Kim’s note: Here’s an updated version of my Christmastide greeting!
Happy Christmastide! You probably know that “Christmas season” for Catholics is not in the weeks prior to Christmas (as advertisements would have us believe) and ending on December 25. Nope, on Christmas Day we’re just getting started with the celebration!
Christmas Season in the Church begins on Christmas Day and lasts for 12 days. In some dioceses, Christmas is observed for 40 days, until Candlemas on February 2, but today I’ll focus on the 12 days of Christmas.
“Christmastide” is the 12 days following Christmas, and it includes the Feast of the Holy Family, the Solemnity of Mary, and the Feast of the Epiphany. Here are a few links and simple ideas to introduce some Christmastide traditions into your Catholic home.
Feast of the Holy Family (Dec. 29)
The Feast of the Holy Family is a day the Church sets aside to remember the perfect model of a family: Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. This is a day the Church also celebrates all families and encourages us to pursue holiness. This doesn’t mean we have to be a perfect family; it means we are on a path of growth in virtue.
As it’s close to the New Year, this feast day is a perfect day to talk about which virtues your family wants to work on in the new year. Any activities related to the nativity or Holy Family icons would be also appropriate for the day.
Solemnity of Mary (Jan. 1)
The Solemnity of Mary falls on the Octave of Christmas (the 8th day after Christmas), and it commemorates the day Jesus would have been circumcised and formally named. It’s also a day to celebrate in a special, focused way Mary’s divine maternity! It is a holy day of obligation, which means you’re required to attend Mass unless your diocese waives the obligation for some reason.
Why would the Church position this solemnity on New Years Day? Here is a thoughtful explanation by Fr Justin Nzekwe over at Catholic for Life:
Mary is a model of faithfulness, and therefore the Mother of the New Year. Mary’s acceptance of the Words of God through the angel brought us the good news which we celebrate in this season. Her acceptance brought redemption to man from the bondage of the law of old which lacked grace. . . [Mary] . . . kept contemplating over all the things she heard and saw. This attitude is contrary to the attitude of modern people, who dares God and tries to describe with certainty a mystery they know little or nothing about. Mary was different, she followed God in her humility, simplicity and total confidence in God’s will.
Prayers for the Solemnity of Mary from Churchyear.net. Use to enrich your family prayer time.
Fleur-de-Lis Brownies from Catholic Cuisine. Easy and lovely way to make your Solemnity special and delicious!
Free solemnity coloring page from Faith-Filled Freebies
Feast of the Epiphany (Jan. 6)
This is the end and highlight of my family’s Christmastide celebrations! Traditionally celebrated on the 12th day of Christmastide on January 6, in the United States, Epiphany is observed on the Sunday between January 2 and January 8. Why, why, why?! It messes up the whole 12 days of Christmas rhythm! My family always celebrates it on January 6.
Epiphany signifies the night on which The Three Kings were led by a star to Bethlehem to the crib side of the Christ Child, where they presented gifts to him of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It’s called the “Epiphany” because Christ’s birth was revealed to the Gentiles, while December 25th marks its revelation to Israel. Many European families exchange gifts on Epiphany, not Christmas Day. In my home, we leave our tree up until Epiphany, and we have an Epiphany tea with our favorite nativity set as the table centerpiece.
Chalking of the door. One of the oldest Epiphany traditions is the blessing of the front door of our homes. It’s sometimes called the chalking of the door because you mark your door with chalk. You may have seen these markings and wondered what they were. The markings begin with the first two digits of the year, then the letters C, M, and B, and then the last two digits of the current year. So this year the chalk markings over your door would be 20+C+M+B+20. The “C+M+B” stands for the Latin phrase Christus Mansionem Benedicat which means Christ bless this home. Here are some instructions from Aletia for how to do this blessing. It’s a beautiful way to invite Christ into your home for the year!
King’s Cake. There’s a special French cake associated with Epiphany: The King’s Cake or Galette de Rois. It’s made from almond paste and it’s scrumptious. Here’s a recipe.
You can also just bake an ordinary cake. One year, I had to put together our Epiphany tea at the last minute, so I just made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and decorated it with gumdrops to represent the jewels in a king’s crown. Nothing fancy, but the kids still loved it!
I make our Epiphany cake with a bean baked inside. The child who gets the bean is king or queen for the day. The king or queen wears a paper crown for the day, they get to choose what we have for dinner, and we put a vase of flowers next to their plate at meals.
Here are some more creative ideas for Epiphany:
Paper Bag Crown from artbarblog. This could be a super easy Epiphany crown. You probably have everything on hand already!
Star sun catcher to remind us of the journey of the Magi.
Altar display: I love the way this mom arranged her table with the spices and flowering bulb. This would be a great addition to the family altar.
Reading the account of the Magi in the Gospels is a nice way to begin or end your Epiphany celebration. We have a few favorite storybook selections that we enjoy together on Epiphany:
The Last Straw (Thury): The journey of the 3 wise men told from the perspective a camel who is supposed to guide them to their destination. Beautiful illustrations.
The Story of the Three Wise Kings (DePaola): My children adore the illustrations in all of DePaola’s books, and this one is no exception.
Blessed Simplicity
If you want to do something for Christmastide, but you feel overwhelmed, just choose one small thing for one of the days of Christmastide. Most important is the spirit of love that Christ gave to the world through his gift of himself!
12 Days of Christmas Trivia
Finally, for those of you who love trivia, here’s a fun little key to the 18th century song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” with suggestions for how the song teaches Catholic doctrine (from Ann Ball’s Catholic Sacramentals).
- Partridge in a pear tree: Jesus Christ, symbolized as a mother partridge that feigns injury to decoy predators from helpless nestlings.
- Two Turtle Doves: Old & New Testaments
- Three French Hens: faith, hope, charity
- Four Calling Birds: The Four Gospels
- Five Golden Rings: The Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
- Six Geese a-Laying: Six days of creation
- Seven Swans a-Swimming: 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit
- Eight Maids a-Milking: 8 Beatitudes
- Nine Ladies Dancing: Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
- Ten Lords a-Leaping: 10 Commandments
- Eleven Pipers Piping: The 11 faithful disciples
- 12 Drummers Drumming: 2 articles of the Apostles Creed