Book of Days

SECOND DAY of CHRISTMAS
St. John’s Day

The ceremony of this day focuses on wine. The early Church assigned the date of the birth of Christ to to the Midwinter solstice in December and the birth of St. John the Baptist to the Midsummer solstice in June. Here, on this Second Day of Christmas, we have the Feast Day of St. John the Evangelist, one of the twelve disciples. St. John is the only one of the disciples who did not die a martyr’s death for his faith. He lived to a ripe old age, but not without some attempts at his life. The most famous one involved poisoned wine. But John drank the wine and it had no ill effect on him, and from this comes the tradition of honoring his day with wine.

Wine has long been brought to churches on this day for a blessing, especially in Germany and in Austria, and this blessed St. John’s wine is thought to have healing properties and to taste better than other wines. Some even hold that wine that is not blessed but is stored nearby to blessed St. John’s wine improves in flavor just by being near it.

Yesterday, for the First Day of Christmas and St. Stephen’s Day, we enjoyed roasted chestnuts and mulled wine. Today, we do the same. Simple foods and a simple act mark the day best.

Image: “Provando o Vinho” (“Tasting the Wine”) by an unknown artist working in the English School, Portugal. Oil painting, 19th century. [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons.

SECOND DAY of CHRISTMAS:
St. John’s Day

The Second Day of Christmas is given to St. John the Evangelist. He was one of the disciples of Jesus and the only one who lived to a ripe old age. The rest were all martyred for their faith. John certainly had a few close calls. The most famous attempt on his life involved poisoned wine, but he drank the wine and it had no effect on him. For this reason, wine is central to the Second Day of Christmas, and bottles of wine are typically blessed in churches on this day, a tradition especially in Europe. This blessed wine is reserved through the year and given as a healing tonic to those who are ill. But the blessed St. John’s wine is also thought to have a better flavor and to even impart better flavor in wine that is stored in its vicinity.

Last night, for St. Stephen’s Day, Italians drank mulled wine and ate roasted chestnuts, and this continues tonight for St. John. I was not fond of chestnuts when I was a boy, but now I love them and I imagine them to be amongst the foods of the gods. They are part of the warmth of home and hearty earthiness that I think of when I think of dark winter. And any night that calls for mulled wine is okay by me, too.

Mulled wine is easy enough to make. Here’s our recipe: Pour a bottle of good red wine into a stainless steel pot and set it on the stove over medium heat. Add some mulling spices (we sell some wonderful mulling spices at the Convivio Bookworks website that are from the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community in Maine… they call it Mulled Cider Mix but it’s just as good in wine), and sugar. Start with a teaspoon or two and add more to taste. Sometimes mulled wine is too sweet for my taste… and while you can always add more sugar, you can’t take it away once it’s in. So I add the sugar gradually, always tasting as I go. Heat to allow the spicy flavors to infuse the wine. Strain before pouring into cups.

Gather good company if you can for a traditional toast to good health and a good Christmastide. Should the company be small that’s okay. Just one or two of you is still good reason to raise a toast to good health and a good Christmastide and to ask for the blessing of St. John upon your wine throughout the year.

Image: Le Marchand de Vin et Son Épouse by Pompeo Massani. Oil on canvas, c.1900. [Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.]

SECOND DAY of CHRISTMAS:
St. John’s Day

We celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, on the First Day of Christmas, but the Second Day is dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, who was the only of the twelve apostles to live to a ripe old age and not die a martyr’s death. Not that no one ever tried to do St. John in––he survived after drinking poisoned wine that was served to him, and for this reason wine plays a major role in the celebration of St. John’s Day on December 27. In Germany and Austria, it is customary to bring wine to church on St. John’s Day to have it blessed, and this St. John’s wine is considered to have healing properties and to even infuse better flavor in other bottles of wine that rest near it.

Whether that is true or not, certainly the Second Day of Christmas is a good day to celebrate with wine, and what better during these long dark nights of winter than mulled wine? There are many recipes to be found for mulled wine, but here’s what we do: pour a bottle of decent red wine into a stainless steel pot and set it on the stove over medium heat. Add some mulling spices (we happen to sell some pretty wonderful mulling spices at our website, from the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community in Maine), the rind of an orange, and sugar. Many recipes call for a lot of sugar, but we prefer our mulled wine not so sweet, so I’d suggest starting with a couple of teaspoons of sugar and adding more to taste. You can always add more, but you can’t take it away. Heat to allow the flavors to infuse the wine. Strain and pour into ceremonial cups, and of course, raise a toast to St. John, for good health (“Wassail!”), and for a merry Christmastide.