Anyone who has spent any amount of time in the United States (or the UK, or Australia, and probably most of the English-speaking world) during Christmas knows the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," primarily for its impressive length—and the bombastic "five golden rings!" chorus. We have accepted that there are, or were, Twelve Days of Christmas, but what are they?

On the church calendar, there are twelve days from Christmas Day to the Eve of Theophany (or Epiphany), and in England and many parts of the West, these twelve days were traditionally celebrated as the season of Christmastide. Orthodox Christians fast for the forty days prior to the Nativity of Christ, and enjoy a fast-free period for the eleven days following the feast. This was historically observed in the West, as well (though without the fast we observe on the Eve of Theophany), and so those twelve days became a time of feasting and merry-making as Christians celebrated the birth of our Lord.

Many of the traditions we celebrate as Orthodox Christians today have continued in some form in modern observances of the Twelve Days, such as house blessings and polar swimming (a Russian folk practice). We have compiled a list of traditions, ideas and resources for observing the Twelve Days of Christmas according to the Orthodox calendar, to help you prepare for the festal season where we can happily proclaim "Christ is born! Glorify Him!"

(Featured Image by Brooke Lark)

1. Nativity | Christmas Day

• Nativity resources from Orthodox Pebbles
• Nativity reading from the Antiochian Archdiocese
• "The Services of Christmas" by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
• The Services of Christmas (text and hymns) from the OCA
• Let's Celebrate: The 12 Days of Christmas from GOA
• On the "Winter Pascha" by Fr. Thomas Hopko
• Printable OT prophecy lesson from Orthodox Education
• God is With Us! from the OCA
• "Christmas" (video) from GOA
• Nativity lesson and activities from Dr. Pat
• "The Great Feasts" PDF coloring book from Draw Near Designs
• Why Christmas? from Orthodox Education
• Teen lesson: "On the Incarnation" from Orthodox Education
• How Many Days is Orthodox Christmas? by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
• 2017 Byzantine Christmas Concert (video)
• Nativity video lesson from Orthodox ABC
• “Today to us has risen” Romanian carol fresco/icon animation (video) from Enjoy Orthodoxy
• “The star is rising up” Romanian carol fresco/icon animation (video) from Enjoy Orthodoxy

 

Also celebrated today are the Three Wise Men (Magi) and the Shepherds who went to see the Lord:

• Adoration of the Magi (Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar) from the OCA
• Narrative of the Adoration of the Magi: part 1 and part 2
• Adoration of the Magi from OrthodoxWiki
• "We Three Kings" sung by choir of King's College, Cambridge
• Commemoration of the Shepherds in Bethlehem from the OCA
• "The Shepherds and Christmas" (audio)

 

2. Synaxis of the Theotokos

On the day after the Nativity of Christ we celebrate the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos, and come together to give her glory and praise. This is the second day of the three-day Winter Pascha.

"Combining the hymns of the Nativity with those celebrating the Mother of God, the Church points to Mary as the one through whom the Incarnation was made possible. His humanity—concretely and historically—is the humanity He received from Mary. His body is, first of all, her body. His life is her life. This feast, the assembly in honor of the Theotokos, is probably the most ancient feast of Mary in the Christian tradition, the very beginning of her veneration by the Church."

Fr. Alexander Schmemann

• Readings from the Prologue of Ohrid
• Life of the Panagia booklet from Orthodox Education
• The Story of Mary, the Mother of God by Dorrie Papademetriou
• The Protoevangelium of James

 

 

3. St. Stephen the Protomartyr

The third day of the Nativity is dedicated to the Protomartyr Saint Stephen. This is the third day of the three-day Winter Pascha. St. Stephen is the patron saint of Serbia, and many families have St. Stephen as their slava, or family patron saint, and this day is part of larger seasonal festivities.

• "Defenders of the Faith" unit from the OCA
• "Homily on St. Stephen the Protomartyr" by St. Gregory of Nyssa
• Brief life and hymnography from Pokrov Los Angeles
• Stoning of Stephen lesson from Dr. Pat
• Icon line drawing

 

4. 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia

• 20,000 Martyrs from the OCA
• We Worship God coloring book from the OCA
• Let's Go to Church worksheets from Orthodox ABC

 

5. Holy Innocents

• "All About Saints" lesson from Orthodox Pebbles
• Holy Innocents from the OCA

 

6. Virginmartyr Anysia

• Virginmartyr Anysia of Thessalonica from the OCA
• Prayer Buddy kits from Orthodox Pebbles
• The Lord's Prayer lesson from Orthodox ABC

 

7. St. Melania the Younger / King David, St. Joseph the Betrothed, and St. James the Brother of the Lord

• Venerable Melania the Younger from the OCA
• How Can We Celebrate Our Namedays? from Illumination Learning
• Lenten Almsgiving lesson from Illumination Learning
• A Simple Heart: Cultivating Simplicity in the Spiritual Life (audio) from Patristic Nectar Publications

 

The Sunday after Nativity is dedicated to the family of the Lord—King David, St. Joseph, and St. James. (If there is no Sunday between December 25 and January 1, their commemoration is moved to December 26.)

• Holy Righteous David the King from the OCA
• "A Shepherd Boy Becomes King" from the OCA
• Royal Saints coloring book from Draw Near Designs
• Lessons on young David from Dr. Pat
• Lessons on David the King from Dr. Pat
• A Heart for God: Lessons from the Life of the Holy King and Prophet David (audio) from Patristic Nectar Publications
• Holy Righteous Joseph the Betrothed from the OCA
• Do the Orthodox honor Joseph? from the OCA
• Icon of the Nativity with St. Joseph coloring page
• Escape to Egypt lesson from the Antiochian Archdiocese
• "The Righteous Elder Joseph the Betrothed, and His Repose"
• Holy Righteous James the Brother of the Lord from the OCA
• Lesson on James for preschoolers from Dr. Pat
• Lesson on James for older children from Dr. Pat

 

8. Circumcision of Christ / St. Basil the Great

• On the Circumcision from The Winter Pascha
• St. Basil the Great from the OCA
• Why is St. Basil So Great? printable from Illumination Learning
• The Life of St. Basil by Dr. Chryse Hart (audio)
• The Story of the Vasilopita from Potamitis Publishing
• Vasilopita Gift Set from Paidea Classics
• Vasilopita recipes from Illumination Learning
• Vasilopita recipe from Orthodox Mom
• The tradition of the Vasilopita from the Antiochian Archdiocese

 

9. St. Seraphim of Sarov

• "Saints and the Animals that Served Them" activity book
• St. Seraphim of Sarov's Conversation With Nicholas Motovilov
• On Acquisition of the Holy Spirit by St. Seraphim of Sarov
• "The Life of St. Seraphim for Children" by Archimandrite Nektarios
• The Prayer Rule of St. Seraphim of Sarov

 

10. St. Genevieve of Paris

• Venerable Genevieve of Paris from the OCA
• "First Celebration of All Saints of the British Isles" by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
• "Our Church and the Future" lesson from the OCA

 

11. Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles

• Spread of the Gospel lesson from Dr. Pat
• The Seventy according to St. Dimitri of Rostov
• Apostles activity from Orthodox Education
• The Psalter According to the Seventy from Legacy Icons

 

12. Eve of Theophany

• Like the eve of Nativity, the eve of Theophany is observed as a fasting day as we prepare for the baptism of our Lord. Consult your priest about what this means for you.
• The Great Blessing of Water from The Winter Pascha
• Theophany and Healing by Fr. George Morelli
• Beware the Fiery Dragon! Russian folk customs for Theophany
• House Blessings: 10 Things from St. Nicholas Church
• "The Blessing of the Waters at Theophany" from Orthodox Path
• In Western (British Isles) church tradition, the Eve of Theophany was called Twelfth Night—a little Shakespeare, anyone?

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