The true purpose behind each of the 12 days of Christmas

Partridge in a pear treeSome years ago, my friend Wolf Howling took the time to look into the true festivals celebrated on each of the 12 days of Christmas — that holiday celebrated during medieval times on the longest, darkest, coldest days of a year that, in so many homes, got light and warmth only from a smoking fireplace.  As we are about to begin the 12 days, you might enjoy thinking about the original celebrations marking each day:

On the 1st Day of Christmas . . . Celebrating The Birth Of Christ

On the 2nd Day of Christmas . . . Feast of St. Stephen, The First Martyr of the Church

On the 3rd Day of Christmas . . . Feast of St. John the Evangelist & The Blessing Of The Wine

On the 4th Day of Christmas . . . Feast of the Holy Innocents

On the 5th Day of Christmas . . . Feast of St. Thomas a’ Becket

On the 6th Day of Christmas . . . Feast of the Holy Family*

On the 7th Day of Christmas . . . Feast of St. Sylvester

On the 8th Day of Christmas . . . Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God . . . and during Medieval times, The Feast of Fools and the Feast of the Circumsision

On the 9th Day of Christmas . . . Feasts of Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen

On the 10th Day of Christmas . . . Feast of the Holy Name

On the 11th Day of Christmas . . . Feria

On the 12th Day of Christmas . . . 12th Night

The Epiphany