The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas Day (25 December). This period is also known as Christmastide and Twelvetide. The Twelfth Night of Christmas is always on the evening of 5 January, but the Twelfth Day can either precede or follow the Twelfth Night according to which Christian tradition is followed. Twelfth Night is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. In some traditions, the first day of Epiphany (6 January) and the twelfth day of Christmas overlap.
Over the centuries, differing churches and sects of Christianity have changed the actual traditions, time frame and their interpretations. St. Stephen's Day (or Boxing Day), for example, is 26 December in the Western Church and 27 December in the Eastern Church. Boxing Day, on December 26, is observed as a legal holiday in parts of the Commonwealth of Nations. 28 December is Childermas or the Feast of the Innocents. Currently, the twelve days and nights are celebrated in widely varying ways around the world. For example, some give gifts only on Christmas Day, some only on Twelfth Night, and some each of the twelve nights.
Read more about Twelve Days Of Christmas: Eastern Christianity
Famous quotes containing the words days of christmas, twelve days of, twelve days, twelve, days and/or christmas:
“The eleventh day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Eleven ladies dancing,”
—Unknown. The Twelve Days of Christmas (l. 76–78)
“The first day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.”
—Unknown. The Twelve Days of Christmas (l. 1–3)
“The fourth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Four colly birds,”
—Unknown. The Twelve Days of Christmas (l. 13–15)
“The jury, passing on the prisoner’s life,
May have in the sworn twelve a thief or two
Guiltier than him they try.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The rain has spoiled the farmer’s day;
Shall sorrow put my books away?
Thereby are two days lost.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The ninth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Nine drummers drumming,”
—Unknown. The Twelve Days of Christmas (l. 53–55)