12 days of Christmas

The 12 Days of Christmas fall between two major Christian feasts: the Nativity on Christmas Day and Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6; in the U.S. Catholic Church, Epiphany is celebrated on the Sunday after January 6 at Mass. The 12 Days build on the Octave of Christmas, which ends on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (New Year’s Day). 

Tradition also holds that it likely took the Three Kings, or “Magi,” twelve days to journey to baby Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, was revealed to them when they arrived. We celebrate this revelation on Epiphany. 

12 Days of Christmas in the Catholic Church.
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The 12 days include the feasts associated with the Octave and four additional celebratory days. In 2022-2023, the liturgical season of Christmas extends another three days until the Sunday after Epiphany, January 8, 2023. 

1. The first day of Christmas is the Nativity of the Lord. 
   1. a guide to Christmas prayers and blessings. 
2. The second day of Christmas is the Feast of St. Stephen, who died a martyr condemned unjustly. 
3. The third day of Christmas is the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. 
4. The fourth day of Christmas is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a day in which we remember all the innocent infants slain by King Herod as he looked for the newborn Messiah. 
5. The fifth day of Christmas is the Feast of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop of Canterbury and martyr. 
6. The sixth day of Christmas celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family: Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. 
7. The seventh day of Christmas is the Feast of (Pope) St. Sylvester and New Year’s Eve in the secular calendar. 
8. The eighth day of Christmas is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, and New Year’s Day. 
9. The ninth day of Christmas is a day in which we celebrate the Feasts of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen. 
10. The tenth day of Christmas is the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, and the entire month of January is dedicated to His Holy Name!
11. The eleventh day of Christmas is the Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first person born in the United States to be canonized. 
12. The twelfth day of Christmas is the day before Epiphany. We also celebrate St. John Neumann’s feast day on the twelfth day of Christmas (January 5).