Catholic Christmas Decoration Dilemma
- Farris Carinci
- Jan 4
- 2 min read
As Christmas approaches, families at Charlotte Catholic begin to set up their decorations for the holiday. This raises the question, “Should Christmas decor be set up before or after Thanksgiving?” Although many families in Charlotte have already decorated their houses prior to Thanksgiving, the majority of students claim that the decorations should be set up after this holiday.
Most students believe it is better to set up decorations after Thanksgiving to maintain appreciation of the holiday and not spoil the Christmas season. From a Catholic perspective, liturgical traditions suggest waiting for Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas.
Sophomore Gianna Rinaldi said, “I think Christmas decorations should not be put up before Thanksgiving because then people tend to disregard the holiday, instead of giving thanks to others and being grateful for what they have.” Similarly, sophomore Andrew McCarter said, “Although Christmas may be considered a more important holiday, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves and forget about Thanksgiving.”
Large retailers, such as Target and Walmart, started to sell Christmas decor as early as the end of October, primarily because people start decorating their houses as soon as they can. Sophomore Stone Johnson said, “I was surprised to see that soon after Halloween there were already large sections of Christmas decorations in a lot of stores.”
Additionally, Christmas tree markets have been set up all around the diocese before Thanksgiving break. Junior Joseph Swift said, “Before I left for break, I set up Christmas trees at St. Vincent’s for service hours. It was very confusing to me that someone would buy their tree so early when there was a chance it could die before Christmas day.”
Some students mentioned that their families have annual traditions when decorating for the holidays. Junior Jack Durham said, “My family has a tradition where we always decorate for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving.” This custom proved to be popular among Charlotte Catholic families after sophomores Josh Stephens and Dylan Powis both said that they do this as well.
Ultimately, the number of students at Charlotte Catholic that believe it is much better to set up Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving provides a definitive answer of when we should get into the Christmas spirit.
