Bouan Noué! Happy Christmas!
The Third Day of Christmas

Happy Boxing Day!

Happy Boxing Day!

Now, all those who live in the UK or Great Britain, and some of you who are from other countries that were once part of the British Empire or are still in the Commonwealth of Nations may know what I'm talking about.

Others - probably most of the world actually - not so much! So maybe a little explanation might be in order?

These days, and for a long time actually, Boxing Day is the day after Christmas Day - so December 26th - and it's still a 'bank holiday' or national holiday here in the British Isles. So it's part of the Christmas 'break' that lots of people have from work. 

But why 'Boxing' Day?

Well there are a couple of explanations knocking around and it's probably a bit of a mixture of history actually.

Wind the clock back to the Middle Ages and in Europe there was a tradition of giving money and other gifts to those who were in need, the poor in the village, or those who 'served' the community in some way. One thought is that the 'boxing' could refer to the alms box placed in the narthex (the porch or lobby) of Christian churches to collect donations for the poor.

And the custom of people being encouraged to pop even small donations in the Poor Box is thought to date back even further, to the late Roman and early Christian era, when alms boxes were used to collect special offerings which would be distributed to needy people in the community on the Feast of Saint Stephen, which, in the Western Christian Churches, falls on the same day as 'Boxing Day' ... December 26th.

So today is not just Boxing Day, it's ALSO St Stephen's Day!

St Stephen's DayOh and if you're not aware, Saint Stephen's Day is a day set aside in the  Christian church to commemorate Saint Stephen, who is the first recorded Christian martyr. 

Stephen was one of the very early Christians after the time of Jesus and he so angered the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem with his talk of the Good News of Jesus Christ that he was accused of blasphemy and was stoned to death. We hear about this event and Stephen's influence in the New Testament and the Acts of the Apostles .. chapter 7 specifically.

Worth a read if you're interested especially as Stephen's story links back to helping the poor. In Acts Chapter 6 we read about Stephen being one of the Greek-speaking Hellenistic Jews who were selected to be part of a fairer distribution of welfare to Greek-speaking widows.

Anyway, St Stephen is remembered today in Western Christianity and tomorrow - December 27th -  in Eastern Christianity.  And his feast day is actually commemorated in many European countries. If you wonder why St Stephen's Day in this image is called the 'Second Day of Christmas' and are confused because you think Christmas ended yesterday ... on Christmas Day ... then stand by, because I'll explain this down the line. Well before the year ends anyway, because that's when this blog will draw to a close.

I read an interesting theory about all this which also links Boxing Day to the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas" and St Stephen's Day.

Wenceslas was the Duke of Bohemia in the early 10th century and so the carol tell us, he was surveying his land on St. Stephen's Day — December 26th — when he saw a poor man gathering wood in the middle of a snowstorm. So moved was he by the plight of the poor fellow that the Duke/King gathered up surplus food and wine and carried them through the blizzard to the peasant's door.

Here's a folksy version of the carol which I love ...

Helping the poor has always been part of the Christmas season but King Wenceslas' good deed came the day after Christmas, when the English poor received most of their charity. In fact, as we've already discovered, during Advent Church of England parishes would prominently display a box in which churchgoers were encouraged to place donations in the run up to Christmas, and on December 26th these alms boxes were broken open and their contents distributed among the poor. 

But there's another explanation for the 'Boxing' Day moniker and it's more to do with commerce that church. 

To discover more, we move a little further through history and find ourselves in Britain in the 17th century, where tradesmen often received "Christmas boxes" containing presents or money on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the past year. And this custom is thought to be linked to an older British tradition where, on the day after Christmas Day, servants of the wealthy were allowed, to visit their families - they obviously didn't get December 25th off work. Employers would give every servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses, and sometimes leftover food from their own Christmas table.

In Britain in the 1830's the day after Christmas Day is recorded as a holiday especially for postmen, errand boys, and servants of various kinds who would have been very busy in the run-up to the festive season. And on this day one tradition was to thank them for their sterling work with a 'Christmas box' which again might contain money or gifts. In fact, until the late 20th century many in the UK continued the tradition, giving gifts including cash to people like postmen and milkmen and others who served them in the community.

I can't say I've heard of that happening much these days ... but it's a nice idea, don't you think?

Just a way of saying 'thanks' to all those who quietly get on with their job throughout the year but who make a huge difference to our lives. Those who serve us in the shops and those who ensure the food gets to the shelves in the first place. Those who deliver our mail, those who sweep our roads and keep our infrastructure going. Those who serve us in cafes and restaurants ... I could go on ... but without their quiet service, our communities would be in turmoil.

So today, on Boxing Day ... or St Stephen's Day if you prefer ... let's think of all those who serve us and say .... THANK YOU!

And to everyone reading this ....

Happy Boxing Day

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