Hello and welcome back to English with Ally! I’m Ally, and this is episode 23, the second-to-last episode in special Christmas series.
Today we’re diving into what happens on the 24th, 25th, and 26th of December—as these days can look different depending on where you are and what traditions you follow.
Listen out for these words:
See if you can hear them in this episode!
So you may already know that the 24th of December is called Christmas Eve, Christmas Day is the 25th but what's the 26th December called? Is it Boxing Day or St Stephen’s Day? Well, the answer is both. Let's dive in!
Did you know that in many Catholic countries, Christmas Eve is the main day of celebration. Families gather for a late-night feast, sometimes after attending Midnight Mass. In Italy, for example, the evening meal often features fish rather than meat. In contrast, in many Protestant traditions, the big celebration happens on Christmas Day, with gifts and a festive lunch. I'm currently in Ireland, and the main day is the 25th, Christmas Eve is not a special day here and we don't eat fish.
In my house, the day goes something like this - the children's presents which appear under the Christmas tree in the weeks before Christmas, are opened first thing on Christmas morning. The adults enjoy a late breakfast and then we open our presents when everyone is together. Our main meal — turkey and all the trimmings - is at around 2 or 3 p.m. Later, while we are digesting from over-eating, we often watch a musical on TV and sing along. Maybe about an hour or two after finishing lunch, we take out the Christmas pudding and set it on fire! We do this by heating up brandy and then pouring it over after lighting the hot liquid. We serve the pudding hot with brandy butter. Now we really need to loosen our clothes as we are stuffed. Sometimes aunts, uncles and cousins drop by, and by evening, we’re all ready for a nap! There might be mince pies and cups of tea in the late evening.
Now, what about the 26th? In Catholic tradition, it’s called St Stephen’s Day, that's honouring the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen. He was known for helping the poor and speaking boldly about his faith. However, in the UK and some Commonwealth countries, it’s called Boxing Day, which gets its name from an old British tradition of giving boxes of gifts or money to those in need on the day after Christmas. Historically, wealthy families would “box up” leftover food and small presents for their staff, and churches often opened their alms boxes to distribute donations to the poor. The 26th is a very relaxed day and is a public holiday in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK.
So that's it about the 3 days around Christmas Day. Have you got a favourite feast day or tradition? Do you celebrate on the 24th or the 25th December? Email me at helloenglishwithally[at]gmail.com—I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks for listening to English with Ally! If you enjoyed today’s episode, share it with a friend and listen out for tomorrow's last episode as I have a special gift for all my listeners. Merry Christmas!
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