There is a reason they call it the Twelve Days of Christmas as there are so many things to celebrate and reflect upon from Christmas Eve until the Three Kings arrive at the manger. It is sad when people set up their Christmas trees and start the festivities weeks before the 25th and then it is all over the minute the gifts are unwrapped and the party foods and treats are consumed. Here are a few of the days to remember and reflect upon.
Boxing Day is the day following Christmas when wealthy people and homeowners in the United Kingdom would give a box containing a gift to their servants. Now, Boxing Day is better known as a bank or public holiday that occurs on December 26, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day. It is observed in Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and some other Commonwealth nations.
In South Africa, Boxing Day was renamed Day of Goodwill in 1994. In Ireland it is recognized as St. Stephen's Day. In the Netherlands, Lithuania, Austria, Germany, Scandinavia and Poland, December 26 is celebrated as the Second Christmas Day.
For Catholics, December 26th is the Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr.
December 28th is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. When the Three Kings were following the Star and seeking Jesus, they stopped by King Herod’s palace. He, jealous and fearful of competition, pretended great interest in this ‘new king’ and asked the Kings to come by and let him know where they had found the child. They were given heavenly knowledge to not return so, in his fury, King Herod had all the male children, two years and younger, slaughtered. Given this wholesale murder of babies, it is a good day to reflect on how our world had gone way beyond that massacre and call it abortion today.
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