Why Twelve Days?
I do not know why it surprises me that many people do not know the significance of the number of days, but it is very simple in the explanation: from the birth of Christ to the arrival of the Three Wise Men, Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar, was a span of twelve days, now known as Christmas Day (Dec. 25th) through the Epiphany (January 6th).
Many more know the song of the gifts of the Twelve Days of Christmas, of course. There is even significance to those gifts, though there is some debate on the truth of the meanings attributed to them. Here are the ‘accepted’ ones:
Saints Preserve Us!
In the interim days between Christmas and Epiphany there some days of significance, and these are feast days of several saints.
1. The Feast of St. Stephen, December 26th
Living during the time of the Apostles and founding of the Christin Church, St Stephen was apparently a skilled speaker and was described as ‘full of Grace and Power’ in The Book of Acts. He was the first Christian martyr, being stoned to death sometime around the year 35 A.D. for his religious beliefs. He is the patron saint of stonemasons and bricklayers, maybe a grim reminder of his form of death, but also of horses. There are a few traditions associated with the day, such as beating people about the arms and legs with boughs of holly; being spiky plants they would begin to draw blood, though during the times this was a tradition, bloodletting was considered a part of ‘good health’ in releasing the ‘bad vapors’, thought here are those who equate the bloodletting with the wounds caused by St Stephen’s stoning. The one tradition that continues to this day in Great Britain and has even changed the name of the day there is giving small considerations of money as a sort of tip to those who provided various services over the year. These are given out in little boxes and renamed the day Boxing Day.
2. The Feast of St. John the Apostle, December 27th
Known as the disciple whom Jesus loved, St John was, as might be guessed, one of the Twelve Apostles. He is noteworthy possibly mostly as he is a saint not to be martyred by death but as he risked death many times in defense of his faith he is considered a martyr of will. Wine is a great part of the celebration of the day in many countries as St. John was known to have drunk poisoned wine and was utterly unharmed by it. Wine is traditionally blessed and drunk, being known as the “Love of St John”.
3. Feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28th
After the birth of Christ, King Herod sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to slaughter all male children under the age of two, fearing the coming of the Lord. In their search for His birthplace, the Three Wise Men sought out advice from Herod, alerting him to this coming ruler of the Jews, and so not wanting this in his kingdom he so orders those deaths of innocents. And angel alerts the Holy Family and they are nowhere near that slaughter when it occurs.
As those Innocents were slaughtered through no fault of their own, they are considered as martyrs of deed, and many of the traditions surrounding this day are the flipping of household roles, or at least giving children more ‘adult’ consideration and the running of the household or like activities. Sort of what Christmas Day has since become, in essence. There are some places that consider it a day of bad omen due to the slaughtering of innocent children and hold no weddings or such things.
4. The Feast Day of St. Thomas Becket, December 29th
King Henry II of England was, by all accounts, a canny politician. One ploy to sway the Church to him, he promoted his friend, Thomas Becket, already the Chancellor of England, to become the ArchBishop of Canterbury in 1162. A very powerful position, even moreso than Chancellor, Henry thought he had finally assumed the kind of control in the Church he needed. However, Thomas became a reformed man and took his position in the Church much more seriously than Henry had expected and soon the Troubles began. Look up the Constitutions of Clarendon if you want an idea what Henry thought he could do to wrest power from the Church. Of course, Thomas had none of it, denied the Constitutions, and fled to exile in France. Remaining a thorn in his King’s side, he returned to England some seven years later, even as he expected he would not survive over long. A form of King Henry II’s famous quote is “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest!” Four of his knights with him at the time took him at his wish, visited Canterbury Cathedral and slew Thomas Becket on December 29th.
5. The Feast of Pope St. Sylvester, December 31st
A Roman Catholic, St Sylvester served as Pope from 314 until 335 at his death. Not much is known of him, other than the highly debated conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity. There were certainly many ‘things’ regarding Christianity during his time as Pope, and as such it must be assumed he had a hand in much. He did send two representatives to the Council of Nicea during the rise of Arianism. Perhaps confused these days with the New Years Eve celebrations, festive gatherings seems to have consisted of eating, drinking, dance and fortune-telling to determine what is coming in the new year. One such way of telling such fortune was to melt lead in a small container and throw it into cool water, the shape of it being read to determine the coming fortune of the year.
6. Epiphany, January 6th
The Blessing of the Waters. Three King’s Day. Feast of Baptism. Feast of Lights.Feast of the Three Kings. Night of Destiny. Twelfth Night. Take your pick, they all honor the day. The day commemorates the revelation of the divinity of Jesus to those around him. In Western Christianity, the observance of the day focuses on the adoration of the Magi. In Eastern Christianity it tend to focus on the the baptism of Jesus. The word itself derives from the Greek epiphaneia, meaning ‘manifestation’, or ‘appearance’. The ‘epiphany’ of the day suggests the belief that baptism confers spiritual illumination to the soul.
There are so many traditions that the day has spurred on in many countries that it would take more time than I have to write even a few of them down, but as a reference here are a few things to look up, if you like: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, where during the time he wrote it in England the day was a day where all was topsy turvy, turned upside down. As well, the Feast of Fools, where much the same was done within the Church, to begin with. Finally, and one I actually once helped write and perform in a Christmas revel for the RenFaire I was part of at the time, Twelfth Night with the Lord of Misrule!
Sherlock Holmes??
What the heck does Sherlock Holmes have to do with any of this? Well, Sherlockian and Holmesian scholars have determines that January 6th was that date of his birth in 1854. I have been an avid reader of Sherlock Holmes for decades, the original Canon and the many, many pastiches that have come out over the last 100+ years. I have written before that from Thanksgiving night and through on to then end of January the only books I read are those of Sherlock Holmes. It is an enjoyable hobby!
That is all (and it is plenty!) for now.
Be well and pax vobiscum!
