Twelve Days of Christmas

12 Days of Christmas
Author Unknown
-- Donated by Michelle Goldsack --
Main Source was Gentle Ministries: Your Christian Home on the Internet

Actually the 12 Days of Christmas was developed as a teaching song.

From 1558 to 1829 Comic Sans MS Catholics in England were not able to practice their faith openly so they had to find other ways to pass on their beliefs. The song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is one example of how they did it.

"The 12 Days of Christmas" is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something of religious significance. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help young Christians learn their faith.

The song goes,

	"On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me..." The "true love" represents God and the "me" represents the Christian. The "partridge in a pear tree" is Jesus Christ who died on a tree or cross as a gift from God for the whole world.
	The "two turtle doves" are the Old and New Testaments.
	The "three French hens" are faith, hope and love - the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (I Corinthians 13).
	The "four calling birds" are the four Gospels which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.
	The "five golden rings" are the first five books of the Bible also called the "Books of Moses" or the Pentateuch.
	The "six geese a-laying" are the six days of creation.
	The "seven swans a swimming" are the "seven gifts of the Holy Spirit." (ICorinthians 12:8-11, Comic Sans MSs 12, Ephesians 4)
	The "eight maids a milking" are the eight beatitudes.
	The "nine ladies dancing" are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
	The "ten lords a-leaping" are the Ten Commandments.
	The "eleven pipers piping" are the eleven faithful disciples.
	And the "twelve drummers drumming" are the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed.

I'll bet that's not what you expected is it? But then Christmas never is what we expect.
I bet you're surprised that this otherwise non-religious sounding song is really a song born out of the Christian faith. I like surprises like that. Why? Because it reminds me that even though much of the sacred of Christmas has been covered with the secular, the covering is only paper thin! All we have to do is pull off garish garnish and the tarnished tinsel to reveal the brilliant, golden truth. Just beneath the surface of the most crass Christmas imaginable continues to beat the pure, loving heart of Christ!

Have a happy Holy-Day season and please take time out of your busy schedule to remember the birth of Jesus.

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December 17, 1999 - Updated June 26, 2006