The 12 days of Christmas – huh?

December 28th, 2018

It really does sometimes seem that Christmas begins somewhere in late November and ends somewhere around Boxing Day…A couple of years ago I was in the city shopping for some Christmas gifts and I was chatting to the shop attendant. As she was putting my purchases through the till we got chatting about the 12 days of Christmas which she thought were a countdown to Christmas – when I explained how they in fact work, she was quite fascinated and glad to know how it actually works.

Are we, as musicians, aware of the fullness of this season and its liturgical riches? Or do we perhaps mark Christmas with some well-known carols and just leave it at that? Do we really look at the antiphons of these days and celebrate the feasts of the Christmas octave?

For example, do we sing about the Three Wise men before they are actually mentioned in the Christmas season on Epiphany, the culmination of the Christmas season, or perhaps does our singing of carols become a little jumbled – perhaps akin to having all the courses of a beautiful, elaborate meal all served at once.

Even without delving into the riches of the antiphons of these days, some carols lend themselves to certain days – let’s take a look at some of our beloved carols of Christmastide:

The carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’ tells the story of the devout 10th century St Wenceslas (Duke of Bohemia) and his heartfelt charity as he sought out poor people on the ‘feast of Stephen’ – the 2nd day of Christmas. Although not a liturgical carol it reminds us of his great love for the poor and his actively helping them.

And do we remember the carols which make reference to the writings of St John the Evangelist on his feast (27th December) – even the very well known ‘O Come all Ye Faithful’ makes reference to his writings: ‘Word of God, Light of light…Son of the Father begotten not created’ as does ‘Unto us a Child is born’ where it makes reference to the newborn Jesus as the ‘Alpha and Omega’ (Revelation 22: 13)

May this Christmas season be a blessed one for all us – and as travel through it, may the Christ Child bestow upon us spiritual gifts during these wonderful 12 days of Christmas – and beyond !!