The Christmas season is the 12 days from December 25th to January 6th. For many people, Christmas is over when we finally make it to December 25th, but in the Church, we’re just getting started. It is a wonderful season full of possibilities.
Marking the Christmas season helps us experience the rhythm of the Church year and God’s presence through the seasons of our life. There are countless ways in which to celebrate and mark the whole of the Christmas Season.
A Prayer for the Season
Consider using the following prayer in your household devotions during this season.
Lord Jesus, you came to earth to show us the way to heaven. Help us to remember the gift you gave us in your life that we might be a gift in other people’s lives. Amen
Celebrating Christmas
- Begin by resisting the temptation to celebrate Christmas before Christmas. Consider the Advent Milestone for ways to celebrate the lead up to Christmas.
- Plan to keep your Christmas Tree up throughout the season of Christmas till January 6th. In older traditions, the Christmas tree wasn’t decorated till Christmas Eve. While most households want to have the tree up before then, keeping it of after Christmas Day helps remind us that we’re still celebrating.
- In the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas falls during the darkest part of the year (very close to the winter solstice). Having candles, Christmas lights, and other lights on help us remember that Jesus Christ is the light the world. You may wish to begin devotions each day during Christmas by saying
Jesus Christ is the Light of the World
A light no darkness can overcome - Be sure to participate in the special worship offerings at Church: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Morning and Evening Prayer.
- Christmas is a time to remember others. Plan to do something nice for someone else. Bake cookies for a neighbor, volunteer during Christmas break, plan to make tied blankets for the homeless.
- Make the nativity the focal point of your household devotions. Place it somewhere everyone can see it ad talk about the characters in it. Invite children to retell the Christmas story with the figurines. But hold off on adding the wisemen, they’re still on their journey (see Epiphany, below).
- Start a family tradition of watching A Charlie Brown Christmas or another show that recalls the Christmas story.
- Epiphany is the last day of the Christmas Season and a bridge to the season after. Epiphany is the celebration of the Christmas Star and the arrival of the wisemen. Epiphany means “revelation” and names the day because Jesus is “revealed” to us and the world.
- If the wisemen in your nativity scene have been “journeying”, be sure to move them to the nativity.
- Make star ornaments to hang in the window
- The epiphany cake is a French traditions that is quite fun. Any cake recipe will work, but a little figurine (can also be a coin) is baked inside it. When the cake is cut and served, whoever finds the figurine in their piece gets a special prize.
- As long as no one in the household is sensitive to incense, burning some (especial some with Frankincense or Myrrh) is a nice way to remember the gifts that the wisemen brought to Jesus.
- Often chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil can be found in the stores at this time of the year. They can help remind us of the gold that the wisemen brought to Jesus and how “sweet” his life is to us.
- It is an old eurpean tradtion to bless your home on Epiphany day or during this season. Here is a simple liturgy for an Epiphany home blessing. You will need a copy of the liturgy and a small piece of chalk. If you don’t have chalk you can use a marker on a piece of tape to keep the writing temporary.
Read the next milestone for ideas of how to observe the Season After Epiphany.