The basis of the 12 days of Christmas is dependant on the different calendars, customs followed in the churches and the diverse ways for celebrating the Christmas Day. According to the Holy Bible and the western churches, the 12 days of Christmas are celebrated as the time period which was taken by the Magi or the Wise Men to reach to newborn Jesus at Bethlehem after seeing the Star.
The famous song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” which was created in England is a song of catechism for teaching the young Catholics the fundamentals of Catholic faith and has got underlying meanings. Though sounding like nonsense, this was meant to be sung by the Catholic children without the fright of being imprisoned. The “true love” in this song is actually referred to Lord Jesus.
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The most misinterpreted portion of the church year amongst the Christians who are not a part of the sacramental church customs is the 12 days of Christmas
. The 12 days of Christmas are actually the twelve days from Christmas until the commencement of Epiphany and not the twelve days before Christmas. The 12 days of Christmas begin on the Christmas Day, 25th of December and continue till Epiphany on the 6th of January. The first of the 12 nights falls on 25th-26th of December and the twelfth day falls on January 5th – January 6th.
