I really admire those who buy a Christmas Tree just before Christmas and keep it up to the Feast of the Epiphany. Those who will not listen to any Christmas carols during Advent. Those that will say have a Blessed Advent instead of Merry Christmas during the season of Advent.
But I am weak, weak I tell you. This weekend I put up my Advent Tree. Yes that is what I am calling it and just because the exact same tree will also mysteriously become my Christmas Tree I am sticking to this story. It’s an Advent Tree so don’t annoy me about not being fully traditional and it will not come down till after Christmatide.
Though the Nativity set will not have the Baby Jesus in it till Christmas – there are some lines I won’t cross. Plus I do wish people a Blessed Advent even with the strange looks. Though more and more Protestants are starting to see the purpose of liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent.
Plus so far I have avoided firing up my Christmas playlist in iTunes. Though I almost succumb to temptation and singing along with actual Carols played in stores. With the Christmas wars upon us once again and so many stores going out of their way to avoid the C word you have to wonder why they think Christmas Music won’t offend people? Where are the Kwanzaa sing-a-alongs, Solstice Songs, and bows to atheism like John Lennon’s “Imagine”? Plus here in Florida shouldn’t we be upset by secular songs like White Christmas and other geographically oppressive songs talking about colder climes? After all a multi-cultural society teaches you that all other cultures but those anointed by secular elites are to be neither seen or heard. We have a culture with so much tolerance that atheist and others spend all their time banning nativities and other mentions of Christmas. Well I might have an Advent Tree, but I sure as hell don’t have no “Holiday Tree.”
19 comments
I get agitated about lots of things we Catholics do or don’t do. When the Christmas tree goes up is so far away from my concerns that I need scientific equipment just to observe it.
Ah i have started listening to Christmas Carols, Why casue it keeps me sane all the comsumerism around drives me mad and the only thing that keeps me sane is teh carols.
I have not put up ad tree or crib for 5 years since moving to Canada, some how i do not feel like it is Christmas here.
🙂 I like the Greek Word Verification-almost attempted it…ha.
We have celebrated Advent for years, creche, wreath, calendar et all…I always felt like a closet Advent observer…sigh. We are also slow to put up a tree, for various reasons. Why rush it? Especially if it is going to stay up until Epiphany…I love the 12 days of Christmas. I take all the Christmas prep slow and thoughtful. Frankly, though, I enjoy Christmas music from T-G on-because the season is so short. Plus, I play the Fiddle and have to practice anyway 🙂 It keeps the ‘spirit’ centered-
I agree with the whole secular thing…if they succeed (which they won’t) it isn’t just the whole culture that will go down, sales will plummet, industries will die and people will be out of work. (Whether we like it or not, or participate or not, Christmas 😀 is big business.) Now that is not very nice of those secularists is it 😉
I enjoy your posts! God Bless,
Helen aka HelenMelon27 on Twitter
Us Mexicans celebrate Christmas from the feast day of Nuestra Senora Santa Maria de Guadalupe to the feast of the Three Kings in January.
When I am home during this season, the warmth of my mother’s mantle brings peace to my soul.
may God’s grace be with you.
Last Sunday the priest said wisely that “you can’t have Christ in Christmas unless you have Him in Advent.”
Personally, I love that the Church celebrates Christmas for a few weeks, when so many take down all their decorations the days after. When people start up the Christmas music after Thanksgiving I want to tell them that they are doing it backwards.
Hmm I’m still seeing mentions of christmas around plenty. On TV and elsewhere. Where exactly are nativities being banned? Peoples houses? Or something like Government spaces?
I dunno, there’s not so much a war this time of year as a scheduled round of silliness. Some employer or local council somewhere gets antsy over the word christmas cos they’re worried a muslim employee (who doesn’t actually care) will be offended.
Then christians get grumpy and blow stuff out of proportion and act like some city calling the festival “winterval” means an all out assault on their faith.
Still, I’m godless so I guess it’s time to go to war. Am I still secular elite if I can’t stand “Imagine”?
See, I think that’s silly. If they don’t put the tree up till Christmas Eve, then they logically shouldn’t do any advanced gift shopping either. Or any baking. Or get groceries for Christmas day. Or send out Christmas cards. Or make any Christmas related preparations whatsoever until the day before. I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of patience with this idea that there are some things you can’t prepare for Christmas during Advent.
Our tree goes up the first Sunday of Advent (second Sunday this year, our living room was covered in suitcases last Sunday) and stays up till the Epiphany.
We cut one down from a local tree farm and enjoy the long freshness. And when you don’t have kids old enough to make cutting and decorating the tree a big family ‘do’, putting up the tree is WORK. First you go and cut it, get it home, get it inside, and spend at least 30 minutes getting it into the stand and in water. Then it’s lights and garland, then ornaments, then the angel on top. This can take at least a week.
If there’s anything that should be held off till later in Advent, it’s the baking. There are so many treats and family recipes that only get made at this time of year that it’s hard to hold off making up a batch a particular favorite early on. So we wait till Gaudete Sunday to start the baking.
Jeff: Advent hymns are some of the most hauntingly beautiful ones we have. Don’t deprive yourself of this treasure. The only hitch is they are hard to find. Our family tried for years to put up a tree on Christmas Eve and it was very stressful waiting until the last minute. How about an undecorated tree just like an empty crib? One thing that really worked for our family was to keep the tree up until it became a fire hazard. Our children would receive little treats in their stockings every day until Epiphany and then a small gift. Why end the celebrating so soon?
I have long put up an Advent Tree. Before I entered Seminary at 42, I was a parish musician and liturgist (Don’t Panic! Not one of THOSE). And I put up in my office a pine tree, harvested for Christmas use from a big box store (yes, fake) and in keeping with the colors of the season, I decked it in violet and rose bows with violet bulbs–no Christmas decorations as a statement against all the other ‘commercialized’ staff in the parish offices. I was the brunt of not a few jibes for doing this.
On Christmas Eve, I took off the lights and bows and decorated the same tree with colored lights, garlands, and orbs and various other home made and store bought ornaments. I was not vindicated by any means with the staff, but I felt smug and promptly went to confession for my prideful thoughts! LOL
“Advent tree” – Good for you! But why not call it the traditional name of “Jesse Tree”? To me the whole point of the “Christmas” Tree is to extend and glorify the Jesse tree – to make it truly a Tree of the Universe, fitting to celebrate the birth of Him “through Whom all things were made.” (per quem omnia facta sunt) Hence we use lights for the stars, “spheres” for the planets and moons, the tinsel and garlands suggest the water and the land, and then we add little angels, little birds, little fish, little flowers, little animals and little people – it is “creation all over again” as Chesterton might say. Then, we also put in items of strictly human provenance, since God is the origin of all human creativity: clocks and drums and bells and all those unspellable items from Who-ville.
But then we need to add something which really makes it the traditional “Jesse” tree: that is, the symbols and decorations which tell the story of our salvation: the “apple” of Eden, Noah’s ark, Jacob’s ladder, the burning bush of Moses, and so forth. If you wish to see what I use, I posted my pictures with an explanation – see here for the first posting.
And yes, the Advent songs are MOST beautiful. We need them – especially the one based on the antiphons for the “Greater Feria”, also known as the “O antiphons”.
Happy Advent to all!
Sorry, this link is to an index which will be a bit more useful than the one in my first posting.
Haha, as a “weak, weak” Christian I struggle with celebrating the season in the traditional manner or succumbing too early to the Razzle-dazzle of jingle bells. As the marketing coordinator for CM Almy – outfitters to church and clergy, I think the “Advent Tree” is a wonderful hybrid with possible potential in our next year’s catalog. Haha (you better patent it quick.) Before that comes out, for those who wish to observe Advent alongside their Christmas trees, be sure to check out our Advent candles and candleholders.
Happy Advent!
P.S. – that Greek word verification got me good
Take the Advent Tree, its yours, Daniel–and Almy’s (In the best Medieval Monastic Tradition I need no authorship). I hope you can use it to make some scratch.
As for the Jesse Tree, most of the ones I have seen look a lot like “A Charlie Brown Christmas” Trees, with no leaves and only the symbols. Furthermore, the Jesse Tree only goes up for the days of the “O Antiphons” and I was combating the rank commercialization and ignorance of the Advent Season by the staff. Hence I did no more with the Jesse Tree idea.
As for the suggestion to not shop–I had a friend who was Eastern Catholic who loved the 26th of December as Christmas Shopping Day because his family gave gifts on Little Christmas or the feast of the Theophany (roughly equating to Epiphany to us). The idea of “such a deal” was not lost on him!
My advent wreath is out, my nacimiento/nativity/creche is up (except the kings). The Christmas tree is in a box on the living room floor. All’s right with the world – except I can’t find my Advent reader and the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe that usually goes to work with me on the second week of December.
We ‘build’ our Jesse tree throughout Advent, when it becomes the Christmas Card tree. We don’t add most decorations to our Christmas tree until Christmas Eve… saving the celebration for the event.We don’t take it down until Epiphany, when we have a special celebration for the arrival of the Three Kings (whose figures have been creeping closer and closer to the Creche) Since we like to practice, we get to sing all the carols and hymns for the whole of Advent and Christmas, although we only sing Advent Hymns when we say our evening prayers around the wreathe.
The kids are cool with avoiding all but the obligatory Christmas parties ahead of the last week before Christmas, but we celebrate big time when Jesus arrives . I grew up this way, and relished all the little things my Mom stuck to, as reminders and signs of what the season meant to us. My kids appreciate the tradition as well. They mean something … if they mean something to you : )
We put up our tree after St. Lucia Day (Light). I found on old custom of putting only red ornaments on during Advent. Reminds us of the apple and the fall-why we need Jesus to save us. Then the week of Christmas we add all the other ornaments, and leave it up through Epiphany.
I believe the original custom added only white ornaments to the red ones, but we have many sentimental ornaments in a variety of colors so we add all those.
I wish you all a blessed Advent and a very Merry Christmas!
haven’t opened curt jester for a while. anyways, the Advent/Christmas “agony” becomes moot for Philippine liturgy come Dec 16, the Advent purple drops in favor of joyous white vestments for the 9 votive Masses in honor of the Blessed Virgin’s imminent motherhood and the Christ Child’s inexorable Incarnation.
Remember not to get holier than the Pope! He is lighting his Christmas tree up tomorrow!! (See below)
The distinction between Advent and Christmas songs also seems snobby. I understand the liturgical correctness, if you were talking about Church music. But gosh, I think it’s a victory that Christmas songs are playing at all in work places and public squares and stores. It’s a battle for it just not to be generic Holiday songs, but real Christmas Carols.
If good Catholics respond to a Christmas song in a store by complaining to a manager that it technically should be played after Christmas or not singing along at a Christmas party, I think that is so un-inviting.
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 7, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square this year is a fir from the Ardennes forest of Belgium.
On Friday, the tree was set up to the right of the obelisk. It will be decorated in Vatican colors — gold and white — and will be lit up Tuesday, feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Jeff: Advent hymns are some of the most hauntingly beautiful ones we have. Don’t deprive yourself of this treasure. The only hitch is they are hard to find.
Last sentence is SO true. What do we hear instead at Mass? “A Voice Cries Out” by Michael Joncas (which sounds like something from Roc O’Connor of the St. Louis Jesuits), “Alleluia Hurry the Lord is Near”, other goofy OCP and Gather fare, and “Hail Mary/Gentle Woman” on the 4th Sunday.
Where the hell is the Rorate Caeli???
BMP