The Twelve Days of Christmas
This comes too late for this Christmas, but file it away to be used in following years. On second thought, this comes ten months early for 2025 Christmas planning!
If a pastor wants to observe the 12 days of Christmas in his parish, what propers would he use? Since the editors of The Lutheran Missal seem to be taking their sweet time (publication date of 2028?), I offer some suggestions for the interim.
First, a few notes on the season:
· Christmas Day is the only occasion in the church year with three masses.
· Christmas, like a few other high feasts, has a vigil and a privileged octave*.
· Three high ranking feasts, each with its own simple octave*, fall within the octave of Christmas.
· At least two notable saints also have their days within the octave.
· The days of Christmas continue past the octave until Epiphany.
· There is usually one (but never more than one) free Sunday within the twelve days of Christmas.
The Vigil of Christmas (December 24)
The celebration of Christmas begins with the Vigil on the day before. Although we might tend to associate a vigil with evening and nighttime, it applies to the entire day, just as Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve) is the whole day of October 31st. In fact, the Vigil mass more properly belongs to the daylight hours, as it would usually have been said around mid-morning (at the time of the daily mass). If you are planning to observe the Vigil mass, there is no need to artificially move it to evening. For example, when the Vigil of Christmas falls on a Sunday, it should be observed at the usual Sunday morning hour. Since the Vigil mass is still within the season of Advent, the Gloria in Excelsis is omitted and the paraments remain unchanged.
Christmas Midnight (December 25, 1st Day of Christmas)
The evening mass at 10:00 pm in your parish on Christmas Eve probably originated as an anticipation of the Christmas Midnight mass, the first of three for Christmas Day. If you have a special mass on Christmas Eve, use the Midnight propers rather than the Vigil, even if it is a few hours before midnight—remember, the liturgical day begins at sunset. Because the Christmas Midnight mass belongs to Christmas Day, the Gloria in Excelsis returns and the paraments are white.
Christmas Dawn (December 25, 1st Day of Christmas)
Most of our parishes do not yet have three masses on Christmas Day. This mass would likely be the last to be added.
Christmas Day (December 25, 1st Day of Christmas)
This is the chief mass of the day. If only one mass is observed in your parish on Christmas Day, it should be this one. In theory, these propers would also be used on every following day of the Christmas octave, but most of these days will be outranked other feasts.
St. Stephen (December 26, 2nd Day of Christmas)
The feast of St. Stephen includes a simple octave, meaning that St. Stephen’s mass is said on the first and eighth days (of Stephen’s octave), but nothing is said on days 2–7. If December 26 is the Sunday within the Octave (Christmas 1), the Sunday is outranked by St. Stephen.
St. John (December 27, 3rd Day of Christmas)
The feast of St. John is of the same ranking as St. Stephen. Everything said above applies here.
Holy Innocents (December 28, 4rd Day of Christmas)
Also see above.
St. Thomas of Canterbury (December 29, 5th Day of Christmas)
The feast of St. Thomas is of a lower ranking than the previous three feasts. It will not displace the Sunday within the Octave. In some places only a collect is said for Thomas, and the mass is that of Christmas Day, as belongs to the Fifth Day within the Christmas Octave. In other places, when it is not a Sunday, the mass for St. Thomas is said, and on a Sunday, the mass is transferred to the following day.
December 30, 6th Day of Christmas
There is no feast apart from the observance of the Sixth Day within the Christmas Octave, therefore, the mass is that of Christmas Day. However, if December 30 is a Saturday, the feast of St. Sylvester (December 31) may be anticipated.
St. Sylvester of Rome (December 31, 7th Day of Christmas)
Whereas St. Thomas is sometimes commemorated with a collect only, the mass for St. Sylvester is always said. However, Sylvester’s feast gives way to the Sunday within the Octave and is anticipated on Saturday.
The Octave of Christmas (January 1, 8th Day of Christmas)
The Octave of Christmas, often called The Circumcision of Our Lord, far outranks any observances of the secular New Year. Excepting the Introit, Collect, and Lections, the propers are those of Christmas Day. When Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, there can be no Sunday within the Octave (Christmas 1) because the Octave occurs on the following Sunday.
The Octave of St. Stephen (January 2, 9th Day of Christmas)
The mass for St. Stephen is said again on his octave. When the Sunday within the Octave has been displaced by St. Stephen’s feast, you may consider observing that Sunday (Christmas 1) a week later in place of the Octave, especially if your parish is not accustomed to observing sanctoral octaves on a Sunday. In any case there would be no reason to attempt to observe “Christmas 2” here, since Christmas 1 would have been omitted the week prior, and Christmas 2 is a recent invention.
The Octave of St. John (January 3, 10th Day of Christmas)
See above.
The Octave of Holy Innocents (January 4, 11th Day of Christmas)
See above.
The Vigil of the Epiphany (January 5, 12th Day of Christmas)
As with the Christmas Vigil, the Vigil of the Epiphany can be observed at any time throughout the day. If the Vigil falls on a Sunday it would be said at the usual time. (Once again, the liturgical occasion of “Christmas 2” does not exist, nor does it need to, since there can only ever be one free Sunday between Christmas and Epiphany.)
The Days of Christmas
From year to year, there are only seven possible iterations of the days of Christmas, according to the days of the week (see below). All of the propers for these occasions are available to field testers for The Lutheran Missal.
* A few explanatory notes on octaves: Some of the greater feasts of the church year have an octave, that is, the feast is observed over the course of eight days. Ranking schemes and terminology vary, but there are generally three types of octaves: Privileged 1st Class, Privileged 2nd Class, and Simple.
Easter and Pentecost have privileged octaves of the first order. All eight days are observed, and no other occasions of any kind may intrude upon the octave.
Christmas has a privileged octave of the second order. All eight days are observed, but other feast days (e.g.: St. Stephen, St. John, Holy Innocents) may be observed within the octave.
St. Stephen, St. John, and Holy Innocents have simple octaves. Only the first and eighth days are observed.