The Twelve Days of Christmas

You're all familiar with the Christmas song, The Twelve Days of Christmas I think. To most it's a delightful nonsense rhyme set to music. But it had a quite serious purpose when it was written. It is a good deal more than just a repetitious melody with pretty phrases and a list of strange gifts.  

Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829, when Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England, were prohibited from any practice of their faith by law—private or public. It was a crime to be a Catholic. The Twelve Days of Christmas was written in England as one of the catechism songs to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of the Church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

The True Love one hears in the song is not a smitten boy or girlfriend but Jesus Christ, because the True Love was born on Christmas Day. The partridge in the pear tree also represents Him because that bird is willing to sacrifice its life if necessary to protect its young by feigning injury to draw away predators. According to Ann Ball in her book, Handbook of Catholic Sacramentals:      

• The two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.  

• The three French hens stood for 
  the Theological Virtues
  —faith, hope, and love.

• The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.            

• The five golden rings represented the first five books of the Old Testament—the Pentateuch—which describe man's fall  into sin and the great love of God in sending a Savior.

• The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.    

• Seven swans a-swimming represented the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the seven sacraments.
  
• The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.         

• Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit—Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience (Forbearance), Goodness (Kindness), Mildness, Fidelity, Modesty, Continency (Chastity). To fit the number scheme, the originator combined the 6 similar fruits to make it into 3. The fruit in each parenthesis is the that was not named separately. There are actually Twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost.
  
• The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.     

• The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful Apostles.     

• The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve articles of faith in the Apostles' Creed.
  
  
  Sources:Catholic Online/Catholic News Agency