On the Christian liturgical calendar, there are twelve days of Christmas. December 25th is the first day of Christmas, and the Christmas season continues until January 6th, Epiphany, the day in which we remember the wise men who brought gifts to baby Jesus.
Az and I have made some attempts to recognize all Twelve Days in the past, with only mixed success. Our most successful family tradition has been to host a Twelfth Night party each year (though I think we skipped the Twelfth Night that JellyBean was two-months-old). The point of a liturgical calendar is to recognize the sacredness of time apart from our own busy-ness and priorities, to recognize that God made and sustains time, not our bosses or our schools or the television season. To honor this, I have our party on the actual Twelfth Night (January 5th) every year, even if it falls on a weekday. Some years the party is only a handful of folks over for an hour or two at dinner; other years it is a big, joyful chaos, flowing with wine and laughing, running children.
We are planning a party again this year, though I expect it will be fairly small, due to the transitions going on in our lives and the lives of so many of our friends. I wish you could all join us. What better place to meet and welcome my new friends?
This is the first year I have been a blogger at Christmas, and I thought I would try to honor the season by writing a special post for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. I am not sure I can actually manage to post once a day for twelve days, but I will give it a shot, so if you’d like a little holiday refreshment between December 25th and January 5th, stop by here, and I will try to provide.
I am SO tempted!
Hey, we throw an Epiphany party, complete with crowns and presents! It ends the season nicely AND we get cake.
So excellent idea. I’m in.
Ah. My Episcopalian heritage and I feel right at home here.
And if you write it, the people will come.
How cool is that?
I am having my Spanish classes have a “Reyes Magos” (3 Kings- Epiphany) fiesta on the 5th, as it is very traditional in Spanish speaking countries.
I love the idea of the 12th Night party!
Looking forward to reading your posts on the 12 days- you can do it, even if it’s a short one!
I’m looking forward to your twelve days of posts
Meredith
Happy Christmas, that sounds like a fine idea - all I know of the official twelve days of Christmas is the partridge in a pear tree version and the fact that children in Europe used to have to wait for their presents till 6th Jan when the Wise Men arrive…I think Father Christmas has speeded up present delivery these days though!
My side of the family has an Epiphany party every year! I miss them so much. We called it the ‘Little Christmas’ party. I think I’m going to try and keep you company on the 12 days of posting. You’ve inspired me. I expect I won’t make it through without the help of videos, but I’m going to try…
What a wonderful idea!
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
What a wonderful idea…I think we shall do the same and invite our new church family here to our new home. It really helps to make Christmas last.
Blessings!
T.