How many days of Christmas?

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me… the lyrics we’re all familiar with are often heard this time of year. A debate that’s new to me, though, has started about the origin of the song, or more specifically, the meaning behind it. Although I’ve read both arguments to support and debunk the meanings, I prefer to believe that there is a biblical meaning behind the nonsensical lyrics of a romantic holiday song.

Apparently, there’s a story circulating that the 12 Days of Christmas was used to preserve the tenets of the Catholic faith. If you don’t remember all the lyrics, the days or gifts were:
A partridge in a pear tree
Two turtle doves
Three French hens
Four calling birds
Five golden rings
Six geese a-laying
Seven swans a-swimming
Eight maids a-milking
Nine ladies dancing
Ten lords a-leaping
Eleven pipers piping
Twelve drummers drumming

The belief is that the partridge is Jesus and the two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments. The three French hens are the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love, found in 1 Corinthians 13:13.

The four calling birds are the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), the five gold rings are the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.)

Six geese a-laying represent the six days of creation, seven swans a-swimming are the gifts of the Holy Spirit; prophecy, ministry, ,teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and compassion (Romans 12:6-8).

The eight maids a-milking are the Beatitudes – I won’t list all those here because they’re a little long, but you can find them in Mathew 5:3-10. The nine ladies dancing are the fruits of the Holy Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).

Ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments, eleven pipers piping are the eleven faithful apostles. Yes, there were twelve disciples, but if you remember your scripture, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, leaving only eleven faithful. Finally, the twelve drummers drumming represent the twelve points of doctrine of the apostle’s creed.

Even if this isn’t true, the fact that someone took the time to put together meanings to represent items of faith is pretty neat to me. Also, who says that even if there’s no truth to these meanings that we can’t choose to believe them? Personally, I think it’s a pretty neat symbolism regardless!

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How many days of Christmas?

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