BY NOW, MANY PEOPLE have taken out and decorated their Christmas trees as Dec. 25 nears.
A WORKER PUTS THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON THE CHRIST CATHEDRAL CAMPUS CHRISTMAS TREE ON NOV. 9, 2023. PHOTOS BY EVERETT JOHNSON/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
When should Catholics put their trees up and take them down?
We’ll get to that.
But first, why a Christmas tree?
THE MEANING BEHIND THE TREE
Fr. Christopher Smith, rector emeritus of Christ Cathedral, notes that the Christmas tree traditionally is an evergreen.
“The evergreen is a symbol of everlasting life,” Fr. Christopher said. “This promise of everlasting life was given to us by Jesus, whose birth we celebrate on Christmas. Its presence in the home at Christmas stands as a reminder of that promise of everlasting life that we hope to share in fully one day.”
No Christmas tree would be complete without lights.
But what’s the meaning behind them?
“The candles adorning Christmas trees before electricity were a sign of Jesus, the light of the world,” Fr. Christopher explained. “The present-day lights symbolize the same thing.”
He notes a Scripture passage read at Christmas from Isaiah 9:
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. “The great light points to Jesus who broke through the darkness of sin in the world through his death and resurrection,” Fr. Christopher explained. “At Christmas time, the lights on trees and other places invite us to be lights to other people through our acts of kindness
and love.”
THE COMPLETED CHRISTMAS TREE AT CHRIST CATHEDRAL CAMPUS
THE STORY OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE
The story of the Christmas tree is part of the story of the life of St. Boniface, whose name was originally Winfrid.
Catholic Straight Answers, the website of the Rev. William P. Saunders, of St. Agnes Catholic Church in Arlington, Virginia, gives a detailed explanation.
In short, St. Boniface, born about the year 680 in Devonshire, England, “discovered” the Christmas tree when he was evangelizing to Germans who held on to pagan beliefs and superstitions.
At the time, much of northern and central Europe still had not been evangelized.
As the story goes and as recounted by Catholic Straight Answers, St. Boniface and his followers, while traveling through the woods, came across some Germans bent on sacrificing a child at the foot of an oak tree to please the false god Thor.
It was Christmas Eve.
After preventing the sacrifice of the child, St. Boniface picked up an ax and whacked away at the tree. A strong wind helped topple it, splitting it into four pieces.
Behind the oak stood a young fir tree, “pointing like a cathedral spire toward heaven,” as the story goes. St. Boniface declared the tree a holy symbol and the group carried it to a nearby village. People placed candles on its branches, and thus a cherished Christmas tradition was born.
ABOUT THE TIMING
So, when should Catholics put their trees up and take them down?
A story in Catholic Review offers many suggestions. Because a Christmas tree is neither sacramental nor part of a liturgy, there are no strict right or wrong answers, the story explained.
Right after Thanksgiving is fine.
But for other families, waiting until Christmas Eve to set up a tree could be a helpful way of respecting the season of Advent as a time of quiet and even penitential preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas, the story explained.
In contrast to the secular emphasis on pre-Christmas celebrations, waiting until Christmas to set up a tree makes it clear that Advent is not Christmas, but rather its own important season of waiting, Catholic Review noted.
The story also says Catholics can wait to put up their tree until Gaudete Sunday — the “pink” Sunday of the third week of Advent, which this year falls on Dec. 15. The Church’s prayers that day specifically tell worshippers to rejoice at the closeness of Jesus’ upcoming birthday.
Another liturgically fitting day to set up a Christmas tree would be Dec. 17, a week before Christmas Eve, Catholic Review advises.
This is when the Church starts praying the “O antiphons” before the Gospel at daily Mass, marking a shift in the church’s liturgy where Christmas is anticipated with a more immediate sense of urgency.
It’s good to keep in mind, Catholic Review noted, that for Catholics, Christmas Day is just the very beginning of a whole Christmas season. The Church celebrates the “octave,” or the eight days following Christmas, so Jan. 2 — the day after the octave concludes — could be a good day to take down a Christmas tree.
Officially, the Christmas season doesn’t end until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which the church celebrates the Sunday after Jan. 6 (in 2025, that day is Jan. 12).
However, the latest feast in the celebration of the Incarnation is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2.
This is the last day that the Vatican keeps up its Christmas tree and crèche in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Catholic Review points out.