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The Twelve Days of Christmas
Associate Pastor's Column
There are Christmas songs; but there is only one I know about that sings about the days after Christmas. It is, The Twelve Days of Christmas. These twelve days are the ones which follow from Christmas to Epiphany. Epiphany is really from an ancient Greek word (epiphaneia) which is a “coming to light,” “manifestation” or “appearing.” Besides these meanings, it could also mean the appearance of a god. For example, Herodotus, the ancient Greek writer who, five years before Christ, fathered the type of literature we now call “history,” even uses this term referring to Apollo. So the feast of the Epiphany is the feast of the appearance of the Son of God to the Gentiles, to those who were not Jews. Jesus came as Savior for Jew and Gentile, full of love and mercy for the whole human race and of each one in particular. This is why the feast is of special importance on the Church Calendar. Pope John Paul II, in his famous letter to artists, discussed Epiphany in terms of the “mystery” which was made visible, a sort of divine paradigm for artists. Now, they are two things different from one another in both degree and essence: on the one hand, these “natural” gods in Greek literature being seen or taking the shape of a stag; and on the other hand, the one transcendent God becoming true man and manifesting his messianic mission to the pagans (in whose stead the Magi stood). In the United States of America, the Bishops have taken this day, otherwise a Holy Day of Obligation, and moved it to the nearest Sunday, so when you count the twelve days year after year, instead of finishing on January 6, in America you finish on whenever. I guess it was too much of a burden to ask the American faithful to stop watching TV and come to Church. Panis et circensis. In the 16th century, a song was composed by one or more anonymous souls, which sang about the Twelve Days of Christmas. And as I have mentioned several Christmas songs in the last few bulletin articles, it is most appropriate that we mention this one today, since today, Sunday, is the 7th day of Christmas, and we are in the middle of the Twelve Days. The song was written in time of Catholic persecution, and it became a sort of codified Catechism, referring to twelve of the most basic aspects of our Catholic faith. There are some historians who debate this; but there are historians who debate whether Jesus Christ existed, aren’t there? The snopes.com, the infallible Magisterium of the superficial internet mind, offers a lengthy explanation of why it’s not a Catholic song and why they want it to not be one, of course offering no other proof than the authority of its own voice. Well, God bless the guys over at snopes.com. So let’s review briefly the symbolism of each day. The “partridge in a pear tree” is the one God, Jesus Christ, and Christ crucified on the tree of the cross. The “two turtle doves” are the Old and New Testaments; at the Presentation Mary and Joseph offered two doves. The “three French hens” are either the three Persons of the Holy Trinity or the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. The “four calling birds” are the Evangelists, the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who call out the story of salvation. “Five gold rings” are the Pentateuch, which are the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), or Moses’ books. “Six geese a-laying” symbolize the six days of the Creation. The “Seven swans a-swimming” stand for the seven sacraments or perhaps the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. “Eight maids a-milking” are the eight Beatitudes, the new law of the new Covenant. “Nine ladies dancing” are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit which St. Paul mentions in Galations 5:22, namely, charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and continency; these nine are mentioned in most modern translations, the vulgate includes faith, modesty and chastity, making for twelve. The “Ten lords a-leaping” are the Ten Commandments. “Eleven pipers piping” symbolize the eleven faithful Apostles. Finally “Twelve drummers drumming” are the twelve doctrines in the Apostles’ Creed. So sing on as we prepare for Epiphany, and let songs like this help you live your faith better and better.
Picture: Pietro di Cristoforo Vanucci (Perugino) (b. 1450, Città della Pieve - d. 1523, Perugia), Epiphany, 1476. Thanks www.gfmer.ch. |
