New Year’s Eve is not just a matter of the date in an externally conceived calendar. It is the middle of the 13 holy nights and, therefore, the balance point of the Christmas season, which runs from the Night of the Shepherds to the Day of the Magi. And this Christmas period is probably the most instructive time of the year.
The actual Christmas celebration still belongs to the old year. At the end of the Christmas octave comes the feast of Epiphany, which belongs to the New Year. Christmas in and of itself looks backward; Epiphany looks forwards. We have to make the shift from looking backward to looking forward. Then, the idea of Epiphany can be the best help to enter into an apocalyptic attitude for the year that has just begun.
From Emil Bock, Der Kreis der Jahresfeste [The Rhythm of the Christian Year: Renewing the Religious Cycle of Festivals]
Translation Laura Liska
Image Sofia Lismont
