Templar Edification

As far as unsung holidays go, few seem to me more deserving of a modern revival than the Nativity of St John the Baptist, known to Shakespeare as Midsummer’s Day. John’s is one of only three birthdays commemorated on the Christian liturgical calendar—quite a coup, considering that the other two are Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. John the Baptist is a wonderfully wily, irascible figure, offering a truly unforgettable introduction to the New Testament. He’s famous for preaching brimstone in the badlands, baptizing various and sundry questionable characters, wearing coarse camelhair clothing, and sustaining himself on locusts and wild honey. What’s most important about John, however, is that he serves as Forerunner to the Christ, the prophesied voice crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord!” In other words, everything that Jesus does, John does first. John has a miraculous birth; he proclaims the coming Kingdom of God; he gathers a cadre of disciples; h...

     Every culture that knows winter knows a winter feast. And the themes of such feasts are dictated by the season: light in the midst of darkness, warmth in the midst of cold, generosity in the midst of scarcity, joy in the midst of depression, and life in the face of death. Winter festivals are acts of defiance, of subversive jubilation. That’s why we love them so. A December fire in the hearth sparks far more wonder than any summer grill.      The earliest Christians concerned themselves with but two holidays: Sunday, the day of Resurrection; and Pascha, the Passover of Our Lord, which served as Sunday for the entire year. The liturgical calendar which we know and love today, with all of its festivals and feasts, arose over time and grew out of these original two. The most glaring ancient omission from our postmodern perspective would appear to be Christmas.      Yet Christmas is not quite the latecomer some would have us believe. Christi...

The liturgical year of the Western Church begins anew at Advent, the season of four Sundays preceding the Nativity of Our Lord. It is a time of hope and expectation, of preparing our hearts and our homes for the King. In it, we await and we watch for light amidst the dark. When it comes to Yuletide celebrations, the Church often seems out of step with the surrounding culture. We laugh, a bit bitterly, regarding the appearance of Christmas decorations even before Halloween. My children cast covetous eyes upon those homes which have decorated their trees well ahead of Thanksgiving. And who could blame the advance guard? Perhaps you may be one yourself. It’s been a rough few years, a rough couple of decades. Who am I to begrudge someone their joy? If Christmas makes you happy, well, it makes me happy too. And we could all use some good holiday cheer both early and often. Yet Advent offers to us something a little different, something more than simply delayed gratification or finger-waving...