The end of Christmas, time to take the tree down

Robin.

I had my home blessed by the pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church on Tonnele Avenue. He wrote in chalk the names of the 3 Kings in honor of this feast day on my door and sprinkled my home with holy water while saying prayers. It is nice tradition.

Tomorrow is Twelfth Night- the last day of the traditional Christmas feast.

The Traditional Latin Mass will be offered at 7:00 pm in the evening. Before Mass, the Three Kings of Orient will be on the steps of the church distributing gifts (candy!) to children. The camels have decided to stay in the barn given the blistering cold predicted.

Thereafter, Mass will be offered. The Ordinary will be sung by the Cantantes in Cordibus Choir (a reprise of Mozart's Sparrow Mass from Christmas Eve).

St. Anthony's is at the corner of Sixth Street and Monmouth in downtown Jersey City .


The Many in the West observe a twelve-day festival, starting on December 25, and ending on January 6, known as Christmastide or the Twelve Days of Christmas. Some Christian cultures, especially those of Latin America and some in Europe, extend the season to as many as forty days, ending on Candlemas (February 2).

On the Feast of the Epiphany in some parts of central Europe the priest, wearing white vestments, blesses Epiphany water, frankincense, gold, and chalk. The chalk is used to write the initials of the three magi over the doors of churches and homes. The letters stand for the initials of the Magi (traditionally named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar), and also the phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, which translates as "may Christ bless the house".

According to ancient custom, the priest announced the date of Easter on the feast of Epiphany. This tradition dated from a time when calendars were not readily available, and the church needed to publicize the date of Easter, since many celebrations of the liturgical year depend on it.[50] The proclamation may be sung or proclaimed at the ambo by a deacon, cantor, or reader either after the reading of the Gospel or after the postcommunion prayer.[50]

The Roman Missal thus provides a formula with appropriate chant (in the tone of the Exsultet) for proclaiming on Epiphany, wherever it is customary to do so, the dates in the calendar for the celebration of Ash Wednesday, Easter Sunday, Ascension of Jesus Christ, Pentecost, the Body and Blood of Christ, and the First Sunday of Advent that will mark the following liturgical year.