The liturgical period of Christmas lasts from the evening of December 24 until the Baptism of the Lord. In Polish tradition, the Christmas time is even longer, and this is due to the folk customized of singing carols until 2 February. Unfortunately, the “Christmas period” is becoming increasingly the time before Christmas, erstwhile we are bombarded with Christmas music, films or products in stores. The beautiful period of Advent is overlooked, and those who “celebrated” throughout Advent, together with the coming of Christmas celebration, are fed up.
The church gives us a beautiful and lasting Christmas period of just over 2 weeks. It begins with Vespers on Christmas Eve, or December 24th at night. It is at that time that liturgical texts express their joy at the Birth of the Savior. The following celebrations of Christmas include Mass at night (the Shepherd), Christmas Day and then the full Octava, or 8 days of celebration. The joyous Christmas celebration is thus somewhat extended until January 1, inclusive. Meetings with household and friends, singing carols together and, above all, meditating on the liturgical Christmas texts, let us to celebrate the Birth of Messiah better.
O miraculous exchange: The Creator of the human race, taking the body with the soul, went on to be born of the Virgin: and becoming a man without man, gave us his Deity – says the content of 1 of the unspoiled antiphones on 1 January. This example shows that the Church gives us deep Christmas texts for 8 full days.
But it's not over. After the end of Octava, or this “extended day”, the Christmas period continues. In its course, January 6, we celebrate the Revelation of the Lord, commonly known as the feast of the 3 Kings. This celebration is older than the celebration of Christmas itself, and its peculiar importance is that it mentions revelation The born Savior to the wise, and through them to the full world. By 1960 this festival besides had its Octava, which, along with the celebration of the Holy Baptism of the Lord on 13 January, “for good” ended the Christmas season. In the fresh liturgical calendar, which was introduced in 1969, Christmas time besides ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which nevertheless takes place a fewer days earlier, namely on Sunday after the celebration of the 3 Kings.
According to Polish tradition, the informal vacation period is even longer and lasts until the feast of the Lord's Sacrifice on 2 February. Although we no longer hear Christmas carols in churches, they inactive sound in the homes for 3 weeks, and thanks to the Christmas meetings the joy of Christ’s coming into the planet continues.
In addition to the joyful period of the Birth of the Lord, the Church besides gives us a peculiar time to prepare for it, or little than 4 weeks of Advent. During this time we look forward to both the next Christmas in our lives and the second coming of Christ at the end of time. Meditating on the Last judgement may be an chance for us to convert and depart from life in sin, and considering the old Testament prophecies for the coming of the Messiah and the way of Our Lady, which she passed from the Annunciation through the Visitation of St. Elizabeth to the unchangeable in Bethlehem, allows us to want to experience Christmas even more. Mary as an highly crucial figure in the work of Salvation is simply a peculiar companion to us throughout Advent, as expressed by Rorata, or Holy Mass in her honour traditionally celebrated before dawn. Waiting in darkness and only in the light of candles symbolizes the darkness of sin into which mankind was plunged before Christ came into the planet to redeem it.
Even though Advent is sometimes Happy preparation, however, is not without the spirit of repentance. It reminds us of this, among others, the purple liturgical colour or the deficiency of an anthem Gloria Therefore, it is worth making tiny sacrifices at the Sunday Mass in Advent, for as the holy spiritual leaders say, the more we are mortified during preparation, the greater our joy will be erstwhile Christmas comes. Faithful believers attached to the conventional Mass (i.e. to the “Trident Mass”) have a peculiar chance to do so thanks to Advent Week 3 Dry Days, or 3 days of prayer and fasting (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).
Silence and repentance have a good effect on both the soul and the body. It is very essential for us to deny ourselves any pleasure, to go to our convenience through early getting up on the Rorata, or to resign from the net at the expense of prayer. For fasting and prayer aid us to kill our desires and to turn to God, as the Gospel itself speaks of. erstwhile the Apostles asked Jesus why they could not throw out a peculiar kind of evil spirit, he answered them: “This kind cannot come out but through prayer and fasting” (Mk 9:28). erstwhile we fast, our body cleans up and learns to obey our mind, making it easier for us to fight temptation. Our soul, which has the chance to break free from its sin, to reconcile with God, or to strengthen its relation with him, is besides of large benefit. A beautiful experience, then, is the 4 - week wait for the baby to be born, and so the joy of it erstwhile it is born will be even greater. No wonder, then, that the Church traditionally recommended preparing for many holidays through Christmas Eve, which is the day of fasting. And even this most celebrated – Christmas Eve – assumes a refrain from meat food.
The penance-preparation nature of Advent is completely other to what shops, radio, or tv offer us. Christmas themes reign there already in November, trying to get us to “celebrate” even earlier. By submitting to this fashion, we miss this beautiful time of Advent preparation, which is at the same time (maybe last!) an chance to convert. We are besides losing the appropriate period of Christmas between Christmas Eve and the Feast of Baptism. erstwhile he comes, we feel tired of “celebrating” already in Advent. Christmas trees dressed in early December end up in the basket right after Christmas, and the Christmas music we've been bombarded for at least a month, we've had enough. Advent is so replaced by the “Christmas period” and the appropriate Christmas period is simply disappearing.
Contrary to appearances, this phenomenon is nothing new, and in any countries it has been for respective 100 years. In the 1980s, even the word “Christmas creep” (“Christmas fever”) appeared in English, meaning Christmas buying time long before Christmas. The sellers issue Christmas products earlier in order to extend the time supposedly "Christmas" and increase their sales. Stores presume that the three-month period: October-November-December should be the time of the largest yield in the year.
Unfortunately, the decision of Christmas celebration to Advent is visible even in Catholic communities, although not yet in Poland. In Western European and North American countries, the organization of parish carol concerts and Christmas meetings has been on the agenda since the beginning of Advent. Meanwhile, a horse with a row to whoever finds Christmas decorations or carols there in January.
Is that truly what Advent is all about? We are wasting this beautiful time of reflection and prayer before 1 of the biggest Christmases of the year! Finally, Christmas is simply a joyful celebration of the Incarnation of the boy of God and His Birth in Bethlehem. The full cover consisting of dressing the Christmas tree and preparing the decor of our homes, cooking conventional dishes, as well as giving gifts is intended to aid us to experience Christmas time better, but can never become an end in itself.
Adrian Fyda
