Twelfth Day of Christmas

Twelfth Day of Christmas
vs.
Twelfth Day after Christmas

Eve of the Theophany of Jesus Christ (Orthodox Church)
Eve of the Adoration of the Magi (Roman Catholic Church)
The Baptism of Christ

Image Courtesy: Biblical Art

El Greco

1596-1600

Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Just as Christmas Eve is important to the Birth of Christ so is the Eve of Theophany or Epiphany to that of the Church's oldest universal Feast Day.

Today is indeed the 12th day of Christmas (by the familiar Gregorian calendar; not the older Julian) and tonight what is known as the 12th Night. Tomorrow - Theophany or Epiphany - will be the 12th day after Christmas. Often there is confusion about the Twelve Days of Christmas - when they begin and end - but other than it simply being a matter of the preposition used of or after (something my old High-School Grammar teacher would love to hear!) the Eighth Day, according to the Levitical Law that Jesus followed to a "T" must always be eight days after Christ's birth - that is on what we know of as January 1st. Consequently counting forward from there, the twelfth day of Christmas is easier to arrive at.

Adoration of the Magi 

(Roman Catholic Church and most Christian denominations which derive from the Roman Catholic Church)

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia

Fresco

Location: Lower Church of the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi