Many of us do keep Christmas til Candlemas - in fact, our P.V. pointed this out in his homily last week.
that’s nice to hear, but the official end of Christmas in the Latin Rite ends with the Baptism of the Lord, next week, then all the decorations come down in the Catholic Churches :( . Candlemas is forgotten in most churches, that’s the weekend of the throat blessings for St. Blaise. Nobody knows about Candlemas.
Before Vatican II, was Candlemas the official end of Christmas or was it always 2 Sundays past Christmas the way it is today?
Most of my neighbors already have their outside Christmas lights off by Jan. 1. But they are the first to have them up during Advent, and the first to have them off in the middle of Christmas. They don’t know the calendar.
Have you ever seen any Catholic Church or Catholic organization like the Rosary or Holy Name Society or Knights of Columbus actually have their Christmas parties during Christmas, which is from the vigil mass on Dec. 24 to the Baptism of the Lord? I have yet to see that!
Most Catholic Churches and organizations have their Christmas parties during advent and forgo their parties during the Christmas season which is actually after Dec. 25th.
I’s say that’s a bad example because people don’t prepare themselves properly during advent, just my personal opinion.