Interesting tidbit that a friend emailed to me this week about the origins of this song that we all know.
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From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly.
Someone during that era wrote "The 12 Days of Christmas" as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church.
Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
- The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
- Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
- Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
- The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
- The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
- The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
- Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
- The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
- Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit---Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
- The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
- The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
- The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
8 comments:
this is great- a friend mentioned that each "day" represented something... that was after someone else said what a dumb somg it was! it does get tiring, but i especially like the reliant k version!
Absolutely brilliant, I have always wondered what it all meant!
Thank you for sharing this with us. I will have to show this to my wife and daughter.
How cooooool is that?
It is not nearly as annoying to me now. :)
This is really interesting!
On a completely different note, did you see the Top Chef where they had to cook the 12 days of Christmas? It was SO ridiculous it made me angry : ).
Hope your Christmas week is wonderful!
That's so fine to learn all of that just now after all my years on earth! Thanks and love. xoxo.
Sooo very cool, huh? I read about in like 5th or 6th grade, and I always remembered it. Not bad for a Muslim chica, huh?! :-)
Kisses to Ruby & Diva for me please!
Good to know.
Sounds like some good fundamentals for catechism.
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