By Tim Rohr
12/9/2000
If you happen to visit our home during most of the month of December, you may see a tree, but no decorations. You may see lights strung up, but they won’t be on. No the Grinch didn’t steal Christmas and I haven’t changed my name to Ebenezer. We’ve just decided to adhere to the traditional Christian seasons of Advent and Christmas.
I’m not sure when things got turned around but for most of Christian history the Christmas season used to begin with Christmas, not end with it. The twelve days of Christmas wasn’t something Bing Crosby made up. In times past the twelve days referred to the period between Christmas and the feast of the Epiphany or “Three Kings Day” (Jan. 6). In the Catholic calendar the Christmas season, known as “Christmastide” is actually longer, stretching through the Epiphany to the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
The period before Christmas, which most of us now celebrate as the holiday season, was traditionally known as Advent. This four week period was to be a time of special prayer, penance, and personal preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, both in memory of his first coming, and in anticipation of his second coming. Some religions, particularly those that have a liturgical year, still honor and keep the Advent season.
A few years ago my wife and I decided to be counter-cultural and get back to the traditional Christian calendar. No decorations or Christmas music until Christmas Eve. We leave the tree bare and the lights off during this time as a reminder that “Jesus hasn’t come yet”. An Advent wreath with its four candles, three purple and one rose, to symbolize the four weeks of waiting, is all that decorates our home.
We have also, in response to the cry of John the Baptist to “repent” (Mt. 3:2), tried to bring back the penitential nature of Advent by doing something special or giving something up. I admit to being a whimp when it comes to making any sort of penitential gesture, particularly when it comes to giving up a favorite edible. However, every year I bite the bullet and give up donuts for four weeks.
It gets rough. The other day I found myself walking in the direction of a donut shop. I could just see those beautiful trays of donuts glistening with sugar, fat, and cholesterol. Just the thought of biting into a warm, soft, “Old-fashioned Glazed” made me rethink the whole John the Baptist thing.
However, just then I came to my senses as I caught sight of all the Christmas decorations and realized I had made a commitment to Advent. I swung my body around and walked bravely back to the parking lot. Perhaps self-flagellation would have been easier.
On Christmas Eve, the Rohr family will decorate the tree and turn the lights on just as in the old stories and in accord with the Christian calendar. Christmas at our house will not end on December 25, but begin with it. We even give gifts to each other throughout the twelve days just like Bing says. However, I can do without the “partridge in a pear tree”. I’ll take donuts instead.