It’s a bit of a cliché to observe that the Christmas season seems to be growing longer and longer each year, slowly edging its way into store displays and advertisements before the cold air of winter has even arrived to make heavy jackets truly necessary. Readers of Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas soon discover, though, that for the Chris Marchand, the problem is more that the very idea of Christmas as a season has fallen by the wayside—a liturgical season, that is. Marchand, an Anglican minister and writer (among other things), has penned this book in order to both delve into the varied traditions of the liturgical season and its feast days and to foster the revival of its celebration by offering readers suggestions for renewing the practices of old in ways that make sense for today. Continue reading →