For many Western Christian denominations, the Twelve Days of Christmas, or Christmastide, are a twelve-day festive religious season that celebrates the Nativity of Jesus. The twelve days represent the time that it took for the three wise men or kings to travel to Bethlehem to visit baby Jesus and offer him gifts. In certain Eastern Orthodox denominations, it is instead a celebration of the time from Christ’s birth to his baptism. This festival season is basically a series of religious feast days—as well as a constant stream of entertaining and merrymaking!

Christmas tide is a sacred season in the liturgical calendar, a time of powerful joy and spiritual reflection as we celebrate the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. This blessed period occurs in the depths of winter, when the nights are long but hope Springs eternal in our hearts. It is a time when we contemplate the great mystery of the incarnation – God becoming man in the form of a vulnerable infant. This season invites us to Marvel at the humility and love of our creator, who chose to enter human history in such a remarkable way.

This festival season is basically a series of religious feast days—as well as a constant stream of entertaining and merrymaking! The festival season, which begins on Christmas Day (December 25), ends on the evening of January 5 (called Twelfth Night); this marks the end of Christmas festivities and, in ancient Celtic tradition, the end of the twelve-day winter solstice celebration. The Twelve Days of Christmas festival season is nearly forgotten in the United States for various reasons, but some traditions survived, as did some religious feast days for practicing Christians yearning for some bonus and joyous yule-tide spirit.

What follows is an attempted amalgamation of Christmastide traditions utilizing Anglican, Catholic, and Protestant resources. No offense was meant to any Christian movement. Only, as Tiny Tim implored in A Christmas Carol, “A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, every one!”

When Are the 12 Days of Christmas?

Unlike today’s Advent calendar, which leads up to Christmas Day, the Twelve Days of Christmas are AFTER Jesus’s birth. The Twelve Days of Christmas was traditionally celebrated from December 25 to January 5 (which we’ll explain). But some people celebrate the day after Christmas (December 26) through Epiphany (January 6). Still, others say it goes from the sunset of December 24 to the sunset of the day before Epiphany. 

So, it can get confusing. What it definitely is NOT is the 12 days BEFORE Christmas.  In addition, for many denominations, Epiphany is now observed on the first Sunday after the first Saturday in January, perhaps for practical calendar reasons.

Note: For Eastern Orthodox churches that use the (Old) Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar used by Western churches, Christmas is observed on January 7 (Gregorian date converted from Julian date of December 25), and the twelve days are from January 7 through January 18. Epiphany is observed on January 19. Some Eastern Orthodox churches follow the Revised (New) Julian calendar, which uses the Julian calendar for movable religious observances and currently matches the Gregorian calendar dates for fixed religious observances, in which case Christmas is celebrated on December 25 (Gregorian date).

The Twelve Days of Christmas Song

In the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” a suitor sends his sweetheart a gift on the first day of Christmas and then repeats that gift and adds one more each day through the twelve days.

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

And so on. The climax of the song is, “five golden rings!” According to one theory, this actually refers to goldspinks, a Scottish word for goldfinches, making the first seven gifts all birds.

How the 12 Days Were Celebrated

In medieval and Tudor times, people fasted in the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day. So, it’s no surprise that there was so much feasting as soon as Christmas Day arrived!  The twelve days were all about hospitality and merriment after a long year of hard work and harvesting.

Most people didn’t work throughout the twelve days of Christmas festivities. They wouldn’t even use their spinning wheels. Remember that this was a dormant time for an agricultural society. They didn’t have office jobs. Might as well make the most of the darkest days of winter and keep each other company!

In the spirit of this hallowed tradition, gifts were often exchanged with loved ones. And not just on one solitary day; rather, these treasures and treats could continue over a twelve-day period to show both appreciation and adoration of friends and family, but also in remembrance of God’s gracious gift of salvation through the birth (and death) of Jesus Christ.

The First Day of Christmas

The twelve days begin on Christmas Day because this is the day that celebrates Jesus’ birth. In ancient times, the day began with Midnight Mass (Note that in certain denominations, Christmas begins on December 24 at sundown). The church bells rang, candles were lit, and the celebrations kicked off.

Everyone enjoyed a huge feast together on this “first day” of Christmas. The feast traditionally included roasted meats (poultry, venison, boar) and stuffing, followed by mince pies, puddings, and gingerbread. On a related note, people did not decorate their homes until Christmas Eve. The holly, ivy, mistletoe, tree, and wreath are evergreens, symbolizing the eternal life that Jesus brought with his birth. It was considered bad luck to put them up early. The greens stayed up for the twelve days from Christmas through Twelfth Night. Then, the decorations would be taken down on Epiphany morning (January 6).

There is a reason why Christmas is called a season. It does not last for a single day. We have been preparing for it for weeks, and the Church couldn't possibly start and end its celebration of Christ's birth in one day. After Easter, Christmas is the most important liturgical feast in the Church calendar. Why? Because Christmas is what made Easter possible. Without Our Lord’s incarnation and birth, our redemption would not have been brought to completion, and there would be no hope for us in our fallen state.

The Second Day of Christmas

Do you know of the Christmas song, “Good King Wenceslas”? It’s about the Feast of St. Stephen, which falls on the 26th of December. 

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the Feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even.

Stephen is a great debater. Wise and full of the Spirit, he engages in public disputations with fellow Jewish leaders and scholars (Acts 6:8–10). Angered by his speeches, false witnesses stir up trouble with rumor and gossip, and the high priest asks Stephen whether what they say is true (6:11–7:1). His answer is a sermon, and it proves to be his last. When he is finished, the mob is seething with rage. They drag him out of the city and stone him to death (7:54–60). A young man named Saul nods along in tacit approval (8:1).

Stephen is the first martyr for Christ, the proto-martyr and paradigm for all who would come after him. Why? And why remember him on the second day of Christmas? Well, just as Stephen’s death replayed Jesus’ death, so Jesus’ birth replays Israel’s birth. Like Moses, he must be delivered from a tyrant’s mass infanticide (Ex. 1:8–2:10). Like Joseph, Rachel’s son (Gen. 30:22–24), he must seek protection from his own kin in the foreign land of Egypt (39:1–6). Like all the sons of Jacob, he must come out of Egypt and enter the land of Israel promised to Abraham (12:7; Hos. 11:1).

St. Stephen was known for helping the poor. In England, alms (charity) church boxes were opened to share with the needy. This feast day is still a day for charity in some countries. It’s called Boxing Day in England and Canada.

The Third Day of Christmas

The 27th of December is the feast of St. John. St John was born in Bethsaida, and like his brother James, was a fisherman. He was called while mending his nets to follow Jesus. He became the beloved disciple of Jesus. He wrote the fourth Gospel, three Epistles and the Apocalypse. His passages on the pre-existence of the Word, who by His Incarnation became the light of the world and life of our souls, are among the finest of the New Testament. 

He is the evangelist of the divinity of Christ and His fraternal love. With James, his brother and Simon Peter, he was one of the witnesses of the Transfiguration. At the Last Supper, he leans on the Master’s breast. At the foot of the cross, Jesus entrusts His Mother to his care. John’s pure life kept him very close to Jesus and Mary. In years to come, John was exiled to the island of Patmos under Emperor Domitian, but lived to an old age. 

This feast day involves a lot of wine. Why? According to legend, St. John drinks a glass of poisoned wine, yet he survives because he blesses the wine before he puts it to his lips. On this day, the wealthy folks drank their finest wines. And everyone, rich and poor, would toast during assembled company from the wassail bowl. In Old English, wassail means “Be in good health,” but the term was also applied to the drink—a hot ale with spices, sugar, and apples. 

People would pass a large wooden bowl of wassail around. The first person starting the bowl would shout “Wassail!” and drink; the next person would shout, “Drinkhail!” and drink, and so on. Even today, Catholic churches will have a special blessing of wine after mass, and parishioners will bring a couple of bottles to be blessed.

The Fourth Day of Christmas

If at first glance Stephen is difficult to place in relation to Christmas, the slaughter of the Holy Innocents is far less so. The story is straightforward: When men from the East tell Herod about the child “born king of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2), Herod conspires to murder Jesus before he can become a threat. Enraged that the Magi then “outwitted” him to conceal the baby’s location, Herod orders “all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old or under” to be killed (v. 16). 

Through angelic intervention, Jesus escapes to Egypt with Joseph and Mary (vv. 13–15), but the lament of Rachel for her children cries out to God without consolation (v. 18). Only when Herod is himself dead does the holy family return from Egypt and settle in Nazareth (vv. 19–23), hometown of Mary (Luke 1:26–27) and now of the Messiah (Mark 6:1; John 1:46; 7:40–42). Every step is beset by danger, violence, and bloodshed, and nothing less than divine intervention is required to fulfill the Lord’s plan for his people’s salvation.

We remember the holy innocents on the 28th of December, then, because they are the all-too-typical price that evil exacts when faced with the good purposes of God. We remember them because a world that murders children remains, somehow, the world that God loves—a world that does not lie beyond redemption, that needs the gospel of the child Christ more than ever. And we remember them in conjunction with Christ’s birth because, as believers’ prayers and songs have honored their sacrifice across the centuries, the holy innocents anticipate the once-for-all sacrifice on the cross.

 In the words of Ephrem the Syrian, composing hymns in the fourth century:

The babes were slain because of Your all-reviving birth.
But since the King, our Lord the Lord of the kingdom, was a slain [king],
slain hostages were given by that cunning tyrant.
The heavenly ranks received, clothed in the mysteries of His slaying,
the hostages whom earthly beings offered. Blessed is the King Who magnified them!

The Fifth Day of Christmas

On the fifth day (the 29th of December), St. Thomas Becket is remembered for challenging the King's authority over the church. A strong man who wavered for a moment, but then learned one cannot come to terms with evil, and so became a strong churchman, a martyr, and a saint—that was Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, murdered in his cathedral on December 29, 1170.

His career had been a stormy one. While archdeacon of Canterbury, he was made chancellor of England at the age of 36 by his friend King Henry II. When Henry felt it advantageous to make his chancellor the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas gave him fair warning: he might not accept all of Henry’s intrusions into Church affairs. Nevertheless, in 1162 he was made archbishop, resigned his chancellorship, and reformed his whole way of life!

Troubles began. Henry insisted upon usurping Church rights. At one time, supposing some conciliatory action possible, Thomas came close to compromise. He momentarily approved the Constitutions of Clarendon, which would have denied the clergy the right of trial by a Church court and prevented them from making direct appeal to Rome. But Thomas rejected the Constitutions, fled to France for safety, and remained in exile for seven years. When he returned to England, he suspected it would mean certain death. Because Thomas refused to remit censures he had placed upon bishops favored by the king, Henry cried out in a rage, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest!” Four knights, taking his words as his wish, slew Thomas in the Canterbury cathedral.

The Sixth Day of Christmas

St. Egwin of Worcester is recognized on the 30th of December. Egwin was an early English Saint who helped orphans and others who were destitute.  Born in the seventh century of royal blood, Egwin entered a monastery, and was enthusiastically received by royalty, clergy, and the people as the bishop of Worcester, England. As a bishop, he was known as a protector of orphans and the widowed and a fair judge. An English noble who became the bishop of Worcester, England, in 692.

After a return from Rome, with the assistance of Coenred King of Mercia - and possibly St. Wilfred the Elder who founded seven unnamed Mercian monasteries around this time - St. Egwin founded the famous Abbey of Evesham. After this, he undertook a second journey to Rome, in company with both Coenred and King Offa of Essex.

According to legend, as Egwin and his companions were traveling through the Alps on their way to Rome, they naturally began to thirst. Mockingly, the other men encouraged Egwin to act as Moses by striking a rock from which they could drink. Egwin prayed to God and, to their surprise, the group saw a stream of water suddenly gushing from the rocks. Egwin had provided water for his companions, just as Moses had done in the book of Exodus, “Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

St. Egwin died on 30th December AD 717 and was buried in his Abbey at Evesham, to which his shrine brought many a medieval pilgrim. His relics were so popular that, when the abbey church required a major rebuilding in 1077, they were taken on a highly successful fund-raising tour of southern England, initiating miraculous cures at Dover, Oxford, Winchester and elsewhere. He is represented in art as a Bishop holding a fish with a key in its mouth.

The Seventh Day of Christmas

For many, New Year’s is just another holiday. For others, it’s a time of deep reflection, both on the past year and on the one ahead. For followers of Jesus, New Year’s has no unique significance. There’s no central biblical narrative informing our celebrations.

But this doesn’t mean Christians shouldn’t pause and reflect on the turning of the calendar. Moses asked of the Lord, “Teach us to number our days, so we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). Time—seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years—is a gift to us from a good God. To wisely follow him, then, is to redeem our time (Eph. 5:16).

New Year’s can also remind us of the new birth. In a sense, each day with Jesus is a chance to turn the page on an old way of life and embrace a new one. We are, after all, new creation people, and we serve a King who renews us daily by the Holy Spirit. New Year’s Eve was a time for lively games and sports.

For Tudor workers, Christmas offered rare leisure time, and Henry VIII’s laws allowed certain games like football and dice only during this season. Parlour games such as Blind Man’s Buff and Hide-and-Seek were enjoyed by all. Often, the gifts were money or fine trinkets.  It was common for gifts to be presented to monarchs and for monarchies to give gifts to their subjects.

The Eighth Day of Christmas

This feast day celebrates the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as the mother of our Lord Jesus. Celebrating Mary, the mother of Jesus, New Year’s Day was a traditional time for gift-giving, especially among the upper classes. Presents included food, spices, or money, often presented ceremonially to lords or monarchs. These acts of generosity reinforced bonds of loyalty and community. 

Traditionally, the month of January is dedicated to the Infant Jesus and particularly to the Most Holy Name of Jesus, but on January 1st, Mary Most Holy, Mother of God is celebrated, referring to the Divine Maternity of Mary, connecting to the dogma of Mary Theotokos, Mother of God. This dogma was proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, during which it was debated whether the Madonna was only Christotokos, Mother of Jesus-Man, or also Theotokos, Mother of God. Initially fixed in October, the celebration of Mary, Mother of God was moved in 1969 to January 1st, a date already celebrated in the past as the Nativity of St. Mary, which later disappeared.

Mary is famous for her hymn shared in Luke 1:46–55, where she sings,

“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”

The Ninth Day of Christmas

The 2nd of January celebrated Saints Basil and Gregory, fourth-century theologians renowned for their defense of Christ’s divinity. Their profound friendship and dedication to the faith inspired medieval Christians to seek unity and courage in their own spiritual journeys. 

Basil and Gregory were two of four church theologians who lived in southern Asia Minor around A.D. 350 (Basil of Caesarea, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Macrina, the sister of Basil and Gregory).  Basil “The Great” was the father of eastern monasticism, Gregory of Nyssa became bishop of Nyssa and was one of the founders of the Nicene doctrine, Gregory of Nazianzus became bishop of Constantinople, and sister Macrina influenced them all over monasticism, doctrine, spirituality and was a great teacher at her retreat in Annesi.

When heresy raised its controversial head in the early church, the ancient Christian leaders knew they had to not only refute the misinformation and faulty theology, but they also had to protect against it happening again, lest the church be destroyed from within, through weak or corrupt doctrine. These church fathers managed to do this by incorporating the three foundational factors: Apostolic succession, Christian creeds, and the canon of Scripture. By utilizing these responses, the church protected itself against false teachings and provided a tradition that was passed down over the years.

The Tenth Day of Christmas

Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus underscored this day’s spiritual significance. On January 3, Christians reflected on the power and sanctity of Christ’s name, emphasising prayer and gratitude for His role in salvation. 

Reverence for the Holy Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, arose in apostolic times. St. Paul in his Letter to the Philippians wrote, "So that at Jesus' name every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father: Jesus Christ is Lord" (2:10-11). Just as a name gives identity to a person and also reflects a person's life, the name of Jesus reminds the hearer of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Keep in mind that the name Jesus means "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh is salvation."

Although early dates for the feast were often allowed to be celebrated any day between January 2–6, Pope John Paul II reinstituted the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus to be celebrated on Jan. 3. Moreover, the reverential invocation of the Holy Name of Jesus as part of prayer or work, and the recitation of the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, still convey a partial indulgence for the reparation of sin. The Holy Name Society, first organized in 1274 and granted the status of a confraternity in 1564, continues to promote at the parish and diocesan levels an increased reverence for the name of Jesus, reparation for the sins of profanity and blasphemy against the Holy Name, and the personal sanctification of its members.

The Eleventh Day of Christmas

St. Simeon’s extraordinary life atop a pillar exemplified radical devotion. His endurance and humility, coupled with his impactful sermons, inspired Christians to deepen their faith and commit to prayer and self-reflection.

Saint Simeon the Stylite was born in the Cappadocian village of Sisan of Christian parents, Sisotian and Martha. At thirteen years of age he began to tend his father’s flock of sheep. He devoted himself attentively and with love to this, his first obedience.

Simon was the son of a shepherd, and by the time he was 13, he was already working as a shepherd himself. One snowy day he couldn’t take the sheep out to pasture, so he went to church instead, something he didn’t do very often.

That Sunday, he heard the words spoken by Jesus during the Sermon of the Mount. “Blessed are the pure in heart...Blessed are the peacemakers…Blessed are those who mourn…All these people will find their blessings.” Simeon asked the preacher to explain more about the Christian faith. Simeon listened hard.

Some time later, he had a dream. He dreamed he was digging a hole in the ground for the construction of some building. Whenever he stopped, he heard a voice that said, “Dig deeper.” At last, he had dug a foundation deep enough for any building. And then, in his dream, he saw a tall pillar.

When he became 18, he became a monk in a local monastery. But the rules of the monastery did not seem strict enough to Simeon because he felt he should give up everything to serve God. He disciplined himself by eating less food than the other monks and praying more hours a day. Gradually, Simeon began to realize to live a really more holy life he must get away from other people.

He left the monastery to live in the mountains, surviving on little food and no shelter from the weather. But people still came to see this holy man. He was still not alone.

This time, he followed his dream more closely. He dug a hole in the ground with a platform on top. The platform was where Simeon chose to live. People kept coming to see Simeon, leaving his less time to pray. So he built a taller platform. His food and water had to be sent to him on a pulley and chain. He lived this way for 20 years, able to pray without distractions but still able to talk to his visitors when he wished.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas

Twelfth Night marked the end of merrymaking before the feast of Epiphany (January 6), when the wise men arrived at the Nativity to pay homage to Jesus. 

At the heart of Tudor revelry was the figure of the Lord of Misrule. A mock king or ruler, the Lord of Misrule was appointed to preside over the festivities during the Twelve Days, particularly on Twelfth Night. This character—often a servant or a lower-ranking individual—was responsible for orchestrating chaos, absurdity, and merriment.

The Lord of Misrule turned social norms on their head. Servants might give orders to their masters, jesters could mock kings, and everyday decorum was tossed aside. It was a brief but gleeful escape from the rigid social hierarchy of Tudor England. In some ways, the Lord of Misrule echoed older pagan traditions of the “world turned upside down.”

You may know the term, “Twelfth Night” because it’s the title of one of Shakespeare’s plays. Also, many folks may be familiar with the “King Cake,” which was the traditional Twelfth Night cake because it’s a common cake served in New Orleans during Mardi Gras season. 

Twelfth Night celebrations often included a Twelfth Cake baked with a hidden bean or pea. Whoever found the bean in their slice was declared the “King of the Bean,” while the person who found the pea became the “Queen.” These roles allowed commoners to play at royalty for the night, adding to the topsy-turvy fun.

Why the Twelve Days Mattered

The Twelve Days of Christmas were more than an excuse for merrymaking—they were a vital cultural and religious tradition. Throughout church history, Christmastide was both a time of sacred observance and community celebration. The long winter months were harsh and dreary, but the Twelve Days brought warmth, light, and joy.

Moreover, the traditions of misrule and reversal (on Twelfth Night) allowed people to release tension and temporarily escape the confines of their social roles. The Lord of Misrule, mumming, and feasting were all ways to cope with the rigors of daily life through laughter, indulgence, and shared celebration.

While modern Christmas celebrations have moved away from the extended revelry of the Twelve Days, echoes of Medieval traditions remain. Feasting, gift-giving, and caroling all have their roots in Christmastide practices. Even the idea of a topsy-turvy celebration—where the world turns upside down for a day—lives on in customs like Boxing Day, Mardi Gras, and April Fool’s Day.

For Medieval and modern Believers, Christmas was (and still is) a season of joy and indulgence, a time to reaffirm bonds of faith and community. And above all, it was a time to celebrate, make merry, and revel in the divine joy of the season.

Sources:

https://www.almanac.com/what-are-12-days-christmas

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