Originally published at National Catholic Register
Catholics keep Christmas alive well past Christmas Day — here’s how you can join the celebration.
When my husband and I drive around in the days after Christmas and see decorations and Christmas trees in houses still glowing, we quip, “They must be Catholic.” It is a bit like the comment some make when they see a large family, “They must be Catholic.” However, there is a grain of truth to our jest. In our Catholic tradition, the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord is celebrated for eight days straight, with each day having the same significance as the first. This is called the Christmas Octave, and the Church recognizes that the days of the octave repeat the solemness of the feast for eight days.
The General Norms of the Liturgical Calendar explains it this way:
Solemnities are counted as the principal days in the calendar and their observance begins with Evening Prayer I of the preceding day. Some also have their own vigil Mass for use when Mass is celebrated in the evening of the preceding day. The celebration of Easter and Christmas, the two greatest solemnities, continues for eight days, with each octave governed by its
