The Tenth Day of Christmas, January 3rd, is the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. Originally the Holy Name of Jesus was celebrated at the Feast of the Circumcision, since it was then that our Lord received His name. But because of the growth of this devotion, a separate feast was instituted in the seventeenth century. “Every knee should …

The Ninth Day of Christmas, January 2nd, is the Feast of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, two important 4th-century Eastern Christians. These two saints taught a great deal about the Trinity and helped refute the Arian heresy—a concept that stated Jesus was created by God the Father at a separate point in time, and was distinct and subordinate …

The Eighth Day of Christmas, January 1st, is the Feast of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In some denominations, this day is the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, since by Jewish tradition he must have been circumcised on the eighth day (counting both the first day and the end day) after his birth.

The Seventh Day of Christmas, December 31th, is New Year’s Eve and the Feast of St Sylvester I, Pope. Sylvester was a native of Rome and the son of a Roman soldier. He was pope during the time of Constantine, the first Christian emperor. The Edict of Milan, the emergence of the Church from the catacombs, the building of the …

The Sixth Day of Christmas, December 30th, is the Feast of the Holy Family, Mary, Joseph and Jesus, in America as a model for all Christian families. In England, they observe the Feast of St Egwin of Evesham. Egwin was a descendent of Mercian kings and known as a protector or orphans and widows, so he rates high in my …

The Fifth Day of Christmas, December 29, is the Feast of St Thomas Becket. Thomas was the son of a former London Sheriff. Educated in Paris, he joined the household of Theobold, Archbishop of Canterbury, who introduced him to the newly-crowned King Henry II. They became fast friends, and the king made him chancellor. When Theobold died, Henry made him …

The Fourth Day of Christmas, December 28, is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, also called Childermas. On this day people remember the baby boys which King Herod killed when he was trying to find and kill the Baby Jesus. These children are considered by some to be the first Christian martyrs, even if unwitting. In his last years, Herod …

The Third Day of Christmas, December 27, is the feast of St John the Apostle. John was one of Jesus’s disciples, and one of his closest friends. In the gospel that bears his name he is referred to as “the disciple that Jesus loved.” Tradition says he was the youngest of the disciples, perhaps only 18, and the only apostle …