Twelve Days?

The 12 Days of Christmas commence today! From the 25th through the Epiphany, we celebrate the Incarnation. But the Christmas season doesn't really end until Jan.9= the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. In the meantime, numerous observances occur:

Dec.25= Nativity of the Lord
Dec. 26= the Feast of the Holy Family
Dec. 28= the Feast of the Holy Innocents (those massacred by Herod, but also a day to mourn the countless victims of abortion)
Jan.1= the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Jan. 2= Epiphany of the Lord (traditionally on the 6th, but moved to the nearest Sunday at the discretion of the US Bishops)
Jan.3= Feast of the Holy Name
and Jan.9= Baptism of the Lord

You really could extend your Christmas observance until Feb.2= Feast of the Presentation. We've been known to keep our tree up until then, and I have it on good authority the Pope doesn't take his tree down until then. So it's justified, regardless of what our backwards culture might have to say about it.

I will provide explanations of all these feasts and Holy Days as they come. Bear in mind that the Holy Days of Obligation are as follows:
Dec.25= Solemnity of the Nativity
Jan.1= Solemnity of Mary
[In CatholicLand, Jan.6 is listed as the Solemnity of the Epiphany, an HDO]

You'll note that Dec.25 through Jan.6 is in fact 12 days, but with the observance of the Epiphany being moved to Jan.2 , the nearest Sunday, math gets thrown off a bit. In olden days, they only cared about those 12 days. With liturgical reform, it was deemed necessary to encapsulate the Baptism within the Christmas celebration. But I still maintain that Christmas goes until Feb.2, because it was 40 days before children were presented in the Temple, and I like the idea of having those 40 days mirror and foreshadow Lent. The historical explanation all gets very confusing, but I hope to make it more clear as the days progress. Check out Catholic Culture for thorough treatment of the subject.

At one time in liturgical history, we celebrated the Feast of the Circumcision on Jan.1st, because it was 8 days after birth that Jewish boys were taken to be marked in the Covenant with Abraham. The Solemnity of Mary eventually usurped that day, but I think the feast is an important reminder that Christ became Man in ALL ways. More on that later +++