The Twelve Days of Christmas

When I was planning Christmas Day Service at my church I decided to make a large part of it a Birthday Party for Jesus.   It seemed very appropriate and something we don't usually do.   After candles (The Advent Candles), Christmas crackers, mince pies, balloons and a game based on the Unforgiving Servant we sang The Twelve Days of Christmas with gusto.   I gave the worshippers a copy of the words as we felt they might get the higher numbers wrong - I usually do!

Before we sang, I spoke about the history of the song.   Back in the days when Protestantism had just established itself in the United Kingdom the poor Roman Catholics had a very bad time indeed.   Their priests had to resort to subterfuge and hide in ingenious "priests' holes" in big houses where the families still continued the Catholic traditional worship.   If they knew the authorities had got wind of their presence they had to literally "go to ground" whilst a search of the house was made.   It was a very difficult and frightening time for Catholics who wanted to remain true to their traditional beliefs.   So it was that, as the Catechism could not be used, an alternative unofficial catechism was adopted.   This was The Twelve Days of Christmas which was a coded way of remembering what was considered something very important.   I append below a cracking of the code for your benefit:

 

My True Love = God



A Partridge in a Pear Tree = Jesus

Two Turtle Doves = Old and New Testaments

Three French Hens = faith, hope and love

Four Calling Birds = The Four Gospels

Five Gold rings = The Pentateuch (First 5 books in the Old Testament)

Six Geese a-Laying = The days of creation

Seven Swans  a-swimming = Seven sacraments

Eight Maids a-milking = the beatitudes of Jesus

Nine Ladies Dancing = Fruits of the Spirit

Ten Lords a-leaping = Ten Commandments

Eleven Pipers Piping = The remaining faithful disciples

Twelve Drummers Drumming = Points of teaching in the Apostles' Creed

 

You can see from this that a Catholic worshipper would be able to remember what each number represented and therefore keep their faith alive.   It reminds me of the need to give the early Christians something to keep their own faith alive during the terrible times of persecution that they faced at the hands of the Romans as they tried to evangelise the known world.   Many were thrown into jail following which they were torn apart by ferocious animals as a fun spectacle before the crowds in the Roman arenas.   To their credit, they accepted their fate and were proud to follow Jesus to death.   But, their encouragement was contained in the Book of Revelation, written in code so that we, today, have difficulty in understanding what it says.   But they knew what the code represented and could read the words with ease.



It has never been easy to live out the Christian life when those who are in command condemn you.   History is a large patchwork of different experiences of suffering on the part of those who have run up against opposition by living out the life taught by Jesus.   It seems that those who have persecuted Christians have known full well the power of Jesus in today's world.   Our faith and belief contains a strength which astounds those outside our ranks.   They have always gone to great lengths to try to eradicate Christianity.   They have always failed.   Prisoners have been incarcerated below ground and still have known the love of God coming and supporting them.   

The song, Twelve Days of Christmas, was obviously just another device to keep faith alive when danger threatened.   We are reminded that there is no place anywhere in which we can experience the absence of God and his love.   When he was imprisoned for preaching against Nazism, Pastor Martin Niemoller heard one door after another close behind him, and each one stood between him and The Book.   This was how he related the story at a meeting I attended as a youngster in Colne Municipal Hall.   Although he was not allowed his Bible, his faith was not diminished,and he survived a great many dreadful experiences before he was released.

As each one of us finds the daylight at the end of our personal tunnel we say, "Thanks be to God!"