The 7th day of Christmas, December 31, in churches of Shakespeare’s time (Series, Part 7)

The 7th day of Christmas (December 31 in Shakespeare’s time as now, also St. Sylvester’s Day [1]), used these Bible readings:

Psalm 30 (repeated from previous): House of David, prayer in prosperity, trouble, and restoration (not exactly King Lear, but implied character arc) [2].

MORNING PRAYER

Isaiah 65 - the prophet is sought by Gentiles, condemns sins;
“seed of Jacob” (a name used five times in two plays);
new heaven and new earth (Antony: “Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth” [3]);
four animals with rich associative meanings whose names appear in Shakespeare:
wolf (38 times),
lamb (59),
lion (224),
serpent (39) [4].

Acts 28
- The shipwrecked prisoner Paul and others are shown kindness by "Barbarians" of Malta:
- hospitality for strangers, key theme in Greek and biblical literature, and in Shakespeare as for example in
King Lear,
A Winter’s Tale,
Hamlet, and others (violated hospitality, a strong theme in Macbeth).
- 12 “at Syracuse, we tarried… three days” (Syracuse mentioned 20+ times in Comedy of Errors).

EVENING PRAYER

Isaiah 66 speaks of hollow sacrifices of Gentiles;
says, “to him will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my words” (v.2);
that God will come in fire to destroy the unworthy, and (again) of “the new heavens, and the new earth” (v.22).
For an imaginative writer like Shakespeare: “For I will visit their works, and their imaginations” (v.18).
v.19 mentions “Tubal” (Italy), name of a Jew who loans money to Shylock in Merchant of Venice.

Jude 1 speaks of “common salvation” (v.3);
“ungodly men… which turn the grace of our God into wantonness” (v.4);
these shall be punished like some that Moses led out of Egypt (v.5),
and as at Sodom and Gomorrah (v.7).
It speaks of “Cain” (referenced in seven Shakespeare plays),
and archangel, “Michael” (used 20 times in five plays).

Biblical names and stories were clearly part of Shakespeare’s time, vocabulary, and his imagination.

[To be cont.]

INDEX for posts in this series on the TWELVE DAYS of CHRISTMAS in Shakespeare’s time (and possible influences on the plays):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-in-churches-of.html

NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu

[1] St. Sylvester’s Day was every December 31, celebrated in Continental Europe at least since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, but in Ukraine today celebrated in early January. England did not accept the Gregorian calendar until 1752, but it may have been celebrated on England’s December 31st (with English time “out of joint” as Hamlet would say). Pope St. Sylvester was supposedly instrumental in the conversion of Emperor Constantine, which would be yet another example of an earthly ruler yielding to a religious leader, although motives and historicity may be variously interpreted. In England, religious leaders since at least Henry VIII (and in some cases earlier) had to yield to the monarch. A great deal of this is posturing and lip-service, some may claim, as monarchs usually seem to do as they please.

[2] See Psalm 30 in previous post here: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/12/sixth-day-of-christmas-pauls-shipwreck.html

[3] Antony and Cleopatra, 1.1.18-19.

[4] OpenSourceShakespeare[dot-org] can be used to search for word occurrences.
See Lewis, Anthony J. “The Dog, Lion, and Wolf in Shakespeare’s Descriptions of Night.” The Modern Language Review 66, no. 1 (1971): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.2307/3722462


IMAGES:
Left: Edward Hicks (1780–1849)
Peaceable Kingdom (circa 1834)
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Public domain, via
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Edward_Hicks_-_Peaceable_Kingdom.jpg/1024px-Edward_Hicks_-_Peaceable_Kingdom.jpg

Right: Raphael (1483–1520)
Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan (1518)
Louvre Museum, Paris, France.
Public domain, via
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Le_Grand_Saint_Michel%2C_by_Raffaello_Sanzio%2C_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg



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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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