Everywhere we
go from the end of November right up to Christmas Day, we are bombarded
with Christmas music. And then, just as Christians actually start
celebrating the feast, the music stops! We at FHD are not related to
Ebenezer Scrooge--we like Christmas! But we like it beginning on the
eve of December 25th, and continuing for its own very special twelve days.
On this page, we are collecting ideas for keeping the feast. As with
everything else on FHD, we will add to it as new material and new ideas
come to us. This is just a start.
But first,
just what are the Twelve Days of Christmas? Everyone who has ever
heard the song that begins, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to
me....," knows that there are twelve days, but do they know when they
actually begin and end? In recent years, the commercialization of
the holiday has gone so far as to usurp the twelve days before
Christmas and make them into a kind of count-down to the day itself. On the other hand, in a rather detailed
description of
Christmas customs,
Kathryn Capoccia says that Twelfth Night, that is, the Twelfth Day of
Christmas, is January 6th. If that is correct, then there
are actually thirteen days of Christmas (December 25th to
January 6th inclusive, not to mention Christmas Eve which adds
yet another night to the cycle). Clearly, there is a bit of a muddle
on this point, but here is the way we have sorted it out: counting Christmas Day itself, there are twelve days from Christmas
to January 5th and, logically, these are the Twelve Days of
Christmas. January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany, the
beginning of a new season of
the Church year and not a part of Christmas, at all. We prefer, like good
Anglicans, to go with the logic of the liturgy and regard January 5th as the
Twelfth Day of Christmas and the night that ends that day as Twelfth
Night. That does make Twelfth Night the Eve of the Epiphany, which
means that, liturgically, a new feast has already begun. Perhaps it
is this overlap that has led to the confusion.
However you
count the days, Christmas is certainly worthy of an extended and proper
celebration. As we have done with our
Devotion for the Last
Days of Advent, we suggest a very simple daily devotion, perhaps at
the main meal on each of the Twelve Days:
A Devotion for the Twelve Days
of Christmas
One begins: Unto us a Child is born. And all reply: Come let us
adore him.
A hymn or carol may be sung, or the
Angels' Hymn may be said or sung:
Angel with trumpet
Fra Angelico
(1387-1455)
Glory be to God on high,
and on earth peace, good will towards men.
We praise thee, we bless thee,
we worship thee, we glorify thee,
we give thanks to thee for thy great glory,
O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.
O Lord, the only‑begotten Son, Jesus Christ;
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
that takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.
Thou that takest away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer.
Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father,
have mercy upon us.
For thou only art holy,
thou only art the Lord,
thou only, O Christ,
with the Holy Ghost,
art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
A Christmas Collect
O God, who makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of
the birth of thy only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that as we
joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure
confidence behold him when he shall come to be our Judge;
who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one
God, world without end. Amen.
Full homely divinity means a
faith that is rooted in daily life. It is not a mystical spirituality or
an intellectual project, but practical actions that are the fruit of hearts and
souls that are transformed by the Word who became flesh in a stable in
Bethlehem. So, on this feast more than any other, we should seek literally
to incarnate our faith in concrete acts. Certainly, this includes regular
participation in worship, but truly homely divinity includes crèches, cookies
and candy canes, feasting, singing and charity, and even study. We have
tried to match some appropriate activities to each of the Twelve Days. Use
your own creativity to come up with more.
The First Day of Christmas
begins (as all feasts do) the night before. There is so much to do!
But one of the most important things to prepare is the Christmas crèche.
This is a tradition that began with St. Francis of Assisi. Francis
loved Christmas and he wanted others to understand the deep connection
between their own lives and the life of Jesus. He could think of no
better way to do that than to give them a living picture of the birth of their
Savior. The first crèche was
also the first Christmas pageant. In a church in Greccio, in 1223, Francis
had people enact a live tableau, with Mary and Joseph, the Infant
lying in a box of straw, the shepherds, and all of the animals. It
was Francis who introduced animals into the story, for the Gospels do not
mention them, other than the shepherds' flocks. But Jesus was born
in a stable, so there had to be animals!
We are
familiar with live pageants, like the one pictured above. Ours are
usually in a church, or perhaps on the lawn of a church or park, but there is also a
tradition of family pageants. In 1531, Martin Luther wrote his
Christmas hymn, Von Himmel hoch da komm ich her, for the
family Christmas Eve pageant. Larger and more ambitious households
might want to consider making this part of the family Christmas
traditions. The advantage of a crèche
is that it can be kept for many days and figures can be added or removed
as part of the continuing remembrance of the story.
The household crèche should be set up
before going to church on Christmas Eve, but wait until after church to
place the infant Jesus in the scene, and sing a familiar carol, such as
Silent Night, before retiring for the night. Save the angel and
the shepherds for Christmas morning. And the wise men do not arrive
until Epiphany, so put them at the other end of the room or even in a
different room of the house, moving them every day or so a little closer to
Bethlehem.
The Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York City displays an elborate Neapolitan crèche
every year.
Click here to view photos.
The crèche is a visual expression of
the story of Christmas. In one sense, the words of the Gospel say all
that needs to be said. But it is a story that is cannot be reduced to a
few words or a few images. Here is a poem by G.K. Chesterton that might
be regarded as a verbal crèche.
The House of
Christmas By G. K.
Chesterton
There fared a
mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.
For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honour and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the yule tale was begun.
A Child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky's dome.
This world is wild as an old wives' tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.
To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.
Yule Logs and Christmas Candles
Taking
its name from the Scandinavian celebration of the winter solstice, Yule,
the burning of a special log at the darkest time of the year is a custom
that was widespread, across northern Europe and Asia from Ireland to
Siberia and south as far as Greece. Originally, the great fire
represented the sun which had gone missing in the long night. However, when
Christianity came, the symbolism was transferred to the Sun of
Righteousness, the Savior Jesus Christ, the true Light who was incarnate
on a dark and silent night. In England, the Yule log was a great trunk
of an oak tree, cut on the previous Candlemas. Oak was the summer king
of the forest in the religion of the Druids, who gave way to the holly
in winter. Various ceremonies and customs surrounded the burning of the
Yule log. The log itself was often decorated and it was always lit with
a bit of the log saved from the previous year. As it marked the
beginning of a new year, the sins and errors of the previous year were
symbolically burned. In Christian times, the lighting of the log on
Christmas Eve marked the beginning of the celebration of Christmas in
the home. This was accompanied by the singing of carols, the telling of
stories, and, of course, much feasting. In some cultures, as long as the
log still burned, no work was allowed. In England, the Yule log was
supposed to burn throughout the twelve days of Christmas. Needless to
say, this required quite a massive log and quite a massive hearth to
hold it--generally the hall of the local nobles.
Smaller households, with smaller hearths, might also burn smaller logs,
though not for the whole season. And other customs arose to supplement
or replace the Yule log. One of these was the Christmas candle, a tall
candle, usually white, which was lit in the home on Christmas Eve and
kept burning for the twelve days. This is a custom those of us who do
not have a fireplace can keep. The candle should be in a prominent place
in the home--perhaps by the family crèche
or on the dining room table. It could be the candle placed in the center
of the Advent wreath--though
the four week old wreath might need to be refreshed if it is going to
continue to serve for twelve more days.
The French found another way to continue the Yule log custom in the
absence of a great hearth: Buche de Noel. Food can be
a most satisfying substitute for many older and no longer viable customs. In this case, the confection
is a cake roll, decorated to look like a log. Sometimes a candle is
placed in it to preserve the idea that this has to do with fire and
light. However, once sliced, it is not likely to last twelve minutes,
let alone twelve days--but few would complain about that.
Finally, there is the televised Yule log, now also available
online here.
Traditionally, there are three celebrations of the Eucharist on Christmas:
the Midnight Mass, the Mass of Dawn, and the Mass of the Day. Parishes often
have reasons for arranging their service schedule differently, and it should be
noted that there is no obligation to attend more than one celebration of the
Eucharist on Christmas. There was much ado about nothing back in 2005 over
the question whether or not churches should have had services on Christmas morning,
since it was also Sunday. The simple answer to that question is that
Christmas is Christmas no matter what day of the week it falls on. When
Christmas falls on a Sunday, it takes precedence over Sunday (this is true for
several other major feasts, as well). Anyone who attends a Christmas Eve
service has properly celebrated both Christmas and the Lord's Day--they are one
and the same. On the other hand, each of the three traditional Christmas
masses has a different "theme" and these are helpful to remember in other ways.
The first, the "Midnight Mass", is about the birth of Jesus. The second,
the "Mass of Dawn", is about the visit of the shepherds. The third, the
"Mass of the Day", focuses attention on the mystery of the Word made flesh.
So, it makes sense to make Christmas Day, the First Day of Christmas, the
shepherds' day. Before opening gifts and having breakfast, or, if you
happen to be one who likes to attend the Eucharist on Christmas morning, do this
when you get home, read Luke 2:15-20 and put the angel and the shepherds in the
crèche. Then say this prayer, and pass
out candy canes, and hang some on the tree.
A Prayer for
Candy Canes (for a shorter version, use
just the second paragraph)
O God, our Father, our Shepherd,
and our King, we give thee thanks for the many shepherds who have fed thy
people and pointed the way to our salvation: for Abraham, the friend
of God, who left his home and took his flocks to follow wherever thou
would'st lead; for Moses, who didst leave his sheep with his father-in-law
Jethro, and went to Egypt to lead thy people to the new pastures of
freedom; for David, whom thou didst call from guarding his father’s sheep
to be King over thy people Israel; and for the nameless shepherds of
Bethlehem who were the first to hear the news that a Savior was born, and
who left their flocks to see this thing which had come to pass.
We thank thee, Father, for thy Son
Jesus Christ, who was born to be the Good Shepherd of thy people.
May these candy canes, shaped like a shepherd’s crook, be for us signs of
thy constant love for thy flock. May their sweetness remind us of
the joys of thy heavenly Kingdom. And may all who see them
experience the joy and wonder of the shepherds who were the first to visit
thy Son who was laid in a manger so long ago, and who liveth and reigneth
with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Red
and Green
As
long as anyone can remember in the West, the traditional colors for
Christmas decorations have been red and green. Everywhere one turns,
the landscape is red and green--for everything, that is, except the
liturgical color of the feast. In one of our churches, we now
celebrate Christmas in red vestments, trimmed in green. Not
surprisingly, this has not met with universal approval. Tradition is
strong and we respect that. At the same time, we introduced this
change as a way of encouraging people to see how even the
secularized celebration of Christmas is rooted in richly theological
imagery. Some Christmas customs are even "baptized" versions of much
older winter solstice observances, and some have continued to be
practiced without acquiring any Christian significance. Mistletoe
falls into the latter category. Believed by the ancient Celts to
have miraculous healing powers, mistletoe was hung over the doors of
homes as a sign of good will and reconciliation. These are Christian
values but, as far as we can discover, there is no distinctly
Christian rationale for the use of mistletoe in this way. We just
keep on doing it because we always have. Evergreen trees and wreaths
fall under the same rubric, to some extent.
Evergreen
plants and circles are more or less universal symbols of eternity.
Eternal life is the great gift the Christ Child brings to us on
Christmas but this does not automatically qualify conifer trees,
branches, and wreaths as specifically Christian symbols--until St.
Boniface comes along in the eighth century. When St. Boniface
chopped down an oak tree, regarded as sacred by the Germanic pagans
he was attempting to convert, a fir tree sprang up from the stump,
with its branches pointing to heaven. The miracle and its
interpretation gave the evergreen family of trees an unquestioned
and permanent place in the constellation of natural Christian
symbols.
As
the song tells us (Deck the halls with boughs of holly),
conifers are not the only evergreen trees that have loaned their
lively color to the celebration of the winter solstice and the
Christian festival of Christmas. It is the evergreen holly, with its
red berries, that gives us one of the reasons for the use of red at
this season. Holly was part of winter solstice celebrations long
before the advent of Christianity and Christmas. The oak and the
holly were the two great sacred trees of the Celts, with the oak
ruling in the summer and the holly ruling in the winter. Christians
found two symbolic meanings in the holly. The sharp, pointed leaves
reminded them of the crown of thorns which was placed on Jesus' head
when he was condemned to be crucified, and the berries signified his
blood. Because the cross is central to our faith, it is always
present, even at the celebration of his birth. Holly also recalls an
older story, Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush, with the
red berries reminiscent of the fire within that did not consume the
green bush. Furthermore, in traditional typology, Mary is the
burning bush who carries God himself in her womb, but is not
consumed.
Red comes into the celebration in
another way, in the form of an apple:
Adam lay ybounden,
Bounden in a bond;
Four thousand winter,
Thought he not too long.
And all was for an apple,
An apple that he took.
As clerkes finden,
Written in their book.
Ne had the apple taken been,
The apple taken been,
Ne had never our ladie,
Abeen heav'ne queen.
Blessed be the time
That apple taken was,
Therefore we moun singen. Deo gracias!
15th Century, English
The Bible does not tell us that the forbidden
fruit was an apple. Nevertheless, by the Middle Ages, as can be
seen both in the carol and in the Durer paintings, in the
popular conception it was an apple.
So it was, also, in the popular mystery plays. Apples could be
easily enough preserved to be used as decorations, as food, and
as gifts at Christmas, and so the apple and its rich color
became fixed in the celebration of Christmas. It is still found
there today, though few people remember its origin as an
integral part of the celebration of the feast.
One manifestation of this is found in a poem
by an unknown New England author, collected by Joshua Smith of
New Hampshire in 1784 and included in his Divine Hymns and
Spiritual Songs. In this poem (the words are found below),
Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life, that is, the apple tree. Here
is the choir of King's College, Cambridge, singing Elizabeth
Poston's setting of the carol.
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.
His beauty doth all things excel:
By faith I know, but ne'er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.
For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought:
I missed of all; but now I see
'Tis found in Christ the apple tree.
I'm weary with my former toil,
Here I will sit and rest awhile:
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.
This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.
Finally, the New World has contributed a
flower from Central America to the Christmas decor and a lovely
legend to go with it. The story tells of two poor Mexican
children (their names vary from telling to telling) who had
nothing to offer the Christ Child on Christmas. On their way to
church, they picked some weeds from the side of the road.
Although the other children made fun of them, they placed the
weeds before the crèche.
Immediately, they blossomed into the flowers we now call
poinsettias, but which Mexicans call the Flor
de la Nochebuena, the flower of the Holy Night. Tomie
dePaola has illustrated this story in a
book for children. It is also
said that the red bracts, the colored leaves that
surround the tiny flowers of the plant, resemble the star that
led the wise men to Bethlehem. These plants, which are now used
around the world to decorate for Christmas, get their name from
Joel R. Poinsett, the ambassador to Mexico in the 1820s who
first brought them to the U.S.
Exchanging Gifts
Exchanging gifts is one of the most popular Christmas
customs. Many people who make no pretence of observing Christmas as a
religious holiday, keep this custom. Christians give one another gifts in
imitation of the divine Giver, our Father who has given us the gift of his Son,
Jesus Christ. We do not need to abandon this custom, but we should try to
redeem it from the secular spirit which has taken it over. Giving gifts on
Christmas is not a universal custom among Christians. In some countries,
gifts are given on the Feast of the Epiphany, in imitation of the Wise Men who
brought gifts to the Christ Child. Another custom, memorialized in the
famous song about the twelve days of Christmas, is to give a gift on each of the
twelve days. It is not likely that many families, particularly families
with children, would be able to resist the cultural pressure to give gifts on
Christmas itself. But it might be possible to extend the gift giving over
several days, not opening every gift on Christmas Day, and perhaps even to save
at least one gift for Epiphany.
Santo Niño de
Atocha
Dressed in his pilgrim's cloak and hat,
with a gourd full of water hanging from his staff and a basket of
bread in his hand, Santo Niño de Atocha is prepared for a night of
travelling about the countryside to come to the aid of the needy,
particularly those in prison or in danger from hazardous
occupations. In gratitude for his help, and because he is constantly
wearing out his shoes in his nightly journeys, the faithful leave
shoes for him at his shrine. The cult of this locally popular
manifestation of the Holy Child Jesus grew and is nourished by a
lively faith in the Incarnate God who promised to be with us
always--and is. When
the Moors ruled Spain, Christians in the town of Atocha were
persecuted and imprisoned, and were given no food. The caliph
decreed that only children under the age of 12 were permitted to
visit the prisoners and bring them food. The faithful prayed to Our
Lady of Atocha that she would intercede with her Son on behalf of
those who had no children. After that, children visiting their
parents reported seeing an unfamiliar child whose gourd was never
dry and whose basket of food was never empty. The people of Atocha
had no doubt who this stupendous stranger was. Indeed, it was
reported that the statue of the Child was missing from his Mother's
arms during the night and, when he returned in the morning, his
shoes were dirty and worn. Furthermore, when those shoes were
replaced, they, too, were quickly worn out.
Spanish settlers brought their devotion
to the Holy Child of Atocha with them to America. When miners were
trapped after an explosion in Fresnillo, the townspeople called on
Our Lady of Atocha. A little child ministered to the trapped men
and, again, his statue disappeared for periods of time and, when he
returned, he was dirty and his clothes were torn. His shrine there
became a place of pilgrimage and healing, and devotion to him
spread. By the end of the 19th century, he also had a shrine at
Chimayo, New Mexico, where miracles of healing are attributed to
him. The famous Indian potter Maria Martinez was taken to
Chimayo for healing when she was a child, and the shrine was the
scene of a large pilgrimage of grateful survivors of Corregidor,
Bataan, and Japanese prison camps after World War II.
Santo Niño's feast day is Christmas,
his birthday, when he and his family were homeless and needy, at the
end of one journey and the beginning of another. As Christmas is a
time when many people travel to be with family and friends, Santo
Niño is also on the road, giving comfort and aid to those in need
and reminding us that his story is one that continues to our day and
beyond. Our point here is that an Incarnation that is real, like a
divinity that is homely, is constantly finding new expression in the
evolving cultures in which it is proclaimed. Santo Niño is not a new
Incarnation of God. He is simply the one Incarnation experienced in
a new situation.
This day has
the additional title "Boxing Day", and it is a holiday in several
countries. There are various explanations for this name, but they
all boil down to the idea that this is a day to be generous to those who
are less fortunate than yourself. The day celebrates the first
person to give his life for the sake of Christ, St. Stephen, who was also
one of the first deacons ordained to serve the poor. Archbishop
Thomas Becket has something to say about him which you can
read
today, or save for the 29th. Another saint who is
closely associated with this day is St. Wenceslas of Bohemia whose
charity to the poor is remembered in
John
Mason Neale's wonderful carol. The day after Christmas is a
particularly good day to put the fabled "spirit of giving" into practice.
Take time today to perform an act of charity. If you make
end-of-the-year gifts to charities, write the checks today.
Remembering St. Stephen, as well as our Lord's
own sacrifice, this would be a good day to give blood, if the donation
center is open. Charity can take many forms. Whatever form
yours takes, make sure to sing or whistle "Good King Wenceslaus" while you are doing it! St.
Stephen's Day is a Prayer Book Holy Day, a day on which one should also
participate in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
The Feast of St.
John the Evangelist is the second of three Prayer Book Holy Days immediately
following Christmas Day. The third and final Mass of Christmas, the "Mass
of the Day", has as its Gospel the beginning of St. John's Gospel which
proclaims the mystery of the Word made flesh. Today would be a
particularly good day to spend some time reading and meditating on John 1: 1-14.
Serene, contemplative second part from Olivier Messiaen's 'Le Verbe'
(La Nativité du Seigneur, fourth movement, 1935).
Played by Willem Tanke on the main organ of the Grote of St.
Laurenskerk, Rotterdam (Marcussen, 1973).
Tradition tells us
that John was once given a cup of poisoned wine, but drank it with no ill
effect. A chalice with a serpent signifying the powerless poison is one of
his symbols. In spite of exile and attempts to kill him, John lived to a
great old age. In his last years it is said that he had to be carried to
the assembly of the Church and, when he was asked to speak, he would say,
simply, "My dear children, love one another.
It is the custom to
bless wine on St. John's day, and to drink a toast to the love of God and to the
saint.
Chalice of St. John
Hans Memling
1430-1495
The Blessing of Wine on St. John's
Day
Lord Jesus Christ,
Thou didst call Thyself the vine and Thy holy Apostles the branches; and
out of all those who love Thee, Thou didst desire to make a good vineyard.
Bless this wine and pour into it the might of Thy benediction. Grant
that every one who drinks of it may, through the intercession of Thy
beloved disciple the holy Apostle and Evangelist John, find courage and
strength to pursue the Way, be renewed in the Truth of the Word made
flesh, and at the last enter into Life everlasting, who livest and
reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.
Amen.
A glass of wine is then passed around the
table. As it is passed, the giver says::
In some places, it was the custom on this day to beat children, in order to
remind them of the sad and unjust end of the innocent children whom King Herod
ordered to be slaughtered in his attempt to destroy Jesus. We seriously doubt the
wisdom or the effectiveness of such a discipline today. There are other,
more positive, traditions that we recommend. Holy Innocents' Day (another
Prayer Book Holy Day on which attendance at the Eucharist is proper) is the
traditional day for the installation of the Boy Bishop (learn more about this
custom by clicking here).
This is a day when children should have the preeminence in family life, leading
the family prayers, making decisions about family activities for the day, having
the place of honor at meals, and so forth. Households that do not have
children might "adopt" a neighborhood family or two with their children and make
a party at which the children are the guests of honor.
The story of the Holy Innocents is one of the most poignant stories in all of
Scripture, "Rachel weeping for her children... because they are no more."
It is a day to give thanks for the children in our lives, whether in our own
families or in the larger family of the Church. And it is a good day to
revive the ancient custom of parents blessing their children at the end of the
day, as part of their nightly prayers.
O God our Father, whose Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, once embraced
the little children who were brought to him, saying, "Suffer the little
children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven, and their angels always see the face of my Father;"
Look now, we beseech thee, on the innocence of these children: Bless
them and protect them this night and throughout their lives;
(the parent makes the sign of the cross on the forehead of each
child) in thy grace and goodness let them advance continually,
longing for thee, knowing thee, and loving thee, that they may at the
last
come to their destined home and behold thee face to face; through Jesus
Christ, the Holy Child of
Bethlehem, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for
ever. Amen.
Then, taking the head of each
child in both hands, a parent says to each one: May God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit bless
you and keep you both now and for evermore. Amen.
Jacob Blessing the Children of Joseph
Rembrandt van Rijn
(1606-1669)
In 1170, on the Fifth Day of
Christmas, four knights from the court of King Henry II burst into
Canterbury Cathedral as the Archbishop was on his way to Vespers. Just
inside the cloister door, they murdered Thomas Becket, whose defense of the
rights of the Church had angered his onetime friend, the King. Within
three years, Thomas was canonized, and the shrine of St. Thomas of
Canterbury was set to become one of the most popular destinations for
pilgrims from all over Europe. In his play, "Murder in the Cathedral,"
T.S. Eliot reconstructs from historical sources the Archbishop's final
sermon, preached in the cathedral on Christmas Day. It is a remarkable
meditation on the meaning of Christmas, martyrdom, and the true meaning of
"peace on earth." The Fifth Day of Christmas, the anniversary of
Becket's death and his feast day, is an opportunity to reflect on the
broader meaning of Christmas by reading the
Archbishop's sermon.
You can also sing your reflection with this
hymn for the martyr's feast.
The Becket Panel at Wymondham Abbey offers a visual meditation on the
life of the Archbishop.
The red bill and legs of the
chough are unique to this member of the crow family. In heraldry
they
are known as "beckits" and three choughs
were found on the coat of arms of Archbishop Thomas. The chough was a
popular symbol of his resistance to the King. In Britain today they
are found only on the western side of the islands, but efforts are being
made to restore them to Kent. An outdoor activity for this day might
include ensuring that the bird feeder is full and spending some time
watching the many varieties of birds that visit it.
The Sixth Day of Christmas is a quiet day in the calendar. If you have not
already written your Christmas cards, this would be a good day to do that.
Friends who receive a card sent today will be reminded that Christmas continues
for twelve days. The next two days could be quite busy with lots of
guests. Today would also be a good day to begin preparing some of the
refreshments that will be needed on those days.
Although the end of the year falls in the middle of Christmastide, it has no
particular relationship to the Feast. In fact, January 1st has not always
been observed in Christian countries as the first day of the new year. In
ancient Rome, the year began on March 1st. Later, in many
countries of Europe, the year began on March 25th, the Feast of the
Annunciation. The change to January 1st was gradual.
Scotland changed in 1600, and England changed when the Gregorian calendar was
adopted there in 1752. While the beginning of the secular year has no
direct connection to Christmas, it is, traditionally, a time of celebration and
hospitality, themes which are familiar and entirely appropriate to the Twelve
Days. The traditional English drink for this season was Wassail (from the
Saxon Was haile, meaning "to your health").
When your friends and family come "wassailing," whether on New Year's Eve or New
Year's Day, have a bowl of this traditional punch ready for them, to drink to
their health and yours. The website Catholic Culture provides two
recipes:
Wassail
and
Wassail
Bowl.
St. Luke tells us that, in
accordance with Jewish tradition and law, eight days after his birth Jesus
was circumcised and named. While a "rose by any other name may smell
as sweet", nevertheless, the name of the rose evokes particular
memories and sensations for those who know the flower by that name. Many
parents spend hours and hours thinking about the name they want to give to a
child. Sometimes a child is given a name with the intention of
honoring a member of the family or a friend or a hero. Sometimes a name is
given simply because the parents like the sound of it. Sometimes a
name is given because it signifies a meaning that will be, or the parents
hope will be, manifest in the child's life: Mary and Joseph named
their son Jesus because the angel told them that "he will save his people".
Jesus, in Hebrew Joshua, means "the Lord will save". Does your name have a meaning? There are
lots of websites that will help you answer that question--just
GoogleTM
"names" and you are in business. Do you know why your parents chose
your name? As part of the celebration of this day, use your favorite
sugar cookie recipe and cut the cookies into the initials of members of the
household as a reminder of their names. Your name, or your baptismal
name, may also be the name of a saint. Do you know when that saint's
feast day is? That is your name day, which in some countries is
celebrated instead of a birthday.
Icon of St. Basil the Great and
the Circumcision of Christ
by Fr. John Matusiak
on the website
Orthodoxy in China
In English tradition, this is a day to remember godparents. Children would
go to visit their godparents to receive a blessing and a gift. There was a
time when being a godparent was much more than an honor bestowed on friends of
the parents. It was a serious responsibility, for godparents were not only
expected to teach the faith to their godchildren, but they were also the people
who would take a child into their own home if the child's parents were to die.
Once again, our friends at Catholic Culture have a recipe for
godcakes,
a pastry that could be given either by godparents to their godchildren--or the
children could be the givers. Godparents could also use the blessing of
children (from the Fourth Day of Christmas, above) to bless their godchildren.
In the Orthodox Church, January 1st is the Feast of St. Basil the
Great, who is pictured in the top portion of the icon above. Although he
is celebrated in the West on June 14th we would not want to miss an
opportunity to incorporate a custom and a recipe into our observance of the
Twelve Days. And, since the West tends to prefer a limit of one feast to a
day, we have moved Basil over to January 2nd. In Greece, it is
the custom to bake a bread or cake called Vassilopita (Basil in Greek is
Vassilis). The cake has a coin baked into it and the person who gets the
coin in his or her piece of cake is destined for good luck in the coming year.
Here is a link to one of the many recipes for
Vassilopita, together with an explanation of the protocols for cutting and
distributing the pieces.
Another activity we have suggested for the Twelve Days of Christmas is to learn
some new Christmas carols and hymns. If you scroll down on this page, you
will find our list of carols and hymns. If you have been learning a new
song each day, you now have a large enough repertoire for a good old fashioned
carol sing. If you have not been learning a carol every day, you have plenty to
keep you busy today! Why not invite some friends in, warm up the leftover
wassail, and do some singing? You could even include some of the old
favorites everyone already knows while you warm up your voices.
Christmas is a time of wonder when the imagination works overtime. And out
of that imaginative energy have come many stories that tell us how the Holy
Child of Bethlehem has touched the lives of people, both great and small,
through the centuries. If you have some favorites, use today to sit down
and reread them. Better yet, have a reading. Gather family and
friends, and especially children. Those who are old enough to read can
read their favorites out loud. And those who do not yet read should be
encouraged to request their favorites for someone else to read.
One of our favorites is the story known as "The Clown of God". It appears
in several different versions, but if you do not happen to have one, Tomie
dePaola has illustrated a lovely one. It is the story of a
traveling juggler who has come
home to the town of his birth after he has become too old to carry on. He
arrives on Christmas Eve as the townspeople are gathering for the Midnight Mass of
Christmas. The old juggler has no gift for the Child and so he gives the
performance of his life and juggles.
It is often called the "Christmas star" and it is seen in crèches
and in artworks depicting the Nativity of our Lord. But the star does not
actually come into the story until the entrance of the Wise Men, and Matthew
indicates that their visit was some time after the birth of Jesus, perhaps as
much as two years. By the time the Wise Men arrive, the Holy Family is
neither in a stable nor in an inn, but a house. We do not have to be
literalists about details like this, but we could save the star for the end of
Christmas, and as a segue into Epiphany. If the Wise Men for your crèche
have been making their way through the house or even just across the room, today
might be the day to hang the star. Before hanging the star, get out your
favorite cookie recipe and your star cookie cutter and make some star cookies.
(If you don't have a favorite recipe,
here is one that looks good.) Make enough to have some samples when
you hang the star, and more to eat tomorrow when Epiphany is in full swing.
The shepherds and the angels should be back in their box. In fact, they
could have been removed days ago. The Wise Men may need to make their
visit to a stable, rather than a house, but, as we said, we do not have to be
literalists about this. And, wherever they encounter the King for whom
they have been searching, they may arrive in the crèche
either tonight or tomorrow morning.
Epiphany really begins this evening, as Twelfth Night is the Eve of the
Epiphany, so we have two reasons for a party: the end of Christmas and the
beginning of Epiphany. In the middle ages, these Twelfth Night parties
could get quite rowdy. It was the Feast of Fools in which the order of the
world was turned upside down, with fools reigning as kings and all sorts of people taking on roles
quite the opposite of their true character. Shakespeare, in his play by the
same name, gives us a picture of such a topsy-turvy world as Viola
masquerades as a man, people fall in love across class lines, and the lowly
indulge in
ridiculous delusions of grandeur.
It would be quite foolish to deny the Christian significance of all of this.
There are few things more serious and true than the games people play.
The medieval Feast of Fools reminds us that Christmas celebrates nothing
less than a world turned upside down in which God becomes man in order that
man might become divine. So, party on!
Twelfth-night (The King Drinks)
David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690)
As Christmas ("Twelvetide") comes to an end,
some say that it
is time to take down the Christmas greens. (Click
here for another opinion.) Traditionally, they are burned in
a great bonfire. Bonfires are festive in themselves, but on this night, the
fire is a sign and a reminder of spiritual things. First of all, it is a
continuing reminder of the true Light who came into the world at the darkest
time of the year. Secondly, it reminds us of the star which led the pagan
philosophers towards spiritual illumination. Next, from ancient times,
Epiphany has been known as the Feast of Lights, recalling the persecuted
Christians who carried candles and torches to their secret meetings at night
in the catacombs, and sometimes became torches themselves at the hands of
their persecutors. Finally, it was also an occasion when catechumens were
baptized, and thus illuminated by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Today,
Baptism is often celebrated on Epiphany and it is a custom of longstanding
to present the newly baptized with a candle to remind them of what has
happened to them.
It would be appropriate to begin Evening Prayer
on Twelfth Night with the bonfire of the greens and to carry the flame from
the bonfire into church to light the candles at the singing of the hymn to
the light. Here is a prayer which might be used to bless the fire as the
bonfire is lit:
O God, who sent fire from heaven upon
the sacrifice offered by Elijah, the prophet of the Anointed One; who led
the children of Israel through the desert with the pillar of fire; who led
wise men from the East to the house of Wisdom by a fiery star; and who
fulfilled the prophecy of John the Forerunner by sending the Christ who
baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire: Pour your blessing upon this
Epiphany flame that it may be a reminder to all of the true Light who came
into the world as at this time, and who ignites us with the Holy Spirit to
lead us on our pilgrimage with the fire of his Love; through Jesus Christ,
the Light of the world, who lives and reigns with you and the same Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
As the fire burns, here is a carol that might
be sung. It was written by John Henry Hopkins, Jr., about whom you can read
more on the Epiphany page. Music for the carol is
here.
Gather around the Christmas tree!
Gather around the Christmas tree!
Evergreen have its branches been,
It is king of all the woodland scene;
For Christ our King is born today!
His reign shall never pass away.
Refrain Hosanna, hosanna,
Hosanna in the highest!
Gather around the Christmas tree!
Gather around the Christmas tree!
Once the pride of the mountainside,
Now cut down to grace our Christmastide;
For Christ from Heav’n to earth came down,
To gain, through death, a nobler crown.
Refrain
Gather around the Christmas tree!
Gather around the Christmas tree!
Every bough bears a burden now—
They are gifts of love for us, we trow;
For Christ is born, His love to show,
And give good gifts to men below.
Refrain
Farewell to thee, O Christmas tree!
Farewell to thee, O Christmas tree!
Twelve months o’er, we shall meet once more,
Merry welcome singing, as of yore,
For Christ now reigns, our Savior dear,
And gives us Christmas every year!
OK, after a
month of the secular "holiday season," you really are tired of the usual
Christmas hymns and carols. But what would the celebration
of Christmas be without music? So, why not make the Twelve Days of
Christmas into a truly musical festival by singing and, if necessary,
learning some different hymns and carols? Here are some that we
suggest. Chances are, there are several that you will not sing in
church this year, and at least one or two that you have never sung.
When you click on the hymn title, you will open a new window that will
usually provide the text and will also play the tune so you can sing
along. Some of these selections are in your hymnal, and some are
not--and some of the ones that are will not be exactly the same text, or
translation, or tune. Many of the
original links on this page were to the Cyber Hymnal. We have
discovered, to our great regret,
that the Cyber Hymnal seems to have gone off line. We will do our best
to redirect old links, and we apologize if we are unable to provide
links for all of the hymns below. If and when the Cyber Hymnal returns
to the web, we will renew any missing links.
The First
Day of Christmas: Christmas Day -
Christians, awake, salute the happy morn
This hymn was written as a Christmas present to the author's daughter, but
it is not about merry old elves or sugar plum fairies. Rather, it
has a very exalted theme: "Rise to
adore the mystery of love."
The Second
Day of Christmas: The Feast of St. Stephen -
Good King Wenceslas
This carol is not really about St. Stephen, the first Christian to give
his life for Christ, but it is about giving. The second day of
Christmas, "Boxing Day", has traditionally been a day to serve the poor,
as the great Bohemian saint demonstrated. The carol was written by
Anglicanism's prolific hymnographer, John Mason Neale.
Nativity
Gerard David (1460-1523)
The Third
Day of Christmas: The Feast of St. John the Evangelist -
Praise
God for John
Here is a relatively new hymn, written to celebrate the mystical
evangelist John. The text is still under copyright, so you will have
to look it up in The Hymnal 1982. But the link will take you
to Sir Arthur Sullivan's tune, with the seasonally appropriate title
"Noel."
The Fourth
Day of Christmas: The Feast of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem -
Coventry Carol
This Renaissance carol tells the story of the boys whom this day
commemorates--no sugar plum fairies here, either.
The Fifth
Day of Christmas: The Feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury -
The Huron Carol
Jean de Brébeuf was a 16th century
Jesuit missionary to the Native Americans of Ontario. He wrote this
carol in the Huron language and incorporated local color into the ancient
story. Like Archbishop Thomas á Becket,
whose feast this is, de Brébeuf was
martyred.
The Sixth
Day of Christmas -
On
this day earth shall ring
This 16th century carol has a Latin refrain: Ideo gloria in
excelsis Deo: "Therefore, glory to God in the highest!"
The
Seventh Day of Christmas -
Love came down at Christmas
Christina Rossetti may be better known for another Christmas hymn, "In the
bleak midwinter," which gives a very intimate perspective on the Christmas
story. "Love came down at Christmas" is more
directly theological, but it, too, is about the mystery
of the intimate love of God for humankind.
The Eighth
Day of Christmas: The Holy Name of Jesus -
Jesus!
Name of wondrous love!
On the eighth day after his birth, a Jewish boy is circumcised and named.
Until then he has no identity, either as a member of a community or as an
individual. Circumcision binds him by blood to God and makes him a
member of God's
covenant community. The name he is given is more than a calling card: it
expresses his true identity. "Jesus" is the Human Name of God above.
Angel of the Annunciation
Fra Angelico (1387-1455)
The Ninth
Day of Christmas -
From heaven above to earth I come
Congregations were moved by Martin Luther's poignant telling of the
Christmas story. It was as if they were really there in Bethlehem.
This truly homely hymn was written for his little son and was dramatized
every year in the family celebration of Christmas Eve. Perhaps
Martin himself sang the part of the angel whom little Hans bid "Welcome to
earth."
The Tenth
Day of Christmas -
Dost thou in a manger lie
The poet asks
"If [thou art] a monarch, where [is] Thy state? Where Thy court on Thee to wait?"
And into the mouth of the Infant he puts words that echo St. Paul's great
hymn of the Incarnation in Philippians 2: "though he was in the form
of God, [he] did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave...."
The
Eleventh Day of Christmas -
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In -
words here;
sing along with Aled Jones and the Royal College Of Music
Chamber Choir
In a majestic, yet playful, metaphor, the Holy Trinity delivers Christ to Bethlehem on the day of his birth.
The Twelfth Day of Christmas
A Babe is born in Bethlehem
This 14th century Benedictine processional recapitulates the story for us
one more time, and anticipates the arrival of the wise men tomorrow, on
the Feast of the Epiphany.
And one more for a baker's dozen -
See amid the winter's snow
Edward Caswall of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri wrote this fine text
which is set to music by John Goss, long-time organist of St. Paul's,
London.
Everywhere we
go from the end of November right up to Christmas Day, we are bombarded
with Christmas music. And then, just as Christians actually start
celebrating the feast, the music stops! We at FHD are not related to
Ebenezer Scrooge--we like Christmas! But we like it beginning on the
eve of December 25th, and continuing for its own very special twelve days.
On this page, we are collecting ideas for keeping the feast. As with
everything else on FHD, we will add to it as new material and new ideas
come to us. This is just a start.
The First Day of Christmas
begins (as all feasts do) the night before. There is so much to do!
But one of the most important things to prepare is the Christmas crèche.
This is a tradition that began with St. Francis of Assisi. Francis
loved Christmas and he wanted others to understand the deep connection
between their own lives and the life of Jesus. He could think of no
better way to do that than to give them a living picture of the birth of their
Savior. The first crèche was
also the first Christmas pageant. In a church in Greccio, in 1223, Francis
had people enact a live tableau, with Mary and Joseph, the Infant
lying in a box of straw, the shepherds, and all of the animals. It
was Francis who introduced animals into the story, for the Gospels do not
mention them, other than the shepherds' flocks. But Jesus was born
in a stable, so there had to be animals!
--though
the four week old wreath might need to be refreshed if it is going to
continue to serve for twelve more days.
As
long as anyone can remember in the West, the traditional colors for
Christmas decorations have been red and green. Everywhere one turns,
the landscape is red and green--for everything, that is, except the
liturgical color of the feast. In one of our churches, we now
celebrate Christmas in red vestments, trimmed in green. Not
surprisingly, this has not met with universal approval. Tradition is
strong and we respect that. At the same time, we introduced this
change as a way of encouraging people to see how even the
secularized celebration of Christmas is rooted in richly theological
imagery. Some Christmas customs are even "baptized" versions of much
older winter solstice observances, and some have continued to be
practiced without acquiring any Christian significance. Mistletoe
falls into the latter category. Believed by the ancient Celts to
have miraculous healing powers, mistletoe was hung over the doors of
homes as a sign of good will and reconciliation. These are Christian
values but, as far as we can discover, there is no distinctly
Christian rationale for the use of mistletoe in this way. We just
keep on doing it because we always have. Evergreen trees and wreaths
fall under the same rubric, to some extent.
Evergreen
plants and circles are more or less universal symbols of eternity.
Eternal life is the great gift the Christ Child brings to us on
Christmas but this does not automatically qualify conifer trees,
branches, and wreaths as specifically Christian symbols--until St.
Boniface comes along in the eighth century. When St. Boniface
chopped down an oak tree, regarded as sacred by the Germanic pagans
he was attempting to convert, a fir tree sprang up from the stump,
with its branches pointing to heaven. The miracle and its
interpretation gave the evergreen family of trees an unquestioned
and permanent place in the constellation of natural Christian
symbols.
As
the song tells us (Deck the halls with boughs of holly),
conifers are not the only evergreen trees that have loaned their
lively color to the celebration of the winter solstice and the
Christian festival of Christmas. It is the evergreen holly, with its
red berries, that gives us one of the reasons for the use of red at
this season. Holly was part of winter solstice celebrations long
before the advent of Christianity and Christmas. The oak and the
holly were the two great sacred trees of the Celts, with the oak
ruling in the summer and the holly ruling in the winter. Christians
found two symbolic meanings in the holly. The sharp, pointed leaves
reminded them of the crown of thorns which was placed on Jesus' head
when he was condemned to be crucified, and the berries signified his
blood. Because the cross is central to our faith, it is always
present, even at the celebration of his birth. Holly also recalls an
older story, Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush, with the
red berries reminiscent of the fire within that did not consume the
green bush. Furthermore, in traditional typology, Mary is the
burning bush who carries God himself in her womb, but is not
consumed.
So it was, also, in the popular mystery plays. Apples could be
easily enough preserved to be used as decorations, as food, and
as gifts at Christmas, and so the apple and its rich color
became fixed in the celebration of Christmas. It is still found
there today, though few people remember its origin as an
integral part of the celebration of the feast.
Immediately, they blossomed into the flowers we now call
poinsettias, but which Mexicans call the Flor
de la Nochebuena, the flower of the Holy Night. Tomie
dePaola has illustrated this story in a
When
the Moors ruled Spain, Christians in the town of Atocha were
persecuted and imprisoned, and were given no food. The caliph
decreed that only children under the age of 12 were permitted to
visit the prisoners and bring them food. The faithful prayed to Our
Lady of Atocha that she would intercede with her Son on behalf of
those who had no children. After that, children visiting their
parents reported seeing an unfamiliar child whose gourd was never
dry and whose basket of food was never empty. The people of Atocha
had no doubt who this stupendous stranger was. Indeed, it was
reported that the statue of the Child was missing from his Mother's
arms during the night and, when he returned in the morning, his
shoes were dirty and worn. Furthermore, when those shoes were
replaced, they, too, were quickly worn out.
This day has
the additional title "Boxing Day", and it is a holiday in several
countries. There are various explanations for this name, but they
all boil down to the idea that this is a day to be generous to those who
are less fortunate than yourself. The day celebrates the first
person to give his life for the sake of Christ, St. Stephen, who was also
one of the first deacons ordained to serve the poor. Archbishop
Thomas Becket has something to say about him which you can
It is often called the "Christmas star" and it is seen in crèches
and in artworks depicting the Nativity of our Lord. But the star does not
actually come into the story until the entrance of the Wise Men, and Matthew
indicates that their visit was some time after the birth of Jesus, perhaps as
much as two years. By the time the Wise Men arrive, the Holy Family is
neither in a stable nor in an inn, but a house. We do not have to be
literalists about details like this, but we could save the star for the end of
Christmas, and as a segue into Epiphany. If the Wise Men for your crèche
have been making their way through the house or even just across the room, today
might be the day to hang the star. Before hanging the star, get out your
favorite cookie recipe and your star cookie cutter and make some star cookies.
(If you don't have a favorite recipe,
