Merry Second Day of Christmas (St. Stephen's Day, Boxing day in the UK)

[Vouthon]

Wishing my fellow Christians a very merry second day of Christmas and Happy St. Stephen's Day!! (And to fellow Brits, a happy Boxing day an'all!)

To the rest of y'all, including the secular celebrants, I hope everyone is relaxing and gorging upon delicious festive leftovers before the New Year comes and we get stuffed and tipsy all over again.

We've all heard about the Twelve Days of Christmas, thanks I'm sure to the famous carol - everything from “A Partridge in a Pear Tree” to “Ten Lords a Leaping”:

On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree​

Some people believe this popular Christmas carol was first written down in England - as a “Catechism song” to aid young Catholics in learning the basics of their faith in a secret, coded manner during the seventeenth century Wars of Religion, when the public and private practice of Catholicism was prohibited under the penal and recusancy laws (during the period between 1558 - 1829, when it was illegal throughout the British Isles to be openly Catholic).

For the majority of traditional Christians, the festival of Christmas is a 'solemnity' (holy day of obligation) that lasts for Twelve Days culminating in Twelfth Night / Epiphany (January 6th) which commemorates the arrival of the Magi from Persia, who had followed the star of Bethlehem and became the first witnesses of the manifestation of the Son of God to the Gentiles.

In the Catholic Church, we celebrate the festival of Christmas as an octave of eight feasting days within the twelve, with the last feasting day of Christmas being January 1st (New Years Day), eight days on from Christmas Day itself because it commemorates the feast of the circumcision of Christ on the eighth day after his birth and the conferral of His Holy Name of Jesus, as well as the Solemnity of his mother Mary as Mother of God.

Now for the seasonally appropriate carol:

1.
Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, gathering winter fuel.

2.
"Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know'st it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain,
Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes' fountain."

3.
"Bring me food and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither,
Thou and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither."
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together,
Through the cold wind's wild lament and the bitter weather.

4.
"Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger,
Fails my heart, I know not how, I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page, tread now in tehm boldly,
Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly."

5.
In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.​

 

[YoursTrue]

Wishing my fellow Christians a very merry second day of Christmas and Happy St. Stephen's Day!! (And to fellow Brits, a happy Boxing day an'all!)

To the rest of y'all, including the secular celebrants, I hope everyone is relaxing and gorging upon delicious festive leftovers before the New Year comes and we get stuffed and tipsy all over again.

We've all heard about the Twelve Days of Christmas, thanks I'm sure to the famous carol - everything from “A Partridge in a Pear Tree” to “Ten Lords a Leaping”:

On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree​

Some people believe this popular Christmas carol was first written down in England - as a “Catechism song” to aid young Catholics in learning the basics of their faith in a secret, coded manner during the seventeenth century Wars of Religion, when the public and private practice of Catholicism was prohibited under the penal and recusancy laws (during the period between 1558 - 1829, when it was illegal throughout the British Isles to be openly Catholic).

For the majority of traditional Christians, the festival of Christmas is a 'solemnity' (holy day of obligation) that lasts for Twelve Days culminating in Twelfth Night / Epiphany (January 6th) which commemorates the arrival of the Magi from Persia, who had followed the star of Bethlehem and became the first witnesses of the manifestation of the Son of God to the Gentiles.

In the Catholic Church, we celebrate the festival of Christmas as an octave of eight feasting days within the twelve, with the last feasting day of Christmas being January 1st (New Years Day), eight days on from Christmas Day itself because it commemorates the feast of the circumcision of Christ on the eighth day after his birth and the conferral of His Holy Name of Jesus, as well as the Solemnity of his mother Mary as Mother of God.

Now for the seasonally appropriate carol:

1.
Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, gathering winter fuel.

2.
"Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know'st it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain,
Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes' fountain."

3.
"Bring me food and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither,
Thou and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither."
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together,
Through the cold wind's wild lament and the bitter weather.

4.
"Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger,
Fails my heart, I know not how, I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page, tread now in tehm boldly,
Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly."

5.
In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.​

Yes but when was Jesus born?

 

[Estro Felino]

Happy St Stephen to all

 

[exchemist]

Wishing my fellow Christians a very merry second day of Christmas and Happy St. Stephen's Day!! (And to fellow Brits, a happy Boxing day an'all!)

To the rest of y'all, including the secular celebrants, I hope everyone is relaxing and gorging upon delicious festive leftovers before the New Year comes and we get stuffed and tipsy all over again.

We've all heard about the Twelve Days of Christmas, thanks I'm sure to the famous carol - everything from “A Partridge in a Pear Tree” to “Ten Lords a Leaping”:

On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree​

Some people believe this popular Christmas carol was first written down in England - as a “Catechism song” to aid young Catholics in learning the basics of their faith in a secret, coded manner during the seventeenth century Wars of Religion, when the public and private practice of Catholicism was prohibited under the penal and recusancy laws (during the period between 1558 - 1829, when it was illegal throughout the British Isles to be openly Catholic).

For the majority of traditional Christians, the festival of Christmas is a 'solemnity' (holy day of obligation) that lasts for Twelve Days culminating in Twelfth Night / Epiphany (January 6th) which commemorates the arrival of the Magi from Persia, who had followed the star of Bethlehem and became the first witnesses of the manifestation of the Son of God to the Gentiles.

In the Catholic Church, we celebrate the festival of Christmas as an octave of eight feasting days within the twelve, with the last feasting day of Christmas being January 1st (New Years Day), eight days on from Christmas Day itself because it commemorates the feast of the circumcision of Christ on the eighth day after his birth and the conferral of His Holy Name of Jesus, as well as the Solemnity of his mother Mary as Mother of God.

Now for the seasonally appropriate carol:

1.
Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight, gathering winter fuel.

2.
"Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know'st it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain,
Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes' fountain."

3.
"Bring me food and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither,
Thou and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither."
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together,
Through the cold wind's wild lament and the bitter weather.

4.
"Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger,
Fails my heart, I know not how, I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page, tread now in tehm boldly,
Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly."

5.
In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.​

I've always found the words of that carol a particularly powerful evocation of the depths of a bitterly cold, central European winter: "Deep and crisp and even", "Though the frost was cruel", "Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly". I see the words were written by a c.19th Anglo-Catholic clergyman called John Mason Neale. Interestingly the carol has been criticised by people such as Elizabeth Poston (of "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree* " fame) for being a mismatch of words and music. Fortunately, nobody listened to her!

But tell me more about how the 12 Days of Christmas relates to the Catechism. I've never heard of this association. Or perhaps you mean to post an explanation of each day in turn, throughout the 12 days, in which case I shall await each bulletin with interest.

P.S. In our household we always keep the Christmas tree up throughout the 12 days, taking it down at Epiphany, when we eat a Galette des Rois, in line with French tradition.



*

 

[Vouthon]

I've always found the words of that carol a particularly powerful evocation of the depths of a bitterly cold, central European winter: "Deep and crisp and even", "Though the frost was cruel", "Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly". I see the words were written by a c.19th Anglo-Catholic clergyman called John Mason Neale. Interestingly the carol has been criticised by people such as Elizabeth Poston (of "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree* " fame) for being a mismatch of words and music. Fortunately, nobody listened to her!

But tell me more about how the 12 Days of Christmas relates to the Catechism. I've never heard of this association. Or perhaps you mean to post an explanation of each day in turn, throughout the 12 days, in which case I shall await each bulletin with interest.

P.S. In our household we always keep the Christmas tree up throughout the 12 days, taking it down at Epiphany, when we eat a Galette des Rois, in line with French tradition.



*

Good post Exchemist, I agree with you on how evocatively the words call to mind the biting chill of a central European winter. It's very immersive to hear sung.

And yes, my plan is to post an explanation for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas, which will (among other things relating to a given day of Twelvetide) hopefully draw out and make apparent the coded religious significance of the images in the carol