“On the Twelfth Day of Christmas…”
“… my true love gave to me…” Modern American culture has made many of us familiar with the tune “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but the fact that there are truly twelve days of Christmas or any celebration of Christmas past December 25th is a notion lost on many. This alone is evidenced by the confusion within American society over whether the twelve days of Christmas lead up to or follow Christmas Day. All around us the world gives up Christmas on December 26th, but for us the party is just starting!
For Christians, there is something about the Advent season, with its differing emphasis from Christmas, that makes the arrival of Christmas truly special. This is why Maria von Trapp, popular liturgical living author, shares her astonishment that stores even dare to blare “Silent Night” over the speakers well before Christmas Eve. She, like those of us interested in the historic Church traditions, knows that there is a proper order to things. The joys of Christmas are supposed to juxtapose with a penitential pre-Christmas time devoted to waiting for and meditation on Christ’s coming. At All the Household, we’ve been discussing this very thing from the beginning of Advent with our discussion of the importance of Sundays such as Ad te Levavi and Gaudete as well as the days that lie at the end of the Advent season, such as St. Thomas’s Day.
But just as important as it is that Christmas doesn’t come too early, it is equally important that eventually Christmas does come, and it doesn’t come for just one day! The Christmas season runs from Christmas Day (December 25th) up until the Feast of Epiphany (January 6th), a full twelve days. And for these twelve days there is to be no lack of merriment, feasting, and singing! Not only is each of those dates a Christmas celebration, but there are also many feast days stacked on top of them: St. Stephen (December 26th), St. John (27th), the Holy Innocents (28th), David (29th), the Circumcision and Name of Jesus (January 1st), and Wilhelm Loehe (2nd), to name a few. But finally, twelve days after Christmas (counting from Christmas Day) arrives Twelfth Night, which has a special character of its own.
For much of its history, Twelfth Night has served as a key transitionary time between two of the major liturgical seasons: Christmas and Easter. To understand why, one must remember that according to many old Christian traditions, the new day starts at sundown. That’s why we often celebrate the Nativity on Christmas Eve after sundown or the Resurrection at the Easter Vigil after sundown.
Thus, while Twelfth Night is indeed the twelfth and final night of Christmas, it is also the eve of Epiphany. Thus, on Twelfth Night, Christians have an opportunity to celebrate not only the mystery of the Incarnation and the babe lying in the manger but also the revelation of our Lord to all nations and peoples, a key theme of Epiphany. Indeed, Twelfth Night and the move from Christmas to Epiphany reminds us that all of creation recognizes that baby as Lord, most brilliantly represented in the bright star that shone above the manger.
A Brief History
The twelve days between the celebration of our Lord’s Nativity on December 25th and the feast of Epiphany on January 6th have been a unified season in the Western Church’s liturgical life since the Early Middle Ages, and probably much earlier than that. As proof, we see the decree of the Council of Tours in the sixth century that recognized the twelve days of Christmas as a time of rejoicing. Thus, the twelfth night of Christmas has been a transitionary time between Christmas and Epiphany in much of the Western Church for at least a millennium and a half.
Because of the transitionary nature of Twelfth Night and the impending Epiphany feast, many of the customs that Christians have traditionally used to celebrate Epiphany have bled over into Twelfth Night celebrations. Some of these customs that have been observed by Lutherans are sharing a king cake with a hidden bean or figurine, chalking the door with the new year and Christ’s blessing, and gathering for Twelfth Night parties. More on the specific traditions can be found in our traditions posts related to Twelfth Night and Epiphany.
Collect
Almighty and Everlasting God: direct our actions according to Thy good pleasure; that in the name of Thy beloved Son we may be made to abound in good works; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Lessons
Epistle
Gospel
Resources
Propers found in Daily Divine Service Book: A Lutheran Daily Missal, edited by the Rev. Heath Curtis
References:
1. Pfatteicher, Philip H. Journey into the Heart of God. Oxford University Press. 2013.
2. Weiser, Francis X. Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs: The Year of the Lord in Liturgy and Folklore. Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. 1952.
3. Weedon, William. Celebrating the Saints. Concordia Publishing House. 2016.
4. Weiser, Francis X. The Christmas Book. Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. 1952.
Images:
1. Epiphany from The Calendar of Saints, Jacques Callot, France, ca. 1600.
2. Twelfth-night (The King Drinks), Museo del Prado, Spain, 1634-40.
