Epiphany

The feast of Epiphany celebrates the visit of the Wise Men to the Holy Family. The word 'Epiphany' comes from the Greek word for 'revelation'.

The 6th of January is also known as Old Christmas, or Little Christmas (the latter particularly in Ireland and Scotland). According to Wikipedia, this is because as early as the 4th century, the churches of the Eastern Roman Empire were celebrating Christmas on this day.

Epiphany is also when presents are exchanged, in Italy (according to KidsWorldTravelGuide) and in some Spanish–speaking countries (according to Wikipedia). This makes perfect sense, as the Wise Men brought gifts to the infant Jesus.

The Reader's Digest explains that until AD 336, when the Church in Rome settled on 25 December as the day when the birth of Jesus would be celebrated (probably to coincide with Pagan midwinter celebrations), Epiphany was one of the two most important holidays for Christians (along with Easter).

Reader's Digest suggests that Christmas is celebrated for twelve days because that's how long the Wise Men took to find the infant Jesus (having seen his star on the day of his birth). But this is surely a case of altering the facts to fit the story. No one disputes that fact that the date we know as Christmas Day (25 December) was chosen fairly arbitrarily in the 4th century, and no one actually knows the date of the Wise Men's visit either.

What seems to me to be the case is this:

At some point, very early in its history (and for whatever reasons), the Christian church decided to celebrate the birth of Jesus on the 6th of January each year. But the people were reluctant to abandon their Pagan traditions, and continued to celebrate their midwinter festival towards the end of December, as the days begin to get a little longer; so the Christian festival didn't get the attention that the Church felt it warranted. The Church then decided that if they couldn't beat 'em they might as well join 'em, and announced that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on 25 December. (This bit is pretty much beyond dispute.) But rather like the Pagans before them, they didn't want to abandon their original date; so they decided that 6 January was actually the date of the Wise Men's visit, following their journey from their homelands in the East. And over the years, having two big celebrations so close together, the people decided (what with it being the middle of winter etc.) to make the holiday last for the intervening time.

Twelfth Night, when Christmas decorations are traditionally taken down, is the day before Epiphany: 5 January – the twelfth day of Christmas.

Why isn't Epiphany part of Christmas? Why does Christmas have to end on the day before it?

Reader's Digest mentions that in some Protestant churches, Epiphany is not just a single day but continues until Ash Wednesday – the first day of Lent. So we have Christmas for twelve days, then Epiphany (whose length depends on when Easter is – but that's another story!) and then Lent.

If you look at it this way, it doesn't even have to be 'the people' that decided to make Christmas last until Epiphany. It could have been the Church's idea all along.