The FORTY Days of the Christmas Season.​

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   By the fourth century, Roman Christians were celebrating the birth of Jesus as a liturgical feast every year. The date was fixed on December 25th by at least the 330s AD. It is often thought that Dec. 25th was chosen to celebrate the Lord’s Nativity because it was the date of the winter solstice in the Roman pagan calendar, and possibly the Roman feast of a sun deity. However, there is little evidence that a feast for Sol Invictus was celebrated on Dec. 25th until decades after the Christian feast of Christmas was fixed on that date.

   Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the late Pope Benedict XVI), in his book, The Spirit of the Liturgy, points out that before they celebrated Christmas, many Christian communities were already celebrating the Annunciation, which marks Christ’s conception. Since the Annunciation was celebrated on March 25 (also believed by many Church Fathers to be the date on which Christ was crucified), it would make sense that Christ’s birth would be celebrated nine months later, on Dec. 25th.

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   So we’ve settled on a day. What’s the ‘Christmas Octave’ then?  The Octave of Christmas is celebrated as an eight-day feast which begins on the Nativity, Dec. 25th, and continues to January 1st, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. During the Christmas Octave, the Gloria is sung each day during Mass, and each day is generally regarded as a day of great feasting. Therefore, while many are in the practice of meatless Fridays (abstinence in honor of Christ’s sacrifice and in reparation for our sins), all such penances are suspended during an octave celebration, which is a daily extension of the feast day itself in order to highlight its solemnity.

 

   What about the Twelve Days of Christmas tradition?  This traditionally began on Dec. 25th and ended on January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany.  This is a little tricky in the United States, since the Epiphany is not always celebrated on the same day.  It has been moved from Jan. 6th to “the Sunday between January 2 and January 8” in an effort to make it more convenient for the faithful to fulfill their obligation to celebrate the feast. So Christmas is definitely over on the Feast of the Epiphany, then, right? Well, not exactly…

 

   There is also the liturgical season of Christmas, which ends on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, celebrated this year on the weekend of January 11th & 12th. After the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Ordinary Time technically begins on the liturgical calendar, and you can certainly say that Christmas is over, since the vestments and liturgical decorations shift from white and gold back to green… unless, of course, you want to keep the party going...

 

   Since antiquity, Christian cultures continue to celebrate Christmas until the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord — Candlemas — which takes place on February 2nd. This year, it will be celebrated on the weekend of Feb. 1st & 2nd. This commemorates the Presentation of the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem. This feast is called “Candlemas” (or 'Candle-Mass') because it is the day on which the Church has traditionally blessed candles for liturgical use. Why? Because when the infant Jesus was presented in the Temple, St. Simeon called him a “light to the Gentiles” — and the light of Christ has been central to celebrating the Presentation ever since.  The Feast of the Presentation was also known as the Purification of Mary because it would have been the conclusion of a mother’s period of ritual purification after giving birth to a child.

 

   This period of time, from December 25th to February 2nd totals 40 days!  Sound familiar?  It should!  The custom of celebrating the Solemnity of Our Savior's Nativity by a season of 40 days is rooted in the gospels, where we hear that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after spending 40 days in the contemplation of the Divine Fruit of Her glorious Maternity, went to the Temple (Luke 2:22-40), there to fulfill, in most perfect humility, the ceremonies which the Law demanded of the daughters of Israel, when they became mothers (Exodus 13:1-2, 11-16; Leviticus 12). Christmas is DEFINITELY over by then.

 

   So, while the rest of our de-Christianized society is stripping down their decorations and tossing their Christmas trees, we Catholics continue to celebrate the great event of the Incarnation of God in the flesh!  Here at Immaculate Conception, therefore, our Christmas decorations will remain throughout the rest of January. It’s no accident that the Church, in her great wisdom, gives us 40 days of Christmas feasting.  After all, it won’t be long before Lent –– the 40 days of fasting and penance –– begins as we enter the spiritual desert.

 

   Therefore, I encourage you!  Use what remains of this season to fill and nourish your souls with the blessings of the Christ Child!  Lent can be a long walk on an empty stomach, but it will be an even longer walk on an empty soul!​​

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Oremvs Pro Invicem!

Father Albert Beltz, KHS, Pastor

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