Christmastide
During Advent, many of you made a point to share family devotionals, light your wreaths and talk about the nativity scene through the days leading up to Christmas. But, maybe, you could use some ideas for the next season: Christmas, the one in which we find ourselves now!
The 12 days of Christmas began on the 25th of December. If you were fasting through Advent – don’t sell yourselves short! You get 12 days of feasting!
In the back of the Book of Common prayer, you can see some special days that are recognized during this season - St. Stephen’s Day is the day after Christmas. You may recognize it from the song Good King Wenceslas. In that Christmas Carol, the good King looks out his window and sees a man who is gathering fuel for a fire. He has a generous spirit - the spirit of St. Stephen - and goes down out of his warm castle and into the snow Himself, with his page, whom he invites to follow in his footsteps. The good King gives gifts and feasts with his subject.
You may have heard of Boxing Day - this is a day where masters would traditionally (following the example humility of Jesus) give gifts to their servants. As a family, we read about King Wenceslas on the 26th. It's a good time of year for us to donate our older toys, clothes and sometimes even the things we received that we would like to share with others. Sometimes this takes a few days and is a good time to clean rooms and toy closets.
I have heard of others who deliver a box to each family member on that day. Each person then has until the end of the 12 days of Christmas to fill it with things to give away.
The collect to pray on that day is found on page 624 of the BCP. I have also copied it here:
O Glorious Lord, your servant Stephen looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors: Grant that in all our sufferings here upon earth we may love and forgive our enemies, looking steadfastly to Jesus Christ our Lord, who sits at your right hand and intercedes for us; and who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
There are other special days during Christmas: The apostle John, the Holy Innocents, Thomas a Becket, John Wycliffe, the circumcision and Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah. These are worthy events and people to read about or talk about together as a family.
Some other ideas for feasting more fully:
Continue sharing presents with friends or extended family through that time.
Leave your nativity scene out and have the wise men slowly make their way to join in – they should arrive at Epiphany (January 6).
Leave your Christ Candle lit with all the advent candles (if they're not burnt down yet). You can continue to use your Christ Candle through Good Friday to remember the life of Jesus.
Have a family 12thNight party! On the 12thNight of Christmas, gather and finish putting the decorations away, finish eating the Christmas candy and other feasting foods and drinks. Many people use this time to share a story of the Magi. There are some great books related to this holiday. Greensboro’s own O. Henry has the wonderful Gift of the Magi which is a good book to read at this time also. In some countries, there is a strange tradition of a witch named Befana who brings gifts to kids. We don’t honor this tradition in our home - but there is a great book called The Legend of Old Befana that is a wonderful read!
You could ask a priest to come bless your house at Epiphany. This is a tradition that reminds us of the welcome that the wise men found at Jesus' house. We ask God to bless our home to be used through the whole year to welcome all who come near. In order to do our part of this well - we clean up and put all of our decorations away, clean up from the party, make sure that we are ready to get back into our routine well and sometimes do a little yard work also if the weather's not too bad.
I hope that some of these ideas help you continue the celebration you have begun! Happy Christmas, friends!
Leah Wall
