The Column: It’s Christmastime in the city

The Column: It’s Christmastime in the city

TODAY MARKS the first of four Sundays in the Christian church tradition of Advent, a period of reflection in the liturgical calendar leading up to the Christ child’s birth. People may be familiar with the tradition’s popular offshoot, the Advent calendar. Originally, it was a two-piece paper design, which depicted the holy family manger scene, laced through with 24 die-cut doors on the surface, imprinted with the numbers one through 24. Starting…