www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall When are you going to put up your Christmas Decorations?

The Missus and I always disagree on when we are going to put up the Christmas decorations and when we are going to take them down.

She wants to put them up right after Thanksgiving and take them down soon after Christmas. I think they should go up on 6 December at the earliest and not come down until after Theophany/Epiphany.

She said she wants to do it like everybody else, I said that St. Paul tells us not to conform to this age. She said "You just ruined my perfect day by arguing about this."

I apologized.

We agreed to compromise by putting the decorations up at the start of Latin Advent and taking them down at Latin Epiphany.

We will do special things for the rest of the Season. That will come on another thread...

Always do it the same day every year.
December 23 rd the Feast of St Thorlaukur.
Stephanos I

Father Bless!

Are you Icelandic?

Interesting. My husbands parents has always put the tree up on Christmas Eve. We do around the 10th of Dec. for whatever reason, I don't know. But, Fr. Stephanos would you please tell us why on St. Thorluakur Feast?

Dear Dr. Eric,

I can't blame your wife for wanting to put up the tree after Thanksgiving...it is nice for the kiddies, and it starts the Christmas spirit early...

On the other hand, I agree with you about keeping it up until after the Epiphany/Theophany. That is how we always do it.

Actually, I get really miffed when I see how people abruptly take down everything right after Christmas--they could atleast leave them until New Year's Day! I think it is nice to have a tree for New Year's. It makes for a nice holiday.

Ofcourse, ALL European Christians traditionally celebrated the twelve days of Christmas until the Epiphany/Theophany...my Church always keeps up the tree and wreaths until then.

In my humble opinion, the only thing that taking down the tree the day after Christmas does is REINFORCE the new secular and crypto neo-pagan shopping holiday of 'Christmas'...

It almost feels like the secular forces that be have dictated: put it up on the first shopping day countdown, and take it down right after the big material day. That is why we Christians should start a counter revolution of NOT doing this, and we should start being vocal about it. It cleverly undermines the holy day of Christmas.

Alice

Alice,

That's why we compromised by following the Latin Advent and Christmas seasons for keeping up the decorations.

My office also decorated on Wednesday, I guarantee that those decorations will come down the day after Christmas.

Dr. Eric (full of cinnamon rolls and pie )

I like a man who can compromise!

I also like a man of principle!

..and you are both; I knew there was a reason that we like you so much here!

Regards,
Alice

Our family is Russian Orthodox and so we celebrate the Nativity of Christ according to the Julian Calendar on 25 December / 7 January. We display Christmas Cards as we get them, no matter how early! My Matushka loves white "twinkle lights" in the house and so these go up fairly early, usually by the Feast of St Nicholas on 6/19 December. (By the way, we celebrate St Nicholas' Day - our family's Patron Saint - with All-Night Vigil and Liturgy, shoes put out for St Nicholas to fill with lenten candy, and a good fish dinner!) We buy our Christmas Tree before 12/25 December because experience has shown that they may not be available afterwards. But we place the tree still wrapped in twine in a water-filled bucket outside until we are ready to put it up inside. The Christmas Tree and other decorations like the Creche, garlands, etc., go up on 19 December / 1 January, as everyone has the day off, and it is the day before the Forefeast of the Nativity on 20 December / 2 January.

I grew up in a family where the Tree was bought, put up, and decorated on Christmas Eve. We did this for the first seven years of our married life also, then I was ordained to the priesthood. The strain of Royal Hours with the Vesperal Liturgy of St Basil on the morning of Christmas Eve, church cleaning and decoration, last minute present wrapping, preparation of and eating the "holy supper," and the Vigil and Liturgy of Christmas Day, left our Christmas Tree only half decorated that year. Christmas decoration for both home and church had to be moved earlier. After all, in the Byzantine tradition we have five days of forefeast. Decoration of home and church is appropriate then without violating the spirit of the Nativity Fast.

Fr David Straut
St Elizabeth the New-Martyr Orthodox Church
Rocky Hill, New Jersey
www.saint-elizabeths.org [saint-elizabeths.org]

Actually, I always take down the artificial tree before Great Lent begins, if I am not too busy. The decorations seem too festive for a penitential season, as I am sure you would agree. I tend to put up the decorations when the spirit strikes, usually no later than the week before Christmas. I used to worry about the timing for all that, but now I just have some good chocolate and don't worry about it.

Christmas decorations can be a subjective thing. During the Nativity Fast, one is drawn inward, and the gates of perception are opened. I frequently find myself walking the fields and woods of the farm, in quiet anticipation of the birth of our Saviour. And as I do, I see the decorations that God has seen fit to bestow upon us. A bare sycamore tree, stark against a brooding sky, fir trees swathed in immaculate blankets of white, like bishops in a Paschal procession, the twinkling white light of the stars in the heavens above. Going into the barn, I am struck by the wonderful combination of the smells of good, sweet hay, manure, and the breath of the animals, steaming in the dark. The sense of smell is often the most evocative of the senses, and I am reminded of that cave in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. As I am greeted by the sheep, lined up with wagging tails, waiting for a head rub, and maybe, a little treat of grain, I am reminded of when that Babe, born in that stable, was greeted at the gates of Jerusalem as the Messiah, only to be despised by the very people who greeted Him. The donkey, standing there, quietly watching over his dominion in the barn still bears the cross on his back, as a reminder of Mary's ride into Bethlehem carrying the Christ child within Her womb. The billy goat, being mischievous at the periphery, reminds me of St Joseph being tempted by satan. The falling snow, caught in the glow of the floodlight, like so many brilliant points of light, remind me of the angels who serenaded the shepherds in the surrounding hills.
Yes, one may say that I keep my Christmas decorations up all year, but I rarely see them until the Nativity Fast.

Alexandr

Alexandr,

That is incredibly beautiful!!

You should submit it to your priest and to any church publications your parish and/or jurisdiction have, so that it can be shared with many.

In Christ,
Alice

That's a better perspective.

Just being reflective today!

Alexandr

well - carry on being reflective then

We appreciate these reflections

In time for Christmas - probably around the first Sunday in January.

Fr. Serge