Forget Cupid, Go St. Valentine!
How to Actually Celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas
Photo By: Flickr/Andrew Malone
Quick Run-Down of the Feasts and Solemnity...
Dec 25 - Christmas! - Go to Church!
Dec 26 - St. Stephen
Dec 27 - St. John the Evangelist
Dec 28 - Holy Innocents
Dec 29 - St. Thomas A Becket
Dec 30 - Holy Family
Dec 31 - St. Sylvester I
Jan 1 - Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God - Go to Church!
Jan 2 - St. Basil and St. Gregory (not the dragonslayer)
Jan 3 - Holy Name of Jesus
Jan 4 - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Jan 5 - Twelfth Night - St. John Neumann
Jan 6 - St. Andre Bessette "doorkeeper" or Epiphany or Twelfth Night
Jan 7 - St. Raymond of Peñafort
Jan 8 - Epiphany...
Jan 9 - Baptism of Our Lord
Jan 10 - Ordinary time.
Ok, Now... The Real Deal.
How do we celebrate each day of the Christmas liturgical season?
Here are some great ideas for each day of Christmas...
Dec 25 - Christmas!
Top Secret Young Family Trick! We go to Mass at 9am (skips ALL the crowds opening presents at this time... all guaranteed a seat)
Top Secret Young Family Trick! We go to Mass at 9am (skips ALL the crowds opening presents at this time... all guaranteed a seat)
We then sing Jesus Happy Birthday and eat birthday cake for breakfast while opening presents. No, I kid you not, we do!
Today we decorate the Tree.
We put the white candle in the center of our Advent Wreath and that for us = the Christmas Wreath... yah, I simplified it.
Today we decorate the Tree.
We put the white candle in the center of our Advent Wreath and that for us = the Christmas Wreath... yah, I simplified it.
See if you all can together come up with a list of titles of Jesus.
Dec 26 - Feast of St. Stephen
I love to watch the Muppet's Christmas Carol this day b/c it talks about the Feast of St. Stephen. Yah, that's all I got.
Dec 27 - St. John the Evangelist
Wine! St. John's wine recipe...
His symbols are SO COOL, you could just have kids draw the different symbols!
Dec 28 - Holy Innocents
This one is honestly hard for me. Hard for a lot of moms.
Have your youngest child pick the activity. Teehee. I know, I know, chaos! We're Catholic after all.
I do have my kids pray for all the babies in mommies' bellies all over the world. I leave it at that.
Dec 29 - Feast of St. Thomas A Becket
Movie night for adults. Watch the old Richard Burton film!
Read a Canterbury Tale - pick one.
Dec 30 - Holy Family
Family, family, family! Do a family date.
Dec 31 - St. Sylvester I
Ok, I'm not suggesting that you watch a Sylvester & Tweetie show... but... ok... up to you.
Jan 1 - Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God
GO TO CHURCH! :) Holy Day of Obligation
GO TO CHURCH! :) Holy Day of Obligation
Day to honor women in the house
Day to ask the Lord how He wants your family to grow in holiness this year
(sadly, most people have taken down all Christmas stuff... People! We are just gettin' started!)
(sadly, most people have taken down all Christmas stuff... People! We are just gettin' started!)
Jan 2 - St. Basil and St. Gregory (not the dragonslayer)
Greek traditions on this day.
Teach your toddler to say Constantinople
Jan 3 - Holy Name of Jesus
Topics can include Guardian Angel, how/why your child was named, keeping God's name holy, etc.
Jan 4 - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
A fave holy day of mine as this is the Feast of the foundress of the American Sisters of Charity and a friend of mine is a Sister of Charity.
Jan 5 - St. John Neumann
Pray for vocations for your children.
Talk about vocations.
Jan 6 - St. Andre Bessette "doorkeeper" or Epiphany or Twelfth Night
Canadian saint!
Have everyone careful to open doors for each other and talk about what opening a door for someone symbolizes... or opening the door of our hearts, or the importance of doing humble, boring, seemingly dumb things for Jesus with our whole hearts with no earthly reward.
My fave Shakespeare play is Twelfth Night. So we read a few lines, or watch one of the films or plays.
We have an Epiphany party if we can.
Jan 7 - St. Raymond of Peñafort
Read about St. Raymond.
Jan 8 - Epiphany... ok, technically it's observed whichever Sunday between Jan 2 and Jan 8.
Anyways, Epiphany should be a big deal.
There are several amazing pieces to the story of the Three Kings.
For one - they were astronomers and astrologers.
Pahlavi, believed to be one of the most ancient languages, and an origin of many languages, it was assumed is what they spoke.
Bless Your Home
Make, Decorate, and Wear Crowns,
Put the Kings in the Manger.
Put away Christmas Stuff or wait until after the Baptism of Our Lord.
Jan 9 - Baptism of Our Lord
Shells and water and baptism stories and name stories.
Put away Christmas stuff... unless of course you go hard core through Candlemas.
Shells and water and baptism stories and name stories.
Put away Christmas stuff... unless of course you go hard core through Candlemas.
Jan 10 - Ordinary time. Pack it up, people, Christmas is liturgically done, but keep the Christmas tree up til Candlemas if you like.
Note: Some cultures give gifts on Epiphany or on Candlemas, and to them it is a huge celebration much like Christmas.
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About the Author
Melanie R. Cameron is a wife of 14 years and a mother to five children. Both lifelong Catholics, Mark and Melanie became engaged in 2006. She journaled through her experiences, and in 2009, published a wedding planning workbook with a Catholic twist. "Christ on Your Guest List" has helped hundreds of couples to plan the wedding reception together in order to grow in unity, monetary decision-making, and communication through all the planning details. Melanie's ministry is to bring Hope to Beautiful Brides and to call engaged couples to build strong young marriages through wedding day planning.
In 2012, Melanie began a prayerful home-based floral business, named after Our Lady, The Mystical Rose.
