Twelve Days

liturgies, festivities and a personal reflection

As a little girl, I loved the song about the twelve days of Christmas, although I was a little perplexed over the different versions. I believe it was in Grade Two that I was one of the Twelve Ladies Dancing, when we reenacted parts of the song for our annual school concert. As an adult, some years I tried to extend the Christmas celebration by buying my children one small present for each of the twelve days, but with four children and four days this ended up an expensive (and draining) exercise.

As an adult, I have read a range of pieces that seek to ‘Christianise’ the song and provide theological explanations for the different elements described.¹[1] Although I find it unhelpful when Christians insist upon overlaying Christian meanings onto secular traditions and celebrations, I am not here to specifically debunk any of those myths. Rather, this is intended to be a reflection these special days in the liturgical year, alongside personal reflections about how my relationship to them has changed over the years.

Liturgical Understandings

The twelve days of Christmas run from Christmas Day (Day 1) through to January 5 (Day 12). January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany celebrating the arrival of the Magi,²[2] although many people will already have dismantled their Christmas Tree by then with all the attendant decorations, including nativities complete with wise men. In Lutheran and Anglican traditions, this season is also known as Christmastide.

Christmas is the first major festival of the liturgical year which starts on the first Sunday in Advent. Despite Advent Calendars starting on December 1, Advent can begin anywhere from 27 November through to 3 December and celebrates the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day.³[3] Advent is set aside as a time of preparation for the coming feast and has its own set of hymns and songs that speak of waiting, watching and longing.⁴[4] Liturgically speaking, Christmas carols should only be sung sparingly during Advent because they mostly sing of the incarnated Jesus, rather than the anticipated Christ. It saddens me a little when carols are basically sung in the lead up to Christmas, and then even in the church they are put away once Christmas Day has passed.

The twelve days of Christmas contain a number of other festal celebrations, such that the full twelve days can be understood as a time of feasting and merriment. This might come as a sad surprise to St Stephen, one of the first Christian martyrs whose feast day is celebrated on 26 or 27 December, depending if you are situated within the Eastern or Western Christian traditions.