Happy Christmastide 2020 to you!
I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying these holy days after Christmas Day. As you are well aware, we do not just celebrate Christmas one day of the year – but 12 full days of the year! All holy, all celebratory, all joyous in the knowledge of the birth of the blessed Christ Child into our very midst!
Christmastide begins on the Day of Christmas, Friday the 25th and ends on Tuesday, January 5th. And then, of course, the next day is the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th.
There are other Feast Days during the 12 Days of Christmas:
Dec. 26: The Feast of St. Stephen. Stephen was the first martyr of the Christian faith and is always remembered the day after Christmas. The account of his martyrdom is found in chapters 6 and 7 of the Book of Acts.
Dec. 28: The Feast of St. John. Apostle and Evangelist, John, a son of Zebedee, was one of the twelve apostles of Our Lord. Together with his brother James and with Simon Peter, he formed a kind of inner circle of Three among the Twelve.
Dec. 29: Holy Innocents. We read in Matthew 2 that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, King Herod, fearing for his throne, ordered that all the male infants of Bethlehem be killed. These children are regarded as martyrs for the Gospel. This piece of history is almost too painful to remember, and it is written that the parents were utterly inconsolable.
Jan. 1: The Feast of the Holy Name. On January 1st, we celebrate the Circumcision of Christ. Since we are more squeamish than our ancestors, modern calendars often list it as the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, but the other emphasis is the older. Every Jewish boy was circumcised (and formally named) on the eighth day of his life, and so, one week after Christmas, we celebrate this day when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple as was the custom.
I pray you are all staying well and staying as connected to loved ones as is safely possible during the pandemic. I personally have been extremely strict in not getting together even with local family. It is very tough. But though this health crisis has changed so much for our Christmastide; the Gospel of the LOVE OF CHRIST remains the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Hang your hat on that. Claim the community we share in Christ. Prayers for patience, perseverance, understanding, stamina, and goodwill.
Peace be with you this day and always. We WILL be able to meet together again someday!
Jane+
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Dr. Christopher Corbin, missioner for transition and leadership with the Diocese of South Dakota, has partnered with Forward Movement to offer an easy-to-share (and understand) infographic highlighting the Twelve Days of Christmas. The infographic is designed to be both shared on your social media platforms as well as printed in sizes up to 11×17 inches. Download a PDF or JPEG.
Source: https://news.forwardmovement.org/2018/12/shareable-christmastide-infographic/