Introduction

Advent is a season of waiting which is followed by the Christmas season in the Liturgical year. Did you know that Christmas is not only just one day? December 25^th the feast of the Nativity of the Lord is the beginning of the Christmas season, and it continues for 12 days all the way through to the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. The Church officially ends the Christmas season when we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus.

The Christmas season begins on Christmas Eve vigil mass when we thank Jesus for coming to save us, on Christmas day we celebrate the birth of Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem. Then over the next twelve days the Church celebrates various feast days starting with St. Stephen on December 26^th who was a very courageous believer who was the first person to die for his faith, the first Martyr. In the Heroes section you can read all about him. December 27^th is the feast of St John the Apostle (Evangelist), whom it is said was the only Apostle to die of old age. The next day December 28^th is the feast of the Holy Innocents when we remember how the Holy family escaped to Egypt to protect Jesus from King Herod who ordered the killing of all the babies as he was afraid of losing his kingdom.  We also celebrate the feast of the Holy Family who are an example to us all. Another big feast is January 1^st, the Solemnity of Mary when we honour Mary as the Mother of God. Because of Mary’s obedience and love to God, Jesus was born. It is a day of obligation, as Christians we go to mass to honour Mary. Then on January 3^rd we celebrate the feast of The Holy Name of Jesus. The angel Gabriel appeared to Joseph in a dream after appearing to Mary asking her to be the Mother of Jesus, and he told Joseph that they should name the child Jesus which means “God Saves.” The Christmas season celebrates the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord traditionally on January 6^th, “Epiphany” means “appearance” and we celebrate the visit of the three Magi who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (all precious gifts) for baby Jesus. We also remember the day Jesus was baptised in the river Jordan and his first miracle at Cana because both days are when God showed himself to us through the actions of Jesus his Son. The feast of the Baptism of the Lord marks the end of the Church’s Christmas season. As you can see these 12 days are full of special feast days when we honour and celebrate Mary, Jesus, and St. Joseph where we celebrate important events in the life of Jesus as a child right through to the time when he started teaching the people.