The 12 Days of Christmas

from WhyChristmas.com

The 12 Days of Christmas are now most famous as a song about someone receiving lots of presents from their 'true love'. However, to get to the song there had to be the days to start with! The 12 Days of Christmas start on Christmas Day and last until the evening of the 5th January - also known as Twelfth Night. The 12 Days have been celebrated in Europe since before the middle ages and were a time of celebration. The 12 Days each traditionally celebrate a feast day for a saint and/ or have different celebrations: 1. Day 1 (25th December): Christmas Day - celebrating the Birth of Jesus 2. Day 2 (26th December also known as Boxing Day): St Stephen’s Day. He was the first Christian martyr (someone who dies for their faith). It's also the day when the Christmas Carol 'Good King Wenceslas' takes place. 3. Day 3 (27th December): St John the Apostle (One of Jesus's Disciples and friends) 4. Day 4 (28th December): The Feast of the Holy Innocents - when people remember the baby boys which King Herod killed when he was trying to find and kill the Baby Jesus. 5. Day 5 (29th December): St Thomas Becket. He was Archbishop of Canterbury in the 12th century and was murdered on 29th December 1170 for challenging the King’s authority over Church. 6. Day 6 (30th December): St Egwin of Worcester. 7. Day 7 (31st December): New Years Eve (known as Hogmanay in Scotland). Pope Sylvester I is traditionally celebrated on this day. He was one of the earliest popes (in the 4th Century). In many central and eastern European countries

New Years Eve is still sometimes called 'Silvester'. In the UK, New Years Eve was a traditional day for ‘games’ and sporting competitions. Archery was a very popular sport and during the middle ages it was the law that it had to be practised by all men between ages 17-60 on Sunday after Church! This was so the King had lots of very good archers ready in case he need to go to war! 8. Day 8 (1st January): 1st January - Mary, the Mother of Jesus 9. Day 9 (2nd January): St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, two important 4th century Christians. 10. Day 10 (3rd January): Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. This remembers when Jesus was officially 'named' in the

Jewish Temple. It's celebrated by different churches on a wide number of different dates! 11. Day 11 (4th January): St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint, who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the past it also celebrated the feast of Saint Simon Stylites (who lives on a small platform on the top of a pillar for 37 years!). 12. Day 12 (5th January also known as Epiphany Eve): St. John Neumann who was the first Bishop in America. He lived in the 19th century.

In England, between 1558 and 1829, it was not legal for Catholics to practice their kind of Christianity in public or private. Being a Catholic was treated as a bad crime. If you even owned a Catholic Bible, you could be put in prison! Catholics were stopped from worshipping because King Henry VIII fell out with the Catholic Church and started his own 'Protestant' Church (what is now the Church of England). There were many people who were still Catholics and they worshipped in secret.

'The Twelve Days of Christmas' was written in England at the beginning of this time. Some people think that it was written to help children learn about their Catholic religion. In the carol, the days are supposed to represent special symbols and have hidden meanings, because it was illegal to have anything in writing that would indicate that you were a Catholic.

But there's no evidence that this is true and it seems most likely just to be a folk song and that the meanings were added at a later date! Also, all the symbols can be used by Protestants and other Christians! There was another song called 'A New Dial', written in 1625, which gave religious meanings to the 12 Days of Christmas, but not so people could practise their faith is secret. If you'd like to know more about this, please go to the 12 Days of Christmas page on snopes.com The song begins, On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me... The 'true love' was meant to represent God, the true love of the world. The 'me' in the carol is the Christian man or woman who receives these presents. The meanings given to the 12 Days are:

1. The 'partridge in a pear tree' is Jesus who died on the cross. In ancient times a partridge was often used as mythological symbol of a divine, sacred king. 2. The 'two turtle doves' are the Old and New

Testaments of the Bible - another gift from

God. Doves also symbolise peace. 3. The 'three French hens' are faith, hope and love - the three gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1

Corinthians 13). The French hens can also represent God the Father, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. 4. The 'four calling birds' are the four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. 5. The 'five golden rings' are the first five books of the Bible also called the Pentateuch, the

Books of Moses or the Torah. 6. Thix geese a-laying' are the six days of creation. 7. The 'seven swans a swimming' are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1

Corinthians 12:8-11, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10-11) 8. The 'eight maids a milking' are the eight beatitudes, Jesus' teachings on happiness. (See Matthew 5:3-10) 9. The 'nine ladies dancing' are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (See Galatians 5:22) 10.The 'ten lords a-leaping' are the Ten

Commandments in the Bible. (See Exodus 20) 11.The 'eleven pipers piping' are the eleven faithful disciples of Jesus. 12.The 'twelve drummers drumming' were the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed.

How many gifts are there in total in the 12 Days of Christmas? If you were receive all the presents in the song, you'd get 364!