"On the 12th Day of Christmas ..."
In 567 AD, the
Council of Tours ended a dispute.
Western Europe celebrated
the birth of Christ on
Christmas Day, December 25, as the holiest day of the season.
Eastern Europe celebrated JANUARY 6,
Epiphany, which is a Greek word meaning "appearance" or "manifestation."
Also called
Three Kings Day, it recalled
the visit of the Wise Men to Jesus in the manger--his "manifestation" to the Gentiles, as foretold in Isaiah 49:6:
"I will also give thee for
a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be
my salvation unto
the end of the earth."
In addition,
Epiphany commemorates
Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River, as recorded in John 1:29-34:
"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world ... that he should be
made manifest to Israel ...
... And John bare record, saying ... He that sent me ... said ... Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that
this is the Son of God."
The Eastern and Western Christian Roman Empire could not agree on which day was holier, so at the
Council of Tours in
567 AD it was decided to make
all 12 days from
DECEMBER 25 to JANUARY 6 "The Twelve Days of Christmas."
They were called
"holy days," which came to be pronounced
"holidays."
The
Council of Tours also returned the beginning of the year back to the ancient date of
March 1st.
January 1st was thought to be a
pagan date since it originated with
Roman Emperor Julius Caesar's solar-based
"Julian Calendar."
Remnants of
March being the
first month of the year can be seen in the old Roman Latin names of months:
September,
October,
November and
December:
"Sept" is Latin for seven;
"Oct" is Latin for eight (ie. octogon=eight sided);
"Nov" is Latin for nine; and
"Dec" is Latin for ten (ie. decimal=divisible by ten).
In
45 BC, Julius Caesar was, in a sense, the first globalist.
He wanted a unified calendar for the entire Roman Empire that was under his control.
His successor, August Caesar, had his version of NSA tracking -- conducting an empire-wide census to keep track of everyone under his control.
The many
lunar calendars used for millennia by ancient peoples in the countries conquered by Rome were difficult to reconcile with each other.
Rome's old
fifth month, Quintilis, was renamed after
Julius Caesar, being called
"July."
As it only had 30 days, Julius Caesar
took a day from the old end of the year, February, and
added it to July, giving the month 31 days.
The next emperor,
Augustus Caesar, renamed the
old sixth month, Sextilis, after himself, calling it
"August."
He also
took a day from the old end of the year, February, was added to
August, giving that month 31 days, and leaving
February with only
28 days.
The
Julian Calendar inserted
a leap day to
February every 4th year.
When
Constantine became the
Roman Emperor, he stopped the persecution of Christians, and, at the
Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, he decided to set a common date to celebrate
Easter-Christ's Resurrection, to help unify the "Christian" Roman Empire.
Constantine's insistence that the date of
Easter be on a Sunday in the Roman solar calendar, resulted in
abandoning the original Jewish method of determining the date of the Passover Feast-when the Passover Lamb was sacrificed, based on the lunar calendar, traditionally beginning the evening of 14th day of Nissan.
The Apostle Paul wrote in First Corinthians 5:7 "For even
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us."
Constantine's act was a defining moment in the
split between what had been a predominately
Jewish Christian Church -- as Jesus and all his disciples were Jewish -- and the emerging
Gentile Christian Church.
The new
date of Easter was set as
the first Sunday after the first paschal full moon falling on or after the Spring Equinox, though in actuality it was calculated through the use of tables.
"Equinox" is a solar calendar term: "equi" = "equal" and "nox" = "night." Thus "equinox" is when the daytime and night are of equal duration.
It occurs once in the
Spring around March 20 and once in the
Autumn around September 22.
In the year 325 AD, Easter was on March 21.
Get the DVD How the Birth of Jesus Affected the Calendar
During the
Middle Ages, France celebrated its New Year Day on Easter.
Other countries began their New Year on Christmas, December 25, and still others on Annunciation Day, March 25.
By 1582, it became clear that the
Julian Calendar was slightly inaccurate by about 11 minutes per year, resulting in the calculated tables having the
date of Easter ten days ahead of the Spring Equinox and even further from its origins in the
Jewish Passover.
In 1582,
Pope Gregory XIII decided to
revise the calendar by
eliminating ten days.
He set
a leap year
every year divisible by 4, except for years
divisible by 100, unless that year is
divisible by 400.
It sounds complicated, but it is so accurate that
the Gregorian Calendar is the most internationally used calendar today.
Pope Gregory's
"Gregorian Calendar" also
returned the beginning of the new year BACK to
Julius Caesar's January 1st date.
As England was an Anglican Protestant country, it reluctantly postponed adopting the more accurate Gregorian Calendar.
Protestant Europe did not adopt the Catholic
Gregorian Calendar for nearly two centuries.
This gave rise to some interesting record keeping.
For example: a ship would leave Protestant England on one date according to the
Julian Calendar, called
"Old Style" and arrive in Catholic Europe at an earlier date, as Europe was using the
Gregorian Calendar, called
"New Style."
Another example is that England's
William Shakespeare and Spain's
Miguel de Cervantes, author of
Man of La Mancha, died on the same date, April 23, 1616, but when the differences between
England's Julian Calendar and
Spain's Gregorian Calendar are removed, Cervantes actually died ten days before Shakespeare.
In
1752, England and its colonies finally adopted the
Gregorian Calendar, but by that time there was an 11 day discrepancy between the "Old Style" (OS) and the "New Style" (NS).
When America finally adjusted its calendar, the day after
September 2, 1752 (Old Style), became
September 14, 1752 (New Style).
There were reportedly accounts of confusion and rioting.
When England went on to become the
largest empire in the world, it established the
Gregorian Calendar for international use.
All dates in the world are either
BC "Before Christ" or
AD "Anno Domini" -- meaning
in the Year of the Lord's Reign.
England's Henry VIII made the
Anglican Church the country's established denomination in 1534.
As in other nations, the government imposed its beliefs, demanding
uniformity of doctrine and services, thus restricting the freedoms of conscience, speech, and expression.
During this time, Christian dissenters, nonconformists, separatists, Puritans, Presbyterians, Quakers, Anabaptists, and Catholics, fled from England to other European countries or to the American colonies.
Jews were expelled from England in 1290 by Edward I and not allowed back in till Oliver Cromwell in 1657.
Dissenters who remained in England practiced their faith in secret, sometimes suffering the intolerance judges in court, open government persecution, and even martyrdom.
In 1625, a type of Sunday school catechism song came into use
to teach children Christian doctrine, titled
"In Those Twelve Days," where a spiritual meaning was assigned to each day.
IN THOSE TWELVE DAYS (1625)
Chorus:
In those twelve days, and
in those twelve days,
let us be glad,
For God of his power hath all things made.
1. What is that which is but
one?
What is that which is but
one?
We have but
one God alone
In Heaven above sits on his throne. Chorus
2. What are they which are but
two?
What are they which are but
two?
Two Testaments, as we are told,
The one is New and the other Old. Chorus
3. What are they that are but
three?
What are they that are but
three?
Three persons in the
Trinity,
The Father, Son, and Ghost Holy. Chorus
4. What are they that are but
four?
What are they that are but
four?
Four Gospels written true,
John, Luke, Mark, and Matthew. Chorus
5. What are they that are but
five?
What are they that are but
five?
Five senses we have to tell,
God grant us grace to use them well. Chorus
6. What are they that are but
six?
What are they that are but
six?
Six ages this world shall last,
Five of them are gone and past. Chorus
7. What are they that are but
seven?
What are they that are but
seven?
Seven days in the week have we,
Six to work and the seventh holy. Chorus
8. What are they that are but
eight?
What are they that are but
eight?
Eight beatitudes are given,
Use them well and go to Heaven. Chorus
9. What are they that are but
nine?
What are they that are but
nine?
Nine degrees of Angels high
Which praise God continually. Chorus
10. What are they that are but
ten?
What are they that are but
ten?
Ten Commandments God hath given,
Keep them right and go to Heaven. Chorus
11. What are they that are but
eleven?
What are they that are but
eleven?
Eleven thousand virgins did partake
And suffered death for Jesus' sake. Chorus
12. What are they that are but
twelve?
What are they that are but
twelve?
Twelve Apostles Christ did chuse
To preach the Gospel to the Jews. Chorus
This may have inspired a similar popular song
"The Twelve Days of Christmas."
An explanation of the song's possible meanings are:
1.
My True Love = God Himself
A Partridge = Jesus Christ (A partridge will feign injury to decoy predators from helpless nestlings - "He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities." Isaiah 53:5)
Pear Tree = Cross & Tree of Adam's fall
2.
Turtle Doves = Old & New Testaments
3.
French Hens = Faith, Hope & Love
4.
Calling Birds = Four Gospels
5.
Golden Rings = Pentateuch-First 5 Books of Bible
6.
Geese A-Laying = Six Days of Creation
7.
Swans a-Swimming = Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
8,
Maids A-Milking = Eight Beatitudes
9.
Ladies Dancing = Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10.
Lords A-Leaping = Ten Commandments
11.
Pipers Piping = Eleven Faithful Apostles
12.
Drummers = Twelve Points in Apostles Creed
Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924 [email protected]
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