Christmas season: Difference between revisions
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|+The Twelve Days of Christmas | |||
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Revision as of 18:08, 6 January 2011
The Christmas season lasts from Christmas Day until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
| December 25 | Christmas Day |
| January 1 | Octave of Christmas; Solemnity of Mary Mother of God |
| December 25 - January 5 | Twelve Days of Christmas |
| January 6 | Epiphany |
| Sunday after Epiphany | Baptism of the Lord |
| 25 December | 1 |
| 26 | 2 |
| 27 | 3 |
| 28 | 4 |
| 29 | 5 |
| 30 | 6 |
| 31 | 7 |
| 1 January | 8 |
| 2 | 9 |
| 3 | 10 |
| 4 | 11 |
| 5 | 12 |
Xmas
The first letter of this ancient abbreviation is not the English character "X" but the Greek character Chi. It is the first letter of "Christos" in Greek: Χριστος. People who use this abbreviation (as I did in the pie chart of the liturgical year) are not "Xing" Christ out of Christmas; they are going back to the original language of the New Testament and to the earliest days of Christianity to find a convenient symbol for Christ.
This is an example of the problems associated with transliteration.
Historical roots
- Roman feast of Sol Invictus, "The Unconquerable Sun." The pun on "Sun/Son" does not exist in Latin, where the two words are "filius" and "sol."
- Saturnalia.
- March 25-->December 25.
Modern controversies
Christmas and Easter are traditional feasts when lapsed Catholics make a guest appearance at Mass. We hope and pray that they will "come to Church for a change."