La douzième nuit (également connue sous le nom de nuit des rois ou appelée plus simplement veille de l'Épiphanie selon la tradition) est une fête chrétienne qui a lieu la dernière nuit des douze jours de Noël, marquant l'arrivée de l'Épiphanie[1]. Selon les traditions, elle est célébrée le 5 janvier ou le 6 janvier, selon que le décompte des nuits commence le jour de Noël ou le 26 décembre[2],[3],[4]. La fête de l'Épiphanie, qui marque le début de la saison de l'Épiphanie[5],[6], est célébrée le 6 janvier.
Célébration
La célébration de cette fête inclue la préparation de la couronne ou de la galette des rois, des chants de Noël et des festins, la bénédiction de la craie, et des services religieux[7],[8]. Une tradition populaire consistait également à cacher un haricot et un petit pois à l'intérieur de la couronne ou de la galette préparée. Ainsi, « l'homme qui trouve le haricot dans sa part de gâteau devient roi pour la nuit tandis que la dame qui trouve un petit pois dans sa part de gâteau devient reine pour la nuit[9] ».
Surtout, il est d'usage de retirer ce jour-là toutes les décorations de Noël. Une superstition dans certains pays anglophones suggère qu'il est malchanceux de les laisser suspendues après la douzième nuit. D'autres traditions situent toutefois ce retrait à la Chandeleur (qui marque la fin de l'Épiphanie le 2 février), au Vendredi saint, au Mardi gras ou à la Septuagésime[10].
Origines et histoire
En 567 après J.-C., le concile de Tours « proclama les douze jours de Noël à l'Épiphanie comme une période sacrée et festive, et instaura le devoir de jeûner pendant l'Avent en préparation de la fête[11],[12],[13],[14] ». Christopher Hill ainsi que William J. Federer déclarent que cette proclamation visait à résoudre le « problème administratif de l'Empire romain alors qu'il essayait de coordonner le calendrier solaire julien avec les calendriers lunaires de ses provinces de l'Est[15],[16] ».
Dans l'Angleterre médiévale et de la période Tudor, la Chandeleur marquait traditionnellement la fin de la saison de Noël[17]. Ce n'est que plus tard que la douzième nuit fut célébrée comme la fin de la période de Noël, et le début d'une nouvelle saison, celle de l'Épiphanie, qui s'étendait jusqu'à la Chandeleur[18].
« January 5th: Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve. Twelfth Night, the last evening of the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas, has been observed with festive celebration ever since the Middle Ages. »
↑« Epiphany: Should Christmas decorations come down on 6 January? », BBC News, (lire en ligne, consulté le )
↑Arcadi, « Candlemas for the Souls », All Souls Anglican Church, : « The Feast of the Presentation is considered by many to be the close of the Christmas to Epiphany Season. »
↑Louise Mangan, Nancy Wyse et Lori Farr, Rediscovering the Seasons of the Christian Year, Wood Lake Publishing Inc., (ISBN9781551454986), p. 69 :
« Epiphany is often heralded by "Twelfth Night" celebrations (12 days after Christmas), on the evening before the Feast of Epiphany. Some Christian communities prepare Twelfth Night festivities with drama, singing, rituals - and food! ... Sometimes several congregations walk in lines from church to church, carrying candles to symbolize the light of Christ shining and spreading. Other faith communities move from house to house, blessing each home as they search for the Christ child. »
« On Twelfth Night in German-speaking countries, the Sternsinger ("star singers") go around to houses carrying a paper or wooden star on a pole. They sing an Epiphany carol, then one of them writes in chalk over the door a formula consisting of the initials of the Three Wise Men in the Nativity story, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, with crosses between them and the year date on either side; for example: 20 +M+B 15. This is said to protect the house and its inhabitants until the next Epiphany. »
↑Macclain, « Twelfth Night Traditions: A Cake, a Bean, and a King – », Smithsonian Libraries, (consulté le ) : « And what happens at a Twelfth Night party? According to the 1923 Dennison's Christmas Book, "there should be a King and a Queen, chosen by cutting a cake..." The Twelfth Night Cake has a bean and a pea baked into it. The man who finds the bean in his slice of cake becomes King for the night while the lady who finds a pea in her slice of cake becomes Queen for the night. The new King and Queen sit on a throne and "paper crowns, a scepter and, if possible, full regalia are given them." The party continues with games such as charades as well as eating, dancing, and singing carols. For large Twelfth Night celebrations, a costume party is suggested. »
↑William Alexander Barrett, Flowers and Festivals, Or, Directions for the Floral Decoration of Churches, Rivingtons, , 170–174 (lire en ligne)
↑Fr. Francis X. Weiser, « Feast of the Nativity », Catholic Culture : « The Council of Tours (567) proclaimed the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany as a sacred and festive season, and established the duty of Advent fasting in preparation for the feast. The Council of Braga (563) forbade fasting on Christmas Day. »
↑Fox, « 'Tis the season », The Guardian, (consulté le ) : « Around the year 400 the feasts of St Stephen, John the Evangelist and the Holy Innocents were added on succeeding days, and in 567 the Council of Tours ratified the enduring 12-day cycle between the nativity and the epiphany. »
« In the year 567 the church council of Tours called the 13 days between December 25 and January 6 a festival season. »
Martindale, « Christmas », The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent, (consulté le ) : « The Second Council of Tours (can. xi, xvii) proclaims, in 566 or 567, the sanctity of the "twelve days" from Christmas to Epiphany, and the duty of Advent fast; …and that of Braga (563) forbids fasting on Christmas Day. Popular merry-making, however, so increased that the "Laws of King Cnut", fabricated c. 1110, order a fast from Christmas to Epiphany. »
↑Bunson, « Origins of Christmas and Easter holidays », Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), (consulté le ) : « The Council of Tours (567) decreed the 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany to be sacred and especially joyous, thus setting the stage for the celebration of the Lord's birth... »
↑Christopher Hill, Holidays and Holy Nights: Celebrating Twelve Seasonal Festivals of the Christian Year, Quest Books, (ISBN9780835608107), p. 91 :
« This arrangement became an administrative problem for the Roman Empire as it tried to coordinate the solar Julian calendar with the lunar calendars of its provinces in the east. While the Romans could roughly match the months in the two systems, the four cardinal points of the solar year—the two equinoxes and solstices—still fell on different dates. By the time of the first century, the calendar date of the winter solstice in Egypt and Palestine was eleven to twelve days later than the date in Italy. As a result, the Incarnation came to be celebrated on different days in different parts of the Empire. The Western Church, in its desire to be universal, eventually took them both—one became Christmas, one Epiphany—with a resulting twelve days in between. Over time this hiatus became invested with specific Christian meaning. The Church gradually filled these days with saints, some connected to the birth narratives in Gospels (Holy Innocents' Day, December 28, in honour of the infants slaughtered by Herod; St. John the Evangelist, "the Beloved", December 27; St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, December 26; the Holy Family, December 31; the Virgin Mary, January 1). In 567, the Council of Tours declared the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany to become one unified festal cycle. »
Federer, « On the 12th Day of Christmas », American Minute, (consulté le ) : « In 567 AD, the Council of Tours ended a dispute. Western Europe celebrated Christmas, December 25, as the holiest day of the season... but Eastern Europe celebrated Epiphany, January 6, recalling the Wise Men's visit and Jesus' baptism. It could not be decided which day was holier, so the Council made all 12 days from December 25 to January 6 "holy days" or "holidays," These became known as "The Twelve Days of Christmas." »
↑Praise the Lord (), Trinity Broadcasting Network, consulté le , la scène se produit à 01:15:14 : « Western Europe celebrated Christmas December 25 as the holiest day. Eastern Europe celebrated January 6 the Epiphany, the visit of the Wise Men, as the holiest day... and so they had this council and they decided to make all twelve days from December 25 to January 6 the Twelve Days of Christmas. »
↑Miles, Clement A.. Christmas Customs and Traditions: Their History and Significance. Courier Dover Publications, 1976. (ISBN0-486-23354-5). Robert Herrick (1591–1674) in his poem "Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve" writes:
↑Clifford Davidson, Festivals and Plays in Late Medieval Britain, Taylor & Francis, (ISBN9781351936613), p. 32 :
« Playing seems to have continued after Twelfth Night, in the Epiphany season leading up to Candlemas on February 2, which sometimes was regarded as the last day of the Christmas season. We know that these weeks were an extension of the festive Christmas period. »
