When Does Christmas End?

De Maria | 01/07/2016

This article was originally published in January of 2016 and has been updated to reflect dates from 2020-2021.

So, when does Christmas actually end? I used to think it ended on Epiphany. Didn't you?

Here are the facts:

From the General Norms for the Liturgical Year:

33. The Christmas season runs from evening prayer I of Christmas until the Sunday after Epiphany or after 6 January, inclusive.

Did you get that? From Christmas Eve to the Sunday after Epiphany. This year, that's January 10th. The Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. Not January 6th. The Sunday after.

Wow! 4 more days of Christmas!

Surprised?

I know I was. Like most folks, I always thought Christmas ended on the Epiphany. Until I began to study my faith and then - oops! I found out that officially, it's still Christmas until the Sunday after the Epiphany.

So now we know that Christmas doesn't end until the Baptism of Our Lord, which is Sunday the 10th.

My family has traditionally taken down our Christmas tree on the Epiphany.

What do we do now?

...We'll still probably take down the tree and the lights. But we'll continue to greet everyone with Merry Christmas until the 10th.

So, hey, Merry Christmas!

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About the Author

De Maria

website

My name is not, De Maria. But De Maria is who I am. About 30 years ago, the internet was new. And many of us, including my wife and I, considered it the Beast of Revelations. Therefore, we stayed off of it. But, one day, after experiencing a very powerful conversion back to the Catholic Church and the Spirit, being strong within me, made me yearn to teach the Faith. Little did I know, how little I knew about the Faith I practiced.

Becoming a Catechism teacher took me back to the days when I was young and hungry for knowledge. But in those days, no one wanted to be bothered answering my questions. And I believe that is one of the reasons why I fell away. No one could explain the Faith to me in a manner that was satisfactory. I didn't want to be that type of Catechist. I wanted to understand so that I could pass on my understanding. But it soon became obvious to me, that I didn't understand very much at all.

Then, one day, someone said, "why don't you ask for explanations on the Internet? There are lots of knowledgeable people there." So, I investigated. And, thanks be to God, I found a now defunct website for Catechists. I learned so much from them. I can't ever repay them.

But, back to my pen name, De Maria. Back then, most of us distrusted the Internet. And this forum for Catechists did not permit us to use our real names. They required pen names. So, since I love Our Lady, I took her name. (I am a guy, by the way.) In the grand tradition of male Saints who have adopted Our Lady's name, for instance, St. Louis "Marie" de Montfort and St. Alphonsus "Marie" de Liquori. And that's who I am. I believe that I belong to Mary and that I am sent by her to preach about her Son.

Besides this website, I have two more. Washed, justified and sanctified in the Sacraments of the Catholic Church and CatholicBibleTalk.