The Twelve Days of Christmas: The First Day

Christmas Day (Year C)

Scripture

Morning

Old Testament: Isaiah 9:2-7

Psalter: Psalm 96

Epistle: Titus 2:11-14

Gospel: Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

Prayer

O Holy One, heavenly angels spoke to earthly shepherds and eternity entered time in the child of Bethlehem. Through the telling of the Christmas story, let our temporal lives be caught up in the eternal in that same child, that we might join shepherds and all the heavenly host in praising the coming of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

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Mid-Day (optional)

Old Testament: Isaiah 62:6-12

Psalter: Psalm 97

Epistle: Titus 3:4-7

Gospel: Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20

Prayer

God of all ages, in the birth of Christ your boundless love for your people shattered the power of darkness. Be born in us with that same love and light, that our song may blend with all the choirs of heaven and earth to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

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Evening (optional)

Old Testament: Isaiah 52:7-10

Psalter: Psalm 98

Epistle: Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12)

Gospel: John 1:1-14

Prayer

God of glory, your splendor shines from a manger in Bethlehem, where the Light of the world is humbly born into the darkness of human night. Open our eyes to Christ's presence in the shadows of our world, so that we, like him, may become beacons of your justice, and defenders of all for whom there is no room. Amen.

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Reflection

from the Catholic News Agency:

The song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is an English Christmas carol. From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of the Church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember. To fit the number scheme, when you reach number 9, representing the Fruits of the Holy Ghost, the originator combined 6 to make 3, taking the 6 fruits that were similar: the fruit in each parenthesis is the that was not named separately. There are actually Twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost.

The “True Love” one hears in the song is not a smitten boy or girlfriend but Jesus Christ, because truly Love was born on Christmas Day. The partridge in the pear tree also represents Him because that bird is willing to sacrifice its life if necessary to protect its young by feigning injury to draw away predators.

And this from whychristmas.com:

The 12 Days of Christmas start on Christmas Day and last until the evening of the 5th January - also known as Twelfth Night. The 12 Days have been celebrated in Europe since before the middle ages and were a time of celebration.

The 12 Days each traditionally celebrate a feast day for a saint and/or have different celebrations.

Today is Christmas Day, the First Day of Christmas. On this day we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

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