Welcome back to Young Eretics. I'm here wearing my Santa hat.

I'm up in my brand new cozy attic office. I'm surrounded by all my books.

It's cold outside. The leaves have come down off the trees.

There's a quiet blanket winter spreading across the land,

and I know we're all out there thinking one thing you think this can only

possibly mean that the best season of the year has come back around. It's that time again.

It's the Lent of St. Martin.

Oh, is that not what you guys were excited about? Were you not thinking, oh, hooray.

November, December rolls around.

It's time to commemorate the Lent of St. Martin.

I mean, given the kind of people that listen to young heretics, my beloved listeners out

there, it's quite possible

that a lot of you were thinking it's time for the Lent of St. Martin, or perhaps to get

slightly more normcore about it, you were thinking, oh, Advent, Advent is here. But most people,

obviously, around this time of year, are not chomping at the bit to commemorate the quiet, contemplative, dark,

fasting time of Advent, most people are stoked about the Christmas season.

And I'm not enough of a grinch to tell people not to enjoy Christmas all through the month of December. I too enjoy a good Advent calendar.

Mine has whiskey in it, not chocolate. That's a real thing, by the way, but only a little bit every day. Don't worry.

Anyway, I'm, some people will tell you, like, you know, it's commercializing and corrupt and secular and evil to celebrate Christmas full bore before December 25th.

And what we really ought to be doing is prayer arms, arms and fasting and penance during this season.

We've lost the true meaning of the season.

I won't go that far with you.

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