The Church designates Christmas as a season to contemplate the gift of the infant Jesus and His role in salvation history
Kassie O’Brien remembers the dried-out Christmas trees lying at the curb in her childhood neighborhood in Kirkwood soon after Christmas Day. Meanwhile, the O’Briens and other Catholic families on her street were just starting their Christmas celebrations.
“We put up our tree on Christmas Eve and left it up through the baptism of the Lord, and definitely Epiphany,” she said. “I remember very well the day after Christmas the Christmas trees would be out on the curb in front of the nonCatholic homes.”
The childhood memory is a reminder for O’Brien, who attends St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in south St. Louis, that Christmas is a season in which we celebrate and share the good news of Jesus’ birth and the important role the Nativity plays in salvation history.
There is wisdom in the Church making Christmas a season and not just a one-day feast, said Jen Ryan, director of pastoral education, evangelization and apostolic service at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. During this time, we have an opportunity to slow down and be present in the moment and receive the gift of the Christ-child.
But much like the story in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” we shouldn’t be stuck in the past or focused on the future. “In our attention to the present moment, that’s where we find an actual encounter with Jesus,” she said.
“Christmastime is a recollection that Mary had Jesus 2,000 years ago, but now we’re the ones carrying Him with us all the time in the eucharistic Jesus,” Ryan said. “That’s the cause of our joy and a time to focus on the reality of God being with us.”
Christmas season timeline
Christmas is the celebration of a season that lasts beyond Dec. 25.
The octave of Christmas is eight solemn days of rejoicing and is celebrated from the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day) on Dec. 25, through the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (New Year’s Day) on Jan. 1.
The 12 Days of Christmas refer to the Christmas octave and four subsequent days, which ends with the feast of Epiphany (Sunday, Jan. 5).
The Christmas season concludes with the celebration of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Sunday, Jan. 12), although a window is left open until the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple (Sunday, Feb. 2) to mark the 40 days of the traditional liturgical calendar. That feast is also known as Candlemas, as Christ is proclaimed as the “light for the gentiles.”
Ways to keep Christmas alive all season long
Here are some ideas to keep the spirit of Christmas alive throughout the Christmas season:
- Take note of the saints’ feast days that are celebrated during the Christmas season and ask for their intercession in your prayers
- Send out Christmas cards after Christmas
- Make a batch of cookies and share them with a neighbor
- Sometime in the new year, make an effort to volunteer with an organization that helps others in need
- Find a way to have a retreat — even if it is just for a day or for an hour in the eucharistic adoration chapel
- Use blessed chalk to mark your doorway on the feast of the Epiphany
- Wait until Christmas to put the star on the tree or Jesus in the creche, or wait to take down your tree until Epiphany
- Examine your conscience and go to confession
- Extend the season by singing carols in your neighborhood
- Host a Twelfth Night party and invite family members or friends you didn’t get to see on Christmas Day
- Wait to open gifts until after Dec. 25
>> Holy Days of Obligation
The Church will observe two upcoming holy days of obligation: the Nativity of the Lord on Wednesday, Dec. 25, and the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on Wednesday, Jan. 1. The faithful are required to attend Mass and avoid (to the extent they are able) unnecessary work on these days. Some parishes may offer vigil Masses the evening before the holy day of obligation. To find a listing of Mass times, visit www.archstl.org/join-us/mass-times/.
