Early in our marriage, my husband determined that the time to put up the Christmas Tree was not until the day after Thanksgiving (no leap-frogging the holidays!) — and all the decorations came down sometime within the next week, for certain by January 1st or 2nd. Those were the days when, though we were aware of Advent, as Paul was raised Lutheran and I had been Anglican when we married, we didn’t really focus on the liturgical calendar too much, and were basically just attuned to the American cultural practice regarding the Christmas season being roughly a month between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Now since we’ve been Catholic, however, I have been extremely happy to trumpet long and loud the fantastic news that after the four weeks of Advent, Christmas Season *begins* on Christmas Day, and continues all the way to Epiphany on January 6th — thus allowing me to extend the “Sparkly Season” a little longer. I do adore having sparklies in my world! I don’t have much in the way of “Christmas decor” – but the lights really do make me very happy indeed.
So now I’ve come down to the “end” of my season, and the tree should be taken down today — except that NOW I’m hearing that there’s yet ANOTHER end-date to Christmas to consider. Thus, my dilemma, and I am asking for opinions on this one: What is the really, truly, officially CATHOLIC Christmas Season? I want to do this RIGHT! Lol!
- December 25 – January 1st (the octave of Christmas, ending with the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God)
- December 25 – January 6th (the 12 days of Christmas, ending with the Epiphany)
- December 25 – February 2nd (40 day celebration, ending with the Presentation)
Just to be on the safe side, we’re leaving that Christmas tree up until I figure it out! 🙂 (In other words, take your time sending in your votes! 😉 )
paulyho39
7 Jan 2014Well, it will be interesting to see how this works out! I have a sneaking feeling that Nettie will win out …keeping the “sparklies” up until February 2nd!
Suzanne Jones
7 Jan 2014You know………. Christmas trees have a tendency to get dry and then kind of sometimes catch fire…?
Annette Heidmann
7 Jan 2014That is entirely true, and something I never think about because we’ve never had a real tree! 🙂 So, I suppose for those who might be inclined to extend the season, they would wait to set up the tree until right before Christmas Day… does that make sense? I don’t really know how long they last though…
outandin
8 Jan 2014We have always kept ours up until Epiphany, though we’re not Catholic! I don’t think we’ll have time to take it down until later this week though. Not complaining.
Annette Heidmann
8 Jan 2014No complaining indeed — also, I would imagine that your multiple trees take more time to take down, right? Yeah – it’s never good to rush out of the festive season, I say. 🙂 Let the Christmas joy last as long as possible.