https://www.npr.org/2023/11/20/ [login to see] /longer-advent-helps-christians-prepare-more-than-christmas
When he was a college campus chaplain in the Boston area, the Rev. Cameron Partridge saw how stressed his students were in the weeks leading up to Christmas break.
"You know, you've got the end of the semester," says Partridge. "You've got finals. Preparation to leave for home. So Advent barely got to be observed."
Advent is a season observed in many Christian traditions, typically during the four weeks leading up to Christmas. But Partridge decided to begin Advent a few weeks early, for seven weeks total.
The change, he says, gave students "an opportunity to actually really be present together and to observe it together, which could be grounding in a time of great intensity."