So it was the time to wrap presents and then, suddenly, Christmas Eve and the Day were gone. Also Boxing Day.
How could it be that it went so fast ?
But yes, we are now in January but Christmas Time didn't finish yet.
We will only take the Tree and the Decorations out AFTER Epiphany. And the Nativity will stay till the 2 of February: the Presentation of The Lord Day, Candlemas.
So, don't pretend Christmas ended because it's still Christmas Time.
On the first day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me A partridge in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree!
"Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829, when Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England, were prohibited from ANY practice of their faith by law - private OR public. It was a crime to BE a Catholic.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith - a memory aid, when to be caught with anything in *writing* indicating adherence to the Catholic faith could not only get you imprisoned, it could get you hanged, or shortened by a head - or hanged, drawn and quartered, a rather peculiar and ghastly punishment I'm not aware was ever practiced anywhere else."
Preparing ourselves for Christmas, which means the birthday of Our Lord
Advent has began yesterday, this year it began in November and we are now in the Liturgical Year A which will end in the the 2 of December, 2023.
On the First of December we will put our Christmas Tree up and make the Nativity, we always do it on the first day of the month.
It's always a great fun in every step of it. First we must go to the garage and bring it together with all the Christmas boxes containning the decorations: ribbons, garlands, everything to put on the tree and the Crib and to deck the walls.
First we put the tree up and also the Nativity. Then we put some of the decorations on it, and we carry on doing it on the following days. During those few days I must say the room is filled with the boxes but we don't mind because it just two days or so, usually. Then we take them to the garage again.
This Saturday and Sunday I was planning on doing some more wrapping but I couldn't. Oh well, never mind, I will do some, maybe, on the first of December in the evening or maybe some on the 30 of November. I will see how it goes.
We aldready bought a lot of wrapping paper, we began in October !!! It's always such joy when we see the first wrapping papers on sale each Autumn. And we always bring the leftovers of last Christmas from the garage, together with numerous oh, ah, because we like to remember the ones we used and the happiness it brought to us when we were using it to wrapp the presents in the previous year.
Truly Christmas time is a wonderful time of the year.
I leave you now with some pictures of some Christmas past.
