Twelfth Night begins on January 5th as many tradition places the beginning of the 12 days of Christmas on Christmas Day.
There are some that celebrate the 12 days before Christmas beginning on the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe - 12/12 until 12/24. I learned of this tradition from some friends and they call the 12 days "Kringle Days". Our family has its own "Kringle Traditions" - I will write more on that later.
My goal and my gift is to begin today. Set a wave of joy into the universe and begin with a story about "Our Lady of Guadalupe"...
My dear friend Cy Hall was an advocate for Mary, the mother of God. He related stories to me and my friends as pre-teens. He even helped us start up a junior Legion of Mary. One of the stories he told us about was 'Our Lady of Fatima' and another was 'Our Lady of Guadalupe'. Once my girlfriend and I had climbed up to the statue of Mary at our church (by entering the sanctuary unauthorized) and put roses and a scapular into the statues hands. It was our delight to hear the women at the Mass the next day declare 'its a miracle!'. My sister, Cindy, hand painted a statue of 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' for me. It was beautiful. I treasured it for many years, and sadly, I don't know where it is now. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the protector of the Americas. The Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe) is a popular Catholic feast that celebrates the belief that a man, Juan Diego encountered the Virgin Mary, Mexico's patron saint, in Mexico City on December 9 and 12, 1531. The miracle is that Juan Diego picked roses at the sight of the apparition of the virgin Mary and when he brought the roses to the local priests, there was a picture of the virgin on his cloak after he emptied the roses at the feet of the clergy. That picture is the image of Mary in a peach colored dress surrounded by rays of light.Cy Hall helped me learn about these and other miracles and my sister acknowledged my growing love for the virgin Mary throughout these years. Today is her feast-day in the Catholic Church - after all, Christmas does begin with a virgin, I think today is a great day to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas!
