Discover the joys of ‘keeping a long Christmas’
As the holiday season winds down, many people pack away their Christmas decorations and almost immediately return to the rhythm of everyday life. However, a growing Catholic movement encourages embracing the Christmas spirit well into the New Year, celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas and even continuing festivities until Feb. 2 when the Church celebrates Candlemas..
The tradition of the Twelve Days of Christmas lasts from Jesus’ birth Dec. 25 until the day before the Epiphany Jan. 6. Rather than rushing through the season, those who observe this tradition can engage in activities that deepen their connections with family and faith.
As the Church continues its celebration, it’s a wonderful chance to reflect on the significance of the season, as well as to keep your Christmas decorations up a bit longer.
In a piece written for Crisis Magazine titled “Keeping a Long Christmas,” author and commentator Charles A. Coulombe explained the concept of the “holiday creep,” characterized by society’s attempt to begin the Christmas season as early as Halloween.
This is a sign of more than just a pursuit of profits, according to Coulombe. It reveals a deeper societal longing for connection and nostalgia.
“Certainly, nostalgia is one of the three major elements that should characterize our celebrations,” Coulombe wrote. “But the second is hope for the future, while the third is the perennial and eternal nature of the things we celebrate.”
The celebration of Christmas is actually just as long as society instinctively wants it to be. However, it begins Dec. 25, not as soon as Halloween or Thanksgiving have passed.
In service of having the proper elements characterizing our celebrations, Coulombe offered insights into preserving the feast for after Advent, beginning with simply displaying the Nativity in the home without the Infant Jesus or the Wise Men.
“When Christmas Eve at last arrives, a whole world of celebration opens up — and if we have tried to keep Advent, we shall not find ourselves tired of the feast already, as so many of our secular friends are,” Coulombe wrote.
“But we must try to keep up the jollity through the Twelve Days,” Coulombe emphasized. “The following day, St. Stephen’s Day or Boxing Day should just be the beginning, not the end—with New Year’s Eve and Day halfway points on the road of observance and celebration,” he said.
On Epiphany, or the Twelfth Night of Christmas, the faithful celebrate the visit of the Three Kings to the Infant Jesus.
“Here, too, are innumerable customs to savor across the Catholic world,” Coulombe wrote.
On Feb. 2, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the child Jesus in the Temple. This is Candlemas, the official conclusion of the Christmas celebration.
On Candlemas, it is traditional for priests to bless all the candles intended for use throughout the year, including those for homes. In some churches, this blessing includes a candlelight procession, while in others, members of the congregation hold lit candles in their pews.
The glow of candlelight evokes the Christmas celebration, symbolizing how the darkness of sin was dispelled by the light of Christ. Additionally, it serves as an important reminder that despite the lingering dark days of winter, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it,” (John 1:5).
Coulombe concluded, “by keeping Christmas so well as we can in our homes and families — and even our solitary apartments if we live alone — we can begin to reverse that secularization, which has brought us to the revolting state in which we find ourselves.”
“Moreover,” he wrote, “we can do so through the combination of supernatural faith and innocent joy. Can there be any better weapons, more pleasant to wield?”
“Moreover,” he wrote, “we can do so through the combination of supernatural faith and innocent joy. Can there be any better weapons, more pleasant to wield?”
catholicvote.org
It ain't over till it is over, folks!
Moderators: johnmc, Johnna, MarieT, Denise
It ain't over till it is over, folks!
Devotion to the souls in Purgatory contains in itself all the works of mercy, which supernaturalized by a spirit of faith, should merit us Heaven. de Sales
Re: It ain't over till it is over, folks!
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have come and gone, but the celebrations continue!
“After the annual celebration of the Paschal Mystery, the Church has no more ancient custom than celebrating the memorial of the Nativity of the Lord and of his first manifestations, and this takes place in Christmas time,” read the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar (32).
The ancient commemoration of the birth of our Lord and Savior resounds through the ages and occupies a pivotal place in the Christian life. Faithful around the world mark the solemn occasion of our salvation with extra prayers, Mass attendance, sacramental participation and family traditions.
But when does the Christmas season really end, and when do we get back to the “ordinary” time of life?
The “12 Days of Christmas” speak into the question, but what if I told you there were 19 days of Christmas this year? That sure is a lot of lords a’leaping and plenty of partridges in pear trees!
According to the same Universal Norms, “Christmas Time runs from First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Nativity of the Lord [Christmas Eve] up to and including the Sunday after the Epiphany or after 6 January,” which is designated as the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (n. 33, 38). This year, that important feast falls on Sunday, January 12, giving us a whole extra week of Christmas hope and joy!
Of those 19 days of Christmas, the first eight — the Octave of Christmas — are the most important. In fact, each day within those eight is celebrated as a mini-Christmas! One of only two octaves in the liturgical calendar, the Christmas Octave calls us to keep the celebrations going!
Those who appreciate history and tradition might remember a time when the Christmas season extended even further, all the way to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2!
The feast, which celebrates Jesus’ presentation in the Temple in accord with Jewish law, was also known as “Candlemas” because of an ancient tradition of blessing the candles to be used throughout the liturgical year on the pivotal feast day. As Jesus, the Light of the World, enters the world, our lives and the Temple, the Church blessed the lights to be used in worship and prayer, reminding us of just who those candles burn for.
While current norms place the end of the Christmas season on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we continue to remember the life-changing reality of the Incarnation during the Christmas season and every day. So, no matter which of the 19 days of Christmas you take your trees or decorations down, be sure to pause and remember: Jesus was born for you.
https://denvercatholic.org/when-does-ch ... eally-end/
“After the annual celebration of the Paschal Mystery, the Church has no more ancient custom than celebrating the memorial of the Nativity of the Lord and of his first manifestations, and this takes place in Christmas time,” read the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar (32).
The ancient commemoration of the birth of our Lord and Savior resounds through the ages and occupies a pivotal place in the Christian life. Faithful around the world mark the solemn occasion of our salvation with extra prayers, Mass attendance, sacramental participation and family traditions.
But when does the Christmas season really end, and when do we get back to the “ordinary” time of life?
The “12 Days of Christmas” speak into the question, but what if I told you there were 19 days of Christmas this year? That sure is a lot of lords a’leaping and plenty of partridges in pear trees!
According to the same Universal Norms, “Christmas Time runs from First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Nativity of the Lord [Christmas Eve] up to and including the Sunday after the Epiphany or after 6 January,” which is designated as the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (n. 33, 38). This year, that important feast falls on Sunday, January 12, giving us a whole extra week of Christmas hope and joy!
Of those 19 days of Christmas, the first eight — the Octave of Christmas — are the most important. In fact, each day within those eight is celebrated as a mini-Christmas! One of only two octaves in the liturgical calendar, the Christmas Octave calls us to keep the celebrations going!
Those who appreciate history and tradition might remember a time when the Christmas season extended even further, all the way to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2!
The feast, which celebrates Jesus’ presentation in the Temple in accord with Jewish law, was also known as “Candlemas” because of an ancient tradition of blessing the candles to be used throughout the liturgical year on the pivotal feast day. As Jesus, the Light of the World, enters the world, our lives and the Temple, the Church blessed the lights to be used in worship and prayer, reminding us of just who those candles burn for.
While current norms place the end of the Christmas season on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we continue to remember the life-changing reality of the Incarnation during the Christmas season and every day. So, no matter which of the 19 days of Christmas you take your trees or decorations down, be sure to pause and remember: Jesus was born for you.
https://denvercatholic.org/when-does-ch ... eally-end/
Devotion to the souls in Purgatory contains in itself all the works of mercy, which supernaturalized by a spirit of faith, should merit us Heaven. de Sales