The Twelve Days of Christmas

Neat article explaining the 12 days of Christmas! :) I had never heard the theory on the children's song being a catechism for children either... neat stuff.

Enjoy!

http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Wow sis! This is amazing! I went to Mary's Christmas festival today and the choir director asked us to try to figure out the spiritual message in this song. She gave us the 4 gospels, but never told us the rest. My brain was hurting trying to guess. Yeah!!!!! I got to really understand what she was trying to say by reading your post. I'm going to share it with the girls and Grandpa and Nana tomorrow at Christmas in the woods.

Love,
Elizabeth

That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing the article, I'm going to pass it along.

Wow sis! This is amazing! I went to Mary's Christmas festival today and the choir director asked us to try to figure out the spiritual message in this song. She gave us the 4 gospels, but never told us the rest. My brain was hurting trying to guess. Yeah!!!!! I got to really understand what she was trying to say by reading your post. I'm going to share it with the girls and Grandpa and Nana tomorrow at Christmas in the woods.
Wow... how funny is that?? I had never heard of this either... Too bad I didn't go to that festival!! Sheesh... could I have WON something?? :lol.

Have fun in the woods. We'll be with you in spirit :hug.

Thanks for sharing that! I'm passing this along to family. :)

This is very interesting! Thanks!

It is possible that "The Twelve Days of Christmas" has been confused with (or is a transformation of) a song called "A New Dial" (also known as "In Those Twelve Days"), which dates to at least 1625 and assigns religious meanings to each of the twelve days of Christmas (but not for the purposes of teaching a catechism). In a manner somewhat similar to the memory-and-forfeits performance of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," the song "A New Dial" was recited in a question-and-answer format:

<TABLE cellPadding=10 width="98%" align=center bgColor=#000000 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#ddffdd>What are they that are but one?
We have one God alone
In heaven above sits on His throne.

What are they which are by two?
Two testaments, the old and new,
We do acknowledge to be true.

What are they which are but three?
Three persons in the Trinity
Which make one God in unity.

What are they which are but four
Four sweet Evangelists there are,
Christ's birth, life, death which do declare.

What are they which are but five?
Five senses, like five kings, maintain
In every man a several reign.

What are they which are but six?
Six days to labor is not wrong,
For God himself did work so long. </TD><TD bgColor=#ddffdd>What are they which are but seven?
Seven liberal arts hath God sent down
With divine skill man's soul to crown.

What are they which are but eight?
Eight Beatitudes are there given
Use them right and go to heaven.

What are they which are but nine?
Nine Muses, like the heaven's nine spheres,
With sacred tunes entice our ears.

What are they which are but ten?
Ten statutes God to Moses gave
Which, kept or broke, do spill or save.

What are they which are but eleven?
Eleven thousand virgins did partake
And suffered death for Jesus' sake.

What are they which are but twelve?
Twelve are attending on God's son;
Twelve make our creed. The Dial's done. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/12days.asp

That's interesting about the new dial song as well, Teri. I've never heard of that.

Thank you so much...my dad has actually been down visiting today to bring his 12 Days of Christmas gifts to us!! He does one each day leading up to Christmas because we weren't aware of the reason/meaning of the 12 days.