The First Day of Christmas: the Birth of Jesus Christ
The twelve days of Christmas officially begins on Christmas Day.
People messing up the twelve days of Christmas has always annoyed me, even before I converted to Catholicism.
Christmas is not a day. It is a season that lasts twelve days. It begins on December 25 when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and ends twelve days later when the Magi visit the nativity.
Last year, I planned to have a post every day for the Christmas season. But then I got pneumonia and plans fell through.
So let’s begin!
First off, Merry Christmas! This might be the shortest post of the twelve I write since everyone pretty much knows all about Christmas Day.
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows exactly when Jesus was born, but there are plenty of theories. No, Christians did not “take over” the Winter Solstice from the pagans.
We consider Jesus “the light of the world” so it makes sense to celebrate his birth during the darkest time of the year. Jesus was also a Jew, which could be another reason why the Church placed his birthday close to Hanukkah.
Christmas comes from the “Mass of Christ.” It was the only service allowed to take place after sunset and before sunrise the next day, which is why we have Midnight Mass.
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Comments
Mary Christmas, merry. 😀
Hope everyone here has the most joyful Christmas
just a mild correction: It was Jesus of Nazareth who was born…. “Christ” was NOT His last name. Just sayin. 🙂 Merry CHRISTmas, notwithstanding. 🙂 🙂
They were thinking of “Fred” for a name, but fortunately they changed their minds.
I have tried for years to get my church to do Three Kings caroling. We learned the tradition while living in Germany.
The children dress up as the 3 Kings and go home to home caroling. If the occupants of a home give some sort of donation/gratuity, the group chalks C+B+M and the year over the home’s door as a blessing for the coming year.
Since my son was born not long before Christmas, we put up our decorations after his birthday and leave them up until January 6th.
Merry Christmas, LI!