Christmas celebrations this year will, thank God, be very different from the last. Ordinary life has for the most part resumed in Britain; in some respects, churches lag behind other parts of society in returning to normal. Many parish churches still require masks, social distancing, taped-off pews and thus limit the size of congregations. Others have not yet returned to the number of Masses they offered before the pandemic. This may be on account of the age of parishioners and priests, but it means that churches present a very different aspect to many Mass-goers than other areas of life – offices, shops, restaurants and museums.