Wednesday, December 21, 2016

12 Days of Christmas // the Song & the Story

Good morning all, and welcome to day eight! Eek, this is slipping by so quickly! ^_^ 

For my post today, I'll be sharing the story behind a well known Christmas song...actually, the Christmas song that has inspired many '12 Days of Christmas' events including this one. 


From 1558 to 1829, the Roman Catholics were not allowed to practice their religion freely. They came up with a "code" so they could sing of their beliefs without persecution. Below is the song and "code" of each part. :) 



Twelve drummers drumming... Twelve points of belief in the Apostles Creed

Eleven pipers piping... Eleven faithful disciples 

Ten lords a leaping... Ten Commandments 

Nine ladies dancing... Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Eight maids a milking... Eight beatitudes – Matthew 5:1-10 

Seven swans a swimming... Seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness.

Six geese a laying... Six days of creation 

Five golden rings... Torah (Law), the first five books of the Old Testament 

Four calling birds... The four Gospels

Three French hens... Faith, hope, and love 

Two turtle doves... The Old and New Testaments 

And a partridge in a pear tree... Jesus 


Had you heard this before? Did you find it enjoyable? Last year, Amy did individual posts on each of the aforementioned codes. You can find those here.


Other stops in the linkup...


We're going Christmas caroling tonight!! :D How are y'all's Christmas preparations coming? 

~Faith

10 comments:

  1. This is super interesting! And I'm happy that I can join in on the fun for at least a day and post! Thanks!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed! :) I'm happy you could join in too, Bethany!!

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  2. I feel like I've heard about that before, but I can't remember where... That's so interesting!! Thanks for sharing, Faith! :D Have fun caroling! My sister, friend, and I are about to head out to finish the last of our Christmas shopping (I just need to pick one thing up, but I'm going along for the fun of it ;P).

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    1. Yeah, it's a really interesting story! Glad you enjoyed! :D Haha, we will. Oh, have fun caroling!! Hehe, yeah, I have a package that's supposed to be here tomorrow (talk about cutting it close...) and then I'm done. ;) Have fun!

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  3. Thanks for the post, Faith. I knew there was some meaning behind the song, but I couldn't remember what it was.

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    1. Oh, and have fun caroling! My sister and I joined a group from church for caroling on Monday and it was bitterly cold! But so much fun!

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    2. Thanks for reading, Rebekah! Glad you enjoyed.

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    3. Thanks!! We had a blast :D It wasn't too cold last night...maybe mid to upper 40s? Very nice for caroling!

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  4. I don't think I ever knew the meaning behind this song. I always thought it was a song that really just made no sense. ;) So it was fun to read this! :)

    I hope you had fun Christmas caroling, Faith!

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    1. I always thought that too! Until I learned about this. :D Glad you enjoyed!!

      Thanks; we really did! :)

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