12 Days of Christmas

Christmas has knocked the doors and the festive season has begun. Traditionally the celebration of Christmas continues for 12 days. These 12 days of Christmas are all about the celebration and remembering the arrival of the prince of heaven for the betterment of mankind. But wait! Do you really know what these 12 days of Christmas are? No, they are not just some shopping days and a famous old carol. An ancient story is associated with 12 days of Christmas. Let’s know about it.

The Christmas celebration continues from 25^th December to 5^th January. The duration from 25^th December to 5^th January is known as 12 days of Christmas. We celebrate 25^th December as Christmas. On this day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  5^th January is celebrated as the 12^th night of the Christmas celebration. Last day of festival season 6^th January is celebrated as Epiphany. On Epiphany, three wise men visited the Jesus and announced the arrival of the savior.

The 12 days of Christmas traditionally celebrated as the feast day for different Saints and reasons.  Here are the details of all 12 days of Christmas celebration.

• Day 1: The festival of 12 days of Christmas starts with the birth of Jesus Christ on 25^th
• Day 2: The 2^nd day of festival 26^th December is celebrated as St. Stephen Day. This day is celebrated to remember St Stephen, who was the first Martyr from Christians. This day is also known as Boxing Day and it is declared as an official holiday in many countries.
• Day 3: 27^th December is celebrated and dedicated to St John the Apostle who was one of Jesus’s disciples and friends.
• Day 4: 28^th December is the 4^th day of the 12^th days of Christmas celebration. This day is celebrated as the feast of holy innocents. On this day people remember those innocent boys who got killed by King Herod while searching for the baby Jesus.
• Day 5: Day 5^th of the festive session is celebrated on 29^th This day is celebrated in the memory of St Thomas Becket who was the Archbishop of Canterbury and he got killed by the King’s man for challenging the King’s authority over the church in 12^th century.
• Day 6: The celebration of 30^th December is for St Egwin of Worcester.
• Day 7: 31^st December is the New Year eve and people from different country celebrated this day with different way according to their culture.
• Day 8: 1^st January the first day of New Year is celebrated as the feast for the Mary, the mother of Jesus.
• Day 9:  The feast of 2^nd January’s celebrated for two important saints of the Christian community from 4^th Names of these saints are St. Basil the great and St Gregory Nazianzen.
• Day 10: The feast of 3^rd January is organized on the holy name of Jesus.
• Day 11: the 11^th days’ feast is on the name of St Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American Saint.
• Day 12: 5^th January is the twelfth day of the celebration. This day is also known as Epiphany eve. The feast of this day is for St John Neumann.

6^th January the twelfth night is the time of big celebration. People organize big parties on this day as it is the end of the festival session.

The 12 days celebration is an ancient way to celebrate Christmas. Many carols are based on this celebration of 12 days. This festival of Christmas is all about giving gifts and sharing happiness. You can meet and greet your loved ones, dance and sing with them during these 12 days of celebration.

We wish you all Merry Christmas.