Welcome to the new year!
We hope and pray God's blessing be made known in your lives in this new year time and time again!
Was a great joy to celebrate Epiphany on Sunday (Jan 6th) this year. It made the images of the song even more vivid - and I share these from a gift - "The Real Twelve Days of Christmas" - (a book given to me in 2000), written by Helen Haidle (even signed by her!). If you already know this - sorry to repeat it, but I do like the 'history'. By the way if you don't know this story, try guessing before looking at the answers ...
even that can be a learning experience!
even that can be a learning experience!
"on the first day of Christmas ..."
the valiant partridge, willing to fight to the death for to defend its young; an ancient symbol for Christ;
the pear tree represents the cross. John 10:11
"on the second day ..."
two turtledoves; offerings to God; reminds us of Mary and Joseph, Luke 2:22,24
"on the third day ..."
three french hens; expensive poultry in the 16th century - only the rich could afford;
the birds symbolize the Magi's gifts. Matthew 2:10-11
"on the fourth day ..."
four calling birds - the four "Gospel"ers; Matthew, Mark, Luke John
like birds with distinctive voices the Gospels call forth; John 20:30-31
"on the fifth day ..."
five golden rings - the Torah, the first five books of the OT;
treated with reverence and worth more than gold
Deuteronomy 34:10,12
"on the sixth day ..."
six geese a-laying - reminders of the days of creation, and eggs signify new life;
Genesis 1:1,31
"on the seventh day ..."
seven swans a-swimming; the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit;
as baby swans grow from 'ugly' ducklings to beautiful birds, so do we, via the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 11:2
"on the eighth day ..."
eight maids a-milking; the Beatitudes, which nurture and strengthen like milk for a child
Matthew 5:3-12
"on the ninth day ..."
nine ladies dancing; the fruit of the Spirit cause us to rejoice and celebrate!
Galatians 5:22-23
"on the tenth day ..."
ten lords a-leaping; lords were men with authority to command obedience;
ten symbolizes the Ten Commandments
Exodus 20:3-17
"on the eleventh day ..."
eleven pipers piping; the twelve apostles less Judas;
like children following a piper, the apostles joyfully followed Jesus, and called others to follow
Mark 3:16-19
"on the twelfth day ..."
twelve drummers drumming; as drummers beat a steady rhythm for marchers,
the Apostles' Creed sets forth 12 vital beliefs to our faith:
Jesus - conceived - born - suffered - crucified - died - buried
descended - rose - ascended - sits - comes to judge
and if you don't agree with this interpretation, there's always
2 Testaments
3 Persons in the Trinity
3 gifts of faith, hope, and charity
6 days of week that humans labor
8 people saved in Noah's ark
9 ranks of angels
12 gates of heaven
12 tribes of Israel.
Which quickly leads me into my next favorite countdown song:
"Green Grow the Rushes Ho!"
do you remember all those verses???
yours, for a puzzling epiphany.
Karina and Dan
I did not know most of those correlations of the song to scripture. Thank you for enlightening me today! Lydia's classroom has 12 students, so they learned and performed this song for the other classes. I wonder if her teacher knew about these ... I will certainly pass along!
ReplyDeleteAnd a blessed Epiphany to you!
always glad to be of service!
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