On the Second Day

Throughout the month of December our family prepares for the celebration of Christmas. We light our advent candles and hang ornaments on our Jesse tree, along with other traditions that I mentioned earlier this month. What this means is that when Christmas finally arrives we have the energy and excitement to celebrate it for the full twelve days, until the Epiphany. So while people are shutting off their Christmas tunes, taking down their Christmas decorations and giving a huge sigh of relief that it’s finally over, for us the celebrating has just begun. We really enjoy celebrating the Christmas season this way. Christmas feels less stressful; there’s less pressure that everything must happen on the first day of Christmas, the 25th. This year we spent Christmas day in our pajamas lounging around debating the merits of cooking the turkey or saving it for another day. We did end up making a turkey dinner, in our jammies of course.

The second day of Christmas, known to most in North America as Boxing Day, is also the feast day of St. Stephen the first disciple of Jesus that was martyred. There’s this handy Catholic website for the twelve days of Christmas, it offers ideas to celebrate each day. This year we are blessed to have family visiting and my husband off work until the new year. I am really looking forward to celebrating these next ten days of Christmas and I hope it’s a special time for you and your families as well.