Okay, it's (checks calendar) still Christmastide, being the 4th day of Christmas as all y'all read this, so something our noble host said in a comment the other day or so struck me as reasonable so no ranting during Christmas. I'll save it till after the 12th (day of) and we'll go from there.
Sooo... what to talk about?
How about the FAA delaying Starship for two whole months? Er, no. That's Silicone Greybeard's territory, along with The Angry Astronaut (over at yousetubes.)
Covidiocracy and the Brain-Dead animatronic finally saying it's not the Fed Gov's responsibility, after saying for two years that it was?
Or Putin holding Europe hostage over Russian gas because some idiot cut off American gas?
Rants, all rants, but this isn't a rant, soooo...
Well, what about the days of Christmas? A lot of my non-Catholic acquaintances, obviously never raised Catholic, never really understood the whole Advent-12 days of Christmas thingy.
Advent being the whole month or 28 days or whatever, the leadup to Christ's Birth, well, the time to start walking across all of Judea for the holy family and for all the portents (like the Star) and such to get into place and line up and such (and, coincidentally, a time of fasting amongst monks which presumably meant also abstinence from strong drink and thus the first detox clinics were set up.)
Hmmmm... Maybe... Maybe not... As Mediocracy said, "Eh, good enough."
And then the days of Christmas begin, with: (some dates change because of liturgical calendar stuff, so kind of like Chanukah or Hanukkah or that Jewish Festival of Lights that moves around the Gregorian Calendar because it's tied into the lunar calendar because they're Jewish and not Christian and think Gregor was a nice goy, but Oy, vey, hands off the calendar there, sport.)
Format will be
Day of Christmas - Date - What it represents from the song (yes, that song) - Feast or meaning
0th day of Christmas - Dec. 25th - (blank) - Jesus born in a manger (in a cave) and then goes to the town of Bethlehem, or born in a manger in Bethlehem, depending on which Gospel one thinks holds the truth. Hah, a trick. Not a day of the 12 days of Christmas
1st day of Christmas - Dec. 26th - Jesus - maybe this was the day Jesus arrived in Bethlehem, if you follow that born in a cave thingy in the early Gospels. Seriously, Mary was a real human woman, who'd want to ride into town after popping out a kid, she took a rest, right? Otherwise, the Feast of St. Stephens, who was the first Christian Martyr, stoned to death in 36 AD or 36 CE if you're being politically correct (or you could look at it like it was 36 CE (Christ's Era which totally destroys the whole politically correct thingy, and the whole BCE being, of course, Before Christ's Era. Whoot. Stick it, politically 'correct' people! Whoot!)
2nd day of Christmas - Dec. 27th - The Old and New Testament - Feast of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. No earthly clue why it's here except well, gotta feast, dontcha know? Or... if you're one of the Eastern Orthodox, then it's St. Stephen's Day. Gee, being on the wrong side of the early date line sucked back then just as much as it does today, I guess. Maybe the holy day of leftovers? Nobody consulted me on this, happened long ago, no control over it.
3rd day of Christmas - Dec. 28th - The Three Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity - Holy Innocents' Day, upon which we celebrate Herod ordering the deaths of the boy children one year after Jesus is born. Why is this part of the Christmas Story? Because it's part of the Mysteries (oooh, waves and waggles fingers in the air) which are those things about Christianity that are, well, mysteries (like the Trinity, which is 3 parts of a whole One God. No, I am not making fun of Christianity. There are things we are not to truly know and understand because mysteries. Hey, if you can say "follow the Science" and make it mean the complete opposite, then I can believe in the inherent mysteries of God.)
4th day of Christmas - Dec. 29th - the Four Gospels that talk about Christ's Birth, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - Feast and Memorial of St. Thomas of Beckett, who had the juevos to tell Henry II that he was wrong. Today, instead of a few rando knights doing the deed, it's the enemedia and the three-letter-agencies who do the dirty work. More the times change, more they stay the same. Still don't know what this has to do with Christmas, except that's when supposedly Thomas got gacked. Suckethed to doth be Himself.
5th day of Christmas - Dec. 30th - First Five Books of the Old Testament - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Or not, depending on that Liturgical calendar thingy. Celebrates who again? Oh, that's right, the Holy Earthly Family. Simple, no? (see liturgical calendar depending on whether or not the 30th is a Sunday or not or not depending on how Holy Mother Church decides on how to interpret (or not) the liturgical calendar rules. Did I just drink some bad eggnog? Am I hallucinating? Is this that 'mysteries' thingy I was referring to earlier? Dunno. My head's starting to hurt now...)
6th day of Christmas - Dec. 31st - Six Days of Creation before God rested on the Seventh - Feast of St. Sylvester I, who, apparently, was responsible for building some really nice churches, of which he got his sainthood for, so not a 'Christmas feast day,' but a feast day during Christmas. Eh, it works.
7th day of Christmas - Jan. 1st - The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, being Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of God - Feast of the Solemnity of Mary (or, Jesus's Bris, what a good Jewish boy he was.) A day to celebrate Mary's motherhood, and the day she had Jesus circumcised. An explanation of the Seven Gifts is: Wisdom: helps us judge what is important, meaningful, purposeful, etc. Understanding: to know something is different from truly understanding it. I can know a lot of facts about someone, but that is different from truly understanding that person. Counsel: helps us differentiate between right and wrong. Fortitude: courage and endurance. Knowledge: helps us to know God. Piety: proper reverence for God, helps us obey God out of love. Fear of the Lord: proper disdain for sin and awe of God’s goodness and love.
8th day of Christmas - Jan. 2nd - The Eight Beatitudes (from the Sermon on the Mount) - Feasts of St. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nanzianzus (or Gregory the Theologian) so two more big names in the early Church but not directly related to Jesus's birth and early life. For the breakdown on the Beatitudes - The Eight Beatitudes - List 🗹 (htae.net)
9th day of Christmas - Jan. 3rd - The Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit - Feast or Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus. Breakdown of the Nine Fruits - The 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit - Detailed Bible Study (bible-knowledge.com)
10th day of Christmas - Jan. 4th - The Ten Commandments - Feast of St. Neophytos, who was martyred on the 4th for not giving up Christianity, and thus she was murdered and then martyred (along with 9 other young women). As to the 10 Commandments, just like it sounds. And, no, juvat, the day does not commemorate the movie.
11th day of Christas - Jan. 5th - Eleven Faithful Apostles - As to the Apostles, well, Judas, you had one job, and you did it darned well and you got shafted for it. Seriously, always felt sad for Judas, who basically was pre-ordained to turn on Jesus and how was he treated? He hung himself, so since that's suicide, he went to Hell. I seriously hope upstairs took pity on him, especially on the 2nd day of Internment when Jesus went to Hell and rescued all those who were sent there before having a chance to hear his word. Seriously, Judas, a sacrificial goat, what did he really do wrong? Where's the redemption story? Why? Was he secretly working for the Morningstar (the devil) or was it just his lot in life to betray and get screwed for it? Deep thoughts, will accept discussion on him as I really do wonder what other people feel about his role in the whole passion play (secret name for Easter Story.)(ohhh, another mystery or two? maybe, maybe not.)
12th day of Christmas - Jan. 6th - The Twelve Points of Belief in the Apostles' Creed - The Feast of the Epiphany, when the Wise Men show up (with loot, lots of loot, said loot used to pay for the escape to Egypt before Herod's proclamation of death to male children (see Dec. 28th.) For a run-down of the 12 points of belief in the Apostles' Creed - What are the 12 beliefs in the Apostles Creed? - Daily Rosary Family
So I hope I didn't bore all y'all, but I did learn lots doing this, as I always messed up the 'Day' count as I often counted Christmas Day as Day 1 rather than Day 0. Whodathunk. Hope this wasn't too preachy or religiously or something.
And now a musical break. A good Christmas carol (carol in my definition being a song referring to religion and not to earthy things.) So, "Oh, Come, oh Come Emannuel." With a twist. Because I'm Beans and that's how I roll. Emmanuel done in Hebrew.
Great post, Beans! Maybe your best yet.
ReplyDeleteLearned a lot and even knew some of that. Thanks.
Glad you liked it. It's one of those weird subjects that you think you know but don't.
DeleteHey Beans;
ReplyDeleteLoved this one, Very well done, and you 'splained the 12 days of advent better than I could and I was raised Catholic.
It's kind of like being born a citizen of the US. You don't learn a quarter of the stuff that legal immigrants have to learn to become citizens.
DeleteSame with growing up Catholic. Which is sad, because my dad's generation grew up knowing a lot of the mysteries and stuff, but we more modern people (born post WWII and especially after the two Vatican conferences) were never introduced or taught that stuff.
Maybe, just maybe if the children and parents were taught more, maybe, just maybe if the Mysteries were returned to the Mass, maybe, just maybe if they got rid of the overt socialism being taught instead, people would come back to the Church in droves.
Thanks Beans! I feel ever so much better educated as I knew maybe 2% of that.
ReplyDelete(And yes, I have thought the same thing of BCE/CE. To the irritation of someone, I am sure...)
I know, right (about the knowing of stuff)? I feel gyped (can we say that word these days? Yes, I can!) that none of this was taught in my religious education classes. I mean, this would have made the rather boring Sunday Schools a much more hip and rocking place.
DeleteDangit, how much better would I have been able to navigate the world with a more firm structure to stand on?
True for all of us, Beans. Most of the actual "learning" I have done was really all on my own after high school/college/graduate school and confirmation.
DeletePeople can say what they want about those "old old timers", but they had a very firm understanding of what they believed and where they fit into the cosmos. Us, not so much.
Too true. Of course, with everything online now, it's much easier to research than in the olde days. Of course, one has to be relatively careful about what sources even in the Catholic Church one selects.
DeleteA seriously beautiful rendition of my absolute favorite carol. The lady sang it well.
ReplyDeleteAs to all the rest, I disdain CE and BCE, forever they will be BC and AD, Anno Domini, the Year of Our Lord. (But I do like your take on it.)
You have given me much to think about, I am beginning to dislike modern religion, which seems to have no joy and no mystery at all. But that's a story for another time.
There's a reason I don't like listening to music in crowds or with crowds. Something like "Emannuel" is such a strikingly haunting and beautiful song, and I want to hear the words. I must admit, when I sit alone and listen to this version, or watch the video, especially watching the video, it drives me to tears. Tears of joy, tears of sorrow, tears of what's to come, tears of loss.
DeleteHer rendition of "Wayfarer's Song" is also darned haunting and beautiful and heartrending. And I cried. Again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okhW7oBXSSc
As to dates, okay, I'll go by their requests for different dates if they can point out any other historical event more significant than His Birth.
Modern Religion is like ChiCom building standards - Tofu Dreg. It's much easier to stand solid against the winds of time and evil when your foundation is solid and you have good footing. By the time I was being taught religion they had watered it down. And I was an altar boy and got some better education than most of my generation. I've always felt somewhat of the Calling, but what would it have been like if the Mysteries were more... mysterious, and powerful, not the watered down stuff of the late 60s and 70s.
Quite frankly, I feel spiritually gyped. My Church ripped me off and only seems to exist to hold out the Holy hand to receive my money, not to guide me to a better place. Ah, well, like I've said, I'm Catholic, Holy Mother Church not so much. Maybe when Francis shuffles off his mortal coil (and the Vatican reports he is doing just that) the College of Cardinals will elect/select/gift the world with a true religious reformer, like Benedict but with more charisma and the strength to stand up to the Lavender Mafia and all the corruption.
Wait, I said I wasn't going to rant...
As to much to think about, yep. I ponder a lot of this stuff more and more every year.
As to Ms. Hawkins, well, just go listen to all her youtube videos and it's worth it. She adds something to the music that is missing in, oh, say, Neil Diamond's Christmas album.
DeleteBeans, I remember a quote from Os Guinness - not sure which book, either Fit Bodies Fat Minds or Prophetic Untimeliness - in which during a conversation with a Japanese businessman, he asks he about Christianity. His response is apropos of most modern churches, Catholic, Protestant, and Evangelical/Non-Denominational and something to the effect of: "When I speak to a Buddhist priest, I speak to someone who is in touch with the supernatural. When I speak to a Christian, I speak to someone who is only interested in this world".
DeleteIn our push to completely avoid mysticism and otherworldliness (looking at you, Luther (of whom I think a great deal) and Calvin, but the Catholic church has not done much better lately), we have become only of this world. And if we are of this world, why would people just not follow the world? Better short term benefits and no guilt.
Exactly. Actually read in one of David Drake's Belisarius Series about how the Mysteries are just that, mysteries. We can ponder and wonder at God's power, but we'll never really know.
DeleteAnd, yes, I feel the same way about Shintoism as many feel about Buddhism. Shinto priests seem more in touch with God in all of his aspects than the average priest. Though I have met some priests who seem to be on a far higher spiritual plain than normal people. Some who practically ooze spirituality out of their pores, and don't know it, or care. Wish more of our religious leaders were more spiritual.
Same here for Shintoism, Beans. Fortunately traveling to Japan, I have had the opportunity to visit several, including the Yasukuni Jinja where we got to go beyond the tourist section to the inner part of the temple. There was definitely a sense of reverence there I have not felt in virtually any modern church, and most Catholic and Mainline churches (Some Catholic and Orthodox churches still seem to get it right).
DeleteI think it's the acceptance that humans are just a small part of the world, but even that small part is ours, and everything meshes together that makes Shintoism interesting.
DeleteFrom what I've studied, it's one of those 'can fit into most other religion' religion. It's about acknowledging one's place in the here and now, that sets one up for the Kingdom of Heaven. Creatures and things and places have 'spirit' which need to be acknowledged. Nowhere in the Bible have I found that we can't or shouldn't acknowledge the non-human world around us, as long as we put God and His kingdom first.
Like, well, ships. Ships have 'souls' as we'd put it. Things collect 'memories' and become 'alive.' Go into any old old building and tell me it's just the foundation creaking. But by acknowledging the 'kami' we can work with it.
I know that in my own life, acknowledging my personal "Fred", that whatever that seems to make noises and move things when I get agitated or upset, helps keep Fred from acting up. Same with my van. I've always talked to my vehicles and equipment. Seems right. That there is bargain basement Shintoism. Acknowledging and talking to the things around us that aren't 'there' but 'are.'
Talked to a Catholic priest about it and he said it's why so many Japanese have taken up or at least acknowledge or accomodate Christianity, because it doesn't so much displace their beliefs as to add onto their existing structure.
I may be damned to Hell for this, but it makes sense to me.
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy".
DeleteIt is not wrong to understand there is more to the universe than meets our eye, and at least try to be accommodating.
Great stuff Beans. I like how you wove a little bit of rant into your non-ranting post. I messed up my intro yesterday because I thought Christmas was day one. Maybe I'll make an editorial correction. I knew some of what you talked about, but not most of it. However when you got to those 12 items I started saying them before I read further, as I still remember my CCD training. So do you have the Conn for the rest of the week? By the way, I'm glad the 12 days of Christmas are not more like Hanukkah, because we would be having way too many birds in our house! 😉
ReplyDeleteI, too, thought Christmas was the 1st day. But it's not. Add Christmas Eve, the travelling day with Mary in early labor (which must have been horrible for her) and I can see having 14 days of Christmas, which, as you said, would fill the world with birds, lots of birds.
DeleteI've got some more ideas, but feel free to drop a post if you get the feeling. Your posts are always quite interesting, and you have quite a different outlook on the world than I do. Maybe LUSH will finally be heard from? We'll see (Hey, LUSH, you out there?)
Nah, Lush is the owner's daughter so she gets paid whether she works or not. I was just wondering if you we're in charge this week, but I've got nothing at this moment.
DeleteSomething is stirring in my mind, so take the day off.
DeleteShe could read the phone book in Hebrew and I would watch...
ReplyDelete