The Twelfth Day

When we least expect it something rolls on down the pike to make us think, or at least question things. Here's the deal.

Just when is the twelfth day of Christmas?

Let me preface my qualifications in attempting to answer this question: I came from a childhood home where we went to Sunday school, were confirmed (I revolted!!) and received the church newsletter so that meant we were members. But it wasn't until I was married and had little children of my own did I become involved in a real live church life and thus my knowledge began to grow.

Most of my liturgical education came from the infamous Norway Lutheran Church and its pastors and congregants. My paid job for over two decades included working with pastors, playing for church and daily devotions. Being purely human, I too have had my own trials and tribulations which have made me a confirmed follower of the Word. After thirty-five years I don't think I am too shabby at understanding the church year.

My good friend Karlyn Frantsen who has a blog (by invitation) started posting in reference to the twelve days of Christmas. It wasn't until she hit the twelfth day did I feel brain wave surges, and out came my calculator - the trusty ten fingers. I counted and recounted. I was always under the assumption that the twelfth day was the sixth of January, Epiphany. After all, that was when my mother-in-law, Lillian (God rest her soul), said we had to wait until the 6th of January to take down the Christmas tree. The visit of the Magi.

Now Karlyn and I are good enough friends that I asked her about her countdown. I wasn't afraid of the fact that she was a graduate of a private Lutheran High School, plays organ every Sunday. Let's remember while sitting at the organ/piano bench one has to look interested - no time to file your nails, haul out the gameboy or heaven forbid, start texting. You are bound to learn something, especially if the organ is in the front of the church. So I put Karlyn in the forefront of knowing these types of things, knowing the twelve days of Christmas. But Lillian said...

For three days we mulled this over, until some websites came to the rescue.

From Wikipedia (don't forget this is the source you can rewrite if you don't like it):

Twelfth Night is a festival in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas.

It is defined by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking".[1] However, there is currently some confusion as to which night is Twelfth Night:[2] some count the night of Epiphany itself (sixth of January) to be Twelfth Night.[2] One source of this confusion is the Medieval custom of starting each new day at sunset, so that Twelfth Night precedes Twelfth Day.

Here is another commentary from Dennis Bratcher and his Twelve Days of Christmas:

The Twelve Days of Christmas is probably the most misunderstood part of the church year among Christians who are not part of liturgical church traditions. Contrary to much popular belief, these are not the twelve days before Christmas, but in most of the Western Church are the twelve days from Christmas until the beginning of Epiphany (January 6th; the 12 days count from December 25th until January 5th). In some traditions, the first day of Christmas begins on the evening of December 25th with the following day considered the First Day of Christmas (December 26th). In these traditions, the twelve days begin December 26 and include Epiphany on January 6.

The origin and counting of the Twelve Days is complicated, and is related to differences in calendars, church traditions, and ways to observe this holy day in various cultures (see Christmas). In the Western church, Epiphany is usually celebrated as the time the Wise Men or Magi arrived to present gifts to the young Jesus (Matt. 2:1-12). Traditionally there were three Magi, probably from the fact of three gifts, even though the biblical narrative never says how many Magi came. In some cultures, especially Hispanic and Latin American culture, January 6th is observed as Three Kings Day, or simply the Day of the Kings (Span: la Fiesta de Reyes, el Dia de los Tres Reyes, or el Dia de los Reyes Magos; Dutch: Driekoningendag). Even though December 25th is celebrated as Christmas in these cultures, January 6th is often the day for giving gifts. In some places it is traditional to give Christmas gifts for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Since Eastern Orthodox traditions use a different religious calendar, they celebrate Christmas on January 7th and observe Epiphany or Theophany on January 19th.

The questions are:
1. Do you count day one on Christmas Day or the day after?
2. Is Epiphany day 12?
3. Does the twelfth day begin on the eve of January 5?
4. Is the twelfth day January 5 or 6?

Karlyn and I decided there was no real definition as to when the twelfth day actually was. We did know that January 6 was Epiphany, no questions asked. Feel free to post any of your votes, or comments regarding this mysterious day.

Leaving that deep thought alone, I will ask the next perplexing question: Will Mary Liz take down her tree on the 7th? Highly unlikely.