Jewel Box

If you think yesterday was the twelfth day of Christmas, think again. The twelve days of Christmas begin Christmas Day and end on the Epiphany. So today is the second day, the day of the two turtle doves. It’s also Boxing Day and Saint Stephen’s Day, a day to tip tradesmen and to give to the poor. As the story goes, Good King Wenceslas was watching as night began to fall at the close of St. Stephen’s Day, and saw a poor man gathering sticks for fuel at the edge of the forest. Overtaken by compassion, Wenceslas and a page set forth with food and firewood to give to the poor man. The cold and the snow are almost enough to make the page turn back, but he found if he walked in his master’s footsteps his feet stayed warm and dry. As the last verse of the carol claims, “Ye who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.”