Introducing the Twelve Days of Christmas

Spoiler: This series is not about the song, but the traditional days of feasting and remembering between Christmas and Epiphany. Epiphany is traditionally celebrated on January 6th and celebrates the arrival of the wise men at Jesus' home. 

I used this, this, this, and this as my resources for the themes of each of the 12 Days and rather then summarizing them, I have left the links for you to explore if you desire.

After a month of waiting, of anticipating, of preparing, Advent gives way to Christmastide. Each of these 12 days will have a short summary of what people celebrate or mourn & remember on this particular day. Each day will also have a song clip played by yours truly, complete with a link where you can read their lyrics (and maybe sing in your home??). There will be a Scripture reading as well as a short devotional reflecting on the day's meaning, song, and Scripture.

Because I am a visual learner and love making charts to order the world around me, I made a chart for those interested in a big picture look at the twelve days as I am choosing to celebrate them this year.

Date	Person or People of Note	Theme	Song	Scripture
12/25	Jesus	Celebrate Jesus’ Birth	While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks	Luke 2:1-20
12/26	St. Stephen	Christian martyrs and the persecuted	God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen	Acts 7:54-60
12/27	St. John the Apostle	Loving and listening to those who are different from you	It Came Upon the Midnight Clear	1 John 2:1-11
12/28	The Holy Innocents (the children killed in Herod’s Genocide)	Those killed by governments. Refugees in our midst	The Winter Sun Was Setting	Matthew 2:13-18
12/29	St. Thomas Becket	Obeying God rather than man	I Wonder As I Wander	Acts 5:17-42
12/30	St. Egwin	Caring for widows and orphans	Of the Father’s Love Begotten	James 1:19-27
12/31	St. Francis of Assisi (in lieu of Pope Sylvester I)	Sharing the Gospel	Go, Tell It On the Mountain	Psalm 96:11-13
1/1	Mary	God’s response to the powerful and powerless	What Child Is This?	Luke 1:26-56
1/2	St. Basil and St. Gregory	The Trinity and Sharing the Gospel	Angels from the Realms of Glory	Matthew 28:16-20
1/3	Holy Name of Jesus	The Names of Jesus	Once in Royal David’s City	Luke 2:21
1/4	St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (in lieu of St. Simon)	The way the persecuted church is supposed to act	Hark! The Herald Angels Sing	Hebrews 11:32-40
1/5	St. John Neumann	As citizens of heaven, we are immigrants	O Holy Night	Hebrews 11:1-6
1/6	The Wise Men/Magi	Identifying biblical stories and commands instead of our culture's version	As With Gladness Men of Old	Matthew 2:1-12