On December 26th, Christmas wrapping paper is marked down for clearance, and suddenly all that red and green decor festooning the house starts looking a little stale. Christmas is over, right?

Actually, the liturgical season of Christmas begins on December 25th and lasts twelve days. The song about those twelve days – you know, the one with the partridge in a pear tree – references the time span, but is a secular celebration of the sacred Christmas season. [Read more]