A Deo et Rege

For those unfamiliar with the Catholic season of Christmastide, it begins on Christmas Day and ends the day after the Baptism of our Lord. Normally the feast of the Baptism of our Lord is the Sunday after the Epiphany. However since the Epiphany in most Catholic countries is transferred to a Sunday, the celebration of the Baptism of Our Lord can vary. This year, at least in the USA, it falls on a Monday: January 9th (tomorrow). This means that tomorrow is the last day of the Christmas season. Tuesday (or perhaps Monday evening) we start Ordinary Time. For more information on this and other facts about the Catholic Church calendar, I invite you to visit a webpage I co-author, ChurchYear.Net.

We are lucky as Catholics (along with other liturgical Christians) to get such a long time for Christmas. When I was evangelical Protestant there was always a post-Christmas letdown on December 26th, and the 12 days and Christmastide have certainly cured that. However, there is nonetheless some sadness as I ponder the nearing end of the Christmas season. I will miss the festivity, the lights, the decorations, the tree, the carols, the unique antiphons in the daily office, my Christmas candles, my Christmas coffee creamers and coffees (no joke!), and other things. I just really enjoy Christmas and it’s sad to have to leave it behind. However, I’m not leaving the Incarnation behind,
so I should perhaps focus on that.

However, in some ways it’s good the Christmas season is ending. From a secular standpoint, leaving all the Christmas accessories up any longer would make them lose their special quality. And our bodies are not meant for unlimited festivity as my holiday weight gain can attest! Naturally, the end of the Christmas seasons means we’re closer to spring and summer, which for someone living in the USA snowbelt is good news. Liturgically, we need more than Christmas and the end of Christmas means we’re that much closer to Lent. A non-Catholic, but interested, friend of mine was shocked to hear that I look forward to Lent! Call me a Catholic nerd I guess.

On Tuesday I’ll take down my Nativity and my tree and put away all of my decorations. Tonight and tomorrow I’ll make a concerted effort to enjoy them before I pack them up. But, they’ll be out next year. And the way time goes, it’ll be Christmas before we all know it.

Happy Christmastide and a blessed Ordinary Time!

Photos are of my tree and window candle (I love window candles, especially colored ones. You can’t hardly tell but this one is blue)

Today, in many Catholic countries, is the feast of the Epiphany (officially it falls, in the Roman Calendar, on Jan. 6th, but many Episcopal Conferences have transferred it to a Sunday). This solemnity celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles through the
Magi (Wise Men). In addition, other manifestations of Christ are often
commemorated, including the miracle at Cana.

For more information, visit our All About Epiphany page.

A Prayer for Epiphany:

O LORD,
give us a new epiphany
when You will be manifested to the world:
to those who do not know You,
to those who do not want You,
to those who vilify Your Name,
to those who oppress Your Mystical Body,
to those who deny You,
and to all those who unconsciously long for You.

Bring the day closer
when all people will know and love You
together with the Father
and the Holy Spirit–
and the Kingdom of God will have arrived.

From the New St. Joseph People’s Prayer Book

Photo by Jonathan Bennett (I took a pic of my nativity set with a longer shutter speed and a slight blue tone; it also gives a hint of a personal custom of lighting candles for the 12 days of Christmas)