When Does your Christmas Start?

Martinius · Nov 26, 2016

My wife is hosting a group of ladies one day next week. So over this weekend we are partly decorating for the holidays. Not everything, but just enough to give our house the "feeling of Christmas". For me, it is weeks too early, like it is a sin to be starting in November, even before Advent begins. We will save the rest for a couple of weeks, at least until early December. But I feel like we are following the secular trends where the Christmas season in the stores begins immediately after Halloween.

How about you? When do you start preparing and decorating for Christmas? What do you think is proper?

chevyontheriver · Nov 26, 2016

Martinius said:
My wife is hosting a group of ladies one day next week. So over this weekend we are partly decorating for the holidays. Not everything, but just enough to give our house the "feeling of Christmas". For me, it is weeks too early, like it is a sin to be starting in November, even before Advent begins. We will save the rest for a couple of weeks, at least until early December. But I feel like we are following the secular trends where the Christmas season in the stores begins immediately after Halloween.

How about you? When do you start preparing and decorating for Christmas? What do you think is proper?

Christmas only starts on Christmas day and extends on from then. Advent only started tonight as the vigil for the first Sunday of Advent. The Christmas tree never arrives until at least the first Sunday of advent and it rests undecorated for it's first week. Only after that is it decorated. And it stays into January. Shopping never starts until at least advent and nobody open on Thanksgiving gets any of my business. I avoid the Black Friday hype as well.

Michie · Nov 26, 2016

Advent is in the heart/spirit/ reason for the season. The last minute decorating is just not feasible for most people. Those are the ones that usually use an Advent calendar and the Nativity to teach the practice of Advent. Who would have the time to do everything else if you did not get a jump on it? It is not a sin.

SnowyMacie · Nov 26, 2016

edit: oops, just saw this was OBOB.

EmmaCat · Nov 26, 2016

Oh gosh. I see this is in OBOB.

May I please say Christmas needs to be all year around - not the decorations, but the spirit of giving.

Sorry ... God bless and keep you all!

All good things
Emmy

Michie · Nov 27, 2016

You all are absolutely free to fellowship with us. No worries!

EmmaCat · Nov 27, 2016

Michie said:
You all are absolutely free to fellowship with us. No worries!

Gosh, there are a couple of nuns who have been so wonderful to me and I invited them and their Priest to my wedding. They came, and sat toward the front after my pastor welcomed them.

I do love them dearly. The Priest gave me a little beaded bracelet that said, "God loves you" and the nuns gave me wonderful pillowcases, hand-sewn.

Blessings galore!

And thanks, Michie. I am so grateful!

All good things
Emmy

Michie · Nov 27, 2016

EmmaCat said:
Gosh, there are a couple of nuns who have been so wonderful to me and I invited them and their Priest to my wedding. They came, and sat toward the front after my pastor welcomed them.

I do love them dearly. The Priest gave me a little beaded bracelet that said, "God loves you" and the nuns gave me wonderful pillowcases, hand-sewn.

Blessings galore!

And thanks, Michie. I am so grateful!

All good things
Emmy

Aw! Very sweet! You are welcome anytime!

EmmaCat · Nov 27, 2016

Michie said:
Aw! Very sweet! Uou sre welcome anytime!

I have to laugh a little. Have you ever been hugged by a nun? I thought I heard my bones crunching. They love and love and love and God bless them, ha!

Michie · Nov 27, 2016

Never been hugged by a nun! Sounds kind of scary in a good way.

EmmaCat said:
I have to laugh a little. Have you ever been hugged by a nun? I thought I heard my bones crunching. They love and love and love and God bless them, ha!

EmmaCat · Nov 27, 2016

It is always wonderful! Hold your breath though.

Also, they and their dear Priest came to my hospital room to visit and pray when I had my bad kidney removed.

They drove 3 hours to get there. What a blessing!!!!

Anhelyna · Nov 27, 2016

Emmy - you are always welcome here You are a true Christian and could give a few lessons to people on' Christianity in action'.

EmmaCat · Nov 27, 2016

Anhelyna said:
Emmy - you are always welcome here You are a true Christian and could give a few lessons to people on' Christianity in action'.

Oh my. Your kind words are such a blessing to me, and I thank you sincerely.

Our pastor taught us that religion is nothing, faith is everything. We are all God's children and well ... just that, simply. We are all God's children. See, the nuns and the Priest visiting me in the hospital and coming to my wedding ... I was overpowered with love. God is so good, life is so good, hold my hand, we'll get through life together.

Thank you again!

All good things
Emmy

Godlovesmetwo · Nov 27, 2016

December. We start driving around at night, checking the best house lights display.

Robinus · Nov 27, 2016

Today is the first day of the season of Advent which ends on 24th December .

It is a time of reflecting on the comings of Jesus , His coming in history when He was born in Bethlehem , His coming today in mystery through the sacraments , the people we meet in daily life , prayer etc. , and His coming in glory at the end of this age .

Christmas , Christ's Mass, begins at the vigil of Christmas , and is extended into Christmastide which for some lasts until the feast of the Lord's Baptism , others extending it as far as the feast of the Lord's Presentation .

Any other "Christmases" outside of this time scheme are not Catholic .

Anhelyna · Nov 27, 2016

Ummmm -

Please don't say that !

You forget there are Catholics who use the Julian Calendar - e.g. Eastern Catholics .

For us we will be celebrating the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord God And Saviour on January 7th ! As it happens , we also enter into the period of Preparation for the Feast , today, as today we celebrate the Commemoration of the Apostle Philip , and this pre-Nativity Fast [ and yes we do fast ] is often called Philip's Fast.

Stabat Mater dolorosa · Nov 27, 2016

Our Christmas tree is up
(Needless to say it's a plastic one)

Stabat Mater dolorosa · Nov 27, 2016

Anhelyna said:
Ummmm -

Please don't say that !

You forget there are Catholics who use the Julian Calendar - e.g. Eastern Catholics .

For us we will be celebrating the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord God And Saviour on January 7th ! As it happens , we also enter into the period of Preparation for the Feast , today, as today we celebrate the Commemoration of the Apostle Philip , and this pre-Nativity Fast [ and yes we do fast ] is often called Philip's Fast.

Thanks for the reminder Anhelyna.
I thought all eastern Catholics were celebrating Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar and that the differences between our liturgical calendar only had to do with Easter.

One learns something new everyday

Anhelyna · Nov 27, 2016

Nope - we are 13 days behind you - but remember that we do have other differences as well as the Calendar one.

Now just to really confuse you - there is another Calendar in use - the Revised Julian - but I'll admit to knowing nothing about that as we don't use it - I do know that some of the Orthodox Churches use it

Davidnic · Nov 27, 2016

We put the tree up. Decorate.

We do Philips fast (adjusted for our calendar), a Jesse Tree and Advent wreath. As well as readings each day that focus on the waiting.

The focus for the family is on Advent but that does not mean our decorations do not go up.

For the children we focus very deeply on Mary and Joseph and move with them on their road. Its also a time when, using the Jesse Tree, we teach them salvation history and the long road that was travelled in history.

When Does your Christmas Start?

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