Christmas doesn’t end on Christmas Day—in fact, it’s just beginning for at least another 12 days, until the feast of the Epiphany!Christmas is a beautiful season in the Catholic Church, and one that liturgically really extends as far as Candlemas (also known as the feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple and Our Lady’s Purification) on 2nd February!*

[However], the duration of the Christmas festival was officially set at twelve days by the Council of Tours in 567 AD, where it was laid down that the whole period should be spent in celebration and thanks and that no-one could be forced to work during that time. This period of enforced rest applied even to horses, which are still blessed on the Feast of St Stephen in some parts of Europe. The period of Christmas finished at Epiphany, or “Twelfth Night.” As this decree has never been…