by the Council of Agde. It was celebrated like Christmas as a day of rest with three Masses; a vigil, at dawn, and at midday.

John the Baptist continued to fulfill the prophesy of the Old Testament throughout his life. St. John preached and baptized fellow Christians in the Jordan river in the time leading up to Christ's ministry. John the Baptist was the forerunner or precursor of Christ, leading the way, opening hearts, and sharing the love of our Lord. He was the first person to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and at the request of Christ our Lord, St. John baptized him. This was a turning point in which Jesus began his ministry. St. John the Baptist states in John 3:22-36 that he "must become less" and Jesus "must become greater." St. John was martyred for his actions and beliefs.

Today let's celebrate the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Visit our website for all your St. John the Baptist devotional items and many other affordable church supplies.