Many people think that the twelve days of Christmas come before Christmas Day and lead up to it, but that is not the case. The period leading up to Christmas is the Advent season, not the Christmas season. It benefits the retail trade if they can get us to start thinking about things in advance, so they sell winter coats in the fall, spring fashions in the winter, bathing suits in the spring, and back-to-school clothes in the summer. They are just being consistent when they sell Easter clothes during Lent or put up Christmas decorations in Advent. So remember this rule of thumb: the mall is decorated for what is coming next, not for what’s happening now.

In the Church, as in the synagogue, the day technically begins at sunset. Therefore, Christmas begins at sundown on 24 December, which we very appropriately call ‘Christmas Eve.’ The Christmas Season, which begins with Christmas Eve, ends on the eve of Epiphany, which is sundown on 5 January. Therefore, Christmas lasts twelve days, and the period from sundown on 24 December to sundown on 5 January is called the Twelve Days of Christmas.

By this reckoning, Epiphany begins on the twelfth night after Christmas, so Epiphany was called Twelfthnight in England.

When most people hear of "The 12 days of Christmas" they think of the song. According to legend this song had its origins as a teaching tool to instruct young people in the meaning and content of the Christian faith.

From 1558 to 1829 Roman Catholics in England were not able to practice their faith openly so they had to find other ways to pass on their beliefs. The song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is one example of how they did it. "The 12 Days of Christmas" is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something of religious significance. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help young Christians learn their faith.

The song goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me..." The "true love" represents God and the "me" who receives these presents is the Christian.

* The "partridge in a pear tree" was Jesus Christ who died on a tree as a gift from God.
(Another version of this gift is that it represents the one true God revealed in Jesus.)

* The "two turtle doves" were the Old and New Testaments - another gift from God.

* The "three French hens" were faith, hope and love - the three gifts of the Spirit that abide( I Corinthians 13 ).

* The "four calling birds" were the four Gospels which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.

* The "five golden rings" were the first five books of the Bible also called the "Books of Moses."

* The "six geese a-laying" were the six days of creation.

* The "seven swans a swimming" were seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church).

* The "eight maids a milking" were the eight beatitudes.

* The "nine ladies dancing" were nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.( Galatians 5:22-23 )

* The "ten lords a-leaping" were the Ten Commandments.

* The "eleven pipers piping" were the eleven faithful disciples.

* The "twelve drummers drumming" were the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed.

So the next time you hear "The 12 Days of Christmas" consider how this otherwise non-religious sounding song had its origins in the Christian faith.

(primary source of this information was an article in the Anderson Independent-Mail newspaper Anderson, SC Jan. 21, 1996 by Dr. William Hunter)

In the church the four weeks before Christmas day is called Advent. This is a time of preparation for the celebration of Jesus' birth.

The name "Advent" comes from the Latin "adventus" which means "to come." During this season Christians remember the Old Testament promise that God would send a Messiah and the New Testament promises that Jesus will come again.

During this time the Church focuses on the events which led up to Jesus' birth. These include Old Testament prophesies( Isaiah 7:14 , Isaiah 9:6-7 ), the angel Gabriel coming to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus( Luke 1:26-38 ), John's miraculous birth to Elizabeth a woman beyond child bearing age( Luke 1:5-25 ), John leaping in Elizabeth's womb when Mary carrying Jesus walked into her presence( Luke 1:39-56 ). We also recall how John proclaimed the coming of the Messiah.

Christians use the advent wreath as a way of symbolizing the coming of Jesus, the light, into the world. The advent wreath consists of four candles mounted around the circumference of an evergreen wreath. These candles are usually purple or blue which are the liturgical colors for Advent and symbolize royalty. Sometimes one of these four candles is pink and there may be a fifth white candle in the center of the wreath.

Each week beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas an additional candle is lighted. On first Sunday one candle is lighted. On the second two and so on until all four are lighted the Sunday before Christmas. If there is a pink candle it is usually the third candle. If there is a white candle in the center it is lighted on Christmas Eve and all through the 12 days of Christmas. This progression of light represents the coming of the light into the world.

The circle of the evergreen wreath represents eternal life. The evergreen remains green representing life and the circle is eternal with no beginning and no end.

There are various traditions about the meaning of each of the candles. One tradition labels them the Prophet's candle, the Bethlehem candle, the Shepherd's candle(pink), and the Angel's candle. These represent the sources of the Good News of the coming of Jesus. The Good news came through the prophets, was born in Bethlehem, was witnessed by the shepherds and proclaimed by hosts of Angels. Another set of traditions label them hope, love, joy(pink), and peace or some variation on this. This tradition focuses on the nature of the Good News. It is news of hope for the future, the love of God, joy of the Spirit and peace on Earth.