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Christmas
Christmas is the annual feast commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, over 2000 years ago. For Christians, it is not just a single day (December 25), but an extended liturgical season of joy and celebration, involving many different symbols and traditions, special music and activities, which vary significantly among different countries and cultures. For religiously observant Christians, the Christmas Season begins at sunset on Christmas Eve, December 24, and lasts from 12 days to 40 days. In some ecclesial traditions the Christmas Season might end on January 6 (the traditional date of the Feast of the Epiphany); in others it might last until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (usually the Sunday after Epiphany), or might even last all the way to February 2 (the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, 40 days after December 25). January 6, usually celebrated as Epiphany, carries different significance in various church traditions. Due to different calendars in use in various eras and locations of the church, some cultures and church traditions celebrate Christmas on January 6 (in the older Julian calendar still used as the religious calendar in Eastern Churches, January 6 corresponds to December 24 on the modern Gregorian calendar).
Although we cannot know the exact date of Jesus' birth, it has been celebrated on December 25 since the early fourth century, when most of the Roman Empire adopted the Christian religion. It replaced the mid-winter Roman festival of "the birth of the sun god" (sol invictus), celebrated just after the winter solstice.
Etymologically, the word "Christmas" derives from Old English "Cristes mæsse" (literally "Christ's festival"). It is similar to Dutch Kerstmis, but is significantly different in derivation and meaning in many other European languages: German Weihnachten ("Blessed Night"), Italian Natale, Spanish Navidad, French Noël (all ultimately derived from Latin natalis, "birth"), and Scandinavian jul (from which is derived the English yule).
The official liturgical color of the Christmas Season for most Churches is white or gold, not green and red, as many people assume because of their prevalence in secular celebrations.
Mepkin Abbey: Moncks Corner, South Carolina
Mepkin Abbey is a community of Roman Catholic monks established in 1949 on the site of the historic Mepkin Plantation located north of Charleston, South Carolina. Founded by monks from Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, Mepkin Abbey belongs to the worldwide Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, or Trappists. The property was given to Gethsemani by the publisher Henry R. Luce and his wife, Clare Boothe Luce, who had commissioned and built an extensive landscape garden known as the Mepkin Garden.
Today the monks share their contemplative spiritual journey and communal life with all seekers through the hospitality of retreat programs, spiritual direction, lectures, conferences, cultural programs and guided tours that explain the monastic life. The garden, now known as the Mepkin Abbey Botanical Garden, continues to be developed and maintained for the public. The monks have recently begun cultivating oyster mushrooms, which, along with books, religious art, monastic products and handcrafted items, are offered in their Abbey store.
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