Originally published at Churchpop
Already done with Christmas? We’re just getting started!
Here are five reasons you should keep celebrating Christmas until Candlemas on February 2nd:
1) Candlemas is the traditional end of the Christmas season.
Candlemas is every year on February 2. It is the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord and the Purification of Our Lady when Our Lady and Saint Joseph presented their firstborn Son in the Temple in accordance with the law.
Mary, by law, had to wait 40 days to go to the temple after giving birth. While she did not need purification, she submitted to the law God established.
So, really for all of January, we can remember Jesus as a newborn and Our Lady and Saint Joseph facing the daily adjustment that all first-time parents face.
This liturgical season was called the “Time After Epiphany” on the old liturgical calendar.
2) Since Advent and Christmas are such a busy time, it is much easier to focus on the birth of Christ after the days of feasting.
The parties are over. The feasts are eaten. The presents are unwrapped. Finally, we can get back to a more normal pace of life. Christians’ normal pace of life includes daily prayer.
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