The Twelve Days of Christmas
Part 1 of 2 by Pastor Ronald Boelte
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For those churches that follow the church year (the Liturgical
Churches) the Twelve Days of Christmas is often not celebrated, and for
the churches that are not liturgical it is often misunderstood. Contrary
to most popular belief the twelve days of Christmas is not the twelve days
before Christmas, but the twelve days after Christmas. It starts on
Christmas Day and goes until the start of Epiphany, January 6th.
The origins of this holiday are complicated and varies depending on the
differences in calendars, church traditions, and the different cultural
way of observe these days after Christmas.
In the western churches that are liturgical, the beginning of Epiphany
is the celebration of the arrival of the Wise Men to present their gifts
to the young Jesus. (Matthew 2:1-12). In certain cultures, especially the
Latin and Hispanic, January 6 is the day of giving gifts, not on Christmas
Day. In other cultures the giving of gifts happens on each day of the 12
days of Christmas. The 12th day being the biggest and most celebrated with
the most gifts. It is often a day of feasting and includes the day of
removing all of the Christmas decorations.
In the French and English celebration a special cake called the King's
Cake is also eaten on January 5th or 6th to remember the visit of the
Magi. In the southern USA the king's cake is often part of the celebration
of Mardi Gras (a French Catholic cultural event) instead of the beginning
of Epiphany. Often served with this cake is ale and wine as part of the
celebration.
Next week we will see some more connection to this special holiday of
the Twelve Days of Christmas as we also look at the song The Twelve Days
of Christmas.
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