Christmas Eve

Brittany Murphy laid to rest Brittany Murphy's family members say words can't express the devastation they felt when they laid the 32-year-old actress to rest at a private funeral on Christmas Eve. The service stretched into the evening as a Christian minister and a rabbi presided, and guests sang "Amazing Grace" at the grave site at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, where Liberace, Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, Gene Autry, and...

Today is the last day to mail packages at the U.S. Postal Service's lowest parcel-post rate and be confident of delivery by Christmas. But there's still plenty of time to use its Priority Mail service, which delivers most packages in the United States in two to three days, said Belinda Kelley, a Postal Service spokeswoman in Philadelphia. United Parcel Service's bottom-rate ground service delivers packages from Philadelphia to most of the United States within four days and to the West Coast in five days, according to the transit-time map on its Web site, at http://www .ups.

Christmas is eight days away, and worshipers already have snapped up more than 13,000 free-entry tickets to five holiday services at Lancaster County Bible Church, where about 5,500 congregants turn out each Sunday. But not on Christmas Sunday. That is because services will be held Dec. 23 and Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, the Manheim church will be closed. The idea, senior pastor David Ashcraft said, is to "let folks spend Christmas Day with their families. " Those are fighting words to some within the Christian community, who are outraged that several megachurches around the country - congregations, mostly nondenominational or evangelical, with more than 2,000 members - will not hold services on one of the holiest days of the liturgical calendar.

Jennifer McGinley doesn't remember much about Christmas Eve 1993, but she can never forget it. As she and her boyfriend drove to their East Fallowfield church that night, a drunken driver who had been at a party went through a stop sign and slammed into them. McGinley spent six weeks in a coma. McGinley's experience does not surprise many police officers and emergency room workers. They say the days before Christmas are often more deadly than New Year's Eve. While warnings abound for New Year's revelers, there are few for those who have shared some Christmas cheer at home or office parties.

St. Peter's Episcopal Church in the Great Valley near Malvern will hold several festal Eucharist services, each designed to meet the needs of different ages and family commitments. The 4 p.m. Christmas Eve service will feature familiar carols and the annual Christmas pageant performed by the children of the parish. The Rev. John Grey Tampa will present a small gift to each child attending the service. Cookies and punch will be served afterward. Day care will be available. The 7:30 p.m. Christmas Eve service will feature a traditional candlelit service.

JOEY POLUTRO'S mother is not a happy camper. For the first time ever, her son the chef won't be at her South Philly table for the traditional Italian seven fishes Christmas Eve dinner. Instead, Polutro will be serving an elaborate version of the meatless feast at Mio Sogno, the restaurant at 15th and Oregon that he owns with his wife Erica. Mio Sogno means "my dream" in Italian, a fitting moniker since the restaurant is the realization of Polutro's love for his native Southern Italian and Sicilian cuisine.

Every Christmas season we hear the old refrain that too much commercialism is forcing out the spirit of Christmas. But this is not true. Listen quietly as Christmas approaches. The spirit of Christmas, which is really the story of the birth of the Christ Child, usually sets in late on Dec. 23 and then grows in intensity on Christmas Eve, as late shoppers finish their chores and settle in to await the magic hour of midnight. Those who are of a more religious bent attend Christmas Eve services.

As you trudge from store to store looking for that perfect tie or making arrangements for the Christmas goose, take heart. A Gallup Poll reveals that for most Americans, the joy of Christmas comes as much from making holiday preparations as from celebrating family traditions. The busier that people are with Christmas preparations, the more they enjoy the holiday. For most, those preparations start as early as two weeks before Thanksgiving. (So you may already be well behind much of America in your Christmas shopping.

The Rev. Stuart Spencer will lead a special holiday program titled "The Longest Night Service" at 7 p.m. Sunday at Thompson Memorial Presbyterian Church in New Hope. The service, which will feature hymns and a message from Mr. Spencer, is designed to help those struggling with feelings of grief or uncertainty during the holiday season. A special family service featuring the children's choir and a Christmas story told by the Rev. Katheryn Barlow-Williams will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve at the church.

Yesterday, churchgoers in the dozen or so Russian Orthodox and Ukrainian Orthodox churches in the Philadelphia metropolitan area greeted one another with the traditional Christmas greeting. They didn't use the M word. "Christ is born," said Justine Paul, attending Christmas Day services at St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Church in Philadelphia. "Glorify Him," said her husband, Eugene. "We don't say 'Merry Christmas,' " said the Rev. Vincent Saverino. "We say, 'Christ is born,' and respond with 'Glorify Him.' It's one of the ways we keep Christ as the central figure in celebrating Christmas.