The 12 days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day, December 25, and last right through until January 6, also known as Three Kings’ Day or Epiphany.
The period has been celebrated since before the middle ages but was updated over time to include prominent figures in Christian history.
Each day has a particular significance and is used as an opportunity to remember a significant person or event in the Christian religion. This is what each day means…
- Day One (Christmas Day): Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
- Day Two (Boxing Day or St Stephen’s Day): Remembering the first martyr of Christianity, St Stephen.
- Day Three: Celebrates St John the Apostle who is the patron saint of love, loyalty, friendships, authors, booksellers, burn-victims, poison-victims, art-dealers, editors, publishers, scribes, examinations, scholars and theologians. He also wrote the Book of Revelation.
- Day Four (Feast of the Holy Innocents): The day to remember all the babies killed by King Herod in his attempt to murder baby Jesus.
- Day Five: Remembers the Archbishop of Canterbury, St Thomas Becket, who was murdered because he challenged the king’s authority over the church.
- Day Six: Celebrates St Egwin of Worcester who is known as the protector of orphans and the widowed and died in 717.
- Day Seven (New Years Eve): Pope Sylvester I is celebrated on this day as he saw in the beginning of the Christian Roman Empire.
- Day Eight (New Years Day): Celebrates Mary, the mother of Jesus.
- Day Nine: Honours two important Christians, St Basil the Great and St Gregory Nazianzen from the 4th century.
- Day Ten (Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus): This day celebrates when Jesus was named in the Jewish Temple.
- Day Eleven: Celebrates St Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint who lived during the 1700s. It also celebrates the Feast of Saint Simeon Stylites, who lived on a small platform on top of a pillar for 37 years to escape unwanted attention.
- Day Twelve (Epiphany Eve): So called because it’s January 5, the day before Epiphany.
.The 12 days of Christmas, otherwise known as Twelvetide, is a Christian religious celebration that’s based around the Nativity of Jesus. You’ll probably know the famous Christmas song already, but do you know when the 12 days of Christmas starts or what the tradition is behind the celebration and gifts?
December is here (how did that happen?) which means it’s time to take out the matching Christmas pyjamas, set about making our own Christmas wreathes and debate about how early we can put up the Christmas decorations this year. But it also means the 12 days of Christmas are almost ready to start, and with plenty of gifts to go around over the festive season, maybe these are the ones that you should be giving?
Christians believe that the 12 days of Christmas signify the amount of time that it took the wise men to travel to Bethlehem for the Epiphany after Jesus was born, when recognised him as the son of God.
When does the 12 days of Christmas start?
The 12 days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day, December 25, and last right through until January 6, also known as Three Kings’ Day or Epiphany.
The period has been celebrated since before the middle ages but was updated over time to include prominent figures in Christian history.
Each day has a particular significance and is used as an opportunity to remember a significant person or event in the Christian religion. This is what each day means…
- Day One (Christmas Day): Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
- Day Two (Boxing Day or St Stephen’s Day): Remembering the first martyr of Christianity, St Stephen.
- Day Three: Celebrates St John the Apostle who is the patron saint of love, loyalty, friendships, authors, booksellers, burn-victims, poison-victims, art-dealers, editors, publishers, scribes, examinations, scholars and theologians. He also wrote the Book of Revelation.
- Day Four (Feast of the Holy Innocents): The day to remember all the babies killed by King Herod in his attempt to murder baby Jesus.
- Day Five: Remembers the Archbishop of Canterbury, St Thomas Becket, who was murdered because he challenged the king’s authority over the church.
- Day Six: Celebrates St Egwin of Worcester who is known as the protector of orphans and the widowed and died in 717.
- Day Seven (New Years Eve): Pope Sylvester I is celebrated on this day as he saw in the beginning of the Christian Roman Empire.
- Day Eight (New Years Day): Celebrates Mary, the mother of Jesus.
- Day Nine: Honours two important Christians, St Basil the Great and St Gregory Nazianzen from the 4th century.
- Day Ten (Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus): This day celebrates when Jesus was named in the Jewish Temple.
- Day Eleven: Celebrates St Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint who lived during the 1700s. It also celebrates the Feast of Saint Simeon Stylites, who lived on a small platform on top of a pillar for 37 years to escape unwanted attention.
- Day Twelve (Epiphany Eve): So called because it’s January 5, the day before Epiphany.
Much like other seasonal traditions, such as giving chocolate eggs at Easter in the UK, the event is celebrated all around the world in many wonderfully different ways. France, for example, has a tradition where children put shoes in front of the chimneys in their homes .
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While in Italy on January 6, one of the most important days of the celebration, markets are set up in cities around the country selling small presents, snacks, fruits and other festive foods. It’s also an important time for celebrating in Sweden, but their main celebration is held a little earlier than the 12 day period on December 13. Girls will wear red sashes and crowns decorated with lingonberry branches as they represent new beginnings and people will traditionally eat cold fish.
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What are the 12 gifts of the 12 days of Christmas?
The song that most people are familiar with today is called ‘The 12 Day of Christmas.’
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The 12 gifts of the 12 days of Christmas:
- One partridge in a pear tree
- Two turtle doves
- Three French hens
- Four calling birds
- Five gold rings
- Six geese a-laying
- Seven swans a-swimming
- Eight maids a-milking
- Nine ladies dancing
- Ten lords a-leaping
- Eleven pipers piping
- Twelve drummers drumming