Worship Weblog

The historical 12 Days of Christmas – a reminder, and a website

Posted by cicw

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

Terry Mattingly often writes this time of year about the historical roots of the season of Christmas, which on the church calendar begins on Dec. 25 and ends on Jan. 5 before Epiphany. The meaning of this liturgical practice can be lost on Christians living in modern Western societies that consider the Christmas season to begin the day after Thanksgiving (or Halloween, or before long Labor Day or the 4th of July) and end on Dec 25th.

You can read Terry’s columns on this from 2004 and 2007. Here’s his column this (now last) year:

Merry Christmas.

No, honest, as in “the 12 days of” you know what between Dec. 25 and Jan. 5.

If you doubt the accuracy of this statement, you can head over to the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. There you will find an interactive calendar that bravely documents the fact that, according to centuries of Christian tradition, the quiet season called Advent has just ended and the 12-day Christmas season has just begun.

continued…

Tags: advent, christmas, epiphany, history, year