S’more Christmas: The Seventh – Make that Eighth Day – of Awesome!
I’m back! And we are talking about the seventh and eighth days of the 12 days of Christmas! This is my Christmastide era! Twelve months of the year = twelve blogs = twelve days of Christmas.
You see, most of us in America are totally missing out on the true joy of the holiday season that lasts far past Advent and Christmas Day. It continues all the way to Twelfth Night, aka Epiphany, aka Kings Day.
Remember to check out our upcoming events page to see all the upcoming events. This is being posted in July, and we are celebrating Christmas in July all month long! If you stop by the store and find me, you will get a free gift with your $25 purchase!
Now, today we are delving into the history, the traditions, and the meaning of The Seventh or Eighth Day of Christmas.
When is the seventh or eighth day of Christmas?
If you read our first post, you know that each day of Christmas could be one of two days depending on how you look at it. If you want to know why or why that matters, you can read our First Day of Awesomeness blog.
The way I have been doing this, we are ready to talk about January 1st. I would have said it is the seventh day of Christmas, but I now understand why that is wrong! My bad. So, we are getting back on track and calling January 1 the eighth day of Christmas. Sorry, y’all. Isn’t it true that we all lose track of the days between Christmas and going back to school?
Each of the 12 Days of Christmas is a “feast day” or holiday to celebrate a different saint or Bible story. January 1st is the holiday where we celebrate Jesus’s mother, Mary, and it is the day when we remember that Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to be circumcised according to Jewish law. Jewish babies have a special ceremony where they are named and get circumcised, and it is always on the eighth day after they are born. If Jesus was born on December 25, this ceremony would happen on January 1 according to the way Jews count days. Clearly, that makes this the eighth day of Christmas (not the seventh).
If Mary was a virgin, that means she’s a maid, but I can’t think of any reason why this holiday relates to milking cows.
How to celebrate without learning to be a maid a-milking:
As I mentioned in my last post about December 31, there is a midnight mass for the Feast of Pope Saint Sylvester I. Because that mass ends after midnight, they also celebrate the Solemnity of Mary. So, you can ring in the new year and celebrate both feast days.
This feast emphasizes the idea of Mary as “God-bearer.” The title comes from the belief that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human, and so it makes sense to call Mary the Mother of God even though she isn’t the mother of God the Father.
Because it’s the first day of the new year, it’s a great time to make a commitment to say “yes” to God in the new year, just like when Mary said “yes” to God when she was told she would give birth to Jesus.
Another way to celebrate is by resting and relaxing and spending time with family on this day because Jesus was born into a family when he was born to Mary. God knows that families are important, not just for His Son, but for us too.
People don’t usually celebrate Christmas after December 25, but they still take a break from work and school until after the new year. However, after the first of January, even more people stop celebrating Christmas. They take down their decorations and start to commit to their new year’s resolutions. But Christmas still isn’t over! So, one way to celebrate the eighth day of Christmas is to pause a little longer before getting all serious.
After all, the earth rests during the winter. We should rest and enjoy the season a little longer, too.
Next month, we will discover the history and traditions of the ninth day of Christmas and “Celebrate Always.” (I Thessalonians 5:16)
Merry Christmas,
S’more
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