Twelve Days of Christmas

 This year I'm celebrating fun National weeks throughout the year.  Here we are, the last national week for the year, the Twelve Days of Christmas.

This holiday is not the song about giving a bunch of birds to a loved one.  This holiday starts with the birth of Jesus and ends when the three Magi arrived in Bethlehem.  Each day celebrates the feast day of a saint.  The following is 

25th the birth of Christ

26th St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr

27th St. John the Apostle

28th the Feast of the Holy Innocents - the baby boys that King Harrod killed when trying to find Jesus

29th St. Thomas Beckett - archbishop of Canterbury.  Killed when challenged the King's authority over the church

30th St. Egwin of Worcester - a Benedictine monk

31st Pope Sylvester I, one of the first Popes

1st  Mary, the Mother of Jesus

2nd St. Basil the Great

3rd Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus - Celebrates naming Jesus in the Jewish Temple

4th St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, first American Saint

5th St. John Neumann the first Bishop in America

You know I can't continue without first adding what the twelve days are in the Greek Orthodox Church.  So, here we go:

Dec 25  Jesus birth

26 Synaxis of the Virgin - praise to Mary for giving birth to our Lord

27  St. Stephen, a martyr who was stoned to death

28 Martyrs of Nicomedia - in 302 AD Emperor Maximian Hercules, while visiting Nicomedia heard of a large number of Christians living there and wanted to kill them.  While they were all in church, his soldiers surrounded the church and they were asked to deny Christ and be free to go or burn.  They chose to burn.

29 Feast of Holy Innocents - children that died because of King Herod

30 Deacon Timon 

31 Martyr Zoticus, Protector of the Poor and Holy Mother Melanie of Rome

1  St. Basil the Great

2  St. Sylvester, Bishop of Rome

3  Prophet Malachi

4  Synaxis of the 70 Apostles  - the men that followed the 12 apostles

5  Hieromartyr Theopemptos, Bishop of Nicomedia and also Martyr Theonas

The 6th is the Holy observance of Jesus' baptism.

Ways to celebrate the week:

Open one present every day (instead of all at once)

Volunteer at a soup kitchen or help someone in need

Read through the Gospel of Luke, which gives an entire account of Jesus birth

Thanks for celebrating the weird, fun, interesting national weeks with me!