Keep the Christmas Season Going

Perhaps, like me, you are feeling a bit sad as you realize that more and more houses have lost their Christmas lights.  I think of my first February trip to Mepkin Abbey, where I was so happy to see that some of the Christmas decorations were still up.

Catholic monastics are more likely to celebrate the liturgical year more fully than regular churches.  For example, there are people like me who will try to keep the Christmas season going until Epiphany, Jan. 6.

But really, the Christmas season lasts until Feb. 2, Candlemas, the feast day that celebrates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple 40 days after the purification of Mary, which would have happened just after the birth of Christ.

I love seeing the Christmas wreaths that are still up in February.

Even down here, in tropical Florida, I still have pumpkins from October on my porch that haven't started to rot. 

Maybe next year, I'll get a real wreath and keep it up as long as possible.

I loved this blooming amaryllis that was in the chancel last year--just gorgeous.

Even as the rest of the world seems willing to sink back into the bleak midwinter, I will look for ways to keep Christmas going.