My husband and I were so busy this year during Advent that our official Christmas did not begin until Day 1 -- December 25th. Our tree (a real one!) stood naked in our den, mostly unwatered, from just after Thanksgiving until Christmas day at which point we started to add one item to the tree each of the 12 days of Christmas. It was different but sort of fun. Since the tree is pretty much as dry as a piece of toast, we didn't want to be toast ourselves, so we didn't add lights this year but, otherwise, it was pretty fun. A good friend let me borrow his microphone for a stageit.com fundraiser concert to raise money for animal rescue. So, for fun, I also reflected for just a couple of minutes max each day on the meaning of each day of Christmas .... both secular versions and religious. So, my apologies for bouncing back and forth between sacred and secular worlds.It's not meant as disrespect ... merely reality. And, final WARNING: Listen to the Carol at your own Peril. I'm a winger not a singer.
Egg Nods:
Egg Nods:
1st Day of Christmas - December 25th
Christmas Day
`The Star of Bethlehem
by William Cullen Bryant
As shadows cast by cloud and sun,
Flit o'er the summer grass,
So, in thy sight, Almighty One!
Earth's generations pass.
And while the years, an endless host,
Come pressing swiftly on,
The brightest names that earth can boast
Just glisten, and are gone.
Yet doth the star of Bethlehem shed
A lustre pure and sweet;
And still it leads, as once it led,
To the Messiah's feet.
O Father, may that holy star
Grow every year more bright,
And send its glorious beams afar
To fill the world with light.
by William Cullen Bryant
As shadows cast by cloud and sun,
Flit o'er the summer grass,
So, in thy sight, Almighty One!
Earth's generations pass.
And while the years, an endless host,
Come pressing swiftly on,
The brightest names that earth can boast
Just glisten, and are gone.
Yet doth the star of Bethlehem shed
A lustre pure and sweet;
And still it leads, as once it led,
To the Messiah's feet.
O Father, may that holy star
Grow every year more bright,
And send its glorious beams afar
To fill the world with light.
"Gentle Star":
2nd Day of Christmas - December 26th
Feast of St. Stephen, Deacon and First Martyr
Feast of St. Stephen, Deacon and First Martyr
Feast of St. Stephen, Deacon and First Martyr - On December 26th, many people around the world celebrate the life and death of St. Stephen. Stephen was killed for believing in Jesus shortly after Jesus was taken up into heaven in the Ascension, 40 days after his resurrection. He is the first Christian who was the 1st Christian who was stoned to death. He was killed because he spoke out against the Jewish authorities. Stephen was just 29 years old when he was killed. What the young deacon was preaching and teaching angered the Jewish elders. He was given a trial where Stephen gave a long speech about how much he loved Father Abraham and Moses, whom he had been accused of bad-mouthing. He said: (Acts): “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him – you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.
Struck with stone not with dagger, blessed martyr. Living stone, rock of patience, always faithful. Blessed St. Stephen
Rock of Patience:
3rd Day of Christmas - December 27th
Feast of the St. John the Evangelist
Feast of the St. John the Evangelist
Feast of the St. John the Evangelist, one of the 12 Apostles (along with his brother James), considered the author of the Book of John, Epistles to John, and the Book of Revelation, the only disciple who did not die as a martyr. While not in the bible, other historical sources describe a story of John being plunged in boiling oil yet he miraculously survived unscathed.
Boiling Oil:
4th Day of Christmas - December 28th
The Slaughter of the Innocents
The Slaughter of the Innocents
Gospel of 28th December 2021 - Matthew 2:13-18
After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.' So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:
I called my son out of Egypt.
Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loudly lamenting:
it was Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted because they were no more.."
After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.' So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:
I called my son out of Egypt.
Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loudly lamenting:
it was Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted because they were no more.."
Dear Lord wrap your arms 'round these babes, protect them.
And now with hope that trumps despair we commend them to Your care for eternity.
And now with hope that trumps despair we commend them to Your care for eternity.
The 5th Day of Christmas - December 29th
Feast of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop and Martyr
Feast of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop and Martyr
Despite holding the title way back in the 12th Century, Thomas Becket is probably the most famous Archbishop of Canterbury to date. Recognised as a saint (at least by everyone except King Henry), pilgrims flock to Canterbury Cathedral to pay homage to him. "Pilgrim's Way" is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrems from Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent.
Pilgrim's Way:
6th Day of Christmas - December 30th
Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
“The world, with all its disordered desires, is passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains for ever.”
7th Day of Christmas - December 31st
Seven Swans-a-Swimming
Seven Swans-a-Swimming
7 Groovy Swans:
8th Day of Christmas - January 1st
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, eight maids a-milking. The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes that Jesus spoke to the multitudes one day on the mountain side. So here are 2 versions . . .
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, eight maids a-milking. The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes that Jesus spoke to the multitudes one day on the mountain side. So here are 2 versions . . .
The Beatitudes:
OR
"8 Maids-a-Milking" for Cowbell Quartet:
9th Day of Christmas - January 2nd
This entry is from the secular side .... of course ... although I'm sure we could find slutty ladies dancing in the Bible, too.
9 Slutty Ladies Dancing:
10th Day of Christmas - January 3rd
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus
11th Day of Christmas - January 4th
Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
In 1952, a miracle involving the healing of 4 year old Ann O'Neil from Leukemia was attributed to the intercession of Seton after a nun prayed for the girl to Seton. The miracle was a factor in the beatification of Seton and Seton was beatified by Pope John XXIII on March 17, 1963. The pope said on the occasion, "In a house that was very small, but with ample space for charity, she sowed a seed in America which by Divine Grace grew into a large tree."
Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
In 1952, a miracle involving the healing of 4 year old Ann O'Neil from Leukemia was attributed to the intercession of Seton after a nun prayed for the girl to Seton. The miracle was a factor in the beatification of Seton and Seton was beatified by Pope John XXIII on March 17, 1963. The pope said on the occasion, "In a house that was very small, but with ample space for charity, she sowed a seed in America which by Divine Grace grew into a large tree."
12th Day of Christmas - January 5th
12 Drummers Drumming
12 Drummers Drumming
A Kindergarten Music Teacher's 1st Percussion Ensemble: