Goodbye Christmas…Until Next Year
Church Year January 8th, 2006
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)
January 10th, 2006 at 11:24 am
The ritual of taking down Christmas begins today. Actually, gravity has helped speed the process as our poor tree’s limbs have petrified and sagged. Ornaments have been sliding off the last couple of days…rather disconcerting thuds in the middle of the night. Like you, we are loathe to remove our window candles that are so welcoming in the middle of winter. But Christmas lingers through the year when we step on needles embedded in the carpet releasing that pine-y scent.