Christmas Season

So bright is the radiance of the Light which has come at
Christmas, so awesome is the mystery we celebrate, that a single
day's observance barely initiates us into the meaning of the
feast. Nor does the Church consider stopping with one day's
rejoicing as she celebrates the birth of the Savior. Although the
commercial world is taking down its trees and tinsel on December
26 to make way for the January white sales, the Church is only
beginning a full twelve days of "high feasting" which will reach
their climax and zenith on January 6. Then, in the regal splendor
of Epiphany, we see another facet of the Incarnation, a facet
which completes the Christmas mystery: the tiny Baby born on
Christmas night is in reality the King of the whole world. All
the expressions of our Advent longing, our pleas for the King and
Ruler, "God, the Mighty, Wonderful, the Prince of Peace," may
seem extravagant if we keep only December 25 as a feast day and
forget the Epiphany, the real fulfillment of Advent expectation
for a royal and kingly Savior.

Each year, then, Christians are given two great feast days plus
the full season of Christmastide during which the Church would
have us savor the mystery of the Incarnation in all its
implications. She wants us to absorb it through study and
meditation, to re-live it through her liturgy, and finally to
begin to make it a part of our everyday lives--so that the Light
of Christ which has been given to us may shine out to all those
around us--to our family, our neighborhood, our associates in
school or office, and out into the larger communities of national
and international life.

Today Catholics are becoming increasingly interested in
celebrating the Christmas season more fully--not only as
completely as possible at the altar--but in their homes and
communities, and in the apostolic and parish groups to which they
may belong. They feel that through carrying out customs and
observances centered in the liturgy, they will be able to
penetrate more deeply into the meaning of the Incarnation.

Those who have begun to observe the Advent season as a time of
spiritual preparation for Christmas will be especially interested
in a plan for celebrating The Twelve Days. To prolong the
celebration of a feast in a fitting way is almost as much of an
art as to prepare for it. Mother Church takes our human nature
into account when she gives us an Advent season followed not only
by twelve days of high feasting but a whole season extending to
February 2, the Feast of Candlemas.

It is in answer to the need for concrete suggestions for the
celebration of Christmastide that "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
is presented. This book tries to capture something of the
fullness of the Christmas season as it is observed at Grailville
and in an increasing number of young families with whom we are in
contact. Some of the sources for these ideas and customs are
original--life lived with the Church is dynamic, and forms of
recreation and festivity begin to develop spontaneously with the
liturgy as their source and inspiration. We have also built on
many national traditions in our Christmas celebration--but most
of them could truly be called "international," for the same
customs keep recurring with slight variations in many different
cultures. Many of the observances have already been assimilated
to American family and community life in some sections of the
country. All are capable of being adapted to the American scene.

Because this is meant to be something other than a "Christmas in
many lands" book, there are few lengthy histories of those
customs which originate in other countries. Instead the booklet
tries to describe the vital, concrete, practical observances
which have grown up naturally in the life of the large Grailville
family, and are being used successfully in the smaller families
of former students now married, and in parish and apostolic
groups throughout the country.

Full Text Source:
http://www.ewtn.com/library/family/12dayxma.txt