![]() ![]() They’re all set up for a 24- or 25-day season, beginning December 1 and ending on Christmas Eve or, sometimes, Christmas Day. This year, it’s 26 days long.Īdvent calendars, though, are more consistent. So the length of the season shifts from year to year: In 2016, Christmas fell on a Sunday, which means the season stretched over a total of 28 days. There are always four Sundays during Advent prior to Christmas, but Christmas could be any day of the week - which means the distance between the fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Day varies. ![]() As celebrated by Christian churches in the Western tradition (as opposed to Eastern Orthodox churches, which keep a different calendar), the season of Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and is celebrated on each successive Sunday leading up to Christmas. The reason for the shifting start date is somewhat straightforward. The final day is the same every year: December 24, Christmas Eve - though many calendars run through Christmas Day. But the actual first day of the Advent season changes every year. Most Advent calendars start on December 1. Most modern Advent calendars don’t technically cover the season of Advent In that respect, it’s also become a marketing opportunity for retailers, mostly through Advent calendars, which have been around since the 19th century and have of late grown steadily more, shall we say, creative. On the one hand, it’s one of the major seasons celebrated by most Christian churches in the Western tradition: Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and many additional Protestant churches mark the roughly month-long period with special observance.īut the word Advent comes from the Latin word for “arrival” - adventus - which means non-Christians can celebrate it simply as a fun countdown to Christmas. The celebration of Advent, whether with wreaths in church or calendars at home, is among these customs. And second, their roots almost always reach back to religious custom - Christmas being the second most important feast day (behind Easter) on the Christian calendar - but have since been adapted and, in some cases, scrubbed of religious content to make them more broadly palatable. First, it’s usually hard to pin down their origins to a single source. ![]() Most Christmas customs in the US share two characteristics. ![]()
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