You know the popular Christmas carol ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’? It’s a fun little tune, but while there are twelve days of Christmas, the lyrics don’t seem to have anything to do with them, much less have any significance for Christmas.

Well the truth of the matter is this - the song is actually a simple catechism… disguised as a Christmas carol!

You see, back in the 16th century, the Catholics in England (as well as in Ireland) began to be viciously persecuted for their Faith by the Protestant Revolution. It suddenly became against the law for anyone to be Catholic in these countries - either publicly or privately. So the Catholics creatively invented this song as a series of rhymes that were symbols for different truths of the Faith.

Sometimes it might seem that the symbol and the meaning don’t quite make sense. But remember that in those days, it was strictly illegal to be Catholic, and singing anything that might even seem to be Catholic was extremely dangerous. So the words were purposefully chosen to appear childlike and unimportant, while remaining a significant reminder to those who knew what it meant. This way, by humming this simple carol, the children had a fun, safe and easy way to keep their catechism to heart.

In some cases, a single lyric could be used to represent more than one thing. For example, for the "3 French Hens", the children were reminded of both the Trinity as well as the three theological virtues. In the unique case of the "9 Ladies Dancing" (which represents the 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit), the Catholics combined 3 of the 12 Fruits that were similar - in order to keep to the count in the song.

Throughout the song, "my true love" - represents no one less than God - Who "gave to me" (each one of us) all the following precious gifts and truths:

Lyrics	Symbolism
A Partridge in a Pear Tree	Jesus on the Cross
2 Turtle Doves	The Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens	The theological virtues (Faith, Hope and Charity) and The Trinity
4 Calling Birds	The four Gospels and The Gospel writers: Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
5 Golden Rings	The "Pentateuch" (The first five books of the Holy Bible, written by Moses, which contain the history of Man’s Fall and God’s Promise of Redemption)
6 Geese a-laying	The Six days that God Created the World
7 Swans a-swimming	The Seven Sacraments and The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
8 Maids a-milking	The Eight Beatitudes (from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount)
9 Ladies Dancing	The Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords a Leapin’	The Ten Commandments
11 Drummers Drumming	The Eleven Faithful Apostles
12 Pipers Piping	The Twelve Articles of the Apostles’ Creed.

So this year, when you sing this fun carol, remember the special history and meaning behind the song ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’.