The word Christmas means Christ’s Mass. Did you know that? It’s true. So all of these people who are not religious, atheists, agnostics and the like who are saying “Merry Christmas” are saying Merry Christ’s Mass. They’re invoking the name of Christ, who they claim not to believe in.
And what an outdated saying! Who uses the word “merry” any other time of the year than for saying “Merry Christmas?” No one. Anyone ever thought of this? No, I suspect one hasn’t because it’s cemented in this silly tradition. And many people who are not even religious say, “Merry Christmas” on cue. When it’s pointed out to them that they are saying, “Merry Christ’s Mass” they look stunned. What did they think the word Christmas means? Again, it means Christ’s Mass. They’re promoting and sucking into Christianity, in some cases as athetists or agnostics. They start to look troubled as if thinking, “What a hypocrite I am.”
The 12 Days of Christmas: 25 December – 5 January. No sheeple, Christmas or Christ’s Mass is not over on 26 December as many people erroneously think. 26 December is just the Second Day of Christmas of the 12 days.
Everyone knows that Navidad/Christmas begins on 25 December, correct? No, unfortunately many, if not most, people don’t know that based on society’s behaviour and silly traditions. Advent — which is most of the month of December — is ignored except in churches of the Anglican Communion, (Roman) Catholic, Lutheran, and maybe some Methodist traditions.
Hola a todos. Talking by email with some of the organ majors in the Conservatory’s Church Music Department, this topic came up. They remember what they played in 2019 for Advent — they’re playing nothing this year due to the COVID pandemic — and then for the Navidad Liturgy and then for Epiphany. I said that from my experience, most people don’t even know what Advent is. The same for The Epiphany. And in the public’s mind, Christmas is the entire month of December for the most part. This thinking isn’t helped by some Anglican Choirmasters programming some — what are technically — Christmas carols in the Advent Procession of Lessons and Carols, such as “Hark, the Herald.” That’s not an Advent hymn. Yet that hymn sometimes gets sneaked into the Advent Procession maybe so that the trebles (boys and or girls) can practise their (hopefully) glorious descant. Mi amigo/My friend asked: Do the Southern Baptist sing “Hark, the Herald?” Yes they do, but they sing it during Advent leading up to Christmas. But to them Christmas is really only one day or at most a week to some. They think of “the Christmas Season” rather than The Twelve Days. I can hear them now, “those Twelve Days are some of that Catholic stuff.” And I’ve never heard a descant sung in a SB church on that hymn. And I probably wouldn’t want to. Who wants to hear Mabel and Theodosia wobble and flutter and quiver their way through a descant that’s way beyond them. One should not use descants unless one has a soprano section of the caliber that’s needed for a descant. And a descant should be sung with perfect intonation; no noticeable vibrato. There’s nothing worse than a descant sung by a soprano section that has one or two wobbling sopranos ruining the whole thing!
When I was growing up, the above paragraph applies to most of the people I knew. Especially Southern Baptists because they don’t honour the Twelve Days of Christmas. They know nothing about The Liturgical Year, yet they would sing that carol about “The Twelve Days of Christmas” — “On the first day of Christmas my true love said to me….” — but none of them had any idea what they were singing about. The Southern Baptists would be critical of their neighbours who were Roman Catholic or Anglican who had their holiday decorations on until 6 January. I remember hearing, “Why does she still have her Christmas decorations on?” Well, it was because the neighbour was honouring The Twelve Days of Christmas. The Southern Baptists would sing that carol although not in church, but they had no idea what they were singing about. Hypocrites. And that seems to be the case with many people. I don’t know when people think Navidad/Christmas begins. They seem to think it begins sometime during Advent. WRONG. Although with some shopping networks, it begins at the beginning of October.
So for example, el 31 de diciembre/the 31st of December is the Seventh Day of Christmas (of the Twelve Days). Did you know that? So contrary to the thinking of many people, Christmas is not over on New Years’ Eve. But that’s what the Southern Baptists thought. It seems that many so-called “christians”/faux-christians and other people never learned what the Twelve Days of Christmas really means. Yes, people proceed to rip down their tree on or before New Year’s Day (which is only the Eight Day of Christmas) and they take down their holiday lights, and they go into hibernation the rest of the Winter and their butts never see a church pew until Pasqua/Easter. I call these people the phony “Christmas and Easter Christians” because they’re so transparent. Those two High Holy days are the only time they set foot in church as they try to “buy their way into heaven” by doing the very minimal. Their Floating Cloud Being is not fooled by their deceptive behaviour. These are also the same people who never bow to the processional cross(es) or genuflect in Anglican, Roman Catholic or Lutheran liturgies.
In conclusion, the Twelve Days of Christmas in the Christian Liturgical Calendar run from December 25 until January 6 (The Feast of The Epiphany). Got it? Oh by the way, the Russian Orthodox Christmas is on 7 January. Hope this helps. Chau.— el barrio rosa
[Note: Then there are people like myself who use coloured light sets year-round because they’re pretty and I think it’s silly to have them stuck in the closet for 11 months a year when they could be used and enjoyed all year].
Related:
What Are the Twelve Days of Christmas?
“The First Day of Christmas is, of course, Christmas Day—the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (It is not December 13 or 14, as so many “12 Days of Christmas” countdowns incorrectly assume.)”