Belgian Advent Calendar – Day 6 There are countries you love because you were born in their legacy. And then, there are the countries you choose to love with deliberate passion. I should know, since this is precisely my story.…
Belgian Advent Calendar – Day 5 It wouldn’t be December 5th at The Ritual of Reading if we didn’t speak of Saint Nicholas on the eve of his feast, but this year, since we’re traveling to Belgium, St. Nick offers…
Belgian Advent Calendar – Day 4 “Every town is a state of mind, a mood which, after only a short stay, communicates itself, spreads to us in an effluvium which impregnates us, which we absorb with the very air.” —…
Belgian Advent Calendar – Day 3 I grew up in Europe’s Eastern-continental climate in the late twentieth century, which meant winters that were unmistakably, uncompromisingly snowy. For me, the spirit of the holidays has always lived in those white-washed days:…
Belgian Advent Calendar – Day 2 Have you ever watched a flame flicker and felt, for a moment, as though it were thinking?As though the darkness around it wasn’t an absence, but a presence—waiting, listening, opening a door ? Tonight’s…
Belgian Advent Calendar – Day 1 Welcome back, dear friends, to the fifth edition of our Advent Calendar—a tradition that has become one of the great joys of my year, and one I’m deeply grateful to share with you. After…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 24 Hello, dear friends, and Merry Christmas! For this festive day, we’re boarding a train from Paris to visit the yearly Christmas market in the medieval town of Provins. You might remember we visited the Saint-Ayoul…
Hello friends, and welcome back to our Medieval Advent Calendar. The Christmas feast is upon us, so it’s about time we start preparing some delicacies for the festive table. One of the defining dishes of the Middle Ages is the…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 22 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to the twenty-second day of Advent here at The Ritual of Reading. Today’s episode features an unexpected guest: a subject that not long ago held little interest for me whatsoever—the…
Medieval Advent Calendar Day 21 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to this year’s celebration of the winter solstice. The longest night of the year has summoned ceremony since ancient times, and in the Middle Ages, many pre-Christian rituals remained vividly…
